Author's Notes

Author's Notes

1. I would like the reader of my short story to feel like they're reading a mystery and to feel a type of suspense.
2. Once I came up with the idea of what my story was based on, the details just flowed together.
3. Adding the detail and making it come all together was the difficult part.
4. Dont really have any questions about the piece. 
   
   

Short Story

Missing

All the questions were racing through Jena’s mind as to where her sister went. Jena’s younger sister Jamie always comes home at night no matter what. Maybe she slept at one of her friends house but Jena had a bad feeling about where Jamie was. So not knowing what to do Jena went to the police.

The police were no help. Since she had no evidence of her sister missing they couldn’t help her out. Jena was now on her own, going to the police station was just a waste of a couple hours and she needed to start looking for her sister. She didn’t even know where to get started. So she went through her room looking for anything suggesting where she was last night. Riffling through her desk drawers was useless because there was so much stuff in there she would’ve been there for hours. Then she got an idea to check her social media.

Jamie’s Facebook timeline was filled with posts about some type of rave going on downtown last night. Of course Jena did more research on the party after she saw that. She found out the location of the place and drove there. It looked like there was no one there in years, it was an abandoned building. Walking inside of the building, the smell grossed out Jena. Rotting food and booze reeked everywhere. How she was gonna find Jamie was another process but she was one step closer. Searching for anything that had to do with her sister would be a process but she’ll do whatever it takes to find her.

She walked up the stairs to the second floor, looked in every room and couldn’t find anything. Until she walked into one of the rooms and the floor was making a weird noise. She lifted up the carpet and found a trap door. Of course Jena was curious as to what was down there, it was sketchy. She lifted it and the smell of something awful swept into her face. It was unlike something she has never smelt before. Holding her breath she went down the stairs. With each step, each stair creaked, so much for trying to be quiet. She scurried down the stairs and got to the bottom. The cement floor was cold and smelled. The whole basement that she was in reeked and smelled like something died. Praying that wasn’t her sisters smell, she walked forward.

There were puddles of water coming from leaks on the ceiling. Light bulbs lit the hallway but dimly. There was only one door at the end of the hallway, it was closed but not fully. Before she opened the door she looked inside, boxes filled the room but not normal wood boxes. They were colorful, and kind of big. She stepped inside of the room and noticed a box moving. What was in it, she had to find out. Knocking on it to see if she’d get an answer, she got a knock back. Wondering if it was Jamie, she opened it.

Jamie’s weak body rolled out of the box. Her skin was bruised and cut up, her clothes had blood stains on them, she could barely move. Jena asked every question in the book, then realized her sister could barely talk, and was dying.  Without asking any more questions, Jena grabbed her sister and picked her up. She needed to take her to the hospital as soon as possible. She threw her over her shoulder and turned around.

Staring at her, all she could see was eyes. Whoever it was had a black mask on, almost looked like latex. No skin showing, but besides those hazel eyes. There was something scary about them. Jena had to leave quickly those, she couldn’t stand there forever. Trying to make a run for it, Jena felt her body shut down, she couldn’t feel anything. She fell down, she felt paralyzed. Her vision became blurry, then she felt something in the back of her arm. A needle. Turning over, the man in the mask was standing over her. Watching her, staring at her, with those piercing eyes. He became very blurry to Jena, everything did. Last thing she saw was those eyes.

Waking up took long, everything was still blurry. But even when Jena’s vision became clear again she was very dizzy. It also took her a while to realize what had happened, and where she was. Her sister was gone. She pulled out her phone out of her back pocket, no service, of course. There was no light in the room besides a slit of it, coming from a window with paper on it, a piece was torn off the corner. She got up and ripped the whole piece of paper off the window.

She saw people outside, but knowing she shouldn’t yell anything, it might draw the masked man’s attention to her. She looked around the room she was in, trying to find anything she could throw to get the attention of the people outside. She saw multiple bottles and threw them. Smashing one after another on the road some joggers turned around and saw her. Now she started screaming for help. “HELP ME I’M TRAPPED CALL 911!!” She kept screaming until she saw at least one of them pull out their phone and call 911.

She heard someone walking behind her and she turned around but not fast enough, he already had her. Chloroform ran up Jena’s nostrils and she started to feel that same feeling when her vision began to blur before. Everything darkened, then she was out.

 Jena woke up this time to the smell of smoke. Her mind was functioning perfectly and knew what was going on but her body needed to be at the same speed her mind was at. Again, getting up took a couple minutes but as soon as she got up she noticed the flames. Huge flames bigger than her. She had to find a way out of the building but all door had heavy smoke coming out of them. She already had a hard time breathing, she couldn’t imagine what it’d be like trying to go through one of those door. Then she felt the breeze from the open window and she knew that was the only way she could get out. The window was about 3 levels up from the ground, that was her only way out though. So without really thinking about it she jumped. Landing right on her back, she had no idea if she broke it or if she just got the wind knocked out of her, or even both.

