Avery Sutherland

A Girls Best Friend

When you are younger I feel like every kid goes through a phase of wanting some kind of pet and usually being heartbroken by being told no. Well the same thing happened to me except my heart grew a little more. I always had dogs in my life ever since I was a baby most of the time by all three sets of grandparents having one or more pet dogs. I would beg my parents all the way home for a dog. Eventually I would give up and just fall asleep during the rest of the ride home.

I remember one day and it was really dark in the car and I was with my parents because we had to get my sister Langley from gymnastics. So on the way there my parents began saying “so your dad and I have been thinking” and automatically my face lit up. Then they said something about getting a dog but it was very faint because of my screeching scream. Once my sister got in the car they told her immediately knowing that I could probably not last a second holding in any kind of secret especially involving a pet dog.

A few days later my mom finally decided that it would be time to go and look for a dog. We went to the SPCA knowing that they have special needs dogs which was exactly what my mom wanted. We walked through the hallways that smelled like sanitizer and old dog food at the same time. I remember I wore a dress thinking that maybe if I looked really good the dog would like me the most out of my family. We walked to each cage just waiting until we found one that my mom liked. Finally my mom stopped and we all crouched down to the dog’s level only for the dog to seem more frightened. She looked down at me and said “Avery what do you think about this one” I looked at her very unsure what to say so I just said “he is super adorable”.  Close to the outside of the dogs cage was a food bowl. The food was surprisingly still in it, so we each got a few pieces of moist dusty, dog food trying to hand it to him. The dog still only got even more skittish it looked like all he wanted was to hide under a rock.

We all got up and followed my mom to the front desk, and she asked if we could take a closer look at the frightened dog. I thought that she was crazy for wanting to look at him even more because he was not very active or playful. We went into this paper white room that still smelled like hand sanitizer and old dog kibble. We waited in that room for which felt like an eternity but I was only about 7 years old so it was probably just 5 minutes. The workers walked in with this medium sized long haired dog that was almost as white as the walls. He had big brown eyes the color of fresh dirt. They carried a tennis ball in hand but he showed no interest of it what so ever. They took his leash of his head and the workers vanished almost immediately. They handed my mom the tennis ball on the way out so we decided to see what he would do if we threw it. He chased so hard after it his legs wiped out from underneath him which was very surprising. He went around to all of us and jumped on our legs and licked anything and everything that could have been on our faces. I remembered I got very upset because he screeched my legs with is claws and from that point on I majorly regretted looking nice for a dog.

Once we were all done there we got in our not at all clean Minnie van and drove away. I was very sad because I grew to like the dog and I did not think that we were going to get him. Two whole weeks passed and I was getting very anxious but that all vanished when I got off the bus one day when I got home from school. My mom was standing in our front yard with my new best friend. I can still remember what my mom was wearing and the excitement the dog felt when I lunged off the school bus. I was beyond happy and I just could not wait to play with him.

The memories I have with this dog will last me a lifetime and we have had some of my best days together and he will always be there for me. One thing that I learned from this memory is that if something is really boring you need to give it time and maybe it may just turn out perfectly and be one of the best times. When I met my dog he was so afraid and extremely unsure and so was I but now I got to know him and he got to know us and it has been some of the best eight or so years with him in my life.

Drew Stegall

My First Touchdown

                My first day at Hidden Valley middle School was one of the most nerve racking days of my life. It was my first day attending a new school with all new kids I’ve never seen before. But most importantly my first practice for the football team. All my life I had played basketball, baseball, and soccer but my family talked me into playing football because everyone in my family had played when they were my age.

                After the last bell of the day, I feel like my heart just fell off a cliff. All the sudden my stomach started to grumble and I began to doubt myself. But as soon as we get dressed and step out on the field, I feel just as if I were playing any other sport. I’m not sure if it was just being nervous or rushing myself but I walked on to the field with my jersey on backwards which was really embarrassing! Luckily most of my teammates were my friends so everyone had a good laugh out of it.

                Finally the coach walked on the field and put everyone into individual groups according to your position. The sun was beating down on the field. I was a quarterback so there was only one other kid in my group. Coach Z. was our coach so we immediately went into some warm-up drills. My heart was beating faster now and it showed in my throws so I pretty much forced myself to calm down. I took some deep breaths and focused into what coach was telling me. I was locked in like I was Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. People always told me I was shy and quiet and that’s a big reason why I was a good player because I listened to what coach taught me and I used that to play well.

