Category: fiction

Part 1

whynotstayin

It was not long after the nuclear wipe out took place, a monumental event known as The Great Purge. All that was left were just scraps of the human race, the vagabonds, the cowards, the rats from the very darkest corners of grime.

How ironic, only the people too afraid to live were the last one’s left on the earth. The meek shall inherit the earth – it was foretold eons ago, well it seems that prophecy had finally come to pass, and the world had gone to spiraling out of control for it.

In the days before Act III of Humanity came to pass, the people left to breathe in the ashes of their loved ones sank to their knees.

Religion had long since faded from the lips of those whose God was so seemingly absent; it had turned into a simple words used to describe The Great Purge. But even so, with lungs clouded with ash, the people looked to hazy orange skies, with blood-shot eyes and veins bulging painfully from beneath sickly and wan skin.

They looked up at the unmerciful smog and smoke-filled sky as oil slicked tears fell from shattered souls, the meek prayed for the absent, so-called, messiah.

Photo Credit: http://livioramondelli.deviantart.com/

The last of humankind had gathered in small groups of tired and hopeless people, scattered throughout the world; but, the only ones that matter were gathered in the center of what had once been called the city of the future.

It was on that day, one day till night officially fell, that a scruffy teenager barely sixteen dragged himself through the streets of the burnt city.

He had the eyes of days past; clear and pale green; offsetting, in a face caked with death and heartache; hopeful and optimistic, set into the face of someone forced to grow up to quickly.

He had the tooth of a long starved animal buried in his abdomen and he was quickly running out of blood to spare.

The surviving meek where huddled at the very tip of the city near the, now poison, ocean; as the boy stumbled down the road toward them, his eyes met with the eyes of a girl standing at the front of all the survivors.

The girl stared at the boy who was slowly making his way toward her. She was short with even shorter hair, it was cut into a choppy bob that fell midway down her neck. She was distinctly Asian in heritage, Singapore, this city had once been Singapore.

She was pale, powdery, with dark jet black hair and they eyes of a bird of prey. Her eyes though, that is what truly set her apart from the rest of the meek.

They were tawny and gold like a lion, rimmed in a thick layer of dark lashes. Although warm in color, her eyes had the cold, impersonal, precision of a microscope, they were like ice and fire in one person.

She did not strike one, outright as meek, but what had grouped her in with the cowards and vagrants was not that she was cowardly, but she had never tried to live.

50 Shades of Hype

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If you have access to the internet, friends that live in countries that have books, or generally do not live under a rock, you have probably heard of 50 Shades of Grey. Notorious for its promiscuous content, this novel has taken the world by storm and is soon to be a major motion picture – on Valentine’s Day, no less.

An avid reader and an admittedly avid consumer, I decided to purchase this work when in an airport preparing for a five-hour flight. It was definitely fun to snap a picture of the familiar cover of the book and upload it to my Snapchat story, immediately to receive texts from my friends asking me “WHY?!”.

To be honest, I wanted to read it to see if it really was what everyone said it was: fan fiction you could read out of a book. In other words, a bunch of pornographic material slapped in between a meekly written romance. It ended up being exactly that. The book follows a quiet and innocent but opinionated girl named Anastasia fresh out of college. She meets Christian Grey, a rich, handsome CEO of a huge company. One thing leads to another, and they begin a very interesting relationship that I cannot elaborate on, as this is a school blog.

The book itself is not very well written – if it was not as widely discovered as it was, it probably would not have been successful at all. The writer, E.L. James, probably owes her success to the internet and honestly, the immaturity of teenagers. The over-hyping of this “sex book,” spread by young adults, is probably how it got so popular – the simple novelty of it, reading it, owning it.

Now that I own it and have read it, I can confidently say that 50 Shades of Grey does not live up to the hype, it simply is hype.

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia
Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

 

House in the clouds

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Photo Credit to deviantart.net

It all began in the dusty lifeless town of Lancaster, with extreme winds that carry the tumble weeds across the hot cracked asphalt. The white Adidas shoes on the telephone lines purchased at the Payless ShoeSource are a reminder of the lack of success. There’s nothing there except unemployed college dropouts who have many offspring who will go down the same road. Those who are employed are the lucky few. They’re the ones who want to break the never-ending circle and go to college. But most of the time, that job was just temporary because those few that do graduate know they can leave this ghost town, and they take the first bus out, leaving nothing but a trail of dust that goes on for miles across the dead Mojave desert. I was fortunate that my parents saved me from a life where being ambitious is becoming the manager at Payless ShoeSource.

