Thursday, February 4, 2021

2020-2021 YGA & RESA--3rd Per. PURPLE

 

¨Every Kid´s Dream¨

By Rylee Little

            Charlie had just finished supper. “Wanna play catch?” Charlie asked.

 “Cmon son, now you know that aint even a question by now!¨ Charlie and his father had played catch every day since the day he was able to throw a baseball.

            “Still not playing baseball?” Dad asked. “You ain't ever gonna make it to the big leagues if you don't!” Charlie looked over at his father with a depressed look, “ No dad,¨ he replied.

 ¨It aint that girlfriend of yours is it?” Dad replied. Charlie was beginning to get irritated with him. “No, now stop bugging me dad!” His father looked at his feet and shook his head. School ball had been Charlie's main incentive to keep playing past REC ball.

            Tryouts were the next day, and Charlie was still not playing. His father had come in before work and asked one more time, hoping for a different answer. Before his father was able to get the words out, Charlie had already replied with “ No dad, have a good day at work.”  His father shut the door back still disappointed. 

            Over the next week Charlie noticed his father was still disappointed. The regret was beginning to sink it. He began beating himself down. Charlie knew that he needed to apologize to his father, but didnt know how to properly apologize. He never realized how much playing baseball really meant to his father.

 

 

 

“My Battle Buddy”

By Kate Swick

I was drafted into the army in 1941, somewhere around late July if I recall correctly. I had no idea what to expect. I went into the process thinking it wasn’t going to be that bad, and at first it wasn’t. Basic training started out fairly easy; then everything got harder than I ever dreamed. War was erupting all throughout Europe, and Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, and then the United States decided to declare war with the Axis powers.

I never planned on going to the military, but they called me to duty and sent me out in one of the first airborne units. It was the first time I had ever been near a plane; muchless in one. I remember my battle buddy, Ryan, talking to me on that plane, telling me how scared he was to fly. Oh yeah, did I mention that we weren't just going to fly for the first time, but we were supposed to jump out of that plane? We were both just kids at 19, and we knew what we were doing was valiant but also very scary. I got so scared that I didn’t jump out of the plane with Ryan like I was expected to. When I finally jumped all these petrifying thoughts stormed my head. I realised then that I wasn’t going to be with my battle buddy as planned. If only I had jumped when I was supposed to instead of being paralyzed by fear.  At this point, we were two lost young soldiers out there alone. It seemed the best I could hope for was for each of us to live through this nightmare and find each other again.

I landed out in the middle of a somber forest in Germany with no one--just me and my weapon and a little food. I finally found another infantry unit after two weeks. I knew no one, but they just took me in and acted as if I was one of their own, which at this point I was. Two weeks after being found we were making our way through a town in Germany when one of the men in our unit was shot down by a sniper. I was the only one who could figure out where the shot came from, so they handed me the rifle with the enhanced scope on it. I found a nice spot of cover and a clear shot of the tower where the sniper was watching us. As soon as I could get my gun set and zero in on him, I fired a shot! I know I hit that sniper because I was the best shot in the group. After all, I did grow up shooting all my life. Afterwards, nothing else was fired from the tower, and we  never saw anyone come out.

Every time I saw one of my guys go down I had this feeling of why wasn’t that me; why did it have to be one of the guys who had an entire family back home. I’m not proud of all the lives I took or saw taken in front of me, but I still believe that those guys are in good places but I just wish I could be there and join them someday. Unfortunately,  with all I did during the war I doubt there’s even a chance I’ll ever see those guys again.

 

“The Curse of the Australian Flower”

Rylie McHolan

 

It was a beautiful August morning on the island of Hawai’i, and I was getting to go on my daily run. I like to run and meditate in the mornings just to wake up and get my day started. My name is Leilani, in Hawaii it means child of heavenly flowers. I really enjoy finding beautiful flowers on the island. When I do I take them home and dry them out. 

