Oh, Middle School Middle School! (by William)

It was the first day of middle school.  My mom held my hand and whispered to me, "Good luck."  As I sauntered up to the gate, I waved back at her.  Then I whipped around and headed for my first class of the day.  The staircase was very crowded.  It was full of kids rushing up and down the stairs.  What seemed like a year to pass, I finally reached the second floor.  I took a deep breath.  From then on, my new life in middle school began.

It has been two and a half months into my 6th grade year, and I have already encountered many challenges and dilemmas.  For example, when my choir LACC invited me to perform in LA Opera's production, Hansel and Gretel, I was very excited.  Based on my experience in A Trip to the Moon,  I loved being a performer onstage.  Unfortunately, the opera requires a lot of dedication.  I would have to miss a minimum of 6 days of school, and the rehearsals also would conflict with my other activities such as swim practices.  After thinking for a day or so, I finally decided to decline the invitation because I don't want to miss any school days, nor to have a hard time catching up to the classwork and homework.  I need to set important things as priorities, and spend time and energy on those first.

I also have noticed a huge difference between middle and elementary schools.  There are lots of homework and projects in the middle school, and I must budget my time to get things done more efficiently.

However, middle school is very energizing.  I have been adapting into the new school--I have made some new friends, and I like my classes and teachers a lot.

My school has an awesome library filled with books, board games, computers, and even a pet "exhibition."  There is a tortoise named Poppy, and a green parakeet named Zucchini.  There used to be another parakeet named Poseidon, but he died recently.  Luckily, the school bought a yellow parakeet to be Zucchini's company.

I also love school because all my teachers are nice.

• Mrs. Rogan, my Science teacher, helps the class reduce stress by teaching us the finger tapping technique.
• Miss Simonian, my History teacher, is creative.  Many years ago when she was a World History TA, she was asked to draw an animal.  She drew a creature with a head, body, and four legs and named it Stumpy.  She still draws Stumpies while teaching and I love drawing Stumpies in my projects.
• Mr. Brown, my honors Math teacher, is extremely funny, and my chin can be "laughed out" at times.
• Mrs. Diggs, my advanced Orchestra teacher is very kind to us.
• Mrs. Ryu, my honors English teacher, is very detail-oriented and grades our essays very carefully.  Any missing commas or misplaced apostrophes will be spotted by her vigilant, eagle eyes.
• Mr. Yarbrough, my PE coach, loves socializing.
• Mr. Hilger, my SOAR teacher, looks like a handsome movie star.

Ah, Middle School, Middle School!  Whether I like it or not, childhood is waving goodbye.  So l've decided to enjoy my years in middle school.


P.S. The yellow parakeet is now named Sunshine.

THE CLOWN (by Ethan)

I am a clown who patrols the streets, but I cannot see.

people scream and slam their doors, for they fear me,

even though I am just a clown with a nose round as ever.

I am a clown who patrols the streets, but I cannot see.

and policemen rush out with shining guns,

they shout “stop or we’ll take you down!”

but I am just a clown, alas why do they do this?”

I am a clown who patrols the streets, but I cannot see.

and perhaps for the first time in my life, I realize,

that I am missing my eyes.

Auroura, the Clover, and Me, Demeter (by Ethan)

Life has taken a significant downfall after that Auroura came. Dude, you should’ve heard the gods when she arrived at Olympus! I had to stuff my ears with corn, because being the goddess of the harvest, I couldn’t find much else(mind you, it was very uncomfortable[c’mon, try putting a 2-inch rod in your earhole!]). The reason for the uproar is because she is beautiful beyond measure. She has warm, sparkling eyes, and her skin and hair are softer than water. Zeus looked especially happy. This is because Auroura is actually Zeus’ daughter! And her son has befriended my dear Persephone! Zeus made Auroura goddess of good luck because he thought that good fortune brought her her looks. She also has this sort of cloud over her head that makes everything warp and get all bent and twisted if it gets more than two feet from the goddess. This prevents her from hiding. It had been given to her by Zeus, saying “No goddess shall hide from fortune,” because apparently, the cloud contains the entire capacity of good luck there is. Aphrodite later told me that she kind of felt annoyed that Auroura was “taking away my physical vibe and putting it on herself”. And I can’t blame her. 

