It was a rainy Tuesday morning. Kelly was craving a meal or even just a snack, she hadn’t had anything to eat because she was going into surgery later that day and she needed to follow protocol. It was a simple surgery, an appendectomy. Her appendix had ruptured 2 days ago, the condition wasn’t terrible, but it could get worse. To avoid any further complications, the doctors decided that is would be best if she did the surgery. She agreed. She was anxious, but not for the surgery, something else was bothering her. For the past two weeks, all she could think about was the case she was working on. It was assigned to her by her boss and it would be her first big case that she had done. In the past, she had done small cases that had been thrown aside by the people in charge. She wanted more of a challenge but she would do the cases that she was given and she would do them well. She finally got a chance and she had to go into surgery. She was so close to catching the criminal, she could feel it. But instead, she was lying in a hospital bed waiting for her turn to get poked and prodded at. The nurse came and told her that the doctor was ready. She rolled into the operating room on her bed and as she was put under, she couldn’t help but picture a man. He looked familiar, yet she didn’t know his name or who he was. Wait! He was on her suspect board, but why was she thinking of him now? 

“She’s flatlining,” the doctor exclaimed as Kelly’s body struggled to keep going. This didn’t make sense, this was an easy surgery that doctor Kyle had done numerous times. “She was healthy, I don’t understand why this is happening?!” a nurse said as they continued to keep Kelly alive. As the doctors and nurses performed CPR, Doctor Kyle remembered something. He had seen someone in the waiting room earlier that day that he hadn’t recognized. The face was familiar, he didn’t know why. Then it came to him, the face, it was the one he had seen on TV. It was the face that the sketch artist had drawn to represent the criminal who had done all of those horrendous things. But why was he here, at this hospital? 

Kelly passed one hour into the surgery. The doctors were baffled, this made no sense. Doctor Kyle knew something was wrong, so he had Kelly’s body sent to get an autopsy to see if they had missed something or if she had died because of other reasons. The team of doctors and nurses waited patiently for the results to come in.

“So I found something very interesting.” said Doctor Samuel, the one who performed the autopsy on Kelly. “It seems as though she died from a lethal poison and not from any complications during surgery.” Doctor Kyle was confused but it made sense. He knew that nothing had gone wrong with the surgery, but that something was disturbed from the beginning. But why? Why would someone poison Kelly and why would someone want to kill her? Whoever it was, they wanted to make it look like the doctors fault. Then doctor Kyle remembered something, the suspect who was in the lobby of the hospital earlier. He was sketchy and he seemed as if he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. Doctor Kyle also remembered seeing the suspect leave Kelly’s room just before her surgery. It was him! He was the one who poisoned Kelly. He knew that she was about tp catch him, so he made sure she never could. he would go on to live the rest of his dark, cold-blooded life, while Kelly spent the rest of her time underground. Doctor Kyle alerted the police immediately, and the suspect was caught and sent to jail.