                The practice was winding down and it was time to scrimmage. I felt pretty good about how it had gone so far so I really wanted to make a good first impression. Coach yells “Drew, you’re in for Zach on offense.” I was really excited about getting in and I wanted to show I could be a starter. It felt like there were a million pounds of pressure on my shoulders on the last drive of the game. Coach signals the play and the center yells “huddle, huddle.” I repeat the play to the team with my mouthpiece in so it really just sounded like I was slobbering all over the place. Thankfully I said it clear enough that they got the play and ran it great.

                Time was running out and I could see the defense was lined up in a perfect coverage for this play to be a touchdown. I had already thrown one touchdown pass but I glance at the person I am competing with and he didn’t look happy at me. But that motivated me to play better than I had all practice. So I called the play that Coach insisted we run and it didn’t work out for three straight plays. The atmosphere was like Game Seven of the NBA Finals and I wasn’t going to blow this lead. It was time to finish this game by throwing a game winning touchdown. Finally I get a great play call and I say “Down, Set, Hut!” It was a vertical route going all the way downtown. I reared back with giants rushing me and let the ball fly. It seemed like an eternity until Ben caught the ball. He made a move on a player and walked into the end zone. Not only was it a great feeling but there would be no hiking up the Eagle hill for the winning team!   

               

               

Matthew Duncan

You’ve Got a Friend in Me

            It’s the first day of preschool, 2003. I’m about two years old (almost three) and I’ve never been as excited and nervous in my elder life as a two year old. My sneakers felt like they were buzzing under my tiny socks. My Luke Skywalker backpack started to tremble as I walked closer to the school. My teeth sounded like a machine gun firing bullets because they were chattering so much. I was prepared for the endless work of “school”, staying up late for my naps, doing jumping jacks for recess, and building up a huge appetite, I was ready for all the hard work and dedication of preschool. But, right before I was about to open the doors to the pit known as school, I had to grasp onto my mother’s leg because all the pressure building up was just too much for my little body to handle.

“I don’t wanna go mommy!” I bawled while my eyes produced the wet droplets that would soon be all over my face. My mother was in disbelief, she thought that I was ready for preschool so she was shocked when I broke down.

She hesitated when she said, “What do you mean? I thought you said you were ready for preschool, what changed your mind?” While my mother was trying to soothe me by trying to bribe me with Chips Ahoy after school, I saw someone about my age coming up slowly with their parent about to drop them off as well.

“I have no friends here!” Was my response to my mother’s question. Right when I was about to make a sprint to my mother’s car and never come out, the kid that was behind us finally spoke up.

“I’ll be your friend.” He said with a voice almost like mine. I jolted and looked behind me to see the kid who just said this unbelievable statement. He had brown hair, a green shirt on, and was also wearing a Star Wars backpack but his was a different color and had R2-D2 on the front.

“What?” Was the only word that came out of my mouth when I quickly looked behind me.

“Yeah” He said with the most monotone voice.

My response was then, “Okay” and literally all the tears that were pouring down my face either evaporated or just completely vanished. I said goodbye to my mom and he said goodbye to his mother and we walked in together. He told me his name was Ethan then I told my name to him and we instantly became best friends. We figured out we were both only children, both of us liked Star Wars, and we loved chocolate chip cookies. We had a great time at preschool and would wait for each other at the front of the school and then we would basically talk about the same thing every day because we would forget what we said the day before so we would say it again the next day. Once our brains developed a little bit more in Elementary School to where we wouldn’t forget things so easily, we kind of got a little bored with each other because we would spend so much time together during and after school. So when it got time to go to middle school Ethan had to go to Cave Spring while I had to go to Hidden Valley. You would think that we would be really upset, but it actually turned out for the best because we could still easily talk to each other but we didn’t have to everyday so it made the friendship fresh and new again in a way. When both of us went to Carowinds for his birthday a couple weeks ago I was just thinking to myself how great a friend Ethan has been for the past 13 years of our lives. I’ve stood up for him in the past and he’s done the same for me and it just amazes me still how long this friendship has lasted. I met Ethan on the first day of preschool and I was honestly not expecting it to last as long as it has but I’m glad it has because Ethan is a great guy and I’m happy that I met him on that nerve-wracking day.

