Poetry

Okay, so basically I'm going to use this blog as a warm-up for real writing. I'll post a poem every day before I work on my story. I apologize if the poems are horrible, but I don't specialize in poetry and am just practicing. Comments are welcome!

Please welcome Rory... my new pet!

Second Chapter 1

I froze, staring at the lead winged creature with cold fear. I hadn't seen Andrew in almost two years, and I had began to hope I would never have to see him again. But here he was.
Andrew smiled, his pure white wings folded neatly behind his bronze shoulders. If I had to give him a nationality, I would say he was Hispanic, but I knew he wasn't born in Spain. He was born in a lab.
"Long time no see. I see you took no time in finding yourself a new boyfriend..." Andrew drifted off, glancing over to Rory. Rory's entire body was tense, ready to fight. I only wished I could be that confident... but then again, if Rory knew just how fast Andrew could kill, he wouldn't be nearly as brave.
"What are you doing here? Why are you in my house?" Rory was standing, spitting words at Andrew in fury. That's what I like about Andrew- you can always trust him to defend you. Even if there's no way he can save you.
"You may as well ask Katherine... she knows me quite well. I would even venture to say that we were once friends..." Andrew stepped forward and cupped my chin in his hand. "The best of friends."
Before I could turn away, Rory's fist shot straight into Andrew's cheekbone. Andrew's body didn't move... his head merely shot sideways from the blow. Andrew cracked his neck, smiling. "Nice. But I can do better."
At a speed to fast for my human eyes to register, Rory was pressed against the wall, his arms bent up at painful angles behind his back. Andrew smiled. "Told you."
I glared at Andrew, who gave me a look that made it obvious he was showing off. "What do you want?"
"As if you don't already know. I want what I've always wanted- for you to come with us and join the boss."
"As if you don't already know. I'm not going to."
"This isn't like last time. I'm killing the humans now."
"That's against the rules, and you know it!"
"Not if you cover up the deaths by blaming someone else. I kill them, frame someone else, and nobody wonders about mutants."
I froze, horrified at what he had just said. It wasn't the fact that he was planning to kill my friends, or to destroy my life. I knew he wanted to do that. But the simplicity of his plan... now any human that stood in his way was as good as dead. Because the rules were changed.
"So... join us, or watch your friends die. Your choice."
"What is he talking about?" Rory's voice was now tinged with fear. "Join him in what? Who..." He gasped as Andrew pushed his arm up farther.
"One question at a time. Sadly, we aren't allowed to answer any of them... so I suppose you'll just have to keep you mouth shut."
I was trembling now, knowing that he was right. We all had microchips in our bodies... to remove them would be suicide. The microchips exploded if we told lies... somehow the sensed our blood pressure or something.
"So, what'll it be?" Andrew smiled at me. "You didn't think you could hide forever, did you?"
I swallowed. Not again... please let there be some way... "Can't we reach an agreement? What if..."
"No. I promise you, if you don't say that you'll come with us in the next minute, then you three friends here will die."
I clenched my fists tightly, repeating the same sentence over and over in my head. I will not give in. I will not give in. I stared hard at the ground, concentrating.
"You know Kate, it doesn't have to be this painful. Just join us. Join me."
I ignored Andrew. I will not give in.
"It wouldn't be like before..." He was using his other voice now, the voice he had used back when we were only sixteen. It was soft, careful, filled with pain, "We'd be partners with the boss now. We're equal now. Please.... I don't want to hurt you any more. The things I did before were just to keep you safe... the boss made me do them. I didn't want him to kill you... I'm sorry."
"Sorry!" I was crying now. "You killed them all Andrew. ALL OF THEM!" I was looking up at his face now, yelling. "If you were sorry you wouldn't be chasing me! If you were sorry you wouldn't listen to him! You say you're sorry... but just like when you say you love me, it isn't true."
Andrew glared at me. "How dare you accuse me of not loving you." His new voice was back. "And as for the other accusations, I have no choice. You know that. Don't yell at me for things I can't change."
"You of all people know..."
"Did it ever occur to you that I did everything to protect you? Did it ever occur to you that if I had a choice, I wouldn't be doing this?" Andrew shouted. "But I don't have a choice!"
There was a flash of red, and Rory was on the ground, dead. "Your minute is up. I'm not going to challenge you, because we both know you'll win." Andrew smiled. "But if I were you, I would get out of here soon. You know how we framed someone for the murders? That someone was you." Andrew smiled and walked up the stairs, followed by his mutant friends.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the three bodies on the ground. I then swallowed. Looking straight ahead, I climbed the stairs. I walked out the front door, then began to jog, then run, then sprint. I needed to get out of here.

