I am starting to edit Melody Maker, as many of you may already know. So far, it seems that I have a LOT to fix... Anyways, I may start reposting sections of Melody Maker if I deem it worthy to be viewed again.
Thanks for following Melody Maker, and I hope you enjoy reading what I have. ^_^
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Er... Hello people?
Um.... Yeah... I haven't typed much lately... I've been kind of busy, and Seven's finished now, but I still haven't gotten around to writing book three... I'm still developing the plot for book three and still need to come up with a name. I have some ideas, but I don't like them very much. And lately, I've been feeling a little out of touch with Fala, Faalan, and all the other characters.
I don't really like TTT, and am seriously considering on taking it out of the trilogy, making it a two book series. I still need to edit MM, because I'm sure that it's in my old writing style, meaning the flow is very choppy. I wrote it in sections, so the way that its written probably shifts a little. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to edit it (it's such a daunting task, really) but I think I'll probably attempt it during Christmas vacation. Which is in around a month. It's Thanksgiving vacation now, but I already wasted around a day trying to fix up my ipod, and I only have today and tomorrow. Which isn't very useful, considering my mom and brother are coming back home today (they went to New York with one of my brother's friends) and my mom doesn't like me on the computer for more than an hour. My dad doesn't really care that much about how long I'm on.
I hope that I manage to edit MM properly by the end of Christmas vacation, but I highly doubt it. I may have to wait until February vacation to finish editing. And even then, I know that I won't be satisfied. *sigh* So much work to be done, so little time...
However, I have this urge to not write the third book at all, though I know there will be people who won't be very happy with me. If I do edit MM, I will add onto it so that book three becomes a part of MM. At least, I think that is what will happen. I think that this way will end up being the best because MM is relatively short, and if I add on book three to it, it will be long enough for a decently sized book.
So, um...tell me what you think, I guess. I'm not really sure what to say, honestly...
I don't really like TTT, and am seriously considering on taking it out of the trilogy, making it a two book series. I still need to edit MM, because I'm sure that it's in my old writing style, meaning the flow is very choppy. I wrote it in sections, so the way that its written probably shifts a little. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to edit it (it's such a daunting task, really) but I think I'll probably attempt it during Christmas vacation. Which is in around a month. It's Thanksgiving vacation now, but I already wasted around a day trying to fix up my ipod, and I only have today and tomorrow. Which isn't very useful, considering my mom and brother are coming back home today (they went to New York with one of my brother's friends) and my mom doesn't like me on the computer for more than an hour. My dad doesn't really care that much about how long I'm on.
I hope that I manage to edit MM properly by the end of Christmas vacation, but I highly doubt it. I may have to wait until February vacation to finish editing. And even then, I know that I won't be satisfied. *sigh* So much work to be done, so little time...
However, I have this urge to not write the third book at all, though I know there will be people who won't be very happy with me. If I do edit MM, I will add onto it so that book three becomes a part of MM. At least, I think that is what will happen. I think that this way will end up being the best because MM is relatively short, and if I add on book three to it, it will be long enough for a decently sized book.
So, um...tell me what you think, I guess. I'm not really sure what to say, honestly...
Saturday, October 4, 2008
(Probably) Closing of Hiatus
I'm back for now! ^_^ Well... At least, as back as I'll ever be. I'll still be pretty busy, but I should be finishing Part VI for Seven soon. With some luck, book three for Melody Maker (I really need to come up with a name for the trilogy...) should begin soon. I still have to work out some details...
So... Yeah.
I'm still annoyed at my dad for telling me that I can't write. *cries* It makes me so insecure... But it may be true, because my writing does need work...
So... Yeah.
I'm still annoyed at my dad for telling me that I can't write. *cries* It makes me so insecure... But it may be true, because my writing does need work...
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hiatus
I probably won't be able to write much until there's vacation. I've got a lot on my hands. And I'm sick. I have a huge headache and I can barely concentrate and I still have homework. So forgive me. I'll try my best to update a LOT when I'm back.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Collision
Well... I got hit. By a car. Today. *sighs*
I was walking down the street and when I was in the middle of the road, the lights changed and cars started moving. I hesitated on whether to try and cross the last stretch or back up to let cars go past me. (I would have been right in the middle of the road and the cars would have whooshed past me.) The car came too fast and I didn't have time. I flew into the air.
At that moment, there was the beautiful clear blue sky. All I could think of was, "Wow. It's so beautiful." And then I landed rear end first onto the ground. And then I also hit my head. I called my parents and my friends who I had been going towards and then I was whisked off to the ER. I lay there until my parents and my friends showed up.
When I first got there, I cursed at how stupid I was. And then I realized it wasn't completely my fault and also not the worst thing that could have happened.
Yes, I should have stopped and moved back. I should have been more careful. But the driver should have seen me in the middle of the road. The driver should have stopped. And she shouldn't have accused me for running when I wasn't.
And there was another patient nearby. He was an elderly man, and he had been hit by a car as well. But he was having problems with his spine. I realized that that could have been me. It could have been a lot worse than it was. I could have broken something. I could have injured my back. I could have died.
I just feel so lucky that I'm still with all of you. And I'll be more careful in the future. Walking down the street, driving...I'll make sure that I am more on my guard and try not to make the mistake I did and the mistake that the person who hit me did.
I was walking down the street and when I was in the middle of the road, the lights changed and cars started moving. I hesitated on whether to try and cross the last stretch or back up to let cars go past me. (I would have been right in the middle of the road and the cars would have whooshed past me.) The car came too fast and I didn't have time. I flew into the air.
At that moment, there was the beautiful clear blue sky. All I could think of was, "Wow. It's so beautiful." And then I landed rear end first onto the ground. And then I also hit my head. I called my parents and my friends who I had been going towards and then I was whisked off to the ER. I lay there until my parents and my friends showed up.
When I first got there, I cursed at how stupid I was. And then I realized it wasn't completely my fault and also not the worst thing that could have happened.
Yes, I should have stopped and moved back. I should have been more careful. But the driver should have seen me in the middle of the road. The driver should have stopped. And she shouldn't have accused me for running when I wasn't.
And there was another patient nearby. He was an elderly man, and he had been hit by a car as well. But he was having problems with his spine. I realized that that could have been me. It could have been a lot worse than it was. I could have broken something. I could have injured my back. I could have died.
I just feel so lucky that I'm still with all of you. And I'll be more careful in the future. Walking down the street, driving...I'll make sure that I am more on my guard and try not to make the mistake I did and the mistake that the person who hit me did.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Blog List
Is it only just me, or does the thing seem messed up? I updated TOS just today, but it says I updated it a week ago, though it does change the most recent title on the blog. Weird...
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My Songs
I have a few songs that are basically my favorites because they reflect life for me and inspire me. Here is a list and the lyrics of these songs.
This One's for the Girls
by Martina Mcbride
This one's for all you girls about thirteen
High school can be so rough, can be so mean
Hold onto, on to your innocence
Stand your ground when everyone's giving in
This one's for the girls
This is for all you girls about twenty-five
In a little apartment, just trying to get by
Living on, on dreams and spaghetti-o's
Wondering where you life is gonna go
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls
This is for all you girls about forty-two
Tossing pennies into the Fountain of Youth
Every laugh, laugh line on your face
Made you who you are today
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls
Yeah, we're all the same inside (same inside)
From 1 to 99
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls
Yeah, this one's for the girls
Breakaway
by Kelly Clarkson
Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray
Trying hard to reach out
But when I'd try to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray
I could breakaway
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky and I'll
Make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love and I'll
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get on board a fast train
Travel on an airplane, far away (I will pray)
And breakaway
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky and I'll
Make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love and I'll
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Building with a hundred floor
Swinging 'round revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep movin' on, movin' on
Fly away
Breakaway
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you good bye, I gotta
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from, I gotta
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Breakaway
Breakaway
Stand in the Rain
by Superchick
She never slows down.
