Strange Pictures

"Alright! Nice job today guys!" Shouted the producer and chief of the photo shoot as he collected his belongings, stuffed them into his book bag, and made his way towards the silver Mercedes- Benz that he had just purchased a few days ago. " Phew... that was exhausting. I think I'm going to take a long, hot shower, and take a comfy nap when I get home."Jessica, the photographer, mumbled as she unlocked the door to her 2001 Honda Civic and proceeded to start her car.

Jessica stuck the key into the ignition, turned it, and the small engine of the car sputtered and spat for a moment, and then abruptly shut off. Jessica tried this process once again, but nothing happened. "What the heck is wrong with this piece of crap!! She yelled angrily as she forcefully popped the hood of the car open, exited the vehicle, and began to lift the hood of the old Honda to reveal the motor of her car. "What could it possibly be this time?" She sarcastically muttered to herself as she observed the small engine of her car.

Out of nowhere black liquid that appeared to be oil started to spill and splash from the engine at a very rapid rate. Jessica shouted out a cry of fury as the oil was spat on her shirt that she had previously bought from the department store a few days ago. She slammed the hood down, walked back to the door of the vehicle, collected her personal items, and began to walk home.

"I knew I shouldn't have bought that piece of shit car from that rusty, crusty ass old man!! That was nothing but a scam.. And I fell for it." Said Jessica angrily as she handed four hundred dollars in cash to the mechanic who had fixed her motor and brought her car to her apartment., Thank you ma'am.." The mechanic said pleasantly as he smirked and gave the furious woman her car keys. The friendly man then stuck his hand out to shake hers. Jessica gazed at his dry, callused, grease-infected hand for a moment, and then reluctantly stuck her hand out with a fake smile on her face. "No problem.. Sir.." She replied as their hands met. Jessica grimaced slightly as her hand met the mechanic's firm grip. As the man let go, Jessica stared at her hand in horror as now it was covered in dirt.

As soon as the mechanic drove off, Jessica quickly ran back into her apartment and sprinted to he bathroom to clean her hand that was covered grim and slime. "Disgusting!!" She screeched as the hot water of the faucet met her grimy hand. All sorts of muck, dirt, and grime slid off of her hand and sunk into the drain of the sink as she grimaced and frowned in anger of the fact that mechanic even attempted to shake her hand.

Jessica sighed as she sat down on her couch for a moment, pondering how much time was wasted throughout her day. "I need a break from all of this stress.. this is too much for me at one time.. Too bad already used all of my vacation days this year." Jessica mumble to herself sarcastically. She gazed at the pale, white walls her compact apartment until she finally dozed off into a deep, peaceful sleep. 

Last Day of School

I paced towards my gym locker slowly as I prepared to get dressed and rush to my car to leave the school building for the last time. My face was covered in sweat and I was in a pretty bad mood because my gym teacher decided to make my class run 3 miles on the last day of school. "What kind of sense does that make?" I muttered to myself angrily as I slammed my locker door and slid my sneakers on. 

two objects

As I walked towards the large wooden door I scratched my head in curiosity as I tried to guess what could be hiding behind the door. "I wonder what's in this room? I hope it's something cool!" My voice echoed through the large ceilings of the abandoned house. "Oops.. I gotta be more aware of how loud I am.. I don't know who could be living here." I whispered to myself as I approached to the door handle with my hand. I turned the copper knob slowly until I felt a small click.

My eyes lit up in excitement as an array of gold light shone in my face. It appeared to be a trophy room of some sort that I walked into and there were multiple objects that shone with amazing luster. "Woah..." I gasped as I made my towards a stainless steel table that was covered with a vast selection of golden, bronze, and copper objects. My eyes suddenly fell upon a golden cup and and golden hammer that lied next to a piece of paper.

I picked the paper up and began to read: "You may take ONE of these precious objects. But be warned! Whichever item you decide to pick up will determine your fate and destiny." I put the letter in my pocket and set my gaze upon the two amazing objects. "Wow.. I wonder what this is supposed to mean? Which one should  I pick.. I mean the cup is nice and all.. but that hammer is something serious.." After I made my decision I slowly wrapped my hand around the hammer, and then gasped in pain as a sharp pain overcame my entire body and forced me to collapse to the ground.

"What the heck is happening to me?! I muttered as I dropped the hammer and it met the wooden floor with a loud "thud!". As I regained my strength and stood back up I noticed a large marking on my left arm that wasn't there before. I reached for the hammer once again, but this time I was able to grabbed the hammer with no difficulty.

As I exited the large abandoned home, the ground beneath suddenly started to shake violently and the home began to collapse. 

"You're Fired."

"Tim, please report to customer service." The raspy voice of the intercom echoed in the large grocery store. Tim's heart sank as he paused at his cash register in the middle of counting money. He threw the money back into the cash register nervously and made is way towards the customer service desk where his angry boss awaited him.

"Shit... What did I do this time... I hope they didn't catch me stealing money out of the register. Man they wouldn't understand. My family needs the money.." Mumbled George as he quickly paced over to were his boss was standing. George's bosses eyes glared deeply into George's beady, gray eyes as he began to speak in his monotone voice.

George the Champion

"I will win the state championship this year!! I can do this!" George shouted as he sprang forward out of the starting blocks. He was of short stature but he was very muscular and he was known for his athleticism through his high school. George was 17 and a senior at his high school where he ran for the track team and he was very good at what he did.

George set a lot of goals for himself before his senior season because he wanted to be the best track athlete that he could possibly be. During his junior year his track season went pretty decent, but not as well as he'd wanted or expected. George came up very short during the conference meet and he was very disappointed in his times in his event, the 400 meter dash.

George wanted to make up for all of the losses that he took during his track career  in high school because he knew that it was his senior year and it was his last chance to go to states and win. He had a very strong will and he didn't give up very easily.

The long-legged sprinter's spikes lightly clicked on the rubber material of the tar colored track as he furiously made his way around the curve of the track and began to build his momentum. His breaths were long and relaxed and his arms swung with perfect rhythm and form as George bounded towards the finish line and took a final gasp as he crossed the finish line.

