
CAUTION! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU ARE SCARED OF DOLLS! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

CAUTION! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU ARE SCARED OF DOLLS! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I’m sitting at home with frizzy hair and my hands clasped on my forehead. What can I do? My backpack glares at me for forgetting my Spanish textbook at school. It’s the day I would normally be throwing my backpack down and kicking off my shoes. It was Friday. The day of happiness…but that day was the day of panic. I worry about what to do, can I ask a friend to get it and send type the page for me? Can I stop by school to get it? No…if she gets it then she’ll miss the afterschool bus. I guess I have to get it tomorrow, damn! Nobody goes to school on a Saturday! That’s just sad. Great.
My dad’s not feeling well today, my brother’s at his friend’s house, I don’t even know where my mom is. Yesterday when I forgot the textbook it was okay, because there was always today to get it. But no, I had to forget it…again. I’m a mess this year. I left my pencil in my math classroom inside a desk (luckily I looked for it and found it,) when I went to a friend’s house I brought everything back home except my thumb drive, I keep forgetting to put in the rubber band thingies for my braces, and what more can I say? I look at my blackberry and forget to reply sometimes, I lose stuff without even knowing it (especially stationary) and just earlier today I lost my headphone piece (silicon part so I can’t hear anything outside of my music) that my brother brought back when he came home. I rest my case, I look responsible and mature (maybe) but I’m really, really forgetful.

Stephanie Huie
174 Pennsylvania Road
San Francisco, California
September 8, 2010
Dear Monica,
How are you doing? I’m writing because I haven’t heard from you for a while. This message is very imperative because you haven’t replied any of my emails, and we have lost all contact with each other. Right now I’m not sure where you are right now, so I shall ask my father to find out your location so I’ll have a place to send this to. How is the Barbie doll that I gave you? I believe it was a purple mermaid, part of the Mermaid collection. Though I don’t like Barbie anymore (and throw away all the dolls) I would like to know if you still like Barbie, so that maybe I can send you one for your birthday if you do. (Please tell me your birthday too, I most likely forgot it.)
I remember your happy disposition when we used to play Powerpuff Girls in the first grade. Our generation seems to be the newest in our family is it not? That means that we are the ones that will come up with new ideas, and hopefully we won’t be guile in our whole life. When we were playing during recess I remember the chubby guy who used to chase girls with “cooties.” I won’t say his name, because I want to keep it anonymous…and I don’t remember his name. Anyways I hope that you haven’t forgotten any of our precious time, don’t forget to reply!
Yours truly,
Stephanie

It’s all so clear, I can remember the night so well. I’m in my car again, and I’m sitting in the middle separating my mom and Mari. We’re on the way to the cinema in Multi Plaza, where Mari and I were going to see a movie with a bunch of guys. (Obviously from our school.)We get out of the car and walk to the food court. Matthew jumps onto our shoulders and greets us friendly. The movie starts, and Mari’s holding a big tub of popcorn just like everyone else. (I’m the only one that didn’t want to buy anything…my dad’s fault.) Jacob and Max are talking and laughing like crazy, while Matthew and Daniel are laughing too. (What’s so funny about a guy being slashed?)
Obviously I didn’t want to watch this gruesome movie, but it was better than hanging out at the mall for two hours doing nothing. The movie was only half-way through and Mari’s cowering and hiding her face behind her hands. I pull up my legs and push my face into my knees; I couldn’t bare to watch that scene. Matthew had gone to buy me and Daniel a drink (mostly my fault because I asked him if he could buy one for me.) Max and Jacob were still bickering and laughing, which caused a man that was watching the movie tell us to be quite, and that the movie wasn’t funny (the man directed it to Mari because Max’s laugh was so girlish.) I couldn’t watch the rest of the movie without fear that the man would come back and kick us out or something. The movie ended and we all exited (I was so happy.) Outside the theater I was cold and scared, luckily Matthew cheered me up (poor Mari had no one to comfort her.) The guys left and Mari and I loitered around the mall buying smoothies and window shopping while waiting for our ride.
What’s my confession? Sometimes when I’m acting strong, I’m actually really scared (I had nightmares!)

I sat in the basement working on my wooden phoenix, with my brother pulling my arm and my hands numb from all the splinters I must have gotten. The legs were crooked, the arms weren't even pulled out of the rectangle of wood, the body was all mixed up and placed in different layers, and the head was cracked with pieces of wood sticking out. Everything was a mess. My brother’s phoenix stood next to my cracked and shattered phoenix. It was all perfect, spic and span, not a thread of wood in sight, it all looked so graceful and well…perfect. I stared at his amazing phoenix and wondered “How did he do that? He didn't even want to do it.” I pouted and crossed my arms; I was comparing my crappy little chicken, and looking into his honorable majestic fire. All he had to do was paint it, paint it in the color of fire I had in my eyes. I continued with my chicken, and eventually I gave up.
The head was still shattered from the pull of force when I tore it out of the rectangle, the body was somewhat put together but most of it was still lingering on the table, the feet were like chickens. Not like birds (even though the feet still look the same) not like anything but a little chicken…maybe even a little chick. I stand up and start to pick up the shreds on the floor, small excluded extra pieces, the crying empty rectangle frame drenched with loneliness. What have I been doing all this time? Chasing my brother’s footsteps in the sand? No, I need to do this my way. I got back to the wooden block, and carved a beautiful phoenix. I realized I can’t follow my brother’s footsteps; all I can do is do it myself.
