May PPOW

                                                                                                                                        Matthew Herrera

                                                                                                                                        May 7, 2015

                                                                                                                                        English 8-7

                                                                                                                                        PPOW

                       All-Star

            It all started happening the fame, and everything in his life and nothing else could've been better until it happened but first let me tell you how it started. I was a senior playing football and I was good really good there was no pass I couldn't do I was top on my team starter, and top in my education.

It was the start of the season and they were doing a blitz and they corner backs were covering the wide receivers really good and I couldn't get a pass to them. The only thing I could do is tried to run but I had to wait for an opening. It was through the middle and I went for it but once I took a step it closed but there was no going back so I cut to the right side of the field and my fellow teammates were setting up amazing blocks and then I got blind sided and couldn’t get up. All I remember is the coaches carrying me out of the field.

            “Can I still play,” questioned John.

            “You can its just we think you should not,” replied the doctor.

            “Who's we and any ways I need to,” answered John

           

I stormed out and got in the car soon after my mother returns to make me a deal. She says if I wait a week without playing football she would let me play again and I agreed. I have been dying for the week to be over but it's still Monday. When I walk into school everyone is excited and asking me if I am okay but I ignored them and went on with my day. It killed me to know that I was missing games but it was Friday so I would be right back in no time.

Its finally that time when I get to come back and I am excited just like everyone else while we walk out of the lockers but my coach stops me and tells me that they have found another person to start instead of me. I was disappointed because I had to sit on the bench for the whole game and also we had lost because my back up threw an interception and failed to make the tackle. The crowd screams at the coach for not putting me in and I knew the coach wanted to but was holding back and I think I know why.

I get home and ask my mom if anything is new and she plays it off like she doesn't know anything but I know she is the reason coach didn't put me in but I had no proof so I went on with my day.

Its practice and I work my hardest and it feels and looks like I never got injured and everyone could see that I was doing well. I was walking out of practice and then my head started to swirl I didn't know what was happening but then it stopped and I was on the ground.

The next thing I saw was my mother running up to me but by the time she got there I was up she asked me what happened and I played it off and said my legs hurt from practice so I laid down and she bought it. That night coach called and I wanted to know why I wasn’t playing so I picked up the other phone to hear their conversation.

“I wanted to know if I can put John in tomorrow,” mumbled coach.

“No, he is dying he will get hurt and then I wont be able to spend time with him,” she cried.

“You are killing him by not letting him play,” replied coach

I hanged up the phone and went to my room to make a plan and process this in my head. The next morning there was a game and I was ready to play. I came up to coach and demanded to play and he did and I thought it would of been harder than that but it wasn’t.

I was on the field and I was doing perfect but then the world was swirling and I was struggling to stay on my feet then it stopped and I looked around and saw frank wide open and I chucked it to him and waited to see if I still had it. This was an important play because it was all tied up and this could get us to state.

Frank fumbled the ball a little but got it and ran but a defender was closing up on him and then they clashed. I ran down to see if he had made the touchdown and it was close. The whistle blew and I looked at the scoreboard to see if we had made it just like everyone else and then it went we had won the game. The crowd came rushing down the field and then they picked me up and everyone was shouting my name but I had to get home and tell my mom about it.

I was about to my house then I saw police cars around it and I got out and ran. I ran into cops and they told me I couldn't go in but I told them it was my house and they let me through but the policeman at the door informed me of what happened. I broke down in tears and just fell and stayed there until they picked me up and took me to my grandma’s house. We had the funeral and I stayed there longer than anyone else did and drove back to my grandma’s house the next day I convinced myself that I would go to state and make my mom proud.

When I got to school everyone of my friends were standing there to support me and I thanked them all. It was about lunchtime when some new kid came up to me and told me to get out of his spot but I didn’t listen to him.

“Get out of my spot before I hit you so hard your mom will feel it,” yelled the kid

I got up as fast as I could and punched him in the jaw he didn’t see it coming and then my anger took over and I was on top of him punching him. The coach came in and pulled me off of the kid and told me to go to the office. I was penalized to miss one game of state but I didn’t care.