"Good run George.." The coach said as George slowly walked towards the water fountain and tried to recover his breath. 

Two Friends..

"So.. why did you want me to come here today Mike? I have a meeting at the Technical Institute in less than an hour. I have places to be right now.. What do you want?  Sarah questioned her boyfriend as she poured her hot cup of coffee into the black mug and sat down at the wooden table at the coffee shop. Mike paused for a moment to observe Sarah's black trench coat that he bought her only a few weeks back and regretted the decision he made even more as a rush of thought entered the young man's mind. "I'm such an idiot! I shouldn't have gone to the bar with the boys yesterday. I  can't believe I actually slept with that girl... She wasn't even cute.." He thought as he scratched his brownish-black hair and checked his silver watch that he purchased at the mall the month before.

"Well Sarah.. this is hard for me to tell you.. but I have to do this..." Mike said as he stared right into Sarah's sharp, hazel-eyed gaze. Sarah took a sip from her mug and then said, "What do need to tell me? Is it something bad?" She whispered. Mike sighed and began to talk.

The Miserable Monster

There once was a monster whose name was "Big Foot". He was a very sorrow creature and lived on his own. His appearance was extremely intimidating but he had a very kind heart, but he never had the chance to show how kind he really was because people would run away as soon as they saw his face. Big Foot stood about 7 feet tall, and he had skin that was as red as a ripe tomato. His eyeballs were a bright yellow complexion and his pupils were slits, similar to a cat or a lizard. Big Foot's mouth was always agape, and his large, sharp, and serrated teeth would always show which made him look even more intimidating. Instead of having hands like a normal person, Big Foot had large paws that were similar to a dog, and at the end of each finger he had large black claws. At the top of the strange creature's head were two large, devilish horns that were as long as a steak knife. But the strangest part of the monster's body were his legs. Instead of having a normal pair of two legs and feet, Big Foot had four horse-like legs with hooves at each end.

"I wish I had friends!!" Big Foot would say everyday he woke up before going to school every morning. The beast resented going to school with a passion. Whenever he walked into the school building he would constantly hear extremely harsh taunts from the other students about his gruesome appearance. There was one particular bully in school that Big Foot tried his best to avoid. His name was Bruce Wilson. But one day Big Foot wasn't able to hide anymore.

"Hey ugly! Where do you think you're going?" Bruce said as he made his way towards Big Foot's locker. Big foot shut his locker door quickly and began to walk towards the school cafeteria with alacrity. "Hey! I know you hear me fatty!!" Bruce shouted as he quickly stepped in front of Big Foot. The monster paused nervously lowered his head in embarrassment. "When I tell you to slow down..you slow down!" Bruce said angrily. "I'm sorry.. um.. I didn't hear you..." Big foot said shamefully. "I don't care!" Bruce replied as he swiftly backhanded the creature and walked away.

Different Time Period

"Damn.. I really don't feel like going to school today dude... I want to go back to sleep so bad right now.." Sean said as slammed the buzzing alarm clock on the ground. He stretched his legs and arms for a moment and then opened his eyes. The bright light of the sun gleamed in his eyes and he frowned with displeasure. Once his eyes were open he got out of the bed and took his first steps only to realize that he was stepping on a sandy substance.

"Huh.. where the heck am I?" The boy said with surprise as he looked around and observed his surroundings. He was on a very sandy beach and there were large trees that formed a forest  about two hundred meters from where he was standing. Sean walked towards the forest barefoot and winced in pain as he stepped on a hard, rocky surface. He looked down to see what he had walked upon and discovered that it was a large egg of some sort.

Sean tried to pick up the egg and discovered that it was extremely heavy. "Wow, I wonder what's in this thing." He said as he observed the egg more closely. The oval-shaped egg was a deep metallic gray and it was covered in large blotches of yellow. It's texture was very rough and tough to the touch. "I wonder how I even got here. This really doesn't make any sort of sense.. I mean I went to sleep last night and I wake up and pow! I'm in some sort of prehistoric world!" Sean shouted as he looked around the forest.

Out of nowhere a large roar filled the forest and made the large sequoia trees shake. It had a deep resonating growl. "Woah.. what was that?" Sean whispered. " Whatever it was.. it does not sound very happy.." Sean began to hear footsteps coming towards where he was sitting. He quickly sprinted towards a large bush that was nearby and hid himself. Right at that moment a large figure crashed through the forest and made it's way toward the large, grey egg. 

Favorite Pants

"Another day, another dollar!!" Steve yelled as he stretched out and sat up on his king sized bed. He glanced at his dresser where he had laid out his plaid flannel and favorite pair of khaki pants.  They weren't there. "Hmm.. I wonder where my outfit is... I could have sworn I laid it out last night before I went to bed. Steve stood up an d stretched one more time before slowly dragging to his large closet. He opened the chestnut wood door and began to observe all of his illustrious clothing. He looked around briefly, and spotted his shirt that he had previously laid out ,but his pants were still missing.

The puzzled man paced around his room in confusion as he tried to remember where his pants should have been. "Damn it... this is gonna make me late for work. I put my pants right next to my bed last night. Why aren't they there anymore?" Steve mumbled as he angrily walked to the bathroom and prepared to shower.

"That was refreshing!" Steve said as he dried off and walked towards his closet to find a new outfit.  But right at the moment there was an extremely loud crash near his window. "What the heck was that?" Steve whispered as he tip toed towards the window. There were shards of broken glass near his bed as if someone had thrown a large stone at the window. "God damn! Who did this?" Steve cursed as he peeked out of the remains of the window. To his surprise he saw no suspect at first, but after gazing around his front yard for a moment he met eyes with someone who wasn't supposed to be there.

"So, it's you..." Steve said as he jumped out of the window and walked toward the shady figure. The woman was standing with her arms crossed, and her eyes were burning with a fiery passion. She had a black sweater and she had on a khaki pair of pants that resembled the pair that Steve had been looking for. "Yeah it's me you idiot." Steve frowned  for a moment as he observed his ex-girlfriend. His eyes widened in horror as he realized that the woman had his favorite pair of pants.