      Later, I found out that Auroura had a hobby for making objects and making them bring good fortune, and when one day she came up with a new object, decided to partner up with Hephaestus, the god of smiths and fire, to help her make it, and together, they made radiant penny coins, shiny as the sun and the color of bronze, and when they were made, Auroura would cast her good luck spell on the pennies and scatter them around the Earth, bringing with them the tradition of finding lucky pennies. That made even mortals admire Auroura.

Once, a very bad argument between me and Auroura left me feeling bitter. Little did I know that it would change my life: Persephone had grown quite attracted to Auroura’s son, whom I had never met. Now, they were going out to play, and I saw the boy for the first time: He was a hefty figure, with jet black hair and almost always wearing a helmet(I do wonder how he keeps cool under it). He can run as fast as a buffalo, too. After I had seed off Persephone, I went to my favorite spot to rest, a hilltop made of wheat. I slept for 2 hours, and still, they played on. Far away on the hill, waking up from a very heavy slumber, I rubbed my bleary eyes and looked up just in time to see the son giving Persephone a roundish something, like a piece of fruit. She ate it, but then a huge chasm opened up in the ground and woosh! she fell in like a stone. The chasm then slammed shut with an almighty BOOM! that I swear knocked over trees as far as Crete, and Persephone was gone. I was shocked. I started to call her. I called and called for nearly three days and nights. But, there was no response. So, I grieved. My sadness was like some thick eternal noxious fluid, secreting into even Mt.Olympus and infecting everyone it touched, so that everyone grew sad and did nothing more than stare into space and whack into each other.  In fact, I grieved so much, that every plant on Earth wilted and it got all cold. The mortals now call it “winter”, in memory of my mortal sister, who used to control the seasons. I was also angry that the son would dare give my daughter bad fruit. After thinking about what I could do to save her, I suddenly had an idea.“Maybe Auroura can help me look for it, she is the goddess of good fortune, and after all, it was her son who had given Persephone the fruit.” So, I began searching for her. I searched and searched, and I was walking by a very unusual fence, when everything began to bend as if they were being twisted by a giant hand. It was only then that I knew that Auroura was somewhere near. And, as I stood in shock, I saw distinctly, a flash of pure green. I also saw…I rubbed my eyes to make sure they weren’t deceiving me. There was movement inside the green something! I decided that I had to investigate. Stepping over the fence, I was faced with a jawdropping sight: There, right in the middle of the sea of green, was Auroura!

After my long search was over, I saw then that she had a secret garden of 4-leaf clovers which she had obtained from Hera(AURGH!!), explaining why there was so much green, which she was chilling out in. Despite the fact that my head now felt like it was filled with a million nuclear bombs because I was so furious thinking all the time “How come her garden has survived my winter spell?”, I managed to keep my voice straight. “Do you, by any chance, happen to know where my daughter Persephone is, when she was playing with your son this afternoon?” Auroura responded, “I do know that the duo were playing together, and that Persephone was given a fruit, but I do not know, however, what happened to her, because I wasn’t there.” This did not help with my anger, and I felt just about ready to asphyxiate her. Finally, it was too much. I wanted more than anything to yell at Auroura, so to keep my emotions from going berserk, I decided to avert the subject to the garden instead.

“My young friend,” I said. “What a lovely garden, my favorite plant is the 4-leaf clover, I think this garden should belong to me.” 

“Sorry, Demeter, I do not think so, for I have been given this garden by Hera herself, queen of the gods and goddesses!”

“No one refuses mighty Demeter. I will take it by force if it is not mine right now, whether you like it or not!”