So on this 9th day of August I see a pink and yellow rose. It was sprouting out in the sand, which is pretty uncommon. It was just too beautiful to leave it on the ground. I should have just left it there. There was something off about the flower. It was nothing like I’ve ever seen before, and it had a weird vibe to it. I didn't think anything about it though, and I put it in my bag, so  I could take it home and dry it out. As I started to run everything seemed normal until I was near where I had to turn around and come back and I twisted my ankle. That had never happened to me before because I'm normally more cautious about the way the sand lays on the beach. I had to finish limping home that day. When I got home my ankle was so swollen I could barely walk any further. I thought it was just bad luck, but when I took the flower out of my bag it was standing up straight and had a faint glow to it. I figured that it was because it had been in my bag for so long.

 A few months later crazy things kept happening, but I never thought it was the flower. One afternoon I was sitting in my bed doing homework when I looked up and saw the same faint glow of the flower. About that time my mom came home and told me we had to go to the hospital that my dad had gotten hurt. When we got there he could come back home, and he just broke his arm. He said he tripped at work, but when he got up there was nothing on the ground. Another crazy thing I realized was the flower never dried like the rest of them, so I did some research on it. Turns out the flower has never grown in Hawaii and is nearly extinct. It’s origin is Australia which is very far from here. I just let it go like it was doomed for me to pick up the flower.

 Then another terrible thing started to occur. Around this time it was the beginning of May 2018 and we were having to evacuate for a volcano which was going to erupt. This volcano has been non active for several years. After we came back home the flower was standing up straight. I was so confused about all of this going on. I thought it couldn’t have possibly been a cursed flower could it? I was going crazy to the point where it kept me up at night. After a few days I finally decided just to put the flower back to see if it would make life any easier. I took it to the same exact spot I picked it up at, and over the next few days everything started going back to normal. Now after all that happened I only pick up flowers I know are normal in Hawaii. I regret picking it up that day, but thankfully I put it back where it belongs.

 

  

             “Little Stuffed Dog”

By Kylee Jones

My name is Andrea Moss and I was born in the hospital, Atlanta Birth Center. From the first time up until now my Grandma Dorthy has been my absolute best friend. My mom would always tell me, “I remembered when you would cry all the time until your grandma held you and it was like you were a whole different baby. Everyday my grandma would stop by and give me cookies or little treasures and I would absolutely love them. My dad would always try to spend time with me2 but I always chose grandma. She was my best friend and even felt like she was my other half.

I remembered at my third birthday party my grandma came to surprise me. She had handed me a box that had a stuffed black and tan German shepherd puppy in it, I've been wanting one of them for who knows how long. I picked it up and examined it for every feature, and I held it as if someone was going to try and take it away from me. My grandma showed me its paw and told me to press it. As I pressed she started smiling at me and the dog began to say, “I'll love you forever and always.” I started to laugh and smile, “I’ll love you forever too grandma!”                                              A few years passed and I was starting 11th grade soon. I was on my phone when my dad and grandma came into my room and was asking if I wanted to go and do something with them. And of course I blew them off and said, “I’m actually going to my friends house instead, maybe next time though.” I got off the phone and saw my grandma walking away from my room as if she was sad. I ran out of my room and told them I was headed to my friends house, my grandma came and hugged and told me, “Be safe and I’ll love you forever and always.” We used to say that to each other every time I would go somewhere, but this time I just left without even saying goodbye. 

I got to my friends house and we were having fun and doing everything a typical teen would do,like painting our nails or doing each other's hair. As we were about to lay down and watch a movie I got a call from my dad which was odd, so I answered. My dad was crying. He never cries, not like this atleast. I asked him what was wrong and I could barely hear him but enough to know he said, “Get to the hospital fast.” I started to tear up as I asked my friend's mom to take me to Emory Healthcare. I jumped out while the car was still moving and ran into the hospital, only to see what I despised the most. My mom and dad standing there comforting each other. I started crying and choked out the words,”Where's grandma?!” They looked at me in the look that I knew what happened.                                                                                     

I started shaking my head and started to hyperventilate. I started crying hysterically and asked, “She's ok though, right?” They looked at me and started to walk up to me and started crying. I knew what happened. I just lost my best friend and my other half all in one night. I started screaming, “NO NO NO she's not gone, she's still here. She has to be.” My mom started stroking my face and said, “I’m so sorry honey.” 