I was just living everyday life with my mom and dad, my twin sister and my younger sister. I would wake up, go to school, come home and then I would do my homework and spend time with my family. Nothing crazy, and nothing inconsistent, always the same routine over and over again. It never really got boring either. I knew so much about my family, but each day we would come home and share stories around the dinner table about our day and the interesting things that happened. I loved my family with my whole heart, and they meant the world to me. We lived in the big house on the corner of Maple Street. My room was a lavender color with silver accents. My bed was the perfect size and I slept with 3 pillows that supported my head to the most comfortable degree. I spent a lot of time in my room because it made me feel safe and I loved the overall vibe of my room. Both of my sister’s rooms were shades of blue, and their walls were filled with nics and nacs that scream their names. My twin sister and I share a bathroom, my side is a mess, hers is always clean and tidy. She gets on me about it sometimes, but I am not in much of a rush to clean it up, I will get there eventually.  My mom and dad’s room has grey walls and the softest carpet that makes you feel like you are walking on clouds. If I ever have a bad dream, I go into their room and I sit with my mom and she calms me down. I always feel safe with my parents, they always look out for me. The house is warm and cozy most of the time, but I have recently noticed that it seems dustier and colder than usual. I got home from school today, exhausted from the work and stress that my teachers put on me. I was excited to see my family and their warm smiles. But when I got home the house was empty, I called my siblings and parents names, at first they didn’t answer but after a couple of seconds my mom yelled back, “Oh honey, you’re home! My ears must be getting old because I couldn’t hear you the first time you yelled.” “That’s alright mom,” I responded with concern toward her lack of hearing. It was time for dinner, and it would be the first time my whole family was together tonight because we were all busy working on homework and my parents were sending invoices. I got a glass of water to drink with my dinner and sat down at the dinner table. I hadn’t noticed earlier but the faces of my family looked dull and tired. It was a change from their usual lively, glowing faces, they usually have tons of energy, today they were feeling exhausted. “Wow, long day for of all you? You look like you were dragged through hell and back!” I exclaimed with a laugh. My parents groaned in agreement, “Work was tough today and I didn’t get much sleep tonight.” my dad said. “Same for me,” my mom agreed. I nodded and continued the conversation about what happened at school today as I filled my stomach with dinner rolls and mashed potatoes. I went to bed that night with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. My family looked rough today and they seemed to have lost their energy. I hoped they would feel better in the morning.I had a dream that night. A dream that scared me to my core. In my dream, I imagined my family driving in a car along the road. It was like I was watching them drive from the top of a tree, I wasn’t in the car, I was just overlooking the road. As my family drove down the highway, I noticed a strange car coming from the opposite direction. The person driving the car looked a mess and like they had no care for anyone else on the road. The car was headed straight toward my family. I screamed as the two cars collided and I watched as if it was all happening in slow motion. The car that my family was in smashed into a million little pieces, throwing broken glass and metal pieces across the road. Everything went silent and all I could see was the flashing lights of police cars and an EMS. I startled awake to the ringing of my alarm. I was relieved to find out that the car crash was only a dream and not real life. When I sat up though, I was no longer in my room. Instead, I was in what looked like a hospital bed. A lady walked into the room and said, “Oh, you’re awake. I was just coming to check on you.” She seemed to have noticed the confused look on my face as she asked, “Did you forget again, sweetheart?” She then proceeded to yell towards the hall outside of the room, “Someone get nurse Cynthia, patient C is confused again!” She looked back toward me as tears were forming in my eyes, where was I and how did I get here? Just then, another lady walked in the room. She was wearing a long white coat that looked intimidating but her sweet smile and rosy cheeks persuaded otherwise. She came and sat by my side and she looked at me sternly in the eyes and asked, “Do you know where you are?” I shook my head in confusion. “This is a psychiatric hospital, you were admitted here about 1 and a half years ago. You have had some problems trying to deal with major trauma in your life. You see, almost exactly two years ago, your entire family died in a car wreck, and you were the only one to survive.”  I couldn’t breathe, I didn’t understand, this made no sense. “You’re lying!! You are just a liar and you are lying to me!” I screamed in uncertainty. “I am sorry but I am not lying. You have been a patient here and we have been helping you cope with the stress and pain you have been put through.” “This can’t be right!” I yelled, “I just talked to my family yesterday, I saw them and they talked to me and…. “ I trailed off. As I thought back to when I was sitting around the dinner table with my family, I remembered they looked different. There was something off with them. I hadn’t figured it out at the time, but it all made sense now. My memories came flooding back, I remembered the car crash, being in a stretcher and taken to the hospital. Reliving this memory was the worst feeling. “I will get you some more meds so you don’t have to go through this again. Cathy, go grab some C483 for me!” This was it, the worst possible life I could live, and at this point I thought there was no reason to live at all. I cried and cried as the nurse held me in her arms. I collected my thoughts and asked the nurse for some privacy, she nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. I stared out the window and tried to figure out what I was going to do with my life. How could I forget that my entire family was dead?! My family was the biggest part of my life and I guess I was in such bad denial that I just decided to shut it out and rid any memories in my mind of them. I had betrayed them, they would be so disappointed. I can’t live like this anymore, I have to go.

