A Scary Story in Spirit of Halloween (Part 2)

 

                                                       As continued from part 1.

   The hiker stared at the weeping girl in puzzlement and a twinge of fear. He had no idea what the "Sithes" were but for some reason the name made his heart constrict in fear and his pulse begin to race. Swallowing, he nervously asked the girl what the Sithes were. Almost immediately, the girl turned her tear streaked face towards him in shock," What do you mean what are the Sithes?" she said suspiciously. "Are you kidding me?" When the hiker had assured her that he was not she proceeded to mutter something under her breath then begin tell him the story of the Sithes. "Well," she began with the air of someone used to telling suspenseful stories," Sithes are ancient she devils descended right from the Devil himself. Why, my ma always used to warn Brother about them, she always said,' Son, you stick to those tracks now, they'll protect you from the Sithes and any other demons that wander your way.'" Enthralled, the hiker asked how that was, that the tracks would protect him. The girl stared at him contemptuously,"Why, they're made of iron aren't they?,"she said in the manner of one speaking to a slow child," Iron protects you from the demon and fairy folk. Burns them, binds them to earth in a way that burns, it does." she said with a self assured nod. The hiker waited for her to continue. After a long pause, she cleared her throat, shook her head as if to clear out the cobwebs and continued hastily with her tale," They come as beautiful women and music follows them wherever they step, enticing hapless travelers to dance and make merry with them. Their blonde and white hair flows down their backs and fans out behind them in wild manes when they hunt. Their long, green dresses reek of blood when you get too close but their piercing green eyes hypnotize you into their deadly dancing circle." The girls' voice took on a deeper tone, almost hypnotic and her green eyes gazed dreamily at the entranced hiker. "They dance with you until just before dawn, right before the merciful sun comes out to strike its wrath upon those creatures of the night. They make you dance until you're so exhausted you can barely stand straight and you're gasping for breath and so weakened a kittens soft breath could knock you over. Then, when they stop and you gasp for your last breath they pounce upon you. Then," The girl was so close that the hiker could feel her cold breath sting his his frostbitten nose. "They drink every drop of blood in you and leave for dead, for the sun to discover in the morn." Breathlessly, the hiker stared at her and she, back at him and for a long moment, neither spoke. Then she leaned back against the boulder, and the hiker was again aware of the cold of the the night and the driving rain pelting down next to them. He moved back slightly from her and she smiled sadly," Of course, if you're a girl it's different," she said quietly. The hiker stopped moving and looked warily at the strange little girl in front of him. Her green eyes gleamed in the dark as she whispered through blood red lips," If you're a girl and they find you they'll change you. They'll take their black, thick blood and force you to drink from them as they drink from you. Then they leave you in the middle of a storm to prey upon the first person who happens upon you...or who you happen upon." The hiker couldn't breath. His eyes widened and his hands were cut into sheds on the sharp rocks as he backed slowly away from the devil child in front of him.  He made it only three more feet before panic seized upon him and he whipped around and ran blindly into the night, searching desperately for the iron rail road tracks that could save him. Isabella watched him fade quickly into the pelting rain and mysterious blackness that was night. She scanned the night, looking for forms in the darkness, for wisps of a green dress or flashes of blonde and white hair, or a stench of blood. Sighing, she looked over at the small figure curled in between two rocks. From where the hiker had sat it had looked like one large rock on the bottom of a rocky ravine and he had not given it a moments thought. She reached across, into the stinging rain to touch her brothers cold, lifeless hand. "That's what they do, Jeremy," she muttered sadly. "It's what we always thought they did too. And still you came to look for me...and still you strayed from the iron tracks..." Sighing again, she scrunched up tighter, her hands around her knees, newly green eyes searching hopefully through the dark for the Sithes shapes to form against the black. For her new family to come back for her so they could find the hiker again...and dance and dance until mornings light...


