Ellie By Yasmeen

February 4, 2016February 4, 2016 yasmeen1616 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Yasmeen Birthday, Cake, Ellie, Sassy

Ellie By: Yasmeen

I remember the day perfectly. I was outside on my porch. The trees were green and the air was ever so sweet. Everyone was celebrating my 4th birthday. There was about 20 people at my house. My mom handed me the first present from her and my dad, but I wanted to open that one last. I had my eye on a small bag with elephants on it.

I said “mommy I want to open that one first” and pointed directly to the bag.

I started to open it with such eager, everyone was watching me like a hawk. I finally opened it and inside was a flawless pink and white elephant with a little pink bow on her neck, the ears were so big, they had little pink dots on them.

My mom asked,

“What’s her name?” I thought about it. Then, the name hit me like a bolt of lightning

“Ellie,” I replied.

After I finished opening my boat load of presents, it was time for cake! My mom had a tradition on my birthday. She would get a small cake for me to stuff my face in. Then there was the cake for the guests. My mom made me dress nice for this party, but hey, I am kid and I wear what I wanna wear. After everyone had cake there was fruit and drinks. As I was eating my cake I could feel the chocolate on my face dripping everywhere, it was a humid day in July. My mom took me to wash my face. After my face was clean I came back and sat on the table. As I took a sip of icy cold lemonade, it was a lemony burst of sweetness in my mouth.

As all the guests left I started to make my way up to my room. I came into my room and right there in front of me were the mountains of presents I had gotten. Then there was Ellie sitting on top of one of my gifts, I put her on the floor and started to play with her. I spent about 45 minutes playing with her, then my parents came into the room after they finished cleaning up from the party.

My mom sat on the chair in my room, “How was the party?” she asked.

“It was great!” I said in my little high pitched voice. I started to play with Ellie again and my mom left the room.

After a couple of months after my party, I started to get really hooked onto Ellie. I would take her everywhere, sleep with her, have adventures with her, bring her to the dinner table. Which my parents didn’t approve of all the time.

My mom called me to the dinner table one night, “Yasmeen, time for dinner!”

“Coming,” I replied.

I got up from the floor and snatched Ellie like I was stealing her. I sat on the table and Ellie next to me, I picked up my pasta and said, “Ellie would you like some?” then I shook her head.

I could tell from my parents expression they thought this was funny. Suddenly the most dreadful thing happened. My dad took Ellie away, I was so mad. I threw my fork and took Ellie from my dad and said, “Ellie is going to eat with us,” in my sassy four year old voice.

“Go in time out right now” my dad said, I swooped Ellie off the dinner table and stormed off into my room.

After a while I decided to come out of my room. My parents were sitting in the living room, my dad was sitting there and I sat in his lap gave him a hug, then got up.

“ You know dad, we need to have a serious talk about time out.”

Before my dad even answered I got up and went to my room to play with Ellie. In my room I sat down and in my silly 4 year old mind I thought, ‘I won because I got out of time out!’

Now I am 11 years old and still have Ellie, and here is one message for everyone. Treasure the things you get because someday you’re going to need them. And those small gifts you get, might help you through some of the hardest times.

Never Let Yourself Regret by Ryanne

February 4, 2016 ryanne15 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Ryanne Avengers, Disney springs, Downtown disney, Personal narratives

We smacked into one of the cars and wind hit our face. My dad was driving like someone trying to run away from a bear, but kept smashing into walls. The cars had a dodge ball cannon so people were shooting dodge balls everywhere. Lights hit my eyes, it felt like I was going blind. I wished the ride would never end. You probably think this is what my whole story is going to be about, well you’re wrong.

I got off the ride and ran to my mom.

“Mom, bumper cars were so fun. When a dodge-ball hit the front of the car, it would sound like a bomb.”

“That sounds really cool,” my mom said as she was fiddling with my pocketbook she was holding for me.

“When can we go to the Superhero Headquarters?” I was thinking of this store for a week and all I wanted was a picture I saw hanging in the store. I was really hoping it was less than $70. I had about that much money on both my Disney cards together.

“We can go right now,” my dad said, knowing I really wanted to go. We walked out of the building labeled DisneyQuest and headed to the store.