She doesn't know why but she knows that when she's all alone, feels like its all coming down
She won't turn around
The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear, the tears will not stop raining down
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain
She won't make a sound
Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down
She wants to be found
The only way out is through everything she's running from wants to give up and lie down.
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
Stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain
All the Things She Said (English version)
By t.A.T.u
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
This is not enough,
enough (Echo 3x)
I'm in serious sh**, I feel totally lost
If I'm asking for help it's only because
Being with you has opened my eyes
Could I eva believe such a perfect surprise?
I keep asking myself, wondering how
I keep closing my eyes but I can't block you out
Wanna fly to a place where it's just you and me
Nobody else so we can be free (Echo 1x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
This is not enough [wa wa] (2x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
And I'm all mixed up, feeling cornered and rushed
They say it's my fault but I want her so much
Wanna fly her away where the sun and rain
Come in over my face, wash away all the shame
When they stop and stare - don't worry me
รข€˜Cause I'm feelin' for her what she's feeling for me
I can try to pretend, I can try to forget
But it's driving me mad, going out of my head
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
This is not enough (2x)
All the things she said (11x)
Mother looking at me
Tell me what do you see?
Yes, I've lost my mind
Daddy lookin' at me
Will I eva be free?
Have I crossed the line?
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
This is not enough (2x)
All the things she said (Echo 3x)
One Step at a Time
by Jordin Sparks
Hurry up and wait
So close, but so far away
Everything that you've always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste
But you just can't touch
You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
You believe and you doubt
You're confused, you got it all figured out
Everything that you always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, would be yours
If they only knew
You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
when you need to find the strength
It's the faith that makes you stronger
The only way you get there
Is one step at a time
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
Potential Break Up Song
by Aly and AJ
It took too long
It took too long
It took too long for you to call back
And normally I would just forget that
Except for the fact it was my birthday
My stupid birthday
I played along
I played along
I played along
Rolled right off my back
But obviously my armor was cracked
What kind of a boyfriend would forget that?
Who would forget that?
The type of guy who doesn't see
What he has until she leaves
Don't let me go
Cause without me you know you're lost
Wise up now or pay the cost
Soon you will know
You're not living
'Til you're living, living with me
You're not winning
'Til you're winning, winning me
You're not getting
'Til you're getting, getting me
You're not living 'til you're living, living for me
This is the potential breakup song
Our album needs just one
Oh baby please
Please tell me
We got along
We got along
We got along until you did that
Now all I want is just my stuff back
Do you get that?
Let me repeat that
I want my stuff back
You can send it in a box
I don't care
Just drop it off
I won't be home
Cause without me you know you're lost
Minus you, I'm better off
Soon you will know
You're not living
'Til you're living, living with me
You're not winning
'Til you're winning, winning me
You're not getting
'Til you're getting, getting me
You're not living 'til you're living, living for me
You can try
You can try
You know I'd know it'd be a lie
Without me you're gonna die
So you betta think clearly, clearly
Before you nearly, nearly messed up the situation
That you're gonna miss dearly, dearly
Come on!
You're not living
'Til you're living, living with me
You're not winning
'Til you're winning, winning me
You're not getting
'Til you're getting, getting me
You're not living 'til you're living, living for me
This is the potential breakup song
Our album needs just one
Oh baby please
Please, tell me
This is the potential makeup song
Please just admit you're wrong
Which will it be
Which will it be
Because of You
by Kelly Clarkson
By Avril Lavigne
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
Let's talk this over
It's not like we're dead
Was it something I did?
Was it something You said?
Don't leave me hanging
In a city so dead
Held up so high
On such a breakable thread
You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
You've got your dumb friends
I know what they say
They tell you I'm difficult
But so are they
But they don't know me
Do they even know you?
All the things you hide from me
All the sh** that you do
You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
It's nice to know that you were there
Thanks for acting like you cared
And making me feel like I was the only one
It's nice to know we had it all
Thanks for watching as I fall
And letting me know we were done
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
Not saying I don't like other songs-I like a lot of songs- but these are my personal favorites because I can relate to them.
This One's for the Girls
by Martina Mcbride
This one's for all you girls about thirteen
High school can be so rough, can be so mean
Hold onto, on to your innocence
Stand your ground when everyone's giving in
This one's for the girls
This is for all you girls about twenty-five
In a little apartment, just trying to get by
Living on, on dreams and spaghetti-o's
Wondering where you life is gonna go
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls
This is for all you girls about forty-two
Tossing pennies into the Fountain of Youth
Every laugh, laugh line on your face
Made you who you are today
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls
Yeah, we're all the same inside (same inside)
From 1 to 99
This one's for the girls
Who've ever had a broken heart
Who've wished upon a shooting star
You're beautiful the way you are
This one's for the girls
Who love without holding back
Who dream with everything they have
All around the world
This one's for the girls
Yeah, this one's for the girls
Breakaway
by Kelly Clarkson
Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray
Trying hard to reach out
But when I'd try to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I'd pray
I could breakaway
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky and I'll
Make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love and I'll
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get on board a fast train
Travel on an airplane, far away (I will pray)
And breakaway
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
I'll do what it takes 'til I touch the sky and I'll
Make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget all the ones that I love and I'll
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Building with a hundred floor
Swinging 'round revolving doors
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me but
Gotta keep movin' on, movin' on
Fly away
Breakaway
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly
Though it's not easy to tell you good bye, I gotta
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won't forget the place I come from, I gotta
Take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Breakaway
Breakaway
Stand in the Rain
by Superchick
She never slows down.
She doesn't know why but she knows that when she's all alone, feels like its all coming down
She won't turn around
The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear, the tears will not stop raining down
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain
She won't make a sound
Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she'll fall down
She wants to be found
The only way out is through everything she's running from wants to give up and lie down.
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
Stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
So stand in the rain
Stand your ground
Stand up when it's all crashing down
You stand through the pain
You won't drown
And one day, what's lost can be found
You stand in the rain
All the Things She Said (English version)
By t.A.T.u
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
This is not enough,
enough (Echo 3x)
I'm in serious sh**, I feel totally lost
If I'm asking for help it's only because
Being with you has opened my eyes
Could I eva believe such a perfect surprise?
I keep asking myself, wondering how
I keep closing my eyes but I can't block you out
Wanna fly to a place where it's just you and me
Nobody else so we can be free (Echo 1x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
This is not enough [wa wa] (2x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
All the things she said
And I'm all mixed up, feeling cornered and rushed
They say it's my fault but I want her so much
Wanna fly her away where the sun and rain
Come in over my face, wash away all the shame
When they stop and stare - don't worry me
รข€˜Cause I'm feelin' for her what she's feeling for me
I can try to pretend, I can try to forget
But it's driving me mad, going out of my head
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
This is not enough (2x)
All the things she said (11x)
Mother looking at me
Tell me what do you see?
Yes, I've lost my mind
Daddy lookin' at me
Will I eva be free?
Have I crossed the line?
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (3x)
All the things she said
All the things she said
Runnin' through my head (2x)
All the things she said
This is not enough (2x)
All the things she said (Echo 3x)
One Step at a Time
by Jordin Sparks
Hurry up and wait
So close, but so far away
Everything that you've always dreamed of
Close enough for you to taste
But you just can't touch
You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
You believe and you doubt
You're confused, you got it all figured out
Everything that you always wished for
Could be yours, should be yours, would be yours
If they only knew
You wanna show the world, but no one knows your name yet
Wonder when and where and how you're gonna make it
You know you can if you get the chance
In your face as the door keeps slamming
Now you're feeling more and more frustrated
And you're getting all kind of impatient waiting
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
When you can't wait any longer
But there's no end in sight
when you need to find the strength
It's the faith that makes you stronger
The only way you get there
Is one step at a time
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
We live and we learn to take
One step at a time
There's no need to rush
It's like learning to fly
Or falling in love
It's gonna happen and it's
Supposed to happen that we
Find the reasons why
One step at a time
Potential Break Up Song
by Aly and AJ
It took too long
It took too long
It took too long for you to call back
And normally I would just forget that
Except for the fact it was my birthday
My stupid birthday
I played along
I played along
I played along
Rolled right off my back
But obviously my armor was cracked
What kind of a boyfriend would forget that?
