what about peace FINAL DRAFT

golden crisps of leaves drift down to settle on my head

i smile and shake my hair around my face

walking forward with no real direction in mind

the sun sends its yellow rays down around

putting sparkle in the eyes of anyone outdoors

i can wander where i choose

i believe that nothing could make me turn back home

i thought nothing could bring me down

from this mind set that i have placed myself inside

nobody knows where i am going

nobody i will know will see me

and this doesnt need to matter

i shake my head and laugh loudly to myself again

twirl around in a circle with my arms outstretched

and i feel the world turn

see it pass by me in a blur of greens and oranges

feeling alive

i stop

feeling unnecessarily foolish

who could imagine what it is like to never

to never just take a walk like i have

to wonder if death will strike you down at any moment

alive the first dead the next

sunlight cascades around my figure making me a silouette in the falling light

look at what i have

i think

why cant everyone have this world?

why cant everyone have peace?

what about peace 2nd draft

The golden crisps of leaves drift down to settle on the top of my head

i smile and shake my hair around my face

walking forward with no real direction in mind

the sun sends its yellow rays down

putting sparkle in the eyes of anyone outdoors

i can wander where i choose

nothing could make me turn back home

nothing can bring me down

from this beautiful mind set that i have placed myself inside

nobody knows where i am going

nobody i will know will see me

and this doesnt need to matter

i shake my head and laugh loudly to myself again

twirl around in a circle with my arms outstretched

and i feel the world turn

see it pass by me in a blur of greens and oranges

feeling alive

who could imagine what it is like to never

take a walk like i have

to wonder if death will strike you down at any moment

alive the first dead the next

sunlight cascades around my figure making me a silouette in the falling light

look at what i have

i think

why cant everyone have this world?

why cant everyone have peace?

A Walk--------what about peace?

The golden crisps of leaves drift down to settle on the top of my head

i smile and shake my hair around my face

walking forward with no real direction in mind

the sun sends its yellow rays down

putting sparkle in the eyes of anyone outdoors

feeling the freedom of where to go and what to do

nothing could make me turn back hope

nothing can bring me down

from this self-loving mind set that i have placed myself inside

nobody knows where i am going

nobody i will know will see me

and this doesnt need to matter

i shake my head and laugh loudly to myself again

twirl around in a circle with my arms outstretched

and i feel the world turn

see it pass by me in a blur of greens and oranges

feeling alive

and only in the good way

who could imagine what it is like to never

take a walk like i have

to wonder if death will strike you down at any moment

alive the first dead the next

sunlight cascades around my figure making me a silouette in the falling light

look at what i have

i think

why cant everyone have this world?

why cant everyone have peace?