Just then, Hera appeared by Auroura’s side and replied to me “Auroura speaks the truth. The garden is a rare source of happiness for her, which she treasures greatly. Taking it away will mean taking away her joy and serenity!” Believe me, that day, I got so mad, some part of me changed. Now, whenever someone asks me a nosy question, instead of saying “I don’t want to speak right now’, as I usually do, I find myself turning everyone that annoyed me into ergot-infested rye. Whenever I saw Auroura’s son, I would, in a state of near subconsciousness due to my rage, spit curses at him, and once, I even came to my senses to find that I had just thrown my cornucopia at him(a cornucopia is a horn of plenty). In the days following my dispute, I decided I had to teach Auroura a lesson, so I waited until night fell, until I knew Auroura was asleep, and then went into her sleeping chambers. And there, glowing so brightly that I had to shield my eyes, was a golden 4-leaf clover, I repeat, A GOLDEN 4-LEAF CLOVER!(double AURGH!!)along with a peacefully sleeping Auroura. Her hair was fluttering as she breathed. Quickly and as stealthily as a cat, I promptly swiped the 4-leaf clover, dashed up 35 floors, and lobbed it out of the highest window on Mt. Olympus, where it made a very loud clatter when it hit the ground, then returned to Auroura’s bedroom and sheltered behind her nightstand. I chose not to run partly because I wanted to witness her reaction, partly because that is the sort of goddess that I am.

When Auroura woke up, my fear of being spotted overcame me, so I carefully snuck out of my hiding spot and crawled under the bed. Soon after, I could hear sniffling, then moderate crying. Auroura’s extended hand, fumbling with the spot where the golden clover had been, was wet with tears from her wiping her eyes, then, she got out of bed, still crying, with her tears flooding the floor, and went out of the door. When I knew she was gone, I crawled out and inspected Auroura’s quarters. Almost everything was decorated with all the good-luck trinkets she’d crafted over the years. And, more surprising, her tears were gold. I discovered this when I stepped on something wet and look at my foot soles to find that they were gold. I thought that seeing her so melancholy would make me happy. But it didn’t. The funny thing was that getting revenge on Auroura did not make me feel the slightest bit better. The reason was that I had not found Persephone yet! I later learned that the pomegranate was food of the dead, which was the reason that she had disappeared into the ground. It had nothing to do with Auroura or her son, but the tussle we had seriously damaged our friendship. There was something about the 4-leaf clover that I did not know, however. Auroura had cast a spell on the golden clover, granting it eternal good fortune. While the clover had lain there, the wind had blown the spell onto all of the 4-leaf clovers growing on Earth. The spell had not been entirely shed off, for more of it filled in the parts that had been blown away. 

    After Auroura found the golden clover, she punished me by making 4-leaf clovers the rarest plant to find on Earth. And this is why finding a 4-leaf clover is a sign of good luck, but are so hard to find.

Why I Named Belize the Unforgettable Country: a Memoir of My First Trip to the Central American Nation (By Ethan)

   It all began when my mom made the announcement “We’re going to Belize!” I was so ecstatic! I swear, when I went to bed the night before we were to make the trip, I could barely sleep due to excitement. I kept seeing ocean before my eyes while I was awake.

   The scenery of Belize completely turned the tables on my imagination. All of the buildings were no bigger than an average 3-story apartment, well, except, maybe the airport and the hotel we stayed at, but all the facades were very colorful, and the food there tasted great (I think my taste buds went giddy). The island where we stayed was small, but noisy, with merchants standing outside shops calling out their wares, and the sea with its rolling waves, and boats zooming past the island every so often, and the chink of dishes and cups and silverware as waiters cleaned up the outdoor tables outside restaurants.

   We stayed in a villa which had three bedrooms and two bathrooms,a family room, a kitchen, and outside, a huge balcony that overlooked the ocean. We even had an iPad that the hotel staff had provided that I played with a lot. I filmed a timelapse of the alarm clock in my bedroom.

