Your Heart Like GLass

Your Heart Like Glass

By Hannah Rose

I won’t let you fall,

Can’t let you break,

You seem appalled,

By the chances I take.

I’ve kept you safe all along,

Held tight within my arms,

You say something’s wrong,

Though I could do you no harm.

Can’t take it anymore,

You’re too fragile, like glass.

I’m worn down to the core,

We knew this could never last.

Now our love has shattered, I can’t let it go,

Should’ve been more careful, I know, you told me so.

Old Man and The Sea Essay

In every person's life, there are problems, issues and struggles that must be dealt with. The person are always forced to choose what you think is the best possibility. No matter what the problem be, from something as small as choosing what outfit to wear to school or a problem as large as to kill or be killed, the choice made is the most important part. Sometimes, a person doesn't make the best choice and ends up having to live with the consequences. In the suspenseful novella, The Old Man and the Sea, Santiago has to make many choices that could be vital to his ways of life.

Ernest Hemingway, with his thoughtful way of writing, started this figurative piece of literature by introducing a choice Santiago had to make, "he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish"(09). The way that Hemingway writes tense and fascinating and he really proves that in eighty-four days, a lot can happen, but when you are alone at sea, those eighty-four days may seem like years. But, Santiago was a very persistent an, even more importantly, patient man and refused to go home until he caught a fish. His persistency could've killed him but his love for fishing overpowered his fear of death. Speaking to the fish, Santiago proves that he is not demure, "Fish, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you have to kill me too"(92)?

By choosing to stay out on the violent Caribbean Sea, lacking food, supplies, shelter, warmth and company, Santiago starts to go mad. He begins speaking to himself. He is fatigued from the many days of no success, little food to eat and even less sleep so he decides to cast his line and find smaller fish to eat. Also, when at sea, everything is unpredictable and it is important to stay cautious. Santiago, although, is anxious to catch the fish but he will not let any problems stand in his way.

When he spots the immense marlin, he immediately falls in love. He knows that it is his obligation to catch the fish and will persevere this until the fish is in his hands. He has a great respect for this fish, being the biggest one he'd ever come across. "Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends"(54). The compassion that Santiago has for this fish is incomprehensible. No one could ever understand the relationship that Santiago and the great marlin had because no one could love a fish as much as him. Fishing, being his occupation is hard for Santiago because he loves the fish possibly too much. He must kill them to make a living but it pains him inside every time. He makes the sacrifice of killing these fish to be able to do the thing he loves most every day of his life.

For the first forty days of Santiago's journey, Santiago was accompanied by a young boy. Manolin, though in his twenty's, is the old man's best friend. It saddens him deeply when Santiago goes out to catch the fish on his own because his own parents are nervous and won't let him go on the journey out to sea with the old man. During the first forty days on the skiff with Santiago, his parents were convinced that he was "salao" which means unlucky. The whole time Santiago is out at sea, he misses the boy. He needs a companion on the boat so that they can help each other and take shifts sleeping and watching for the fish. At one point, Santiago even lists several ways in which the boy could help him if he were there to aid the injury to his hand. Their friendship is unbreakable and after Santiago returns back home, Manolin tends to his needs because he cares for him more than anything and wants to learn everything that the old man knows about fishing. "Lie down, old man, and I will bring you your clean shirt. And something to eat"(125). Manolin is the type of friend that will stick. He will do anything as long it helps you, and he doesn't even care if it is a detriment to himself.

Santiago struggled greatly with catching the fish because sharks had nearly torn him apart. They enclosed the skiff and devoured over half of the marlin before they even reached the shore. Through catching the fish, Santiago proves to his town that if you are devoted, anything is possible. His choice to stay out at sea for eighty-four days just to catch a fish is ridiculous but turns out to be worth it in the end. Even though the "galanos" destroyed the fish, Santiago still brought him home. Throughout his life, the old man suffers greatly. He was not afraid of dying and the consequences that resulted from this could have hurt him greatly. The consequences of his choice to catch that fish caused him starvation, thirst, weariness and much pain but helped him prove that he still had a glimpse of luck in himself.

She Was Only Seventeen...