Games passed and we were moving up and it was about the time for the championship to come and everyone was working their butt off to be perfect because they heard scouts were coming to watch. We were versing the same team that gave me my injury and I was nervous but we had to do what had to be done and that was winning. The first quarter passed and it was tied up 14 to 14. It passed quickly and without a warning it was the last quarter. The time seemed to go by quicker than usual and we had to kick off.

They had scored and we just got the ball with 40 seconds left and everyone was worried about the clock so I had to step in.

“Hey look at me not the clock we can still do this,” I yelled, “So here’s the plan.”

We hiked the ball and this would be the last play of the game they were covered and I had to run it. I went for the middle but it closed so I cut to the right of the field and then the same guy was coming but this time I didn't have the ball once they tackled me everyone stopped except for number 28 he started to run and no one was paying attention before the referee blew the whistle for a touchdown. We had to make this two-point conversion to win the game. It was a run up the middle I said hike and I was off straight to the middle but there was a wall so I had to jump.

I closed my eyes and opened them once I heard the whistle I looked at where I was and I made the touchdown we had won state. I got in my car and headed home.

“911 what's your problem,” asked the operator

“There was a crash, the person was perfectly driving and then he lost control and his car flipped,” cried the person.

Racing

One day my friend and I decided to go to a rally. We took our M3 rally car so we could race. This race was going to take over a week to finish. There are no rules so we can modify our cars however we want. Only thing is, there are no guns.

The first thing we did was make our car as light as we could. All we had left on it was a roll cage. We didn’t do much after that because we still wanted a rally car. The last thing we did though, was put a better engine in it and tuned it perfectly. The car ran like it could fly.

When the race started we were on the edge of the Sahara Desert. In all there were ten of us who dared to race, eight men and two women from around the world.  This race went from the desert to the Amazon. The first checkpoint is half way through the desert in Africa. We started at noon.

Three, two, one, the gun fires and we take off. Someone stalled at the line, but I didn’t know who it was. We started in sixth place. We kept jumping the sand dunes and landing hard every time. When we finally got it so it was not riding rough and landing hard, we saw someone in front of us land on the nose of their car and flip.  This ended the race for the fifth ranked team of racers.

When they stopped, they were on their top. It was level with the hood of the car, but the passengers were safe. There was not much else that happened in the rest of the first leg. Our car stayed together and the car that was stalled got to the checkpoint. We passed two people and are starting in fourth place on the next leg.

That night we tried to sleep, but every time we were about to fall asleep we heard a person yelling at someone else or people fighting. One time we heard a car running, as another team was working on their car, and then there was a big boom. So we got up, and when we saw the car, it was in pieces. The engine blew up and they had to get a new one by morning.  This is the beauty of this race, teamwork.  We all want to win based on if we earned it, not because someone else couldn’t finish.  So all the teams got together and brought the pieces they could to fix team five’s car.  It was near dawn by the time we got it put back together, but it was raceable at that point.  We didn’t want to win just because a competitor couldn’t get their car to the finish line.  We wanted to win based on that we were better in the race.  After that we went back to bed and finally fell asleep for a couple of hours.

The second leg of the race started in the middle of the Sahara and ended at the Eastern edge of the Amazon rainforest.  As dawn broke, we took off headed west.  When we got to Guinea, we had to take a ferry to get to Brazil in South America.  It was a nice boat, but our team was seasick the entire time.  It felt like it would never end.  It took three days, but somehow we all survived it.  When we landed in Brazil, we were about half of the way through.  There was a village that made the perfect rest stop.  There were places to get a bite to eat and something to drink for the road ahead of us.  My team grabbed some bottles of water and tacos to get to the next leg of the race.  We got enough to last us the rest of the trip, but in the meantime we lost two positions.  We were now in sixth place, with a lot of room to gain positions back.  

The final leg of the race began at the eastern edge of the Amazon rainforest and ended where the Amazon River began.  It started off as a normal day, and we were all speeding through the forest when all of a sudden the rain started.  Rain season began right at that point in the race.  It was raining so fast and so hard that the road washed out and became a complete mud pit.  Luckily, we were ready for this and had stashed some super swamper boggers with us.  It was a mess, but we got all the tires changed and the boggers on, and we were on our way again.  The other five teams were stuck up to their elbows in mud trying to figure out a way to get out of the mud as we easily passed all of them.  Since we were getting through the mud and everything easy, we found a dry place to stop and eat the rest of our food because we were hungry.  So, now we are in first place, no longer hungry, and we were almost to the finish line.  That is when we got sick on the tacos we got from the village earlier.  We were just close enough that we finished the race, but we were so sick we could not enjoy the win.