We passed a bunch of stores on the way. My mom was one to stop and go in a store that looked interesting. She was like a bee looking for honey but stopping in a bread store because it looked cool. I was really hoping she would not stop at any store. I was thinking even if she did I would probably pull her out and say we have to go to the Superhero Headquarters first. We passed a store called “Candy Cauldron”. They had so many sweets in there. In there was a whole shelf filled with decorative candy apples. On the top of the store I saw a picture of the evil queen stirring something in a cauldron. As I passed I smelled the fresh chocolate, it almost made me want to go in. But I made sure I would pass the store with no temptations so I could go straight to the store.

We walked passed about two more stores when I saw the sign in the distance. It said “Superhero Headquarters”. I got so excited I started to run while pulling my dad’s arm. I got in the store and saw the picture on the back wall. I looked around and saw Spiderman shirts on my left and on my right I saw the checkout station. I saw in front of me was a table with a lot of Ant Man stuff. There was also a lot of Avenger shirts everywhere. I walked around to the back and looked right at the picture. I was pointing to it so my dad could see what I was so excited about.

“That one! Look, isn’t it awesome?!” I was looking at him and back at the picture.

“That is a nice one,” I could tell he loved it as much as I did. Well, maybe I am exaggerating, but I could tell he liked it a lot. Then I looked behind me and my mom was coming in the store.

“Mom, look, I like this one!” She looked at it and nodded.

“Cool!” Then I heard the cash register ding and that reminded me…

“I have to ask how much the picture is! What if it is too much and I can’t buy it?” I was getting worried as I walked slowly toward the register.

“Hello, can you tell me how much that picture is on the wall?”

“Hi, that picture is $150, it’s a collectible.” I looked at him with blank eyes. I thought I would start crying right there, but I didn’t.

I walked over to my parents and they knew, because of my blank face, it was a lot more than expected.

“Why?! It’s $150 I can’t afford that! Even if I could it would be all my money. Should I just not get it?”

“Well it’s your choice. You decide if you want to count your money or just give up,” my mom said in a sweet voice.

“Why try? I don’t have enough money and you know that.” I was getting mad, at this point I wanted to smash everything.

“I can see you want it, so you should try. You might regret it forever if you don’t get this picture.”

I knew she was right. I could see myself regretting leaving it forever.

“Okay, I’ll count. It probably won’t matter anyways because I don’t have enough.” We sat down on a ledge and started counting.

“So far $50, plus this 25 equals $75. Oh I have two Disney gift cards and two regular Visa cards. But I have no idea how much is on them.”

“I’ll check.” My mom picked up her phone and called the gift card company. She started to smile and looked at me then said,

“You have enough!” My eyes light up and I started to jump up and down. My mom stopped me because we were in a public place.

“Lets double check,” my dad said. “We should count again just to make sure.”

“$50. Here is the rest of my dollars. Now count my gift cards please.” My dad’s eyes rolled up and I could tell he was thinking hard. He smiled and looked at me just like my mom did.

“You can buy it with about $10 left. Now comes the deciding part.”

“I will buy it!” I was so happy.

I walked in the store and told the man what picture I liked. I looked at each detail. Thor, Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Hulk, all in a line on the picture. I walked to the counter and started to take out almost all my money. I gave him all four of my gift cards and he said

“Enjoy!” I could tell he was surprised an 11 year old bought an $150 picture. He wrapped it in cardboard and I walked out with a big, bright smile. I still can’t believe I almost walked away without it.

I have learned you have to follow your heart. If it’s saying you love it, you might regret leaving it. No matter what it is you should go for it and at least try. DON’T LEAVE SOMETHING YOU LOVE, YOU WILL REGRET IT!

College Orientation by Adam

February 4, 2016 adam1516 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Adam Boston, College, Hat, Personal narritives

It was the day before two very important things well important to me, at least would happen. One was my sister Victoria’s orientation, the other was Black Ops 3 beta testing which is a limited game test.

Hello, my name is Adam and this is the story of my sister’s college orientation. An Orientation is basically a event held by a college about a month or so before they get new arrivals. They show you where everything is, talk a little about the school and give you your school IDs. Clearly you can tell which one is more important- my sister’s college orientation if you were wondering but, to me I thought that I would be bored the whole time. That’s pretty selfish I know, but that was before I had such a great time with my family and I was really excited for Black Ops 3. The other thing that happened that I wasn’t too keen on was waking up and going to bed early. When I do wake up early (which is very rare) I tend to move at the pace of a sloth. At that time I truly would do anything to not go. I even hid around the house from my mom for about 30 minutes so I didn’t have to go. I walked quietly around the house hiding in all the secret locations I could think of.