"Sandra what do you think you're doing?!" Steve angrily shouted at Sandra as she smirked with delight. "I bought these pants for you when we together.. We're not together now so I guess they're mine now." She replied as she turned away from Steve and began to walk away slowly. "You fool!" Steve yelled as he rushed towards her..

gold nugget

"Roscoe what are doing bud?" James said as he observed the chocolate labrador digging furiously at the small indentation in the ground. The sun reflected like a glass off of Roscoe's freshly cut brown fur and the heat of the summer day left him panting in exhaustion. James walked over to the large, coffee-brown dog and patted him on the head as Roscoe panted profusely.

"You must be tired.. I don't blame you though. You've been digging at this ditch for quite some time. What are you even looking for?" James questioned the dog as if it could reply. James knelt down at the ditch and observed it for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something glimmer for a second. "Hmm.. What was that I wonder?" He said as he dug his fingers through the dirt.

The object became a little more visible as James dug through the earth curiously. James dug for a while until the lustrous item became even more and more visible. Finally, when James had finished digging for about an hour, the object was completely visible and it appeared to be a rare rock of some sort. "Is this what I think it is? A golden nugget?!" The boy said excitedly as he jumped around like a little kid at a birthday party.

"I'm gonna sell this bad boy on eBay!" James shouted happily as he made his way toward the entrance to his home."I'm about the get rich!!

One week to live

"Wow.. this is unbelievable... I went to the doctor last week and I've got some pretty bad news to tell you." Bruce sullenly muttered to his job manager, Clark. Clark looked up from his cup of steaming hot coffee with a look of surprise. "What are you talking about man? And why do you have that ridiculous mask on?" He said as he took another sip of coffee and kept typing on the large keyboard that was sitting in front of him. Bruce took in a deep breath and let out a sigh that was filled with stress and sorrow. He began to clear his voice in a depressed manner.

"Well Clark, I went to the doctor's office last week.. and they told me that I don't have much time left to live because I've contracted a rare disease called ebola. To be exact, I only have one week left and my disease is very contagious.. that's why I have this mask covering my face.." Clark's eyes widened in horror and his cup of scorching hot coffee fell to the floor and splattered on the freshly vacuumed carpet of the office building.

"Oh... I'm so sorry to hear that old friend..." Clark stopped typing and stared blankly at the computer screen. "But I do have one question for you..." He said. "What's that bud?" Bruce replied curiously. Clark got out of his chair and stood up. His eyes met Bruce's. "If you are so sick and you know that your little illness is extremely contagious.. then WHY THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN HERE? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU DUDE? DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOU COULD EVERYONE IN THIS BUILDING SICK, AND THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN HERE COULD DIE BECAUSE OF YOU?!" He shouted angrily at the tall man

Poisonous Dinner Date

Stan walked towards his dresser where he had left his iPhone. He picked up the sleek, vanilla white device and dialed a number into the touchscreen. The phone rung twice and then a feminine voice answered, "hello?" Stan nervously paused for a moment and then replied, "Hi Martha..How are ya? It's Stan.." Martha's voice rose with surprise as she responded, Oh.. Hey Stan! I'm doing good!" She chuckled for a second and then sarcastically said, "How may I be of assistance to you today sir?" Stan let out a nervous laugh and then said, "Well Martha.. I was wondering if you wanted to go this new restaurant I saw on 9th street the other day. How would you like that?"

Martha collected her thoughts for a moment. "Let me check my schedule for today real quick.." She replied as she grabbed her notepad from her dresser beside her bed. "Hmm.. I think I can go today! What time do you want to go?" She questioned him through the phone as his eyes lit up with excitement. "We can go at 8:00 tonight if you want." Stan replied as he checked his Twitter account. "Alrighty then!! See you there!" Martha replied cheerfully.

"Damn..My stomach kind of hurts now...." Stan belched as he took a sip of sprite. "Yeah me too.. I think we had to much to eat." Martha replied as she gradually began to feel drowsier and drowsier, until she finally passed out from food poisoning. 

candy factory horror

The group of tens dove into the pool of chocolate as if they wee at a swimming in the middle of the summer.Chocolate fudge splashed into the air as the kids played with each other and gulped down the fudge happily. After the group of four had their fun, they got out of the tub of chocolate pool and made their way towards where the instructor was. Or where he should have been...

"Hey.. where'd he go I wonder?" Jessica whispered as she observed the compact room. There were two giant lollipops and a gigantic bar of chocolate that formed a chair like device in the middle. Pierre, who was standing next o Jessica, gazed at the big candy bar in awe. He obviously wasn't satisfied with the amount of chocolate that he had at the pool, so without a hint of hesitation, he sprinted over to the chair and tore apart the chocolate bar. Chocolate splattered everywhere and Pierre's shirt was left covered in dark brown stains of chocolate,

"Man what the hell has gotten into you Pierre! Didn't you have enough chocolate at the pool a few minutes ago dude?" Said Pierre's close friend Joey. Pierre broke another chunk of the bar off and stuffed it into his mouth before glancing up at Joey and mumbling, "NO! I NEED MORE CHOCOLATE! I haven't eaten anything all day.." Jessica's best friend, Carly stared at Pierre with animosity as he devoured every single bit of the chair. "Liar! I gave you my cookout tray earlier today!" Suddenly the door to the room began to creak as someone.. or something slowly opened it.

"What do you think you're doing here you idiots?" The tall, dark figure growled as it guarded the children's only route of escape. The figure was cloaked in a black robe and it's face was as pale as limestone. It's teeth were like daggers, and it's fingers were very long and skinny. His eye's were a burning red and he had cat-like slits were his pupils should have been. He glanced at Pierre for a moment, and noticed all of the chocolate stains on the boy's clothing. The monster roared in rage and sprinted towards Pierre like a cheetah chasing an antelope. Before Pierre could even move, the monster grabbed Pierre by the neck and punched through his stomach.

