I Will Always Remember:

Memoir as a Writing Prompt

Mr. Azano’s 1rst Period Students
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Personal experience. That was the theme that Mr. Azano’s 1rst
period 10th were given to write about during our time with them. Through
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The Never-Ending Rain

I will always remember the time it rained nonstop for three days and nights during
my vacation in Florida. It had been visiting my step-grandfather. I thought it would be a
short time before we got to his home, but it turned out to take about a week of driving
from my house to get to his home in Lake Wales, Florida. My mother was happy, as she
loved being around him. Her eyes glittered and lit up as we slowly, mile by mile, got
closer to her childhood home that she could not show her own child. My dad wasn’t
going with us as he had a steady job in Virginia and my Jack Russell and mini poodle
mixed pup, Ducky, would need someone to take care of her.
“Almost there.” My mom spoke in a cheery voice which had snapped me out of
my daze.
“Mkay mom,” I said.
I wasn’t paying a bit of attention to what she had said; I was more focused on
watching the trees pass by. Soon enough the trees faded and soon were replaced by
orchards of oranges passing by. It was bright and the orchards were growing on soil
that looked dusty and weak, as if the entire ground would disintegrate at the notice of a
short, tiny, and over all weak gust of wind. I rolled the window down so I could feel the
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wind whip around in my hair and unexpectedly I had the smell of orange peels fill my
nostrils. The odd sense of familiarity in the weird, yet comfortable thought of going to the
family home filled my heart. I was giddy at the feeling. About two hours later the
orchards vanished into nothingness and a tall sturdy barbed wire fence stretched out
obviously protecting a large stretch of land.
“About 6 minutes ‘til we’ll be home, Dawn,” My step- grandfather said with a
smile towards my mother.
Dawn was my mother's middle name and the name she went by as a child. I had
been paying not attention at all so I asked the stupid question,
“About when will we get home?”
“6 minutes kiddo, so yes, not much longer until we’re all home.”
He chuckled softly and my mother got mad, she knew I was daydreaming and
not paying attention even in the slightest.
I was tired, my eyelids felt heavy, and my stomach rumbled fearsomely. I simply
looked out the window with a small grin as I remembered suddenly that I had snacks we
had picked up before we got into the car from the hotel. I got into my old backpack and
took out chilli & cheese Fritos, Chocolate Pocky and Doritos that I opened immediately.
The bag let out a thin plastic screech as I touched the slick bag. I soon got it open and
the smell of the cheesy spice made my mother smile. I crunched on my chips and soon
I found myself lost in thought; I was in a simple daze.
I had bitten my lip after a while, and I whined out loudly and pouted a small bit,
“Owww!”
“Are you okay,” my mother asked, concern filled her voice as I nodded.
“Yeah, I’m fine, it just hurts a lot.”
A smiled crossed my face as I noticed paw paw bear’s voice rang out.
“Hey kiddo, did you open that odd chocolate stick stuff? Because if you have I’d
like a stick.”
He laughed loudly as if he were joking and we were to laugh too. I closed the
window and snickered softly. I had bought the spicy Doritos with my money before we
left from Virginia. They had a small spicy kick to them though the label said they were
very spicy.
I opened the pocky and a couple of the sticks accidentally broke with a cracking
sound. The chocolate aroma reminded me of my grandmother on my father’s side of the
family. We always made cakes and cookies for church as we were responsible for the
desserts on Wednesdays, game night. The pocky smelled exactly like my
grandmother’s special secret recipe chocolate cake. I took a bite of one and I handed
one to my paw paw bear, and I offered one to my mother.
She smiled sweetly and laughed, ”Eat it, you bought it with your allowance.”
I noticed a metallic taste in my mouth, I soon realized why. “Mooooooooooooom,
my lip is bleeding,”
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I whined loudly hoping for my mom to comfort me . . . I hated the sight or even
the thought of my own blood. My paw paw bear decided to use his favorite phrase.
“Suck it up buttercup,”
His voice showed that he was tired and I laughed as my mother and paw paw
had taken turns driving. This phrase he said often made me mad because I am not one
for being strong so of course I just let out a sigh and continued daydreaming a bit. I took
in a deep breath and let out an equally breathy sigh. The air changed and I found myself
yawning a bit when the car was jostled around because we were driving on gravel and
all manners of small round pebbles in the driveway. I found myself bouncing with the car
as it drove over the rocky driveway when I noticed the sound, the tiny gravel rubbed,
clanked, and crunched under the tires. We parked on the flat part of the driveway and I
got out quickly, my legs numb from the trip. I noticed it was cooler in the car then
outside and the air was oddly heavy. Paw paw bear closed the gate, we drove through
and then he unlocked the front door of his home and he smiled. Two pugs, Miya and the
other at the time had not been named as it was only a pup, wobbled out. Miya licked her
nose, then I stretched and giggled, but then I heard a loud rumble much like thunder
and I then smelled the unmistakable scent of rain.
Mom smiled widely and spoke gently to me as paw paw bear had taken in a
couple of the light bags,
“I felt a couple raindrops so we should probably hurry and get our stuff in.”
Paw paw bear and I both nodded, and we started getting our bags filled with
clothes and other essential needs for the trip and the month I would stay. Mom smiled
and yet said nothing; he looked very tired but he helped us carry our really heavy bag
filled with our electronics and my couple worn out old teddy bears. We all soon got the
bags into the house and I smiled gently, a faint flash came from the window and loud
thunder boomed above us and I shivered. I hated thunder, not the lightning that was the
real harmful thing. I got my banged-up teddy out and hid under the couch in fear, I hated
rain and yet the three days it rained I got over my irrational fear of thunder and now I
find myself admiring rain just because I remember all the board games I played while it
rained and the quality time I spent with my mother and my paw paw bear.

