The Sewer

The Sewer

My name is Alea. My mother was obsessed with rare names. This is how I got my name. I am not a normal person. Actually, I’m not really a person anymore. I wasn’t always like the way I am now. I’ll tell you my story.

It was a normal school day just like any other. Except this day was different, like totally different. I am the typical normal girl that the mean girls pick on. This day started out like any other day. Wake up, get ready, head to school, and wait for the bullies. I’m only sixteen, and everyone else in my class is sixteen or seventeen.

I get to school and see the girls waiting for me. I walk past them, but of course they follow me. I go to my locker to get my Calculus book. I try ignoring them, but they shove me into my locker and walk away. They like to spread rumors about me. They message me online telling me to kill myself. I learned to just ignore the whole thing, but they don’t stop. Everyday they walk pass me and shove me into my locker or into the wall.

Today there was an early out because the weather was suppose to get bad. I was walking to the stop sign to call my mom. I heard a snicker suddenly and then I felt someone shove me into the sign. My nose started to bleed, so I just walked away. I called my mom and the phone started to ring. Then there was an answer, nevermind it was just her voicemail. I left her a voicemail and headed back to the school to the nurse’s office.

When I reached the door, Melissa was waiting for me. Melissa is one of my bullies. She stopped me dead in my tracks and glared at me. She pushed me around and then grabbed my arm and threw me. Melissa threw me straight into the sewer, and I went tumbling down.

**************

All I could see was a bright light. Then there was nothing. I heard voices, but I couldn’t speak. I felt my heartbeat slowing down. My mind was racing. Am I dying? I thought that over and over again. When the light disappeared, I saw my mother crying. She was hunched over something, it was my body covered in blood. I stood there perplexed. How can I see myself? Am I dead?

I had so many questions that wouldn’t go answered. My mom got up and started to walk towards the school, I followed her. She was walking towards Melissa who was being put into a cop car. What was going on? I heard my mom talking to the officer, and he told her the story that he got from Melissa and the teacher.

The teacher was Mr. Johnsen, he saw Melissa throw me into the sewer, and he called 911 right away. Melissa told the cops that she was just messing around and didn’t mean to throw me into the sewer. Melissa was crying in the back of the car.

“Why was there no lid on the sewer?” Sharon, my mom, questioned.

“Today is the day we clean out the sewers,” Mr. Johnsen told my mom.

The cop cars sped off after my mom was done talking to them. The paramedics walked over to my mom and apologized saying that they couldn’t do anything. The paramedics said that I suffered from a broken neck, and serious bleeding injuries. My mom started to cry even more and started to shout.

My mom got in her car and sped straight to our house. She got out and ran into the house. I followed her straight into my room. I watched as my mom sat on my bed and grabbed my baby picture. She ran her finger down the side of the picture and started to talk to herself.

“I wish I was there to get you before you school was out. I wish I would have answered your call. I wish I could have been there for you. Why wasn’t I there?” I heard my mom say through the sniffles. “Oh how I wish I could turn back the clock and save my only baby. I lost your father to a drunk driver and now I lose you to a person who thought it would be funny to hurt you.”

I stood there wishing I could hug her and comfort her, but all I could do was sit down next to her. She looked up off the picture and set it down. I wanted to say something, tell her everything was going to be ok, tell her that I’m here, but I can’t. I walked to the police station to see Melissa in her jail cell looking at the floor. The floor was covered in blood from a jail fight, I hope.

I decided to say something knowing they won’t hear me, but I had to get this off my chest.

“Melissa, I can’t believe you did this. What made you think it was funny to pick on me? What made you decide to throw me? Can you tell me please?”

Melissa looked over in my direction. “Alea, is that you? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I only picked on you because I was scared that you were going to steal my friends. You were so pretty that I thought everyone would like you more, so I felt that I needed you to feel that you shouldn’t talk to my friends. I didn’t think it was funny, but when I started to pick on you the first time, I couldn’t stop. I’m so sorry. I wish I could rewind and become friends with you.”