Blood squirted everywhere as Pierre shrieked in terror. The monster then threw Pierre through a cement wall and left him there to die. The figure turned it's attention towards the children....

homeless family

"Timber!" Shouted Thomas as the large, reddish brown tree came crashing down upon the white snow-covered earth. The gargantuan tree was bare and there were no leaves on it due to the sheer cold of the winter. Thomas walked over to the fallen giant and began to feel the rough edges and bark  of the tree. He observed the many scratches and scars of the surface in awe, he'd never seen a tree like this one before.

"Thomas." Julia, Thomas's mother, screamed as she sprinted outside in her nightgown towards Thomas who was standing on the fallen tree, gazing out into the distance. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" She questioned Thomas as she examined him. Thomas giggled  and then said, "Yes Mom, I'm fine..." He turn't back around and began to observe the tree again. Julia's narrow face began to turn red and her petite frame began to shiver as a gust of cold air smacked her back. "What are you even doing out here anyways? And where is your coat at? It's freezing out here boy!" She said as she walked Thomas back into the large red brick house.

"Christopher!" Julia shouted as she took of Thomas's shoes and attempted to cut the fireplace on.
Chris responded with a little bit of sarcasm in his voice, "Yes Julia? How may I be of assistance to you today?" Thomas's dad was of tall stature and was a man of great strength and power. He walked into the living room where Thomas and his mother were and listened as Julia explained and complained about the situation outside.

"Hmm... It seems like we have a little situation going on here. But we need some firewood anyways.. so I guess this isn't too much a hassle." Said Christopher as he walked toward the coat rack beside the fireplace and grabbed a thick, brown coat that was filled with an animal fur of some sort, and it appeared to have been very expensive. "So what are we going to do dad?" Said Thomas as he scratched his frostbitten hands. Christopher paced around the couch where Julia and Thomas were sitting, as if in deep thought and then said, "Son... You and I are going to cut the tree up so that we can bring in some firewood." Thomas's grinned and began to tie his snow boots back up, he hopped off the couch excitedly and made his way towards the coat rack where his father was standing. He shouted, "I'm ready whenever you are Dad!" Christopher grabbed a large ax for himself, and a smaller, less dangerous one for his son.

Thomas burst out of the front door of the house in excitement with his father trailing close behind. "Slow down kid!" I think me and your mom need to get you involved in a track team!" Thomas continued to sprint until he came upon the woods where the tree had fallen. He grabbed the smaller ax from his father's clutch and began to hack and slash at the tree's bare surface. Bits and pieces of bark flew into the air as Thomas aggressively attacked the fallen tree, and gradually he began to slow down as he became more and more fatigued. "You're tired aren't you?" Thomas's dad chuckled as he observed his exhausted son. Thomas glanced up at the tall figure of is dad and slowly smirked. "Nope, I'm not tired in the least bit!!" He turned back to the work in progress and began to hack at the tree even harder and faster than before. His face began to turn red as exhaustion crept upon his body. Thomas gradually gave in to his exhaustion until he finally dropped the ax and relaxed.

"Fine! I give up! It's your turn now.." Thomas said as he walked away form the tree and sat on a nearby tree stump. Christopher laughed for a moment, and then grabbed his large ax and made his way towards where his son had previously failed. "Watch this..." He said as he lifted the sharp blade into the air. With one swift moment he slammed the ax down into the tree, and like a twig, the thick tree snapped into two. Thomas's dad continued to break the tree up until he had cut up a great deal of firewood.

"Lets go back in now, I'm pooped", said Christopher as he took a deep breath and began to collect the wood that was laying on the white ground. Thomas picked up a couple of pieces and began to make his way back home with his dad, but out of nowhere the pair heard a commotion in the woods."Did you hear that?" Thomas whispered nervously to his father. Christopher turned towards the woods and cautiously observed for any signs of what had made the sound. "Yeah, get behind me.." He replied as he observed his surroundings.Thomas slowly tip toed behind his dad and raised his small ax, as if he was ready to attack whatever came out of the woods. the footsteps became closer and closer until they were only a few feet away.

Finally, a strange-looking man came out of the woods. He was of tall stature and he had a long, ruffled white beard. His clothes were tattered and he looked as if he had been thrown in a cheese grater. His skin was pale, and his eyes appeared to be sunken into his large wrinkled face. He had a large black patch over his left eye, and the right eye that showed was the deepest, most eerie shade of yellow. He had a long, narrow scar that ran diagonally from is eye to the corner of his mouth. His mouth was agape as if he wanted to say something, and his teeth were a dark grey.

"You left this..." The raspy, frog-like voice of the strange man echoed as he approached Thomas and Christopher. Thomas observed the peculiar man as he limped toward him and his father. "Thanks..." Christopher replied as the man's cold hand met his. The strange man nodded his and then paused for a moment, looked Christopher directly in the eyes and said, "My name is Martin Rigsby.. I'm homeless and I have nowhere to stay...Do you think I could spend the night at your home until this storm passes? I would greatly appreciate it.."

Christopher took in the man's words for a moment, trying to decide if it was a good idea to let him spend the nigh. He paced back and forth in the snow and then walked to Martin. "I'll let you stay for ONE night, but that's it. You  got it?" Martin's eyebrow rose in delight at the proposition, and the most strange smirk came over his face as he gazed at Thomas.

The night fell upon the cold earth and everyone prepared for bed.. except for the peculiar man named Martin Rigsby. He was up to something very evil...

Thomas walked downstairs drearily and made his way towards the kitchen. He opened the cabinet, looking for his favorite cereal "Lucky Charms" and a cold hand met his mouth. He struggled to free himself but it was too little to late. A rag was thrown over his mouth and Tommy began to feel drowsier than before. His body's strength began to drain and he began to lose consciousness. Thomas looked over his shoulder one last time to see who was responsible for his struggle and to his surprise it was the man that he had met yesterday.. Martin...