I started running out of the hospital and started running. I don't know where I was going all I know is I wasn't stopping. I stopped to look where I was and saw I was surprisingly at my front door steps, which means I had to have been running for at least 20 minutes. I unlocked the door and ran up to my room and slammed the door with everything I had in me. I jumped on my bed and threw the stuffed animal at the wall when I heard it. “I’ll love you forever and always!” I slowly got up with my blurry eyes and walked over to the stuffed animal and picked it up. I pressed its paw and heard her voice again. It sounded so pure and alive as if she was in the room with me. 

I started crying again and kept saying I’m sorry over and over again. I hated myself for blowing them off. I could've had one more time, one more everything. And I blew it off like it was nothing. I started to press the paw over and over again, but it was dead. I started to cry even harder then before. She told me she loved me and I didn’t say anything except goodbye. I hated myself for that too, I hated myself for everything. I regretted everything. If only I could reverse time and go back, even if it was just to say I love you back.

 

 

 

 

“Scuba Diving”

By Sydney Kinsey

 

            The water all around me was clear as glass, fish poking in and out of the reef that caused this mighty pirate ship to sink hundreds of years ago.  The splintered hull was hidden beneath a thick layer of sediment and sea creatures that had made their homes in each crack and crevice of the ancient wood.  Darting in and out of the undersea landscape flowed bright yellow and red tropical fish and schools of mahi glinting against the rays of sunshine that penetrated the depths.  Giant green sea turtles and the occasional dolphin playing in the distance completed this surreal underwater scene.

            Beyond this sunken vessel was Jonah, one of my companions for all of our diving expeditions and adventures that had recently become so popular.  Even though we had started our YouTube channel almost two years ago, it seemed like my three best friends and I had just started filming our dives and our crazy lives together.  Jonah always had my back underwater, Zach never let a moment go by without a camera in his hand, and Jack researched and lined up the best adventure spots we could imagine.

            The four of us had always bee    n closer than brothers. Our adventures, including this third pirate ship that our followers begged us to explore, brought us even closer to each other because of how much we relied on each other.  The mystery and sense of excitement we all felt when splashing in on top of a new shipwreck together, rather than the money we made filming and posting videos, was the real reason we put our lives on the line so many times.  Our travels all over the world, filming every kind of shipwreck imaginable, proved to us over and over how valuable our friendship and trust in each other really was.

            When Jack asked our followers for ideas for this video, most of the feedback he got was to bring us back to the crystal clear waters and sunny beaches in the Caribbean. And, of course, what is better in the Caribbean than pirate ships!  The best part of this trip was when we rolled up on the beach in St. Thomas and Zach put on a show for our fans dressed like Captain Jack Sparrow complete with a live parrot on his shoulder.  This video got more views than anything we’ve ever done!

We had learned to be careful, though, of listening too much to our followers and not enough to our hearts about exploring the world together.  We often got requests to do dangerous dives or “dares” that might make us famous.  Sometimes there were even offers to do underwater stunts for money.  But our commitment to each other and keeping each other safe was always our first priority

Before we had finished filming a dive that we were enjoying together, Jack got a message from a follower who claimed to have found a treasure map in his attic that had been passed down for generations in his family.  As soon as we heard him say “treasure map” we immediately decided to end the dive we were on and set sail to meet this treasure hunter just a few hundred miles away.  It seemed crazy that just a short journey bouncing across the choppy water stood between us and a treasure that hadn’t been seen for hundreds of years.

Even though this idea really excited all of us, deep down something was telling me that chasing this treasure was wrong. We had always told each other that our friendship comes first and making money comes later.  We had seen too many friendships and YouTube channels fail because people made making money more important than friends.  Still, the idea of finding hidden treasure kept us sailing on.  

Sailing, as it turned out, was the only thing we did on this adventure. After a few weary days and nights on the water and a few cases of energy drinks, we finally realized that this fantasy of a treasure map was just a fantasy.  Our mysterious and new partner in this treasure hunt wasn’t waiting for us in the cove of a secret caribbean island or anywhere else.  The excitement and anticipation that we had all experienced when we started out on this adventure began to quickly fade.  That little voice inside of me telling me that we should be true to ourselves and not chase fortune was now all I could hear as the boat began to turn back.

