Seat Belt Trouble

I was ten when my mom and I got home from the store on a slightly breezy Wednesday afternoon. That's when it all started to go wrong.

The car parks as I reach very quickly to take off my seat belt, which I never like to wear. I press the button. I hear a click and the silver buckle releases from the black and red slot.

I lunge and pull the belt away to get out and quickly run to my house, but I'm stuck!

"How can this be? The buckle's out, but I'm still in!" I try again, but the strap just keeps getting tighter and tighter around my waist. "Oh no, Oh no!", I mumble to myself. What am I going to do? It hurts so badly. I pull harder, but it doesn't do any good, so I look around to get my mom but she's already inside! "Mom, dad, Austin!", I yell. But they don't hear me. The terrible thought of being alone in the seat with no one to hear me, fills my mind completely. I yell again, and not to my surprise my mom comes walking out with her purse in one hand and grocery bag in the other. I tell her exactly what happened. She puts her things down and tells me calmly,

"Don't move, and I will try to find some way to get you out, without cutting the seat belt." She tries to get me out by trying to loosen the strap, but really she's just making it tighter so it hurts more! I don't know what to do. The only thing I can see is a big hole of open fear, just waiting for me to fall deeper and deeper inside, until I disappear into it. I quickly erase that thought from my mind.

Once my mom realizes that she just can't get me out she calls my friend's dad who lives across the street to see if he could get me out. I tell her, "I don't think he's home," but she calls him anyway, just in case. She would have gotten my dad, but he was not home. My back is facing the two front seats, while my face is facing the inside of the open trunk. I hear her saying, "Hi Mike, it's Michelle. Please come over as soon as you can, because Olivia is stuck in her seat belt and maybe you can help get her out."

"So, was he home?" I ask?

"No, I don't think so, because I got his answering machine," she replies. But it turns out we were both wrong, because I see Mike, the neighbor that my mom called, with his daughter Camille, coming out of their house and walking toward us. Then, I start to quietly say under my breath,

"What if he just makes it tighter?" Well, my mom must of heard me, because she said,
"He probably won't, so there is really nothing to worry about honey."

Anyway, there I sit struggling with the two long straps around my body. Mike tries to get me out, but it doesn't work. I see Camille, who is seven, watching me, and I wonder what she's thinking.

While my stomach is pressing softly against the back of the seat, I start to look at all the neighbors who have gathered, and I feel a little embarrassed because now they are looking at me as if asking themselves "what kind of kid gets stuck in something that is supposed to keep them safe?" I just roll my eyes and look down. Now my mom is talking on the phone with the people at Toyota, where she bought her car. "What are they going to do? They make and repair cars, they can't get kids out of seat belts, right?" I ask her.

"Right, but they could have something up their sleeve for this kind of situation," she says.
"I guess they could" I tell her.
"The people in the service department didn't pick up," she says to me after she calls. So, next she calls 911 and all of a sudden I hear, "What do you mean in 10 minutes? My daughter can't breathe very well!" she complained.

Oh, now here comes the neighbor's gardeners. I was scared.

"The fire department is coming," she tells me, "and the paramedics, too."
I heard her, but I did not answer. Then I said, "I hope I don't have to stay here all night!"

"You won't," she told me with a laugh.

I did know that, in the back of my mind, but it was hard to think about good things happening when I'm in such a bad situation. I was still scared. Then, I hear a truck coming up our hill. "I think that's them," I hear my mom say.

"Who's 'them'? " I ask her. But before she can answer I look around and realize that it's the fire department pulling up to our house, followed by the sheriff's car!

Slowly, they walk up to where I am trapped in the seat belt. They tell me their names, then start to discuss how they will get me out. They walk a few steps away so I can't quite hear them from where I am. Of course, I am really curious about what kind of things they could be saying.

"All right," one of them says in a stern and strong voice, "try to lay on your stomach or on your back."

"How could I do that?" I think? If I could do that, I would probably be doing it by now. Then, they lift me up and turned me around in a way that gets me on my back.

I hear them say, "If she feels any pain, we will just cut the seat belt."

"Any pain? You mean there might be pain?" I thought. Now, not only was my mom worried, but I was very worried!
"One, two, three" I hear them say at the same time, as they lift me up and start to slide my body out of the tangled and knotted seat belt. It took me about five seconds to stop thinking about what bad things might happen before I realized that I was out of that horrible set belt!

I ran out with top speed to hug my mom. I felt unstable, my body was shaking rapidly, and it was hard to walk for a minute. But, then I got over it, and I walked inside to play with my friend, Camille.

Turn of Death

"Wait for me," I yelled as I was skidding around a corner of the Depot Cafe.

''No way Audrey, but if you want to catch up you have to pedal faster, like me," my brother, Kyle, blurted back.

Ah, what a fun time I'm having I thought. Just riding around town on my half-way broken bike, with my little brother who is teasing me about the way he rides faster. Yep, I am having such a fun time. Don't think I like bike riding, because I hate it. And I know that "hate" is a strong word. When I try to hop onto a curb, my seat plops all the way down to the pole. It hurts my butt. Bad.