                                                                                 By Jenn        

The Life of a Serial Dater

9/22/10
Jennifer Carroll
English Class
Essay #2

                            An Essay Viewing a Girl of Unquestionable Standards (In a Way)

           (TS) A lot of people say that they are strange or have other people telling each other how bizarre someone is. (CM) Some even take pride in the fact that they are a little different from the rest of humanity. (CM) Others may take offense. (SD) The girl that I'm writing about in this essay doesn't even consider the fact that she may be different then the rest of us. (CM) She looks at herself in a mirror and thinks that her personality, her way of living is average and normal. (CM) Everyone around her, however, has a clear view to how it is obviously odd. (SD) Dating sprees, heavy drinking and late night (or early morning) partying is all routine her. (CM) Boyfriends come and go with the ever changing seasons, the flow never slowing or stopping, but remaining the same. (CM) Dancing and drinking is a fun night out, not something to be avoided but also not something just to do from time to time.(SD) This quirky twenty five year old has seen enough of a world like her own and has met enough people like herself as to see herself as the typical American. The people she calls friends I would look at with suspicion while the people she dislikes are usually the ones who went to college. I know she looks at herself with nothing on her mind but maybe how her dress looks or if the boy said he was picking her up at eight or nine, not with any sort idea of how she's so unusual.  However, if she was normal, I would have a different outlandish person to be writing about.  
           (TS) This girl that I'm writing about right now has so far dated five guys in the last month. (CM) She hasn't held a job for three weeks and she has been to more parties in the last two weeks that I've been to in the last fourteen years. (CM) Her life is a whirlwind of laughing and drinks and slurred "I love you's" but when the party's over, the boys have left and there's no one laughing what does she have then? (SD) Alexia (names have been changed) likes dating men from all different professions but never stays with them long even when they're especially sweet or exceptionally handsome. (CM) I think that she's afraid of commitment because even when she does seem to like a guy she breaks up with him or acts so distant and removed that he is forced to break up with her. (CM) She is like a serial dater; she moves on so fast to the next guy that you're likely to get whiplash trying to follow all of her conquests. (SD) Another thing that makes her seem a little odd to me is her job. (CM) Alexia doesn't even try to get a job, but she complains to the people around her that she's "trying my best" and that it just isn't good enough. (CM) When she does manage to catch a job, she works really hard for the first week or so but after that slacks off and stops caring about it. (SD) Also, she stays out late and generally has a really high-risk lifestyle that's unhealthy and very eccentric for a twenty five year old. (CM) She wanted to be a model, so she stays extremely thin by not eating much, then she goes out drinking every other night. (CM) It's terrible for her, and a lot of people are concerned but she doesn't seem to care and continues in the same routine night after night. (CS) If she could get a hold of herself, become healthier and get a job I think she could have a chance at a pleasant and comfortable life but as it is, I can't see any good options for her unless she stops with this craziness now.
            (TS) In this world, there are many strange and different people living. (CM) Some may be obvious, like the homeless man you saw on the subway muttering to himself while others may be as subtle as a lazy eye. (CM) All people have some peculiar thing about them, no one is perfectly average and plain. (SD) Alexia, although weird, is also wonderful for having some sort of difference about her. (CM) Her unhealthy and dangerous lifestyle may not serve her well in the end but for now she remains blissfully unaware of the possible consequences and lives in one hectic and eccentric way after the other. (CM) It's simply a cycle of faces and alcohol and dim lights for her but that is what separates ordinary from extraordinary. (SD) Alexia is extraordinary because she allows herself to be whomever she wants to be. (CM) She doesn't have to be prim and proper and while dangerous and sad, her life holds no boundaries except those made by money. (CM) The boys, the beer and everything else is there because she wants it to be; she holds nothing she doesn't want. (SD) Another thing that, while out of the ordinary   is nice about Alexia is that having a good time in life is more important then anything to her. (CM) Money, education, everything pales to her in face of a potential bash. (CM) The best thing that she can do to cheer herself up is put on a nice dress, heavy make up and high heels to go out and fall in love on the dance floor. (CS) Alexia, while a continuous creature of bad habits, does teach us something: whether it's dancing, learning or life, everything and anything can be improved by a little strangeness mixed with a touch of normal.