As Jonah, Zach, and I were making our last pass filming this ship that had spent the last 300 years underwater, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a careless thing it was to stop our last shoot to chase a treasure that didn’t exist.  The whole point of us cruising around the world finding beautiful and amazing things to film is to document our lives together and deliver something incredible for our followers.  It turns out that the real treasure is spending time with the people you care about and making memories with them that will last a lifetime.

 

 “The Red X”

 

By Caleb Long

 

  FLASH! BOOM! POW! And yet another day is saved by the amazing Red X! Or as close friends and family know me, Edward Jones. I was born in Malibu, California into a rich family. My dad, Jeff Jones, was a successful businessman, founder and CEO of a famous scientific engineering company known as Jones Industries. My mother, Heather Jones, was your typical everyday stay at home wife and mother. Being born into such a famous family I was used to the cameras and paparazzi at a young age. I first gained my individual attention when I was four. I gained attention for being the first four year old to build a working circuit board. I was always a very smart kid. I often excelled in school and studied quite a bit. I enjoyed feeling smarter than everyone else in school. I also received many academic awards for my smarts. My biggest and most memorable achievement was at age fifteen. When I was fifteen I didn’t only gain attention from the news but also from my dream college, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T). I gained international recognition for being the first fifteen year old and first person ever to build a working lightsaber. For the next five years I was living on top of the world. I was enrolled in my dream college, dating the girl of my dreams, I thought what could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. It was June the fifteenth, I was twenty years old and living my best life. Me and my father were on the way to a meeting at Jones Industries. Suddenly, shots fired, bullets came crashing through the windows of my vehicle hitting me and my father. Both me and my father were hit in the chest. I was hit just to the left of my heart leaving a large X-shaped scar on my chest and my father was hit directly in the heart. I survived, sadly my father wasn't so lucky. For the next year I was very depressed, I broke up with my girlfriend, and dropped out of college due to depression and not being able to focus. After a year of non-stop sadness I finally decided enough was enough. I stepped up and used my father’s company earnings to build a house and workshop. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life until one day. I was working in my shop then suddenly my shirt caught on fire from an experiment gone wrong. Luckily, I took it off in time and put it out, then I looked in the mirror at my scar and decided what I wanted to do. Seeing that scar gave me the flashback of me and my father in the drive by shooting that took the life of my father. I decided that I didn't want others to suffer the way I had to because someone broke the law. “Crime must stop!” I yelled to myself. I decided that I wanted to fight crime and save lives! For the next few months I built myself an indestructible suit made of stainless steel. I painted a large red x in the middle of the suit representing the scar on my chest. On the back of the suit was a quote stating, “For you dad.” painted in black bold letters representing me fighting crime for my father’s vengeance. I decided to call myself Red X. I would avenge my father by fighting crime and keeping the city of Malibu safe from all criminals.



“The World's Worst Insect”

By Caleb Long

 

     Ah yes, here I am. Mid-June, right in the middle of summer. I was outside just minding my business enjoying my summer break, sun bright, grass green, and the pool clean. I tore all my clothes off, shirt, shorts, shoes, socks, obviously not my underwear, and jumped straight in. The water was crystal blue and cool as an ice cube. I didn't mind the cold, it was already 100 degrees out, and I had sweat pouring down me like a waterfall. All was fun and colorful, until the monster came. By monster I mean a small little black demon about as big as the tip of a pencil and literally had nothing better to do than ruin my day. I absolutely did nothing to that little insect. All I was doing was enjoying the bright yellow sun on a blue summer day, and the gnat decided to fly right in my ear. When the gnat flew in my ear I nearly drowned trying to get it out. My head went under, and all I saw was blue and white bubbles in the water and felt the water rushing up my nose and into my brain. Finally, I got out of the water and got the gnat out. I had to run to the house because the concrete was so hot I swear my feet were smoking and smelt of a nice BBQ on a Sunday night. Luckily I got in safe and sound before the gnat could get all his fellow gnat friends and terrorize me. Gosh, sometimes I think Gnats are The World's Worst Insect.