Oh, and by the way, that is just one example.But it was a nice day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping. Well, basically all the good stuff in a fairytale.

We were almost half way across town when my dad, Kris, ordered "Let's stop here".

No, not Starbucks.

"I am just going to get a coffee at Starbucks".

"Ugh," I muttered.

We pushed our bikes to the windo next to the big sign that read, Don't come here, it's a perfect day to grab your bikes and take a nice ride. I thought would end with an "around town" or something, but it just kept me hanging. I carefully ripped the tape that was connected to the sign, hoping that no one saw me, and stuffed the whole thing into my, now stretched out pocket. I thought it may come in handy some time. I shoved open the heavy door and found, well nothing. Except for my dad and Kyle of course. The place was nearly empty. No customers. My dad was leaning over the table with the milk and sugar. He was mixing them together rapidly. I shoved him away and guided him to the exit. I didn't want to stay there much longer, the place was weird. Kyle was lounging on a couch. I called him over. Then we left.

We were back on the road and I was ready to lay down on my bed and take a nice long nap. But sadly, that was not going to happen. One at a time, I lifted my hands off the handle bars and rubbed them on my grubby sweatshirt, then I shifted my behind. Don't blame me, I was just trying to get comfortable. We kept on riding and my little brain was telling me I'd seen these houses before. ''I recognize this place," I stated." This is the place where--'' I froze in my tracks, this was where the turn of death was.

The last time I'd been here, was last summer. It was in a weird place beyond town behind all the shops and past the library. I really did not like this area, and still do not. Dad glanced at me and saw that I was in a trance. ''Audrey, Audrey. Snap out of it. Is something wrong?''

I shook my head. "Uh, uh. No, I was just admiring how beautiful the red is on that tree''. Why do I have to be so stupid? I remembered the last time when I had to walk my bike across the turn because I was so scared. This time I was terrified, but I knew I should be brave. Dad and Kyle were all the way down the hill now, and I was all alone. My bike crept forward and I tightened my grip on my handlebars. I thought to myself, "one, two, three", and then took off. I could feel my hair blowing through the cold breeze of dry wind, and I couldn't believe I was doing this. I must have forgotten I had brakes, because I was speeding down the hill super fast and couldn't control myself. The sign from Starbucks flew out of my pocket, and landed straight on my face. I couldn't see a thing. I wanted to scream, "SOS", but my mouth was stretched out by the pressure of the strong wind and my lips were flapping like crazy. The next thing I knew my bike was flat on the ground, my tire was smashed against the curb, and I was flying. I pictured myself as an airplane, gliding through the air. I was a jet, because somehow I managed to turn really sharply and nearly make it through two trees.

I landed flat on my bum. Now even more sore than ever. People were staring and I felt like a total

idiot. I bet my dad saw this coming because he

gave me a look that I've seen before. It was an "I can't believe I was thinking the same thing that I am seeing" look. He picked me up, and I started bawling. Not because it hurt, but because I was scared out of my mind. Luckily I was okay to ride home, because that's exactly what I did.

I shoved open the front door, and my mom greeted me with a smile and a hug. I started crying again and told her my whole story. That day was an exciting and interesting day of my life, and I'll never forget about the turn of death.

Closet Of Doom

I feel like going in, I truly do. I really, really, really want to go into that closet but I feel
that going all by myself into a pitch black closet would be quite frightening in my opinion. I just felt this urge to go in all by myself. If I did go in, I could brag about it to my sister because she would be down right scared to go all by herself into a scary closet.

Soon I had a plan. I would go in.

As soon as my sister left for her play date, I opened the door to the closet and put one foot in, but I just couldn't do it alone. My mom wouldn't go in because she said that something was wrong with the door, but I didn't buy that story because I examined that door and I did not see anything wrong with it. My mom was standing right by the closet, so I pulled my mom and before she could say anything, I shut the door and went into the closet. Then I tried to open the door. "I can't find the knob" I said to my mom, and my mom just sighed. I told you that this closet has no doorknob on the inside.

It was dark and me and my mom could not find the light switch. I was terrified and full of angst and I started to realize what I had done. "I am so, so, so, so sorry, mom!" I squealed.
"It's OK honey," my mom replied. My mom stayed calm, but I knew what she was thinking.
"Are we ever going to get out?" I asked my mom.
"Of course we are. Don't worry," she replied, but I could hear the fear and the uncertainty in her voice. Tears were filling my eyes. "Don't cry, we'll be out of here before you know it," my mom said, trying to comfort me.
Soon my mom was banging against the door with her body, trying to make the door loosen. It didn't work. Then I let her go in front of the closet and I went to the back, so she could try and get the door to open. While I was in the back, I felt something and I picked it up. It was a long pole type thing. I picked it up and held it on its side. I soon figured out it was a broom. The stick part of the broom was so long it went through the door making a little hole in the center. "Light!", I screamed. It was only a little hole in the door but it was still light and it was the first glimpse of light we had seen in hours.



I was so happy to finally see light again! Even if it was just a little. After that, my mom took theroom and was using it to make a bigger hole in the door. It was just big enough for me to climb through, so she lifted me up and pushed me through and out of the hole. As soon as I got out I opened the door so my mom could get out too. "Good job, sweetie" my mom said as a huge smile spread across my face.