Who would forget that?
The type of guy who doesn't see
What he has until she leaves
Don't let me go
Cause without me you know you're lost
Wise up now or pay the cost
Soon you will know
You're not living
'Til you're living, living with me
You're not winning
'Til you're winning, winning me
You're not getting
'Til you're getting, getting me
You're not living 'til you're living, living for me
This is the potential breakup song
Our album needs just one
Oh baby please
Please tell me
We got along
We got along
We got along until you did that
Now all I want is just my stuff back
Do you get that?
Let me repeat that
I want my stuff back
You can send it in a box
I don't care
Just drop it off
I won't be home
Cause without me you know you're lost
Minus you, I'm better off
Soon you will know
You're not living
'Til you're living, living with me
You're not winning
'Til you're winning, winning me
You're not getting
'Til you're getting, getting me
You're not living 'til you're living, living for me
You can try
You can try
You know I'd know it'd be a lie
Without me you're gonna die
So you betta think clearly, clearly
Before you nearly, nearly messed up the situation
That you're gonna miss dearly, dearly
Come on!
You're not living
'Til you're living, living with me
You're not winning
'Til you're winning, winning me
You're not getting
'Til you're getting, getting me
You're not living 'til you're living, living for me
This is the potential breakup song
Our album needs just one
Oh baby please
Please, tell me
This is the potential makeup song
Please just admit you're wrong
Which will it be
Which will it be
Because of You
by Kelly Clarkson
I will not make the same mistakes that you did
I will not let myself cause my heart so much misery
I will not break the way you did
You fell so hard
I've learned the hard way, to never let it get that far
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid
I lose my way
And it's not too long before you point it out
I cannot cry
Because I know that's weakness in your eyes
I'm forced to fake, a smile, a laugh
Every day of my life
My heart can't possibly break
When it wasn't even whole to start with
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I find it hard to trust
Not only me, but everyone around me
Because of you
I am afraid
I watched you die
I heard you cry
Every night in your sleep
I was so young
You should have known better than to lean on me
You never thought of anyone else
You just saw your pain
And now I cry
In the middle of the night
For the same damn thing
Because of you
I never stray too far from the sidewalk
Because of you
I learned to play on the safe side
So I don't get hurt
Because of you
I tried my hardest just to forget everything
Because of you
I don't know how to let anyone else in
Because of you
I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty
Because of you
I am afraid
Because of you
Because of youMy Happy EndingBy Avril Lavigne
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
Let's talk this over
It's not like we're dead
Was it something I did?
Was it something You said?
Don't leave me hanging
In a city so dead
Held up so high
On such a breakable thread
You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
You've got your dumb friends
I know what they say
They tell you I'm difficult
But so are they
But they don't know me
Do they even know you?
All the things you hide from me
All the sh** that you do
You were all the things I thought I knew
And I thought we could be
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
It's nice to know that you were there
Thanks for acting like you cared
And making me feel like I was the only one
It's nice to know we had it all
Thanks for watching as I fall
And letting me know we were done
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
So much for my happy ending
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh...
Not saying I don't like other songs-I like a lot of songs- but these are my personal favorites because I can relate to them.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Stupid School Computers
I'm annoyed at the school computers. For one, they're slow. They don't have modzilla firefox. And now I find that I can't do italics or bold, which I need to write TTT (Traveling Through Time). And I know I won't have time later today because I won't be able to get onto the computer after school and this is the only time I really have today. I can't work on my other blogs because A TS Story might make some people twitchy and you know my problem with TTT. I could work on TTT Information, but there's not much to really post. I could work on a short story, but I have no inspiriation. So the only thing I have right now is to get annoyed and type about how annoyed I am. So here I am, doing exactly what I wrote. It's not very interesting at all and I'm probably boring you out with my writing. This is definitely not something I would read normally, and I don't think you guys would read anything like this normally either.
It's a good thing that I don't have to tolerate these school computers much longer because I'm going to high school. The thing is, I don't know how good the high school computers are. For all I know, they could be the same or even worse. Now that would suck. I just hope the computers are better.
Oh, my parents said that I could get a laptop in high school if I pay for half of it. But I can get any laptop I want. Which is good. Just, I don't really know how much I would be willing to spend on a laptop and which laptops are good. I'll have to do some searching I guess, but I really don't know what to search for. I've never done laptop shopping. A friend of mine suggested I search on amazon.com and organize it by price so I could compare style and prices and all the fun stuff. I suppose I could do that, but I really don't feel like it right now. What I reallly want to do is write, so that's what I'm doing. Although, it's not a very interesting thing to write about.
I'll stop ranting now and stare off into space. Thanks for tolerating with my little post here that has no purpose what so ever.
It's a good thing that I don't have to tolerate these school computers much longer because I'm going to high school. The thing is, I don't know how good the high school computers are. For all I know, they could be the same or even worse. Now that would suck. I just hope the computers are better.
Oh, my parents said that I could get a laptop in high school if I pay for half of it. But I can get any laptop I want. Which is good. Just, I don't really know how much I would be willing to spend on a laptop and which laptops are good. I'll have to do some searching I guess, but I really don't know what to search for. I've never done laptop shopping. A friend of mine suggested I search on amazon.com and organize it by price so I could compare style and prices and all the fun stuff. I suppose I could do that, but I really don't feel like it right now. What I reallly want to do is write, so that's what I'm doing. Although, it's not a very interesting thing to write about.
I'll stop ranting now and stare off into space. Thanks for tolerating with my little post here that has no purpose what so ever.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Rant
My brother is currently bawling his head off, complaining that he can't call his friend to organize a playdate. He's already been screaming and crying for the last 15 minutes and driving me crazy. He had to call mom to get permission, so he called like 20 times until she picked up. Actually, somewhere in between, he had me call around 5 times. I told him to go away and stop bothering me originally, but he kept jumping up and down and crying and screaming and saying that he needed to talk to mom. Eventually I just got fed up and called her. Again and again. He also was crying when he messed up her phone number a couple times. He probably called some random person who was completely confused at the fact that there was this little kid saying, "Ma? Ma? Ma?! Ma!" a billion times. (By the way, ma means mom in Chinese, for those who don't know. Err, well, can be, if you pronounce it Chinese style. I suppose it would make sense in English too, now that I think of it.) And then finally she picked up and then she said that he couldn't call and then he started whining and screaming, and so I got fed up and screamed at him to shut up. (You think that's not bad, but in our household, even shut up is a "bad word" and cannot be used. Consider this, I grew up in a household where stupid and idiot are considered swears.) I was really annoyed. I would have swore if my concience would let me. (My brother's only 8 and should not know swears yet. Or at least, that's how it is in my household.)
You know, I was surprised at how much my voice can carry. It ended up a lot louder than I wanted it to.
But I am so fed up with dealing with this spoiled brat. He gets almost anything he wants. I just want to smack him and scream in his face. I am seriously pissed off and ready to knock him out for some peace and quiet so I can do my homework.
Currently, he's walking around sniffing and crying and going up and down the stairs.
You know, I was surprised at how much my voice can carry. It ended up a lot louder than I wanted it to.
But I am so fed up with dealing with this spoiled brat. He gets almost anything he wants. I just want to smack him and scream in his face. I am seriously pissed off and ready to knock him out for some peace and quiet so I can do my homework.
Currently, he's walking around sniffing and crying and going up and down the stairs.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
A Ghost Story
"Cassandra!!!"