We spent a week in the hospital due to the poisoned tacos.  It has to be another team that set it up.  But who would try to take us out.  Come to find out it was the team that wrecked in the first leg.  They set it all up from Guinea to try and slow us down.  They called some friends in Brazil, and they had spoiled meat in the tacos.  We fell right into their trap.  We were just lucky enough that we did not eat the tacos until the end of the race and were able to finish.  After we survived this, we went to go talk to them about it because we thought everyone had the same agreement on winning due to skill and not trying to take each other out.  Their response was that of anger that we were accusing them of this.  When it was proven to them that we knew they were behind it, they apologized to the entire field of racers.  At this point we just let it go, and a race like this was to only happen once and will never happen again.  This was proof that all races have to have some rules that they made up to prevent bad things from happening.

March PPOW

Madison Simonsen

March 6, 2015

English 8-7

PPØW

Trouble

“Ceara Forening, Please come to the office.”

A deep voice said over the intercom, with no idea why I quickly shoved my things into my backpack and jumped up out of my seat. As I walk through the aisle of high schoolers I can feel the tired eyes watching as I make my way toward the door. I reach the door I turned the knob and opened the door there was a young man leaning against the far wall of the hallway.

He had brown hair that flowed to the left of his face and big blue eyes the color of the sea. He was wearing a navy blue short sleeve T-shirt that made his eyes pop. He had some light washed blue jeans on with holes in the knees and lower thighs. He had red sneakers with some black stripes going across them. He had a tattoo on his arm that said SEEKER in black ink. After he caught my eyes staring at his tattoo, he readjusted and the tattoo was buried in his shirt sleeve. In a quick motion I turned my head to the left and started walking. I knew he would be looking at me so I walked as fast as I could. I was almost to the door to the office and it swung open hard and out came my Psychology teacher.

“ Oh I am sorry didn’t mean to-”

I interrupted her, “ Its ok I was just going into the office.”  

Before I could finish the sentence she walked away fast with her head looking down to the ground. As she walked away I wonder why she swung the door open so hard. I walked through the door and there sitting at the desk to greet me was the secretary, Mrs. Hamilton. On the right in the waiting chairs was my mom.

“ Hey Mom what you doing here?” I asked

“ She is here to take you home.” Mrs. Hamilton said.

“ I am going to take you to Anna’s while me and your father go on a little vacation.” She explained to me as she stood up out of her chair.

“ Why?” I asked.

“ Me and your dad have some business to take care of.” she said.

It reminds me of the time when I was seven and I was left at my Gammy’s House for 11 months and 26 days. I remember that exactly because before they left the got my favorite meal at my favorite chinese place and when they got back I went there and ate.

Mrs. Hamilton said, “ You will have to sign her out.”

My mother grabbed a pin out of her purse and signed me out then we walked out. As we were walking through the hall I was nervous, the last time I went to Anna’s was when I was 13 and what if she doesn’t remember me or doesn’t want to take care of me.

“ So whats going on?” I asked.

“ I just think it would be good for you to spend some time with you big sister.” She explained.

“ What if I don’t want to see her,” I said

“ You don’t have a choice me and your father have something to take care of and we need you to be good and go to school, it will be like a regular month.”

“ A month!” I shouted. “ You're leaving for a month why do you guys do this I am your daughter I should spend time with you. I am almost 17 I am going to be going to college soon are you ever going to spend time with me!” I screamed.

“ Yes it is just-”

“ Just what you have some business I get that, but I think I am more important than business.” I screamed at her.

“ Honey you are very important to me and your father but I think it would be good if you just go to Anna’s and me and your father get this thing sorted out and then we can go back to the way it normally was.”

“ But my can’t I come with you.” I asked.

“ I wish you could but it won’t be very long and you have to go to school.” She explained.

