When Two Friends Meet by Ben G

It was a quiet peaceful day. The sun was shining and Becca was walking around in the nice little town in Poland. While she was walking she encounted a friend that she has not seen in years. She walked up to him and said a friendly hello. His name was Ender. They went to school together and she sat next to him to talk.

“So how have you been doing ender?” Becca asked.

“I have been better but I am ok now that I have seen you.” Ender said right back at her.

“Same here” she said. “I am here to find out more about my
Grandmother that just died.”

“Oh I am so sorry for your loss” Ender said with a tear running
down his face.

“Its ok she was really old and now she is in a better place.” She said with no sad expression on her face at all.

“Well I am here for a vacation. I have been working with a
simulator battling evil space aliens. It gets really tiring waking up at 3 in the morning to battle some wacky aliens that want to enslave the earth.” He said in a not so happy tone. But Becca just could not help it. She started to laugh really hard. That got him really mad. So he got up and started to walk away. Once he got only 10 feet away Becca got up and chased after him.

“Wait, Ender, I am really sorry for what I said.”
Ender just stared at her for what seemed like hours, but was only a minute. Then he forgave her and they got back to their conversation. They started talking about each other. First it was Beccas turn to describe her.

“You know what happened to me when we were kids but when we went our separate ways after school, that’s when all the exciting stuff happened. After my Gemma died I promised to find out who she is, whatever it takes. So I looked through all her stuff and found a clue that led me here. But I am still looking for more clues.” She said.

“Wow that must be hard to look for something but you don’t know what it is. I don’t think that I could do that. Now being serious, I really do work for the government taking down alien ships. It is a hard job. I don’t really get to see any of my family and I have to sleep in a certain place just in case I have to do a battle. It took me so long to work up this vacation time.” He said.

“Oh yeah I bet it did with a job like that.” Becca said with a chuckle.

“I really wanted to come here to Poland to try out their food. I hear they have the best food around.”

“Oh yeah they do.” They both laughed. “Well I have got to go because I have to catch my flight back to the US.”

“Ok bye it was very nice to see you.” Becca said.

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Home Sweet Home by Abbey K

David had just got to the foster home where he found his Aunt Pearl, from Harlem, New York, waiting for him at the doors. She was his father's sister but talked mostly every day and stayed in touch. She knew what was going on between David and his mother and hoped she could help.

David was all bruised and had cuts all over his body, his clothes were all ripped and torn from head to toe and as he walked you could see his big toe coming out of the top of his shoe.

"David," said the police officer, "you will be living with your Aunt for the time being, unless she chooses to adopt you. David, your mother will not bother you any more, we cannot allow that, we know how bad she hurt you, and you can't live like that anymore. Perl.."

A second after the police officer called Aunt Perl over, he was already in her arms. David loved Aunt Perl and couldn't wait to live with her, the twins and Alfred. But thought it would be different living in a colored surrounding. I could get used to this, though.

The drive to Harlem took forever. He was excited and yet afraid for his new life. How would Alfred feel? He hadn't seen the kid in forever. How would school go? David thought all this the whole ride there, when finally they pulled up to the house with three kids sitting on the stoop. David hoped out of the car.

"My man David," said Alfred walking over with a huge welcoming smile, "I was pretty excited when I found out you were coming to live with us. I need another man in the house. How you been, you don't look so well."

"Yeah, life at home was pretty bad, I'm happy to be here." Said David

"Say, Aunt Perl, can you make me and David some of your famous chicken, I bet he'd love some of that right now, we otta get a little meat in the kids body." said Alfred running up the stoop stairs with David's bags.

David followed Alfred up the steps into Alfred's room. Alfred was about 4 years older then David. He was tall, skinny, and looked like her had some savvier bruises on his body. Alfred sat on the bed and watched David as he unpacked his things.
"Hey Alfred, what happened to your eye?" questioned David.

"Well I was a fighter, but not like street fight, I was a boxer. I fought for a man named Mr. Donatello, REAL tough guy. Made me run every morning at like 5:30, then go back to the gym and work out. If I were you I would never become a boxer, real tough work, but personally I enjoyed it. And this black eye, yeah, got that in my last match. I was 2 for 2, but then I got a real beating at this last match. Mr. Donatello made me quit boxing because he thought I wasn't good enough."