She Didn’t Come Up

“She didn’t come up.” The four words had changed my life forever. I would never
be the same after that, but let's start from the beginning.
October 15, 2013 was one of the worst days of my life. It was a regular day, until
I got home from school, something had already felt off, but I didn’t pay any mind to the
irregular feeling. Then it all started. One loud hit had changed the mood, “BOOM!” That
was the noise that startled my brother and me. At first we didn't think anything of it
because our family was really clumsy so we didn't really care.
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“Someone go and get me a washcloth or something!”

So, I did. At that moment I still didn't really think anything of it until I tried to peek
in the room and he had cracked the door, but he made a face at me to let me think that
everything was okay. Well, at least that's what he wanted me to think. I laughed and
went downstairs as if nothing had happened.
“What happened?” My brother said.
“I don't know. I think they dropped something. I tried to look in the room and I
couldn't see anything.
“It's all good,” so I thought.
“Somebody call 911!” a voice aroused from upstairs.
I turned to my brother panicking not knowing what to do. He got the phone and
took it upstairs.
“Should we go get help?” my brother and I shouted.
“YES! GO! HURRY!” and so we did.
All I remember from that moment is running to my neighbor’s house, not knowing
what to say or how to feel. It was like my body was in control by itself. I was no longer
making decisions for myself. I was just a little soul in my body, running around. It was
like I was in a deep sleep and I knew I had to wake up, so I did. I never realized how
fast I could run when I really needed to. We burst through the door yelling,
”RAY! RAY! PLEASE HELP! SOMETHING HAPPENED WITH OUR MOM!”
We shouted as loud as we could, banging on the door, not even knowing if
anyone was in there. We just sat there and hoped that we would hear a response, and
so we did.
“What? What do you need?” a voice shouted from the inside of the room.
“SOMETHING IS HAPPENING WITH OUR MOM PLEASE COME HELP!”
Our voices were so shaky. The next thing I know we are running. It’s like I just
kept falling in and out of this dream, more so a nightmare.
“SHOULD WE CALL 911!?”
“YES!” he said as he began to cry.
This is how I knew something was about to happen. He never cried, he was
always this tough guy who never showed fear, and that had changed in a matter of
minutes. We heard Ray on the phone with a woman.
“17505 John Marshall Highway! Please hurry!”
I pace back and forth feeling myself getting more and more scared. The lady on
the phone asked Ray a question, and Ray hesitated but repeated.
“IS SHE BREATHING?”
We waited for an answer. It felt like hours before he answered. And then he did.
“NO!!”
He shouted from the top of the stairs, and BOOM. I fell back into a deep sleep.
My body led me outside as I began to cry. I didn't know what to do. Then, I heard sirens.
It took me a minute to actually figure out why I heard them so close, and I woke.
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The Journey I’ll Never Forget