She started to get the air back in her lungs, and the feeling of fresh air and not smoky air in her lungs felt great. She looked up at the sky while she was laying down, smoke filled her sight. She sat up, the building she was in was on fire, burning down. A paramedic came over to her and quickly got her to an ambulance, no questions asked.

While in the ambulance, Jena couldn’t focus on anything but the fact that she had no idea where her sister was, she lost her. She’s probably in that building with all the others that were probably in the other boxes, burning. She closed her eyes, tried to not think of anything. Someone was calling her name though in the distance. “Jena! Jena wake up! Wake up!” She opened her eyes and all she saw was those green eyes looking back at her. She shut her eyes again trying to make them go away.

When she opened her eyes Jamie was staring at her, shaking her.

“Wake up Jena we’re going to be late! Wake up!”

It took Jena a little bit to realize what was going on.

“What’s up with you? It looks like you’ve seen a ghost or something!” Jamie said.

“Where am I?” Jena said, confused.

“Your in bed stupid, and you over slept of course and we’re going to be late to school if you don’t get up Jena!”

It was all a dream, a big nightmare.    

Speak Final Assignment

Task~

1. Theres actually a lot of times when my inner and outer voice disagreed. One time last year around the same time (fall). My step cousins came down from Canada for a visit. My guy friends kept calling me and asking me to come outside because they were near my dads house. I also had to deal with my step sisters because i knew they would tell on me. So me and Celina (my step cousin) came with a plan. We said to the parents that we were going to play manhunt but of course my step sisters wanted to come. So we ended up having me and Celina on one team and my step sisters on another and we told them to go hide as we “count”. We ended running to the end of my street and meeting up with my friends. Celina and i both felt very eerie about the situation and we knew in our gut that something was gonna happen. A few minutes later as i finally listened to Celina and walked back to my house, my dad was standing outside. We weren’t in trouble but i was still mad but i should’ve trusted my inner voice and told him the truth about what we were doing but my outer voice just told him she wanted to talk to someone. But he eventually found out that we were with my friends and he was annoyed. Long story short i shouldn’t of lied to my dad about where we were AND we should’ve told where we wanted to go in the first place.
2. A time when my inner and outer voice were in sync is actually a lot. If i'm sad or mad you’ll know. Like the time i first got my braces..it was the first week i got them on and my teeth were still KILLING. I told my mom to make pasta because i couldn’t eat anything and guess what she makes. CHICKEN. She makes chicken and i couldn’t even chew it. I was so upset on the inside and it showed on the outside. I was so annoyed and angry. Whenever i can’t eat what i want or when i want, i get frustrated. I ate yogurt and ice cream that whole week and i was not happy.
3. B-

          At the end of the book there was a time when Melinda’s outer voice and inner voice was in harmony. When she was in the janitors closet and Andy tried to attack her again. She fought back and that was her gut instinct. She screamed and wouldn’t let it happen again. And it worked. Mostly, i feel, that if you listen and follow your gut instinct its good. If you don’t feel right about something then you shouldn’t do it.        

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Almost like an everyday teen’s diary

What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones

The main character is Sophie, she is 15 and in high school. She is a little boy crazy like every girl in high school and finally gets asked out by the boy of her dreams, Dylan. Throughout the relationship though she notices Dylan's weirdness and doesn’t know what to do. She still wants to date him because she does still like him. Until she starts an unexpected relationship with a person from an online chat room. This relationship I can’t say much about but it gives Sophie the confidence to breakup with Dylan. The rest of the book is basically based on the Halloween school dance she goes to. She ends up dancing with a masked man and she tries to find out his identity throughout the rest of the book. When she finds out who this person is, you will definitely be surprised.

“A verse experience that will leave readers sighing with recognition and satisfaction.”

-Kirkus Reviews, on the back of the book.

This book is different from any of the books I’ve read before. The writing style really makes this book unique from the others. Sonya Sones writes each page sort of like how poems are written. There’s line breaks and the lines are shorter than other lines in books. She writes the story in any 15 year old girl’s perspective.  

“Dylan says

when I meet his mother today

I shouldn’t mention

that I’m Jewish.

I say

okay, but can I

tell her about

the HIV positive thing?

He gives me a look.

I give him one back” (74).

I really liked this book. I feel like every girl could relate so some parts of the book at least. Just an average teen girl dealing with the normal drama and boys and grades and what not.

I give What my Mother Doesn’t Know 4 Paws - Pounce on It  

Speak reflective reading quiz

1. Afraid: Shes afraid of the boy who raped her. She doesn’t want it to happen again.
2. Shy: She’s not very loud or outgoing. She keeps to herself more and shes quiet.
3. Hurt: She’s hurt because her friends abandoned her. She thought they were her true friends and they’re obviously not because true friends would stay by your side no matter what.
4. Left Out: She doesn’t really have any friends. She doesn’t have a big group of friends like she did before.
5. Alone: She’s mostly by herself alot. she doesn’t really spend time with anyone besides Heather.

