A Proud Teacher's Assistant (by William)

I had an eye-opening experience as a teacher assistant for the wonderful Preparatory Choir of LACC. The experience taught me how to interact appropriately with children much younger than myself. I also learned how being a conductor’s assistant can be like. Directly below is a lovely letter from Mrs. Brigham, director of both the Prep and Intermediate Choirs in LACC. She summed up my contribution as the Teacher's Assistant helping the Preppies learn and grow, and my participation in the operas.  Thank you Mrs. Brigham for your encouragement!

"It has been a pleasure to have you assisting with Prep Choir.  You are a wonderful assistant, and I appreciate how your interactions with the Prep Choristers are friendly, kind, and thoughtful.  You help them to feel comfortable, and you are an outstanding model and mentor for them.  I am very grateful for your assistance.

Your work ethic in preparation for La Boheme and Magic Flute was exceptional, William, and I admire the way that you view every situation as an opportunity to learn and grow.  That was inspirational!

I am wishing you and your wonderful family a bright and joyous New Year!"

Card from Mrs. Brigham

My First Late-Night Pizza Party (by William)

Delicious pizza scents wafted over to our table in Mamma’s Pizza.  I checked my watch, 9:30 p.m.  I tried to watch the Rams losing to the 49ers, but I was too occupied to really focus on the football game.  After 30 minutes of solid waiting for my good friend Anson and the badminton batch to come after the night training, I heard the happy clamoring of the energetic children.  I recognized one voice, which belonged to Anson himself.  Just then, my group of ecstatic looking friends walked into the restaurant.  I greeted them warmly, and our late-night pizza party began!

We sat around a long table and shared delicious pizza, pasta, salad, and garlic knots. Anson’s cousin KZ was the special guest from Singapore.  He kept adding cheese powder and spice to his pizza and the other food.  He would keep adding garnish toppings until nobody could see the outlines of the pizza slices.  Auntie Michele and Uncle Alren kept reminding KZ to stop adding spices using very serious tones of voice.  KZ usually agreed hastily with a mischievous glance at us, and after two minutes of intervals, his sneaky little fingers would slowly reach for spice containers and again, dump excess toppings on his food. We all found KZ’s tricks intriguing and funny.  Auntie explained that KZ was used to the heavy taste in Singapore, but she considered it’s healthier for kids to intake less spices.

After the party, we kids decided to start a trivia game.  Our first topic was song lyrics - Ella read lyrics and made us sing the rest of the song.  I quickly changed the subject of trivia to Star Wars.  The change of subject made my answers ruthless and efficient.  All the people at our table were utterly astounded on how much Star Wars information I possessed.  My mom called those “useless knowledge.”  The trivia games were fun for all the kids, parents, and grandma.
   
I loved my first late-night pizza party and will cherish it forever.  I had never tasted better mom and pop pizza in my life.  Both the white and meat lover pizzas delivered a mouthful of juicy, creamy, and thick flavor.  As I am writing, the tastes still linger in my mouth.  The buttery garlic knots punched my tastes buds with perfect garlic and olive flavors.  Thank you auntie Michele for treating us, and I am looking forward to the next gathering. 

My Big Dream ( by Ethan )

       About two years ago, my mother showed me a gif of a sea turtle who had a straw stuck in her nose. I used to use straws all the time, and more than once a day, too. Immediately after watching the gif, I was struck with a whirlwind of emotions. I was extremely hurt by the gif of the turtle, so much so that I still remember it to this day. 

      I realized that plastic straws, while a convenient, durable method (that is, they don’t get soggy and break down like paper straws) of drinking things, can end up harming animals, like that turtle. Since then, I have stopped using plastic straws altogether. But, when I go to any restaurant, I still see people using plastic straws.

    And this is where my big dream comes in: Developing a new biodegradable straw that is as inexpensive to manufacture, durable, and versatile as a plastic straw.  Instead of cluttering our oceans and harming marine life, my biodegradable straw can decompose into compost which can then be used to plant trees.  

    There are four reasons why people use plastic straws despite the harm to the environment and animals, like sea turtles:

1. They are especially cheap, unlike those metal reusable straws, so people’s wallets stay happy.
2. They are appreciably durable, they don’t break like glass, and can also stand the test of time.
3. They’re easy to manufacture, because they do not need advanced equipment to produce.
4. They can withstand being submerged in liquids like water without getting soggy and turning into mush like paper straws. 

