The Impact

Cobblestone streets, little coffee shops and delis.  For some reason I always thought the “cobblestone streets” were never streets at all, but merely walking and biking paths.  But yes cars do in fact drive on these streets.  Not just any cars though, tiny, miniature cars.  I never thought that any movie or show could look so much like reality.  I was proven wrong, THIS is like everything you see in the movies.  The little coffee shops with espressos the size of toy tea sets and sandwiches with no crusts.  Little chairs and tables made entirely of metal but very beautifully designed.  Architecture everywhere you looked! Buildings, signs, windows, doors, parks, chairs, tables, the street even! Everything so beautifully crafted and thought out.  Everything so small and compact.  So care free and peaceful.  Everything was such a rush. Such an adventure.  Everything was so antique and yet so precious to the city around it, to the people living here.   Everything had a story behind it, a past life.  Looking around and seeing how different it was here just gives you an entirely new mindset.  You finally realize the town you live in; the people you associate yourself with aren’t the only things that matter in this world.  Your life has meant nothing until you start living in the world you were put on.  Not your own world but other peoples too.  Experiencing, listening, learning, TRAVELING, that’s when you feel it.  When you really feel alive.  When you find something worth living for.  When you have that desire to learn and feel and see things not involved you your world you’ve created.  When you jump and are caught by something unexpected.  The Impact.





The Impact.


Cobblestone streets,
little coffee shops and delis. 
For some reason I always thought
the “cobblestone streets” were never streets at all,
but merely walking and biking paths. 
But yes cars do in fact drive on these streets. 
Not just any cars though, tiny,
miniature cars. 
I never thought that any movie
or show could look so much like reality. 
I was proven wrong,
THIS is like everything you see in the movies. 
The little coffee shops
with espressos the size of toy tea sets
and sandwiches with no crusts. 
Little chairs and tables
made entirely of metal
but very beautifully designed. 
Architecture everywhere you looked!
Buildings, signs, windows, doors,
parks, chairs, tables, the street even!
Everything so beautifully crafted
and thought out. 
Everything so small and compact. 
So care free and peaceful. 
Everything was such a rush.
Such an adventure. 
Everything was so antique
and yet so precious to the city around it,
to the people living here.  
Everything had a story behind it,
a past life. 
Looking around
and seeing how different it was here
 just gives you an entirely new mindset. 
You finally realize the town you live in;
the people you associate yourself with
aren’t the only things that matter in this world. 
Your life has meant nothing
until you start living in the world you were put on. 
Not your own world but other peoples too. 
Experiencing, listening, learning,
TRAVELING, that’s when you feel it. 
When you really feel alive. 
When you find something worth living for. 
When you have that desire to learn
and feel and see things
not involved you your world you’ve created. 
When you jump and are caught by something unexpected.
The Impact.

The Cat Named Trouble

There once was a dog named Spot.  Spot lived in a small neighborhood where everyone knew one another and got along.  There were lots of cats and dogs that lived in the neighborhood with Spot too.  In fact Spot knew each and every one of their names by heart.  One day Spot noticed something some what peculiar.  He noticed a new scent in the air.  He went exploring for this scent and found out shortly that it had been coming from the vacant house next door.  After exploring a little more Spot realized there had been some kind of commotion in the house recently.  He was proven right the next day, the new family was moving in.  There were moving trucks everywhere and big, tall, built men carrying large boxes and furniture into the house, but it wasn't until the next day the Spot saw the family had officially moved in.
Spot went over the next day to find out if they had any pets.  After peeking into the backyard he was heading back to his house when he heard a faint meow.  Looking around Spot saw nothing.  Then he heard it again and again.  Trusting his powerful nose to find where this noise was coming from, Spots head shot to the ground and he started sniffing.  The sound plus the scent led him right to the blue garbage bin on the side of the house.  Hearing the sound once more he peered into the bin and to his amazement there was a black kitten stuck in the bottom of the bin, unable to climb out.  Spot proceeded to rock the bin until it fell over and the kitten was free.  Spot later found out this kittens name was Trouble, very suiting, and they became the best of friends from that day forward.  They did everything together, they went on walks, they played with tennis balls, they even ate together.  They were inseperable from the day they met.  Trouble always somehow got himself into trouble and Spot was always there to rescue him.
One day Spot went over to Troubles house to start their daily walk down the street to the bakery where they would always get special treats, but Trouble wasn't in his usual place on the porch when Spot arrived.  Spot searched everywhere for him but could not find him.  Suddenly he heard the faintest meow.  Looking around Spot saw nothing.  Then he heard it again, a little louder but still strained and frightened.  That's when Spot looked up.  He found Trouble trapped in a very tall tree, too tall for Spot to climb.  He dashed off to the neighbors house and then the next house down and the next, telling every dog and cat what had happened and letting them loose.  After going to every house on the street Spot joined the animals underneath the tree and all at once they all started meowing and barking trying to get someone's anyone's attention.  Finally people started walking out of their houses confused.  Then they realized all the dogs and cats under the tree and rushed over to find the problem.  Seeing Trouble stuck in the tree they instantly called the fire station.  Not too long after that the fire men appeared with a latter.  They climbed to the top of the latter where it was touching the tree directly below where Trouble hung on for dear life.  They quickly got him down and safely on the ground.  Spot was right there comforting him the second he hit the ground.  Spot saved Trouble once again and he will continue to keep Trouble safe for the rest of their lives.