“That’s pretty harsh,” said David “If I knew how to box, I wouldn’t let my mom treat me the way she did!”

“I hear ya, little man, I hear ya. Don’t let it get to you though; she’s long gone and hopefully never coming back. Hopefully Aunt Perl will adopt you and you’ll live with me and I’ll train you to become a fighter, I’ll take you to the gym and everything,” said Alfred.

His words helped touched David. He’s never had this feeling for along time. But yet, he wasn’t sure what the feeling was. Was it happiness? Was it joy?

A few months passed and David hadn’t found a true adopter yet, until one day as Alfred was out working and the twins were at school, Aunt Perl sat David down to talk. She set out a nice piece of ham, scrambled eggs, a side of toast and a glass of orange juice. She sat down with papers and smiled at him.

“David, do you know what these papers are?” she asked.

“No Mam`.” He said

“Well David these are your adoption papers, I called the Foster home and I’m willing to adopt you. You’ve been getting along great with the family, and Alfred needs a man around the house. So I have considered signing your papers and adopting you. David, I think you found your new home!” David just sat there smiling, he was shocked. Did Aunt Perl really mean it; did he really find a new home? He back out of his seat and ran to Aunt Perl and wrapped his arms around her.

“Do you really mean it, is this really my new home?” asked David.

“You bet, sweetheart,” said Aunt Perl.

All of a sudden, Alfred walked through the door. He saw David crying with happiness and Aunt Perl with the papers.

“What’s going on?” asked Alfred as David ran running to him with a hug.

“Guess whose moving in Alfred, I’m staying. Aunt Perl adopted me!” David shouted with an enormous smile and tears running down his eyes.

“Well looks like were gunna start training tomorrow there David!” smirked Alfred.

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One Saved the World, the Other is Probably Stoned: A Conversation Between Ender Wiggin and James by Peter L

Ender had been waiting for too long. Waaay too long. James was supposed to be there almost seven hours ago, and yet he had still not arrived. Ender suspected that he was probably still in Harlem, or trying to figure out how to open up Ender’s door without it biting his hand off (Ender had been told that James had a problem with narcotics)

“Hey, man!! Open up!” James shouted through the door.

Ender walked to the door. “James, why are you so late? I called Alfred about 12 hours ago and he said you would be here!”

Whoever had told Ender about James’ problems, sadly, was correct. James simply replied that he was out doing other things. He had lost sight of what was important in life and had fallen down the slippery slope towards drug addiction. Ender, on the other hand, since destroying the bugger colony, had joined a volunteer group linking teens from different areas to interact and socialize with each other. James had been forced to join this group by the Harlem County Police. After a few minutes of Ender prodding James with questions and James staring into the corners of the room, the two decided to proceed into Ender’s home to have a conversation.
Ender’s sister, Valentine, had offered to keep them some company, but James (being under the influence of…something) suspected that she was wearing a wire, for an unknown reason. So the two had a seat and began to talk. Ender told some very interesting stories about Battle School, of which anyone who paid attention to would find fascinating and want to hear more about. Sadly, James did not.
Ender didn’t like to talk about himself much, but since James was from another area and didn’t really want to share about his life, so Ender would rather come off as cocky rather than sit there for the volunteer groups’ predetermined time limit of 3-and-a-half hours. He had set a timer about an hour ago, and yet this seemed to have been a weeks’ worth of Ender talking and James (sort of) listening.

“So, Bonzo had clearly taken a disliking to me, and one day he approached me in the showers…” Ender continued with his stories.

“Man, this is a freaky place…what am I doing here... has this kid been talking the whole time?” James’ thoughts began to panic.

Even though he wasn’t really focused in any way, James’ thoughts compelled his mouth to ask Ender about some of the other things in his life; his name (who names their kid Ender?), about his siblings, his parents. Ender began to talk about Peter, for he had not been in the house at the current time. Ender hated Peter, found him to be a monstrosity. The hatred was so great in Andrew (Ender) that he found all the things wrong with the planet to have one primary source for their being: Peter.

“So, uh, Enderd, your bro doesn’t sound like a very good guy.” Said James after a few moments.

“First of all,” replied Ender, “my name is not Enderd. It’s Andrew, even though most people I talk to call me Ender; except for my sister. Thirdly,” Ender cringed after using the word Third in a sentence, “my brother is a horrible human being, and even worse of a person; and I have to see him every day I live in this house.”