Two Old Men

"Hey Bob you want a hot dog?' Jim said as he got up from the bench located in the middle of the park.  "What did you say old friend? I didn't hear you." Replied his senile friend Bob. The gray haired man was reeling in his hook to see what he had caught. The sun gleamed down on the emerald green lake as the old men fished together. Jim observed Bob's catch and then said, "I think I'm gonna go grab a hot dog from the stand.. you want one?" Bob paused for a second and observed the large bass on his line. "Nah man I don't think I want one today... I'm just gonna cook this big boy right here when I get home.. And plus I went to the doctor recently and they told me I have to watch how much salt I eat because of my high blood pressure." Bob flopped the big fish into his cooler and threw his line back into the body of water skillfully. "Sucks for you." Jim chuckled as he left Bob to continue his fishing and slowly limped to the hot dog stand.

"Hi, welcome to the Dog House.. How may I help you today sir?" The cashier said indolently to Jim as he walked up to the counter. Jim greeted the cashier briefly and then paused to look at the menu. The menu was filled with extravagant colors and it was filled with displays of the different foods that the stand offered. "Umm I'll take... hmm... I think I'll take a beef hot dog with a small fry... No no no I think I'll take.." Jim stuttered as he observed the menu and tried to choose what he wanted to eat. The cashier looked at Jim and then at the floor of the stand in frustration as he waited for Jim to order his food.

"I'll take a large fry and a small hot dog..no.. I want a-" Jim was cut off in the middle of his sentence by the impatient cashier. "You want a hot dog and a large fry! That'll be $5.40 please." Jim replied with a little bit of disappointment, "Okay." He glanced into his brown leather wallet and pulled out a bunch of pennies and began to count them. "You said $4.50 right?" He said." The cashier paused a moment and repeated himself. "That'll be five dollars and forty cents sir.." Jim went back into his wallet and pulled out even more pennies, and handed them to the cashier.

The cashier angrily snatched the coins from the top of the counter and began to count them. A few moments later the cashier gave Jim his bag of food and sarcastically said, "Have a good day Sir."

Image (beach)

Tony gazed in awe at the towering, illustrious figure of the hotel. "Wow this place looks pretty fancy... I wasn't expecting this." He muttered to himself as he closed and locked the doors of the Cherry Red Jeep Wrangler. He observed the tan-colored sand of the beach that was next to the magnificent hotel as the crispy blue tidal waves rushed up to the shore.The sky was a baby blue and the sun's rays gleamed on the calm steady ocean. As Tony made his way toward the entrance of the building, he stopped for a moment and took a look at three women in bikinis on the beach. He'd never seen anyone who looked like them before. "Damn..." He muttered as he approached the building.

" Welcome to the Marriott Hotel of Hawaii." The clerk said as Tony walked up to the sign in desk. Tom smiled as he handed his card to the young woman. The clerk glanced at the card for a moment and then looked back up at Tony. "You're Tony McQuay aren't you?" The clerk said excitedly. "Yes, I am.." Tony chuckled as the clerk swiped his card. "I've seen you on TV before.. You're that famous track guy who ran for the University of Florida! Yeah, I know you! You run the 400 meter dash.." The clerk said as he handed Tony his card back. "Yep.. that would be me..haha." Tony replied. The clerk took a piece of paper and handed it to Tony. "If you don't mind.. umm..Could I get your autograph please?" She said nervously. "Sure thing" Tony said with pride as he quickly signed his signature on the piece of paper. "Thanks a lot. You're room is on the third floor. Enjoy your stay!" The clerk said as Tony went to the elevator.

Tony pressed the elevator key and machine began to ascend. " I think I should go to the beach later on today to relax. I need to clear my mind a little bit before this track meet I have tomorrow." Tony muttered as the elevator stopped...

53 Year Old Lady

Dear Santa Claus,

My name is Martha Johnson. I just turned 53 years old in October. I live in Chicago, Illinois and I stay in a pretty bad neighborhood. My neighborhood's nickname is "Chiraq." It's a combination of Chicago and Iraq. We got this nickname because of the violence that occurs here very often. But getting back to my circumstances... There's a lot of trouble brewing in my neighborhood. We have drug lords and thugs that stay here and I never feel as if I'm safe. I can never sleep at night because I'm worried that someone might break into my house and rob me, or even worse, kill me. My home is right beside the local trap-house, and so there's always a possibility that something could go very wrong. I hear gunshots almost everyday...throughout the days and the nights and I get tired of it. It scares me so much that some days I don't want to leave the house to go to work or to go get groceries, because I fear that I may get shot. I resent living in constant fear and anxiousness like this.

Honestly, it kind of feels like I'm going to be stuck here for the rest of my life. I grew up in this same exact neighborhood for most of my childhood. I never went to college because I was a slacker in school, I never did my work like the other kids.. Instead I skipped school with my friends and walked around the outskirts of the city looking for trouble. We stole a lot and we were always finding ourselves in massive trouble. Most of the friends that I made during my time of childhood are either dead.. or somewhere in the prison system. I've tried to change the person that I was once was, and I feel as if I'm doing pretty well right now. I don't steal like I used to.. and I haven't taken any sort of drugs in the past 15 years of my life.

If I could get out of my depressing neighborhood, I would've left a long, long time ago. But I don't have much of a choice but to stay here because of my current circumstances. I've made a lot of mistakes in the past and now the consequences and repercussions of my actions are starting to catch up with me.

My life has been pretty tough up to this point, but I've tried to find ways to persevere and survive through it. I try to live my life positively now, and I make sure that I try to make wise decisions about things that could affect me in the long run.

If I could have any thing for Christmas.... It would be to have  enough money to get my life on the right track and to move into a safer neighborhood..

The Underwear Drawer..

There once was a guy named Marcus Smith. He was a young man who was in his first year of college at the University of Alabama. He earned a football scholarship that payed for all of his school needs and wants. He stayed in one of the fraternity homes on campus, but little did he know was the fact that his new fraternity had a reputation for playing pranks on freshmen. He was about a month into his stay at the home and things were going pretty well for him, but things would change pretty soon as Marcus was on his way home from football practice.