I’ll never forget the time I traveled across the country with my mother. The
journey was long but enjoyable. The smell of palm trees and the warmth of the sun
radiated of my skin.
My mother stated, “If you want a pb&j, they’re in the cooler in the back.”
I replied, “No thanks, I'll wait till’ later.”
In an hour’s time of the driving we arrived at my grandmother’s home in San
Bernardino. An hour passed, we had to part ways and continue our voyage. Next we
passed an mountain range, the sediment varying in color from orange to brown. The
day had concluded with our journey nowhere near over.

Madden with Friends

I'll never forget the time I beat my friend in Madden. It was a Saturday
evening, and my friend said, “I bet I can beat you in a game on Madden.”
We were in my room on my black futon staring at my black TV. The
room had a slight chill to it because my window was open. I picked the
Ravens, and he chose the Seahawks.
The whole time, the game was very close. He always wins when we
play, so I was expecting him to win. The game was coming to an end, and
the score was 28-35. My friend was winning, it was the 4th quarter, and
there was three seconds left. I had the ball, and I scored a touchdown and
got the two-point conversion. I had won the game.

Blessed

I will always remember when I was washing the dishes, making sure
that all the food was cleaned off. I remember looking up at my mom as she
walked down the stairs into the kitchen. I could tell by the way she was
looking at me that she was about to tell me something. As she walked
closer to me, I could tell by the way she was trying not to make eye contact
with me that she was going to tell me something bad. Whenever someone
died in the family, I was always the last one to know about it. My mom says
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it’s because I’m so emotional, but I think it's good to be emotional. When
my mom stopped next to me, she told me that my dad has cancer.
I was filled with anger and sadness because, once again, cancer took
hold of one of my loved ones. I cried, and I turned my head so that she
wouldn't see me crying. I don’t like crying in front of people, especially if
they are not crying too. I can remember the cool wind blowing in from the
opened back door, the water dripping from my face into the sink. My mom
took my hand and told me that everything was going to be okay because
he was going to have surgery to get it removed. Me and my family are truly
blessed that he can get the cancer removed, an opportunity that some
people never get.

True Colors

It seemed like forever. Around fifteen hours and we were there. There was
so much snow there. I stepped out of the car and froze. It was so cold. Me, my
mom, and my brother, Devin, popped the trunk and picked up all of our heavy
bags. He came outside to meet us.
It all started when I was 10. My mom met a man named Peter off of this
dating website she used. He seemed like a hero to me. My family had been through
a lot, my mom and dad were broken up for a few months. It was weird at first but it
was probably the best thing they could’ve done for Devin and me. Peter and my
mom started talking every day. She seemed so happy, so Devin and I were happy.
They started to get pretty serious. He would talk to Devin and me every day.
He would help us with our school work, and if we were upset, he’d talk to us about
it. He was great. I really liked him, but Devin wasn’t so sure about it. He was
happy for mom, but he missed dad.
On Christmas break, my mom went to go meet Peter by herself. Devin and I
stayed with our friends or our dad. We missed our mom. We would video chat
them every night before bed, but it wasn’t the same. We talked her into coming
back early. But she loved it there.
So, one day we got up and left Virginia. My mom told her friends, but not
our dad. He wouldn’t want us to leave, and mom needed to get away from here. So
we just packed our bags with clothes and toys and left behind everything else. The
furniture, TVs, bookbags, pots and pans, even mine and Devins baby pictures were
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left. My mom’s friends, my sister Nikki, and my dad went to the house to get the
stuff we left behind and kept it.
After the long, cold ride, we were finally there. I felt like we were where we
needed to be. We went inside with him, he made us some food, and Devin and I
went to our room. I was so excited. It was actually him! The man that has been
talking to my mom for a few months is actually right here. We are all together, like
a family.
We started school, and we moved into a cute little trailer. Everything was
great, except Peter. He changed. He was once one of my favorite people in the
world. He used to always be nice to us. He started to show his true colors after we
all got comfortable. He would yell at Devin and me if we cooked something, or ate
the last of something. He would cuss at Devin and me in front of my mom, and my
mom would just tell us to listen to him. I remember one time, I was cooking Devin
and me Mac and Cheese because Peter was asleep, mom was at work, and we were
hungry. He got up and just yelled at Devin and me. We called mom and she did
nothing about it. We stuck up for her though. We knew she thought this was
normal and okay, but Devin and I didn’t put up with it.
So, we left. Came back to our house, that someone else was now living in.
We went to the Resource Center so we didn’t have to live in our car. We lived
there for a minute, then moved into these apartments that were across the street.
From that, I’ve learned some people take a long time to show their true colors. You
can’t just trust somebody from their words.