   To overcome these perceived benefits of plastic straws, my product will need to provide similar advantages while also protecting sea turtles and other ocean creatures.

     So what will I need to accomplish this? Patience, perseverance, and investing in lots of things: knowledge, health, money, and time to name a few, particularly the last two. Knowledge: I will need to know much advanced chemistry to make the chemical properties of this new material suitable for human use, and biology to make sure that it is safe for all species. Health: I cannot accomplish things with an ill body or mind. Money: Everything comes at a price. Time: Not all changes are immediate. This enterprise can take years to carry out.

    Now, I am in 7th grade. After ten years, I will be just graduating from college, so I can have a startup to make my dream reality. Here is a ten-year plan I made to cover the cost for developing a biodegradable straw. 

     Based on my online research, I am planning to ask for $500,000 seed money, which I will invest in the ten-year period. I have created a portfolio with 35% stocks, 30% bonds, and 35% mutual funds. Jimeet Modi, CEO of SAMCO Securities,  once said “From a ten-year perspective, investing in the consumption theme should pay off handsomely. Be it NBCFs and private banks, consumer durables, or consumer staples, all should perform well, irrespective of the ups and downs in the economy.” I researched some consumption funds and discovered that the best have a return rate of almost 15%. By choosing this type of investment, I can predict at least a 10% return for my portfolio. So after 10 years, my seed money will grow at least to $1,178,973.85.

     You have good reason to invest in me because I am very passionate about science and am very hard-working, and I have a clear vision about the environment. A straw might not seem like much, but keep in mind that 500 million are used every day in the US, and 8.3 billion pollute the oceans. When my dream comes true, we could save the oceans and no turtles will be harmed.

A Night at Puget Sound (a poem by William)

All is peaceful

The night sky, filled with those simmering stars

Shining and smiling their ways down onto the earth

Some stars, they are so bright, they look like miniature suns

The Puget Sound waters surrounding us is ever so serene

The glints of light caught in reflection

Around us, the air is filled with cries of wild animals

The pine trees, spruce, and firs surround us majestically in the darkness

All is beautiful, all is well

Out of the mist, I see the most beautiful place

The moon is starting to slowly ascend

Casting a silver light upon us

Adieu, I will revisit this enchanted place again

P.S. I am learning Chopin’s Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor, a beautiful piano piece, and it reminded me of the night at Puget Sound during my Spring Break, the moon shining through the woods.  I “talked out” the poem while playing piano, and mom recorded it for the second time, here is my poem, A Night at Puget Sound.

The Shakespeare Stealer Book Review (by William)

This intriguing historical novel takes place in England during the 1590s.  As a little child, he didn’t even remember his name.  When he was brought to the orphanage, he was nicknamed Widge.  When Widge was seven years old, he was adopted by Dr. Timothy Bright.  Dr. Bright was a doctor of medicine who studied at Cambridge.  Widge was to be the doctor’s assistant and jot down scientific notes. 

Book cover from internet

After seven more years of his life, a mysterious black-cloaked stranger comes for a visit.  The stranger wanted to have Widge as an apprentice because of his ability to write in strange yet simple characters.  The cloaked figure takes Widge to meet his master.  Unfortunately, his new master Simon Bass orders him and Falconer (the black cloaked man) to go the London and copy Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.  Yet the Globe Theatre actors take him in and treat him as part of the family.  Widge has a choice to make.  Does he obey his fearsome master or betray his new friends. 

I loved the plot of the story, but I wish the author used less English dialect that we cannot quite fully comprehend.  I would recommend this story to ages 12 to 18. 

The Shrink Disease (by William)

I was prepared for another regular and relaxing Saturday, then I realized something unusual had happened to me, and my whole life turned upside down on that day of my life.

When I first woke up, I discovered that I had more space on my bed than the previous night. I got off my bed to get some clothes from the closet. While jumping off, I fell onto the floor, feet first. “What is happening to me?” I muttered. All of a sudden, mom burst into my room. She was looming over me, as she shouted, “Honey, where are you! We don’t have time for Big Tiger Chasing Little Pig (a game we invented)!” “I’m here mom! I’m here!” I squeaked. She looked down, and gasped in astonishment. “What has happened to you! Why have you shrunk in size! Are you feeling okay?” she demanded. And in a swift motion, she swept me up in her palm and took me to the restroom.