"Phew.. I'm so tired.. I can't believe Coach made us run so much today.."  Marcus said as he walked sat back in his new car's seat and took a deep sigh. "Man, I don't know if I wanna keep playing football if we practice like that before a game-day." He stuck the keys in the ignition and the car's engine roared to life. He stepped on the gas and sped out of the parking lot of the football team's practice field toward his fraternity home.

As he opened the door to the house, a slurred voice greeted him. "Wassup Marcus!! How ya been bro?" It was Marcus's dorm mate Thomas. "I'm alright man.. just a little tired from practice.. how do you think you did on that test we had in psychology earlier today?" Marcus replied. Thomas took a sip of his sprite and then looked back up at Marcus. "Maaaaannnnn, I bombed the hell outta that thing..I didn't have a clue about what was on there. I should've studied. How about you?" He asked. "Same here man.. I don't think I did too hot on that test either.. But I'll catch you later man.. I have a game tomorrow.." Marcus replied. "Alright man.." Thomas went back to staring at the large television in the middle of the room.

Marcus slowly dragged up the stairway towards his room. He stopped for a second and listened for a second. He heard footsteps walking in his bedroom. "What's going on?" He mumbled to himself. He slowly began to open the door and without a sound slipped in. The sound became a little louder. Marcus realized  that the noise was coming from his closet. He grabbed a nearby shoe and began to slowly tip toe towards his closet door. He waited for a few more seconds and then at the last second pulled the door open and let out a roar of anger. To his surprise he saw one of his dorm-mates going through his underwear.

"Philip? What are you doing in my closet?' Marcus said as he backed away from his embarrassed dorm mate. "Well Marcus.. me and the boys were gonna prank you as apart of you being a freshman.. but you came home earlier than we expected.. haha.." 

HIdden Treasure

"Mom, when are we gonna be at Grandpa Richard's house?" Tommy said as the blue van moved slowly down the rural road. "We'll be there before you know it, just wait a little while longer." His mother said. "Well I'm tired of waiting and sitting in this car for the past two hours! This is lame!" Tommy retorted. " First of all, watch your tone... and secondly we've only been in the car for 30 minutes... Didn't you learn how to tell time in school?" Tommy's mother chuckled. "What's so funny?" Tommy said in an irritated voice. His mother bursted into laughter as Tommy sat back and pouted as he looked through the car window at a large red barn.

"Okay Tommy, wake up!" His mother said excitedly. "Huh? What's going on?" Tommy muttered to himself as he woke from his slumber. He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked around at his surroundings. To is surprise he discovered that they had made it to his Grandfather's illustrious mansion. "Woah..." He whispered in awe as he observed the towering figure of the tall mansion. It was a large home made from brownish-red bricks that looked very expensive. The front yard was filled with lush, geen grasss that appeared as if it was very well taken care of. Tommy opened the door of the car and began to walk towards the burgundy front door of the mansion with his mother.

"Wow, this is the biggest house I've ever seen." Tommy said in amazement as his mother rang the doorbell. The bell chimed a magnificent ring. "Son.. I want you to be on your best behavior for your grandparents. Don't touch anything unless they give you permission and make sure you use your manners." Tommy's mother said sternly as Grandpa Richard opened the door. "Martha! I haven't seen you in a while!" He said happily. "Dad! I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you lately. I've been very busy with my job... Tommy say hello to your Grandpa." Tommy looked up at the tall, gray bearded figure of his grandfather. "Hey, how are ya little man?' His Grandpa said playfully. "I'm doing good Grandpa." Tommy replied. The old man observed Tommy for a moment and then said, "Wow! You've grown so much since the last time I saw you...What kind of food has your mom been feeding you?" He snickered.  Tom giggled a little bit . "How about you come with me for a little while. I have something cool to show you... Martha you go relax in the house." Grandpa Richard said excitedly.

"Where are we going Gramps?" Tommy said out of curiousity. They walked down to the large garage at the side of the brick home. "It's a surprise haha." Richard replied in a jolly manner. He pulled out a golden garage opener and pressed it down. The garage opened slowly. There was a cherry red vintage convertible car that looked as if it came straight from an auto show. "Woah!" Tommy said excitedly. My father passed this car down to me... but I've never driven it. I' m going to change that today..let's go for a ride Tommy!"

Charlie

Man look at that b****... oops I shouldn't say that... I just got outta church and hour ago. But look at her... Who does she think she is. I hate her so much. She can't even cook those damn chicken breasts the right way. Hmmm... I wonder wonder who she's even cooking for? Could it be... no I don't think she could get one that quick. I mean it's only been two weeks since we broke up. But anyways back to watching her attempt to cook.

Hold on! What was that? Are my eyes playing tricks or did I just see someone pull up in a black bmw? Waita second... I see someone getting out the car... is that her boss? What does he think he's doing here? hmm... Well I guess he's here to tell her about her promotion.. Honestly I don't think she deserves it butttt... I don't really care. Phew... for a second there I thought he was her new boyfriend... Just a little false alarm I guess.. Haha..

Okay, She just opened the door... he's walking towards ... She just hugged him. Huh? What the heck! Did she just kiss this dude? What is her problem.. It's barely been two weeks since we broke up and she's already smooching another guy! Well isn't she just a thot! I can't believe that I almost ended up marrying her.. in fact I don't even know why I wasted my time with her. She should feel ashamed.

It's alright though, because she has no clue that stole 10,000 bucks out of her bank account last week. She's about to be broke as hell... So in the end I'm the winner. I always win.. But before I leave I have another idea...

Alrighty then! They finally went in to the house. Let me get started before they come back out... There it is! Her brand new Ford Mustang GT. I kind of feel bad for doing this but.. OH WELL!

*SNAP-CRACKLE POP!!!

*5 minutes later...

Phew!! That wore me out but look at her car now. It's a masterpiece! Alright let me get outta here..

The Tattoo of Death

What? I'm still alive somehow... But why? The that I got when I was five years old said that I was supposed to die on August 30th, 1954. That was 22 years ago... I'm 27 years old now. That's crazy though. I remember the doctor's exact words, "Joe YOU WILL DIE 22 years from now... There is no exception, you shouldn't live a day longer or die a day earlier." I remember the fear that struck my heart when I heard those words as layed down in the cold, gray chunk of metal like it was yesterday...  I could hear all of it's clicks' and clanks' as it analyzed every part of my body.