Sam had spent all of her life for this moment. Today she would be accepted into the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She had dreamed of this moment for so long. She was interested in criminal investigation for as long as she could remember. She took any and all classes in high school and college that would help her with her career and her dreams. After college she then went to the FBI training academy because she was so devoted to be a good agent and to help save lives. After all of her hard work, she had done it. She was so excited to get started with her new job and to do her best. Most people had always told her that she could do it but people would also tell her that her dream was unrealistic and that she would never be able to do it. She tried to look past these remarks because this was her dream and she was determined to succeed. But even now, that she had been accepted into the Bureau, those remarks still wandered in the back of her mind as she made her way to her desk on her first day. She got her first case, although she was not running the investigation, she was happy to help. She dug right into her work and started using her skills to help her coworkers solve the case. She went to the crime scene with her new boss, and there he explained to her what had happened and what they already knew. As she examined the crime scene, she noticed something was off. She had pointed out her confusion to her boss and he took a look at her findings. She had found a very important piece of evidence and her boss was extremely impressed with her. She was proud of herself and she was happy to have been successful with her first real investigation. She had always been drawn to criminal investigation because of her past. When she was younger, her mom was murdered in her own house very late at night. The police and local detectives tried and tried but they could never catch a culprit. The case went cold and the files were put away in storage. Ever since that night, Sam felt as though it was her duty to honor her mother by helping people who have been in the same situation. She was always such a great role model and she didn’t deserve what happened to her. As Sam went through all of her school for criminal investigation, she felt her mom watching over her. When people doubted Sam and her success, she felt as if she wasn’t honoring her mom and she was depressed. This pushed her to work hard and to be more motivated. Everytime she works on a case, she thinks of her mom and how she doesn’t want anyone else to go through an experience like hers.

with a song generator because this is my first time and I am getting an idea of how to do this

Last Christmas, I gave you my love
But the very next day, you crushed it
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to Evan Peters

I’m dreaming of a merry Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the christmas trees glisten and reindeer listen
To hear bells ringing in the snow

You were cheery
You were pretty
Monarch of canada
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
The crowd were swinging
All the reindeer they were singing
You asked me to open presents
And then we did carol

But then last Christmas, I gave you my love
And the very next day, you crushed it
This year, to save me from tears
I’ll give it to Evan Peters instead

You’re boring
You’re horrible
Happy Christmas to you
I pray God it’s your last

Rockin’ around the Christmas mistletoe
At the Christmas party hop, 
Rockin’ around the Christmas mistletoe, 
Let the Christmas spirit ring, 
Later I’ll have some cookies 
And me and Evan Peters will carol

I don’t want a lot for Christmas
There is just one thing I need
I don’t care about heart
I just want Evan Peters for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true oh
All I want for Christmas is Evan Peters

Oh, Evan Peters yeah, oh Evan Peters yeah
Evan Peters the friend is a generous, jolly soul
Evan Peters the friend is a fairy tale they say

Evan Peters baby, I want you and really that is all
I’ll wait up for you, dear
Evan Peters baby, won’t you carol with me tonight?

So here it is, merry Christmas
Everybody’s here to open presents
Look to the future now
It’s only just begun