“Woah; I’d hate being a brother to someone like that. Sorry.” James came to a realization that he may have problems, but at least he can work on them instead of having to share an address with them.

DING! Enders’ timer went off. The seemingly everlasting conversation was over, and it seemed like both guys had bettered from it. Ender discovered that even though he must be related to his worst enemy, he could ignore it; he could talk to others and learn about them instead of having to talk about himself. This, it turned out, didn’t happen with James; but Ender could find people that weren’t most likely high during the conversation. On the other hand, James decided to try and cope with his addictions, and to become an intelligent, caring person like Ender was.
Ender showed James to the door and the two parted ways; both headed towards better lives.

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Friends by Nina W

In Holyoke, Ma lived a woman named Rebecca. She worked for a small newspaper company. She was very good about visiting her grandmother or Gema who lived in a nursing center for the elderly. Her parents were not so good on the other hand and neither were her sisters who live in California and Houston. Today, although Rebecca wasn’t on her own it felt like it. Her sisters weren’t coming because they wanted to but because they knew it was polite. As they walked into room 310 they passed Mrs. Hartshorn who was tying knots in her long white hair, Mrs.Benton who was crying and calling out for her mother. As always her grandmother was a sleep.
Rebecca called her name softly,”Gemma.”
“Is that you Rebecca?” Gemma said. “I was the princess in the castle in the sleeping woods. I was the princess when the great mist fell over us forcing us all a sleep. The prince kissed me only me awake. Promise you will find the castle it is all I have to give you. Promise.”
“I promise Gemma.”
Across the country lived a boy named David at the age of about fourteen. He was living in a foster home although if you told him it would take him a second to process it. He was so close to them because he was loved and treated like he actually was someone unlike his real parents. Anyway the family he was living with got a call from his foster mother’s close friend whose mother had died. They were invited to the funeral but told they shouldn’t feel obliged because of airfare but the family decided to go anyways. So they packed up their stuff and flew to Holyoke, Ma.
As they walked into the church the families saw each other and greeted one another with hugs. Everyone noticed a small boy dressed in a long sleeve shirt after all it was the middle of july.
“Now who is this little fellow?” asked Rebecca.
“Yes, who?” replied her sisters and her parents.
“This is David we have adopted him.” said David’s foster mother.
“Rebecca go show him the house.” Her mother said.
As they walked out of the church Rebecca asked him if he would mind telling her how he came into foster care. He said no and that he came to foster care because he was beaten by his mother. Rebecca said she felt so sorry and of course he responded it’s okay its over now. Rebecca said if it helps my grandmother was in a concentration camp and she was the only woman to come out alive.
“That’s so sad.” David said.
“It is not really any sadder than your story.” Rebecca said. “Come on I will bring you back to your mother.”
“Oh hi david! Are you ready to leave yet?” his mother asked.
“NO!” shouted David. “I want to stay here and play with my new friend.”
“What friend?”
“Rebecca”
“Rebeccas your friend? Well we have to go now. She can visit us whenever she wants. Come on David we are leaving.” Called his mother.

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Returning home by Marissa K

Daisy was still getting used to life back home in New York when her cousin, Becca, called. She had heard about what had gone on with Daisy in England, and wanted to make sure she was okay. They agreed that Daisy would go down to Massachusetts so they could catch up on what had been going on with them both.

Daisy and Becca were very close and got together as often as possible. Daisy knew about how Becca had gone to Poland to figure out who their grandmother had been. Their grandmother, Gemma, had insisted that she had been living in a castle in Poland and Becca had promised her that she would find the castle and find out who she was. Daisy was so excited to hear all about the trip.

They met up two weeks later at Becca’s house in Massachusetts. When Daisy rang the doorbell, her Aunt Eve answered.

“Oh, Elizabeth, how are you? Your father told us all about your awful trip. I hope the war there didn’t shake you up too much,” said Aunt Eve.

Daisy sighed loudly. “Aunt Eve, you know that no one calls me Elizabeth. I was never an Elizabeth. My name is Daisy.”

“Yes of course, Daisy,” Aunt Eve said. “I just always thought you would grow to love the name Elizabeth.”

No one ever called Daisy by her real name, Elizabeth, except for Aunt Eve. Daisy loved Aunt Eve to death, but it annoyed her just as much when she called her Elizabeth.