I was so nervous at that time as I awaited the exact prediction of my death. It was so cold in that machine, shivers went down my spine, and I felt as if I'd be stuck in that machine forever. I broke into a cold sweat and the chills in my back intensified. My head started to throb and my vision got blurry, I felt so claustrophobic in that cold piece of metal. I felt like the life was being sucked right out of me. I began to feel as if my demise was coming a little soner than the steel capsule could predict. I felt as if I was dying...

The large mechanical doors of the metal deathtrap began to open and a bright stream of white light began to beam through. I took a deep sigh as I heard the doctor's calm voice comfort me as I exited the machine. "Wow son, you look like you just left the sona", he chuckled as he closed the doors of the capsule. The machine was connected to what appeared to be some sort of fancy, hi-tech, and futuristic typewriter. I had never seen anything like it. It spat out several sheets of paper with a lot of information. The doctor slowly walked over to the typewriter, grabbed the papers and studied them for a moment. He looked up at me with a puzzled expression. In a very calm, resonating voice he said, "Joe, this is a little confusing to me... but the tests say that you are going to make it to 27 before you die." My eyes widened with fear, "What?!" The doctor replied, "Something doesn't sound right, maybe we should run these tests over... something must be wrong with the prediction capsule."

I sat down in the chair next to capsule, "That doesn't even sound right, I don't have any sort of sickness that could lead to this", I whimpered. "Well son, we can run another test if you want", the doctor replied. I quickly retorted, "NEVER AGAIN...couldn't you just let me find out the natural way?" He replied, " Hmm... that's not a bad idea but either way I still have to give you this tattoo because it's my job. But okay! It's a deal!"

Serial Killer

Hi, my name is Billy John Walker and I'm a 35 year old man. I just got home from a hard day at "work" and boy I tell you, it's not an easy job. I had ten clients today at the "office" and they were so difficult to deal with. I mean... they just wouldn't shut their mouths, begging for me to spare their lives... They were so pathetic, all of them sounded like a bunch of whimpering, sniveling babies who had lost their pacifiers. But enough complaining about my job, I should cook myself something to eat with the fresh "meat" I just caught.

Hmm.. What should I make myself tonight" Oh! Some fried legs and bbq toes sounds good as hell right now! I should probably put some of my special seasoning on the grilled fingers that I'm baking right now when they come out of the oven. Let me set the timer for that... And how could I forget about the brain BLT that I was planning to make? I should probably get some lettuce and tomatoes out of the refrigerator real quick. Boy oh boy!! This sounds so delicious. It's making my stomach growl... I should give myself a pat on the back. I knew I should've became a chef when I graduated from college...

*Three and a half hours later...

Alright... Everything looks finished cooking... let me go get something to drink... I think I'll have some cherry kool-aid tonight. It smells good in here. Let me fix my plate and go see what's on TV... Hmm... I wonder what's on tonight? Oh! My favorite movie is on! This is gonna be a good night.. I should do this more often. HAHAHA...... 

Tree

Hello my name is Mr. Tree Allen but you can call me "Tree" for short. I'm 25 feet tall , I have a nice green afro, and my hobbies are standing still all day, watching what goes on around my block, growing fruit, and taking rain showers. I have a lot of little animals that that make me their home but they don't get to live here for free. They have to pay me rent if they want to stay on one of my branches. You could almost compare me to a hotel if you really think about it. Oh and that fruit that I grow isn't free either, if you're an animal you have to pay for that too. So you could say that I make a lot of commission of the little animals each year.

There are a couple disadvantages to being a big, tall tree though. Like birds always trying to poop on my hair. Or in the winter when it's so cold my hair starts to fall out. What really gets in my skin is when those little creepy crawlers try to live on me. I hate bugs with a passion. They are so disgusting, especially the dung beetles and cockroaches. They always leave a mess wherever they go. I also hate it when humans think that they can just steal my fruit from my branches. I've even heard that when they steal my fruit they try to sell it, isn't that illegal? What thieves! But the worst part about humans is when they decide to cut down and kill my other fellow tree friends. They are so cold blooded... I've seen many of my friends get chopped down at the hands of humans. I don't know why they haven't tried to cut me down yet... Maybe it's because my fruit is so good that they don't wanna get rid of me... I'm such a lucky tree.

But overall, being a tree isn't all that bad. I just get to chill out all day, and I don't have to worry about a thing. I have an easy job, and I'm so tall that I can see everything that goes on around me. I can be nosey and in to somebody else's business and they wouldn't even know. So I guess that I could say, I have it pretty easy as a tree.

Durham 100 years from now..

Imagine Durham 100 years from now. Wow... That's interesting. Imagine what kind of technology advancements the city would recieve. I feel like in 100 years Durham wouldn't be to different from what it is right now. I mean sure thre probably would be a lot more new technology and stuff, but I think that if anybody lived long enough to see the the "new Durham" they would still be able to recognize it. I think that the buildings would look a little bit more futuristic than they do now but it wouldn't that drasti c of a change. I feel like the cars that people drive would be more fuel efficient and safer. They would probably make a cars a little bit faster than they are now.

I think that a lot of technology that we use now would be much more advanced, futuristic, and useful 100 years from now. I feel like computers will have touchscreens or they might have holographic computers by then. I think that computers would also be able to do even more than what they can do now. Cell phones would have greatly changed 100 years from now. They would be a lot more advanced and they wouldn't look the same. Phones will probably get a lot better reception downstairs at Riverside if it still is in existence. Cell phones would have better applications that are more similar to a computer's applications. Students at Riverside might be able to cheat on tests easier (I don't cheat). I feel like students with phones might be able to use their phones to type papers instead of using a computer for a class project.

I feel like school buildings won't be the same either.They would be more technologically advanced and they'd be ore technologically oriented. The "average" classroom today would look nothing like a classroom 100 years from now. I think there would be a lot more technology involved in the class room. Technology would play a much bigger role in the class than it does now. I think that instead of using paper as much, students would use computers for class room assignments. Things like an active board would be a lot easier to use and they would have more futuristic technology.