 

     I mean just think about it. What is a gnat’s purpose in this world? They live to make people irritated. There are many insects with certain purposes in this world but gnats are not one of them. They simply do not have a purpose. Now, believe me there are some other insects that are almost as annoying as gnats for example mosquitos, fleas, fruit flies, etc. But trust me they don't

 top gnats.

  

 

      The one most annoying type of gnat is a sand gnat. Oh my gosh don’t get me started on sand gnats. I literally despise sand gnats. There was one time I was at the beach on a beautiful blue sunny day trying to enjoy myself laying on the crisp smooth sand but soon found out I couldn't because it was infested with sand gnats. So, I then was forced to run into the salty water for dear life while everyone looked at me like I was running from a serial killer. That's right you heard me I said I got bit. Sand gnats are the only gnats that can actually bite you so that makes them tens times worse than normal.

 

     Anyway, I am absolutely soul set on hating gnats. There's just nothing good about them and never will be. I really don’t like any type of insect but gnats are an exception. Sometimes I think gnats are the world's worst insect.

 

          “Buggy”

Kylee Jones

            A while back me and my mom went to Walmart to pick up a couple of things. We had somewhere to be so we weren't trying to spend all day in there, so we grabbed our things and headed to the front. We were behind this lad walking towards the checkouts and she had a buggy-full. We thought she was gonna go to the other checkouts. But no, she went to the self checkout and I just looked at her. And not to mention the self-checkout only had one that took a card, which was the one we needed. So we had to wait about 10 mins just so she could finish scanning her items. Everyone else that was behind us was already gone and we were still standing there. I tried to make it pretty obvious so I walked over to all of them to “check” and before I went back I told my mom in a rather loud voice, “All of them are cash except for that one.” I pointed at the scanner she was at. She looked at me and turned back to scanning her items as if she was gonna be there all day. I groaned. The lady finally got finished and left. I don't understand. Why couldn't she just have just gone to the other checkouts like she was supposed to. The sign obviously said,”10 items or less”

            Another time we were actually at the walmart in warner robins and it was only about a week ago when this happened. We had to get a few things, probably only about 5 small things. We went upfront to the checkout and there was this lady that had a buggy that looked like it had a few more items then we had. We waited until the lady said there was one open. And my mom had asked the lady with the buggy if we could go ahead of her because we had to be somewhere and we were already late. The lady just acted like she didn't hear us and then the lady had said WE, as me and my mom, that we could come up there with her and she would scan our stuff for us. The lady in front of us went and the scanner lady tried to tell her she meant us but she was still walking up there. Mama just told the scanner lady it would be fine. About a minute later one opened up and we went and checked out. We went by and the lady that had a buggy looked at me and smiled. I just looked at her with a very mean look. 

 

 

 

 

“Negative Nancy”

By Kate Swick

            It seriously bugs me any time I hear people speak negatively about themselves, especially when they are really fishing for compliments. These people are usually very good looking folks with the money to keep up with the latest trends and still have a desperate need for attention from others, even if they consider the others to be a lower standard person. I’ve had friends who everytime they have gotten  a haircut or worn a new outfit made a point of insulting how it looks on them. They typically start a conversation about the change by making comments such as, “I just hate this haircut.” or “These clothes make me look fat (or too skinny depending on the person).” Most of the time, they actually think the haircut or clothing accentuates their better qualities, but they really want to hear such comments from someone else. However,I would much prefer they simply ask my opinion if they want to bring it up versus hearing the negative comments.

            It also irritates me when people speak negatively about themselves because they think that it’s normal. Some people seem to think that a constant negative outlook protects them from disappointment or getting their feelings hurt. For instance, some people will make a negative comment about themselves whether they believe it or not before someone else has the opportunity to insult them. Sometimes people just expect someone in a group to be mean and that having a negative outlook will protect their feelings if someone is being rude to them. On the other hand, some people are “Negative Nancys” all of the time, and it doesn’t matter if the comments are regarding themselves or others around them. 