"I'm coming!" I didn't want to leave here, I really didn't. Mom was making me and my brother, John, move because Dad got this wonderful job way out there in the land of Far, Far Away. Actually, John wanted to move, being the weird person he was. Taking one last look at the room I had used for the last 13 years, I quickly ran out of the house to Mom before she got angrier than she already was.
"Be good, Cassandra, okay? Take care of John for me while I'm in Taiwan."
"Yes, Mom..." I murmured in consent. Not only was I moving, Mom had recently gotten called to Taiwan because I think great-grandma was dying. I would feel sad about that if I knew her. I'd only met her once, so it was kinda hard for me to feel bad. Still, seeing Mom with that agonized look on her face killed me.
Mom slid into the smaller silver car and Dad, John, and I slid into the larger red car. Mom waved goodbye to us when we parted ways and I waved back weakly. I was still upset about leaving the house I'd lived in for more than a decade.
I stared blankly out of the window as Dad and John began to talk about their trip to the beach. From what I had heard, they had almost gotten into a car accident. The rest of their trip, however, was "fantastic." I wondered how they could be so cheerful at leaving our old house. I missed it already and it had only been an hour.
~*~
"We're here!" I sleepily opened my eyes; had I fallen asleep? John danced around in a circle and continued to shout the same phrase over and over again.
"John, could you have the decency to shut up?!" I screeched at him. He fell silent for a couple moments before starting again. Dad just rolled his eyes and began to take our things into the new house.
Then, I finally got a good look at the house. I had refused to look before now, but I hadn't expected the house to be...well...this HUGE! It was practically a mansion! By now, Dad and John had already gone into the house, so I opened the car door and made my way inside. To the left of the giant door that I just barely could open, there was an enormous spiral staircase. As I traveled through the house, there were rooms of all shapes and sizes and uses. By the time I was done looking through the first level of the house, my feet were sore. I'd only seen one set of stairs and that was the giant spiral staircase.
Standing at the bottom of all those steps, I wondered how long it would take to get up there. There was a flash of movement beside me and then I saw John running up the staircase.
"C'mon, Cassy!" he called from the middle of the staircase.
"I told you NOT to call me Cassy!" I retorted, but began to climb. He reached the top and I could see him waiting, but no matter how much I walked, I couldn't get to the top. I climbed for 5 minutes and I couldn't make it to the top. Eventually, I gave up and turned around. It only took me a couple seconds to reach the bottom.
A shiver of fear ran through me as I looked at the staircase. When I had first seen it, I would have called it magnificent. Now, I would probably have called it haunted. It scared me and I never again tried to use those stairs.
~*~
After a couple months of settling in, I grew to like this new home. The house was enormous, so if I wanted to, I could avoid people. The school here wasn't too bad, and though I made no friends, I learned more than I ever did in my old school. Even so, I missed my old friends and e-mailed them as often as possible.
Mom still wasn't back, but I wasn't worried because she had said that she might be back later than expected.
I tried to find Dad in this huge building and it took me a while before I found him at a desk with his laptop.
"Hey dad, guess what?" There was no response from him, but I continued to talk. "I think I really like this house."
"What if two ghosts liked this house too?" My blood ran cold. What was with his voice? That hard, unfeeling quality in his words?
"What if this was a bloody house?" Dad began to turn towards me.
"What if they wanted you gone?" Now I could see this horrible evil grin on his face. I took a step back.
His arms shot out and cold fingers encircled my neck. I gasped for air as I tried to pry his fingers off. He began to float into the air and his terrible grin grew larger.
It suddenly all made sense. Dad and John were the two ghosts; they had died in the "almost car accident." And Mom? She too had died long ago. There were reports of a car accident but only now did all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. She was already gone.
The fingers were cold around my neck. Breath came short. My vision began to go and then, I saw no more.
AN: Creepy as this is, this was also a dream I had a while back. I didn't sleep very much after this, believe me.
"I'm coming!" I didn't want to leave here, I really didn't. Mom was making me and my brother, John, move because Dad got this wonderful job way out there in the land of Far, Far Away. Actually, John wanted to move, being the weird person he was. Taking one last look at the room I had used for the last 13 years, I quickly ran out of the house to Mom before she got angrier than she already was.
"Be good, Cassandra, okay? Take care of John for me while I'm in Taiwan."
"Yes, Mom..." I murmured in consent. Not only was I moving, Mom had recently gotten called to Taiwan because I think great-grandma was dying. I would feel sad about that if I knew her. I'd only met her once, so it was kinda hard for me to feel bad. Still, seeing Mom with that agonized look on her face killed me.
Mom slid into the smaller silver car and Dad, John, and I slid into the larger red car. Mom waved goodbye to us when we parted ways and I waved back weakly. I was still upset about leaving the house I'd lived in for more than a decade.
I stared blankly out of the window as Dad and John began to talk about their trip to the beach. From what I had heard, they had almost gotten into a car accident. The rest of their trip, however, was "fantastic." I wondered how they could be so cheerful at leaving our old house. I missed it already and it had only been an hour.
~*~
"We're here!" I sleepily opened my eyes; had I fallen asleep? John danced around in a circle and continued to shout the same phrase over and over again.
"John, could you have the decency to shut up?!" I screeched at him. He fell silent for a couple moments before starting again. Dad just rolled his eyes and began to take our things into the new house.
Then, I finally got a good look at the house. I had refused to look before now, but I hadn't expected the house to be...well...this HUGE! It was practically a mansion! By now, Dad and John had already gone into the house, so I opened the car door and made my way inside. To the left of the giant door that I just barely could open, there was an enormous spiral staircase. As I traveled through the house, there were rooms of all shapes and sizes and uses. By the time I was done looking through the first level of the house, my feet were sore. I'd only seen one set of stairs and that was the giant spiral staircase.
Standing at the bottom of all those steps, I wondered how long it would take to get up there. There was a flash of movement beside me and then I saw John running up the staircase.
"C'mon, Cassy!" he called from the middle of the staircase.
"I told you NOT to call me Cassy!" I retorted, but began to climb. He reached the top and I could see him waiting, but no matter how much I walked, I couldn't get to the top. I climbed for 5 minutes and I couldn't make it to the top. Eventually, I gave up and turned around. It only took me a couple seconds to reach the bottom.
A shiver of fear ran through me as I looked at the staircase. When I had first seen it, I would have called it magnificent. Now, I would probably have called it haunted. It scared me and I never again tried to use those stairs.
~*~
After a couple months of settling in, I grew to like this new home. The house was enormous, so if I wanted to, I could avoid people. The school here wasn't too bad, and though I made no friends, I learned more than I ever did in my old school. Even so, I missed my old friends and e-mailed them as often as possible.
Mom still wasn't back, but I wasn't worried because she had said that she might be back later than expected.
I tried to find Dad in this huge building and it took me a while before I found him at a desk with his laptop.
"Hey dad, guess what?" There was no response from him, but I continued to talk. "I think I really like this house."
"What if two ghosts liked this house too?" My blood ran cold. What was with his voice? That hard, unfeeling quality in his words?
"What if this was a bloody house?" Dad began to turn towards me.
"What if they wanted you gone?" Now I could see this horrible evil grin on his face. I took a step back.
His arms shot out and cold fingers encircled my neck. I gasped for air as I tried to pry his fingers off. He began to float into the air and his terrible grin grew larger.
It suddenly all made sense. Dad and John were the two ghosts; they had died in the "almost car accident." And Mom? She too had died long ago. There were reports of a car accident but only now did all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. She was already gone.
The fingers were cold around my neck. Breath came short. My vision began to go and then, I saw no more.
AN: Creepy as this is, this was also a dream I had a while back. I didn't sleep very much after this, believe me.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Tale of a Vampire
I stared blankly ahead, not really looking at the painting as I was supposed to. My class had gone to a museum and we were being lecture by a guide. To me, there was no point in this trip, but if it allowed me to miss school, I didn't care where we went.
