Much More Than Imagination

This creative writing assignment was a response to the following picture taken from Jan Von Holleben's photography at http://www.janvonholleben.com/?page_id=4.  We were asked to assume the dog's name is Barder and the turban on the boy's head allows them to fly.  Hope you enjoy.

 Every kid should have a best friend. A companion, a buddy, someone they can go on adventures with; someone they can tell secrets to; someone who will always be there. Well Barder is mine. Even though he’s my dog, he’s the best friend a kid could have. We do everything together. We have been everywhere a kid could want to go, and there is still so much to explore. One day, I came home from school and Barder was at the door as usual, ready to go on an adventure. We went walking around the house for supplies (usually anything interesting looking) for our adventure. Unfortunately, all we found was an orange scarf which we have used for a bunch of other things to explore, but I thought maybe we can find a new use for it this time. I had been a super hero, a king, built a fort, and gone to the moon and back with this scarf. Who knows what I’ll use it for this time?




I grabbed the scarf and went outside with Barder and we were off. I wrapped the scarf, which became my turban and we pretended we were flying over the mountains, over the ocean, soaring above the birds and the clouds. We ran and ran in circles until I felt Barder’s feet were no longer touching the ground, but the clouds and when I looked down we were flying over my house, over everyone’s house. I couldn’t believe it! We were actually flying. I started to lift the turban on my head to see what I had collected for this adventure but the minute I lifted it, we started to fall. This turban was magical. It could make us fly.


We went over so many oceans and deserts and mountains, I lost count. Before I knew it, we were in outer space and we saw this planet and it didn’t look like anything Barder or I had ever seen before, since well, most of our adventures took place on earth. We ended up stopping on an island. The people or creatures I guess, had a pinkish color to their skin were afraid of us, their eyes glowed with a yellow tint, but overall looked kind of like people back home. I saw one that looked like my mom, and my friend Kevin, and my sister Susie, it was kind of weird at first and they thought we were strangers from another planet, and we had to convince them we came in peace. They assumed I had some type of hostility, and danger toward the people. I showed them some of the things I brought with me in my backpack. My super action figure, my puzzle, figures, you know? Anything a kid could ever want. They looked at my stuff and held it like it was going to explode and thought Barder was some type of rabid animal on the loose. I was confused and wanted to go home so I told Barder, and he replied, “How are we gonna do that? Where is your turban?” at that moment I reached for my turban on top of my head and felt nothing. What was I going to do now? What if it had fallen off in space? What if l left it when we took off back at home? What if we were going to be stuck on this planet forever? As I look around searching for my magic turban I see the creatures begin to play with some of my toys and in one of the little children’s hands I see my magical turban. Now the real question is, how do I get it back? Barder and I decided the only way to do it is to create a distraction and snatch it when no one is looking. This however did not work and so we decided on plan B: to suggest a trade: My toys for the turban. They were not willing to make a deal unless they could keep Barder too. So I agreed. That night, I snuck into their cave, got Barder, my toys, and the magical turban and took off. The creatures ran after me but after I put on the turban, we were off. When we got back home, we told everyone the story of our adventures, and even though they didn’t believe us, we knew what really happened and we never took an adventure without the magic turban again.

Writing in Reverse

For this assignment, we were asked to select an individual from Bill Sulivan's Turnstile Photography Project, and observe everything about them from body language, to clothes, to accesories or items they were carrying, and create their story, who they were, where did they come from, where were they going, what did they experience before they got to this point..etc.  Below is my original story along with a photo of the individual I chose.

Meet Sean Louis. Age 35, originally from Houston, Texas. After being born and raised there, he decided he needed to change the scenery. He recently married his high school sweetheart, Alisha James, and they have a son, Cory, 8, and Mya, 4. Sean has always felt somewhat inadequate compared to his wife because she has been the main breadwinner of the household since they moved in together. Sean has decided to move his family to New York to gain a fresh start, but it is not going entirely as planned; he has been there for 2 ½ months and still does not have a solid job. He will find temporary work with one day projects, get paid, and come home feeling like a failure. Not to mention, his two brothers and sister all have successful careers, degrees, basically the American dream. Things are tense at home because Alisha feels as though Sean isn’t even trying, and that he is somewhat slacking on his responsibilities as a father and husband. Today is another day. Sean’s perspective is yes, it’s another day, but it’s going to be the same thing like yesterday, things are going to be the same, tensions are going to be high and I don’t know how much more of this I can take…here we go again. He is somewhat hopeful because his friend set him up with a job interview this morning. Sean, however, had a long night of arguing with Alisha, staying up with his sick 4 year old, and then going out for a drink early this morning, so he’s a wreck. But, he told himself today, “I am going to find a job, I am going to be responsible, and I am going to provide for my family. “ He then begins to think about this week alone: eviction notice, so much arguing that he doesn’t even want to come home most of the time, still no job, feeling like a failure, bills are do, and he is not sure what he wants at this point in his life. His daughter asking “Daddy, Daddy, when am I gonna visit your work?” that’s a pain he feels almost every day. How do you explain to a four year old that things are that simple as she sees them? His whole goal was to make a better life for himself and especially his kids, to give them things that he never really had the opportunity to experience, and as he walks through the subway turnstile, he ponders these thoughts, and tries to remind himself, today is a new day…

Honors Vocabulary #1

Flourish - to be successful, prosper, to thrive.

Whenever I hear the word flourish, I always think of the word flower, so I posted a pretty flower like an orchid, which flourishes during winter, spring, and fall.

Renegade - a person who deserts a party or cause for another; traitorous

When I saw the word traitorous, I immediately thought of Benedict Arnold, the biggest traitor in American history.  If this renegade had been successful, this nation would be completely different.

Symbiosis - an interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two people, groups, etc.

A prime example of a symbiotic relationship is teacher to student, or a mother and child, in which both depend on the other for a need.

Tranquility - calmness, serenity, peacefullness, quiet; or being in a state of.

This cartoon expresses the girl being in a perfect state of peace, relaxation, quiet, and in a tranquil environment.

Unanimous - of one mind, complete agreement, agreed.

The majority rules when a decision is made unanimously.