I started to cry. I looked at her, and I saw the real Melissa for the first time. I walked over to where she was sitting and patted her back.

“I forgive you. I wanted to be your friend, but I didn’t think you did either.”

She smiled. The officer came and told her it was time to eat. She got up and looked at me. I smiled hoping she would see me. This was weird. My mother couldn’t see me, nor could she hear me. Melissa could, she could hear me, and probably see me. After awhile I decided to head home and see my mother. She was standing in our basement, looking at all of our old photos together. The picture of my father, my mother, and me stood out. I didn’t want to die, not like this anyway.

I decided it was best not to see my mom in pain, so I left to go to my room. As I was walking to my room, I saw that my mom left the t.v. on, and the news was beginning. I sat on the couch and stared at the news. While I was sitting there, I felt my heartbeat come back. It was beating again; this can’t be happening. I thought I died from the fall.

My mom must have heard the news because she was running up the steps. We would always watch the news together. When she reached the top step the phone went off.

Old and Abandoned

Old and Abandoned

There is this old and abandoned house. It lives up on a hill. It is gray, torn down, falling apart, over 100 years old, and no one lives there anymore. There is a rumor about that house. Everyone says it is haunted because the person who lived there died. His name was Newton White. He was only thirty-six when his house began to fall apart. He went to the attic to fix the roof when all of a sudden BAM! Newton’s body was found a week later. He fell through the floor and broke open his head. They say he haunts the house to this day.

The house hasn’t changed much since it fell down. Although, it really isn’t broken down completely. It stills stands up, and you can still go inside of it. The house has most of the paint gone now, but it has a few places where there is still paint. There are a few scraps on the outside from the roof falling down. There also is a tree that scraped the side of the house.

We are a bunch of teenagers, and of course we want to know if that rumor is real. There is Emily, Autumn, Emma, Allison, Grace, Nora and I. My name is Kylynn, but I like to go by Ky. Emily likes to go by Em, Autumn likes to go by Fall not because she is clumsy, but because Fall is another name for Autumn. Emma likes to go by Emma because she doesn’t really like nicknames. Allison likes to go by Allie, and Grace likes to go by Grace, but Allie calls her Gracie. Nora doesn’t like nicknames either.

We always hang out during the summer because there is no school. Everyday we walk past that creepy house. We stop and look at it to see if we can see anything. We stare at the house until our eyes hurt. We never see anything move. We were walking by it yesterday and didn’t bother to look at it until someone said something.

“Ky, did you see that?” Em asked.

“I saw it,” said Nora.

“Same,” Grace nodded.

“Well I didn’t see it. What was it?” I asked confused.

“The lamp that is still there for some odd reason moved from this window to that window,” Allie pointed.

We walked to the park that just finished being built. We all got on the swings and talked about what we are going to do the next. Allie and Grace came up with the idea to explore the house. I thought about us exploring it tomorrow.

As the dark sky turned to dawn, I was up and ready. I started by waking everyone up. First I woke up Nora, then it was Allie, and Grace. Nora woke up Em, and Fall. Fall awoke with  a startle. She was about to scream at us because she was having the best dream ever. Allie rolled her eyes.

We went downstairs, and my mom was awake. She was painting the kitchen a teal color. It used to be a maroon color.

“What are you doing?” I seemed to have startled my mom.

“Oh my goodness! What are you doing up so early?” My mom got off her ladder.

“Well we were going to um…” Grace trailed off.

“What?” My mom got a stern face.

“Mom, we are going to explore the house and see if it is haunted?” I rolled my eyes and put quotations around the word haunted.

My mom walked over the the kitchen sink.

“Hey Gracie, I was thinking about the house,” Allie looked at Grace.

“You are thinking that it is haunted, and the trespassing on private property,” she looked at the floor.

“It probably isn’t haunted, and it isn’t private property anymore. Let’s go!” I shouted and ran out the door.