"Vicky. Vicky. Victoria!" I snapped my head around to see Ms. Gala with her hands on her waist and looking rather annoyed.
"What?!" I half-growled.
"Pay attention. You're supposed to be taking notes." she replied, glaring at me. Holding up my notebook and pencil, I pretended to be paying attention as the guide droned on.
~*~
The tour finally ended and we went outside to eat lunch. Automatically, the cliques of the school grouped up and sat down on the crisp, green grass. I sat alone in the shade.
I really didn't see what was so great about tanning. All you did was get darker in color and heighten the risk of getting skin cancer. I guess that made me stand out quite a bit. All the kids at my school were obsessed with tanning. I'm not even kidding. Being the indoor person I was, I was extremely pale in the first place and not going out into the sun made me even paler.
Some people said that I was a vampire. They even had "proof." I was pale, had long black hair, liked the dark/night, and hated garlic. It didn't really help that I was the outsider in the school. Though this had mostly died away, I occasionally got people asking me if I was off to suck an innocent victim's blood as I was leaving the school.
You may ask, what made me an outsider in the first place? I was living with a foster family and dressed goth. I avoided talking to people and when I did talk, I snapped at them. Why? Because I was still upset about everything that had caused me to be with the foster family. Don't get me wrong, they were okay people, but I was too depressed. My mother and father divorced when I was 15 and my father got himself a life long sentence in jail when I was 16. My father was the one with the parental custody before he lost it when he went to jail.
So, I was sent off to live with a foster family. This being the 7th, I was even more angsty than I had started out as. All this together made me to outcast, the loner of the school. Not that I cared. I'd probably be here only a while longer.
Out of nowhere, the brilliant blue sky was covered with storm clouds and the sun was blocked out. Yet, there was no rain, no lightning, and no thunder. Black forms came down from the sky and grabbed students. Something happened, and when they threw the victim to the ground, their eyes were sightless and their body was stained with blood.
I was paralyzed, watching the graceful forms kill the students. As their hoods fell off, I realized that they weren't just killing, they were feeding. These were vampires.
Shaking my head and closing my eyes, I told myself, it's all a dream, vampires aren't real. But when I looked again, they were still there. No other students were alive now. Except for me.
My whole body trembled as I tried to move backwards. My muscles wouldn't cooperate and my breath came short. Suddenly, one of them was in front of me, his red, slitted eyes looking into mines.
"She's mine!" he snarled, bearing his teeth. I could see those sharp, deadly canines in his feral grin.
"Don't kill me. I don't want to die." I whimpered, shivering at the touch of his hands on my neck.
There was a flash of surprise in his eyes, but they quickly returned to being stoic and cold. He caressed my neck, lifting my head to one side. I quivered, believing this to be the end of my young life. Then, he bit into my neck.
I felt the sharp canines sinking into my soft, yielding flesh. I felt the blood gushing out from the wound as he eagerly licked it off. But then something was poured into my mouth. I swallowed instinctively and the bleeding stopped.
I cried out as fire rushed through my veins and pain shot through me. My muscles lengthened and grew stronger. My head tilted back, my mouth open, and my I could feel my canines growing longer and sharper.
Finally, everything stopped growing and the last thing I remember was a pair of strong arms lifting me up from the ground.
~*~
The next thing that I could remember after blacking out was opening my eyes to see those glowing red eyes looking at me.
I sat up and saw the vampire who had bit me sitting calmly beside me on a chair. My hands shook as I tried to find the bite marks on my neck.
"You're not going to find bite marks." came the silky voice of the boy next to me. "You healed long ago. And by the way, I did not dress you if you're worrying about that." I hadn't realized until then what I was wearing. There was a strapless black dress with criss-crossing black ribbons on top of blood red on the bodice. The edge was ragged and torn. Large black boots and fish net leggings finished off the outfit.
"Vampire, what is your name?" I asked, turning to the one who had bit me.
"My name is William, but call me Will. I wouldn't be calling me a vampire so accusingly though. Especially since you're one yourself now."
"You turned me into a vampire?!" I screeched, finally figuring out what all the transformations were for.
"Well duh. You said you didn't want to die, and us vampired have to honor that. So what we do is we bite them and feed them our blood. If they survive the transformation, they become one of us. If not, ah well. And you haven't told me your name yet."
"My name is Victoria. Most people call me Vicky but I like Victoria better."
"Nice to meet you, Victoria." he said as he offered a hand to me.
"Nice to meet you too, Will." I accepted the hand and he pulled me to my feet.
~*~
"Where are you taking me?" I asked as he pulled me along.
"To the elders. They have to see if you are worthy. If not, you will be destroyed."
"Fantastic!" I said sarcastically.
"It's not that hard to pass. You'll be fine." I didn't say anything. I only hoped he was right.
It was strange to think that I was a vampire. There actually wasn't much difference. Or at least, that's what it seemed like now.
Will opened a door in front of us and guided me in.
"You're on your own now. Good luck." And then he was gone. I gulped and looked around. There were elderly-looking vampires in a circle surrounding me. Somehow, it reminded me a bit of something from Harry Potter.
"This is the new one?" Whoever said that did not sound impressed.
"Now, now, just because she doesn't look like anything doesn't mean she's not a worthy vampire." I would have smiled gratefully at the owner of the voice if I could have found him. Although in a way, it was still an insult. I suppose it was only fair, for I was thin and rather small for my age.
"Let the tests begin." Yet another mysterious voice. These voices were so hard to track.
"What is your name?"
"Victoria."
"You asked not to be killed?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want to die." There was a pause.
"Bring in the box." A box was pushed into the room. Nothing particularly extraordinary, just a metal box.
"Tell us, is the person inside alive, dead, or a vampire?" Suddenly, I could see. I could see, or rather, sense, the heat emitted from inside the box. I smirked.
"One alive, one sleeping, one dead, and two vampires." The alive one was moving around and was emitting a lot of heat. The sleeping one was emitting less heat but still had some heat. The dead one still had a little heat and could be mistaken for sleeping but he wasn't breathing and his heart had already stopped. The vampires emitted no heat but stood out because there was heat in the air of the box.
"Can you tell us if the dead one was drained of blood?" I wasn't sure just by looking but when I took a deep breath in, I could smell the scent of blood. Ignoring the scents of the alive and sleeping one, I focused on the scent of the dead one. There was the scent of stale blood, which meant that he had bled at one point. But from what I could see, he was still slightly warm with blood so he had only been partially drained.
"Partially drained of blood." I answered. I didn't exactly know how I knew all this, but somehow, I did.
"Lift up the box with one hand." I walked to the box and thought about it for a while. There were 5 people inside. As far as I knew, I wasn't that strong. But I had to try.
I grabbed an edge of the box and lifted. Gasping, I marveled at how easy it seemed to lift it. It was like holding a feather. Gently, I put the box down again.
"Last test. Run from one side of the room to the other." I walked to the closest wall and ran straight across the circular room.
"0.05 seconds." Was it really that fast? It hadn't seemed that fast.
"You have passed the test of sixth sense, scent, strength, and speed. We congratulate you." They clapped politely and Will came to take me away.
~*~
"Now I have to explain the rules. We live in secret. You cannot return to your family. You cannot feed by yourself. You cannot tell humans that you are a vampire." Will waited for my reaction.
"That's not a problem." And it wasn't. Having no school life, there was no one to miss. My family pretty much didn't exist. There was no one to tell. As far as feeding went, I didn't know how to feed so I would have to travel in a group.
"Good. Crosses and holy symbols to not harm us, including holy water. Garlic is just a bother because of our heightened sense of smell. We don't turn to ashes in the sun, we just look unusually pale. Though if you stay out long enough, you can get a sunburn. We cannot shape shift. Mirrors show our reflections."
"What is true then?"
