Emma Ritter Narrative

Inhale. Smoke fills the lungs of the young man.  Exhale. The smoke leaves his body. Little does he
know that with every inhale and exhale he is changing his future. “These damned crops are never gonna
grow” Clark sighed and took another puff. All he could think about was the time, energy and money that
he has spent over the past fifteen years.  He took another puff. He thought about his family. His loving
wife and three perfect children. All three of them so young and innocent. Clark felt the dry air crack
his lips. He took another puff. He prayed for rain. The drought had already put him behind thousands
of dollars. The longer it went on the harder it was for him to fake the reality. Clark blew his last puff,
put out his cigarette and walked home.

He took a heavy breath before opening the front door.  The door creaked open, and his three kids
met him with loving arms.  “How was your day, honey?” his wife asks as the dinner is cooking on the
stove.  “It was good” Clark lied, trying to save his wife from the inconvenience. He knows they will
not be living there much longer.  He avoids it. “I will be right back,” he tells his family. He grabs his
bag and walks out into the warm air. He lights a cigarette, and he takes a puff.  “This air is making it
hard to breathe,” he thought as his lungs filled with smoke. He threw the burning end of the cigarette
on the floor and twisted his boot over it.  

The next day Clark began to give up.  His lungs were filling with the outside air. His mind was
cloudy and his thoughts were scattered.  The cigarettes that once used to satisfy him made him feel
worse. He was slowly killing himself. He smoked his last cigarette. Harvested his last row of crops.
He was dry inside.

Madison Evering Narrative

Madison Evering

Short Story Creative Writing

            We were so young when we first met at the carnival June 8, 1949. I was only nineteen when I took my first trip to Paris. My first night their I remember seeing a lot of posters for a carnival going on that night. After talking with the couple of friends I was staying with we all decided we should go. Looking back on it when we finally arrived at the carnival I remember splitting up from my friends, I was so distracted by all the loud noises and lights. I decided to follow the commotion, which ended taking me to a ride where I saw a bunch a little cars and people bumping into each other while laughing and smiling. As I walked through the line I was expecting to be by myself but as soon as I sat down in a car I saw a young man and asked if he wanted to join me.  He gladly said yes with a smile on his face saying his name was Charlie and we rode the ride laughing and having the time of our lives. For he rest of my trip in Paris we were always hanging out.

            Every year after that I would go to that same carnival and we would meet at the ride talking about our lives and so many random things. Soon enough I ended up living and Paris. Charlie and I become extremely close and one night at the carnival he proposed to me. Our life was that ride and we rode that ride of life to get where we had ended up. I am now 69 and my husband passed away six years ago, every year on June 8 I look at that picture taken by some random man trying to document the lives of people and I smile thinking about our lives and the ride.

           

 

Jared Hawkins Narrative

Jared Hawkins

Mr. Blair

Honors English 3

18 September 2018

Robert Frank Narrative

            Tom hated his job. Even though he hated what he did and wished he could have any other job in the world, he continued to come in everyday and do his best. As much as he hated it, he needed the money and his consciousness wouldn’t let him do a bad job. Tom was a shoe polisher/bathroom attendant. Every single day he would stand around in the same bathroom surrounded by urinals saying, “Yes sir” and “No sir” and cleaning other people shoes while being forced to have small talk with them. He may have done this every day, never outwardly complaining, but he wanted much more in life than he had. One day, while cleaning a man’s shoes, it hit Tom. He was going to start a business. He didn’t know how because he didn’t have any formal education past high school, but he couldn’t deal with this job any longer. He decided that every day when he wasn’t at his current job, eating, or sleeping, he would be working on this new source of income. At first, he just couldn’t get it off the ground, but one day it finally came it him. He was a professional in the business, he had been doing it for over five years of his adult life. Tom opened the first full service shoe store/cleaner in town. By this time, people came to the restaurant where he worked and ordered a meal, just so they could have Tom clean their shoes. Once these people heard he opened a shop where, he and his personally trained employees not only cleaned your shoes but also had new shoes for available for purchase; people flocked to it. Tom was experiencing wealth he had never even dreamed of when he first began cleaning shoes. He found that his hard work in something that he didn’t like became his passion and his livelihood.