            One day me and my friend were sitting at her house and she said something about not liking her new haircut. She had a straight across haircut with blonde highlights, normally having it tucked behind her ear. Her haircut was curtain bangs and a kind of tapered and feathered around the back and sides, and she dyed it darker so the highlights were now invisible. She looked wildly different from how she had before the big hair change, but she still looked good, and the cut suited her face well. She kept going on and on about how it made her head look funny or made her eyes not pop. I started getting irritated because she wouldn’t stop downing how she looked. It was too late to go back to her old hair since she got bangs and tapered and feathered the rest. If she wanted to go back to her old look she would have to cut it super short and wait for the bangs to grow and then dye it and go through an extremely long and drawn out process.

           

 

“Better Late Than Never”

Rylie McHolan

            “Better late than never.” My sister said walking out the door running late like always. It was our second day pushing time to be at soccer practice when it starts. Today she was laying on the couch taking, what most would call, a cat nap. Soccer started at 5, so as I was getting ready I look down and see that it is 4:45, and I haven't heard her getting ready. I run out my room into the living room and wake her up. It was like I just woke an angry grizzly bear up from hibernation. She stomped into her room mad that I woke her up. The whole way to her room she was mumbling that we still had plenty of time. 4:55 comes around like it's running a race, and she's still not in the car. She had to do her hair, put on practice clothes, soccer socks, shin guards, shoes, pack her bag, and still get her stuff in the car. Finally she comes out the door with all her stuff. She’s slamming doors, and mumbling because I woke her up. We finally get on the road after what seemed like forever, and we get behind our teammate, who of course, is also running late. She was driving so slow, so we pulled into the school right at 5. I ran right inside to find our team already stretching.

            The day before was one of our in person school days, so you would imagine that we would be on time right. Wrong. On normal days practice starts at 3:30. On this day the bell rang, so I went to my sister's class to find her taking a test. I walked down to the bathroom to go change, and I’m still thinking we’re not going to be late. After a few more minutes I finally see her walking down the hall towards me.  As she gets to me she says she has to go get her clothes, and what seems like 50 bags out of her car which is on the other side of the parking lot. After what feels like an eternity she comes walking in slower than pond water back into the school. It took her about 7 minutes to get changed, and then she came out of the bathroom to put on her shoes and socks. By now it is 3:17, and we head out to the car. We pull out to go to the field and we get there at 3:26 exactly, and you might be thinking that's on time. Technically yes practice doesn't start until 3:30, but everyone else gets there at 3:15 to start earlier to have more practice time. 

            Also she makes us late for church. Our church starts at 10, so we wake up at 8:15 to get ready then go to my grandparents to eat breakfast with them. My sister never gets up on time so we’re late to my grandparents which makes us really close to being late for church. My parents also get mad when she doesn’t get up on time, so it's not just me. I could keep going about everything we’re late too.

            I also get embarrassed when other people are late for things. For instance my aunt is 2 hours late for everything. It makes me embarrassed for her, but she doesn't seem to care. It's really not hard to be on time if you plan ahead, but she can’t plan ahead right apparently. Being late is something I hate more than anything else if you couldn’t tell.



“Disrespectful People”

By Harley Long

        A while back me and my mom were shopping, and on the opposite side of the aisle that we were on was a kid with her mom. She was probably 11 or 12 years old. Me and my mom were minding our business when overheard the two arguing over something. Her mom said “we didn’t come here to shop for you, we came to just get a gift for your sister”. The girl then got mad at her mom and started to yell and  say she hated her. The kid then storms off and walks out of the store, her mom chasing after her. Disrespectful kids bugs me because it's not ok to disrespect your parents or any adult like that.

 

            Another time was when I was outside and the people who lived down the road from me, daughter got mad at her parents for telling her to come inside and clean her room. She was playing outside when her mom came out and told her she could play when she cleaned her room, but she got mad and told her she would do it later. Her mom then said you need to come in and do it now. The kid starts getting an attitude with her mom and telling her that she doesn't tell her what to do and she will do it when she wants to.