I was so happy to get out of that scary closet and I know my mom was too! I thought I was a hero, but I guess I was not such a big hero, since I started that whole mess anyway.

FEAR OF DROWNING IN DEEP WATER

Hi my name is Eva I'm going to tell you about one of the more scary incidence in my life. This is one of the stories you have to be there to believe it. This story will give you the thrill of a lifetime. Okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little but well you get my point.

It was an early morning during summer break and I was visiting some friends of my mother's, in Michigan there are two boys one my age named William, and the other a year younger named Andrew. It was a warm day,(I was still I little groggy because I had just woken up) I was sitting at there very polished walnut dining table getting ready to dig into some very nice smelling chocolate blueberry pancakes. suddenly my sister Marina came clomping down the stairs just as Andrew and Williams mother, Amy was pushing the warm pancakes off the platter and on to my plate. As Marina ran down the stairs she yelled

"Hey wait for me!" nobody as usual did.
As we dug into are warm pancakes we didn't talk much because we were to busy eating the only thing we said was,
"what do you want to do today?"

Well actually nobody responded. We all knew what we wanted to do just as every day we knew that we wanted to go play in the ice cold waters of lake Michigan. When we finished eating we ran outside to play in the ice cold water.

I was playing on the knee board, but I had never been on a knee board so I didn't know that it wasn't a strange type of kick board so I straped myself in and promptly flipped over it was a cold sensation and I don't remember much for I was only age seven at the time, I just remember what I felt after flipped over I remember a cold dark fear. Not a fear that you would get after you almost tripped ,this was a fear that you would get when you almost tripped off the empire state building. I tried to scream "SOS" but my mouth was shut close as a clam. Over and over I tried to yell those three words but it was no use. I moved to another tactics I grouped for the surface but the surface was not to be found my lungs began to burn crazy thoughts raced through my head "I'm I going to die" finely my head popped above the surface just as I thought my last memory would be of the cold turning water, but then it was pulled back under no this couldn't be happening my hand graded something the buckle yes I thought I yanked as hard as I could and pop I was free I had drifted a lot farther than I would have exspeckted in that amount of time I swam back to the others cold and scared.

Locked in a Shed

"Ugh! Emma!"

"What? This was not my fault!"

"Then, who did it?"

We do not always fight like this. It still was the end of the summer, and everyone was excited and full of gusto. My friend Maddie, had changed schools last year. I hadn't seen her ever since. She was throwing her birthday party on her patio. We were having a blast, the best fun anyone had ever had since we saw her.

Of course, nobody wanted to stop the laughing and fun. We did not even see the time sli

p away from us, then it all happened. I could hear my mom. She was laughing and talking with Maddie's mom and Emma's mom. I got closer to the sounds. Yep, definitely my mom. Time to go home. I ran to go tell my friends. We talked until we came to a conclusion. We would hide. Worse decision ever. Emma, me and Maddie would wait in the damp small shed in Maddie's backyard, until we were forced to play more. Stupid right? Well, we t

hought different then. When the perfect time came we approached the idea. We all jumped in the shed with a hop and the heavy door closed in on us.

the shed was actually pretty small, for the fact it was jammed with bikes.

It was dark too, with only one peep-hole. We jumped in, a

nd the huge door closed on us, as the sunlight was being cutoff as the door faltered. That was when my 'S.O.S.' partially started. I realized how hot, uncomfortable, and jammed it began to linger.

"Is it just me, or is it hot and dark in here?" I asked in a shaky voice.

" Yeah, your right. Since when?" answered Emma. I could not see her face, but boy, from the sound of her voice she was just as worried as me.

Maddie was completely silent.

We waited for a while before I broke the silence. "OK, you guys. I can't hear anybody, and we could just beg for more time. Right?"

"No, that never will happen, my mom will go take me shopping for new cleat's, talk about boring and unnecessary." stated Emma.

" Si! Si! They will say yes!" said Maddie trying to convince us.

"She's right," I chimed in,"They will want to do something or another after this like always." I said thinking how weird Maddie used 'Si!'

I know you thinking we are crazy, but it is true, we exaggerate.

"Won't they just gab on and on as always about stuff like ' have you tried this?' and ' I went there once, but I think this is better' mocked Maddie.

" True," I simply responded.

"Well," Maddie said " Lets get going! Rapido, rapido!"

That was weird, Maddie never says those things, especially in Spanish.

I started to push. It didn't budge. I thought it was just me, because I do not have any muscle. Nope, zip.

"Hey guys, can you help me?" I asked.

"Yes," they simply responded together.We pushed, nothing happened. We tried again.

"Huff," we all said together. Still nothing.

" Guys, nothing is happening, we're stuck," sighed Maddie, now very agitated.

"How did- why did- ugh!" I yelled very annoyed.

This is where all the commotion began. It started off with every type if blame you can think of ' we are stuck and it is your fault' and 'This is because of you.'

Then the real fighting began. I couldn't even explain the din that carried through out the tiny shed.