Leaving it All on The Field

I will always remember the face my brother made as he finished his last high
school game. It was the look of someone who just had their house burned up in a fire.
His season and high school career was over, and you could see it in his eyes. You
could faintly hear the Giles team bus leaving as he walked up the hill. We all stood there
watching as he pulled his catchers bag up the hill. No one said a word for it wasn’t the
time for that. We all knew that this was the end of the best team Radford has ever had,
and it was worse for my family for this reason: one of the three senior captains was my
brother. The best catcher in the state of Virginia, and his career was over.
All that work he put in was left on that field and it stayed there. He worked his
butt off to be out there. Being a year younger than the previous catcher made it hard for
him to be starter before his senior year, but he made the most of his opportunity--
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blocking every ball, outing everyone out that he could, calling the right plays, and
executing them to perfection. This was my brother’s legacy while he was that catcher
and now it was all over.
The closer he got to us, the more deafening the silence was. “This can’t be it,” I
said to myself, “It can’t be over. It can’t end like this.” But it did; the game was over and
so was my brother’s career and there was nothing to stop it from happening. The
memory of that day will always be with me, teaching me to not lose, to not go through
what my brother did. For at my house, failure is not an option and I hope it will never be.

Fortnite with The Boys

I will always remember playing Fortnite with the boys. Hunter called out, “Where we
landing boys?”
Christion then spoke up and said “Tilted Towers.”
Hunter is our star player, he has over twenty solos wins by himself. Christion is the
crossbow master and a fierce competitor. Christion’s last deployment is today before he gets to
go home to his wife. Then there's me, a solid builder and player. We have picked up four wins
as a unit.
Tilted towers is the place where only the bravest of the brave go. As we started to land, I
heard gunshots and buildings being destroyed. Hunter, Christion and I landed in a small
convenience store that smells of chocolate and death. We went downstairs in the store and
found a shiny pirates chest. They are your best chance to get a golden weapon. I opened the
chest and found a gold Scar which is the best gun in the game. Hunter opened another chest
and got a white M16 which is the common assault rifle. Christion found a blue pump shotgun
upstairs and a green tactical SMG.
As we leave the building, we can heard gunfire everywhere. Christion started to build up
to a taller building so we had a better vantage point. We got on top and there was a blue bolt-
action sniper rifle on top. Christion grabbed the sniper and started taking shots at other players,
eliminating a squad of four with only four bullets. Hunter then built up to the tallest building in
Tilted Towers. As he built, we start getting shot at, so we built walls and got ready to fight. I shot
the enemy base down, and Christion and Hunter then rushed the enemy team. The storm
started to close in, and we knew it was time to leave.
As we continued to run from the store, we finally got to safety. I noticed there were only
three other people besides us. We began to look around and realized no one was around us so
we started to heal up and no sooner after we did that, we heard a loud bang. Christion hit the
ground like a bag of bricks. Hunter screamed Christion's name as I began to build around us to
prepare for a battle, the last battle. As hunter tried to heal Christion, he had to stop because we
were being rushed. Hunter and I fought as long as we could, bullets flying everywhere until I got
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hit and went down. Hunter now realized it was up to him now to win. Hunter took down one of
them with a shotgun, then built around and killed the next. Now it was one on one. Hunter
deployed his port-o-fort and then started to heal up. He saw the last person on the other side of
the map, pulls out his sniper and takes his shot. All of a sudden I woke up in a hospital next to
Christion alive. Hunter had won the battle and saved me and Christion.