WA-2 FINAL DRAFT

A hand grasped the pencil that Tally had thrust forward next to Mrs. Wilbert’s nose. “bathroom.” She said. The small boned fingers of Mrs. Wilbert clenched the yellow Ticonderoga pencil in her bony hand as she reached forward slowly to accept the request.
“there you go, be back in 5 minutes,"she said as she finished signing the pass. "we have a quiz you know…” she cut herself of and let Tally go.
The bathroom wall was white minus the sharpie. Just plain dismal dull…Tally leaned over the garbage can and held back her red brown over-dyed hair with one hand as she spit out her cinnamon-now-rubber flavored gum. She looked around as she stuffed another long pink piece in her mouth, she didn’t actually have to go to the bathroom, she just wanted to get out of that class for a few minutes. History, she absolutely COULD NOT stand it. Well, she felt like she should care, being an American and all she thought she should probably figure out some stuff about her own country but she couldn’t bring herself to care. No matter who the president turned out to be---McCain or Obama (of course she wanted Obama to win) but she couldn’t see how not knowing about them would even matter considering she wasn’t voting age.
Tally sighed and sank onto the floor. A girl who Tally had seen in the halls a little walked in. her hair was brought up into a loose ponytail on the top of her head and she wore yellow tights under her purple flowered dress AND she had a green cardigan piled on top. She was a giant Mardi gras bead. Tally giggled.
“Excuse me? Is there a problem?!” The girl gave Tally a death stare.
“No-nope-nothing…really”
“Whatever….”,she plopped down on the wall opposite Tally. “Are you skipping?”
“No, just resting, history is hell. I have Mrs. Wilbert.”
“I had her last year, I liked her though.”
“Well then you must like history a lot” Tally guessed.
“Kind of”
One of those awkward silences ensued like a scratchy matted quilt that your grandmother gives you on every holiday except …nope every holiday; Uncomfortable.
Two senior girls ran into the bathroom, the brunette leaned over and whispered something in the other almost identically dressed one’s ear. She let out a wail of laughter. Tally rolled her eyes and sighed again, leaning her head against the cold white wall. She missed her best friend Ava soooo much. Ava had moved to California that summer. She seemed to have settled in quite nicely with her giant house on the beach and her new friends and her new school. They had called each other at least five times a day at first but then something had changed, there weren’t that many calls coming from her at all lately, Tally missed her A LOT.
“So, are you skipping?” Tally accused.
“Uhhh no, resting too I guess….Calc. besides, there is only like 5 minutes left in class. How long have you been here?
“Since 11:32”Tally checked her agenda book and then dropped it back down. “I’m just going to stay here till lunch I think. Wilbert said we have a quiz anyway, and I haven’t studied”
“Yeah better stay here, her quizzes are pretty tough! Hey do you have any gum? My breath stinks…I had to rush out of the house this morning and my mom works a morning shift so I can’t miss my bus.”
“Yup, you’re lucky, it’s my last piece” Tally threw her the box and slid farther down the wall sliding her legs out into the middle of the bathroom floor.
“Thanks, whoa who drew all over your shoes?”
The girl was pointing to tally’s chucks, one green and the other, well it was kind of hard to tell since it was covered with sharpie of all different colors; peace signs, messages, drawings. Ava and tally had exchanged one shoe each when she left and they had drawn all over them. Tally wore them every day.
“Oh just my friend, she moved this summer.”
The two girls who had walked in ran out again amidst wails of "NO WAY!!!REALLY??" and "WHOA HOW? Tell me later, see you at lunch!I'll save your seat!"
“Oh, yeah my best friend is away at boarding school now. I miss her a lot.” She smiled.
Tally could hear the rain beating down hard on the school’s roof all the way above their heads. Tip-tap tip-tap t-ip-ip-ip- tap. She liked it.
“so whadaya say we try to get back to class before our teachers kill us?”
Tally grinned “yeah probably, but I personally think that it’d be better then having to take this class over the summer!”
“haha yeah right, come on. ill walk you there”
They walked out into the brighter lights of the hallway and stopped at the water fountain.
“so what’s your name?”
“Tally, yours?”
“Sarah.”
“Sarah, cool, I think I can remember that.”

A hand grasped the pencil that Tally had thrust forward next to Mrs. Wilbert’s nose. “bathroom.” She said. The small boned fingers of Mrs. Wilbert clenched the yellow Ticonderoga pencil in her bony hand so it wouldn’t slip.
“there you go, be back in 5 minutes, we have a quiz you know…” she cut herself of and let Tally go.
The bathroom wall was white minus the sharpie. Just plain dismal dull…Tally leaned over the garbage can and held back her red brown hair with one hand as she spit out her cinnamon-now rubber flavored gum. She looked around as she stuffed another long pink piece in her mouth, she didn’t actually have to go to the bathroom, she just wanted to get out of that class for a few minutes. History, she absolutely COULD NOT stand it. Well, she felt like she should care, being an American and all she thought she should probably figure out some stuff about her own country but she couldn’t bring herself to care. No matter who the president turned out to be---McCain or Obama (of course she wanted Obama to win) but she couldn’t see how not knowing about them would even matter considering she wasn’t voting age.
Tally sighed and sank onto the floor. A girl who Tally had seen in the halls a little walked in. her hair was brought up into a loose ponytail and she wore yellow tights under her purple flowered dress and she had a green cardigan piled on top. She was a giant Mardi gras bead. Tally giggled.
“Excuse me? Is there a problem?!” The girl gave Tally a death stare.
“No-nope-nothing…really”
“Whatever….”,she plopped down on the wall opposite Tally. “Are you skipping?”
“No, just resting, history is hell. I have Mrs. Wilbert.”
“I had her last year, I liked her though.”
“Well then you must like history a lot” Tally guessed.
“Kind of”
One of those awkward silences ensued like a scratchy matted quilt that your grandmother gives you on every holiday except …nope every holiday; Uncomfortable.
Two senior girls ran into the bathroom, the brunette leaned over and whispered something in the other almost identically dressed one’s ear. She let out a wail of laughter. Tally rolled her eyes and sighed again, leaning her head against the cold white wall. She missed her best friend Ava soooo much. Ava had moved to California that summer. She seemed to have settled in quite nicely with her giant house on the beach and her new friends and her new school. They had called each other at least five times a day at first but then something had changed, there weren’t that many calls coming from her at all lately, Tally missed her A LOT.
“So, are you skipping?” Tally accused.
“Uhhh no, resting too I guess….Calc. besides, there is only like 5 minutes left in class. How long have you been here?
“Since 11:32”Tally checked her agenda book and then dropped it back down. “I’m just going to stay here till lunch I think. Wilbert said we have a quiz anyway, and I haven’t studied”
“Yeah better stay here, her quizzes are pretty tough! Hey do you have any gum? My breath stinks…I had to rush out of the house this morning and my mom works a morning shift so I can’t miss my bus.”
“Yup, you’re lucky, it’s my last piece” Tally threw her the box and slid farther down the wall sliding her legs out into the middle of the bathroom floor.
“Thanks, whoa who drew all over your shoes?”
The girl was pointing to tally’s chucks, one green and the other, well it was kind of hard to tell since it was covered with sharpie of all different colors; peace signs, messages, drawings. Ava and tally had exchanged one shoe each when she left and they had drawn all over them. Tally wore them every day.
“Oh just my friend, she moved this summer.”
The two girls who had walked in ran out again amidst wails of "NO WAY!!!REALLY??" and "WHOA HOW? Tell me later, see you at lunch!I'll save your seat!"
“Oh, yeah my best friend is away at boarding school now. I miss her a lot.” She smiled.
Tally could hear the rain beating down hard on the school’s roof all the way above their heads. Tip-tap tip-tap t-ip-ip-ip- tap. She liked it.
“so whadaya say we try to get back to class before our teachers kill us?”
Tally grinned “yeah probably, but I personally think that it’d be better then having to take this class over the summer!”
“haha yeah right, come on. ill walk you there”
They walked out into the brighter lights of the hallway and stopped at the water fountain.
“so what’s your name?”
“Tally, yours?”
“Sarah.”
“Sarah, cool, I think I can remember that.”