The Song for School

 9/21/10
Jennifer Carroll
English Class
Essay #1          


         An Essay on a Song Best Describing the Beginning of School & the End of Summer


        
       (TS) When summer's ending and you're thinking of school, it's hard not to groan. (CM) Just the idea of textbooks and equations and languages is enough to get anyone's stomach turning. (CM) In fact, I believe that the only reason that someone might be excited to go back to school would be to see their friends. (SD) So when you're trying to shake the school blues, what song do you want to listen to to drive those malicious thoughts of knowledge out of your head?(CM) I listen to the song "Hard" by Rihanna. (CM) It has a quality to the words and tune that creates an euphoria inside you that leaves you feeling happier towards the idea of school. (SD) You see, what this song does is simply remind you that whatever you go through at school, things could be harder for someone else in the world. (CM) Imagine someone in Africa starving or lacking clean water to drink safely.(CM) Imagine a child of seven in the Congo being forced to carry a gun and become a child soldier for a cause they don't understand. (CM) It makes your school troubles seem kind of trivial now, huh? (SD) Also, when you listen to this song, you almost feel as if it understands you and what you may be feeling. (CM) You are allowed to be angry at the ephemeral summer and the endless school year stretching out in front of you. (CM) This is a song for anyone who has thought in their life that something they were doing was too difficult.(CS) So, whenever you think, "Argh! This homework is so hard!" you can go home and listen to this song because it won't judge you for thinking that.
       (TS) I don't really like school. I find it confusing sometimes, I'm afraid to get bad grades because my parents yell when I do and some of the classes are really dull. In other words, I'm a completely normal kid. Everybody thinks what I think about school sometimes and everybody has thought about school "It's too hard" sometimes. When you think this, listen to the song "Hard" by Rihanna. The words that are sung talk almost exclusively about how hard life can be and not to let it bring you down because you have the power to pull through and win. School can be really hard sometimes. You can get piles of homework and stay up all night trying to finish it or you could be getting bullied, any number of things can occur. This song speaks to you about life being tough and how you can learn to be tougher. I love listening to this song when I'm down about school because it boosts your confidence. It tells you that other people go through it and that if they can, you can. THis song is completely inspirational. If you're sad or angry or frustrated listen to "Hard" and you'll calm down, begin to think clearer and eventually do better in school.
        (TS) I hope you loved this essay. (CM) I truly do. (CM) When you get off the computer I hope that the next thing your going to do is go and download the song "Hard" by Rihanna to your Itunes. (SD) Let me just review what I talked about in this essay and why I feel it relates perfectly to the feeling of going back to school. (CM) This song that Rihanna sings is all about how hard some things in life are. (CM) I think that school can be extremely difficult so I love this song for how it encourages you to get up and just work it out. (SD) Also, this song reminds me of school beginning because while Rihanna sings it, she gives a raw, guttural voice to the words, making it seem less flimsy and transparent as other "work it out you're going to be fine" songs. (CM) It's amazing how much better you feel about life after you listen to this song. (CM) Rihanna truly gives out a vibe in this song that makes you believe that you are going to do great, no matter how hard something is. (SD) When you listen to this song, it's like listening to pure inspiration and understanding. (CM) Rihanna seems to have made this song just for you as if to say," I understand and here's why". (CM) She inspires you to go and make the best of it because she tells you that other people are going through harder things and that you should be brave and stick it out. (CS) I feel that this song is the best song to describe the end of summer and the beginning of school because it states directly that it could be harder.


             Self Evaluation: I would give myself a B- for this essay. I really like my topic sentences in the paragraphs and my introductory paragraph but I feel that my body paragraph is a little weak. Also, I'm working on being less repetitive in my writing because I feel that I restate my ideas in this essay a little too much.

A Scary Story in Spirit of Halloween (Part 1)

      The trees in the black woods tremble in an invisible wind as the moon glowed brighter. Dark clouds blew across the sky, casting threatening shadows down upon the earth. In the heart of the dark, lonely forest, a wolf howl rips through the still, tension filled air. Only one person walks these parts at night, a lost, frightened hiker wandering blindly on the thin, worn dirt paths. A deep rumble of thunder comes from above the looming treetops and the hiker looks up fearfully, blinking back the first raindrops of the storm. A storm right now, in these foreboding parts means certain death unless he finds shelter or a way out of here. Hunching down in his waterproof shell, he forges on, tripping and stumbling his way down a rocky ravine. A railway runs through these parts, closed down many years now. If he can find the tracks, he can follow them out of the woods and into some kind of civilization. At the bottom of the ravine, he squints through the black and the pouring rain to try to make out some sort of evidence that the railway was here. His eyes catch on a large boulder that faces the direction the rain is blowing. There could be some sort of dry area behind it that he could use to get a clearer view of the area and perhaps a few minutes to duck out of the driving rain. Trudging over to the enormous rock, he skids across a few exceptionally slippery rocks to trip over a small, dark figure huddled behind the boulder. With a piercing shriek, the hiker scrambles up and presses himself against the cold, hard boulder, his heart skittering wildly in fright as he gapes at the small child pressing herself against the other side of the rock in obviously equal terror. They stand for a second, looking in a disbelieving shock at the other until the little  girl crumples and begins to weep.
     Born and bred in the southern part of Georgia, the hikers manners would not tolerate allowing a young girl to stay here and cry while he left to find the tracks. Walking slowly, not quite trusting of the strange, lost girl, he crouched down a good five feet away before inquiring after her name. " I-Isabella," she sniffled," And I'm lost, and it's really dark and cold and I can't find my brother!"
     Hoping to calm the frightened child, the hiker gently asked after her brothers name and where she last saw him. With a sob, Isabella managed to whisper," His name's Jeremy and he's twelve and," with with a great wail that shook her frail body cried out," The Sithes got him!"