A Sandwich to Remember

It was the end of the day, and I had barely eaten all day. I was incredibly hungry,
so much that every little smell made me want to eat something. The only place that was
an option was Mcdonald’s, so I drove over, and luckily, there was no line. When I pulled
up to the ordering speaker, I was going to get a hamburger, but in big bold letters it said:
“NOW SERVING MCRIB.” Looking at this sign made up my mind for me.
I said, “I would like a mcrib.”
The woman behind the speaker asked, “Do you want anything else?”
I remembered that my little brother wanted something to eat too, so I told the
woman, “I would like some chicken nuggets.”
The woman asked again, “Is that it.”
And I replied, “That will be all.” She instructed me to come to the first window,
and I drove around. She asked me for the money for the meal, $7.53, and she
instructed me to drive up to the next window.
When they handed me my meal in a brown paper bag, I was overjoyed,
anticipating the meal. Now all that was left was the drive home. The waiting was making
me miserable; it was torture thinking of the sweet and spicy sandwich. I could barely
hold myself back from eating it. When I arrived home, I called my brother downstairs
and I gave him his chicken nuggets.
He said “Thank you,” and ran up to his room to eat them. However, when I
checked the paper bag to grab my own treat, it was not there. In a blind rage from not
having eaten all day, I rushed back to the golden arches.
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When I arrived, I demanded that they give compensation for my suffering! I

showed the window operator the receipt and that they had gotten my order wrong.
The red haired girl on the other side of the glass said, “Sorry,” and gave me my
sandwich. After all the waiting and trouble of getting the mcrib, it had soiled the task,
and I thought it was mediocre at best.

Coming to Radford

I will always remember the time I left Beaufort, South Carolina. It was around
December, and my mom came up to Virginia to look for a job and a place to stay, while me, my
sister, and my brother stayed with my grandparents and continued going to school. The reason
my mom came to Virginia looking for a job is because she struggled a lot. She is a single parent,
so she does everything on her own with three kids. She has always struggled as a young
mother. My last day at Beaufort High was very emotional for me. My friends would come up to
me and hug me. I always got pictures with them. When I got to hug my best friend, I felt her
cold, wrinkled jacket. I could smell her sweet perfume and then all I felt was her hug me tighter.
When I let go of her, I looked at her and she was crying. Her eyes were all watery, it had looked
like glass. I had wiped the tears off her face.
“Stop crying, it’s okay. I’ll be back soon,” I said in a confident voice. My best friend
means a lot to me. She is always there when I need her. She knows when I’m mad, sad, upset,
or feeling down, she knows how to make me smile and laugh.
My mom had found a job, which was at the hospital, and she found us somewhere to
live. Every night before bed, my mom would call me, my sister, and brother, to talk to us. I
would tell her about my day and she would tell me about hers. “What did you do at work?” I
asked.
“I worked on the second floor, went around helping people, also worked behind the
desk,” she explained.
“Oh, that’s good!” I said with excitement. After we were done talking about each other’s
day, I would give the phone to my brother or sister and let my mom talk to them.
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I loved my grandparents and all, but I didn’t want to be there. I was just so used to my
mom always being there, and I missed her like crazy. Every time me and my sister would talk to
her, we would keep asking,
“When are you coming to get us?”. We were just so ready to be with our mom again.
My mom and I have a very close bond, so I tell her everything. When we were on the road, I
remember that the temperature just dropped. It was so cold outside, and it just got done
raining. We didn’t get to our house till late at night, so it was hard to see everything. We took
everything into the house that we had in the car. We didn’t really have a lot, we just took
important stuff that we needed. We have visited South Carolina around two times since we left.
The next morning, we woke up, got dressed, and went out with my grandma who lives
here. We just spent the day together. We went to the mall, different stores, it was really fun.
My mom would ask me and my sister if we remember being here; we used to live here when
we were younger. We really didn’t remember anything. I really don’t remember my childhood
like that, but it was okay. Later that day, we went out to dinner. I can’t remember which place
we went to, but it was good. I could smell the food in the air, and I felt like I was in heaven. I
love food a lot. After we ate, we went to the store and got some movies and had a family night.
We have come a long way from when we first got here. My first day of school, I was so scared.
My anxiety started to kick in and I started to cry. I was thinking: “what if nobody likes me?” My
mind wasn’t right. But when I would walk the halls, everyone would just stare at me. I’ve made
a couple of good friends that I hang out with every day.
I am just so thankful that my mom moved us here. We are all doing a lot better and
when we lived in South Carolina, my mom did struggle with a lot. Me, my brother and my sister
are getting better grades and doing better in school, not getting in trouble. Also, my mom isn’t
struggling anymore. She’s doing better and she is always happy. South Carolina was kind of a
bad place for us, since all you heard about was people getting arrested or somebody died. Most
of the people who got arrested were people our age and going to school with us. To be honest,
it is really sad that people our age are just throwing their lives away but I pray for them. I am
just very happy that we got the chance to move here, meet new people, and just start over
because we all had a rough life in the past.