My last stand was hiding in the dirty clothes, which wasn’t too fun for me since there was an abundance of dirty laundry that day. Eventually my mom found me and then I had to go in my pajamas and change at the hotel. When we first got there I asked- no begged- to go to my favorite restaurant Chipotle. They said no of course, so I had to walk with them the whole day and wait through boring orientation classes that I didn’t care about. I was happy when I went to move my sister into her dorm, specifically because I needed to sleep, and watch Youtube video’s about what I was missing.

After that Victoria had to go to a class and so did my Mom and Dad, so it was just Isabella and me. We walked around the campus looking for someplace to eat. We were looking for a good hour and a half until we finally came across a food cart called Meatball Obsession. It was basically a meatball in a cup. We ordered about three meatballs each and then went to go find a good place to eat.

While eating, we actually happened to see Victoria in a LONG line of soon-to-be college freshmen. We called out her name and she looked around. We called another three times and she finally looked at us. We walked over and asked how her classes were so far. She said they were going good and that they got to play dodge ball. She wasn’t really participating but she said that it was a lot of fun watching other people get hit with plastic dodge-balls. We went out to eat again at a seafood place, which I hated because I hate most creatures from the sea except lobster, which I wasn’t allowed to get and my sister did.

So as I sat there, l watching my sisters eat their lobster, Victoria wanted to look at the College Bookstore. After eating we went to the store so she could buy some books for the upcoming school year. I picked out a nice looking hat.

It was finally the end of our journey, although I realized how much fun I had just spending time with my whole family. When we got back home I started to download the beta. Sadly my download time is very slow and the beta had ended before I could get to play it. Overall though, I had a good time that week. Remember to spend time with your family because they won’t always be there.

Pool Time By Aidan

February 4, 2016 aidan15 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Aidan fun!, pool, tired, Very young

I wake up that morning not knowing what we are doing that day, but I hoped that it would be fun. When I asked what are we doing today my mom told me. I was not very excited. I got ready to leave for the party. We got in the car to go to my sister’s classmates house for their party. The car ride was very long and boring.

When we get there I stood around for a little bit because I was a little shy. Then I got my swim trunks on. I walked over to the pool and got in. I swam to the other side, and once I was at the other side I was happy because I got there. I messed around with my sister for a little bit then I got out of the pool because I was getting tired.

I got a Hawian Punch to drink. I was sort of tired, so I plopped down in a chair next to my sister. I was very cold too. My dad then came over to me and my sister. He got his camera out and and took a picture of us. Later that day we got back in the car to go home. When we got home, I was tired so I lay down in bed.

Some time a year later or so my dad bought a new printer. He wanted to make sure it worked so he printed out the photo of me and my sister sitting in the chair together. That is how the photo was made.

My dad then gave me the photo, So I pined it to my bulletin board. Some people wonder why I have weird tattoos on my arms. Those are Japanese characters. I got the tattoos from my Dad’s Mom the day before. Obviously I did what any other little kid would do, I put them all over my arms.

Igloo By Neha

January 31, 2016March 9, 2016 neha1516 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Neha 6th grade writers, Neha, Personal narratives

Have you ever known how it feels for your life to turn upside down in an instant? In 2013 I had major back surgery. It is called scoliosis and is a condition where your back isn’t straight. Anyway, it started off on a cold January night, when me, my sister, mom, dad, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin all went to New York City at the Belair Hotel. This was where my mom, dad, grandparents and sister would stay while I was in the hospital. The hotel was very close to the hospital so it was very convenient. Anyway, when we got there we went to the hotel. I was nervous and scared for the next day. I slept at the hotel the first night, but I would have to go to the hospital the next day. The hospital was like any ordinary hospital, it had a place for kids to play with things. It had the big round desk where all the nurses sat. The name of the hospital was The Hospital for Special Surgery. I was really scared, I had never had surgery before. I didn’t want to have surgery, but I knew it had to be done.

First I had to get a halo, which is a traction thing that got nailed into my head. It was also attached to a hook. You would add weights to it to stretch my back out before the surgery. The halo kind of felt like you were trapped because you couldn’t really do anything you could just sit and look straight ahead. Luckily since my parents were both doctors, my doctor let me go home in it. I was happy to go home. I think I was in the hospital for 3 or 4 weeks and knew I would be staying there longer for the surgery. So I was happy to return home for a while. A tutor came to my house because I couldn’t go to school. Her name was Laura. She was a nice lady, probably in her 50s. Basically what she did was,she went to my school, to my teacher (Mrs.Rifenburgh) and my teacher would give her work for me to do that she thought I would be able to do and Laura, my tutor brought it to me and helped/teached me it. Anyway, my back doctor was amazing, he was the best doctor I could ever have. He was so nice. He was a really good doctor. He goes to Ghana, Africa every year to do back surgery on kids who need it, and he does it for free. He does surgery on homeless people too. His name is Dr. Boachie. He built this hospital in Ghana, Africa to help the people of his country and his whole staff goes with him.