June 24, 1996- The only thing that I ever wanted to do in my life is take a trip to Hawaii. I have not gotten to do that yet. Right now, I am looking up at the popcorn texture of the ceiling, and the cold white, walls surrounding me. In this placid room, I just realized that all of my hopes of ever getting to see the beautiful Hawaiian beaches are crushed.

Tears shed from my eyes as I read this from my younger sister Lucia’s diary. This was her last journal entry--ever. She had always kept a diary, at least since she was 6. She loved to write. All her life, she had dreamt of becoming a famous author. She was only seventeen...Even though I was two years older. my sister was my best friend…

“Madelyn, it’s time to wake up. The funeral is in an hour. You have to get ready,” my mother said and shook my body. The acute tone to her voice scared me so I immediately got up.

I must have fallen asleep on the couch, while reading Lucia’s diary because my mom came in and woke me up at 10:44. She was right. The funeral was at 1:00. I was not ready, at all. “Oh and make sure you wash off your makeup,” she added as I got up off the couch and walked out of the room.

I walked in to the bathroom and knew what she meant…my mascara had run off last night through my tears. I was a mess. I decided to take a quick shower so I looked at least half-decent if i was going to have to see my whole family, friends and people I didn’t even know (or wish to know). I hurried into my bedroom to get my black dress and shoes. When I picked up my dress, I noticed something on the chair below it. A piece of paper?...

Madelyn, I know you won’t be reading this until the day of my funeral. But I would just like to let you know I love you. You were the sister that everyone wishes for. Now I don’t want you to cry because I am in a better place now but just know that I miss you. I wish I could see you soon but I won’t bring that upon you...you’ve got a long and happy life to live and i want you to live it to the fullest. Don’t worry as much as you used to. You are a great sister and I hope that everyone that meets you feels blessed by your presence. I’m getting tired. I think I'll be done writing for now.
Talk to you later, Lucia
P.S. Be on the lookout...

I couldn't help myself…even though she said not to, I was crying, more than I had ever cried before. How did this get here?! How did she know she would die and I would be reading this the day of her funeral?! Most of all, what did she mean by “talk to you later”? There were so many unanswered questions…

“Maddie! We’re leaving in 35 minutes!,” my mother yelled up the long staircase. This meant I had to hurry. I walked out my bedroom and door and entered the bathroom which was in juxtaposition to my room. I hopped in the shower and began washing my hair. I rinsed out the lathery soap from my hair and sped up the rest of my shower in order to leave myself enough time to put on my makeup and do my hair.

After I got out, I capriciously got dressed and walked towards the mirror. Even though the gaunt reflection I saw in the mirror was me, the semblance looked nothing like the real me. Usually, I'm a very cheerful and colorful person but today, all dressed in black, I was not myself. I figured I'd better finish my outfit off so I grabbed a long necklace and a pair of silver hoop earrings. As I did this, I looked out the window only to see an unfamiliar gray car sitting right in front of my house. Who could it possibly belong to? I tried to get a closer look at the person sitting in the drivers seat but I could not see any distinguishing features because there was a hood pulled over the person's face. There was no license plate on the car. I thought about calling the cops but as soon as I went to grab my phone, the car started driving away. I put on my shoes and went downstairs.

As soon as I got downstairs, my dad told us that he had started the car and it was time to go. I walked outside and being the last day of June, the Texas heat was almost unbearable. I stepped into the back of my dad's brand new blue 1996 Toyota Camry and sat down As I descended onto the seat, I noticed something on the next to me...another paper? I leaned over and unfolded it. Without even starting to read it, I knew it was Lucia's by the neat, handwriting, which looked almost like a typewriter.

Hey Maddie, By now, I'm sure you've received my first letter. I know you are a little freaked out by this all but don't worry. Try not to cry at my funeral...and would you please tell all my friends that I say hello. I miss you all! I'm always gonna be with you. Remember that. You've always been there for me, through thick and thin, and now it's my turn to be there for you.
I love you, Lucia

"What is going on?!," I whispered to myself. My mom must've heard me though because she turned around and looked at me. I just looked down into my lap at the sparkling black clutch. As we drove on, my head was filled with unimaginable clamor. I knew it was all in my head because no one else seemed to notice it. Was I going crazy? First, I find letters from my dead sister, then I hear imaginary noises...I had thwarted myself...I kept both of the letters I had found and the journal entry close to me for an ideal stronghold to look into. I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone about this. Things like this usually just DON'T happen. Seriously, who gets letters from their dead siblings...?