I looked into the mirror, and gasped loudly as I saw that I was not as tall as my water mug. My dad then came into the restroom, and gaped at the sight of me being 6 inches tall. He pointed to his phone, mouth still agape and said, “It is on ABC and CNN news that all kids between 7 to 14 years of age in California have shrunk overnight.” “How do you feel, William?” asked my mom. “I feel okay, do you want me to go see the doctor?” I answered her. “Yes,” my mom and dad intoned simultaneously.

I soon had a brief breakfast of some bread and orange juice, despite the difficulties I had with eating. I was quickly transported to the doctor’s office and he informed us, “This is quite an unusual case of sickness. Your son has the Shrink-Small Symptom, caused by the terrifying virus, Europhytus Gilenga Balphis. There have been no treatments so far, and the affecting age range is 7-14 years old, so your son has fallen ill. I will call the nearest health center, and have them make antibodies that counter the disease. This particular pathogen cannot be fought off by extra rest, so William may go about his daily business.” After hearing the doctor’s advice, we thanked him and left.

Mom wasted no time in getting me to my piano lesson. My piano teacher stared in bewilderment at my size, and after she recovered from her shock, mom told her what happened. She then told me to take of my shoes, and I did. She put me on the piano keys, and told me to play with my feet. Although it felt strange at first, but I got a bit more used to it. Before I knew it, time was up, and I said goodbye and thank you to my teacher.

Our next stop on a usual Saturday morning was to go to Trader Joe’s. I love to help my mom shop and help the cashiers bag the groceries, but today, she nestled me onto her palm in case other shoppers step on me. She walked around the aisles grabbing what we needed.  I looked around and I saw many other “few-inched” kids. Then my mom asked me, “Would you like to buy something?” “No, but thank you for thinking of me.” I replied. When we walked outside, she gave me a Trader Joe’s sticker. Its height was about 2 inches, and it was as tall as my legs to my waist!

After 30 minutes, we arrived at my second language school. My mom carried me up to stairs and to the classroom, and I saw my teacher standing over me. Mom set me down onto the table and then took out my learning textbook. “Goodbye mom!” I shouted, and she kissed my head. Across the table, my classmates were using cooperation to flip the pages of one textbook, and I soon joined them in reading the foreign text. In front of us, the text looked very big. Even my classmates who wear glasses took them off. We took a test, and my teacher looked on in amazement as the 4 of us had to work together to write the answers down. When we were done, the words we wrote were so small that the teacher needed to use a magnifying glass to read our answers. Before I knew it, my mother came to pick me up at once and we went home.

When we got home, a bowl of steaming chicken noodle soup was set on the table for me. Mom set me on the spoon, and I started drinking the delicious soup. In an instant, I saw that my body size was growing, and mom cheered with joy. I would find later that day, the medical treatment center made a breakthrough that Europhytus Gilenga Balphis could be cured with collagen, which is mainly found in chicken soup.

From this experience, I learned that no matter what setbacks you encounter, you can always move on with your life, and forget about the worries.

Paul Bunyan 2: A New Tall Tale (by Ethan)

  I’m taking a stroll through Yosemite National Park, breathing in the scent of the trees and listening to the bird’s song. Abruptly, my stomach curls in my body, and I double over. My eyes swivel in my head; suddenly, an animation plays in my vision. I see a nation, with millions of starving people all across it, groaning, wandering the streets, desperately eye-locking the ground for a tiny morsel of food.

  The aluminum and steel bodies of buses litter the streets, their drivers out of business. The air is white with crumpled and torn resumes, letters, and other official job papers, which I saw were stabbed onto the limbs of trees, posted to the streetlights, trash bins stuffed full to the brim with them, the crushed remnants of a glimmer of hope. I also see that the nation is China, from the writing scrawled on derelict buildings and buses.

  When the animation zooms into a stock building, I see the graphs, their lines falling so steeply that if it were a mountain slope, not even I, the mightiest logger and climber of mountains in America, could have conquered it. Stock percentages on all the screens were dwindling at an alarming rate to near zero. Deserted cubicles, each with its own sad story, are lined all about. There’s one person who does not share this cruel misery, though. He’s laughing an evil laugh, clutching pound upon pound of money in his strong, grabbing fists. He looks familiar, but I’m too engrossed by in this hellish scene to pay much attention.

  “I must save the nation!” I think.