Cats

Aren't you just absolutely enthralled by cats? If you aren't then you should be because they are possibly the most interesting animals on the face of the Earth. When they play, it's not like a dog all goofy and dependent on someone else to throw a ball or stick for it. Its purely themselves entertaining themselves. Their play is wild and involves lots of jumping, batting and rolling until in a flash, it's all over and they're sitting calmly, looking completely disinterested with everything around them. It's like they suddenly realize "Oh, darn, I forgot to be dignified and cool for a nanosecond there. Lets pretend it never happened." Also when they're really comfortable and warm and relaxed, they'll slit their eyes so you can just see a tiny flash of gold or blue and they'll assume their "comfy position" which involves them sprawled out on their sides with their stomachs exposed. It's a sign of total trust because in the wild, you never expose your stomach because it's the most vulnerable part of your body. I love cats so much as they're quirky, lovable, cute and furry and intelligent. After a while, when they have grown used to the idea of you being in their domain and a part of their life, they may even grow to love you too.

The Song "Hard" by Rihanna

Jennifer Carroll
English Class
September 15, 2010

               (TS) In this song, Rihanna sings all about hard some things can be and I liken this to school because some times, it's really hard to get good grades and stay focused and just make it through the day.  (SD) She sings about how determination and dedication are the two most precious traits you can possess. (C) This reminds me of going back to school because no matter how hard I know it's going to be, I can't give up. (C) If I gave up, I would get terrible grades, my parents would be furious and my chances of getting into a good collage would be ruined. (SD) This song also remind me about summer ending because towards the beginning of the song Rihanna sings," Nothing is forever."(C) Summer doesn't last forever and Rihanna singing it gives it new clarity. (C) This could be a very good angry end of summer song. (SD) Another part of the song is when the artist featured in this song "Jeezy" starts to sing. (C) He sings this verse going," Cardiac arrest, cardiac arrest. Whatever you got, it ain't as hard as this." (C) This verse reminds me of school beginning because you know, for a fact, that it's going to be much, much harder, especially when you're older and have more responsibility. (CS) Whenever I hear this song on the radio, I always think of summer sometimes or of school because this song relates so much to the both of them.

Freestyle Writing: Birds, Flying, and Inspiration. Oh, and Freedom.

     Eagles soar majestically, harsh gold eyes sharply scanning the distant ground below. Sparrows chirp and hop on twiggy legs pompous and arrogant in their stance. These two birds, so different in every way, from size, to diet, to ferocity share one thing in common.
They have wings. They can fly far away.
      I wonder, when they're coasting through the bright blue sky on their way to distant lands with untold treasures...what are they thinking? Do they like flying? Are they ever afraid of heights? Is it work to them like "Oh, I have to fly another 12 miles? Drat!"
      I know that if I could fly I'd love it. But that's human nature I guess. We want the impossible; we actually crave it. It's what inspires the great among us to go out and make something that we'll use forever, or build something that will stand to the ends of time. Inspiration, flying and basically, birds. These are the three things that make us wish, make us want and make us create.
      Back to birds again. Have you ever trailed a group of geese longingly with your eyes as they fly, honking, away? It's the basic idea of freedom that makes us do that. Freedom, the ultimate achievement. Tell me, why is it that when you hit the 20's you're happier than ever. But slowly, as you age, grow, mature you become less happy, more beat down? It's because your losing the freedom you owned in collage. Work, spouses, kids, everything that people naturally accumulate over the years is a strike to your freedom. Of course, it'd be a bit odd to see a 70 year old woman at a dance club downing vodka like it was water, but that's society telling us that! The books we read, the movies we watched, the people we observed, underneath the stories are very faint, very strict guidelines, unspoken rules. Respect your age. Marry. Have a job. Don't be a burden on society. When you're 20, you aren't that good at reading between the lines and most young people don't notice these rules but as you age you do. Some people are happy following the Unspoken Rules; they need them to feel secure. Others aren't. So next time you see a gang of motorcycle biker dudes burning up the road, don't move to the other side of the road. Wave! Be friendly! They're just like you, just not that into the Unspoken Rules.