Sorrow and Revenge — A Short Story

This is another one of those paragraphs I write for my English class. I know some of the vocabulary is too fancy for the piece, but I had to fit the words in somewhere! It also has a dark theme, which is different from my previous paragraphs. Enjoy!

          She peered out anxiously from the shadows. She heard loud, angry voices in the distance. The men were chasing after her brother, who was acting as a decoy while she escaped. Suddenly a gun shot followed by a bloodcurdling scream split the air. She ran, her feet pounding hard on the cement. Tears and mud streaked her face as she turned the corner. It started raining, adding to the gloomy milieu. Her legs burned with pain as the rain drenched her. Her wet hair whipped her as she ran furiously, never slowing. Her brother was dead. A calamitous accident had killed her parents just a year ago, and now she was on the run, escaping the cause of her pain. The only family she had left now was her aunt, who was shiftless but extremely cruel. Her aunt's goons we after her, while her aunt basked in her own filth back in her luxurious mansion. She turned into a deserted alleyway and ducked behind a trash can. It was raining heavily now, and she pulled some old newspapers around her to try to keep warm. She thought of how her mother used to be so pert and positive, but now her memory only brought sadness and regret. She tried to distract herself by digging through the trash can, but she found nothing to appease her voracious appetite. She leaned against the cold wall in despair. She slid to the ground, fondly remembering her parents and her brother, the warm meals they used to share, and the stories her father often regaled them with. Her brother's strange quirks used to drive her crazy, but she missed them now that he was gone. All at once, she snapped out of her reminiscing when she heard a loud yell. Deep voices approached. Tall figures blocked the dim light from the street. She held her breath and pressed herself against the wall. These men were dangerous, especially because they were brave. It wasn't gallantry; rather it was a fear of nothing. As soon as they were after someone a long chase always ensued. Their victims never escaped. The men advanced into the alley. She froze, listening. Then she saw them. They stepped in front of her. She heard one of the men cackle menacingly. They were quite overbearing, and she shrank back in fear. The accident flashed through her mind. The smiles, the laughter, then, the next moment, the crash and the blood. The tears began afresh, flowing down her cheeks, fast and warm. She was going to avenge her parents death. She stood up. A man fired at her. She ducked, and the bullet tore through the wall behind her. She raised her fist and punched the man closest to her, hard. He reeled back in pain. The men fired their guns, She grabbed the metal lid of the trash can, and, using it as a shield, kicked someone in the shin. She thrashed and flailed angrily, hitting everything in her way. She knocked the revolver out of one goon's hand and drove him to the ground. Suddenly, all was silent. She gazed upon the dead men around her. Then she turned on her heel and walked out into the street. 

http://www.hdwallpaperpc.com/show-wallpaper/falling_rain_Canopy_dark_eyes_GRAY_Rainy_Splash_Water_wave_137591.html

3 Websites/Blogs You Need To Follow

This is just a random list of sites I find interesting and unique, and you should check them out!

1. Science Friday

"Science Friday is your trusted source for news and entertaining stories about science. We started as a radio show, created in 1991 by host and executive producer Ira Flatow. Since then, we’ve grown into much more: We produce award-winning digital videos and publish original web content covering everything from octopus camouflage to cooking on Mars. SciFri is brain fun, for curious people."
I believe this is also a podcast on NPR--I've heard it once, and it was great!

2. BuzzFeed

News, animals, books, beauty, travel, celebrities, politics: You can find it all at BuzzFeed. "BuzzFeed is the social news and entertainment company. BuzzFeed is redefining online advertising with its social, content-driven publishing technology. BuzzFeed provides the most shareable breaking news, original reporting, entertainment, and video across the social web to its global audience of more than 200M." Although it has been controversial in the past, and still is, to some extent, I personally like the site, and you should too!

3. One Good Thing by Jillee

This is a blog that I love. Jill Nystul, the author, has shared her inspiring story with people on her "About" page. She suffered from alcohol addiction, but worked hard to overcome it and has now found her passion in writing her blog. She posts about DIY's to make your home a prettier place, to cook better, to organize better, to cure colds and common ailments, and so much more. Jill Nystul is now publishing a book called One Good Life, in which she shares "my tips, my wisdom, and my story".

Here's to a day full of love.

Valentine's Day, agreed, is a day to show your love for your significant other. But I'd just like to establish that if Valentine's is the only day you show your love, your relationship is not going well. And hey, just because someone doesn't love you the way you want doesn't mean they don't love you with all they've got. Chocolates and roses aren't the things that matter. Okay, now that that's over and done with, let's get to what I was really meaning to write about.

It's common knowledge that women are regularly disrespected, patronized, exploited, labeled, denied rights, paid less, and overall just treated as inferior. "Now, women in the workforce are more likely to have at least a bachelor's degree than not. They're also making gains in occupations that traditionally have been dominated by men: doctors, lawyers, scientists and professors, to name a few. Today, women in their early 30's are just as likely to be doctors or lawyers as they are to be teachers or secretaries." "While the gender pay gap has narrowed over time, women who work full-time today make 78 percent of what men make, on average. The gap is even greater for women of color: non-Hispanic black women made 64 percent of what men made in 2013, and Hispanic women earned 56 percent of what men earned." "Only 12 percent of protagonists in the 100 top-grossing domestic films released in 2014 were female, down from 15 percent the previous year. The percentage of female major characters (defined as characters who appear in more than one scene and are instrumental to the plot) was the same in 2014 as it was in 2013, as was the percentage of female characters with speaking roles (major and minor)." Every 107 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. Each year, there are about 293,000 victims of sexual assault. These rates are even higher in countries such as India, where 93 women are raped every day. Everyday, women are criticized about their bodies, and told they are not good enough. 