The Polar Express

Author: Chris Van Allsburg
no authors bio
The cover: There is a train on the front with steam coming out the top and snowflakes all around, with one head light shining through the dark winter night.
Number of pages: 29
List of characters: The conductor, the boy, Santa, the children, the mother and father and Sarah(the boys sister)
Settings: The book takes place in the train and on Santas sleigh, each place has a happy and joyful atmosphere showing the Christmas spirit everywhere.
This book has animals but not as characters, it teaches a lesson, it has kids as characters, and adults as characters.   It has great illustrations and color, it has a sentimental tone and has a good amount of words per page.
My favorite sentence in the book is "Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe."
I think this book would be great for any age.  Even if a kid can't read it would be a good book to read to children.  It has a lot of spirit and detail.
I didn't read it as a kid but I know I would have really liked it because it has a lot of really good pictures and detail.

Friends

When I think of childhood I automatically think of Wisconsin, and my home there. I remember in the summer when every day brought along a new adventure. I remember our neighbor’s just two houses down from us was where my best friend lived, Collette. We became instant friends, spending every waking moment together. We had the same Barbie toy laptops that we would sit and play on for hours on end. I remember running from the pool in her backyard, to my house for food and to run in the sprinklers, then running back over to her house to swim again. We had the best time in the summer. Chasing down the ice cream trucks and biking up to our elementary school where we would make up games and ride around until the sun went down. And sometimes one of our other friends Nichole who lived just down the street from us would join us. She was a little older than we were though, so she didn’t hang around us much. Instead, she hung around this boy that lived across the street from her named David. He was one of my brother’s best friends so he would always be at our house, which meant that a lot of the time, so was Nichole. One memory I have of her is when she invited me over to hang out and we hung out in her room and sang to the music playing out of her radio all afternoon. She acted so much more mature than Collette and she was so much fun to be around. She made you feel important when you were around her. She would tell me how annoying she found Collette to be and how I shouldn’t hang around her so much. For a little while I listened to her, and I only hung out with her and David. One day I told her I liked David, which didn’t sit well with her for some reason. She told me she liked him too and that she thinks he likes her back. I didn’t care that much about it because the fact was David probably did like her more. That fall David and I were invited to her birthday party and before I went over to her house I was supposed to go to David’s house and walk with him to her house, at least that’s what she told me. When I arrived at his house I heard laughter across the street and as I turned around I saw Nichole and David running into her house turning around and laughing at me. I knew she had told him I liked him. Embarrassed I went home. The next day I saw Collette outside playing on her Barbie laptop and I went over to her with mine and sat down next to her. She treated me like I had never left her. We were best friends until I moved away a couple years later. The day before I left I said goodbye to her, but that morning when I was leaving I felt like this may be the last time I ever see this house, or this neighbor hood, her house. I ran over to her front porch, set down my Barbie laptop and ran back to my house where just minutes later we pulled out of the drive way heading to Utah to start our new lives. Collette showed me what a real friend should act like and how you should treat your friends. From this memory, I realize that childhood experiences can impact how you deal with situations, for the rest of your life whether you notice it or not.