            Tom went on to run his successful brand, opening more stores all over the city and even creating his own custom shoes. Tom retired a wealthy man, all because of those shoes he cleaned while surrounded by urinals.

The Depression

Micah Ensor

Mr. Blair

9/12/18

Honors

Robert Frank Photography Narrative

            The regulars started walking in around 8:30, the normal time. After working at the Downtown Diner for a few months now, all I see are familiar faces. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett didn't have much to say when they walked in. I grabbed their regular, and got on with my shift. Then came in a new face, a tall white man in a suit and tie. He carried a big briefcase but didn't seem phased by its weight. He sat down in the furthest back table and let out a small sigh. 

           I wasn't used to seeing men like him in my diner, so it left me confused. I took my time cleaning dishes and tables, one by one, slowing myself down after each table or plate. All other employees had left around 8:00, thats when the Diner starts to slow down. As hard as I tried to stay away from this new man, I knew I would have to get to him eventually. As I walked over, he took a quick glance up, and closed his briefcase almost in a hurry. 

          "Good afternoon sir..." I started to say before he cut me off.

          "Save the talk, I'll take the hardest drink you have." 

          I wrote it down and walked away. Nothing else for me to say. All that I could think what was what this guy drinking so heavily for. He was obviously a wealthy man, telling by the cleanliness of his suit and the slick trim of his hair. He seemed to have a fair job by the large briefcase he had. On top of that, why would he come this far out of town for a drink? I poured the remainder of our Bacardi 151 on the rocks and walked it over. 

           He had reopened his case since I took his order, and left it open this time around. As I was handing him his drink, I was able to take a quick look at his papers. I was only able to see one word off the paper on the top. Fired. 

Jacob Barrett Narritive

June 27

- Everyone’s…gone? The city is empty. I could have sworn there were people here last night. I can’t hear anything other than the wind. Maybe I’m overreacting. I’m gonna drive around.

-Ok so I’m sure everyone’s gone. No idea what caused this… I think my life is finally turning around! A whole city to myself! No more people holding me down!

June 28

-Really enjoying this whole city to myself thing. I can eat whatever I want, get all of the things I want, live in any apartment I want. Free gas so I can drive wherever I want. Maybe I’ll go somewhere else and see if there are people there.

                                                                        June 29

-There’s a wall surrounding the city, what is going on. This is kind of scary but there’s no one here not even animals.

                                                                        June 30

-I had a headache today I stayed in bed

                                                                        June 31

-The headache is worse… Ibuprofen isn’t working. I wonder if this has to do with why the city is empty.

                                                                        July 1

-The headache hurts really bad… I’ve noticed humming helps numb the pain. Frequently I  hear a background static noise, like the snow on the tv.

                                                                        July 4

-Happy Independence day! My headache has gone away so I decided to have a cookout. It seemed natural. Cookouts aren’t much fun without other people.

July 5

-I’m starting to feel really lonely. And this static noise is driving me crazy.

                                                                        July 6

I need to get out of here I need to--- There’s a wall around my block now. whats happening?

                                                                        July 7

The wall is shrinking this is probably my last day I’m at the top of my apartment building I only have a few minutes left. I wish I could wake up and this was all a dream.

Abby Earnest Narrative

Two in the morning, cigarette cartridge almost empty.

"This should be the time of our lives," I thought. I didn't feel that way though.
We are constantly on the road traveling to these new places but it's the same
thing in every single place. I took a cigarette. The same groupies, same stage, same show.
People tend to get caught up in the money, drugs, fame, and I'm not necessarily against these things,
but I feel like there's more to life.

Everyone knows who I am. Mick Jagger they call me. Sometimes when people know your
name, it's tiring. It's exhausting to read the headlines, sign autographs, make interviews.
I was just in it for the music. That's what really took my attention. I took a cigarette.