I was really happy when I came home, I still had to go to New York City for appointments and things. I had to get prepped for surgery before I even got the halo. I had to have x-rays, MRI’s, cat scans, blood tests and IVs. I had to have MRI’s of my heart and back because I had had heart surgery when I was 3 months. I also have to get MRI’s of my heart every 10 years. For me, I think that was the worst part because you have to go all the the way to New York City, wait for the time to go in and then get the thing done.

Finally, it was time to get the surgery. It was on February 24 (I think) and was scheduled to be done at 5 A.M. I was so nervous, and scared. But mostly nervous. Anyway, the surgery went really well and we were all very happy. Most of the time I was half asleep and didn’t really notice anything but soon I was better. I have to say even though I had to lay down most of the time, having the actual surgery wasn’t even bad. I was asleep during it and after it I didn’t really feel any pain. I had to wear a brace and then after a while I went home. After I took the brace off I went for physical therapy to get back in shape, for example I had to stretch my back out a lot. I still do it to this day and will for the rest of my life. Before I had my surgery and had the halo on, my mom brought this stuffed animal she got at a nearby drugstore. The stuffed animal was a white polar bear with turquoise eyes. On the tag it said the name was Igloo , so I just kept the name (I am not good at making up names.) I was so happy when my mom brought that for me because it was something I could hold onto and keep with me at the hospital.

Now, I went to a back doctor appointment, except it was not with the same doctor, he has moved to Ghana , Africa and will be continuing his work on patients there. I’m kind of upset because he changed my life and now all of a sudden I won’t be able to have him as my doctor. Now I have a new doctor, his name is Dr. Lenke and he is a very good surgeon. Anyway, I went for an appointment with him a couple weeks ago and he said in about 2 or 3 years, I will have to have back surgery again. I will probably take Igloo with me.

here is a link if you want to learn more about scoliosis : http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Scoliosis/scoliosis_ff.asp

Hagrid by Zoë

January 29, 2016March 9, 2016 Zoë 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Zoe funk Pop, Gamestop, Hagrid, Harry Potter

Mom slammed the car door closed, jolting me out of my daydream. I unfastened my seatbelt, opened up the car door, and tried to keep up with my brother, Luke, and my Mom’s fast pace as we headed towards Gamestop. It was cold out. I wished I was not here. I wished I was at home, curled up under a blanket, a cat by my side, a book in my hand. The flames in the fireplace dancing about like ballerinas. Adele playing at full blast. That, I thought, is just what I need.

But no. I wasn’t not home. Far from it. I was at Gamestop. Why was I at Gamestop?

Let me explain. My orthodontist had this point system where every time you go to the orthodontist, you get a certain number of points. You can get extra points if your orthodontic wear is in good shape, if your teeth are flossed and brushed, etc. etc. etc. When you got a certain amount of points, you could get a gift card.

Luke got a gamestop gift card, and, thus, here I was. At gamestop. Ugh.

We stepped into the store, and the warm, stale air hit me hard. I couldn’t decide whether or not I liked it. Luke seemed to think this store was the greatest thing since indoor plumbing. I remained uninterested. Who wanted to spend their Saturday looking at used video games? Not me, that was for sure. So as Luke tried to decide between a disney infinity game and a lego batman video game, my mom and a salesperson both trying to sway his judgement, I wandered about the store. As I headed off towards the very back, past the video game controllers (10% off!) and the salespeople and the violent games that my dad played, there was only one thought in my head: There sure are A LOT of video games here.

In the back, I saw a rack of cute little vinyl figures. Batman figures, Star Wars, and–

My mouth gaped open. My eyes got larger than an anime character’s. I couldn’t contain my amazement. I sank to my knees, (and could you really expect me not too?), for on the bottom of this rack were the most amazing things ever–Harry Potter vinyl figures! I am SO not exaggerating when I say they were glorious.

“Well, this one’s cheaper,” I could faintly hear my mom saying, “But I think you’d like this one better.”