"oh... we are doomed, dead!" Emma said exaggerating completely

" Why don't we just knock for help?" I said coming to a rational ending.

"Fine!" They both said in a chorus.

We started banging and screaming for help. We listened. Nobody was there. They all scattered like we told them to.

"Oh man! We told them to hide too!" I reminded them.

We decided to keep calling them in case some one heard us. Nope.

" What were we thinking?" I thought to myself.

" we are stuck in here for life!" exaggerated Emma.

" Where do you get all this nonsense from?" asked Maddie.

" We're gonna die-" said Emma being cutoff from Maddie.

"Hold on a secon-"

"We're gonna die!" said Emma in a choking sound voice, This time cutting off Maddie.

" HOLD UP!" I yelled, so frazzled from the sound I could not think. " Listen," we did.

" footsteps!" Emma said full if glee.

The creaking door squeaked.

Light poured in as the door opened. Thank heaven.

There was a catch, their shadows were bigger, not a peep came from their mouth.

There opened the door three very angry moms.

"We are gonna go," I said trying to sly away.

We all ran for it.

" Hold up," my mom reminded us. We stopped in our tracks, our backs facing them.

My heart skipped a beat, I thought I was dead meat. I was anticipating a' What were you doing I looked all over for you' and ' You could of been in there for a while' and last but not least,'If it was not for me.' There you got it, I was a goner. My heart felt like it was pounding in my ear.

"I surrender!" I yelled. I was waiting for it, but instead I got a simple,

"You are welcome."

There you got it. My S.O.S., I got a lot of learning out of it. One, Moms don't always rat you out. Two, Maddie speaks Spanish.

Konehead

We flew into the dusty driveway of Morning Star Farms. My mom's eyes were huge, and she looked like she could have ripped a piece of leather between her teeth. She gripped the steering wheel as if she was holding on for dear life. My mom hopped out thinking her student was waiting for her. Mom taught young horseback riders on Mondays, the same day as my lesson. She immediately hopped out of the car and scrambled towards the tack room to see if her student was there. But of course the little four year old couldn't even put his own helmet on his head, let alone nag his mom to get him there on time.

Running to the back of the truck, I pulled down the tailgate with a bang! I jumped up on the edge and started to tie up my boots and zip my tight chaps up my legs. My dented helmet was set on my head, and I went over to the board to see who I was going to ride in my lesson. Kona, that's who I was riding in the lesson.

Suddenly, Hailey Kramer pulled up in her car, grabbed her whip and hurried over. I moaned inside my head. Hailey is my good friend, but last week Vicky, the owner of the barn asked her to come early and ride, just like me. I come early because my mom's first lesson of the day starts at 3:30, and my lesson starts at 4:30, so I get to get out one of the little, young ponies that never get ridden and ride them. But, I always ride Kona, or Promise before the lesson, but if Kona is in the lesson then I have to ride Promise. But now there were two of us! Just as I was thinking this over in my head, as if make the problem worse, my friend Gretchen pulled in hoping to ride also!

I sunk back and talked with my mom, considering I ride early every week it was only fair to let my friends ride. The only free horses Vicky could think of were Promise, and Jet, two young ponies with spunky attitudes. Promise was hurt not that long ago so she needs someone to get her back in shape. Promise is a bit of a hassle because she gets really wild sometimes. The deal with Jet is that he's just young so he needs someone to teach him how to behave.

Now as my mom always says, "When you're riding a horse, you're always either training them, or un-training them." I could tell right there and then, either one of those girls might not be training Jet if they ride him, because only the really good riders ride him. I'm not even the right rider for him and I've been riding longer then both of those girls. Besides, Jet is really young and he doesn't know much, but it's very important that the people who ride him really know what they are doing.

"I want to ride Jet! But we could switch horses half way through, if you want?" cried Hailey.

"Okay, I'll go get Promise," Gretchen suggested. "Olivia, do you want to come with me?" she asked.

"No I'd rather just stay here," I replied sulking. Gretchen shrugged her shoulders and started walking down to where the mares were. Hailey went to go get Jet from his paddock and turn him out in the round pen, though she put the bareback pad on and the bridle before she even got out there. Vicky had told her to ride him in the round pen.

When Gretchen was done tacking up I went to go watch her ride in the arena. As I was watching I glanced over at the round pen and saw Hailey struggling to mount Jet, so I went to go help her get on. That little pony was throwing his black head to the sky, then jerking it back down. His short main, flopping up and down. Once Hailey was on, she walked and trotted him around as I gave her some instructions. Soon after my mom told us it was time for our lesson with Anne. I told Gretchen, and we all walked into the hitching rail together. I was happy my friends got to ride, but a little disappointed that I didn't get to ride with them.

I got Kona from her spot and walked her to the mounting block.

She was all jittery and hyper. I hope she got round penned because it didn't seem like it!

We walked out to the arena and started warming up. Kona was flipping out every time we went around to where the trees were, but Anne said she was just trying to pretend to be scared and that she was doing this the last time someone rode her. I pushed her forward around the turn and tried to bend her to the inside, without her popping her shoulder. When a horse pops there shoulder, they are bending to the outside and popping there inside shoulder, so that they swerve to the inside and there is nothing you can do unless you bend them to the inside again. Though she is a tough pony, just like her mother, eventually she stopped resisting my aids, and we went around the corner with ease.