     

      Me and my sister were going to Wendy's when we were caught up in traffic because there were people working on the road. The woman behind us got frustrated and started yelling at us to go. My sister had to yell back at her and tell that we couldn't move. When we got to Wendy’s the woman was being really rude to us. She didn’t get our order right. My sister went back back to get the right stuff but the woman argued with us that our order was right. My sister gets mad and just pulls off. Rude people bother because it’s not ok to disrespect people who respect you or people you don’t even know. 

 

 

 

 

“BEING PREPARED MATTERS”

By Sydney Kinsey

 

            School, for me, is a series of routines that I go through for each class to make sure that I have everything I need to succeed.  Everyday I pack my bookbag to have every subject in order, I check Google Classroom and Gmail to make sure I have all my assignments, and I check Powerschool every day to make sure all my assignments were turned in and recorded.  Normally, this routine is a perfect way to stay on track and earn awesome grades.  Last week, however, my rumbling stomach distracted me from taking my agriculture notes from the classroom binder and putting them in my bookbag. This led to me bombing the first test in Agriculture.  It bugs me when I’m unprepared.

            Being prepared is especially important when traveling.  So far I’ve taken trips to North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, California, and Tennessee.  Traveling is so much fun that I plan to do a whole lot more of it in the future.  On a few of these trips I’ve forgotten the personal care items that I’m used to having at home and that can be hard to find.  This caused us to have to spend time that we would have been enjoying our vacation together walking up and down the aisles of Walmart looking for the things I needed to take the perfect photos.

            Some things that we’ve recently had to learn to prepare for are the new COVID-related safety items.  Most of our lives we haven’t had to make sure we have a clean mask to wear or hand sanitizer after going to the store.  When the restrictions started, we bought comfortable masks to wear to school, but a few times we forgot to wash them and I had to wear a generic surgical mask that didn’t fit right.  Keeping a mask like that on your face right all day is super hard and was a great reminder to me not to be unprepared with a clean mask for school.

It also bugs me when other people are unprepared and it causes me to be unprepared because of how they deal with the problems they create.  My two brothers and I have to use the same shower.  The nice thing about it is that we have three towel hooks to hang each of our own towels on.  The not-so-nice thing is that I’m the only one of us who likes to be prepared by hanging my towel back up.  So when they take a shower and haven’t gotten ready for it by hanging their own towels up, they take my towel and leave it on the floor when they are done.  Essentially, they are using my towel to solve their issue, which leaves me unprepared for my shower, which bugs me.

            Another example of me being affected by my brother not being prepared is in the area of chores.  As I mentioned earlier, I normally like to have things done on time and done the right way.  My brother on the other hand, usually likes to wait till the last minute to do things.  In order for us both not to get in trouble, a lot of times I would end up having to do his chores as well as mine.  When my parents were both working full-time, they expected us to have our chores done before they got home from work.  So when my brother would not want to get up to do his chores and it was almost time for them to get home, I would have to do his work for him to keep him out of trouble.  Even when you’re prepared, life still can surprise you.

 

 

 

 ¨Sneaky Friends¨

By Rylee Little

 

            Hunting season is when a lot of people begin to show their true colors. I have noticed people trying to become friends with me just to get to hunt on my land. I have also noticed people doing this to my friends as well. They try to squeeze their way in a friendship to where they will get to hunt with the others on good hunts. Another thing I have noticed people doing a lot is lying about where something was killed, or how many of something they killed. There is nothing worse than a liar. A lot of people try to hide or be secretive about where they hunt. For instance, during deer season this year I noticed a big buck killed on the land next to ours. We are very close with the people that hunt next to us, so I asked where they killed it. The guy proceeded to lie to me to prevent me from hunting on that side of our land closer to him. Duck hunting is even worse. Around here ducks are such a treat to have, people are more stingy and secretive about them. An example of this is, earlier this season my best friend started killing a bunch of ducks. I take him hunting a lot and we talk almost every single day. However he would always lie about who he was with or where they hunted. I never cared about going with them, because I have my own spots, but he always thought I was trying to squeeze my way in on a hunt. Sometimes I would already know who he was with and where they hunted, but I would ask anyway just to see if he would lie. After four or five times I got really irritated with the lying. There is nothing more irritating than someone who continuously lies about little things that do not even matter. Growing up, I was always taught        

 

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