We reached Jackson Funeral Home at precisely 12:30. I saw a hearse from the previous funeral drive away. The dark, black windows of the vehicle seemed to occlude the deceased body laying lifelessly inside from the world around. My dad let us out and went to park the car that he was ever-so-proud-of. My dad has always been notorious in the neighborhood for treating his car like a third child.

After the funeral service, I couldn't stop crying. I went to the bathroom to wash off my makeup and try to calm down for a few minutes. I noticed something taped onto the mirror. I walked over to that mirror, and being the curious girl that I am, I ripped off the tape and opened the paper...another letter?! The letter started:

Maddie, after the funeral, I figured would be the best time to tell you this...

After reading this much, i knew the news to follow was not going to be good...

I was murdered. It was all planned out. I'm leaving it up to you to figure how and by who because if I were to tell you now, you would have been without a sister earlier than actual. The only thing I can tell you is to go to the police station. You have to talk to a specific person, but I cannot say who. He will help you. Like I said, be on the lookout at all times. The only other advice I can give you right now is to not let mother or father or anyone else for that matter know about the letters you receive from me or your journeys to come. Leave NOW.
Lucia

I guess I'd better listen to her...I ran out of the bathroom into a covey of people and without looking, clumsily ran into someone. I turned around to see who it was and it happened to be Lucia's boyfriend, Travis. Before I could start running again, I heard him say my name. I stopped in my tracks to see why he wanted to talk to me.

"Hey Madelyn. I'm so sorry about this. I can't believe she's actually gone...just one week ago, we were at the movies, having a great time and now to think that can never happen again. It might not have anyways..."

Madelyn wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about. "What do you mean it might not have happened again? She didn't mention anything to me about it..."

Travis's face seemed to shatter. "Umm..nothing...we got in a little fight...no big deal..." He rushed those few words then claimed that he had to go.

I continued on my way and ran down the steps of the funeral home. I ran as fast as I could to the police station which was no more than one block away.

"Hello, I'm looking for someone..." Madelyn said to the secretary, almost out of breath from running.

"I'll get an officer on the case... Who are you looking for? When was the last time you saw them?," she replied.

"Umm...I'm really not sure...I'm trying to figure out who killed my sister and I had a feeling the first place I should check was here...I'm not sure who I'm looking for, but when I find them, I'm sure I'll know."

The secretary looked at Madelyn as if she had five heads..."Well, I'm not sure how I can help you if you don't know what you're looking for..." She picked up the phone and began calling someone. "Hello, yes there is a girl here. She's looking for the murderer of her sister and just wants to talk to...anyone. Could you come out here please?"

After a short hiatus, a man in uniform walked out of a large white door with no handles on the outside. He looked like he was about 5 foot 8 with short brown hair, a round face and glasses to magnify his chocolate-brown eyes. Maybe about 25? I had to admit, he wasn't that bad looking. But for some reason, he looked very familiar but I could not put my finger on why.

He came over to me and we started talking about my sister's life and her death...He was doing the general interrogation that he probably used with most suspects. After talking to him for a while, I found out why he looked so familiar! He was Lucia's boyfriends brother. Perfect guy to help me on the case. I decided that it would be okay to tell him about the letters so I took them out of my clutch and let him read them. He said the first thing to do was to find out how the letters were being put in my path.