WA-2

A hand grasped the pencil that Tally had thrust forward next to Mrs. Wilbert’s nose. “bathroom.” She said. Small boned fingers clenched the yellow Ticonderoga pencil in her bony hand so it wouldn’t slip and cause possible embarrassment and yet another reason for her students to make fun of her behind her back. “there you go, be back in 5 minutes, we have a quiz you know…” she cut herself of and let Tally go.
The bathroom wall was white minus the sharpie. Just plain dismal dull…Tally leaned over the garbage can and held back her red brown hair with one hand as she spit out her cinnamon flavored gum. She looked around as she stuffed another long pink piece in her mouth, she didn’t actually have to go to the bathroom, she just wanted to get out of that class for a few minutes. History, she absolutely COULD NOT stand it. Well, she felt like she should care, being an American and all she thought she should probably figure out some stuff about her own country but she couldn’t bring herself to care. No matter who the president turned out to be---McCain or Obama (of course she wanted Obama to win) but she couldn’t see how not knowing about them would even matter considering she wasn’t voting age.
Tally sighed and sank onto the floor. A girl who Tally had seen in the halls a little walked in. her hair was brought up into a loose ponytail and she wore yellow tights under her purple flowered dress and she had a green cardigan piled on top. She was a giant Mardi gras bead. Tally giggled.
“Excuse me? Is there a problem?!” The girl gave Tally a death stare.
“No-nope-nothing…really”
“Whatever….”,she plopped down on the wall opposite Tally. “Are you skipping?”
“No, just resting, history is hell. I have Mrs. Wilbert.”
“I had her last year, I liked her though.”
“Well then you must like history a lot” Tally guessed.
“Kind of”
One of those awkward silences ensued like a scratchy matted quilt that your grandmother gives you on every holiday except ….nope every holiday; Uncomfortable.
Two senior girls ran into the bathroom, the brunette leaned over and whispered something in the other almost identically dressed one’s ear. She let out a wail of laughter. Tally rolled her eyes and sighed again, leaning her head against the cold white wall. She missed her best friend Ava soooo much. Ava had moved to California that summer. She seemed to have settled in quite nicely with her giant house on the beach and her new friends and her new school. They had called each other at least five times a day at first but then something had changed, there weren’t that many calls coming from her at all lately, Tally missed her A LOT.
“So, are you skipping?” Tally accused.
“Uhhh no, resting too I guess….Calc. besides, there is only like 5 minutes left in class. How long have you been here?
“Since 11:32”Tally checked her agenda book and then dropped it back down. “I’m just going to stay here till lunch I think. Wilbert said we have a quiz anyway, and I haven’t studied”
“Yeah better stay here, her quizzes are pretty tough! Hey do you have any gum? My breath stinks…I had to rush out of the house this morning and my mom works a morning shift so I can’t miss my bus.”
“Yup, you’re lucky, it’s my last piece” Tally threw her the box and slid farther down the wall sliding her legs out into the middle of the bathroom floor.
“Thanks, whoa who drew all over your shoes?”
The girl was pointing to tally’s chucks, one green and the other, well it was kind of hard to tell since it was covered with sharpie of all different colors; peace signs, messages, drawings. Ava and tally had exchanged one shoe each when she left and they had drawn all over them. Tally wore them every day.
“Oh just my friend, she moved this summer.”
“Oh, yeah my best friend is away at boarding school now. I miss her a lot.” She smiled.
Tally could hear the rain beating down hard on the school’s roof all the way above their heads. Tip-tap tip-tap t-ip-ip-ip- tap. She liked it.
“so whadaya say we try to get back to class before our teachers kill us?”
Tally grinned “yeah probably, but I personally think that it’d be better then having to take this class over the summer!”
“haha yeah right, come on. ill walk you there”
They walked out into the brighter lights of the hallway and stopped at the water fountain.
“so what’s your name?”
“Tally, yours?”
“Sarah.”
“Sarah, cool, I think I can remember that.”