   For me, the best part of this oceanview villa was the pillows. I asked my parents if I could have theirs, since they sleep without them, and then, I learned, after counting them, that I had a total of 7 pillows!!! Needless to say, I fell asleep 10 times faster than when I sleep at home. I also bought two figurines, which were handcrafted by ladies from Guatemala(!!!!!!!).One of them shaped like a minion, the other as the Angry Birds bird Bomb, which is the black one, I made forts with the pillows and did battles with the figurines.

   The most memorable event there was when we went on a plane cruise over the big Blue Hole. We were just about to take off when a huge iguana ran across the runway. In fact, it ran so fast that Mom didn’t even have time to photograph it. Our flight was a private plane, and our pilot’s name was Mark. Mark and all three of us were the only people on the plane, so I had plenty of room, happily, because I treasure my personal space as much as Mom treasures her vintage books. My best description of the plane was that it is quite small, white with a bit of red, and it had a propeller that made, surprisingly, very little noise (please don’t search me if you want to know why, because I am as clueless as you). Along the course of the flight, we saw many coral reefs, green as jade, glittering under the sun, stretching for who knows how many kilometers. The sea next to the shore was cyan, but as we got farther away it turned a deep blue. When we finally flew over the Blue Hole, I noticed the center was a really dark blue, and that the coral around the Hole made it look sort of like a round fish, though Mom said that it looked like a man with a bow tie in a top hat. I am constantly amazed that the shape of the Hole is literally a perfect circle.

   There was lots of individual coral, too. They were all sorts of colors. I’m talking red, teal, turquoise, green, blue, puce, gold, brown, you name it. I think I would’ve mistaken it for a rainbow had I myself been a coral.

   Although the land and sea were beautiful, there was a gross part too; the shores were littered with seaweed; I like to eat seaweed, but only when it’s from the grocery store. I once accidentally stepped into a pile and it tickled my foot so bad that the foot itched for several minutes. It was kind of stinky, too.

   The first day there, my dad and I swam in the Caribbean Sea, though I sucked water up into my nose by mistake (also needless to say, I was very happy when the freshwater from my dad’s water bottle was in my mouth, because the salt water from the sea stung like red-hot needles). There was a neat little restaurant right above the sea that I would eat at, but I couldn't concentrate on my food, because the salt from the seawater would make me real scratchy, in fact, I could’ve sworn that I saw little salt grains on my skin.

    In one of the last days there, we went snorkeling; yes, all three of us! and saw a world under the sea that was as unique as the world of microbes. We were swimming for about a minute or two when a small yellow fish swam in front of Mom, and every so often, would stop, turn around, and wait for Mom to catch up, then it would resume swimming, as if it were showing Mom around. Though the yellow fish in front of Mom did not enter my field of vision, I did see a fish-like creature behind Mom. Although this may not be the best description, I remember it as having coarse-looking skin, with little pimple-like protrusions all over it, with its top half being yellow, and its bottom half being white, making it look like some kind of alien corn, and it was swimming so close to Mom that I thought it was trying to sample her hair (should I start calling it the hair-loving cornfish?) But there were other fish around, too. As we were heading back to the boat, we even saw an eel slither out of its hole to catch some food that the tour guide had thrown. It had eyes red as the Devil. Right before we were lining up to head back in, I made an unexpected encounter with a simply enormous fish. It was as big as a dinner plate! Even though I knew it was probably harmless, I swam for it, reaching the boat just as the fish crossed where my head had been seconds before.

   When I used to look at Belize on atlases, I thought that it was no more than a snuff of land, set into Central America. Now, Belize to me is home to the world’s best villa, the bravest iguana, who risked his own life to explore the other side of runway, the friendliest little yellow fish, who gave up all his time to try to befriend Mom and showed us around the vast Caribbean Sea, and the finest crafts ever made by Guatemalan ladies.