We could not come up with any ideas how or why or by who. Eventually, we decided to get the papers fingerprinted and find a match. He told me that since they had to sent it down to Washington DC, it would take about two weeks before I received the results.


~~~TWO WEEKS LATER~~~

"This letter holds the results of the fingerprints on the notes from your sister. After we open this, we will be 80 percent closer to finding out the killer," the policeman, Jarrod said to me. There was a vague tone to his voice but he handed me the letter anyways and I opened it up pausing because of the distraught feelings. I felt so paltry because after I read this letter, my feelings towards someone will change and you never know who could have killed Gina and why. The world around me seemed huge. I did not even feel like a real living being.

I continued to slowly open the letter and all the fingerprints found on the letters were from three names: Madelyn Angelo, Gina Angelo and Travis Burton. Of course my fingerprints and Gina's would be on there but why Gina's boyfriends? Since Jarrod was his brother, he called him down to the station to be questioned.

He soon arrived, in a gray car. No license plate. The exact car I had seen outside my bedroom window on the day of the funeral. After uncountable hours of questioning, he finally confessed to poisoning Gina because they had gotten into a fight in the movie theater.

He was asked many follow up questions but the first was how he got her to write the letters and how he delivered them. He said that before he gave her the ptomaine poison, he threatened to shoot her if she didn't write letters to her sister pretending as if she were already dead. When asked why he killed her, he said it was because she was talking about getting into too serious of a relationship and that she had already started planning their honeymoon, to where else but Hawaii...

Book review.

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga. Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Genre: Modern Fiction

Boy Toy, a teen modern fiction drama by Barry Lyga, is a great way to show some of the normal and abnormal events that occur in teenage lives. Josh Mendel, the protagonist of this story, is molested at the age of twelve .Throughout out his adolescence,all; he wants is to be a normal child, like all the rest living in Brookdale. He makes up with old friends along the way and witnesses one of the hardest break ups to ever take place.

"Barry Lyga digs deep into the troubling territory of innocence and manipulation, trust and betrayal," says Tanya Lee Stone, the author of a A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl."Brave and unflinching, Boy Toy will grab hold of your heart and squeeze."

Boy Toy contains some very mature content and is not recommended for children to read. It tells what Josh thinks, feels and does throughout the course of his teen years. It shows the mean, cold-hearted side of Josh and also the sweet, caring side. His best friend Zik Lorenz, is by his side through all of Josh's troubles and problems but Josh does not realize it until he is eighteen, playing the final baseball game of their high school career and purposely misses the ball, finally realizing how he let Zik down.

Barry Lyga uses a lot of description in his writing. When I read Boy Toy, I literally felt like I was in the book, standing on the sidelines as everything takes place. It feels like whenever someone says something, you could just automatically add your two-sense and one of the characters would respond to you.

"Classes are a formality at this point-I know which colleges I'm in, and the odds of my grades deteriorating to the point that anyone would change their minds at this point are precisely zero. But I can't help myself. I can't just slack off and get B's. I've been Iron Man too long-I kill myself for these last A's like I killed myself for the hundred or so that came before" (357).

The theme was probably the most important aspect of this book. The main theme was that you can't do anything on your own. You always need someone by your side, along you to help you with things you can't do yourself. A quote from the book that shows this theme is "In order to hit a home run, someone else has to pitch the ball." I really enjoyed this book. It was the first book that I have read by Barry Lyga but I plan on reading more. I really like the way he related the events in the story to actual events that happen in real life. He even gives the characters the same feelings that people in similar situations would have. One of my friends went through molestation and told me about it. Almost everything that he said he feels today were the same things that Josh said he felt. I think that Barry Lyga is a very good author and I enjoyed every part of his writing. I think it takes a successful author to relate real life situations to a situation in a book and give a character the same feelings.

Pinetrees and Megapixels

Everything has a value. Whether you believe so or not, a value is placed on everything from pens to cell phones to cars and also to things that are not objects such as moments or feelings. How is the value of something chosen? What does the value of something matter towards our everyday lives?

The air is crisp and cool as I jump onto the tractor pulling several families looking to brighten up their homes this Christmas season. I am bundled up in many layers as it is very chilly the day after Thanksgiving. The tractor stops moving and I immediately jump off, take the stairs down and grab the elderly woman's hand. One by one, I help the customers get down the stairs. After everyone is off, I walk over to the small clearing and start handing out saws. I tune in to hear my uncle Victor trailing on about the rules and instructions on how to safely chop down your own evergreen tree for the Christmas season. Every Friday through Sunday from the day after Thanksgiving until the weekend before Christmas, my life is devoted to working on my family's Christmas tree farm.

