The Monarch, Issue #3, April 2015

Posted by ivan_m on April 22, 2015 in Uncategorized |

Welcome readers to our third issue of The Monarch, Madison Middle School’s on-line monthly magazine. Thanks for checking us out and giving our writers an authentic audience.  Our mission is to provide a space for all students to share their perfect, and not so perfect, pieces of writing.
Enjoy!
Melissa Ivan
Publisher

 

Don’t Give Up

by Kaitlyn Mcclure

When you feel like you’re done and don’t want to stay

When you keep telling yourself it’s your time

When you hear that little voice in you your head saying, “Go no one will care”

When you start hurting yourself because of all the little things

When you start to believe what that voice is saying you’ll realize

No

I’m not done
I want to stay
It’s not my time
Some people do care
I’m not going to believe what my mind’s saying

I’m not going to hurt myself anymore

When you make that decision you’ll have second thoughts

I know

(But never stop fighting)

 

Common Writer’s Follies

by Griffin Fields

I find that despite apparent skill, many middle school writers make mistakes often, myself included. Their errors are usually similar to ones made by their peers. In this “article” I will be naming the common follies of Madison’s 7th grade writers.

I’m going to start with the obvious. Punctuation and capitalization. For the most part these are done correctly. However, small mistakes arise in the form of missing commas frequently. The statement “let’s eat grandma” is probably not what the writer meant. It was more likely intended to be “let’s eat, grandma.” Unless the author was a cannibal in which case, join the club!

Anyways, What else do Madison writers mess up? Paragraphing. I know you may think that it’s quicker to separate your thoughts after writing them. Imagine, if you will, killing a pig for bacon. If you try putting the unseparated corpse onto the grill it’s gonna take a while to cook the whole thing. And when you cut it up, the delicious ham is gonna have pig’s foot juices in it. Not pleasant. Similarly, separating your thoughts into paragraphs after finishing will take longer and the pieces will be mixed up.

Although both of these other mistakes can be problematic, the thing I find crushes the most stories underfoot is improper use of present tense. Sometimes people will use both past and present tense in the same story. For example, ” I run across the street and bought a sandwich” is a botched sentence. It could have been “I run across the street and buy a sandwich” is technically following the rules but still sounds wrong. This is because writing nearly always sounds better in past tense. “I ran across the street and bought a sandwich” is by far the most attractive of these examples.

Oh, and by the way, never say more cooler. Heck, never say anything including more and er. We’ll call this morer and mostest problem. He’s more taller, She’s the most smartest. Don’t do it. I will hunt you down.

 

 

A True Story: My Missing Half

by Ryleigh Andersen

In the summer of 2014, it became more clear that my uncle was a victim of suicidal thoughts, drugs and alcohol. His four year old daughter, Taylor, was exposed to those sights, growing up watching him pop pills one after another and shot after shot. My mother, a very loving and caring person, couldn’t bare watching her niece try to determine what was wrong, and what was actually right. When her brother ended up in the hospital after a suicide attempt, it was the last straw for her. On our way home back from California, we brought Taylor back with us, in hopes of getting custody of her.

As time pasted by, I felt the presence of a great bond between Taylor and I. I felt like she was a sister to me, meaning she annoyed me so much, that my head could have exploded, but yet we had the best times together when we were acting civil. She was the best at taking selfies, and she was the best partner you could have while tubing, and every sentence that came out of her mouth would make you crack up laughing without a doubt.

A few months pasted, and there was still no reply from our lawyer about getting custody, until today. My mom had told me to tell her if her phone rang, she said that she was waiting for an important call. The phone rang, and with a grin on my face, I ran straight up to my moms room to give her the phone. A few minutes later she opened her door, and made her way to Taylor. A tear rolled down her face.

Everyone was filled with silence and sad emotions, that is, everyone but me. My mom, holding Taylor and crying the hardest I have ever seen her cry, my 3 year old brother Reece, confused and immune to what was going on, raced around the house with a car in one hand, and a toy airplane in the other. My oldest brother chandler, and my dad Eron, rushed around the house, doing what ever my mother, or Taylor commanded, while I, sat still.

My mom was determined to do anything and everything that Taylor demanded before it was time to give her up. We got her some ice cream, and I watched as she smiled at everyone while eating her favorite- strawberry and vanilla ice cream in a cup. I felt bad, she was sitting there, having the best time, seeing tears fall of my mothers chin, and not even know what was actually going to happen tonight at six. We then we went to a skate park. I watched as Taylor had an amazing time watching the “big kids” do tricks and flips on scooters and skateboards. After we left, my mom pulled out Anna and Elsa dolls. Taylor got Elsa, and Reece got the matching Anna doll from the kid famous movie “Frozen”. She shook her fists in excitement and looked at Reece, who was also jumping out of his seat.

We all sat quietly in the car until my mother spoke, and tried to explain to Taylor that her father was coming to take her back. Taylor stopped shaking in excitement, now more like fright. I saw her shed tear after tear while she cries out- “I don’t want to go home! I don’t want to go to daddy, I want to stay her with you auntie” . As my mom cried one more time from joy of hearing Taylor call her auntie, I still felt no emotions. I have always thought of Taylor as a sister, but if that was so, why wasn’t I crying as well?

When we got to the police station, I thought for sure that I would feel the pain of loosing a loved one. She will be in California while I’m in Oregon, and I know her father will cut off as much contact that she has with us as possible, but still, I felt nothing.

Taylor was gone, my mom, still bawling her eyes out, and me, nothing. I felt nothing! All I could think was “I am a horrible person”. But still, nothing.

It wasn’t until Monday, that I felt the loss. I woke up and opened my door, where Taylor would usually meet me at 6:30, but she wasn’t there, I ran to her room, she wasn’t there. I broke down in tears. I went to the bathroom and started the shower, and I washed my body as I

listened to the water poor, which usually wasn’t the case, Taylor would always be talking my ear off but not this time.

When I got out of the shower, I went through my clothes trying to decide what to wear. I pulled out two outfits, and sat there looking at them for awhile. Usually Taylor would help me decide which one to wear (usually the one with the most pink on it), but I was forced to do it on my own this time, and forever more.

It’s nearly a year later, and I still can’t go to sleep with out her image appearing and her voice echoing in my head. I go to school everyday feeling incomplete, and when I arrive home my hopes are high and I’m exploding with excitement, until I remember that she’s gone. After she left, all I could think was never again would I take another selfie with a smile on my face, never again would I laugh as hard as I did, but I did. I laughed when I watched videos of us running around the house playing tag and singing let it go, and I smile in every single selfie that I take, because I can picture her sitting right next to me. To this day I have not lost hopes of seeing her again. She was my best friend, always will be, and I don’t give up on friends that easily.

 

 Riddles Just For Fun

by Geneva Long

Q: Tuesday, Sam and Peter went to a restaurant to eat lunch. After eating lunch, they paid the bill. But Sam and Peter did not pay the bill, so who did?
A: Their friend, Tuesday.

Q: What gets broken without being held?
A: A promise.

Q: What is always coming but never arrives?
A: Tomorrow

Q: What goes through towns and over hills but never moves?
A: A Road

Q: What has Eighty-eight keys but can’t open a single door?
A: A piano

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