Day 1

I, Sarah Smith, am keeping a diary to write of the events that happen on our wondrous new adventure in the Caribbean Seas by way of an enormous cruise ship. I will be accompanied by my fellow Junior High classmates in an effort to learn something about marine life. Yeah, like that's going to happen. Well, I'll take it if it means laying by the pool side all day soaking up the sun and hanging out with my friends. Thanks goodness for the last fundraiser, otherwise we would've had to pay for our tickets ourselves, which wouldn't have worked out for me or many of my peers. So, on to the embarkment.

I arrived at the dock and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. The ship was almost exactly like one of those awesome cruise ships that you would see if you Googled "cruise ships." I had to give it to whoever planned this trip, they had spared no expense. My P.E. teacher, Mr. Don, was waiting at the dock with his suitcase in tow as well. "Hey, Sarah! Aren't you EXCITED?!?" (Mr. Don had the habit of yelling really loudly to get his point across). I rubbed my ears to stop the ringing. "Yup. I didn't know it was this fancy, though. I should've brought my laptop." Mr. Don looked over at my mountain of suitcases. "And what is that all made of, if not your laptop?" he asked. "Well, suitcase 1," I patted the normal-sized pink flowered suitcase. "is compiled of survival gear in the case of a shipwreck and we get stranded on a desert island. Suitcase 2," I patted the slightly large blue suitcase. "is made up of clothes, my iPod, and other various items that are a necessity to my well-being. Suitcase 3," I patted a smallish lime green bag. "Is made up of swimsuits, books in the event I should be bored, my headphones, and earbuds." "Wow," he said after a short period of silence. "And you forgot your laptop?" "Yup." I said disappointedly. At this point a few other student of which I have never before known had joined us on the dock. "Well, Mr. Don, why are we waiting here?" I asked him. "The crew members are double checking everything to make sure everything's in tip-top shape." he answered. "Nobody would be thrilled to learn that we were short a life raft or something." "Understood." I agreed. Because I knew it would probably be a while, I shifted through suitcase 2 to find my iPod and suitcase 3 to discover my headphones. I put my favorite playlist on shuffle until my best buddy, Michelle, arrived. Then we talked a while. After about two hours of waiting, we finally boarded; by this time, it was around dinner. All of the Junior High students met in the dining room to have an amazing dinner of shrimp bisque and sourdough rolls. All of us then retired to our various rooms, I was fortunate enough to be bunking with Michelle instead of a stranger. That night I dreamt of shrimps begging me for mercy as I plopped them into a big bowl of shrimp bisque, and I running away while slipping on thousands of sourdough rolls.   

The Balloon and the Cactus Pt. 2

The balloon stayed in the dessert quite some time; just floating there and talking to the cactus. The cactus loved the balloon very much, as a friend of course. Balloons and cacti falling in love? That's just silly! One day, after the balloon had stayed in the desert for over a week or so, the Mr. Green told Red what he really wanted, "A hug from someone I love." Now Red had been with Mr. Green for a while now, and they had become best friends. Red, of course, felt sorry that Mr. Green had never had a hug. However, Red was a balloon; and she knew if she gave Mr. Green a hug then she would probably pop in a SNAP! But, Red loved Mr. Green (as a friend of course) and decided to give him a hug; even if she popped, at least she would fulfill his dreams. So Red wrapped her string around Mr. Green, and Mr. Green took the dullest spines on his arms (the ones he had captured Red with) and they gave a light hug. Red waited for the pop to happen, but surprisingly, it didn't! Unbeknown to Red, Red was made of the strongest balloon in the world, the kind with a thin steel coating on the inside (if such a thing were possible). And, finally, Mr. Green got his long awaited hug; therefore, they lived happily ever after as huggable friends. 