Haunted Mansion

     It was mid April and raining outside, I lie awake in bed, motionless.  I was listening to the rain from outside my window.  The rain hadn’t stopped all day.  I was trapped in this dirty, old, creepy house with only my parents to keeping me company.  Some company they were though…always working or busy, they never had time for me.  Being an only child my parents got me a dog for my 12^th birthday a couple of years ago and since then he’s been my best friend, and my only friend at that. 
     When we moved into this house I was only 9 years of age.  We got it for a bargain because of how old it was and the real estate agent had told us the owners of it had strangely disappeared.  He said they were known for leaving without an explanation though so nobody was too worried about it.  I found it a little odd that someone would leave such a mansion of a house behind though, and not to mention everything they owned inside. 
     When I first walked in the double doors in front of the house I remember seeing cobwebs and dust everywhere, like someone hadn’t been inside for years.  I remember seeing the two rows of staircases on either side of the foyer hooking around to the dark top floor.  If you took an immediate right as you walked into the front doors you would find yourself standing in the overly sized living room and if you took a left you would find yourself in a large out-dated kitchen.  Going upstairs we found lots of bedrooms and in the middle there was another living room a bit smaller than the one downstairs, but it was still very big.  We only saw glimpses of each of the 7 bedrooms, the courtyard with not just an empty and dirty fountain but also a pool, and the giant covered porch wrapping around the entire courtyard with 6 white cracking columns on each side creating 5 arches between each of the columns.  Without a second look my parents said in unison, “we’ll take it.” 
     So now here I am 5 years later and still living in the same old house.  We fixed the cracking columns and cleaned out the pool and the fountain, filling them and then admiring them from the now clean porch with chairs and tables all around it.  Of course we hired a cleaning crew to dust off everything, vacuum, and sweep, and then we hired an electrician to fix the electrical in the top floor but we still had trouble with it to this day.  It constantly made strange noises and with the tiniest thunder storm it would all go out.  My parents still were busy all the time and we constantly had people over from their work, we had their work parties here every year too.  Christmas, Halloween, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Labor Day! Any holiday you could imagine was always hosted at our house.  It got old… all the parties, all the noise and people I didn’t know.  I usually hid out in my room with my dog, trying to sleep or occasionally doing homework. 
     So now in my warm bed I lay awake listening to not only the rain, the lights of the hallway struggling to stay lit and of course the loud commotion of yet another party being hosted in the house this time because of the weather conditions.  I couldn’t sleep so I decided to count how many seconds after a crash of lightning it would be before I heard the growling of the thunder follow it, then I would count how many seconds it would be before the lights went out, which was never delayed very long.  With my dog at my feet I heard the biggest crash of lightning I heard all day and as soon as I heard it I started counting, 1..1000..2…1000…3…1000…and then there was the grumbling thunder shaking the floors and my bed, 1..1000…2..1000..3…1000..4…1000..5….and there go the lights. 
     I woke up the next morning to the sound of chatter in the kitchen downstairs.  I slowly pulled the warm blankets off my body and swung my feet down to the hard wooden floor, standing up I could feel a tension in my neck and a scratchiness in my throat.  I must be getting a cold or something.  Walking down the giant staircase to the trashed foyer and then walking through the foyer to the large now updated kitchen, I noticed something quite unsettling…the kitchen was empty.  Yet the chattering of my parent’s voices and others continued.  I went into the living room to try and figure out where their voices were coming from but I found nobody there either.  I walked back into the kitchen where I walked to the back door, opening it up to the courtyard where I then again find no one.  The chattering of their voices continues but this time they are growing louder in my head.  I search the house running around franticly trying to find them, but they are nowhere to be found.  I shout their names, I scream their names I cry out their names but there is no response, just the chattering of their voices in my head.  I run up to their bedroom, struggling with the door knob for my hands are shaky and clammy, finally opening the door I find my parents in bed...  The voices in my head stop as I see that their bed is stained with blood.  I walk over to their bed side to find that their throats had been slashed.  In shock I run to my room slamming the door behind me.  I run to the corner of my room and find myself in the fetal position on the floor.  I can’t breathe, I can’t move, I just lay there helpless and scared.  Suddenly I stop breathing all together for I have noticed something disturbing.  Someone is in my bed.  I stand up, walk over to my bed and look down at the blonde headed blue eyed girl in my bed.  I look at her throat that has also been slashed.  I look at the blood stained covers on top of her.  I stumbled back in horror; this girl I was looking down at was me.  I reached up to touch my neck.  I felt the deep gash where my throat had been cut.  I look down at my feet to find they were no longer touching the ground.  I looked around the room, confused and scared.  I saw that the door to my room had been opened and in the door way were my parents, but it was as though I could see directly through them.  We were all dead; our souls had left our bodies.  We were now ghosts and not the only ones at that… Going downstairs with my parents I couldn’t now see what I hadn’t been able to alive.  I saw all the spirits that lived in this house before us, and all of my parent’s party guests.  The trash in the foyer I thought I saw when I walked down the first time was now blood…it was everywhere.  All the families and married couples just lingered in the house.  I saw the previous owners of the house, they were floating around the house as if it were still theirs, not even noticing the rest of the spirits around them.  They were all trapped here forever, and now we were a part of them.  The house was cursed.  The spirits living here were too much for any human to survive here.  Within 5 years the spirits will have had enough and gotten rid of whoever lived in their home. 