“Becca is in her room. She has been waiting to talk to you for quite some time now. She is very excited.” Aunt Eve guided Daisy through the hall to Becca’s room.

Daisy walked into Becca’s room to find her cousin on the phone. But when she saw Daisy she nearly screamed.

“Stan? I’ve got to call you back. My cousin, Daisy, the one I told you about is here! Okay, bye. HI DAISY!” Becca leaped up and gave Daisy the biggest hug she had ever gotten in her life. “How was England? Well, other than the war, tell me about your cousins!”

“Well, Piper is nine and just about the sweetest girl you will ever meet. She even remembered my name as Daisy after I only told her once! Edmond is fourteen and can almost read your mind. You can think something as quietly as possible but he will still hear it,” Daisy paused, wondering if she should tell Becca about what really went on between her and Edmond, but decided against it. She wasn’t sure how Becca would react to Daisy loving her own cousin. “Isaac and Edmond are twins, but Isaac has green eyes. You can leave him for an hour, then turn a corner and he would be there. It’s like he can sense where you are! Osbert is the oldest, and he acts much older than he actually is. He so wanted to be a spy during the war – he and his friends would play it forever! Aunt Penn actually had to leave and didn’t come back until after I left. I still don’t know if Edmond made it back. I had to leave before he came back.”

“Wow, I never thought it would be that bad. And you haven’t even told me about during the war yet!” From the look in Becca’s eyes, Daisy could tell she was interested. And being a journalist, Becca was remembering every bit of the story.

“Piper and I got separated from everyone else and we went to live with a family. But we had to leave and eventually, we were living in the woods! But we finally found our way back to the house, which was trashed from the army people living in it. I haven’t talked to them since I left, and all I know is that Piper is okay. Isaac and Edmond are still missing in my mind, and I’m so worried about both of them. Osbert actually went to work with the army, so I don’t know if he is alive either. But anyways, enough about my time in England. How was your trip to Poland?” Daisy finished her story and was anxious to hear about Becca’s trip.

“I had to get an interpreter first off. Her name was Magda and we stayed at her house. Later on I met Josef who knew Gemma and told us the story of how they met and how they survived. Apparently there was a man that had traveled with Josef during World War II and he was our grandfather. I still don’t know her real name, except that she was called Ksiezniczka, which means Princess in Polish. That’s because the camp that she went to for the war was an old castle, and that’s why she insisted that she was a princess. And she was kissed awake because she had been poisoned by gas and Josef had done CPR.”

“Oh wow, sounds like you did some serious investigating, Becca! Is that story going to be in your newspaper?” Daisy was hooked on the story, and wished she could’ve gone. Then she remembered Edmond and took it back.

“No. Since it’s a family story, we can’t so we don’t upset any distant relatives who were close with Gemma,” Becca looked disappointed. Daisy could tell she would have had fun writing up that article. “Anyways, how’s Davina? That must have been another perk about going to England.”

“Yeah, it was pretty nice not having her always nagging me and pretending to be upset because of me,” Daisy thought about her time in England and how she had had more freedom there than she had ever had in New York. “Who was that you were talking to on the phone earlier? Anyone special?”

“Actually, that was Stan. He’s kind of like my boss. Well, now he’s kind of like...my boyfriend,” Becca started to blush. “It’s new since I’ve come back.”

“Ahh I’m so happy for you Becca!”Daisy really and truly was happy for her cousins new boyfriend, happy that she had ever gone to England to meet Edmond especially, and just happy to be home.

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A friend at last by Lindsay C

It was a rainy day with patches of fog in the autumn air. Dave Pelzer, a twelve year old boy, was walking to school being able to hear the grumbling of his stomach from not being allowed to eat in days. It soon became harder to walk; he got weaker and weaker from each step he took. He wished that he could have someone to talk to about all the horrible things occurring in his life. After what seemed like forever, Dave arrived at his new school in Poland. As he passed through the hallways, he received looks of disgust. He assumed this was because of the filthy white shirt his mother sent him to school with everyday. Dave had hoped that his new school would be better than the previous because other students always made fun of him.

It was lunch time and Dave had just finished history class. He decided he would stay there and rest until lunch was over because there was no use in going to the cafeteria when he had no lunch and no money to buy anything. Dave felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. He turned around and found a beautiful young woman.