    I think alone is one of the best words to describe Melinda at this point in the book. On page 4 it states, “i am an outcast”. Its actually sad that she even knows she has no friends and that shes alone. She does have Heather but what if Heather isn't at school one day. Melinda will be alone. And maybe Heather is only friends with Melinda because she wasn’t there last year and she doesn’t know about the party.

Melinda’s friends literally hate her as it states on page 5, “...it’s Rachel. My throat burns. Her eyes meet mine for a second. “i hate you,” she mouths silently.” If only Melinda told them what happened they would understand and probably not hate her as much..or at all. Melinda is abandoned. She basically doesn’t have anyone to tell her problems. No one. she is alone.

Author's Notes

1. I would like my reader to enjoy this essay and enjoy reading it. There's just some things that are too good to be true is a message I'm trying to get across.
2. The characters i think work well in this essay. It wasn't easy but it wasn't hard.
3. The part that was hardest to write was the plot twist.
4.  I'd like my classmates to give good feedback back and helpful feedback about my essay.

Junior from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Sophie from What My Mother Doesn’t Know

It was a hot summer evening and the sun was setting. Junior was walking to the drugstore to get some snacks as he ran into 3 older boys that go to his school that always pick on him. He quickly noticed them and turned around, hoping they didn't see him. Too bad that they saw him as quickly as he saw them. They started sprinting after Junior and he became terrified. The 3 bullies soon caught up with him and smashed him against the pavement. Took all his money and left him with a few good bruises. As junior looked up he saw Sophie and a bunch of her friends from school. Junior felt such hurt as they all laughed at him and walked away. He couldn't believe how stupid he could’ve been for even trusted that Sophie could’ve been different. But lets go back a couple months ago to December, when Junior first laid eyes on Sophie.

Junior was a skinny Indian who lives on the reservation in town. Glasses, a stutter and a lisp makes him an easy target to get picked on. He has an absolute passion for drawing and making comics and wants to do more in his life. He decided to go to a white high school (Reardan) 22 miles away from his reservation. Even though he goes to a new school he still gets picked on even more at the reservation now that everyone knows he goes to Reardan, even his best friend has left him.

As Junior was leaving his history class one day he noticed something. Someone. Someone he had never seen before. A girl. A very pretty girl, named Sophie.

Sophie had brown wavy hair, blue eyes and tall. She, also, loved to draw and loved to go to the art museum. She wasn’t the most popular girl, but she was popular enough for her to be friends with almost everyone at Reardan.

Junior began to notice Sophie more and more each day as the school year went on. He began to know all of her classes so eventually he walked by them everyday as she walked out of them. She began to notice him too.

A week later half of the semester was over so it was time for all the students arts block to change. Junior was in art class, and so was Sophie. Junior immediately noticed that Sophie was in the same class as him but Sophie didn’t really notice because Junior sat behind her. The day Sophie really noticed that the new boy from the reservation, was in her class, was about the fourth day into art class.

The art teacher asked the art students to sketch someone elses face in the room. The teacher assigned Sophie and Junior together.

Sophie and Junior didn't talk much they just began to sketch. Sophie noticed the loneliness of Junior as she drew. She wanted to get to know him more because there was just something about him that she liked. After she finished her sketch she noticed that he was kind of gorgeous. Behind that stutter and lisp was a gorgeous person. Sophie was confused. She never could actually talk to an Indian in front of anyone at her school. She had to find a way to talk to him so no one would see.

After class Junior went to his locker to get his social studies book as a note fell out of his locker.

Junior, meet me outside in the back of the school at 4pm sharp.

Xo.. Sophie

Junior didn’t know what to think or what to do. He just couldn’t wait for that last bell to ring.

As soon as the last bell of the day rang he ran to the back of Reardan and waited. The kids at Reardan got out of school at 2:30pm. Junior waited at the back of the school until 4pm. Still no show from Sophie. He waited until 5pm, still nothing, no one. He gave up hope that she would even come and started to walk back home.

Junior shoved his hands in his front pockets and found some money. There was a drugstore on his way to the reservation so why not stop by to get some snacks.

Thats when he noticed 3 bullies at his school and quickly turned around. As the 3 bullies smashed him down on the sidewalk, he noticed Sophie. Arm in arm with a couple friends, laughing at him.

Junior felt stupid. How could he even believe that a popular girl could ever want to talk to him. As Sophie and her friends walked away Junior noticed Sophie’s head turn around and she had a look of hurt. Junior was confused.

What they both didn’t know is that Sophie didn’t write the note. Sophie's boyfriend Murphy wrote the note.

Murphy was a big bully, the bully of Reardan. He began to notice Junior noticing his girlfriend, and his girlfriend noticing Junior and didn’t like it. He wrote the note and put it in Juniors locker. He waited for him. Waited for him to walk back to the reservation. Waited to beat him up.

Junior and Sophie never talked again after that day. Every now and then, Sophie will take glances of Junior and Junior would take glances of Sophie. No conversation was ever made between them. Junior and Sophie sometimes have that thought in their heads. The thought of what if..?