Fliffertown

"Jeremy? I'm going to the hardware store, I'll be back soon."
"Okay Dad."
"And whatever you do, do NOT go in that cellar."
"Yes Dad."

I waited until I heard the front door slam shut before I jumped up and ran over to the cellar door. I quickly took out the copy of my Dad's fingerprint (that I carefully took off of his toothbrush that morning) and placed it on the scanner. Success. Several moments later the giant cellar door slid open and my jaw dropped. I carefully crept down the stairs into an immensely dark room, with only one light on. The light shined on a strange and glorious object, and found myself standing still, in awe. I walked over to the object and read, "Flifferhuzza" and opened its small door. I sat down on a tiny seat inside and I jumped when a strange, robotic voice said "Welcome". My mind was swirling with wondrous thoughts about what this Flifferhuzza could be. "An ice cream machine? No, why would Dad hide an ice cream machine. A toothbrusher? That's dumb. Well, there's only one way to find out." I pushed a giant red button and suddenly, the Earth began to shake. A seat belt was snapped onto my lap, a helmet was dropped onto my head, and suddenly I was shot through a clear tube from the dark cellar of my house into the white fluffy clouds. I landed with a thud and I could not believe what I saw. The Flifferhuzza had taken me to a land among the clouds. A land that goes by the name of "Fliffertown". I stepped out of the Flifferhuzza and was suddenly scooped up by a crowd of "people" that were 3 feet tall, chubby, and had purple skin. Apparently these small little creatures were called Fliffernauts. I tried asking them where I was, but none of them understood me. After wondering around this odd town for hours, I finally found a human. The human went by the name of Sara, and she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. I was beyond thankful that i finally found a human in this place, and her being pretty was a huge plus. Sara and I became friends and we decided not to go back down to Earth. We got married and stayed in Fliffertown for the rest of our lives. We even raised a small family of Fliffernauts. The End

Difficult Conversation

Jane and Megan have been best friends their whole life. They grew up together and were inseparable up until last year. At the beginning of last year, Megan got a boyfriend and to Jane, it seemed like Megan had forgotten about her. After a couple of months of Megan barely talking to Jane, she decided to confront Megan about it.
Jane: Hey Megan, can I talk to you for a sec?
Megan: Sure! What's up?
Jane: Well I've noticed recently ever since you got your boyfriend that we haven't been hanging out as often as we used to. I'm happy for you because I know you're happy with him but I feel like you don't have time for me anymore. When I try talking to you you never seem to ask me about what's going on in my life and I can't help but feel that you don't care about our friendship anymore.
Megan: Ugh Jane I KNEW you would act like this! You're just jealous because I have a boyfriend and you don't.
Jane: Are you kidding me?! Jealous of him?! That's hilarious. Wow typical Megan, always has to turn the situation around and make me the bad guy.
Megan: TYPICAL MEGAN?! How about typical Jane who is always jealous of me and can never just be happy for me.
Jane: I told you I was happy for you. This isn't about the fact that you got a boyfriend it's about the fact that you don't make time for me anymore. I'm supposed to be your best friend. And if you can't see that, then I guess our friendship means nothing to you.
Megan: I try to make time for you Jane it's just really hard balancing school and friends at once.
Jane: And yet you still have time to be with your boyfriend? Maybe it'd be better off if we just weren't friends.
Megan: Fine.
Jane: Fine.

Adora Svitak

While watching TED talk with Adora Svitak, I realized many things that I've never thought about before. When I first began watching it I could not believe that Adora was just a kid. Her vocabulary was so advanced that most of the words she used I didn't know the definition of. One of the points she made was that a common assumption that adults make is that children and the word "childish" represent irresponsibility and irrational thinking. But why is irrational thinking such a bad thing? Aren't children supposed to have wild imaginations? Doesn't irrational thinking make things more interesting and fun? In my opinion there aren't enough dreamers and irrational thinkers in the world. Another good point that Adora made in the TED talk was that learning between adults and kids should be a two-way street. Adults should realize that children have opinions and voices too. We are the new generation after all, so why aren't our voices heard as much as adults? Since what we do today is setting the stage for the future generation, children and teenagers should have more of a say in what goes on in in the school systems and in our community.