“Hello, my name is Rebecca Berlin, I’m your history teachers daughter.” she greeted him politely.

“Hi, my name is Dave Pelzer, I just moved here.” Dave responded.

“Would you mind if I ate in here?” Rebecca asked.

“No, its okay, I’d love the company.” Dave answered.

It was a short conversation, but it made Dave feel slightly happy because someone had actually talked to him without being mean and saying nasty things to him. Rebecca had been kind enough to give him half of her sandwich. When the bell rang, Rebecca said she would meet him outside of the front blue doors at the end of the school day. Dave was so excited!
The rest of the day seemed to go by so slowly. All through his classes Dave noticed a lot of things about his new school. All the white walls had a tint of yellow on them. In the corners there were huge spider webs. Dave was surprised when he looked out the windows in his math class.. There were all sorts of colorful flowers and plants inside a greenhouse. There were beautiful colors and he could smell the dampness of the air from the rain that had came down that morning. It was a bit shocking that the school looked so much nicer on the outside than on the inside.
Finally, it was time to leave school. Dave nearly ran down through the hallways and shoved the front blue doors open. Rebecca was waiting on the wooden bench near the freshly cut grass. Rebecca and Dave headed out of the school grounds to take a walk.

“How long have you lived here?” Dave questioned Rebecca.

“Well it’s actually a really long story.” She responded.

“I have plenty of time.” Dave giggled.
Rebecca began by saying, “When I was younger my grandmother always read to me the tale of Sleeping Beauty. Before my grandmother died she told me that this tale wasn’t any fantasy, she claims she herself was Briar Rose. I had made a promise to her that I would look more into this tale that was no longer a fantasy. This is when I decided to go on a quest to Poland to try and unravel this mystery.”

Rebecca went home when they passed her street. It was a very wealthy neighborhood and she had a beautiful tan house with a very big yard. Dave walked home and was happy to realize that Rebecca and he only lived two blocks away from each other. He had such a great afternoon that he forgot about what awaited him at home, his abusive mother. As soon as he walked in the old squeaking white door, he was instantly in danger. His mother asked him where he had been for the past hour. As his punishment, his mother filled the bath with freezing cold water and stuck Dave’s head into it. His head soon became so numb; he couldn’t feel any part of his body. Finally, after what seemed like forever, his mother moved her hand and sent him straight down to the garage. The garage was Dave’s room. There was a cot with a thin sheet that never kept him warm enough. Oh, how he wished he could escape.

The next morning came fairly quickly. Dave and Rebecca walked to school together. As they were walking into school, Rebecca experienced how rude and obnoxious the other students were to Dave. The day before, she had noticed he was wearing that same old dirty white shirt and wondered why, so she asked him why he had worn the same things two days in a row. She immediately regretted asking and felt a pain of guilt strike through her body when Dave started to get tears in his eyes.

“Meet me outside of the first cafeteria, I’ll explain there.” Dave responded.

The two new friends parted as Rebecca went to her mother’s classroom and Dave went to math class at the other end of the building and up the flight of stairs.

All morning, Rebecca had been so anxious to listen to what Dave had to say. The bell finally rang for lunch and she raced to the cafeteria. Her and Dave went in together and sat at one of the round lunch table near the windows. She noticed Dave didn’t have a lunch, for the second day in a row, now she became very curious what was going on.

Dave began, “My mother abuses me, emotionally and physically. She is always telling me how bad of a child I am and how I don’t even deserve to be living in this world. If I make one mistake, she does something brutal to me such as taking my hand and burning it on the stove or shoving my head into freezing cold water, trying to drown me. The reason I never have lunch is because my mother starves me. I am also socially isolated.”

Rebecca and Dave walked back from school together after a really emotional day. Rebecca finished what she had been talking about the day before.

“So I went to Poland and stayed with my cousin. She and I were on a mission to figure out about Briar Rose. After a while of searching and asking around, my cousin found an old man that was able to give us all the information we needed. He took us back to World War II; this is where I learned the truth and horrifying story of my grandmother’s life. She ended up being Briar Rose.”
Dave had been so amazed at what a great person Rebecca was. She was thoughtful and caring enough to hold a deathbed promise. After their conversations, they both decided they would always keep and touch no matter what happened because they could talk about anything with each other.