  Out goes the hatchet from its old, worn leather pouch, off goes my coonskin cap from the wooden peg rack that I built myself and out goes I from the comfort of my warm home, setting off on an adventure of the grandest scale.

  Later, I arrive at the scenes of terror. I see that not only are people starving, they are also sick. And, there was the evil man, laughing, holding his clutches of money.

  A thorough look at him confirmed that I had seen him before: he was Wang Chen-Han, one of the most selfish, uncaring, and greedy stockbrokers ever to have been born on this planet. He had toppled thousands of stocks all across the world and made millions out of it. He was a billionaire. Now, I realized, he had destroyed every single stock in China, casting everyone into joblessness.

  When I arrive, everyone looked at me, even Chen-Han. They gape at me as if I’m from Mars. “Is he an alien?” someone said.

  “I am Paul Bunyan. Just a logger I may be, but I am here to save you!” I said.

  While I’m saying this, I take a close look at Chen-Han. He’s grown fatter and his voice has changed, but his fiery brown eyes are still the same ones, eyes full of unconcern for others. But, my musing over him is broken when Chen-Han says, “What’re you doin’ here, big dummy?”

  “Helping China, of course!” I say.

  At the word help, Chen-Han’s face grows exceedingly red. It’s one of his least favorite words. “What do you mean, help? You’re not helping anyone,” he emphatically states.

  “You’ll see.”

  I turn without a further glimpse at him and stroll off.

   Since it’s getting dark and I’m far too large for any bed, I decide to head for the Great Wall.

  I climb in pure darkness onto the Wall and lie there. Staring at the starry sky, I’m thinking “What’s my plan? How am I going to help rebuild the country? Maybe tomorrow, I can try to convince Chen-Han to give up his ways…zzz…”

  A sudden pain alerts me to my senses. Still groggy, I look around. It’s just beginning to dawn. The scenery is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, with the bluish mountains rolling in the landscape, the mist floating about like some hungry beast swallowing anything in its way.

  But, the pain lands me back to earth. When I look at my arm, it’s bleeding hard. Then, I notice words scratched into my skin: “U R LUZER - CH” My pain turns into white-hot anger, at the mere thought that Chen-Han would call me, Paul Bunyan, a loser, and that he didn’t even give me a chance to reason with him. Immediately, I spring from my lofty perch and see Chen-Han standing on a beacon tower not far from me.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” he snarls. “How ‘bout you skedaddle back to your cabin and I leave you alone?”

  “No. I’ll save the people here, whether you like it or not.”

  “You’re not saving anything whether it’s for your own sake or my sake or anyone’s sake.” He points with his finger at everyone! And his voice is very mean and hoarse, like that of a school bully whose had two hours yelling at nothing and then another thirty minutes swearing at the pain in his toe because he kicked a rock.

  “You can’t stop me!” I practically shout.

  “Let’s see,” he says and spits at me but I dodge it and spit at him. My spit is larger than his therefore he can’t dodge it as well. So, while he’s busy trying to clear my saliva off of his pug face with lots of overly dramatic swipes, I throw him to the ground.

  In a flash, he gets out a nail gun but I had just the right tool. While the nails are flying directly for my stomach like so many deadly silver darts, I bat them back with my ax; he tries to escape, but Chen-Han is fat from the hours he’s spent gorging on food he’s bought using his unrightfully earned money, so he moves a bit slow. One strikes his arm and wounds him. He yells ”OUCH, I’LL SHOW YOU!” and his voice is so burning with hate that I can feel the trees withering behind me.

  “Aww, you thirsty, here’s some pina colada for you mate!” he screeched, with a flask of poison in hand. Seeing this, I rip a tree from the ground and I see a split second of amazement on Chen-Han’s face, but he doesn’t have time to stare for long because his bottle of poison is in shards behind him, leaking acid green fluid.

  The stockbroker’s face is now no more than a beetroot with a taught white-lipped mouth and two piggy black, hate-filled eyes. Summoning up all his vocal energy, he booms “SO YOU HERUCLEAN, YOU, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE A LITTLE BBQ?” and gets out his Fire-Whippe, a deadly weapon known to be able to fry anything existing.

  While he’s firing the thing at me, trying to turn me into a Paul-Bunyankabob, I sneak behind him and knock him cold with a kick to the head, but I have a more painful way of dealing with him, since pain was the last thing anyone who met him felt. Taking his Fire-Whippe, I fry a tree until it is shriveled and very sharp. I then impale it in his bottom. He immediately wakes up and goes wild, clawing at his rear end like mad. But, I pick him up and carry him to his house. His Fire-Whippe is pointed at the outside.