We ran out the door and started to head south. The house was up on the hill south of my house. You know that one friend that always trips over everything? I am that one friend. As we are running down the hill to get to the other hill, I trip. I stood up, and everyone was staring at me.

“What? I’m fine,” I laughed and started walking again.

“Sure you are,” Em grabbed my hand.

“Don’t trip at the house. I hear it is very delicate,”  whistled a voice.

Everyone turned around to see if anyone was there. There was no one in sight. We turned to the other side and there was the girl sitting on her porch.

“Syd, I didn’t know you would be up so late,” I walked over to her.

“I woke up because my dogs were barking.”

“Want to join us?” Nora asked.

“Sure. What are you guys doing?” Syd asked puzzled.

“Exploring the house up on the hill,” Grace pointed out.

Syd’s real name is Sydney. We started walking again. We stopped at the park bench to eat a little snack. I picked out the strawberries. Em and Allie also ate the strawberries while everyone else ate raspberries and some pineapple. After everyone was done eating, we went over to take a break and talked about what we might see.

After we were done we started to head to the house. We started to walk up the rose filled path. The roses now had weeds in them for not be tended to. As we reached the door, there was a loud creaking noise. Emma jumped back. We turned around and looked at her. She shrugged and walked back up by us. We stepped inside and the floors creaked with every step.

After ten minutes, Emma started to think that it was haunted for sure. Did I forget to mention that there is a rumor for people who trespass will disappear. Apparently there was this kid named Jenna, and she disappeared after her brother dared to sit inside the house for over a hour.

Fall couldn’t stand to be in the house anymore, so she left and went home. Emma tried talking us out of figuring this out. We kept telling her she will be fine. It has been half an hour, and nothing looks different than usual. Emma started to shake. She looked like she was about to scream.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this anymore,” Emma ran out the door.

Grace ran after her to try and stop her. It was just Allie, Nora, Em, Fall, Syd, and me left. Allie started to wonder what was causing Emma to run. She started to search the room Emma was in. She found this secret hidden door that laid behind the curtains. She didn’t want to know what was behind the door, so she left the room.

A couple minutes later, there was a loud bang. It was just the lamp, but the lamp was thrown across the room. This place was starting to get scary. Allie decided it was time to leave. The house was definitely haunted. I don’t think it was just Newton. Fall couldn’t stand to be in the house anymore, so she left and went home. Everyone else stayed outside to wait for us.

After another ten minutes, it was just Syd, Nora, and me left. Em couldn’t stand the smell of the house. She said it smelt like someone died in here which someone did. Nora and I went to another room and found the door. We didn’t bother to open it either. We decided that since we explored the whole house, we should leave. Syd didn’t want to leave the house until she felt like it.

We all sat down in the grass looking at the door waiting for her. The door was left open incase anyone wanted to go back in. Of course, no one felt the need to head back into the house. Sydney appeared in the doorway and started to head back out. We glanced away for a second and looked back. She was gone. She was there then she wasn’t.

“I’m going back to look for her,” I said.

“Ky, I wouldn’t she disappeared. Doesn’t that mean you might?” Grace asked.

Everyone looked at me.

“I don’t care. We need to find her.”

“Fine. I’ll go,” Nora said.

“Same,” Allie and Grace said at the same time.

“Gracie, we said that at the same time,” Allie looked at Grace.

“Em, Emma, you guys gonna stay and watch to see if we make it out?” I asked.

“Emma, I think we should,” Em said staring at the house.

We heard someone say something. Then there was nothing. We walked into the house, and Allie lead us to the door she found.

“I think this could lead somewhere,” Allie started to look like she was about to kick the door open.

“Nora and I saw this earlier. I wanted to walk away quickly because I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw that it wasn’t Nora’s,” I sighed.

Allie ignored my comment and opened the door. It was dark, but I always have a flashlight. We crawled through the door one at a time. There was nothing in sight. It was really quiet until Nora screamed.

“What was that for?” yelled Allie. “It was right in my ear.

“Well Allison, I stepped on something,” Nora gave Allie a sarcastic look.