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Summer Reading Essay by Leona N

- A Child Called “It”
-Briar Rose

Rebecca sighed as she looked at the clock in the room. She didn’t get out of work until 12:00 and it was still 10:00. She would start her night shift at 8 pm, and go until midnight. It got hot in California, especially in midsummer. She checked her clipboard. Her next patient, Dave Pelzer, was a new one. She recognized the last name from somewhere. When he came in, his mother dropped him off and then went back to the waiting room to her two other sons. That’s when she realized where she knew the name from- they were neighbors.

“What’s your name?” she asked, even though she knew it.

“Dave,” he replied.

“Where do you live?”

“76 Kendall Boulevard,”

“Huh…so we’re next door neighbors,” Becca thought. But she had never seen this boy playing outside before, only his two brothers. But, Becca was new to the neighborhood, so she shrugged it off.

“You can call me Nurse Becca,” she said, “I’m going to check you over to make sure you’re healthy.”

“OK.”
The young woman noticed that the boy seemed too skinny. She had him step on to the scale. He was underweight. As she examined his arms and legs, she noticed fading and new bruises.

“Where are those bruises from?” Becca asked.

“I fell down the stairs,” he quickly said.

Rebecca finished the examination, and other than the bruises and low weight, he was healthy.

“Okay Dave, we’re all done, but just remember, you need to eat more, or you’ll get sick,” Becca told him.

“I’ll try,” he said grimly.

Dave and his family left the office. When she got home, Becca decided to keep an eye out for Dave, to see if he came outside. For the next few weeks, Becca never saw him outside, except for occasionally when he would mow the neighbor’s lawns, and every time she saw him, he was wearing the same clothes. What really alarmed her though, was when he came in with a dislocated arm. His mother had said he had fallen off the top bunk in his sleep. But when Rebecca asked him if he usually fell off the bed, he told her that this was the only time he had ever slept on the top bunk, and it was only because his mom told him to. Also the boy had many fresh and semi-recent bruise, which his mother said he got from falling off the bed, even though Becca could easily tell that some of the bruises were days, even weeks old. that’s when Becca figured it out. He was being abused.

Becca knew she couldn’t leave the boy like this. She contacted the school, who sent a social service worker over to his house, but their report came back okay. Weeks later, Becca realized she couldn’t accept no for an answer. She called up he school, and told them she was coming over. She had to talk to Dave. When she arrived, Dave was already in the office, fidgeting nervously in his seat.

“Dave, does your mommy hurt you?”

“Only when I’m a bad boy.”

“Are you bad a lot?”

“Well… Mommy says I am.”

“Do you think you are bad?”

“No…”

“Does your mom get angry a lot?”

“Yeah…”

After talking with him for a while him, she realized her prediction was correct; Dave was being abused by his mother. She talked with the school and they called social services to have him taken away.
Still, Rebecca didn’t feel right. Then she realized what she had to do. She got in her car and drove off. When she returned she had Dave. She had adopted him. ON the drive home, she said, “hey Dave, do you want to hear a story?”

“Sure.”

“This story is called Briar Rose. My grandma used to tell me this story. Once upon a time, in a far away land…”

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The layover by Katie C

When she and Stan returned from Bradley back home to Hatfield, Becca’s parents told her that her sister Sylvia had called the night before, and insisted that she come out to L.A. to spend some time with her when she got back from Poland.

“And she specifically said, ‘tell her that I still think that going to some concentration camp is no way to spend a vacation, so I want her to enjoy a real vacation with me and Shana out here.’ I tried telling her that you were very persistent about this whole trip, but she just asked that you call her back when you got in,” her mother finished, looking somewhat tired from having to deal with Syl’s rants and demands. Becca sighed, and then muttered, “Well, I guess I had better call her back then, or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

The next morning, Becca woke up, made herself a pot of coffee, and began searching online for the next flight out of Bradley to LAX, because both Shana and Sylvia insisted that she come out as soon as possible to “unwind and relax for a change.” The next flight that Becca considered reasonably priced was leaving the next night at 6pm, so she booked it quickly, and then logged onto the Internet to search for any files on Aron Mandlestein, her newly-discovered grandfather. Then, after two hours of finding nothing, she shut down the computer and went upstairs to repack her duffel bag.