Soon it was cantering time. We got ready for a group canter, but

it seemed like my legs were slipping forward and it was hard to pull them back, and balance my upper body. I asked Kona to canter, and of course she did considering how much energy she had. Though I didn't know this until I started riding her,

Kona and her mother are gaited! Gaited horses have more then the four gaits that horses have. Regular horses gaits are walk, trot, canter, and gallop. But gaited horses have more then those four gaits. They have some extra gaits that are kind of between the normal gaits. For example, the Icelandic horses have a gait called the tolt, and one called the flugeio or the "flying pace". I could tell as soon as I cantered Kona for the first time (which is definitely not today), because it is like half trot, half canter. It is very weird to sit, and it's hard to tell when she is breaking, so I always have a few breaks to trot.

It must be around 5:00 now because it's getting dark and cold, I thought. I suppose that's because it’s winter. Just as I was thinking this, Anne briskly walked over and turned on the huge lights on the ceiling of the arena. This made it easier to see inside the arena, but it kind of made a glare to look outside the arena.

"Okay, guys line up at the brown jump there," Anne exclaimed to us, as she put up some jumps. We lined up and I was about third, perfect, not last, not first, but right smack in the middle! Hailey jumped the two crossbars very nicely, just as Anne told her to. Then Isabella went. My turn was next.

"Okay Olivia, go ahead," Anne called to me. I asked Kona for trot, quietly with my legs. I trotted up to the jump, and Kona leaped over it. She landed in a canter, and I let her continue the breeze flowing in my face, stinging my cheeks. We cantered up to the jump, as I thought "full speed ahead" but suddenly, she slammed on the breaks about a pony’s length away from the crossbar. I felt my balance waver and I knew my confidence was fading away, as I plummeted to the ground in what seemed like slow motion. I remembered that landing on a jump, could break your ribs, so I put my hands out to save my poor bones! Though, my hands landed on the splintering jump, and I did a belly flop straight in the dirt. I felt the pain hit my hip and the scratchy rocks stick in my belly. I also new what was coming when my eyes started watering. Kona backed up and ran around the arena, her reins dragging on the ground, as she started spinning around in the middle of the arena. S.O.S! My horse is running around like crazy and I just got dumped! I suddenly realized that I should get up, so that my pony doesn't step on me. Tears streamed from my eyes and I watched Kona spin around, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, Kona slowed down, and somehow Anne got to her and grabbed the reins.

"Olivia, are you okay?" Anne was asking me.

"I guess," I mumbled, still crying.

"What hurts?" Anne exclaimed kneeling next to me.

"My hip," I answered.

"Okay. Oh, my gosh! Look at your stomach! You poor thing," Anne giggled still holding Kona. I looked down at my stomach and saw that I was caked with dirt. I laughed and slowly got off my knees.

"You feel okay getting back on?" Anne questioned me.

"Sure, ya," I replied. We walked over to the mounting block, and I slowly got on. I sat up and walked around.

"Okay, just trot around that jump over there. When you feel ready go ahead and jump this jump again okay."

"Okay," I muttered. When I felt ready, I trotted towards the jump, trying to be calm. When I got there Kona stopped again. This time I was I little more prepared and I sat up and tried to make her go over it, but she wouldn't move. Instead, she backed up! Anne asked me to try again, after many approaches. I trotted up and tried to keep my leg on her, but this time came up and abruptly stopped and I slid off her neck. I landed in a heap, and Kona's whole bridle fell off, as she ran around. S.O.S! My horse, dumped me again, and she is running around without a bridle on!

"Are you okay?" Anne said as she put Kona's bridle back on.

"Ya," I replied as I was laughing and crying at the same time. Anne helped me get back on. This time she lowered the jump so that it was half a jump. Then she asked me to try again. Kona still wouldn't do it, so she lay-ed them down as a group of poles. Finally after a few tries, I got Kona to hop the poles. As soon as she did, I patted her.

"Now turn her around and make her do it again!" Anne called. I stopped Kona and turned around to do it again. She stopped, but I made her get over them. I did this exercise a bunch of times, until our lesson was over.

"I don't know why she has such a problem with these jumps, it's that one jump that she just doesn't like," Anne was telling me.

"It is strange," I stated.

That night we put away our horses and drove home. On the way back I told my mom the whole story, and I told her how the second time I fell off it just seemed silly! My mom was very reassuring that night. She told me that everyone falls off, and she was just reading in a magazine about how the more you ride, the more you are likely to fall off; and it's true. I mean, everybody falls, and that's how you learn to get better. I still ride Konehead, and I love her to, and she is getting much better, and I ride her on the flat a lot. I haven't jumped her since then, but she is getting schooled by a friend of mine, Hope, who is a very good rider.