A History of GEO-EARTH4 (By Ethan)

     Precisely 4,681,220 light-years away from Earth, there lies a planet called GEO-EARTH4.

     GEO-EARTH4 looks just like Earth, except that all the people are made of 4d shapes (hence the 4 at the back of the “EARTH” part). The weather is much like on regular Earth, but there are some strange climates and weather patterns. For example:  It rains hypercubes and hyperspheres on this planet, the snow crystals are in the shape of 24-cells (4d versions of the octahedron), and craziest of all, the sun’s rays get warped to an extreme amount, so that a sunbeam could travel straight down, then magically end up 2 meters away from where it was supposed to hit.

     Life on GEO-EARTH4 is strange too, for example, plants on this planet can actually change their age at will (humans here can do it too). Animal cells are actually 3d; this is the only place on GEO-EARTH4 that 3d structures can be found, they are in the shapes of a tetrahedron (which is a triangular pyramid with faces that are identical). Plant cells are 4d, but they have the nasty habit of disappearing then reappearing, which makes the plants very poorly beings.

     The humans eat only beef, was said by ancient legend to have formed from a giant sunbeam, and sleep only 0.221864 hours a day. They also have very easy traveling, since they are 4d; they actually use portals. AND, they have no crime (WOW, IMAGINE THAT!!!!!!).

     Their Earth has no outer core, and The solar system in which GEO-EARTH4 orbits is approximately 1.01563 times larger than ours, and their sun has no sunspots; it is strangely colored: There are swirling stripes and blotches of color, mainly blue, yellow, white, orange, and red, though people have discovered a patch of brown about 1.133 square miles in area. Also, remember what I said about GEO-EARTH4 looking exactly like Earth, but the only 3d structures are animal cells?  Well, you may be asking “How is that possible??” Well, here's why: The planet was 3d when it formed, but a wormhole suddenly appeared and out of it came the 4d creatures that now live on GEO-EARTH4 today.  

    This was 18,000 years ago. 

Terror at YKK (By Ethan)

   There is a zipper on the sidewalk at the company building YKK. It has long since been there, and people would take photos of themselves trying to unzip it (it was actually painted).

   One day, a father, a mother, and their son went for a stroll along the sidewalk where the mighty zipper lay. The son saw the zipper, and became very interested in it, in fact, he spent several minutes observing it. But, to the son’s surprise, as he stood up to join his parents, he unmistakably saw that the zipper had actually become 3D. His parents must have saw too, because all three of them stared goggle-eyed at the zipper. Then, very slowly, it unzipped, all by itself. And then, there was a whooshing sound, as all of the trio was sucked into the zipper. The son had a millisecond-long glimpse of a dimly-lit room, with chairs arranged in gently curving rows, and a magnificent desk that was made of what looked like ash, with a bronze nameplate on the top, when everything disappeared in a whirl of color and shapes.

Suddenly, as soon as it had started, it stopped. The boy felt his feet hit solid ground, as he and his parents looked around the room. The boy let out a gasp, for it was the exact same room he had observed before he had been sucked into the zipper. And, he thought he recognized the logo on a plaque nailed to the wall. Then, the boy realized, with a jolt, that they were inside the YKK building. He could even see the giant, painted zipper from which they had been sucked, except that it was closed and zipped up. The place felt strangely haunted. It was also rather drafty, as some of the windows were broken. “I wonder what this room is for?” thought the boy to himself.

    As they stood and gazed around the room, the boy could see that the room was very neat and well kept, except for the few cracked and/or broken windows, and a small area of peeling wallpaper.