  “Chen-Han, say goodbye to your money!”

  “Oh no.”

  BOOM!

  The sight of Chen-Han curled up in sorrow at the loss of his mega-mansion fills me with pride at the thought that he should get his rightful punishment. I also decide to make him a servant, helping me cut down trees.

  The following day, I gather some financial experts, and we set about helping the people mend the ruined country.

  Months later, I go back to my home at Yosemite. My bed is too short and weak for me again since I grow like a weed. After lengthening it and giving the old boards to Chen-Han to sleep on, I lay on my new bed. I fall asleep to the sound of Chen-Han’s shrieks of dismay at his being ultimately defeated. As I drift off, I am thinking that for once, China is back to the happy country it once was.

A Short History of Pi-Man (by Ethan)

(but not a biography because it doesn't cover his whole life)

      Once, in New York City, there lived a sensational skateboarder called Pi-Man. He could do almost any trick you could name. Say “360 heelflip!” and he would do it without missing a beat. Say “De comply!” and he would do it equally as well. Thousands of fans watched him do his stunts on TV, YouTube, you name it! He was loved by all of NYC and had become almost world-famous. 

     In addition to his fame as a skateboarder, Pi-Man had a wild obsession with pi. No, not the pastry (although he did like that kind of pie too), the number! That is why he was called Pi-Man. In fact, he liked it so much that it had become his icon. His shirt, pants, stockings, skateboard, skateboard wheels, helmet, and elbow and knee pads were all printed with a dark purple pi symbol on an orange background. He had also memorized a thousand digits, so, as he did his exploits, he would recite the digits he’d memorized, all while in midair.

     One day, there was a BIG skateboarding competition in New York City. Hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the arena. And it wasn't just any competition. It was one of the biggest races between the two most iconic skateboarders in NYC: Pi-Man and e-Man! The history of the race went back to the year 1900 and it was important to the people of New York. The winning skateboarder would get a golden trophy emblazoned with his/her symbol on it. In fact, the race had become so important that the government built an arena just for the occasion with a seating capacity of 1 BILLION!

      e-Man was an excellent skateboarder who could do a great number of feats as well. As his name implies, he had an obsession with the number e. His uniform was a green letter e on a blue background. Unfortunately, however, Pi-Man and e-Man were rivals. Although all of New York City loved Pi-Man, there were plenty of people who had traveled far and wide from across the US rooting for e-Man. So, you could tell that the competition could get heated. The supporters of each skateboarder wore their colors. As the two skateboarders walked into the arena, the crowd went wild! Each skateboarder would see who could do the best stunts. Pi-Man really needed to win, more than anything else!

      But, before we get to the exciting part, why did Pi-Man need to win so badly? Not so he could keep his fame, in fact sometimes he disliked being famous. Nor did he want the trophy that much, either. What he did want was to expose e-Man; he knew something that everyone didn’t: e-Man really didn’t know how to do all those stunts that well. He just took a special kind of drug to make him look strong and skilled. Besides, this drug was also harmful. But Pi-Man didn’t do this. He put hard work and dedication into his practicing. So, Pi-Man needed to stop him.

    He waited quietly inside a closet in e-Man’s changing room, then, when e-Man stepped outside to use the restroom, he seized his chance and crept out of the closet, rummaged through e-Man’s bag, and stole the drugs. But, because e-Man’s memory was so poor from the drug, he thought that he had already taken it, when in fact he had not. So, when they were performing, e-Man performed poorly and stumbled many times. Everyone was shocked. They thought e-Man was a natural. Then, when Pi-Man stepped up to claim his award, he asked if he could give the audience a speech. Then, he told everyone about e-Man’s drug business. The audience was even more flabbergasted as Pi-Man rushed into the changing room, brought out e-Man’s bag, and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. Then, he held it up high and said, “Look at this! e-Man has been doing drugs to make him look strong!” There was a great murmuring from the crowd. Then an e-Man supporter said “I trusted you! We can’t support a drug lord!” And with a great shout, everyone took off their e-Man colors, produced Pi-Man colors from out of thin air, and put those on instead. e-Man tried to stand up and do his stunts again but was promptly hit in the face with a rotten tomato. Everyone was now clad in orange and purple and throwing tomatoes as hard as they could at e-Man. And that, my friends, was the sad ending of e-Man.