WA-1 personal editing

When the hurricane swept over the place where my uncle was supposed to be getting married last weekend there was uneasiness and disappointment hanging in the air like a thick fog that covers everything above the tops of the trees so you can only see at eye level. My grandmother was worried about the money that she thought was going to be lost but mostly about the couple's happiness. When the gray skied day came, rain made it look like someone was repeatedly throwing buckets of water at the windows. The sloshing rain was pouring down making anyone who was even considering walking two steps out the front door, to get a couple umbrellas (two because the rain had a way of changing directions with the wind at the most inconvenient moments). A couple hours before the service the hurricane was still raving and the rain was still pouring down hard ,but the decision was to have the service outside anyway. The rain eventually thinned out a little making the sky bright gray and the reflection of the clouds on the river was just like my favorite painting by Monet (the one with the bridge and the lily pads). There was just a light sprinkling of rain as the marriage ceremony was being held and that kept it cooler underneath the enormous white tent where dinner was served afterward. When dinner had ended there was dancing and a live band which played anything from jazz to 'dancing queen'. As it got dark the rain thinned out wind eventually stopped completely. The grass had dried off a little and the vibrant colors of pink red and orange were thrown across the sky in disarray as the sun settled down into the horizon. As i watched the sun go down behind the trees the only thing i could think of it that everything was set in order even if things hadn't turned out as planned, but then again, things never go as planned in my family.

When the hurricane swept over the place where my uncle was supposed to be getting married last weekend there was uneasiness and disappointment in the air. My grandmother was worried about the money that she thought was going to be lost but also about the couple's happiness. When the day finally came rain made it look like someone was repeatedly throwing buckets of water at the windows. The sloshing rain was pouring down making even the bravest of us think twice about going outside. A couple hours before the hurricane was still raving and the rain was still pouring down hard ,but the decision was to have the service outside anyway. The rain eventually thinned out a little making the sky bright gray and the reflection of the clouds on the river was truly just like a painting by monet. There was just a light sprinkling of rain as the marriage ceremony was being held and that kept it cooler underneath the enourmous white tent where dinner was served afterwards. When dinner had ended there was dancing and a live band which played anything from jazz to 'dancing queen'. As it got dark the rain thinned out wnd eventually stopped completely. The grass had dried off a little and the vibrant colors of pink red and orange were thrown accross the sky in dissaray as the sun settled down into the horizon. As i watched the sun go down behind the trees the only thing i could think of it that everything was set in order even if things hadent turned out as planned, but then again, things never go as planned in my family.

WA-1---emotion

When the hurricane swept over the place where my uncle was supposed to be getting married last weekend there was uneasiness and disappointment in the air. My grandmother was worried about the money that she thought was going to be lost but also about the couple's happiness. When the day finally came rain made it look like someone was repeatedly throwing buckets of water at the windows. The rain was pouring down making even the bravest of us think twice about going outside. A couple hours before the rain was still pouring down hard but the decision was to have the service outside anyway. The rain eventually thinned out a little making the sky bright gray and the reflection of the clouds on the river was truly beautiful. There was just a light sprinkling of rain as the marriage ceremony was being held and that kept it cooler underneath the tent where dinner was served afterwards. When dinner had ended there was dancing and a live and of music. As it got dark the rain completely stopped and the grass had dried off a little and the vibrant colors of pink red and orange spewed across the sky as the sun settled down into the horizon. As i watched the sun go down behind the trees the only thing i could think of it that everything was right with this moment and everything was completely beautiful. 

TESTING!!!!