I spent the next chapter of my life in a place I am proud to grow up in: The wonderful town of Ventura where surfing is not a hobby; it’s a lifestyle. It’s how people talk, walk and dress. It has this relaxed feel to it — the sound of crashing waves and the fresh sea breeze. Day and night are nothing alike. The day is colorful and full of life; the buildings are colorful and are spread from sea to the mountain; and the beach is always full, looking like a 1950’s Coca Cola poster. Ventura is not just limited to the beach. It’s next to a beautiful mountain. On top, there are the iconic “Two Trees”, which you can see the whole city from. Although there’s all the commotion below, you feel isolated and alone, like there wasn’t a city for hundreds of miles. It’s the best place to watch the sunset. There is nothing like it in the world. The night is much more quiet. I could take a walk on the beach and hear nothing but the crashing tide and see maybe one or two silhouettes of people, outlined by the moon. Main Street at night has a sense of liveliness, even though it’s less than the day. It must be the bright neon lights and all the meter parking that is completely filled, even after shops are closed. As great as this town is, I am not the type of person who can live in one place his whole life.

After College, and winning the Mega Millions a dozen times or so, I would have a custom-built airship I would live on that is basically a flying aircraft carrier, but a little more complex. It wouldn’t be all modern and futuristic; it would be held up by two large balloons that look like they came off a blimp, attached by 100 feet of thick rope like the ones used to tie a cruise ship to a dock. The balloons would be just the right height so I can take off in either of the two planes I would have. One of the planes would be a HU-16 Albatross, a large sea plane that could carry a lot of cargo. It would be military green with a 1950’s pin-up girl with red hair riding a large bomb. The other plane would be a P-51, with a pair of white sharp teeth and a red mouth toward the propeller. A little behind the mouth would be a pair of eyes with a fierce look to them. It would be painted the same tone of green as the cargo plane. The planes would perfectly fit the overall theme of steam punk meets sky captain of tomorrow. Any metal on the airship would be either copper, bronze, or gold. And anything else would be a dark-colored wood. The outside of the ship would be rough wood, the wood used on a pirate ship, but the inside would be detailed refined wood with fancy floral engravings. Polished copper pipes would be visible through the halls and outside of the ship, and two large bronze smoke stacks near the control tower would be used to collect the clouds, turning them into steam and using it to power the ship. When I’m on my ship, I would wear khakis with a brown leather jacket, along with aviator goggles around my neck just to add to the feel. I would only do this on my ship, because it would already be strange going places by old planes.

The seaplane would allow me to go anywhere coastal and my P-51 would allow me to fly to any airport. From the airport, I would take the much more conventional, but less adventuress, method of transportation known as taking a taxi. Transportation would be inconvenient but limitless. I could go anywhere in the world, and that’s what would be so great. I wouldn’t even need to pack bags, because I could just take my ship with me. Once I got married and had kids, I would live on the Ship until the first one turned 5. Then, I would ask them where they wanted to grow up. It could be anywhere in the world; I would then move there so they could have a great place to call home while growing up like I did.

I would live in that town for the rest of my life because it is the end of my adventure and the start of his or hers. I would stay there, so when they come back and visit they will remember the great times they had at their old home where they spent the greatest years of their lives. Wherever it is, I know I will be happy because all I would want is for my children is to have a good life, like my parents have for me. Whether it’s the snowy mountains of Colorado or the cherry-blossom filled streets of Japan, I will gladly spend the rest of my life there.

 

Beyond Earth Part One

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photo credit to http://www.deviantart.net

Intro:

The year is 2044, the population is over 20 billion, but the world is at peace. All the worlds problems like hunger, disease, and pollution have been solved. It’s a perfect utopia. All the mysteries of the world have been solved – there’s nothing left to discover except what lies beyond Earth. A space program called SEA was created to look beyond. SEA stands for Space Exploration Association. SEA is highly selective, there’s only 100 pilots. Being a SEA pilot is the new celebrity. They’re all over the news and the face of SEA is Zach – a new pilot only 25 years old.