    Then, out of nowhere, people dressed in navy blue suits hurtled into the room, jostling and pushing to get to a seat. Once a man nearly ran into the mother, but he just went straight through her, as if she wasn’t even there. In fact, everything in the room was solid except the men. The mom noticed this and threw an old lipstick tube at him, but it sailed right through him. Once all of them were seated, a tall man wearing a navy blue shirt like the others, but sporting a badge on his chest, stepped behind the desk. The boy guessed he was the boss. The son had noticed the near collision of the man with his mother as well, for he ran at the boss and tried to hit him in the stomach, but his fist did nothing, it only went through.

    “Good afternoon, everyone!” he said in a loud voice. “Today, we will continue with our creative zipper designs, if you haven’t already finished. Once all of them are done, please bring them to me.” the boss said.

    There was a mad scuffle, as everyone went to work, pulling out large pieces of paper, and examining them, crossing out things and adding new ones.

    The trio stayed in the room for several more minutes at which in one point, the son tried to grab a piece of paper, but he slipped and hit a chair, which flipped onto its back, bringing along with it the poor man who was sitting on it. Along with the falling chair, the room gave a lurch, and they found themselves whirling around as before, and then they were tumbling onto the sidewalk. None of them seemed able to speak as they stood up and walked away. However, the boy did notice the room they had visited, except that no one was in it, and all of the windows were completely intact. And to this day, no one has ever dared to visit the painted zipper anymore.

The cursed volcano (By Ethan)

     A lone volcano stands on an island. It has long since been extinct, but It is still a volcano that no one dares venture to, because it is cursed by the inhabitants of it; they are really cursed rocks.

Once, an explorer went on top of the volcano and looked down into it. But it was very old and crumbly, so of course the explorer fell in. As he plummeted in, he noticed lots of ledges with gray blurs moving on them. He fell still further, and saw, to his shock, what looked like a bright cyan fan whirling underneath him, but it was completely silent. Just as it looked like he would be dashed to pieces in the fan, He stopped, just inches above its center. The space under the fan was hollow, and lit with a light. And, there, staring up at him, was another group of the strange gray blob-like creatures that had been moving around on the ledges he had seen earlier.

Then the leader of the gang (or so the explorer thought) said “We have another visitor. Quick, Free him!!” and with a loud bang, the fan exploded as three cannonballs hit it.

The explorer got angry and stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes, and said “Now, wait a moment! Where exactly are you taking---” BANG! One of the gray blob creatures shot another three cannonballs toward what looked like half of a wooden cage holding rocks from the inside of the volcano that had fallen from the wall. The cage cracked and split, causing the rocks to tumble into the opening where the fan used to be.

      They went on down a large tunnel that was dimly lit by torches. Soon, they came to a halt in front of a wooden door which bore a skull made of obsidian, with rubies for eyes. Then, the leader approached the door and knocked three times on it. It was then that the explorer noticed that the blobs did everything in groups of three. They had shot the fan and the rock cage with three successive cannonballs each. They each had three long, slender gray hairs growing out of the top of their heads. they even had three legs and three hands each, and inhaled and exhaled three seconds each. They had knocked three times on the skull door, and when they entered, they saw a blob king sitting on a throne with three armrests and three footrests, and the blobs escorted the explorer, lined up into three lines, and each line jumped three times simultaneously to show respect to their king. Then, they showed him the explorer. The king pointed to their left, and they followed in the direction he had mentioned.

       There, the explorer saw another door, this one made of steel with three bolts made of iron on it. The blobs opened the door, forced him into it, and tied him with three iron chains, two to his arms and one to his leg (they left the other leg free), and left the room, ignoring his shouts of “Let me go!” But through all this ordeal, he saw three 3-by-3 windows, each with three bars set into the sills. They were all on the door, and placed three inches away from one another. Looking through the topmost window, he watched the blobs moving away, and then he distinctly heard them say “Imagine the look on his face when we turn him into a blob.” The explorer froze. Uh-oh, he thought, desperately wanting help. They’re going to turn me into a blob!!!  

       And blob he did become, and now he lives at the bottom of the volcano, capturing people and turning them into blobs with the others. And that is why you should NEVER, EVER visit this volcano!