"As you know, we are very quick and strong. We also can heal immediately and fly."
"Okay. Now what?"
"You have been assigned a room, which is next door to mines. I will help you for however long you require my assistance." He was as good as he said. He told me how often we feed (it disgusted me at first, but human food no longer satisfied me) and introduced me to other vampires. He showed me that practically all legends on vampires were false except for a few. he taught me how to fly and avoid airplanes. He was my companion for 50 years.
~*~
Still looking the 17 year old girl (although, now I looked more powerful and dangerous since I had inhuman abilities and red, slitted eyes) I had been half a century ago, I flew beside Will, who had been 18 when he had been turned. He was at least a century older than me, but he was my best friend. Actually, he was more my boyfriend now, but I usually called him my best friend.
We were off to feed on a group of late night party-ers. They most likely drunk and didn't taste as sweet as the ones who were sober, but still food.
I had just started on my 5th one when a state went through my shoulder. Dropping my victim, I wrenched out of the stake and turned to see a vampire hunter. They were rare these days but still dangerous.
"Damn. I missed the heart." I called to the others and we circled the hunter. He held up a silver cross, waving it around at any vampire who moved.
It wasn't the cross we were afraid of, it was the silver. Silver left burns that lasted for years. I still remember my first run-in with silver. Left a nasty ring-shaped burn on my arm.
When the hunter's back was finally facing me, I lunged and his head was cleanly cut off with my trusty dagger.
The others smiled at me and quickly finished off the rest of the party-ers. I licked the blood off of the dagger and then sheathed it. It had been a pretty good feeding.
Will came up behind me and hugged me.
"Great job, Victoria." he whispered into my ear. I turned to kiss him, loving the last of his lips. He let go of me and then we walked to join the others. But he didn't make it all the way. A silver stake was impaled through his chest and he looked at me lovingly, eyes full of pain, before he turned into ashes.
"That's right, go to Hell, where you belong!" shouted the hunter who had shot Will down. I gritted my teeth. Now was not the time to mourn, it was the time to kill. There would be time to mourn later.
He began to fire silver stakes from an automatic crossbow at me as I ran towards him. They all missed. Or rather, I avoided them all.
I ripped off his head with my hand, not caring for a clean cut this time. I threw the head away from me in disgust.
He fell, but not before he had wrapped his silver whip around my arm. Hissing, I removed the weapon and turned to face the others. They had gathered Will's ashes into a pouch and handed them to me. Silently thanking them, I slipped the pouch into a boot.
Only now did I allow myself to cry. It began to rain, almost as if the sky was crying with me.
We flew back home and mourned the passing of Will. I locked myself into his room for two years, just crying.
When I came out, I vowed that I would never again feel compassion for a human again. I would kill without mercy. So be on your guard. You might just be my next victim.
AN: This is a short story based off of a dream I had the other day. A lot of it wasn't in the dream, but this is partially what occurred in the dream. I was Victoria in the dream, though I made the name after the dream.
"Vicky. Vicky. Victoria!" I snapped my head around to see Ms. Gala with her hands on her waist and looking rather annoyed.
"What?!" I half-growled.
"Pay attention. You're supposed to be taking notes." she replied, glaring at me. Holding up my notebook and pencil, I pretended to be paying attention as the guide droned on.
~*~
The tour finally ended and we went outside to eat lunch. Automatically, the cliques of the school grouped up and sat down on the crisp, green grass. I sat alone in the shade.
I really didn't see what was so great about tanning. All you did was get darker in color and heighten the risk of getting skin cancer. I guess that made me stand out quite a bit. All the kids at my school were obsessed with tanning. I'm not even kidding. Being the indoor person I was, I was extremely pale in the first place and not going out into the sun made me even paler.
Some people said that I was a vampire. They even had "proof." I was pale, had long black hair, liked the dark/night, and hated garlic. It didn't really help that I was the outsider in the school. Though this had mostly died away, I occasionally got people asking me if I was off to suck an innocent victim's blood as I was leaving the school.
You may ask, what made me an outsider in the first place? I was living with a foster family and dressed goth. I avoided talking to people and when I did talk, I snapped at them. Why? Because I was still upset about everything that had caused me to be with the foster family. Don't get me wrong, they were okay people, but I was too depressed. My mother and father divorced when I was 15 and my father got himself a life long sentence in jail when I was 16. My father was the one with the parental custody before he lost it when he went to jail.
So, I was sent off to live with a foster family. This being the 7th, I was even more angsty than I had started out as. All this together made me to outcast, the loner of the school. Not that I cared. I'd probably be here only a while longer.
Out of nowhere, the brilliant blue sky was covered with storm clouds and the sun was blocked out. Yet, there was no rain, no lightning, and no thunder. Black forms came down from the sky and grabbed students. Something happened, and when they threw the victim to the ground, their eyes were sightless and their body was stained with blood.
I was paralyzed, watching the graceful forms kill the students. As their hoods fell off, I realized that they weren't just killing, they were feeding. These were vampires.
Shaking my head and closing my eyes, I told myself, it's all a dream, vampires aren't real. But when I looked again, they were still there. No other students were alive now. Except for me.
My whole body trembled as I tried to move backwards. My muscles wouldn't cooperate and my breath came short. Suddenly, one of them was in front of me, his red, slitted eyes looking into mines.
"She's mine!" he snarled, bearing his teeth. I could see those sharp, deadly canines in his feral grin.
"Don't kill me. I don't want to die." I whimpered, shivering at the touch of his hands on my neck.
There was a flash of surprise in his eyes, but they quickly returned to being stoic and cold. He caressed my neck, lifting my head to one side. I quivered, believing this to be the end of my young life. Then, he bit into my neck.
I felt the sharp canines sinking into my soft, yielding flesh. I felt the blood gushing out from the wound as he eagerly licked it off. But then something was poured into my mouth. I swallowed instinctively and the bleeding stopped.
I cried out as fire rushed through my veins and pain shot through me. My muscles lengthened and grew stronger. My head tilted back, my mouth open, and my I could feel my canines growing longer and sharper.
Finally, everything stopped growing and the last thing I remember was a pair of strong arms lifting me up from the ground.
~*~
The next thing that I could remember after blacking out was opening my eyes to see those glowing red eyes looking at me.
I sat up and saw the vampire who had bit me sitting calmly beside me on a chair. My hands shook as I tried to find the bite marks on my neck.
"You're not going to find bite marks." came the silky voice of the boy next to me. "You healed long ago. And by the way, I did not dress you if you're worrying about that." I hadn't realized until then what I was wearing. There was a strapless black dress with criss-crossing black ribbons on top of blood red on the bodice. The edge was ragged and torn. Large black boots and fish net leggings finished off the outfit.
"Vampire, what is your name?" I asked, turning to the one who had bit me.
"My name is William, but call me Will. I wouldn't be calling me a vampire so accusingly though. Especially since you're one yourself now."
"You turned me into a vampire?!" I screeched, finally figuring out what all the transformations were for.
"Well duh. You said you didn't want to die, and us vampired have to honor that. So what we do is we bite them and feed them our blood. If they survive the transformation, they become one of us. If not, ah well. And you haven't told me your name yet."
"My name is Victoria. Most people call me Vicky but I like Victoria better."
"Nice to meet you, Victoria." he said as he offered a hand to me.
"Nice to meet you too, Will." I accepted the hand and he pulled me to my feet.
~*~
"Where are you taking me?" I asked as he pulled me along.
"To the elders. They have to see if you are worthy. If not, you will be destroyed."
"Fantastic!" I said sarcastically.
"It's not that hard to pass. You'll be fine." I didn't say anything. I only hoped he was right.
It was strange to think that I was a vampire. There actually wasn't much difference. Or at least, that's what it seemed like now.
Will opened a door in front of us and guided me in.