“I am honored to be a SEA pilot. It’s the greatest job in the world. I can’t picture myself in any other job. In a world where everything is known, most fear what lies beyond, but I grow excited. I was born to do this.” says Zach.

“Okay thank you for coming to talk on are show, that’s all for tonight folks.” says the TV host.

It is weird I haven’t even been inside the office building. I passed the test and got the job and already I’m a celebrity. “We are here sir,” says the driver. I get out of the car to look up at a large skyscraper. It’s strange it took them a whole three days to build. Normally it would just take one or two. I get in and a lady from the front desk gives me an ear piece. She then says “It’s also your ID badge and access pass. As you can see, security is pretty low. It is because without your earpiece, you can’t go anywhere besides the lobby,” She pauses slightly “Oh almost forgot your office is in B30” she smiled then walked back to her desk. I went to the elevator and it asked what floor I wanted. I said “B30” then the elevator responded “going down to B30” I found it strange that I was 30 levels underground when it is 350 floors tall.

When I walked in, it was really different from the rest of the building. High security, entirely cement, but very open, and the furniture was very basic. I assumed that it was so you can’t hide bugs or steal information. I walk up to the group of 24 pilots that are all sitting around a conference table, and at the head was a very intelligent and powerful looking man. The man said: “Okay lets begin. None of you will know me because I don’t exist. But for simplicity you can call me X.” At this point I began to sense something much bigger was going on. X continued: “Unlike the other 75 pilots this group has been selected to work on the more delicate matter. This means that every thing in this room can never leave this room. There is a major problem and our head scientist, Z, will tell you what is going on.” Z then said: “Okay so there’s a problem and we have 5 years to fix it. Your job as pilots is to fly to other galaxies and collect data. The problem is that the moon has been rotating around the earth at an inconsistent speed decreasing by 15% on random date. There are no coincidences from when it happens. But if we can’t fix the problem in five years, the earth will be covered in half ice and the other half fire. Your mission is to find a moon with non-livable and livable planets and collect the data so we can try to find a solution, or at least find out why.” X then said: “Okay go to floor 350 and get ready to take off. Each of you will have a partner which you will be assigned once you get up there.” This will be the first time in human history that they leave the galaxy. But the people wont know because of the secrecy of the mission.

A Mission

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I’m running, on a mission. I was told that I had until midnight to figure everything out, and I scramble to collect every clue I can find.

Scavenging for money, I throw it all in a suitcase, get my sister, and run. We have the supplies, and I’ll return the money later, I promise.

We suddenly find ourselves in an elevator, going deep underground in an unknown building. We are in spy headquarters, and I am a double agent. I have to find out who I’m pretending to work for, and what they want from me.

I find myself going on adventures and expeditions; I am in places I don’t recollect traveling to. From walking through city streets to exploring exotic jungles, I drag my suitcase behind me and hope for the best.

My sister is close behind me, and together we keep an eye out for them. We don’t know who we’re looking for, but we look out nonetheless.

We walk for what seems like hours, days, and without talking we focus intently. The suitcase seems to drag behind me  – carrying the weight of distress and lies.

Finally back at the headquarters, we are told what we are looking for. About to find out, we are suddenly moved back home, where we return the money. It didn’t get used anyway, it was for protection, and to appear legitimate.

We shed our jackets, take off our glasses, and sit down. We reflect on the mission, for it was unfinished, and needs to be accomplished.

Photo Credit: http://www.jazzhostels.com

Sneak Peek

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Hi, people.  I’m writing a book right now.  I’ve gotten about 16 pages done — aren’t you proud?  Here’s a chapter.  Hopefully you can read all of them next year, maybe even in a published book.

 

8-

I am running.

Footfall after footfall, the black street disappears behind me as a I fly through the night.

Out of breath, I whip my head around. They are still following me, almost about to catch me.

The game soon becomes a chase, similar to how a cheetah chases a gazelle.

I hop over logs, stumbling but righting my balance. I launch forward onto my hands and swing my legs up and over my body. This sets them off a few paces.