Who “Nose” What This Is? (By Ethan)

   It is the year 3000. 

   Did you know that the universe has several trillion stars? And most of those stars have planets. So, it makes sense we’re not the only ones out there. And we aren't. 

   Exactly 3,141,592 light years from Earth is the planet of PIEPYTHPHI. It’s the 128th planet in a solar system with 271 planets (WOW 271 IS A LOT OF PLANETS FOR A SOLAR SYSTEM THAT IS ONE BIG WHOPPER OF A STAR). It’s made of MATH! Lots of it. The mountains are square roots and the seas are standard deviations. 

   Everyone on the planet is made of numbers… except two of them. They are made of flesh and bone, well, because they’re from Earth! And, they want to explore the statue made of courage, the only thing on the entire planet that isn’t made of anything related to math. 

   But what’s special is the nose. Inside of this particular schnozzle is a very luxurious hotel room that anyone can use and requires no payment. But, how do you get inside? The room is 3,000 feet off the ground. Well, what you do is kick the base of the statue to access a very fast moving staircase into the room but the two explorers from Earth didn’t know this so they tied themselves to one another in rope and tried to hug the statue to hoist themselves upwards. 

   However, when they were a hundred feet up, one of the explorers accidentally kicked off his shoe with such force that it was flung all the way around the planet and it came back and it kicked the base and then suddenly, the staircase opened up. But the explorers only felt the wall move to make the entrance to the stairs, because the wall has to move away from the entrance in order to make it wide enough to be able to go through. However, they neither saw or heard it. So they stopped and one said to the other, “Hey, I think I broke my all-time record for my highest climb by a millimeter. Let’s keep going.” But they soon realized that trying to climb 3,000 vertical feet was NOT easy. 

   The only option they had was to move very carefully to the right to get to the opening. Right when they were about to reach the stairs, however, the explorer with one shoe accidentally kicked off the other shoe, and it, like its predecessor, zoomed a full circle about the planet, but this time, a gust of wind blew it upward and hit the now shoeless explorer right in the back. He yelled with agony, said “WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME??” and, unable to think through the pain in his back, released his grip on the statue. The second explorer was only able to hang on to the smooth surface a mere second before he was pulled off by the falling explorer, and then both of them plummeted 400 feet (they had climbed 300 more feet since the explorer had lost his first shoe) onto the soft grass (lucky they didn’t die, but can math kill you?). They both got back up, groaning and wincing, and tried to climb the staircase, after all, it was easier. But when they finally got to the top, they found that the door was locked. 

   So, they climbed back outside, carefully stood on the nose, and jackhammered into the room. And, it was after all this that they finally got the hotel room and were able to enjoy the rest that they deserved. 

Superpower: can do things at the speed of light (By Ethan)

       One day, I woke up feeling weird. Normally, when I wake up, I feel drowsy, sleepy. However, today I was energized. I went into the bathroom and washed my face and got ready to go to school. While I was putting in my contact lenses, I suddenly saw another me, not in the mirror, but right next to me, putting in contacts as well! “That’s weird”, I thought. My morning routine usually takes ten minutes, but this time something was different. When I raced down the stairs, my mom wasn’t there! And she’s always there in the morning!

I searched everywhere, but couldn’t find her! I was very worried. Did something happen to her? However, a few minutes later, I heard footsteps. She was coming. In the morning, a glass of milk is usually already there. But this morning I took my own milk. As I took a sip, I heard my mother say, “Did you even do anything up there? I am ALWAYS the first person downstairs in the morning. What’s going on here?”

Extremely perplexed, I drank my milk nervously and waited for Mom to prepare the rest of my breakfast as normal. Ten minutes later, Mom said, “Breakfast is re—”

I had eaten my apple.

“—ad—”

I had eaten my cookies.

“—dy??!!”

I had eaten my egg and finished breakfast altogether.

“What is going on??!! Did you even eat anything?!” Mom screamed. Suprise and maybe even fear was etched on every inch of her usually placid face, as if she was worried that her beloved son was actually a dangerous mind-reading, time-warping alien.