Lonely was a lifestyle. I am pretty used to it. Kind of just throw myself into life to
try to numb the loneliness. This worked until I was by myself and then I felt it again.
I took a cigarette. I remember one show we played. It was a big one. There were thousands
of people and I found this one girl in the crowd and she just looked happy. Like not just happen
because she was at a concert but happy because she was just living. She had the little
smile wrinkles around her eyes and that made me think. I wonder what it takes to be happy
and then I thought. Well maybe I am happy. I took a cigarette.

Honors English 11 Narrative

Honors English 11 Narrative
Sarah Xiang

The hunter stands on a rock in the forest, uses his telescope to seek animals. The light in the sky slowly disappears, takes away the heat in the air. He wasn't a hunter back then, he use to has his own company, his family was living in good condition. But he lost his wealth and honor since he began to use drugs several years ago. Soon he became heavily in debt, but instead of pay for them he escaped into a forest, far away from his family and people asks for payment. He started hunting, but as soon as he gets a little bit of money he uses them on getting drugs. Sometimes he feels guilty for what he has done to his family, but every time he uses drugs, everything else in his life becomes unimportant to him.

"Something gets caught by our trap near the lake!" the hunter's assistant, a young man the hunter hired from a nearby village shouts at him, "Sir, we should go take a look." The hunter puts down his telescope, gets on his horse and follows his assistant.

The forest gets darker, the yellow sky slowly turns to blue and purple. The hunter’s twelve-year-old son suddenly comes to his mind, it has been almost two years since the last time they were together. How is he doing? Does he hate me? The hunter wonders. When his son was young, he always wants to go camping in a forest. "I like the sky in the forest, it's so beautiful. I wish I can live in the forest." His son once told him. But before the hunter had a chance to bring his son to a forest, drugs drove him crazy. The hunter sighs, he knows he owes too much to his family. Why are drugs so attractive?

The heavy wind starts to become weaker, the hunter hears the sound of money jingling in his pocket. A smile appears on his face as he thinks about the drugs he’s going to get with this week’s harvest, soon the hunter forgets about his son.

As the horse walks closer to the lake, they see a figure of a boy instead of an animal lying on the ground. The trap hurt the boy's leg badly, he probably crawled to the lake, but the boy’s blood must have attracted carnivorous animals. The sign of animal makes the hunter become excited, was that a bear? A wolf? Whatever it is, it means money.

"He might be still alive!" The hunter's assistant gets off his horse and reaches the boy quickly, "Sir, let's take him…"

"No." The hunter says to his assistant, there's no shock or sad or any other emotions on his face, "Leave him here. Let's go hunt down the beast first. The wound caused by the beast's teeth is still fresh, it must be somewhere around this area."

"But the boy is dying!" The hunter's assistant looks at the hunter surprisingly, he doesn't understand why the hunter can just leave someone dying in a forest.

"We need to go kill the beast before it escapes!" The hunter yells at his assistant madly. Money and drugs filled the hunter’s head, the beast could escape when they are still arguing at here. "If we take the boy to the hospital we cannot save him, It's almost a 3 hours' drive. Let’s focus on the beast now.”

More money means more drugs. The image of drugs reappears in his head, the hunter starts losing his mind. He cannot feel the low temperature anymore, the dark, mystery forest doesn't seem dreadful anymore, the boy's body doesn't seem to be here anymore. There's only one thing in the hunter's head -- drug. He turns away from the lake, without a look on the boy’s body.

The boy's dead eyes stare at the quiet lake and the reflection of the beautiful sky. But the boy cannot see the blue sky in the last few minutes of his life, the image of the sky in the lake is stained by the red of his blood. Stay in the forest was his dream, and now he is going to stay in the forest forever. The boy's body slowly drifts into the lake, no one is going to figure out why he is here and what’s the cost for him to come here. He's going to lie in the bottom of the lake forever, along with a happy birthday card to his drug-addicted father who hides in the forest, escaped from his family two years ago. The boy was going to give his father a surprise and ask him to give up drugs and join his family again.

In the last minute of the boy’s life, he hears his father’s mad voice. They are so close, yet so far away from each other.