Restaurants in Durham would  change greatly also. I think that ordering food from a restaurant like Applebees or Texas Roadhouse would be a lot easier. Ordering food from a restaurant wouldn't require a host, hostess, waiter, or waitress anymore because restaurants might have new technology to order your food without using a paper menu or having a host take your order down for you. The big screen TV's that are in restaurants might be replaced by smaller TV's that are put at each table.

the storm...

The sky was a grayish yellow tint before the deadly storm struck my uncle's shed and took the life of his six year old boy. I noticed the clouds began to turn dark and the sky became blacker in a matter of minutes. I began to hear the loud and obnoxious rolling of thunder as the clouds collided with eachother. I shivered a the wind ripped through my spine and the heavy raindrops slapped against my bare shouders as I ran through the leafy trail leading to my uncle's large wooden shed. The earth beneath my feet shook and rumbled like an earthquake as a large streak of lighting smacked a gargantuan tree nearby. The enormous sequoia snapped like a twig at it's base and came tumbling down into another tree.

I finally made it to my Uncle Rick's beaten shed and to my surpise I saw him sitting in a corner, alive and well. But as I observed him, he had a very obvious look of pain, sorrow, and distraught. As I took a glimpse of the ruins that remained of the shed my heart suddenly dropped... In the rubble that the storm had left for my uncle there was a motionless body. As I came back to my senses, I slowly walked over to where the body layed, removed the debris of the storm and took a look at the body. I let out a shriek of suprise and horror as I observed it's face. From what I could tell, it was my uncle's youngest son, Nathaniel Einstein Bobby Jones. I picked up the small child's body and I could feel the limpness of his carcass. It felt as if every single bone in his body had been crushed and he felt as flate as a pancake. His skin was as cold as limestone, his face as pale as chalk. His whole face was scarred up with large cuts and bruises and his small mouth was agape. As I observed the child I culd see that his two front teeth had been broken by the impact of the wooden planks that crushed him.

As I stood in the middle of the what remained of the shed I could the weeps and cries of my uncle as he mourned over his child's death. He sounded like a woman who just found out that she had a miscarriage. He cried out, "This is all my damn fault! If only I had used better materials to build my house with, this woould've never happened." Glancing at him for a second, I replied, "Don't say that. It's not your fault at all. Maybe it was just his time to go."

What I've always wanted to say is...

What I've always wanted to ssay is... TRACK IS LIFE!! Without track I don't know what I'd be doing to keep myself occupied on a daily basis. I feel like track has kept me out of a lot of trouble in the past because I like it so much. Track has become more of an outlet for me as I've become older, wiser, and more mature through the years. Whenever I get too bored to bear and I feel like there's nothing to do, I remember that I can always go run and get a good workout in. Whenever I am at school and I feel myself starting to slack off with my school work I think about all of the opportunities that I could be wasting to go run college track and it makes me pick up the pace and work harder.

I think that going running on a track is the best stress reliever. I say this because whenever I've had a bad day, I can just go out and run and forget about all of my stress for a little while. Whenever things aren't going too well for me I can always go running to clear my head. Another thing that I like about track is the anticipation and anxiety that I feel right before a race. I get the butterflies and my stomach starts to hurt a little bit.. I try to think of everything that could motivate me to win. Also I try to zone out everyone and everything that could distract me and make me lose my focus. The only thing I focus on is winning my event, giving full effort, and running the best possible time that I can run.

I hope that one day I can get the opportunity to run track at the collegiate level for a division 1 college, because I want to be able to run track for as long as I can. I'm willing to make sacrifices and take chances so that I can be successful at track. I feel like track is one of the best sports ever created. Whenever I step onto the track I feel all the worries of the world just slip away from my mind. I am completely free of stress...

Who I am

My name is Jahmon Allen and I'm from Durham, I was born July 1st, 1997 at UNC-Chapel Hill hospital sometime in the early morning. I run track and I play football. I hope to one day run college track at the Division 1 level and to become a national champion in the 400 meter dash. Eventually I want to make it to the Olympics. If anyone has had an influence on my life, it has been my father. I say this because he has dealt with a lot of adversity throughout his life, but he still found a way to persevere through and become successful through hard work. When I graduate from high school I want to attend UNC-Chapel Hill or NC State. I'm not sure what I want to major in yet, but I'd want it to be a major that could get me a good career in the future. When I do graduate from college, I want to run track professionally and I want to have a successful career as an athlete. When my track career is over I want to have a job that I actually like to do. I'd like to make at least 200,00 dollars a year.

I began running track when I was in the 7th grade, out of curiosity. When I first started out I wasn't that good at it and I never really won any of my races. It wasn't until my junior year at Riverside that I started to really show my ability on the track and start to win races. As I've continued to get better and improve I've learned that to get better at my sport I have to set higher standards for myself and not just reach the standards of others who are below me, because if I run the same time as someone who is slower than me then that would show that I wasn't making any improvement. I've also learned that I should do that for other important things, like school, or when I'm trying to get job. I think that I should even set goals for minor things because in the long run, accomplishing small things can lead to me accomplishing things that are much bigger.

Some of my goals for this school year is to make straight A's and finish my senior year with a 3.9 GPA or maybe even higher, and get an academic or athletic scholarship. My goals for my last track season at Riverside are to run a 22.8 in the 200 meter dash and go to states and place, run a 48.5 in the 400 meter dash and make it to state finals and to place, and I want to get a scholarship offer to run track at a Division 1 college.

Football is another sport that I play because I know that it benefits me a lot when track season comes around in the Spring. All of the condition and weight lifting that we do during the Summer and Fall really helps me to get faster and stronger when track season comes around. Also I believe that football is a great way to benefit me in track because it made me more mentally tough, which is crucial in track because to be a great track athlete you have to be tough not just physically, but mentally also. All of the hard work that's required of you and the challenges that you face on an everyday basis really go a long way once track season starts.