Okay...

Alright, for anyone who is reading this... COMMENT! If you don't comment then I shall just have to decide for myself which chapter is the best. If you comment and I still don't listen, then you can reserve the right to complain. :)

First Chapter

I was sitting on my boyfriend's couch, laying with my head on his shoulder as we watched some dumb superhero movie, which I wasn't paying attention to. I was facing the TV, but I really wasn't watching the movie- Jack was much more interesting.
Jack was sitting on the ground, a fistful of popcorn in one hand and a can of coke in the other. I watched as he tried to shovel in popcorn and drink at the same time. Shove, slurp, shove shove shove, slurp, cough...
"Jack! You just spit popcorn all over my building!" Kyle, who was also sitting on the ground, pulled the sleeve of his sweatshirt up and rubbed off all of the spit and soda from his lego building. Seeing as Kyle is eighteen, you're probably thinking that legos are under him, but you don't know Kyle. Kyle is like a child prodigy- he was the type of kid who designed buildings for the Olympics. Jack was also looking at Kyle's building.
"Hey, can I help you?"
"No way dude, you'd ruin it. Here," Kyle picked up a handful of blocks and pushed them towards Jack, "You can build with these."
"No way!" Jack stood and leaped over the building, landing in the pile of big legos. But he never quite cleared the building.
"JACK!"
The building toppled over into the big pile of legos, little bricks flying everywhere. "I'm going to kill you!" Kyle tackled Jack into the pile of legos, and the two began to wrestle. I looked up to see if my boyfriend was going to join in just for the heck of it, but apparently Rory was the only person actually watching the movie.
I sighed, comparing his dark tan to my pale skin. We were in perfect contrast to each other- where he had full blond hair I had limp black, where he had vibrant green eyes I had deep black. I studied his face, which is one of my favorite things to do, and saw that it was tense. He must be really into the movie.
"What's happening in the movie?" I said.
"Hm? Oh, the superhero is trying to stop the villain from destroying the world, but he has to do it without his superpowers."
"Why?"
"He gave them up to save his girlfriend."
"Oh." I groaned inwardly. As I watched the superhero sprint across the screen, I wondered if there was something seriously wrong with him. He gave up saving the world to save his girlfriends life? Um, I'm sorry, but last time I checked, destroying the world included destroying his girlfriend. So the superhero gave up his superpowers to save his girlfriend, but now he might not be strong enough to save the world. Wow. Take about skewed priorities. His girlfriend over the world? That's like saying, "Hey, villain person, don't kill my girlfriend yet, wait about five minutes so that you can kill her when you destroy the world."
But as I watched the guy in spandex jump across the screen, I knew he was going to save the world anyway. Because that was the way these movies worked. And that is why I hate hero movies so much- it's not the spandex or the cheap plots... it's the dumb predictable happily ever after ending.
As I watched the movie, I saw the superhero come to this omniscient building. That must be the villan's lair. I looked for Jack and Kyle. This was the only reason we were watching this movie... the villain and the hero were suppose to have an epic fight scene at the end.
"Kyle! Jack!" They ignored me. "Guys! Get over here!" Jack and Kyle still ignored me, which was odd. Suddenly, a cold fear swept through me. Even odder still was that they had been quiet. They were never quiet. Turning my head, I saw five angelic creatures with deep gray wings, two of whom were holding my friends hostage. My friends stared over the foreign hands covering their mouths, their eyes murky with fear. One of the creatures smiled at me, "Hello Katherine."