The Boating Trip

That summer the wind was heavy and the night was cool. I went on a house boat with my friend's family and my family. It was a humid and a hot day and we were all inside. My friend, Casey and I wanted to go on the blue and white inner tube so they all came along with us. I wanted to feel the wind in my hair. I was all ready to go. Then the cool water started to poor on. Casey and I started screaming "help us!"we hollered. The inner tube was sinking like a submarine. It was too late, we were already under the water. The boat was going at full speed. Casey soon let go, crying. I was still on the inner tube. I thought I was going to die. As I was praying, the inner tube flipped over and it dragged me down. As I felt like my life was ending, I felt the sand drag my fingers. I let go, the water carried me. When I saw the white flag go up, the sound of people filled the air. As I was wailing, Casey's mother and sister came swimming to us. The boat swung around and we jumped on the boat, it felt like I was in a blender as they wrapped the towel around me and the boat drove away to the campground.

At the campground, there were teenagers and kids, even some of the parents. While I was running I stepped right next to a rattle snake, I could feel my heart beating, I did not move. I had in my mind that the nearest hospital was 2 hours away. The snake shook it's rattle. I was scared to death. Then all of a sudden my Dad picked me up so fast that I screamed. I was so glad that the snake didn't hurt me.

Later that day we were roasting marshmallows. The loud sound of music and the happy laughter of people made our hearts fill with joy.The crickets chirping disappear, my heart was slow as the sparks burned in the smokey fire.

I wondered if I was going to have another day like this I thought to myself while the soft current pulled the ocean I slept.

Death Current

I slapped on my flowered bikini and slobbed on some sunscreen and slapped on my sunglasses. I walked fast on my tipsy toes to the linen closet. I grabbed a towel with the words "Enjoy Hawaii".

" Mommy! I am going swimming now o.k.?" I exclaimed to my mom.

" O.K. but don't go to far!" she yelled back.

"I wont!" I yelled back I as ran down to the sandy beach.

I dived into the blue Hawaiian water and swam around like a mermaid. I felt a current hit me. The waves forced me under and i tumbled into the middle of the ocean. My foot hit a rock that was sharp.

"Owwww......!!" I screamed.

As I was done yelling I noticed that I was in the middle of nowhere! I tried swimming back to shore but the currents were to strong to go all the way back. I saw a monster wave coming toward me. I thought that that wave would definitely take me back but I also thought that it would be dangerous. It was my only chance to live. The wave hit me and I jumped onto it and I rode far across the sea brushing my face with air. But I did not notice that it was not big enough to take me all the way back to shore. I waited for the next wave, but I so scared that I peed in my bathing suit. It was allot bigger than the first wave and it was maybe one that could possibly kill me if I swam under the wave. Well, that is exactly what happened. I did not jump high enough and the wave pulled me under and I tumbled and tumbled and I was suddenly drowning. I tried paddling back up but the wave was still going on full speed. Finally the wave hit the shore and I was laying on the sand. I coughed up some water and spit it out on the sand. I wobbled up on my feet and slowly rapped my towel around my body and started for home.

"Hi Mommy..." I said in a weak voice.

"Hi boo boo! How was swimming darling?" she asked me in her question face.

"It was quite an adventure!" I wobbled. I walked towards my bed and plopped down. "I'm pooped!!!" I said the loudest I could so my mom could her me from the kitchen.

"Well I guess that means that It is lunch! What do you want?"

"I want to sleep!"

Bus Catastrophe

It was Monday,November 2nd,2007 when my third grade class was going on a field trip to the sewer. It is a third grade tradition at my school to go. I was kind of excited to go, but also ready for the stench that will be there. We were waiting for my teacher. She was talking to the parents in front of the door so we could not hear, or that's what my friend said, but I didn't believe him. I was getting inpatient, so I decided to play a game with my friend while I was waiting. We played guess what the teacher was saying. When she came back in the room, she told us who we would be driving with. Then, we were finally off.


While we were riding on the bus and talking to my friend about this new video game that came out,I noticed some kids in front of us poking the bus driver with a pencil. The bus driver told them to stop but they didn't, and as you could imagine, he was not happy. They did it again, taking his warning as a joke. The bus driver told them to stop so many times I lost count. When they did it again, the bus driver got mad and got up from his seat and started yelling at them while the bus was on the freeway with nobody at the wheel. The bus started to swing in all directions,it was amazing it didn't hit any other cars. I thought," SOS what do I do!" Then, I got an idea and started yelling at the bus driver to get back in the seat and drive. When I said that, the other kids did it too, but he just ignored us, so my teacher had to drive, till the bus driver realized she was driving, and when he did, he yelled at her for being in his seat, until he saw us all staring at him. He immediately apologized, and got in the seat being teased all the time on the bus, even my teacher(he was so humiliated, I think).

How Potato Bugs Change the Night

My SOS happened about a week ago. My friend, Jack Mittelstadt (said "middle stat"), was hosting a birthday sleepover for himself and I was invited. Jack Simpson, George Luebkeman (don't even bother trying to pronounce his name), and Jack Mittelstadt joined me. We were having the time of our lives going on a "night prowl," having the best (and my first) slice of cheesecake I had ever had, and watching the "Dr. No" James bond.