Bewildered, I went upstairs and brushed my teeth as slowly as possible, but even then, I still took half the usual 10 minutes. I got in the car and tried to think what the meaning of the extremely unusual situation was all the way to school. When I got to school, I noticed that the people walking did not seem to be moving, even though I could see their legs pumping up and down like when a human normally runs. They were trapped in some sort of invisible substance only I could move through. “Dude, they’re going to be late,” I thought.

5th period Algebra 1 came. When the teacher assigned the homework for the day, I normally don't finish it, so I take it home. Today, however, I finished, barely! Flushed with pride, I went to turn it in. Or did I… Because when I tried to do so, I was stopped by the teacher, who said, “Either you didn’t complete it, or you cheated.” Confused, I said, “I did all of them!” I even showed her my homework, all completed. “And besides you don’t have the answer key written out yet, is that true?”. “Whatever the reason, it has been only a minute after I assigned the homework.” said the teacher, now suddenly looking very puzzled .

The rest of school came and went, but it was as if every minute, every second was months and years and even decades. Soon, I was bored. School is fine when it’s 7 hours, but may not be so if it feels like a century. I also saw copies of me and other people talking, moving, and doing all sorts of stuff that vied with the present. Soon, I was daydreaming, something that I don’t normally do. And, no one believed that I did anything that I was supposed to do because I did it unbelievably fast. This was really starting to bother me, but I was getting worried that they were right.

By the time I got to the car after school… no, I saw multiple cars, each with a different Mom in them. If I had traveled at the speed of light, I could've time traveled, which was what I think was causing all these clones. It took me ten tries to get in the car set to the right date. We went home, but it felt like the car was stuck in an invisible traffic jam, even though the needle on the speedometer was cranked up to 60 miles an hour. When we arrived home, I went out to get the mail. There, I saw a perfect clone of me, yet again, shivering, as he had no coat on. I tried to give him my real coat, but when I did so, I was somehow transported to next Monday. I’d had enough! “Oh God,” I thought. “I gotta get out of here!” I tried everything I could to get out of the time traveling. Finally, I found that I could push very hard on the clone and get back to the present. I quickly did so, got the mail, and went back to my house.

A FEW HOURS LATER…

I was doing my science homework. It's hard. I completed it in an hour. Or so I thought. I looked up, and saw my mother pouring a glass of water. She was standing there with her mouth open, oblivious to the fact that the glass was overflowing. “I hadn’t even finished pouring this glass of water,” she said, “when you finished!” As the day tore on, every second like the time across the world, it happened again, and again, and again, until I could barely stand it.

 IN BED…

I was trying to fall asleep. I felt horrible about the day's events, and I was still wondering how come this simple 24 hours seemed like living through 1990.

I was drifting…

I was wide awake. I checked my clock and it was 8 o’clock on Saturday. But it’s dark! I shouted for help. Mom came running in. “Don’t worry son, it was just a story. See? That’s the back cover of the book.” She pushed on the ceiling and light flooded in. It was then, that I noticed that I’m made of ink. I’m made of words!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this story. Here is to end with a quote: “It is better to take your time on some things instead of rushing it through.”- the Tortoise, from Aesop’s fable the Tortoise and the Hare.

Making a Positive Impact (By Ethan)

How do YOU define a positive impact? For me, it means making the community around you a better place for all living things in it, like picking up trash/recycling more, helping the homeless, planting extra trees, and more! Even if it isn’t on the scale of saving the planet, it will still go a long way.

            Did you know that the word “team” is an acronym? It stands for TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE. This is entirely true if you are helping to put a good footprint in your community, city, etc. One can do the minor things, but a hundred minor things turn into a major one. In the words of Helen Keller,

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

For quite a few years, every time I had a birthday party, instead of having the guests bring gifts, I would ask them to contribute the gift money to the charity organization A Life A Time, dedicated to helping children with medical problems in the more impoverished areas of China. Every party, we helped one specific child to do surgery or fit him with prosthetic limbs. In this manner, me and the guests, as a team, helped make the lives of five children many times better.

We as humans have enough problems on our own, but think about the environment! We litter, pollute, and treat Mother Nature like a lump of mud in our “perfectly clean” lives. I have already stopped using plastic straws after hearing of a sea turtle getting one stuck in its nose. Even an act as small as reducing the use of plastics can make our world a better place.

Attitude plays an important role in this sort of stuff. If your attitude says that you don’t care, it will hold you back from making that needed positive change. I believe it can even affect the country you live in, because attitude is contagious. It can spread like the stealthiest germ, across towns, states, and later, nations.