First Chapter 2

I was sitting on my boyfriend's couch, leaning against him as we watched some dumb superhero movie, which I wasn't paying attention to. I glanced over to John, who was sitting next to us. He didn't seem very interested in the movie either; he had a coke in one hand, and was grabbing popcorn with his other. I watched him drink, chew, drink, chew, cough, drink some more, then eat again. Though he was more interesting than the movie, he wasn't interesting enough, so my eyes wandered to Michael. Michael wasn't even one the couch- he sat cross legged on the floor, building some building out of legos. Now, seeing as he was eighteen, this was probably a bit under him, but Michael could never resist a project. And undoubtedly, whatever lego creation he made was going to be able to actually hold people. Michael was like that- he was the kind of kid who grew up to be an architect.
I looked back to John, who was sad that the popcorn was gone. Chugging his coke, he turned to Michael. "Hey, can I help you with that?" Michael laughed, "No way! You'd totally ruin it. Here," Michael picked up a handful of legos and put them to his side. "Build something with those."
"Yea right," John smiled and jumped over Michael's building, headed toward the big pile of legos. But he didn't quite clear Michael's building. "JOHN!" The building split in two and shattered, little lego pieces exploding everywhere. "You flippn' idiot!" Michael tackled John into the pile of legos, and they began wrestling. Boys. I looked up at my boyfriend, wondering if he was going to join in just for the heck of it... which he usually did. But unlike everyone else, Tom seemed to actually be watching the movie.
I watched spandex-man jump across the screen, then come short of the building he was trying to get to. As I watched him fall, hit a car, roll off, and continue running, I sighed, "Why can't he fly? Isn't he suppose to be the hero?"
Tom nodded, his eyes still focused on the screen. "He gave up his superpowers because it was the only was to save Lori,"
"Who is..."
"His girlfriend."
"Oh."
"See, he traded his superpowers for his girlfriend, so now he has to stop the supervillan from destroying the world without flying."
I stared at the screen, shaking my head. What a stupid hero. Didn't he know that if the world was destroyed, his girlfriend would be too? That would be like saying, "Hey, supervillan, I'm going to give up my ability to save the world, just give me back my girlfriend. It's okay if you kill her and everyone else on earth later, but I really would just rather have her alive for now." Stupid stupid stupid.
But as I watched the guy in spandex jump across the screen, I knew he was going to save the world anyway. Because that was the way these movies worked. And that is why I hate hero movies so much- it's not the spandex or the cheap plots... it's the dumb predictable happily ever after ending.
As the hero approached the villan's lair, I called out, "Hey, John! Michael! The fight scene is coming!" That was the only reason we were watching this movie... it was suppose to have an epic fight scene. "John! Michael!" They ignored me.
Suddenly, a cold fear tingled down my spine. Why were they ignoring me? More importantly, why were they being so quiet. I swallowed in fear. Not here. Not now. Turning, I saw five angelic creatures standing in the corner of the room. The creatures were holding John and Michael captive. My friends stared over the foreign hands covering their mouths, their eyes murky with fear. One of the creatures smiled at me, "Hello Katherine."

Dangit!

Okay, school is starting soon, and consequently I will not have enough time to write a new chapter every day. So I'm going to be posting a new chapter every week instead. Sorry for the delay, but my life is kind of insane when school starts. Anyway, if you haven't already figured it out, I post three separate versions of each chapter, pick my favorite, edit it, and then post it as my final. So again, I will be sure to write a new version of the current chapter each week. Thanks!