Soon she was on a plane again, bound first for Chicago before she would have to switch planes to one going to Los Angeles, and again, this plane was moving at about forty-five minutes behind schedule, which the pilot said was due to an approaching storm. She wasn’t overly excited about this sudden trip, having just been away for three weeks and having to absorb so much information in so little time. But she was also aware that the last time her sisters had truly gone out of their way to make her feel better was well, never, and she was curious to know how this would pan out for the three of them.

After finally landing at O’Hare with only about a half an hour to find the next gate, Becca hustled to buy a stale bagel and some coffee and scarf them down, only to find that once she arrived at the right gate, her flight had been delayed for another two hours at least….. No, make that three hours.

“Oh, just perfect!” she whined sarcastically, before collapsing in a nearby chair and dropping her carry-on bag next to her on the floor. “I guess I’d better call Syl and tell her that I’ll be running late,” she sighed while rummaging for her cell phone. She had just located it and was scrolling through to find the number when a man and a boy who appeared to be his son walked up to her.

“Excuse me, miss,” he stated politely, “would you be so kind as to keep an eye on this young man while I go reschedule our plane tickets?” The man seemed nice enough, and the boy looked easy to manage, so Becca replied, “Um, sure?” It came out as more of a question than a response, but then she thought, “It’s not like I have anything better to do. Syl can wait a few more minutes,” and then said, “Yeah, I can do that, I guess.”

“Great, thank you so much,” the man thanked her, and then said to the boy, “Now I want you to keep in mind what we talked about. I just want to see how you do,” and walked off to find the nearest ticket counter. Becca thought that this last exchange between these two was slightly odd, but decided not to think about it too much, as the boy was already sitting down next to her. A minute or two passed before either spoke, before Becca broke the silence with her first question.

“So, um, where are you guys headed?” she asked, but got nothing in response. She wondered if he hadn’t heard her, but then he slowly lifted his head and said, “Well, I guess originally I was going to New Jersey to stay with some…. relatives there, but then Officer Smith got a call from somebody telling him to take me to Boston, but our connection flight from here got cancelled, so here I am. I’m David, by the way.” At that moment, his head turned slightly more towards her, and Becca noticed a blossoming bruise growing near his jaw line. She immediately exclaimed, “Oh, is your bruise-” before he turned his head sharply away and muttered quickly, “That’s just nothing. I’ve had it for a while now. Nothing important,” and he was silent once again, as was Becca for another minute or so.

“I’m Becca, by the way,” she said slowly, but David had gone back to just staying silent. After a few more minutes, the man who was apparently Officer Smith returned, thanked Becca again, and sent David to find a bathroom. It took her a lot of courage to do so, but after a couple of seconds managed to stammer, “Sir… Officer? The, um, bruise? On his face?”

“Yes, I see you noticed,” he said coolly. Then he beckoned for her to lean closer, than whispered, “Did he happen to mention his… current situation?”

Becca, perplexed at how quickly that everything was happening, whispered back, “Um, no. At least I think no.”

The officer breathed out and nodded. “Good,” he said, “But now I suppose I must tell you since you must be bewildered at this whole thing. David is unfortunate in that he is the victim of severe child abuse. I’ve been assigned to escort him to foster parents else where than his home so that his mother doesn’t try to find him. I think that that’s all that is really safe to say. I asked David not to tell you himself and ignore any comments you made that might have been related to it. This was just a test for David, and by the look of how surprised you are I would say that he passed.” The officer thanked her again, the picked up their carry-ons and went off to find David, leaving an absolutely astounded Becca sitting at Gate 17 still trying to take in all that she had just learned.

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Alison by Libby M.

She had only been about eight

Was followed by an unknown fate

We’d liked to play and have some fun

April first two thousand and one.

When it ended, I was in shock

My face turned white as chalk

Killed by her mother’s oldest son

April first two thousand and one.

I didn’t know if it was a joke

My sound was reduced to a choke

And her life had barely begun

April first two thousand and one.

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Family Vacation by Nate J.

Traveling in the car

With my family inside

On the new parking lot paved with tar

Near the hotel, our car’s tire is blown on the side

We settle into the room

Find out my pants got a rip

Then we wake up to get some food

Going to the restaurant is already another trip

On the beach, hot and sunny

Boogie board on the water, still cold

I forget my money

And then we go into the town where the sovereigns are sold

Back in the car; my brothers making a lecture

AT LEAST I GOT A GOOD FAMILY PICTURE

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Ode to MJ by Garrett B

Jordan flew high and proud

Up he went he was untouchable

The Bulls kept on winning, four straight

He could not bear the death of his dad

But then his team gave him a helping hand.