I continue running.

This is true freedom.

Fighting for my survival, fighting to win, to be safe. The wind passes through my hair and keeps it upright behind me.

I do not slow down.

They are laughing, stumbling, trying to catch up. We are all full of pancakes, bacon, eggs. It is slowing them down.

I keep going, ignoring the sharp pain in the bottom of my stomach.

I turn a corner, taking it like a race car, slanting so far down that I am almost parallel to the grass on the side of the street.

I am aware of everything around me – the gas station on the corner, the yogurt store across from it, the three boys behind me, my white converse hitting the ground.

I am exhilarated.

Adding some Magic

lanative13 Comments

 

When I decided to go to boarding school, I think I had some idea that it would be just like going to Hogwarts. In some ways, it is.

At OVS, we have prefects- just like the stuck up Percy Weasley, Gryffindor prefect. We also have all school games, just like Quidditch. The one thing we are missing? Houses.

In Harry Potter, there are four houses- Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. Students are sorted into these houses based on personality traits, and the houses compete throughout the year to win the House Cup. Points toward this goal are earned through good deeds and conduct. Points are deducted when students are insolent or insufficient.

I think that OVS should try having houses as well. It seems like a fun way to get involved with the school, as well as a good way to make friends. It would also promote good behavior without an overwhelming sense of discipline.

I also wouldn’t complain if OVS acquired some flying broomsticks or owls as well. Just saying.

O Swell

frog3Leave a comment

fefe

O gee willikers mister. Today on the magic yellow dragon with wheels I had the privilege of traveling to lower. It was so nar. As I jumped in the clean pool the water greeted me with a warm embrace. It was swell. After mingling and speaking to my fellow OVS students I went on the greatest walk I’ve ever been on. A magic bear appeared before me, it said “ if you could have one wish would it be.” I simply replied “ I wish I wish I was a fish.” After that I wish came to true I turned into a great black fish whom was able to swim the seven seas.

Accidents

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That time you found me on the ground, reaching for my inhaler, you picked me up and tossed me into the car. We drove to the hospital and arrived at 3am, but had to wait until 7am until we could go inside. I struggled with every breath, and with every breath I would think “finally…”

The times I was in a speeding car, watching the door handle, wondering whether or not it would open by some luck of fate. Perhaps the turn would be too sharp, or maybe my dog would jump onto it.

I lived on a tall building all my life. I often liked to look over it and wonder how long I’d feel the pain if I fell down. The window was tall though, and it would be difficult to trip and fall through.

Sometimes I’d walk through my woods. I called it my woods because nobody else bothered to explore it. I saw wolves, bears and mountain lions, but they all ran from me. Why would you run from me? Couldn’t you easily kill me? Wouldn’t you want to?

Old buildings were also fun to explore. The floors were old and rickety, and I often found myself stepping on particularly thin boards hoping to fall through. I was too light, that’s what everyone said, and the boards would creak and moan but I never did fall through.

I kept waiting for accidents. My aim is to disappear off the earth completely with no trace to follow or mourn over.

Guess I’ll have to keep trying.

HAHahA

frog3Leave a comment

dede

Do you like the outdoors and having fun on the weekend? Well that is just to %$^#& bad. Carl Cooper, Headmaster of Ojai Valley School Upper Campus, recently turned what had been a swell hike with myself and several friends into an irrational annoying ordeal. The story is simple as all tragic tales are.

Saturday, mid afternoon, we hiked technically off” campus by following the riverbed that begins at the Barn. The hike was fun a simple excursion filled with such wonders as cool soothing water and delicious mini waterfalls. Alas upon our return whom was waiting there? Mr. Cooper.

So he appeared quite angry, with me in particular, he had “caught” me returning from a hike before, this “crime” was the second such indiscretion. Mr. Cooper for the second time told me no one was allowed to hike upon that river bottom without express permission from the property owner. Now looking back that is simply not true.

Mr. Cooper’s anger with me (and the people I was with) stemmed from the fact that we did not ask him if we could go on the hike. He had once even said that I could take people on hikes as long as I asked him. The reason of not having permission from said property owners makes no sense to my feeble, young, mind. I ask simply for what I consider a rational explanation.