Layla Al-murshidi

When you find your falling

“Your brain just doesn’t really work well with algebra.” said every math teacher I’ve ever met. I had always been good at math, so when I immediately started failing my algebra class I knew something was wrong. The beginning of Eighth grade had been fine, but algebra just never clicked with me. Every time I walked into Mrs. Munsey’s class I felt like posters were laughing at me with their overly enthusiastic quotes about succeeding, when all the class brought me was failure. The loneliness hung over my shoulders like a winter coat two sizes too big. I didn’t have any friends to help me understand or sit with. At one point I started hanging out with this girl, named Ana, at lunch. Ana always looked so put together, yet when you got to know her you figured out she was the opposite. She always had sparkly glitter across her cheek bones, and she always smelt like fruit. I always spent my lunch crying on and on about how I hated math while she did her homework she forgot to do from the night before. When I asked her for input on the situation she always had the same reply every time, “You got to fall before you fly, Layla.”  After receiving the same quote from Ana I had heard a million times before, I walked into math class. I plopped down in my seat to realize that the test paper I had turned in last class had a big thirty three at the top. I had gone to all of the tutoring sessions and studied the whole week before. My brain started to flow with so many thoughts at the same time. I was angry with myself, upset with myself, but most of all disappointed with myself.  Before I could even stop it from coming out of my mouth I was yelling the words, “I just keep falling!” The whole class looked at me like I was going bonkers.

            The next class Mrs. Munsey had decided to make a seating chart. I felt my stomach drop because 90% of the class were super smart seventh graders that would always scream how good they did even though they never studied. I came into class and sat beside a girl in seventh grade named Haley. She reminded me of Ana being so put together, yet she was shy and would stay really quiet for the most of the class. Being myself I decided that even though I wasn’t flying didn’t mean that I couldn’t make friends along the way. Every day I began to talk more and more to her, and felt we were becoming really good friends. A quarter way through the year Haley started to introduce me to her other friends in the class. When the word was out that I would need to drop the class if I couldn’t get at least a B on the next test, every one of the super smart seventh graders that I found intimidating offered to help. That week I had stayed after every day with a different one of my newly made friends to look over notes with them. I even did extra homework to prepare myself for the quiz. As I walked in the room the day of the quiz something was different, I could feel it. The inspirational quotes on the wall actually felt inspirational, and I felt more focused on what was in front of me. After I had finished the test I couldn’t bring myself to submit, so I just sat there contemplating as if there was another option. When I finally brought myself to reality I found that everyone was watching my screen almost more anxious than me. As I hit the submit button I closed my eyes, for I couldn’t stand the disappointing look on Haley’s face. When I didn’t hear clapping or cheering I knew that it was too late, and I had to accept the facts. I opened my eyes and the number seventy-nine were writing at the top. I was a bird in the rain, and I had finally hit the ground. Everyone had started to pat my back and assuring me that there was another way, but I knew that it was far too late and it had been my only chance. The class was quiet as a mouse. Everyone had turned their head when we hear a small voice ask from the back of the class. “Shouldn’t number four be A not C?” it had come from one of the know-it-alls of the class who happened to be a seventh grader.  Mrs. Munsey then decided to stand up and tell us that there would be one extra point added to our scores because of this error. The whole class stood up and started clapping and cheering for me. I finally felt like I was flying. That day I had finally realized that if you just hang in there, things will always get better if you try your best.     

Sean Webb

Cheapskate Tim

                         I am sitting at the tiny kids table with my brother and my cousins. The noise of the family chatting and wine glasses clinking is deafening and the smell of my grandmas food it mouthwatering. My two youngest cousins are being respectable and not making a racket or causing a mess, basically being good human beings, but the oldest cousin is being a bit of a nuisance to me and my brother. Her name is Samantha and she is a year younger than me but she is acting like she’s at least four years younger than me at all times. I usually don’t find this a problem or I just ignore her if I do but today she is being a new kind of annoying. Besides Samantha being annoying on purpose, up to this point it had gone without incident. That is until I accidently spilled my drink and drop or two went into my brothers potatoes. Not really a big deal, right? I thought so too, but then Samantha chimes in “Oh so we’re spilling drinks now?” and proceeds to spill my brother’s drink into his food, soaking it through.

