A Winter Wonderland

Sitting inside with your friends and family

Roasting chestnuts over a fire

Sharing stories and memories

of long ago Christmases

While outside, in the night

Glimmering, twinkling lights

reflect off the ice covering the ground

Creating a beautiful scene

The tiny crystals falling outside

Shimmer in the moonlight 

Adding to the blanket of snow

covering fields and car roofs

In the light of the moon covered in clouds

you make out the silhouette of trees

covered in a layer of snow

Icicles hanging from their branches

Winter

I strolled down the cement sidewalk
breathing in the sharp winter air
my boots crunched in the snow
my face stung from the cold

 while the temperature was low
 my spirits were high
because winter
is the best season of all

Out in the Wild

Author's Note: This poem demonstrates the theme of survival, taking place in a wild forest. 

Hunting animals with amateur weapons

picking plants with your own hands

climbing trees to escape predators

laying low to ambush prey

Building shelter from sticks and mud

but never keeping out the rain

sometimes going days without food

making do with what you have

because that's all you get

The Best Christmas Ever. Not.

Author's Note: Just a little story to get us into the Christmas spirit. Well, kind of. The main character is bedridden for her Christmas present.

Christmas is supposed to be all about giving gifts and being merry and Santa Claus and yada yada yada. Normally I would agree, but this year I’ve been cursed. With the flu. So while nearly my entire family is down in the family room, having a great time, I’m stuck up here in bed watching those boring Christmas specials on the tv in my room.

What makes it worse is that I don’t even get to have any of the delicious food that I helped my mom cook. Apparently the flu is affecting my stomach too, so I can’t eat anything real heavy or it’ll come right back up. Basically I’ll be living on toast, crackers, and soda until I’m better. This sucks. So much.

My mom knocked on my door and came in with a tray of buttered toast and water.

“Kierra. You need to keep up your strength. Eat this,” My mom said. I sat up and took the tray.

“Mom, why can’t I at least go downstairs and watch the movie with you guys? I don’t care if I have to sit far away from everyone, I just want to be included and not feel like a loser,” I complained.

My mom looked at me for a second. “All right. Fine. Come on then.” She was being strangely calm about it. I stared at her suspiciously and moved my blankets out of the way so I could get up. I took about two steps before I got dizzy and my knees got weak.

“See? You can’t even go halfway across your room. You’re in no condition to be up and out of bed,” my mom muttered. I crawled back into bed while my mom arranged my blankets back around me. I’m not entirely sure, but I think I saw her smirk as she walked out of my room.

I took a bite of a piece of toast, looking at my clock. It read 7:42 pm. Wonderful, they’re going to be unwrapping gifts without me pretty soon. I got so angry for a moment that I threw one of my pillows across the room. It hit a picture frame and made it swing from side to side, but it didn’t fall.

Pretty soon I dozed off. When I woke up, there were a pile of presents at the end of my bed. Well, at least they were thoughtful enough to bring everything up here, I thought.

I pushed myself to a sitting position and opened the presents one by one. Most of them weren’t anything special, just clothes and money and other accessories. But the last present I opened was from my Grandma Ginny. Which confused me, because we had her funeral almost five years ago. I read the card taped to the front, bordered in lace that could only be Grandma Ginny’s handiwork.

“To my dear Kierra: For when you turn 15. Love, Grandma Ginny,”  I whispered. So she had put this together a long time ago. But I was still confused, because I hadn’t turned 15 yet. In fact, I wouldn’t for another 2 months. Right then, my Aunt Carol walked in.

“Carol, why did you give this to me now? My fifteenth birthday isn't till February,” I said.

"Because, Kierra, we decided this just couldn't wait any longer. Open it," Aunt Carol said. So I did, and when I saw what was inside I gasped. It was a beautiful light blue gown, one meant for those really fancy dances. Like prom.

"Wait...so this was Grandma Ginny's prom gown?" I asked.

"Well, back then they weren't called proms. But yes, it was hers. Now we're passing it down to you. Wear it to junior prom."