At The River with Dad

I will always remember the James river in the summer with my Dad, and all the
random but fun things we used to do, and the people we met, and the dumb things my
Dad did. We would always go to the river every day of the summer and swim, catch fish,
feed the ducks Doritos, and ride the fast currents that went along the river. My Dad first
taught me how to swim by throwing me in a slow-moving part of the river, and after that,
it became easier to swim.
Every day of the summer we were either at Kings Dominion, or the James river,
or doing some dumb things with whatever we could find. Now that I look back at it, I
miss those days, and since my Dad passed, before I move to New Mexico, I’m going to
the James river with a bag of Doritos to feed the ducks. My Dad took a woman and her
3 daughters to the river with us multiple times, and our families were great friends. They
used to spend time hanging out with us through the days of summer, and just enjoying
every day.
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My dad did some dumb, but fun things. He would make chemical reactions that
where honestly questionable, and not the safest, but it was worth it to see them.
Sometimes, we went to the beach to watch the shooting stars over the waves at Myrtle
beach and stay up all night picking up seashells. Those same sea shells are still in a
box in my room. The way my Dad would do things was very childish, but he was always
fun. The river is what I think of when I think of my Dad, because every day was fun
when we went together. Not all days went as planned, but that is what made those days
extra interesting and fun. Now those fun days are over, and they’re just fond memories.
Kings Dominion is the second place I think of when I think of my Dad. He always
took us there, and he worked there, so he knew everything and we always got in for
cheaper than normal. When I was a kid I would never ride anything that made me go
upside down and even if I would have wanted to, I was too short to even get on the
rides, so it didn't matter anyway. The funnel cakes were my favorite things to eat, and I
loved every ride I could get on, every booth we went to, and every time we watched
fireworks there. That was best of my childhood with my Dad and the good times that we
had together.

Blue Cake

I remember my third birthday party like it was yesterday. The ocean blue cake
with a wax form of the number 3, lit up by a small, but bright flame. The wax mixed with
the floury smell of the pastry, and on the cake, there were yellow words that said: “
Happy Birthday Jairen.” Next to that vibrant font was two characters. One was square,
with curves surrounding on its perimeter. The character also had two buck teeth, with
brown trousers. The other character was a pink star with green and purple shorts.
The tight apartment kitchen my family and I lived in at the time was somehow
able to hold all of my relatives and friends. It was like fitting a bunch of sharpies in a
small cup. As I stared and smiled at the blue pastry square, all the people in the room
sang me the tune, “Happy Birthday.”
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Half-Court Hero

I will always remember the time I made my first half-court shot. I was eight years old,
and I was leaving the rec center with my dad. We were walking out the door when I threw the
ball with one hand, and it looked like it was going in. I heard the ball go through the net, and I
ran out the door and heard the squeak of the door behind me. I ran in the road and heard a car
coming toward me, so I jumped out of the way and I ran to my car to tell my dad what
happened. When I got in the car, my dad yelled at me because I didn’t come out when he told
me to come out. I apologized to my dad and I said I was sorry, and he accepted my apology and
took me to get ice cream at Cold Stone.
We were driving down the street with the windows down and I could hear the wind
whistling through the car. When we got to cold stone, you could smell all of the flavors when
you walked through the door. When I got to the counter, I saw all of the flavors that they had. It
was hard to choose what flavor to get. I finally chose chocolate chip cookie dough. My dad
didn’t know what flavor to get so I chose birthday cake for him. I ate my ice cream and was
happy because I had finally made a half-court shot. I was so proud of myself.