The Balloon and the Cactus Pt. 1

Once upon a time there was a big ole saguaro cactus in the middle of the desert. This saguaro cactus stood above all the other cacti. All the squat barrel, jumping, and prickly pear cacti would look up to him with admiring spines and think, "Wow, that cactus is so cool! I wish I was like him and could see for miles 'round. All I can see now is about 4 feet in one direction." But this towering cactus' life wasn't as great as all the other cacti thought. Day after day this saguaro, whose name was Mr. Green, would long to have a nice, tender, loving hug. Day after day as the sun went up he would think, "Today, I will get a hug from someone I love." And day after day as the sun went down he would think, "Maybe tomorrow." So, day after day this cactus would wait for his first hug. After two hundred years of waiting, something appeared in the cobalt blue sky. A shiny, beautiful red balloon got caught in a dry bush beside the saguaro. "Ugh, Ow, Ugh, Ow!!!" the red balloon squealed at the poky bush. "Stop you're whining! It's no picnic for me either you know!" the bush grumbled back. The saguaro quickly bent down and tried to help the balloon out. Using only the dullest tips of his spines, his arms dislodged the red balloon from the bush. "Thank you," the red balloon sighed, relieved at being rescued from the grumpy bush's stickers. "No problem," Mr. Green replied. "But may I ask, what is your name?" "You may ask, and it's Red." the red balloon answered. "Figures." the bush muttered, still as grumpy as ever.

Magi's Present

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Magi. It wasn't my choice, trust me. Magi always got his name pronounced wrong, Magi always got teased because nobody could get his name right, and Magi understandably got fed up with it. So, he went by his middle name: James. Now, James didn't know that eventually his first name would be forgotten, and James hadn't the slightest inkling that he was going to go down in history as a fictional character. He was just James. Anyway, James lived back in the days where everything was dirt cheap. Yes, reader, I'm talking about the olden days your grandparents always talk about with a longing look; you know, the days where gas was only a nickel per gallon and so on and so forth. Now, despite those amazing low prices; James was super poor, like, $20 a week poor. And James had a family to take care of too! He had a lovely wife with long hair of whom he loved dearly, and this year he couldn't see how he could get his wife, Della (she didn't bother to go by her middle name), those cute combs he saw her eyeballing. Now, James had this sweet gold watch that his dad gave to him a long time ago. It must've been a whole lot of cash back in ye olden days. Now, James was in a dilemma. His wife would look even more smoking if she had those combs, and she would be elated to find out she'd gotten her them for Christmas. So James thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it. Then he thought about it some more. Finally, he decided the happiness of his wife was more important than any watch or expensive item. So, he sold his watch, bought the combs, and hurried home to his wife. Guess what? When he got home, Della had cut and sold her hair to get his gold antique watch a nice gold chain. When he showed Della he'd gotten her those combs, she was elated. "Don't worry, my hair grows fast." She said. "Well, let's just save our presents. They're too good to use now." And then Della and James ate supper, with no love lost between them.
And, as O. Henry said, "The magi, as you know, were wise men—wonderfully wise men—who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi."
I'm sure James was pretty flattered to be called a wise man, don't you? ;-)

Story is courtesy of www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/henry/Gift_Magi.pdf

 

The Dream-Crushing Song (When You Wish Upon a Star)

When you wish upon a figment,

Of your imagination,

Be prepared to be disappointed

'Cause dreams don't come true

Lockdown

The day started out just like any other Monday. The alarm went off, I hit the snooze button, groaned, then rolled out of bed. I ate breakfast, brushed my teeth, packed my backpack, jumped in the car and sped off to school. Just your average, typical Monday morning. However, out of all Mondays this Monday was particularly recognized; for this particular day was the day my school went into a major lockdown. Of course, I didn't know this at the time. I thought it was just one of those many obnoxious Mondays. But before I get into the creepy janitor/kidnapper/gunman; I should probably provide some back drop to truly understand what was happening.

My name is Faith Hope Love. My parents, my siblings and I, and pretty much all of my family are deeply devout Christians; and I guess my name was some sort of joke or they just really liked the verse.  Yes, my last name really is Love. Yes, my middle name really is Hope. And yes, my first name really is Faith. I have two little sisters, Joy and Peace (I know, my parents really need an extra dose of imagination). I had many friends and a few close best friends; three of which went to my school, and one who in hindsight was one of the key parts to our survival.

Stranded

Okay, just to get things straight; the beetles in the bed were not my fault. It just so happens that the poor darlings were homeless and shivering with the cruel, cold sea breeze wafting across the deck (we were on a cruise to the Bahamas). I figured that my mother would be pleased to see (or rather feel) that a kind, lonely family had found a place where they could feel truly welcome at last. This explains why I snatched the family of beetles up and plopped them into my mother's feather bed upon finding them. However, I can neither confirm nor deny that I smiled when I heard her shriek at the top of her lungs. Fine, I was laughing so hard the entire cruise ship could hear me. But still, how was I supposed to know that my mother's main ticklish spot (her feet) were the ideal spot for a beetle family picnic?