"You're on your own now. Good luck." And then he was gone. I gulped and looked around. There were elderly-looking vampires in a circle surrounding me. Somehow, it reminded me a bit of something from Harry Potter.
"This is the new one?" Whoever said that did not sound impressed.
"Now, now, just because she doesn't look like anything doesn't mean she's not a worthy vampire." I would have smiled gratefully at the owner of the voice if I could have found him. Although in a way, it was still an insult. I suppose it was only fair, for I was thin and rather small for my age.
"Let the tests begin." Yet another mysterious voice. These voices were so hard to track.
"What is your name?"
"Victoria."
"You asked not to be killed?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want to die." There was a pause.
"Bring in the box." A box was pushed into the room. Nothing particularly extraordinary, just a metal box.
"Tell us, is the person inside alive, dead, or a vampire?" Suddenly, I could see. I could see, or rather, sense, the heat emitted from inside the box. I smirked.
"One alive, one sleeping, one dead, and two vampires." The alive one was moving around and was emitting a lot of heat. The sleeping one was emitting less heat but still had some heat. The dead one still had a little heat and could be mistaken for sleeping but he wasn't breathing and his heart had already stopped. The vampires emitted no heat but stood out because there was heat in the air of the box.
"Can you tell us if the dead one was drained of blood?" I wasn't sure just by looking but when I took a deep breath in, I could smell the scent of blood. Ignoring the scents of the alive and sleeping one, I focused on the scent of the dead one. There was the scent of stale blood, which meant that he had bled at one point. But from what I could see, he was still slightly warm with blood so he had only been partially drained.
"Partially drained of blood." I answered. I didn't exactly know how I knew all this, but somehow, I did.
"Lift up the box with one hand." I walked to the box and thought about it for a while. There were 5 people inside. As far as I knew, I wasn't that strong. But I had to try.
I grabbed an edge of the box and lifted. Gasping, I marveled at how easy it seemed to lift it. It was like holding a feather. Gently, I put the box down again.
"Last test. Run from one side of the room to the other." I walked to the closest wall and ran straight across the circular room.
"0.05 seconds." Was it really that fast? It hadn't seemed that fast.
"You have passed the test of sixth sense, scent, strength, and speed. We congratulate you." They clapped politely and Will came to take me away.
~*~
"Now I have to explain the rules. We live in secret. You cannot return to your family. You cannot feed by yourself. You cannot tell humans that you are a vampire." Will waited for my reaction.
"That's not a problem." And it wasn't. Having no school life, there was no one to miss. My family pretty much didn't exist. There was no one to tell. As far as feeding went, I didn't know how to feed so I would have to travel in a group.
"Good. Crosses and holy symbols to not harm us, including holy water. Garlic is just a bother because of our heightened sense of smell. We don't turn to ashes in the sun, we just look unusually pale. Though if you stay out long enough, you can get a sunburn. We cannot shape shift. Mirrors show our reflections."
"What is true then?"
"As you know, we are very quick and strong. We also can heal immediately and fly."
"Okay. Now what?"
"You have been assigned a room, which is next door to mines. I will help you for however long you require my assistance." He was as good as he said. He told me how often we feed (it disgusted me at first, but human food no longer satisfied me) and introduced me to other vampires. He showed me that practically all legends on vampires were false except for a few. he taught me how to fly and avoid airplanes. He was my companion for 50 years.
~*~
Still looking the 17 year old girl (although, now I looked more powerful and dangerous since I had inhuman abilities and red, slitted eyes) I had been half a century ago, I flew beside Will, who had been 18 when he had been turned. He was at least a century older than me, but he was my best friend. Actually, he was more my boyfriend now, but I usually called him my best friend.
We were off to feed on a group of late night party-ers. They most likely drunk and didn't taste as sweet as the ones who were sober, but still food.
I had just started on my 5th one when a state went through my shoulder. Dropping my victim, I wrenched out of the stake and turned to see a vampire hunter. They were rare these days but still dangerous.
"Damn. I missed the heart." I called to the others and we circled the hunter. He held up a silver cross, waving it around at any vampire who moved.
It wasn't the cross we were afraid of, it was the silver. Silver left burns that lasted for years. I still remember my first run-in with silver. Left a nasty ring-shaped burn on my arm.
When the hunter's back was finally facing me, I lunged and his head was cleanly cut off with my trusty dagger.
The others smiled at me and quickly finished off the rest of the party-ers. I licked the blood off of the dagger and then sheathed it. It had been a pretty good feeding.
Will came up behind me and hugged me.
"Great job, Victoria." he whispered into my ear. I turned to kiss him, loving the last of his lips. He let go of me and then we walked to join the others. But he didn't make it all the way. A silver stake was impaled through his chest and he looked at me lovingly, eyes full of pain, before he turned into ashes.
"That's right, go to Hell, where you belong!" shouted the hunter who had shot Will down. I gritted my teeth. Now was not the time to mourn, it was the time to kill. There would be time to mourn later.
He began to fire silver stakes from an automatic crossbow at me as I ran towards him. They all missed. Or rather, I avoided them all.
I ripped off his head with my hand, not caring for a clean cut this time. I threw the head away from me in disgust.
He fell, but not before he had wrapped his silver whip around my arm. Hissing, I removed the weapon and turned to face the others. They had gathered Will's ashes into a pouch and handed them to me. Silently thanking them, I slipped the pouch into a boot.
Only now did I allow myself to cry. It began to rain, almost as if the sky was crying with me.
We flew back home and mourned the passing of Will. I locked myself into his room for two years, just crying.
When I came out, I vowed that I would never again feel compassion for a human again. I would kill without mercy. So be on your guard. You might just be my next victim.
AN: This is a short story based off of a dream I had the other day. A lot of it wasn't in the dream, but this is partially what occurred in the dream. I was Victoria in the dream, though I made the name after the dream.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Term Paper-Chinese Immigrants (8th Grade-English/U.S. History)
You are under no obligation to read this, because this is just my term paper for 8th Grade. I'm just randomly posting this because I feel like it.
But you aren't allowed to copy it and call it your own. This is my paper. No touchy.
But you aren't allowed to copy it and call it your own. This is my paper. No touchy.
In 1848, gold was found at Sutter's Mill in California, sparking the beginning of the Gold Rush in 1849. People flooded into California, eager to make quick, easy money. Among the many whites who came for the gold, Chinese immigrants began to arrive. Back in China, rumors of “The Golden Mountain,” a land where gold shone everywhere, had begun to spread. At that time, China had just recently lost the Opium War with the British. China was forced to sign a treaty that required them to pay for destroyed opium and open up five ports to British ships and traders. Other countries eventually were able to get China to agree to similar contracts. The peasants of South China rebelled in the early 1850's after suffering from floods and famines. The rebellion became a civil war and by the end, more than twenty million Chinese were dead. After all these devastating events, many Chinese began to consider going to another country. The prospect of being able to make money quickly made the Chinese eager to go to California. Most planned to return to China after making enough money to pay off their debt from the voyage, and for their families back in China. When they arrived, they found life much more difficult than expected. Not able to understand English, they looked to the Americans for some form of assistance, but instead, they found themselves attacked by whites, both verbally and physically. They found themselves prohibited from working on certain jobs. And if that wasn't enough, the government passed laws that were specifically targeted at them. In general, the Chinese were mistreated by whites, who took advantage of the immigrants in a strange new land.
In most cases, the Chinese were not allowed to work on mines that the white men were working on. It wasn't until after the white men were done mining that they could use them. The white men became frustrated easily and didn't scour the mines as well as the Chinese, and sometimes the Chinese would end up with more gold than the white men. They were later accused of stealing gold because whites would become angry at their success. Many Chinese immigrants became cooks, waiters, houseboys, laundrymen and vegetable peddlers. In this time with so much gold, most whites didn't want to take such jobs. What ever job the white men didn't want, the Chinese would take. The most common example of this was laundrymen. Washing laundry was a job traditionally for women in the United States. In California, however, there were few or no women in most cities. The land was dominated by men. White men didn't feel that doing a woman's job was right, but the Chinese jumped at the chance. Unfortunately for them, whites tried to take advantage of them anyways. Some would go into laundromats and “claim parcels that did not belong to them, saying they had lost their tickets, and would fight if they did not get what they asked for.” (Wu, Tung 13, 15) Another Chinese owned laundromat suffered from an attack from whites, when they forced their way into the shop, taking the newly cleaned laundry and trampling it underfoot.