But that's not all.

Men are criticized, too, though the situation is not as bad as it is with women. Men are told that if they don't have a six-pack, they are not "real" men. That they have to be tall and muscular. That they have to have facial hair. Society is still too focused on a person's outward appearance rather than their personality.

 We are humans, not objects. And we are all built differently. Imagine a world where everyone looked the same. That would be pretty boring, wouldn't it? So, this Valentine's Day, go out and accept everyone for who they are and love them for being themselves. 

For more, visit:
http://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-presents-mind-blowing-stats-about-how-and-why-women-hold-themselves-back-2013-2
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/10/31/women-more-likely-to-graduate-college-but-still-earn-less-than-men
http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/02/10/presence-of-female-film-protagonists-declined-in-2014-study-says?int=a3d208

Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln! (Plus 10+ Interesting Facts about him)

The one and only Abraham Lincoln was born today, February 12. So, to celebrate, I decided to scavenge for interesting facts and quotes. Here's what I found...

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 - April 15, 1865)

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

If you look for the bad in people
expecting to find it, you surely will.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed
is more important than any other one thing.

You cannot escape the responsibility
of tomorrow by evading it today.

In the end, it's not the years in your life that count.
It's the life in your years.

Interesting Facts about Honest Abe: 

1. He hated being called Abe. Apparently, he preferred being called by his last name.
2. He was the only president to have a patent: Lincoln invented a device to free steamboats that ran aground.
3. He practiced law without a degree. Lincoln had about 18 months of formal schooling.
4. He wanted women to have the vote in 1836. The future president was a suffragette before it became fashionable.
5. He was a big animal lover, but he wouldn't hunt or fish. If he were alive today, Lincoln would be running an animal shelter.
6. He really was a wrestler. Lincoln was documented as taking part in wrestling bouts. We don’t think he wore a mask or had a manager.
7. He didn't have a middle name. Lincoln went through his life with two names.
8. Lincoln loved to eat oysters.
9. Lincoln’s cat ate at the White House dinner table.
10.  Lincoln’s mother was killed by poisoned milk.

And the creepiest fact of all:

Lincoln, one week before his death, had a dream of someone crying in the White House, when he found the room; he looked in and asked who had passed away. The man in the room said the President. When he looked in the coffin it was his own face he saw.

5 Books To Read While You're Still A Kid

"There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away", and these books are perfect for just that.

1. Wonder

By R.J. Palacio

August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. Wonder, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

2. Stargirl
By Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl. From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, the hallways hum with the murmur of “Stargirl, Stargirl.” She captures Leo Borlock’s heart with just one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with just one cheer. The students of Mica High are enchanted. At first. Then they turn on her. Stargirl is suddenly shunned for everything that makes her different, and Leo, panicked and desperate with love, urges her to become the very thing that can destroy her: normal. In this celebration of nonconformity, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli weaves a tense, emotional tale about the perils of popularity and the thrill and inspiration of first love.

3. I Am Malala
By Malala Yousafzai

A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

"I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday."

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

4. Three Cups of Tea
By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard. Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.


5. The Mysterious Benedict Society Series
By Trenton Lee Stewart

"Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?"

When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. As our heroes face physical and mental trials beyond their wildest imaginations, they have no choice but to turn to each other for support. But with their newfound friendship at stake, will they be able to pass the most important test of all?

Welcome to the Mysterious Benedict Society.

P.S. - Today's Google Doodle celebrates Laura Ingalls Wilder! After you read these books, go read the Little House Series! :-)

The Only Approval You Will Ever Need

The pressures of society can be hard to deal with, especially for tweens and teens. Many kids feel the need to fit in or be "cool". The truth is, there's no real definition of these things; they're created by society, and also by your own opinions. The coolest people don't fit in; they stand out. How? Simply by being themselves. Sometimes it may seem that you need your peers' approval, but the best way to feel validated is to be kind to yourself. No one knows you better than yourself, and you should take full advantage of that. So stop worrying! One of the best ways to live a happy life is let go of things you cannot change. Don't waste your time over something if it is not going to change anything. The same goes for people. Some people will never apologize or even realize what they did wrong. But if you stay preoccupied with negative thoughts, you won't get anywhere. The only people you should purposefully interact with on a regular basis are people that lift you up, not bring you down. If someone in your life is constantly jealous of you, gossips about you, does not share your happiness, insults you, or is otherwise not loyal to you, leave them behind. Though it can be an extremely difficult choice to make, it will be for the better. The people who truly care will accept you for being who you are and love you for it.

Whenever you're feeling down in the dumps, just remember, you're always a winner. You will always win at being you!

P.S. - I know this was cheesy, but I hope it inspired those people that need it. Don't change for others, because you're awesome just the way you are.