Simply having a merry Christmastime
Simply having a merry Christmastime

Sally was just a normal teenage girl. She hung out with friends, she posted pictures on social media, and she bought Starbucks. She had a good life but something was always missing. She felt empty or as if there was a hole in her life. This was until she discovered the show Criminal minds. One day, she walked up to her lunch table and her friend was watching a show, “What are you watching?” Sally asked. “Criminal Minds, it is the best show in the entire world, would you like to watch with me?” Sally’s friend said as she handed her one of her Airpods. Sally accepted the airpod and was excited to see what this new show was like. As they watched the show, Sally realized something. She never thought of what she was going to do with her life, until she learned about criminal investigation and profiling. She knew that was her passion, being in the FBI. At the time, she was a sophomore in high school, she was taking pointless classes that would get her the credits she needed. Her next two years, she would take forensics, criminal investigation, and any other class that would help her further her knowledge about the FBI. That’s all she dreamed of from that moment on. Once she learned how everything worked, she spent all of her time profiling and analyzing her family and friends. At first, her friends were all pretty impressed with her and how accurate her analyzing was. But after a while, it got to the point where Sally started to dig up secrets of her friends and family that weren’t supposed to be talked about. She was figuring out her friends biggest fears and regrets and constantly asking them questions about them to further her knowledge and research. Within a month or two, no one would talk to Sally because everyone was afraid of her and what she could figure out. People felt exposed and that their privacy was invaded when they were talking to or interacting with Sally.  Sally hadn’t even realized that she had lost most of her friends because she was always so absorbed in her work. She was so invested in what she was doing that friends were the least of her priorities. She spent the rest of her high school and college career practicing and perfecting her criminology. She was always doing what she loved, but she was alone. Sometimes she wanted to share her findings with others but she would remember that she didn’t have any friends anymore because she was only focused on one thing. She started to analyze herself and profile her own behavior and she started to become depressed because she thought about all of the things she had done wrong in her life. She didn’t get to make memories and have fun, sometimes even her criminal tv shows with awful acting and a romantic plot weren’t enough to keep her happy. Eventually, she got a job where she could use her profiling skills to help others and along the way she met others just like her. Her coworkers were all just as invested in their work as she was with hers. She was happy to be able to express her passion with others who were just as invested in their work as she was. She made friends with her coworkers and started to feel happy again. She knew she couldn’t go back and fix the past, but at least she could live her life in the moment. She decided that she would not let something invade her life like this again. She was going to make sure that she didn’t go crazy over a passion and that she had her priorities straight. Over the years, she used her talents and her passion to help save lives and capture those who were dangerous and people who hurt other innocent people. She understood that what she was doing was good, but she could.t look past the fact that it had ruined her life when she was younger. Once she retired, she got back in touch with old friends and looked towards them as friends and not people that she needed to be analyzing. Her friends forgave her, and realized that she had a very strong passion, but she was still the same person with the same personality.

It was a sunny May 3rd. I was 11 at the time, and on my way to get my first dog. I had been begging my parents for so long and they finally gave in. We were on our way to Texas Adoption Center. We had seen a few pictures of a couple of the dogs that were there, unfortunately none have them had caught our eye so we were going to the adoption center to look at the others that were there. We got to the adoption center with our heads held high. We walked in and the people at the front desk greeted us with smiles and hellos. We informed them that we were looking for the perfect dog for our family. They walked us to the back and our pet searching adventure began. We saw many dogs that day, some with small, squishy faces, others with long, strong faces. We were losing hope that we would go home with a pet that day, then we saw him. I looked at his face, and I knew he was the dog for us. He was a 6 month old Australian Sheppard. My parents looked at me and said, ” That’s the one, isn’t it?” I nodded my head in excitement. We gave him a name that we knew was perfect for him, Moose. I took him home and I was exited to get a new best friend that I would get to love and play with everyday. We bonded and got so close, he slept in my bed every night. I watched him grow up and go from a puppy to a dog. Around 4 and a half years later, we were taking Moose to the Vet to get his semiannual checkup to make sure he is healthy and doing good. My mom and I took him in and waited to get called back. We heard the vet say, “Moose” and we made our way back to the room. As the vet was doing the normal physical tests, a concerned look took over her face. She said how she felt an “abnormal lump on his back left leg.” She decided to run some tests and do an X-ray to figure out the problem. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the doctor came back and told us that Moose had cancer. She said that his cancer was terminal and that he was suffering. She explained how “putting him down would be the most humane thing to do.” I couldn’t catch a breath, this was the worst thing I had ever heard. My life has been turned upside down, what I thought was going to be a quick and easy doctors appointment turned out to be the worst hours and a half of my life. My best friend was dying and I couldn’t help him. We said our goodbyes with tears in our eyes as we watched our dog leave the earth. The whole ride home, I balled in agony. It felt like a piece of my life was just gone, there was a hole in my heart that could only be filled by Moose. He is forever in my heart and I miss him and his goofy, fun-loving personality everyday. 

sorrow

repentance

anguish

I am from a twin size bed

from the shower and the small bathroom that isn’t big enough for two

I am from the white house with yellow stone that is cozy

I am from the crepe myrtle in the front yard

The large oak tree whose long gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.