First Chapter 1

I sat in my boyfriend's lap, my legs extended almost all of the way to the movie screen. We were in his basement, watching some dumb superhero movie... which I wasn't paying attention to. Carl, sitting next to me, didn't seem to be watching the movie either. His hands went from fidgeting to the popcorn bowl to cracking knuckles and back to fidgeting. But Carl was always like that... he always had to do something with his hands. I looked to my other side, where Steven was constructing some huge ship out of legos. You might think this was kind of under him, being a eighteen year old, but you don't understand. When I say constructing, I mean ingeniously placing every individual block so that whatever came out would be a masterpiece. This is the kind of kid who grows up to be an architect.
Glancing back at Carl and his fidgeting, I said "Go help Steeve build whatever he decided to build." As Carl stood, Steve laughed, "No way dude! I'm totally making this on my own. Make your own thing." Pushing a miniature pile of legos away from him, Steve pointed, "Your pile." Carl stepped over me, jumped over Steve's masterpiece, the went to the big pile of legos. The only problem was, he didn't exactly clear Steve's building. "Crap!" The building toppled sideways and split, sending little blocks everywhere. "Look what you did!" Steve tackled Carl into the lego blocks, and they began wrestling.
I looked up at John, my boyfriend, to see if he would do anything, but he was one of the few of of who was actually watching the movie. I sighed. Normally he would have joined in just for the heck of it, and then I could turn off the movie and nobody would notice. Normally I didn't mind, it's just that superhero movies really bother me...
I tilted up my head, studying John's face from below. He was pretty hot- wavy blond hair grown long, but not too long- sparkling green eyes- a nice, flawless face. Compared to me he was a god. I was pale and had limp black hair and even blacker eyes. I didn't have any acne or anything, but my skin looked almost ghostly in the sun.
Glancing at the movie in front of me, I saw someone in spandex jump across the screen, but fall short of the next building. Plummeting down, he hit a car, groaned, and then resumed his running. "Wait, John, isn't that the superhero?"
"Yea," replied John's deep voice. I love his voice. "But he gave up his superpowers so that his girlfriend wouldn't die. That's okay though... he figured out how to save the world without his superpowers. That's what he's doing now."
As I watched the spandex guy's legs pump I wondered if there was something seriously wrong with him. He gave up saving the world to save his girlfriends life? Um, I'm sorry, but last time I checked, destroying the world included destroying his girlfriend. So he pretty much said, "Hey supervillan, don't kill my lover now, do it later, along with the rest of the world. But I really would rather like you to wait." What an idiot! Of course, as I watched to movie, I knew he was going to save the world anyway. But suppose he never made it in time...
Hearing that Steve and Carl had stopped wrestling, I called out, "Hey you two, its almost at the last fight scene! Get over here!" The final battle is really the only reason we rented this movie- the last fight was suppose to be epic. "Guys! Get over here!" Steve and Carl still ignored me, which was odd. Suddenly, a cold fear swept through me. Even odder still was that they had been quiet. They were never quiet. Turning my head, I saw five angelic creatures with deep gray wings, two of whom were holding my friends hostage. One of whom I knew all to well.

Hidden in Shadows

Have you ever seen a superhero movie? You know, one about people with superpowers jumping around in spandex to save the world. Usually the superhero's boyfriend or girlfriend gets abducted by the supervillan, and the hero has to stop saving the world, give up their powers, promise to stop fighting, exc. to get their lover back. This is shortly followed by the hero miraculously saving the world anyway. Everyone lives happily ever after. But in true hero stories, not everyone lives. I'm here to tell you that real heroes don't always have the luxury to save the world and their lover. Real heroes have to choose. And what sets the true heroes apart from the fakers is what they choose. Real heroes choose the world. Why am I even talking about heroes? Because I am one. I did the whole 'save the world' thing. And let you tell me something: its wasn't fun. It was scary. It was hard. I killed my lover. I saved the world.

Intro 3

How would you like it if someone forced you to be a hero? Sure, it sounds great, but being a hero isn't all the movies make it out to be. Being a hero means giving up your life for others, putting your wants behind to serve, sacrificing your whole life in the hope that others will live a better life than yours. Of course, to many the cost is worth the outcome, but what if you were forced? Imagine that you had no choice- every day someone was dying in front of you, every day you had to stop what you were doing to fight. A better question is, how could you like it if someone forced you to be a hero? Well, forced heroism is my story. I have the ability to fly, so automatically the world decides that I need to spend my life in service. I can react faster than any human, so automatically I need to loose my life to save another. I know how to kill, so automatically I must do so. This isn't fair. Smart people aren't forced to make weapons, fast people aren't forced to carry messages, strong people aren't forced to operate machine guns. But if you have superpowers, you are forced to save lives. Why don't I fly away? Everyone knows me. Why don't I escape? Everywhere I go someone knows my face. Why do I just not save people? You try watching someone fall out of a building and do nothing. Believe me, people almost die every day in front of me. And though I'm not so heartless as to not save them, I am heartless enough to not want to talk to them. Or the press. Or the government. This is my life- I want to do what I want to do with it. But the fact is... I can't.