Allie looked down at her foot. “Nora, don’t freak out, but you just stepped on a bone of some sort.”

Nora ran out of the little room screaming. She ran right out of the house and straight into Emily’s arms.We kept walking until one of us ran into a wall. All we could hear was the sound of us breathing. It was dead silent for a second. I felt a door knob and shook it open. Everyone followed me through the door, and it led to another room. Then there was a spiral staircase.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go save Sydney,” Grace yelled walking down the staircase.

Everyone followed her. The staircases looked like it was new. There was a lot of dust though. There was a creaky noise every time someone took a step. At the end of the staircase, we found what we were looking for. The truth and Sydney. It turns out that the house was haunted, and the ghost would take people to a hidden place for them to rot.

A month later, we heard on the news that the creepy was burnt down. The news didn’t have any pictures because the house was old, and no one wanted to go near it. We decided to go check it out. I gathered everything and everyone up again. We started to head to the house when we see something appear. This time Fall didn’t show. She didn’t even answer. The thing that appeared was her cell phone. It was broken in half, and the glass was shattered.

We walked up to the burnt down house, and all that was left was the spiral staircase. There was a rope hanging from the staircase. The rope looked like someone was struggling to tie it, and they scratched part of the rope. We walked closer, and we saw something hanging from the rope. They was something spray painted in red on the staircase. It said, I told you to stay away.

Autumn was staring at the rope. The rope had a lamp hanging from it. This was starting to get weird. We took pictures and then ran off. We went to the police and showed them the pictures. The pictures didn’t turn out like we thought they did because there was nothing there. It was just a picture of the house. We continued to explain that there was a rope hanging there. The rope looked like it was old and had a couple strands of string tied around it. Then there was the lamp hanging from it. The lamp was covered in dust, but you could tell that it was the color burgandy.

It had a few rips in the shade, but it was in good shape other than that. It had the cord hanging off of it. It was unplugged, but yet it was still somehow lit up. The police laughed and said we were just seeing things. They told us to go home and get some rest. We wanted to get to the bottom of this.

Poem PPOW

Opinion on Books

I love books.

They are fun to read.

Books take you many places

like another world.

I read all the time.

Books are the best thing

to be invented.

That is my opinion.

I have read so many books

to the point that I have nothing else to read.

My favorite genres of books are

mystery, horror, fantasy, or  anything that appeals to me.

I have read mostly fantasy and mystery.

My favorite book series that I have read so far

is the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter has seven books:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

or also known as the Sorcerer’s Stone,

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Opinion on Animals

I love animals.

Animals can be sweet.

There are some animals

that aren’t kind or sweet.

Those animals are mean and

sometimes scary.

All animals are my favorite, but

some animals are not high up on my list.

Tigers are my number one favorite, and

snakes are my least favorite.

Horses are another one of my favorites.

Spiders are also one of my least favorites.

Tigers are my favorite because

they are orange, and in my opinion

they are beautiful animals.

Horses are also my favorite because

they are beautiful and graceful in my opinion.

Spiders aren’t my favorite because

they can be scary, and they are not

beautiful animals.

Snakes are my least favorite because

I don’t like the way the slither.

Other animals that are my favorite ones

are cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, ducks, and more.

Another least favorite would have to be a crocodile.

Opinion on Writing

I love to read books, so

I thought why not write them.

I love writing books, but not poems.

Poems can be hard at times, but

when I’m writing books,

I keep the ideas flowing.

I feel like more people like

reading books, and they can

take you to more places than poetry.

When I am writing, I go to another world.

I have no idea what I am doing in poetry.

I hope I get to write more stories when I’m older.

Writing can change the world.

I state my opinion in books sometimes, and

it is kinda hard to state your opinion in poetry.

I like writing books more than I like writing poetry.

I just think books are more important than poetry.

People who write poetry might think my opinion is insane, but

I think writing books is better.

In writing you can express your feelings,

you can express yourself even.

I think in poetry you write about one thing

and one thing only.