BEST FRIEND WANTED

A best friend is someone who you can spend hours with doing nothing, and still never get bored. A best friend is also someone who will listen to what you have to say and be there for support.

Qualities of a best friend:
-Good sense of humor
-Trustworthy
-Good listener
-Caring
-Kind
-Likes to talk about music
-Has a similar taste in music as I do/ open to the music I like

A best friend cannot:
-Be conceited
-Only believe that their opinions are right
-Be close-minded
-Be judgmental

The Piano

I can only play two songs.
The song of my brain and the song of my heart.
The song of my brain is played by hundreds of students who come and go.
Some are happy, some are bored.
One boy with curly hair comes in every Monday.
He slams his book on my book stand.
He groans when the teacher asks him to play.
He jabs at my keys with every note.
It hurts, but I have to keep playing.
One girl with pigtails always comes in with a smile.
She tickles my keys as her tiny, gentle fingers try and hit each note.
I am always happy to see her.
She only comes for a year.
When all the students leave for the day, and my owner sits down and touches her fingers to my keys,
I play the most beautiful song.
Made of pure happiness and serenity.
But then one day something is wrong.
I don't see my owner anymore.
I stay in the same spot for 18 years.
Not a single person has played me.
One day, I am put in an auction.
A rich woman wearing designer sunglasses bought me.
I am moved into her house the next day,
Hopeful and excited that maybe someone in this house will want to play me.
It turns out I was just for show.
I sat there, idle for years and years.
People passed by, saying how beautiful I was.
The only time I spoke was when the housekeeper dusted my keys,
or when the cat scampered across me.
When the rich woman died,
Her children, all adults now, went around the house, deciding which things were theirs.
I sat there watching,
Praying that one of them would take me somewhere where I could finally be played.
One of her children came over,
Pressed hard on my keys,
And I made an ugly sound.
I'd never heard myself make that sound before.
The sound of sorrow, neglect, and loneliness.
The children looked at each other with a look of disgust,
And the next day I was sent to a horrible place.
I was thrown into a pile of garbage.
Completely surrounded with trash and other unwanted items.
I will never speak again.

I can only play two songs.
The song of my brain,
that I was made to play.
And the song of my heart,
a beautiful lullaby, turned into an ugly tragedy.

Enthusiam

Usually what makes me enthusiastic about learning is when I am motivated. Going to school for 180 days and having to sit in 5 different classes for 67 minutes each can get pretty boring. But even though I sometimes dread waking up early and getting out of bed in the morning, I try to look at the big picture. If I get through these school days and learn what I'm supposed to and get good grades now, my future life will be more successful. When I'm motivated to do something and I succeed in doing it, I feel proud of myself and that is the best feeling. So what makes me enthusiastic about learning is the proud feeling I will have when I learn something new and use that knowledge in school and in the outside world. Also what makes me enthusiastic about learning is when the teacher uses a fun and interesting approach towards a subject. I personally think it is the worst when you have a class that you really do not like, and all we do in the class is take notes and listen to the teacher talk the entire time. If the class is boring and I don't enjoy the subject, why would I be motivated to learn about it? Why should I be enthusiastic to learn more about the subject? Last year, I really enjoyed my chemistry class because chemistry came easy to me and I found it really interesting. I was wide awake in that class and was ready to learn. We got to do experiments and visually see things that we were being taught instead of just simply taking notes on them. Since I was enthusiastic about learning more about chemistry, I got good grades it made me really proud of myself.

Courage

Two years ago when I went to Disneyland and there was a giant roller coaster that my little brother wanted to go on. I don't really do roller coasters and neither do my parents but I built up the courage to go on with my little brother. I ended up having a lot of fun.