                         My brother and I looked at each other in disbelief while Samantha shrieked with laughter. Her parents are in the other room so they weren’t paying any attention. My brother got a murderous look in his eyes and opened his mouth to yell at her, but before he could she poured salt in his food. He sits there seething in utter silence for a few seconds then coldly says “Well it looks like this is ruined.”

                         I’m relieved that my brother didn’t strangle her and her gets up to throw his food away and I follow him to talk to him. When we get there my uncle Tim is nearby and sees my brother about to dump his ruined food in the trash and yells “Wait! You can save that!"

                  My brother looks at him in disbelief and says “Tim, my potatoes are have absorbed my drink and my food in sitting in two inches of salty sparkling grape juice, what are you talking about?”

                  Tim grabs the plate from him and drains the juice out leaving a sad soppy pile of overly salty food and hands it back to my brother with a look of great accomplishment and a smile on his face and says “Look, I fixed it!”

                   At this point my brother and I look at each other in utter astonishment and Tim leaves he room. We just start cracking up and I say with tears in my eyes “I knew Tim was cheap, but that was next level stupid.”

Brandon Vanallman

Narrative Essay

            As I sat on the bench, the heat seemed almost overwhelming. I was about to test for my black belt, and all around me there was the noise of talk. People were scattered down the mat, getting in some last minute practice before the testing session. The sides of the cramped room were filled with people, most of them sitting on the floor as there were not enough seats. Camera flashes could be seen from any angle. Then, it started. The only signal of this was a loud voice shouting the message “Alright”. Almost immediately, all noise stopped; No camera flashes either. I had been nervous during the drive there, but it was at this point that I felt like I was falling. This was, after all, my black belt testing. We moved quickly to the front of the room, where the panel of instructors and their long table awaited. The outside world could be seem in the back, where the windows were. It was dusk, almost completely dark. I didn’t see a point in looking back though. My attention was on the instructors, watching them, like animals going hunting. That prize, however, was my new belt. The head instructor, Mr. Abbott, then started to speak. I had been through this process many times before; he was making announcements. I sat stretching while I listened, all the while the sharp, artificial light beamed down on us from the ceiling. There was about 50-70 people there, so I was far from alone.

At that moment Mr. Abbott said to the group “This is your testing. Everything depends on how bad you want to succeed”. When the announcements (and pep talk) had ended, the other students and I were told to go to the back of the room and sit. This again, was normal procedure. They started calling us up in groups of four from there; we were about to present our forms. In taekwondo, a form is a series of moves that had to be learned in perfect order and technique in order to pass. As the groups of four went up, I went over my form over and over in my head. This, for me, was the hardest part of testing. Eventually I was called up and stood silently in front of the board of instructors. During the time spent doing my form, I didn’t think about anything at all except what I was doing. After I was done I stood in front of the instructors again, waiting for the others on the mat to finish. When that happen, I, along with the other three students, were dismissed and sent to the back. I was happy when I realized this, because not having to repeat forms is the sign of success in that part of testing. I waited a while after that, and was feeling much better. I felt the familiar warmth of the building increasing from the number of people inside, but I knew it was only going to get worse once sparring started; dozens of people sparring covered in red gear doesn’t usually help with temperature. Eventually that time came, and I was put into one of two lines along with around 26 other people. Being a red belt, I had to spar an instructor to get my new belt. For me, sparring was one of the easier requirements. It was consecutive two minute matches for about a half hour. It at that point felt like 120 degrees, but I was still focused on sparring. That came to an end too, and I sat down at the back again. Now only one thing was left; I needed to break boards. I usually did well with board breaking, but I was also usually very nervous about it. One inability to break the boards resulted in the failure of the entire testing. I slowly walked up to join the line of people now waiting for their turn. The butterflies returned to my stomach. When it was my turn to break the boards, I found my range, bowed, and broke them. There were no complications. At the sight of this I strolled to the back of the room again, almost certain I had passed. A good 7 minutes passed, and I noticed that everyone was done. We herded ourselves to the front again, where Mr. Abbott was waiting with a few words. He announced that he was very happy with the night’s testing, and that he saw “a lot of effort put forth” by the students. We were then dismissed.