"Cool. Thanks. I will." I didn't mention that junior prom was 2 years away. Guess they had proms early back in the old days.

I sighed and looked out the window. Snow was falling, covering everything in a blanket of white. Then I looked back at the dress. This was the one thing that made this Christmas merry, like it's supposed to be. Thank you, Grandma Ginny, I thought.

Retelling Piece

Author's note: this retelling is about the book Distant Waves by Suzanne Weyn.


A teenage girl travels to England with her family to visit their cousin, and once there one of her sisters climbs aboard the Titanic so she must find her and bring her back home. While on the ship, they both get married, but the ship strikes an iceberg. The main character meets Tesla, who screws up time with his time machine. Two years pass before everyone is finally reunited.

Prediction Essay

Lena is just a normal 17-year old girl, living in Portland, Maine, with a government that believes love is a disease. Because of this, all citizens are required to get a procedure, a “cure” that takes away all feelings of love, when they turn eighteen. Ever since her mother gave in to the supposed disease, Lena has been looking forward to the day she will be cured, just 95 days away. But she learns that the was once a time when love wasn’t considered a disease, even thought to be healthy. I believe that Lena is going to bring that back and convince the government that love is not a bad thing, because she meets someone who changes her life and compels her to break rules.
At first, Lena didn't give much thought to the cure and the way the government controlled life. It was a normal, everyday thing. But when her best friend Hana started listening to music not approved by the government, Lena suddenly became curious about Hana's life. When Hana invited Lena to a party, Lena at first objected, but soon became curious, even though she knew it was illegal. She finds a mix of boys and girls, and gets a strange feeling in her gut. Lena sees Alex, an Invalid who lived in the Wilds, at a party while searching for Hana. When regulators find out, Alex rescues Lena by leading her to a closet. After Alex and Lena share a kiss, Lena realizes that she wants to spend her life with him. Of course, him being an invalid, they can't be together. Even so, they meet secretly.

When Lena gets much more comfortable with being around Alex, she tells him about her family. When she mentions that her mom had a special necklace, Alex says that Lena's mom may be alive. He takes her to the Crypts, which is like jail, and finds the cell where Lena's mom was. But when they get there, they find that her mom has escaped by, over a period of many years, scratching a round hole in the wall with her necklace. Now that Lena knows her mom is alive, I think she will do anything she can to find her.

Lena learns that Alex lived in the Wilds, unregulated land outside of Portland. There are no rules there, which sounded really appealing to Lena. She believes her mom ran off to the Wilds, so she would not be found. Lena desperately wants to find her, so Alex offers to escape with her. Lena and Alex plan their escape. But they get caught, and Lena's aunt schedules her procedure to be done early. But Alex cares too much for Lena, and helps her escape into the Wilds.

With Lena’s clever wits and Alex’s quick thinking, I think the two can stay together and successfully live together in the Wilds. The fact that Lena’s mom isn't really dead is driving Lena on, so she can find her mom. Alex desperately wants to be with Lena, and protect her. Eventually, I think Lena and Alex will find a way to convince everyone that love is not a disease, and that they have been living under a blanket of lies for their whole lives.


My ending:
"Mom, when are we getting home?" Lena asked, holding Alex's hand.
"We're almost in Portland. Be patient!" Lena's mom exclaimed, laughing.
"I wonder if it's changed at all since we've been gone," Alex said thoughtfully.
"Oh my gosh, what if it's completely gone?!" Lena panicked, suddenly cutting off all circulation from Alex's hand, which she had been holding for a while.
"Relax, Lena! Remember they show they daily weather reports for the whole area? We just saw one this morning!" Alex said.
"Oh...right...but something could have happened after then," Lena mumbled, clearly embarrassed.
"Look, there it is. See? You had nothing to worry about." Lena's mom had bent back a couple of tree branches and they were now standing directly in front of the fence of Portland.
"We made it! Alex, I can't believe everything's still here!" Lena exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know! Come on, let's go!" Alex said, picking Lena up and running to the fence.