When Jack's dad, John, finally ushered us into the tent, we stayed up for about four hours. Well, actually, I stayed up for four hours. They stayed up for five or six hours.

After that, George started telling scary stories (and they were scary). But it wasn't long before I shrieked. The loudest in a long time. George stopped.

"Yeah, it's called a mo- ughhhhhhh!" George started. He paused. "That ain't a moth."

"Don't tell me it's a potato bug," I said, looking away.

"It's a potato bug," The Jacks said in unison.

We just sat there "admiring" it's "beauty" for a long time.

"Look at it's little nose," Jack Mittelstadt said. "Where's Riley?" I heard him say as I went to get John.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. It isn't a potato bug. It's a gryllus rubens," John said as he came up. "Now that is somethin' you don't see everyday."

"Eh? In english please," I said.

"Southwestern field cricket," he informed us. "Glad to be of service, comrade." He picked it up with his bare hands and set it on the deck.

We were relieved. At least, George and I were. Simpson was a little concerned, but Mittelstadt could've cared less, because he had a "sharp pocketknife."

I told him he was full of baloney and potato bugs could bite him or sting him, or do whatever that hurt before he could even blink. Then he told me I was full of baloney and it wouldn't fall. Then, I reminded him if if did fall, he would have to stab or cut me in the process, and he would be paying for my trip to the emergency room. He knew he couldn't win.

Jack Simpson and George shushed us, and then George started telling scary stories. I didn't really listen to them. I was too busy thinking about how much it would hurt if I was bitten by the "potato bug." The people who know me know how much of a coward I am, so if they knew I wasn't listening, they could probably guess what I was thinking.

When we were quiet, we heard some scuttling noises. Jack Mittelstadt told us that they were rats, which made the rest of us feel a whole lot better. Jack and George (who just wanted a chance to use his knife) thought that we should hunt them down and kill them. Jack Simpson and I, on the other hand, thought that killing innocent animals was cruel.

"Jack," I was saying, "why would you think a couple of rats could hurt us?"

Jack looked outside the tent screen flap. "Okay, they aren't rats," Jack admitted, scared. "They're raccoons."

Simpson and I exchanged looks. "Uhhhhhh... Wow, believeable Jack," I claimed.

He gave me a look of stupidity. "No, I'm serious. Anyone still like my plan?" he asked hopefully.

"No," Simpson and I replied clearly in unison.

"I think it's reasonable and it would make a good story," George volunteered.

Annoyed, I got my flashlight and looked outside the tent flap. "Jack there isn't anything out there."

Simpson got up. "Yeah, Jack,"

"See you in the morning, guys," I said sleepily. "I'm going to get some shuteye."

"Why can't you sleep here?" George asked.

"Because you're blabbering," I replied.

"Good night!" And off I went inside his house.

I really don't think those guys scared off those raccooons.

But we heard some news the next morning.

"Dad! Dad! Dad!" Jack shouted, waking me up in the process.

"What, son?" I joked sleepily.

"Riley, you aren't my dad," he reminded me.

"I was just trying to remind you who you woke up in the middle of a pleasant, deep, sleep," I told him sarcastically.

"Shut up," he told me.

"There were some raccoons and, and, and, and, um, uhhhhhhhhhh..." he said quickly to his dad who just came upstairs.

"Ahem, John, what Jack is trying to say is he wanted to kill an innocent raccoon," I finished.

"Why thank you, Riley, for your excellent comment," he said.

"Just doing my job," I said as I tried to fall back asleep (which didn't happen).

"Jack," John was saying. "They were squirrels."

I really didn't have that much fun for the rest of the morning.

Now, "Dr. No" James Bond was cool. "A View to a Kill" was really boring.

Lost

My family was in Yosemite with Zoe, Gabe, and their parents. We drove up to Yosemite, it took about 5 hours, it was a long bad five hours. Once we finally got there we took a hike up to a big waterfall . I was about 8, my sister was about 9, Gabe was in his teens and Zoe was about 9. At last us people got to the top and we saw the big waterfall. We stayed there for about 10 minutes and then Gabe and I asked to go back down. Mom and Dad wanted us to wait for them at the bus stop; and not take it without them.

We went back down the lousy road way we came up. It took about 30 boring minuets to get down. When we were finally at the bottom, we saw the bus and took it. Once we got on the bus I remembered that we were supposed to wait for them at the bus stop. It was kid of dumb that we forgot but, anyways.
"Gabe, aren't we supposed to wait for them there," I mumbled in a shaky voice.
"It will be okay. We will just go back to the cabin," Gabe said in a laid back voice.
I trusted him because I was 8 and he was about 14. So the scary bus ride that seemed like we were on there for like a thousand hours but the bus kept going and it finally stopped.
"I think it is the next stop," Gabe said again in a laid back voice. I was starting to think that he was a little too laid back, but I trusted him so I said nothing. This time the bus went on for two thousand hours. I was starting to get a little pissed at Gabe.
"I think we get out here," Gabe said.
I still didn't say anything. We got out there and started walking. I did not recognise anything, and I got a little more scared and mad and lots of other things. We walked around for about 1000 years, and Gabe said
" I don't recognise anything, lets wait for the bus". I was so scared by then I did not speak at all. My mouth was glued. I was praying to God because I needed some help really bad from him, S.O.S. Another 100 hours for the bus. When the bus finally came I got on really slowly. My neck had a lump in my throat and I was trying to choke back sobs. Got on and prayed... I mean we were both praying.
We got out at the next stop, and started running to to find the dumb cabin but is was our only hope to live. It took us about 12 years to get to recognise where the heck we were. We still kept running. We were running so fast that in about 1 milla second we were already at our village, that was good. " What do we do now ", I asked in a more confident voice because we were in the village.
"I think we ask someone," Gabe said in the stupidest voice ever. I said nothing because that sounded good. It took us about a really long time to find our cabin, after that it tuned out that we looked all over the camp grounds before we found ours.
About 1 hour later my dad came to find us, he was really mad at us and mostly at Gabe. The next day he made Gabe apologize for doing that.