Disappear

All the events flow through my head like a stream every time I think about it, it’s not like
I can really forget it either, the sadness I felt affected me too much. The first day I walked into
the classroom, they were at the first table. Since I didn’t feel the need to sit at any other table, I
took a seat with two good friends that will soon vanish.
“Well hi, I’m Grace,” said the girl on the right, who smiled when I sat down.
“And I’m Vanessa,” the girl on the left followed right behind her. Grace had straightened
blonde hair and soft blue eyes. She was pale, but it fit her personality. She was soft and sweet,
with a tall and thin frame. Vanessa had light brown hair with sharp green eyes. Something
always felt off about her. She was careless, but nice nonetheless, smiling even though it always
felt like it didn’t reach her eyes, and she had a small frame that was similar to my own.
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From then on, it was amazing. We talked a lot, but I got closer to Vanessa than Grace. I
went over to her house frequently, we sang songs on the bus and talked and laughed. One of the
best nights we had was when we camped in her huge, grassy backyard with grace in a tent. We
had a book about spiders to freak each other out, but we ended up laughing about it. I remember
the bright dancing fire we lit, sitting next to it and talking each-others heads off. Those were the
nice memories.
Until she disappeared. Left without a reason, without a care in the world, not even for me.
It was like it never existed, I never existed, because the only trace of it was the memories running
through my mind. I questioned what I did wrong; Did I even do something wrong? Even though
I walked through crowded hallways and sat in noisy classrooms, my world felt dull. Cold and
empty. Like nobody there existed except me and my mind that tried to understand what made her
leave. My anxiety towered over me every time I glanced her way. The rest of that year was
empty. Without her, nobody ever invited me over anymore. It’s not like I asked anyways.
Now that I’ve moved away, I’ve gotten over the sadness and have the memories she gave
me, the good ones, to give me hope that another friend like that will come along. Plus, there’s
going to be people you meet that’ll leave, but at least you have the evidence, the memories that’ll
never disappear.

Recovery

I will never forget the time my mom’s ex-boyfriend abused her. It was terrible,
and she didn’t do anything to deserve it. He burnt the bottom of her foot and choked
her, so she had him sent to jail. He, of course, didn’t mess with her afterwards. It made
me really upset. When I found out, I wanted to go to his house and kill him. My mom
was scared for about a week, and she barely talked to anyone. I hope he never tries to
talk to me or my mother again, and I know one day, he's going to get what he deserves.
My mom went to the hospital, and they said that her neck was going to be bruised and
her foot would be okay. Thank god it wasn't anything deadly.
The next month, my mom and I went to the bank, and we saw him. He pulled up
next to us and he was laughing like an evil clown. I was scared, and so was my mom;
we didn’t know what to do. We didn’t think he would be out that early. My heart dropped
down in my stomach when I saw him. He made me think about my mom getting abused
all over again.
I got out the car and went over to his car and said, “You will pay for what you did.
You deserve to be in jail for the rest of your life.”
He just looked at me, then drove off and said, “Yes, it will never happen again.”
My mom was so proud of me for standing up to him. My mom, after 2 years, got
over the fact that she was abused and she found her a better boyfriend, whose name is
Tim. I love him like he's my own dad, and he treats my mom very good. I've honestly
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never seen my mom this happy in a while. I’m glad she is okay. I honestly thought she
was going to be afraid of guys for the rest of her life, but as soon as Tim came into the
picture, everything was fine. He makes me, my mom, and my sister very happy. I thank
God every day for my mom still being here with me and that she found a really good
guy.

Burnt at the Beach

I remember when I went to the beach. The beach had a very blue sky, and
the sun was very hot. The food tasted very good too. At the hotel, I walked down
the stairs slowly, holding the cold railing, preparing myself for the immense heat
from the outside. The second I went outside, I started to sweat. The heat made
the walk to the beach feel like hours, but in reality, it was only a few minutes.
When I stepped into the sand for the first time, I remember the grainy
feeling between my toes and the salty feeling on my skin after I left the water. I
walked slowly back to my hotel room to shower off, and I realized after my skin
was burning, even after I entered the hotel. I realized that my skin was boiling hot
and peachy red. It was almost time for dinner when I walked out of the shower.
After I got ready, I walked down with my family, and I quickly sat down after a
long day of being worn out on the beach, ready to eat and relax for the rest of the
day.