Intro 2

Have you ever seen a superhero movie? You know, one about people with superpowers jumping around in spandex to save the world. Usually the superhero's boyfriend or girlfriend gets abducted by the supervillan, and the hero has to stop saving the world, give up their powers, promise to stop fighting, exc. to get their lover back. This is shortly followed by the hero miraculously saving the world anyway. Well, I'm here to tell you that real hero's don't always have the luxury to save the world and their lover. Real heroes have to choose. And what sets the true heroes apart from the fakers is what they choose. Real heroes choose the world. Why am I talking about heroes? Because I am one. I did the whole 'save the world' thing. And let you tell me something: its wasn't fun. It was scary. It was hard. I killed my lover. I saved the world.

Intro 1

Superheros. See? I was right. I bet you automatically thought about brave, famous people, either running around saving children from fires or flying through the air in neon colored spandex. See, 'heroes' is a word that makes you normal people think of those types of things. Bravery, victory, triumph, good; all come to mind when you think of hero. Not me. I wouldn't come to mind- I'm just that twenty year old girl you passed on your way in. I was the girl with the pale skin and long black hair, leaning on the wall of the bookstore. I was probably wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but if you were lucky, you saw me on shorts day. But you didn't really see me, now did you? You don't really believe I'm out there, waiting for someone to actually go looking for me. But that's okay. Because nobody has wanted to find me my entire life. Who am I? I'm a hero. I saved the United States from losing its normal human population. I saved the country from falling to an army of mutants. Are you curious yet, human? Will you dare to read my story? I must warn you, this is a story about TRUE heroes. Everything doesn't work out for the main character. Sometimes innocent people die, evil triumphs, and hearts break. But that's the life of a hero.

Falcons

My all-time favorite bird... the Peregrine Falcon!

One of my Favorite Pieces of Writing

We were asked to analyze this on class, and I liked it so much that I kept it and took it home. The following was adapted from Conrad Aiken's "Thistledown."
The dandelion seed, when it blows, does not know where it is going: it will cross miles of meadow, sail over forests of pine, travel down mountain gorges, be caught for a day in a cobweb, and at last find its growing place in the least likely of spots. It will perhaps try to grow in an old shoe, or an empty tomato tin, or a crack in a wall. And, of course, it will have no memory of the poor plant, leagues away, from which it set out on its journey. There is a kind of pathos in this, and something beautiful also. And it is with just such an image that I always think of Coralyn, that gallantest of creatures, when I try to tell her story. There is, to be quite truthful, no story- at best, only the materials for a story. Life seldom arranges itself in an obvious pattern. It may surprise us- and often does- or it may shock us, or turn swiftly from melodrama to comedy, or from humdrum to tragedy; but how few lives do we know in which there is any perceptible "form," any design of the sort that novelists employ! Coralyn's story is at best a chronicle- hardly even that. It is a series of episodes, an uneven progress in time; it is as aimless as the voyage of the dandelion thistle, and almost as purposeless. And as I look back on it, with its span of five or six years, I even wonder, sometimes, whether Coralyn, any more than the thistledown, remembered where she had come from, or knew where she was going. ... and I never knew anyone who so consistently, even recklessly, took life with both hands. It may have been this, indeed, that she was afraid of; she may have guessed, sooner than we did, and more accurately, the dark forces that were at work in her and to what end they would bring her at last. For there was little or no self-deception in Coralyn. If now and then she flinched a little from telling us, or telling me, the truth about herself, I am sure she never flinched for facing the truth where it most, after all, matters- in her conscience of consciousness.

A New Start

Hmm, I wonder how this is going to work out... I've never really tried a blogging website before, and I don't know that i'll continue on this one, mainly because of the fact that I don't know what to do with it. I'll probably just right random stuff and maybe publish chapters of my book... I don't know. We shall see...