I’m from a very merry Christmas eve and a family with long legs

From a loving grandfather and an absence of aunts and uncles

I’m from loving arms and gracious hearts and from patience that lasts a century

I’m from santa and the tooth fairy and the tune of you are my sunshine

I’m from a search for Easter baskets on Easter morning

I’m from Austin, Texas and Germany and mashed potatoes and couscous

From a sibling with blonde hair and green eyes who always has your back but know how to push your buttons and the one who gets her own room and the biggest bed

From the picture of the twin girls sitting with their dad on the couch that now hangs from a magnet in the closest with the chipped paint

To some, I am nothing more than a bird who lives at the beach and survives off of dropped food and treats from kids hands. I believe that seagulls are more than that. Everyone has a specific place. The kelp is there to feed the small fish, the small fish are to feed big fish, and the big fish feed the apex predators such as sharks. Us seagulls, we are kind of just here. We do have a place, but no one thinks of us as important or vital to keep an environment healthy. I want to show everyone that we are just as important as the sun or the sharks. We roam free on the beach with eyes of many humans on us. Those humans, they are the reason why no one thinks about seagulls. Humans have come to the conclusion that all seagulls are scary, predatory birds. The only reason we are around people is for food, we are trying to survive and we couldn’t care less about what the humans are doing. The humans do nothing but destroy our homes. The beauty of the ocean makes up for how it is treated. Getting to watch the sun rise and set every day. The waves are calming and they make everyday life easier. Being a seagull is relaxing but the way we are looked at is harsh.

As a fish, we sometimes interact with the seagulls. We eat plants and sometimes smaller fish. As a medium sized fish, I don’t have that much interaction with the seagulls. They are re;axed birds who are doing nothing more than surviving. The seagulls are my friend when I need help with something out of the water. The seagulls don’t really mess with anyone either. The humans don’t like them, but the humans don’t really like anyone but themselves because they are stuck up and arrogant. One time, a seagull ate one of my closest friends, I was heartbroken but that is the circle of life so I just went on with my life. The seagulls are just another animal in this vast ocean full of so many different creatures and monsters.

As a mermaid, my dream home needs many things. First off, it needs to have candles, and lots of them. I want my home to smell as though you are sitting right next to a bonfire on a cold, winter night. Another thing that I must have in my dream home is lots of storage for my thing-a-ma-bobs. I need wide open cabinets that are big enough for me to fit in. I also would need a a white noise machine. Sometimes the noise of the water splashing over and over again gets old, so I would like to have a machine that can play mountain winds noises. Anothe thing that I want in my dream home is a soft, fluffy ug to put on my floor. I also need tons of blankets because the ocean gets cold at night. An important addition that I need is a kitchen so I can prepare my meals. My favorite meal is my spicy shrimp salad that bursts with flavor. I have heard that diffuser are a good thing to have in your home. That would be really nice for me because I am getting sick all of the time. Having a diffuser would help me feel healthy and energetic instead of drowsy and gross. Lastly, I need a room for my best friend, Flounder the Fish. He likes to swim around and give me hugs but he also likes his space. He would need his own room with decorations and lots of space.

Susie woke up one Thursday morning and got ready for school. She drove to school and said hi to all of her friends in the hallway like she always does. She went to her first period, which was English. She was excited because English is her favorite subjective and she has a lot of friends in the class. She walked in and on the board the teacher wrote to get a computer because they were going to be doing a personality quiz in class that day. Susie was thrilled to take this quiz because she wanted to find out what qualities her extroverted self would have. She took the quiz and waited for her results. “INTJ?” Susie said with confusion. She had heard that INTJ also know as the architect was extremely introverted and lonely. Susie was confused because her entire life she had always been told she was too loud or too outgoing, so getting the architect as her personality was troubling. She went to her next period upset because of her results. She was quiet and unsocial the rest of the day because she was so focused on figuring out why her results came back so far from who she actually is. The week went on and she started talking less to her friends in the hallway. Ever since she found out she was an introvert she let it affect how she acted, her mindset was different and she felt strange. People started talking to her less and she found herself wanting to be alone rather than others. She spent the rest of the year slowly becoming exactly what her results told her. She felt different but also more normal. She started to feel like she was actually living the quiet, calm life that she was supposed to be living.