On they way home I did not say a word. We got home and I went straight to my room and  then I packed all of my stuff into a bag. I walked up to my window and unlocked it. I looked out the window and there was man standing against the tree line behind my house. It looked like her was screaming into a phone. I opened the window to see what he was talking about. I heard a knock on my door and shut the window and walked away from it.

“ Hey you ready you go?” She questioned.

“ I guess” I said with a mad face.

“ Ok I will be in the car,” She said.

As she walked out of the room I ran over to the window and the man had vanished from the tree line 
and now almost right under my window. I looked at the door and the back at the window and he was gone.

April PPOW

Man on an adventure

        There once was an old man who had done nothing his whole life; he was homeless and in and out of jobs. He was watching the local TV one day, and he saw an advertisement. The advertisement stated: If one man set out, and circled the world three times they were rewarded a fortune.

        The man set out the next day. He started his trip in Montana where he met a friend and asked to borrow a car, and other materials needed for the trip. When he finally got the car he promised to pay back his friend and headed to New York. There he met a woman. This woman was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. He was nervous at first and wouldn’t approach her. When he did, he was shy and she could barely hear him.

        He said, “Hey.”

        She replied, “Hello, who are you?”

Nervously he answered, “My name is Kevin.”

She blushed and said, “My name is Eva.”

After they met, Kevin asked Eva if he could take her out to coffee. She offered a place and time. Kevin went to find a job and a place to stay for the night. The next day Kevin met Eva at the coffee shop. They talked about what was happening and what they were up to. When Kevin talked about his current journey; Eva got wide eyed, and was paying loads of attention.

Eva said, “I have always wanted to travel the world.”

Kevin replied, “I would be overjoyed if you would come with me on my trip.”

Eva was happy and was anxious. She said she would pack all of her things as soon as possible. Kevin was happy also, that night he filled his car with gas and fell asleep waiting for the next day.

Next day came and Kevin came to pick up Eva. It was a cool summer day with a light breeze. Kevin stopped by the sidewalk and got out. He hurried to Eva and offered to carry her things to the car. When he was finished; Eva had a look on her face.

Kevin asked, “What is wrong?”

Eva replied, “This is all you have?”

Kevin sighed and said, “I have been homeless for quite some time and am currently getting back on my feet. I have a job I have a car and some money.”

Eva understood and said, “We better get moving then”

Kevin opened the door to his vehicle for Eva to get in. Eva paused and then got in. The headed for the port in Massachusetts; there they found a young sailor who would help them on their journey. His name was Tom. They started on their way to London. It was a long but joyful trip for Kevin and Eva. Kevin got a haircut and tried on new clothes that Evan had bought him before they left. They fit perfectly, and Kevin loved them.

Soon they arrived in London, where they got a rental car and some food. They also went to the London Eye. Eva was scared at first, but felt comfortable with Kevin.

        Afterward, Kevin drove to Paris to see the Eifel Tower. Eva had always wanted to see it.

        Eva gazed in awe, “Wow, This is beautiful”

        Kevin smiled and replied, “Yes, yes it is.”

        Eva asked Kevin to see Rome and the Coliseum. Kevin bought fuel and headed to Rome. There, it was very nice and Eva was fascinated. She tugged and pulled Kevin to different areas of Rome. They had a wonderful diner and found a nice place to stay for the two of them. Eva let Kevin go to the local pub and have fun.

        The next day they went to India to see the large castles and palaces. There, Kevin bought a necklace for Eva. Eva’s favorite color was red, so Kevin bought her a gold plated necklace with red rubies in it. At first, she did not accept the necklace. Finally, Kevin gets her to accept the gift, and they continued their trip. They went to Beijing, China. Eva got tired of the noodles and rice. Kevin got angry arguing with the Chinese people.

Kevin decided that this place was not for them. They continued their trip to Tokyo. Kevin liked this place and so did Eva. There were a lot of pretty lights and lots of cars. Kevin met someone who used to racecars and wondered if someone would drive his cars. Kevin took the job and made some major dough. He earned millions within a few weeks.

Eva asked Kevin, “How do you know how to do all of this?”

Kevin answered, “I used to race in Nascar and rally car races.”

Eva was very surprised and didn’t know how to feel about this.