I dug through the vinyl figures, (which were, according to the box, called Funko POP Harry Potter Action Figures), with the ferocity and speed of a hungry meerkat. There were so many of them, all made in the same big eyed, big headed style. What one should I get? After all, being a massive Harry Potter fan, I knew I would go home with at least one of these (despite the fact that each of them costs about seventeen dollars). All of them were so cute, even Voldemort looked appealing Maybe I should get Harry Potter, he is the main character, after all, I thought. Wait, no, they have Hermione, too! And Ron, and Dumbledore, and Snape . . .

I reached into the back of the rack. This one was bigger than the others. And when I pulled it out, I knew which one to buy. And I don’t regret for a moment spending seventeen dollars on the adorable, bearded, pink-umbrella-wielding Hagrid I pulled out of the rack.

I ran back to the other end of the store (after neatly putting away the rest of the Harry Potter merchandise, promising to buy it all another day, of course), and told my mom something along the lines of: “Mom mom mom mom mom mom mom!”

It took her a while to respond. When she did, I briefly explained that I’d found Hagrid, (“You’ve . . . found Hagrid?”), and that I needed to buy him, (which only lead to more confusion), and that he was seventeen dollars, (“Seventeen dollars!!?”), well technically it’s $16.99, and yes, I would pay for it, yes, it was absolutely necessary to interrupt your conversation, etc. etc. etc.

And so I bought the Hagrid vinyl figure. I refused to put it in a bag when the cashier asked me. I practically skipped to the car, Hagrid perched precariously in my trembling fingers, and the second I got home, I ripped off the packaging and threw away the box. I then took a minute to look at Hagrid.

And now, whenever I pass by my bookshelf, I gaze upon Hagrid fondly, the same way I did that first day, for I know that even though I spent seventeen dollar, and was forced to spend an hour or so at a video game store, I’m glad I purchased Hagrid, because you should always do something if you think you’re going to regret not doing it more than doing it. A wise man once said, “Just do it.” Especially when Harry Potter merchandise is involved.

My Favorite Picture Book By Zsofi

January 29, 2016March 9, 2016 zsofi15 0 - Personal Narratives, 6th Grade Writers, Zsofi books, Narrative, Princess Knight, zsofi

I was a naive, four-year-old toddler. I usually spent the day in preschool, where I made some of my great friends. My mom was trying to find a new picture book for me. She was in Barnes and Noble; as she entered, she became overwhelmed with the smell of mold and coffee. My mom strolled to the colorful picture book section, all of a sudden in the corner of her eye she spotted a purple book. She investigated the book, then it struck my mom: Between how the small girl became stronger than all her brothers, and how she ended up beating every single knight from far away lands in an epic joust, my mom thought this would be a great book to start her “feminist boot camp,” at least that is what I call it.

My mom brought me up in the same way in which Rosie the Riveter would have brought up her children. She has always told me that women should and can do whatever any guy can do. Ever since I was a small child, my mom has also taught me to always be paranoid, and hold keys between my fingers whenever I walk outside at night, and, if possible, to have pepper spray on me at all times. After my mom found this book, she headed straight to the down escalator and swept past the notebook section to purchase the book. After she bought the book, she left Barnes and Noble. With the mold smell still lingering, she walked back to the black Highlander my family owned at the time, and drove home.

That same night she introduced the book to me. At first I was as skeptical as a four-year-old could be about a book. But I seemed to enjoy it. I hated fairytales, but for some reason I enjoyed this book, I have no clue why, but I did. The first time my mom read it to me, I was in my bed in my baby blue pajamas with a gray hippopotamus on them (a hand-me-down from my cousin). I also had my favorite stuffed animal that I brought home from my preschool and kept for a good month, and eventually my preschool teacher just let me keep it. I do not know why I liked that stuffed dog so much, maybe because even then I wanted a real dog.

The first time my mom read this book to me, I was in bed, extremly sleepy. My eyes almost closed, my mom started to read and I felt enchanted by the tale. When my mom was reading the story to me, I remember lying down in the sheet with the pattern of flowers that I always thought looked like goats (no one else in my family agreed). Listening to the book made me feel as if I was a tiny goat, lying down in the middle of a flowery meadow. After that, my mom read me this book every night, and I loved it.

I feel everything that happens to you when you are a toddler impacts the future you extremely. Even today this is one of my favorite picture books. Even if you are a little bit older, it does not mean you cannot enjoy things for younger kids, and it does not mean that everything you do, watch, or read, has to be something made for toddlers. But it does mean that sometimes it’s good to go back to things you once enjoyed, and what you might still enjoy and not even know it.