Making the changes yourself is hard for starters, but inspiring others is even more challenging. Each and every person has different beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, ifs, buts, and what ifs. I believe the person who is a great leader is the person who can spread their ideas. With persistence, eventually, people will listen to your ideas.

We are like magnets, and if we have the potential to attract positive things, then our friends might feel our magnetic field and attract positive things as well.

I Have a Dream (by William)

Have any of you readers ever eaten sticky rice out of a bowl?  Don't you find having it stick to the side just annoying?  Let's make this analogy a bit more interesting, shall we?  A grain of sticky rice stuck to a bowl is as me stuck to my school's library.

Ever since I was trained by Andrew, the head library assistant, I have been visiting the school library every chance that I've had.  Recently I even tried training one of my friends to become a library aide although that did not work out.

I love visiting the library so much.  Every time I help others check out books, my heart fills with joys of satisfaction.  This is because I love imaging myself as a valiant Jedi Master saving people around the galaxy, as I am being helpful to others. 

Now I have a dream. In the future, I would like to take over Andrew's job as the lead library aide.  This job comes in a "package," including the responsibility of making the library look nice and training other people to become library aides.

I am determined to get this job, for that you may call me, "the grain of sticky rice on the bowl that cannot be picked off."

This is Martin Luther King Jr. Jr. with a big dream.  Sayonara!

New Year’s Resolutions 2019 (by Ethan)

Do any of you like fun facts? Well, I certainly do! Here is one that will shock you: a mind-blowing quantity of 32% of Homo sapiens (yeah, yeah I know that means “wise humans” but this is true!) lack the ability to snap their fingers! CRAZY!! And it is one of the top eight Easy Things to Do that Most People Can’t Do! DOUBLE CRAZY!!!! What you are about to see is a tour through my three main goals for 2019: one, reading all of the classical novel The Hobbit, but due to its fairly long length, I will need to two, use my time management skills better, in which doing so may allow me some more relaxing time in which I can three, practice snapping my fingers better. Achieving these goals will help me become a better student, become smarter through literature, reduce my stress, and allow me to enjoy my personal time even better with some silly fun.

            So we begin the tour, in the bowl of which the ice cream sits, with the first goal! This is to read the entirety of The Hobbit, by J R R Tolkien, the 255-page 1966 version. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres because it lets my imagination run free. Also, this particular version is a valuable old one, so the print style and format, the page color, even the smell of the book are vintage style, so I am looking forward to reading it. The illustrations are also by the author. To finish, I will have to save enough time (see a goal here?) to read around thirty pages a day. If I am reading The Lord of the Rings, I have completed this goal. When I do finish, I plan to do some research about the author and the book and write a review and post it on my blog (YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT).

            Now, we are moving on to the ice cream, the second goal! This one is snapping my fingers better, and when I say that, I mean AT LEAST thirty decibels. Snapping fingers requires the use of some veeeery complicated physics, timing, and speed control, which is why I find it so interesting and want to give it a try. To do it, however, I will have to practice in my spare time (refer to first parenthesized comment of previous paragraph) at least five minutes a day. To accurately measure the volume though, I will have to find a good app to measure the volume. Being able to snap my fingers is an indication that this goal is history.

Last, but not least, the topping of the ice cream, the piece de resistance, THE THIRD GOAL! This goal is to improve my time management skills. Not mastering this skill had led to me suffering at the hands of copious consequences and adverse outcomes. To avoid that, I set this goal. To achieve said goal, I’m planning to ask my mom for some tips, learning from the books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and Getting Things Done For Teens by leading expert on personal and organizational productivity, David Allen; I also have a large whiteboard on which I write down everything I have to do paired with a carefully calibrated and investigated estimate for each task, which, with the help of some timers, I can stick to the plan (although sometimes I hate the timers.). To come home with fairly low amounts of work (if I meet it before the end of school), if I have lots of play time almost every day, or if I have a relaxing and organized daily life is a sign of meeting said goal.

            These are some really big and challenging goals I have set here. But setting difficult goals is what helps us push ourselves out of our limits. Achieving these goals will help me become a better student, become smarter through literature, reduce stress, and let me enjoy my personal time even better with some silly fun. I want to end with a few quotes about achieving:

“The value of achievement lies in the achieving.”

-Albert Einstein

“You never fail until you stop trying.”

-Albert Einstein