In San Francisco, there were groups of whites who would “follow the Chinaman...howling and screaming to frighten him... catch hold of his cue, and pull him from the wagon...throw brickbats and missiles at him.” (Griswold 119) In the mines, there once was a fight between a white miner and two Chinese. Other whites ran to the scene with picks. It ended with four Chinese terribly wounded, one fatally wounded, and several white men cut and bruised. The whites poured out of the mine, who then called for reinforcements and went to Chinatown to rid the town of the Chinese.
At least thirty Chinese were killed, a figure that seems an understatement, given the hundreds who escaped into the hills without food, water, or adequate clothing. Some estimates of the deaths run as high as fifty, but there is no way of knowing...newspapers reported that precisely three white men had perished and twenty or thirty Chinese. (Bain 200-201)
Even when the Chinese immigrants had taken jobs that no one else would take, the white men would claim that they were taking the jobs of whites and women. They were “accused of working for slave wages and undermining the white man's standard of living.” (Sung 22) They were blamed for monopolizing land, running corporations, and bringing about the Depression. Eventually, they came to be wrongly viewed as an economic threat. Whites would attack the Chinese in many ways, from their arrival in California to their departure back to China, or worse, death. Some were shot, others were hanged. Some were stoned, beaten or massacred. California legislation made them pay a $3 monthly tax on foreign miners that was only collected from the Chinese. Every way they turned, there was no help from the wrath of the white man.
Later on, a large project began that would span across the country; the first transcontinental railroad. On July 1, 1862, Lincoln signed a bill that gave the Central Pacific company the right to build east from Sacramento. This also allowed a second company, the Union Pacific, to build westward from the Missouri.
As the railroad construction began, it became apparent that there weren't enough workers. Advertisements were sent out, but not enough workers showed up. Finally, it was suggested to James Harvey Strobridge, the labor boss, that they test out Chinese workers. He felt that the Chinese were not strong enough, too slender and weak to be able to do anything. He said, “not fit laborers...don't think they could build a railroad...trying to feed them the weird things they liked to eat would alone be a plaguey nuisance.” (Griswold 110) Finally, he agreed to taking on fifty of them. Doubtful of any success, he watched and waited for them to tire and fall onto the very track they were building. Instead of falling to the ground, the Chinese workers did the opposite of what he expected. They built more track than any other group before had. Strobridge admitted, though reluctantly, that the Chinese were good workers and hired another group of fifty. More and more Chinese were added until almost the whole Central Pacific work force was made of Chinese workers.
In spite of the fact that Strobridge felt they were good workers, they were still given less money than white workers, not to mention the fact that they weren't provided with food and board. Whites received more pay, food, board and shorter work hours. When the Chinese tried going on a strike for a pay raise and shorter hours, their food supply was cut off and eventually they had no choice but to return to work without receiving their rather reasonable demands. Had another group of workers gone on a strike, they probably would have been able to succeed in their attempt.
As the work moved into the Rocky Mountains, the Chinese were given the most dangerous and difficult jobs, with still no raise in pay. They were the ones to place gunpowder into the walls of mountains to blast paths into the rock. They were forced to work when no other white man would even considering going outside. When the mountain sides grew too steep, they were “lowered...from the top of the cliff in wicker baskets to chip out holes for the initial charges of powder.” (Griswold 123) In one place, the rock was so hard that the gunpowder was simply blown back, as if fired from a canon. Then, nitroglycerin, a new type of explosive, was introduced. It was more effective, but was incredibly dangerous. The labor bosses decided that they would use the Chinese to test this new explosive. Not only were they desperate to blast through the mountain, but they didn't care about the lives of the Chinese. Their reasoning was if they died, they could always get more Chinese to take their place. This flammable liquid exploded quickly, and if the men didn't get away fast enough, they would disappear in a flash of fiery light. Also, it sometimes wouldn't explode or it would only partially explode, and the first man to hit the leftover pool explosive with a pick would be incinerated, along with the men around him. It wasn't until Strobridge had an eye taken out from a bit of stray rock from an explosion that they stopped using nitroglycerin.
On top of all the blasting the Chinese did, they also had to dig through snowdrifts in the winter. There were constant avalanches, and sometimes they would be forced to live like moles in a hole under the snow for weeks at a time. These holes would be hot and have little air, and the men would suffocate or die from the extreme heat. The Chinese also had to rid the path of large trees and boulders from the ground to built the railroad. There were “forests with trees four, six, and eight feet in diameter...often 100 to 150 feet tall.” (Griswold 145) They were so big that it often required up to ten barrels of powder.
After many months of work, the laborers were finally cleared the mountains and into the deserts of the midwest. Now they would suffer from the burning heat of the sun instead of the chilling cold of the snow. Building in the desert was dangerous for there was little water, little food, little shade and little shelter. Native American also made attacks on the workers from time to time. The white men joked that it was so bad that “even the jackrabbits carried canteens and haversacks.” (Meltzer 20)
When the Central Pacific met the Union Pacific, things began to heat up. The Irish immigrants regarded the Chinese with distaste and talked openly about banding together and driving all the Chinese off the job. One Irishman said, “But if it wasn't for them damned nagurs [blacks and Chinese], we could get $50 and not do half the work.” (Griswold 111) Not only that, some Irish workers decided to terrorize the Chinese and would blow up gunpowder without warning while the Chinese workers were on top of the explosion site.
At the end of the construction, the Chinese were not allowed into the famous picture of the two trains from each location facing each other. They were not mentioned in the celebratory speech in the end. In fact, they were forbidden from using the very railroad they had built, and had to walk the whole way back home. No records of the men were kept, but it is almost certain that hundreds, if not thousands died in the railroad construction.
After the construction, whites more or less had no purpose for the Chinese immigrants. They had fulfilled their “purpose” by constructing the railroad. If the attacks on them had been bad before, they were even worse after the railroad was finished. Little by little, legislation appeared, preventing the Chinese from doing what little they could do before. They couldn't become citizens because they were neither white nor black. Immigration from China was stopped because of the Naturalization Act of 1870 and was the first bar on free immigration. Also, the Chinese were the first culture to be prohibited to freely migrate. They could not serve as witnesses in the California Supreme Court because their word would not be accepted in court. There were segregated schools to separate whites and Chinese. The government of San Fransisco even “prohibited people who carried loads on poles from using the side walks” (Wu, Tung 39) just because Chinese peddlers carried baskets of food using poles. Special taxes were paid almost entirely by the Chinese for any reason they could think of. They couldn't farm because they weren't allowed to own land. They couldn't get jobs because they were not permitted to join the labor unions. A bitter song called John Chinaman about the Chinese immigrants appeared as well. The song goes as follows:
I imagined that the truth
You'd speak under oath
But I find you'll lie and steal too-
Yes, John, you're up to both
Oh, John, I've been deceived in you
And in all your thieving clan
For our gold is all you're after John
To get it as you can
(Wu, Tung 31)
Throughout the years, Chinese immigrants were looked down upon and scorned by whites. Attacked and prohibited from certain jobs, there was hardly any means of survival in this unfamiliar land. When they did get jobs, they were still attacked and often given the most dangerous and difficult tasks. Legislation was created against them and their lives became steadily harder. They had no way to retaliate against this unfairness, and tolerated it silently and patiently. It would take many years before whites would finally accept the Chinese as American citizens.
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