I HATE ELEVATORS!

"Anna, your grandma wants you to go on a trip with her to Greece and Turkey," my mom told me excitedly." Oh ya, Anna, you have to go on this trip because this could be the last time you will go on a trip with your grandma."

" But mom, I don't want to go! I want to go to Coastal Camp with Dana and Nicole, and the next week I want to go to Slide Ranch with Nicole and Sierra. Wait a minute, how come it might be the last time I go on a trip with her?" I questioned.

"Well honey, she is getting old and might not live that much longer," my mom said sadly.

" Fine, I'll go!" I screamed.

" Okay, good," my mom said

" Okay, but how long will the trip last?" I questioned again.

" You should be gone for about two weeks, do you think you can handle being away from home for that long?" my mom asked me strangely.

" Well yeah, I'm pretty sure I can handle it, but what if I can't handle it in the middle of the trip?" I babbled.

" Honey, don't worry about it. When the time comes we will talk about those things," my mom said a little annoyed.

Well, I realized my mom did not want to freak me out. The trip was in two days and my grandma would come down from L.A. to pick me up. I was really freaked out. I thought I

would not make it away from home that long, but I did not want to tell my mom that because I now really wanted to go on the trip. I thought I should start packing, so I went in my room and thought about what I should bring.

It took a couple hours to pack because I was going to be gone for two weeks. When I was finished I ran up stairs to tell my mom. She was happy for me that I did it myself, but she told me she would have to go over it to give it the O.K. That was not too bad, at least I got it done. The bag was so heavy I could barley lift it with all my might. I carried it by the door so I wouldn't leave it behind.

It was time for bed. It was already 9:00 p.m. I had a hard time sleeping. I think it was because I kept thinking about the bad things that could happen and not about the good things that would be fun. I finally fell asleep and when I woke up the next morning, my grandma was staring at me. I was freaked out.

" How did she get here?! " I screamed in front of her.

" She just arrived from the airport to pick you up," my mom said.

It only took half an hour to get out of the house. My parents drove to the airport with my brother and I squished in the back, burning hot. It was torture. I did not want to say I was hot or ask if I could move spots because they were having a conversation the whole time about politics, or something like that. When we got to the airport I said a bunch of goodbyes and started walking to our gate. We had business class, my grandma told me about it and she said the chairs fold out into beds. I could not wait.

It was boarding time, I was so excited about the business class. We got to our seats and I sat down, It was heaven. The seats folded out right into a flat surface, which looked like a bed. I got all organized, got the seat belt on, and I was ready for take off. I took about 10 min. before we started moving. Once we where high up in the air I got out my phone, my Nintendo, and my iPod touch. It was a long and noisy plane ride. It was finally night and it was time to go to bed. We were on the red eye, so we had to stay over night. I could not go to sleep. The whole time I could only hear this buzzing noise, it was really annoying.

When we arrived in Greece we got in a taxi and got to our hotel. It was a pretty fancy hotel but the elevators were horrible. They were rusty and they looked really old. We got to the hotel room and got all of our stuff out of our bags and into the room. It was a beautiful place. I unpacked all my stuff, I was really bored.

" Grammie, can I go on the elevator down to the lobby?"

" Sure, come back up when your done so I don't lose you," my grandma said quietly for some reason.

" Okay, I'll come back in ten minutes," I said running out the door.

I was running down the halls trying to find the closest elevator. It was taking a while. I finally found one. It looked old and it was really rusty. I was scared to go in. I had butterflies in my stomach. I finally pressed the up button. It opened. I was walking in and all of a sudden it started to close on me. I started freaking out. Nobody was around me to press the open button inside the elevator. I tried to scream for help but I couldn't speak. I finally pushed open the elevator with all my might and squeezed through. I was in the elevator at last.

Luckily, I'm strong because otherwise the elevator would of squished me to death. I was so relieved I do gymnastics. Now every time a see an elevator I think about my S.O.S. It gives me butterflies in my stomach when I think about it. A couple years later I went to Hawaii and saw a rusty old elevator. I was about to go in it, then I thought about the moment. I ran away with fear to an other elevator. I will never, I mean never go in a old and rusty elevator again. Well, I don't plan on going in one again.