I believe that in writing you can express fantasy,

don’t hide behind reality.

Papa Lemons

Papa Lemons

I barely ever saw my Papa Lemons. He was my mom’s grandpa, that makes him my great grandpa. His real name was James Lemons, but everyone in my family called him Papa. We would visit him whenever we got the chance. He couldn’t talk very well; he would always give us his favorite sign, thumbs up. He is the only great grandparent I ever knew on my mom’s side because my great grandma Emily Lemons died before I was born. I wish I would have talked to him more. I know I was related to him, but I always became speechless when I was around him. I miss him.

James served in World War II. I’m glad that he survived because if he didn’t I would have never got to meet him. I don’t remember much from his house, but I think he had the hat he wore laying around. He had to be on an oxygen tank; I think that is because of him smoking. I wish I could remember more about him. He was the best great grandpa considering I only knew one of my great grandpas. We would visit him in the hospital when we got the chance. He couldn’t hear very well either now that I remember. My mom would have to yell sometimes to get him to hear us.

I remember most of the time I would talk quietly, so my mom would yell my answer for me. Every time someone would walk into his room, he would put his thumb up. His room smelled like the hospital. I don’t know much about him, and him being in his hospital room. He would always smile at us. I wish I could remember more about him. I never knew that someone from my family could be such a stranger to me.

On Christmas day, my mom received a call from her mom. My mom only heard crying and muffled sounds. She made out words from the muffled sounds. My mom started crying before she even hung up. After she hung up, I walked up to her and hugged her. She told us that he passed away; it was hard to understand her, but as soon as she said that one word we all knew. That one word was “died.”

Ever since he passed, we go to his grave on memorial day. Every Christmas, we go outside with balloons and release them for him. The reason why we release balloons for him on Christmas is because he died on Christmas day. We only release red and green balloons. We even write notes in them for him. I know he can’t read them, but it is the thought that counts.

I don’t remember the date of the funeral. All I remember from the funeral is not being able to speak. My aunt Shaya came all the way from Colorado for Christmas like she does every year. She stayed longer that Christmas and went to his funeral. We had a row of all the kids there. The row was just filled with tissues.

After the funeral, my grandma, Marcia, got his flag since she was his daughter. I don’t remember, but I think she also got his uniform. She keeps his flag on display in her hallway. She has pictures of him hanging there also. I got a little bear that had a magazine in it from him after the funeral. I have something to remember him by. I believe, I got that from helping clean his old apartment.

There is so much I could remember, but I can’t. Christmas isn’t the same anymore. I miss him. I hid sometimes in the hospital, so I didn’t have to say anything. I was always so nervous around him. I knew that he was family, but he seemed like a stranger to me. If he was still alive today, I would talk to him more. He would be 95 now. He was alone in his apartment; everyone would visit him, so he wouldn’t get lonely.

Papa was amazing even though he could barely talk or walk for that matter. I know he is in a better place now. He watches over me everyday. I know he is happy now. He doesn’t have to suffer anymore. I still wish he didn’t have to die the way he did, but my grandma said that he died peacefully.

Even though he died peacefully, he still suffered before he died. If I remember correctly, he could barely move. He fought for our freedom, and he was fighting for his life after he came home. Papa will always be remembered. I wished I got to tell him that I loved him for the last time.

Christmas is coming soon. Christmas day will be the day, I grab a balloon and head outside and send one for him. It’s hard on our family every year, well for me atleast. It is hard to see my grandma get teary eyed. We all loved him very much. I will remember him forever, hopefully. He may not be here on Earth, but he is here with us in our hearts. He will always be loved.

It hasn’t been very long, but it feels like forever. He is in Heaven now, a better and happier place. He doesn’t have to go through anymore pain. Christmas is never the same, and it never will be. I wish, I could see him one more time.

As the days go by, I still think of him, even though it doesn’t seem like it. I have so many things I wish I could tell him. He gets to be with his wife, Emily Lemons, everyday now. It is hard knowing someone that was loved passed away. For the last time, I love you Papa.