His mom, his fans, his teammates, pushed him

To get that fourth trophy they couldn’t be touched

Then his age got to him and he had to stop

In 2000 he came back but he was no good for the wizards

He finally was gone but still remembered

Hall of fame, first year he was voted

Not two thoughts about it

He was the best ever seen in the game

Don’t forget, Air Jordan in his memory.

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Florida by Ryan L.

The sun shines on the white sand below

The smell of the ocean soothing

I slowly walk and then think

This is the life for me

Gently, the waves crash

I sit on the

Warm white sand

Relaxed

calm

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Hand and Hand By Jessica M

Life with you is a journey I will take

Through good and bad I will always hold your hand

A love that no one can harm or can break

A love that only a few can understand

Our bodies are close as if we are one

You are the piece of the puzzle I miss

In the game of love I feel I have won

And our perfect day is sealed with a kiss

Without you I feel like I am nothing

Nothing bigger than a grain of white sand

Our love is complete with the perfect ring

My love and loyalty come hand and hand

When the sun grazes your beautiful face

I will be with you in your arms embrace

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By the Sea by Brianna T.

The sun starts to sink below the ocean

As we hold each other close, hand in hand

Time feels like its going in slow motion

As we walk along in the white, beach sand.

The cool waves gently crash against our feet

As you look at me with those deep blue eyes

And I could swear my heart skipped a beat

When you turned and kissed me to my surprise.

Never thought I could feel the way I do

Being with you here, I am lost for words

How lucky I am to find something new,

I feel as though I’m flying among birds.

I knew you were the only one for me

On that precious night down by the sea.

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The Big Red Button by Jaysen O.

People don’t listen to what I say

I said “Don’t push the dang button”

They don’t want to ever listen

It’s there for a reason

A strange one at that

Loud beeping sounds

Until they

All hear

Boom.

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Lil Wayne by Brian R.

Dwayne Carter grew up on the streets

He got his break when Cash Money heard his beats

Better known as Weezy or Lil Wayne

His flow tends to stay insane.

Eating rappers like rare cooked meat

He's so hot on the charts, ice can't cool his heat

When a new song hits, other rappers feel the pain

He's like a male lion, extremely hard to tame.

Wayne named his first album "The Block Is Hot"

He didn't expect for millions to be bought

Dropping out of school at the mere age of fourteen

He never thought that he would fulfill his dream.

It was an easy battle to the top, but still Weezy fought

And at the top of all, he kept planning his plot

Wayne knew where to find the green

He's done what needed to be done, seen what needed to be seen.

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Dark Eyes By Casey O

Laying in her bed is all she does now

For without him there is

No reason for her to wake up and face the day.

Mascara smeared eyes

Makes her look like she has died

But still she crys

For better days and for his return,

Into her arms once again.

But this will never happen

For heaven is sure hard to reach from Earth

Without leaving it in a hurse.

So for now she waits for the day

Where she can be reunited again.

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The Beach By Matt C

The waves are crashing

Sand burning hot from the sun

Clouds slowly roll by

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Ode To Snow Boarding by Derek H

On your way to the mountain,

Waxing your new board,

You watch the snow fall,

And hope for that perfect powder.

When you finally get there,

After what seemed like

The longest ride of your life,

You throw on your gloves and boots,

Then run for the ski lift.

At the peak of the mountain,

You tighten your bindings,

Stare down the trail for a few seconds,

And begin to accelerate,

Then carve back and forth

Through the powder.

You reach the bottom,

And can’t wait for the next run!

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Babe Ruth Sonnet by Connor F.

Standing at the plate he called the hit.

The crowd roared as he stepped up to the plate.

Looking down to the ground he proudly spit,

For in this hit their breath he would take.

Standing strong he raised his hand,

The crowd was silent, not even a stir.

All the crowd was at a stand,

For now, history was about to occur.

The pitch came, and it came hard,

He launched his hands through the ball.

Just from the crack you could tell it went far,

While running, he knew this was over the wall.

From this at bat a legend, a hero was made,

To some he was the Great Bambino, but to most, the babe.

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