                Years later someone else bought the house, with the cobwebs and dust.  Once again moving in, they thought they got a bargain, when in reality they bought a death wish.

New Life

My favorite Halloween was the first Halloween my family and I spent in our new house.  I remember it being so fun and laid back.  It was a perfect beginning to our fresh start in a new place, new house, new school, and new friends.  The only thing that wasn’t new was my crazy, loveable, and tight knit family.  We had spent months trying to find a house we all liked and that was in our price range.  Although we found plenty of houses we could never find the perfect one.  The way my family works is we have to all agree on something if it’s something that will affect every one of us.  Before moving to Missouri we considered moving to Kansas.  My dad hated the job he had and needed one that paid more.  After searching for a job that better fit him in our area of the Salt Lake City Valley for a while we decided we needed out, away from the enclosed valley, away from the busy city life and most of all away from the critical, judgmental people of the valley.  We all agreed we needed to move.  But we didn’t all agree on moving to Kansas.  So we didn’t.  Then my dad was offered a job in Missouri.  One that paid a lot more than the one he had in Utah and one that better suited him.  After he got the job we all started to work.  Going away party planning, packing, selling the house, garage sales…we got rid of just about everything we had.  Stuffing everything we had left into a small Pod and truck.  We wanted a fresh start.  Go somewhere nobody knew who we were and start from the beginning.  And that’s exactly what we did.  A three day road trip and we were beginning our new lives, remembering the old ones.  We lived in an apartment for 6 months when we first moved there, but waiting to start our lives until we moved into our house.  Everything good happens when you aren’t looking.  After looking through countless homes with my parents and brother, we found one.  Coming home one day to my parents telling my brother and I they had bought a house was a shock and I was honestly a little upset to find out they bought a home without my brothers and my opinion on it.  But when we arrived at the house to look at it we instantly fell in love.  A medium sized house with a beautiful rock exterior and neutral colored interior giving it a relaxed feel it was the perfect house for us.  And the biggest surprise is when we opened the back door to the large covered deck overlooking the pool surrounded by concrete and then an area of grass for our two dogs.  This was the perfect house that popped out of nowhere.  We moved in immediately and got to spend Halloween in our new house.  I remember getting the strobe light out and putting it out in our garage while my brother scared the little kids coming to get candy, my parents sitting on the front porch with the bowls of candy laughing and giving the frightened little kids extra candy.  I was sitting with my dog in the front yard watching everyone, storing this feeling in my memory to later remember what it felt like to have a crazy family who loved you, remembering the feeling of knowing nobody knew who I was.  I could be whoever, whatever I wanted to be.  The feeling of starting a new life was the feeling I wanted forever, feeling new and fresh, mysterious and secretive.

Lost Love

 

We kissed, I fell under your spell

They say I'm caught up in a dream

They tell me I'm too young to understand

I never hit so hard in love

It slowly turned, you let me burn

All I wanted was to break your walls

All you ever did was break me

And now, we're ashes on the ground

And I'm not proud of my address

So wake me up when it's all over