With a candy cane in my mouth, I jump back onto the tractor for a free ride around the perimeter of the farm! We stop on the opposite side of the farm to pick up more customers-and their trees. As I help the mothers, fathers, children and grandparents back onto the tractor, Uncle Victor lifts all of the trees onto the back. I try to help him, but as I do, I realize that I was picking up a blue spruce tree. Ow! Blue spruce always hurt! The needles were sharp, unlike my favorite type of tree-Frasier fir! Because I just carelessly dropped the tree, my hands became covered in sticky, gooey pine sap! Because of my complaining, Victor sent me into the barn to clean up.

My hands started to shiver after the cold water touched them. I slowly put my gloves back on to try to stop the shivering. After becoming situated and at least somewhat warmer, I opened the door, ran and then stopped abruptly at the front of the store. I turn, figuring I should advertise to the customers and also be a good Samaritan and ask my uncles if they want any fresh hot chocolate or cider. I see an old lady looking clueless at the shelves filled with cemetery boxes. I turn to her and say, "Excuse me, do you need any help?". She was looking for a price on the box, but became oblivious to the sign next to her that read $15. I politely told her that they cost $15 and were each special and original as I had helped to make them! She thanked me and followed me into the shop to make her purchase.

I went behind the counter with my grandma and after ringing her up, poured two hot chocolates, one cider and grabbed three mini candy cane! i took the wrapper off the candy canes and put them in the hot chocolate. My uncle Bob Z and I invented this yummy mint hot chocolate! I carefully picked up all three cups and brought them outside to my uncle Victor and my uncle Bob Z. They said I couldn't have come one second earlier...

"Humm...," I hear the slight purring of my MacBook laptop as i press the start button. Suddenly the screen turns blue for several short seconds and then my background, right now it's a picture from the 30 Seconds to Mars music video, "Beautiful Lie", appears. "Welcome, Hannah!," a pop up box greets me as i turn my computer on for the first time today. I click on the sidebar to open several different applications. First Firefox, second iTunes, third Textedit and finally iChat. Almost every day after school, I do this routine. I set up an away message so I can work on my homework without a distraction. I start playing music from my iTunes library. My favorite song is first, "Half-Truism" by The Offspring. The music helps me to concentrate better. I start researching plant growth so that I can start writing about it for my biology project. One computer, many tasks accomplished.

I value my computer as my most valuable object because you can do almost anything with a computer. I love music more than almost anything. It gives me a way to get away from the real world, and can always change my mood. All of my music is on my computer and if there's a song I want to hear, I can just download it. My laptop also is a very good tool to help me with my homework or any projects that have to do with school. It can also be used to contact my friends and I am very social so I like to talk to my friends whenever I can.

Even though my computer is fun, It's not only used for play. My mother is a web designer and she has "hired" me to help her manage her websites. I help her with her multiple businesses by writing descriptions, adding keywords, changing prices and many other parts of the online business. The invention of the computer is probably one of the best inventions ever invented. It is a very useful object in life to many people for many advances.

I value both my winter weekends working on the farm and my laptop for very different reasons.When I am working on the farm, I just enjoy every minute of what I am doing (besides the occasional getting sprayed with mud from the tractor tires...) and the day before Christmas is always sad even though I should be having fun. I value my computer because it can bring me into different worlds, not just virtual but also through my imagination. I over-analyze everything so I could be thinking about the most simple thing and make it into something extravagant .

My computer allows me to do many tasks that could not be performed otherwise. If I did not have a computer, it would be harder to do homework or work for my mom or anything else. The computer was one of the greatest advances in technology ever created. It made it possible for less manual labor to be needed because now things could be automatic.

My winter wonderland fun which only takes place for a few weekends each year is a great way to have fun and interact with people I've never met and my own family members. I love being on the farm because I know all of the hard work that has taken place throughout the year is now paying off. I enjoy everything even if I have to get down and dirty. These are priceless moments to me.

Both my time working on the farm and my computer are important to me. They allow me to have fun and get some work done. After finishing my work with either of them, I feel accomplished and everything is fine. There's almost nothing more important than these things to my life. After reading what I value, does that make you think any more about the most important things that you value in life? Sometimes it's hard to figure out, but everyone cares about some things more than others and it shows. The things that you value usually play a big part in your life and just like pictures, valued things are worth thousands of words.