That night Kevin got into a race that was tough and Kevin did not know the track. On one of the turns Kevin was riding the outside shoulder. And The other racer slammed the front end of Kevin’s car. Kevin’s car went off the road and down the side of a cliff. Luckily Kevin was seriously injured, and was sent to the hospital. He was sent into surgery for many hours.

Eva had to wait outside and was not told anything till the next day. The next day the doctor came out with his head facing the ground. There was a woman standing next to him; she had tears in her eyes.

Eva began to cry, she knew what this meant. Kevin had not made it through surgery; he died. The doctors told her what happened. She was very sad; she had lost her best friend. Kevin had left Eva a note if something ever went wrong. It read: If anything should happen to me, I was planning on making it around the world with you. When we would get back to your hometown, I was going to propose to you, I bought the Ring in England.

The ring was in an envelope lying by the paper.

March PPOW

Never Ending

I don’t remember where I was or how I got here. I was in a tunnel with little light. There was a rusty old cage in front of me; its lock had been broken. Suddenly, I heard a screech that sounded very close.

I stopped moving, breathing; everything just stopped. Something walked past me. It was large and black. It resembled a spider that had eaten one to many flies. I let out my breath a little louder than I’d expected.

The thing turned around. I began running the other way. I ran as fast as I could, and the thing followed close behind. I had to lose this thing. I rounded the corner, and it followed. I kept turning, and it stayed near. I had begun to tire out. If I didn’t find a way out, I’d be toast. I kept going.

I rounded the next corner tricking the thing into turning the other way. There was a red light at the end of the tunnel. I sprinted as fast as I could; it was a door. Looking at the door, I tripped over a pipe on the ground, and my foot got stuck underneath. I yelled in pain realizing I had broken my foot.

The thing heard me. It turned around and ran towards me. I twisted and turned finally getting my foot out. I crawled to the door and grabbed the handle twisting it. The door clicked and I pushed it open.

As I crawled through the opening, relief flooded over me. Then the thing grabbed my broken foot pulling me back. I resisted, kicked, and yelled. My shoe was starting to come loose and I was losing my grip. My shoe came free and I went flying through the door.

There wasn’t a floor on the other side. I plummeted into nothingness. After a few seconds, I began to lose conciseness. I felt my eyes get heavy; I didn’t even have time to scream before I blacked out.

 I woke in a small room that resembled a hospital, but this was different. The walls were round and brown. The ceiling came to a point with many ridges. It also had an old moldy smell.

A few minutes later, a girl in a white lab coat entered the room. She had a clipboard in her hand and she was checking some things off. She walked over to the bed and looked at me with a smile.

“How are you feeling?” she questioned.

“Fine,” I replied.

“I am Anna by the way. You are Katy with a y, correct?” she asked.

I nodded. We talked for a while and I told her all about what happened in the tunnels. She explained how I had dropped from the sky blacked out.

“Some of the creatures had thought you were a bird,” Anna chuckled.

Creatures? What did she mean by that. I wanted to know when I could leave, and she told me around noon tomorrow.

“Your foot is healed and you can stay at the hotel down the road for a while. See you tomorrow,” she stated and turned to leave.

I looked up to say goodbye and caught a glimpse of a tail dragging on the ground. That was weird. I decided it was nothing and went to bed.

The next day I woke up to Anna walking through the door.

“Good morning Katy! I hoped you slept well because you are coming with me so I can show you the town!” she exclaimed. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” she said leaving the room.

I got up and got dressed in the jeans and a tank top that were sitting on the chair next to me. I walked out of the door and went over to her. She did have a tail, how?

“You have a tail?” I asked.

“Don’t you love it? It took me forever to brush it out,” she wined.

I nodded and kept walking with her. As I looked around the town, I noticed all sorts of crazy people. There were frogs, pigs, and even fairies. There were more to that list, but I was taking in everything. Then I noticed something falling from the sky. I pointed to it and she looked.

I suddenly realized that it was the thing. The door hadn’t closed when I fell through; it must have come after me. Oh no!

“Lisa,” growled a voice.

I looked up from my book and everyone was staring at me.

“Yes?” I asked.

“You do know that free reading time is over, right? I’m sorry to stop you, but we must continue with class,” Mr. Mathews explained.

I put the book in my bag and listened to the lecture about daydreaming.