My Twitter Fiction- Afraid of the Dark

Afraid of the Dark 

By: Jenine Thompson

The stair creaked under her foot and she froze instantly. Did they hear her? Would they catch her? She inched down to the last step quietly.

Ten more steps and she was home free! She made a run for it but just as she was reaching for the knob, she was stopped dead in her tracks.

The arm that grabbed her around the waist made her jump.” I win again!” declared the smug voice behind her. She smacked his arm, annoyed.

“Let go of me Kyle!” she barked, as her best friend Amy came running around the corner. “Awe come on Skye! They win again!” wined Amy.

Skye hung her head in shame as Ren waved their teams red flag. This was the fifth time in a row their team had lost at capture the flag.

She jerked away from Kyle who still had not released her. He thought they had a ‘thing’ because he could get any other girl he wanted…

What he couldn’t seem to understand was that she hated him! He was so self-absorbed that he hadn’t even considered she might not like him.

It was his arrogance that she truly hated. He could be a nice guy but then his friends would appear and he would transform into a total jerk

He laughed when she glared at him, and this only infuriated her. “What do you say?” he chuckled “One more round or are you too scared, Skye”

She looked over at Ren who appeared to be bored. “Nah I’m done for the day” She said with a sigh “Let’s do something else, any suggestions?”

“Let’s go back to my place and watch a movie.” suggested Ren. Everyone nodded and with no objections, they walked back to Ren’s black truck.

Skye jumped in the front before Kyle could and stuck out her tongue as he climbed into the back. He seemed to bring out the worst in her…

Within minutes they were back at Ren’s giant house. His family had a lot of money from his dad’s multiple businesses and it really showed.

They went around back to the entertainment room so they wouldn’t run into Ren’s aunt. She was a little crazy about keeping the place clean.

They took turns going into the bathroom to try and clean some of the dust and dirt from the old house off of their clothes and faces.

Skye went last and as she was standing in front of the mirror scrubbing a spot of dirt off her cheek, she stopped to look at her reflection.

An oval shaped face with bright hazel eyes starred back at her. Her lashes and eyebrows were naturally dark compared to her light complexion

She had a small straight nose and full lips. She didn’t spend her time starring at herself but she guessed she was pretty. Then her hair…

She could never do anything with the long wavy mess, that was such a dark brown that it looked black and made her light skin look even paler

She took a final look at herself and decided she couldn’t do anything more to clean up, so she left the bathroom to look for her friends.

She walked towards the huge couch where her friends were browsing through the thousands of movies on Ren’s big flat screen TV.

She immediately noticed that Kyle had left a big space between him and the end of the couch, which was obviously meant only for her.

She made a point of walking past Kyle and sitting in the tiny space between Ren and Amy. Kyle laughed and moved over. She had one this one!

The movie turned out to be some action movie but no one really watched it. Amy kept trying unsuccessfully to flirt with Kyle the whole time.

Kyle kept glancing over Amy’s head to look at Skye who was doing her best to ignore him and just enjoy sitting so close to Ren on the couch.

Once the movie was over, Kyle volunteered to drive them all home. Skye rolled her eyes and told Amy to take the front seat.

As they walked to Kyle’s Mustang, Skye couldn’t believe how dark it was. “It must be a new moon tonight.” she muttered quietly.

They piled into the Mustang and Kyle took off at his usual ridiculous speed while Skye clutched her seat belt for dear life.

She could feel the wind whistling through her long hair and stinging her skin. The wind was so cold it made her eyes water.

“Please slow down!” Skye begged. “You’re going to get us killed!” Kyle laughed and swerved the car a few times just to scare her some more.

There was a sharp bend in the road up ahead and Kyle sped up even more. Skye’s eyes were wide as the bend approached much too fast…

Kyle started to turn but was going too fast. The tires of the Mustang started to skid into the other lane at the crest of the bend.

Just as they came around the bend, they heard the loud growl of a trucks engine and saw a blinding flash of bright yellow light…

Skye found herself thinking about her life and decided that if this was the day she had to die than it had been almost the perfect day.

Her only regret was that she would never get to see Ren one last time or hug her best friend Amy again or even fight with Kyle one last time

The last thing Skye heard was the shriek of metal against metal and an unearthly scream…then all was black…

To be continued….

Response #9 My Twitter Fiction

 So far my twitter fiction story is going to be one extended story. I would say it’s almost done. I have about 22 tweets so far. I’m not sure if I will keep all the tweets I have so it’s only estimation. I have enjoyed writing a story without planning it. It is interesting to see where my ideas go. I’m not sure I like restricting my story to little 140 word tweets. I find I am leaving out a lot of detail that I would normally add in my writing. I'm not sure if this is a good thing but I guess I will have to see how it looks when it’s done. I think I chose the extended story style because I the little short tweets didn’t interest me at all and I love to write stories. I guess, for me as a writer, it is the easiest form of writing. So far the only things I need to add to my twitter fiction are one more VASK’ing and the ‘so what’ of my story. I must admit that I’m not really sure what the so what is going to be yet because I don’t really know how my story is going to end. I have thought about my visuals but so far have only decided on one scene that will be easy to add a picture of. I think I will draw most of my pictures but I might use a picture I took if I can incorporate it. I’m not sure I like the idea of tweeting my story but I do enjoy writing stories so I am a little torn. I like the project but wish I wasn’t limited by the 140 character tweets.

Well here is my rough draft so far…It’s pretty messy but I guess that’s just how I think.

Reading and Writing Response #8

Reading Response #8

Book: Untraceable

Author: S.R. Johannes

Pages read: 60-126

This is the first book in the Nature of Grace trilogy. This book was an interesting mystery that had me asking many questions. For example I wondered what had happened to Graces father. I predicted that her father was still alive and that he was just injured or lost so he couldn’t make his way home. Another question I had was why everyone seemed to give up the search so early. I have a suspicion that someone doesn’t want Graces father to be found. I also made a text to self-connection between myself and the main character. Grace is an outdoorsy girl with a love of animals and reading. I feel like I can really connect with her because of how similar we are. We also both love our fathers and have learnt so much from them. I can easily sympathize with her difficulty in communicating with her mother and trying to find a place for herself in the world. Another thing I wanted to point out was how detailed the descriptions of the forests flora and fauna was. It was really impressive to see how much research the author must have put in for me to be able to feel like I was really there walking through the forest.

Writing Response #8

I found the blackout poetry to be an interesting new writing form. I found it was a little more difficult to find inspiration in the depressing newspaper articles that I read.  I liked the overall look once it was done but I found it wasn’t as interesting as some of the other writing projects we have done. I preferred the writing and adding a visual (6 word memoir) because I thought it had a better impact then the blackout poetry. Plus I am not a huge fan of poetry so it was harder for me to write. I much preferred taking words and visuals and combining them or even just writing a story. I don’t think I learnt much about myself other than I really don’t like to write poetry (and I really can’t write poetry…). I found that poetry is a really difficult form of writing because not everyone likes the same kind of poetry as well as not everyone interprets it the same way. I also found that without the visual it was much less interesting in my eyes.

Reading Response #7

Book: The Fallen Star

Author: Jessica Sorensen

Pages Read: 1-40

 

This is the first book in a new series I started. It leaves me with a ton of new questions after every chapter. One of my questions was who and what are the men with yellow eyes? They seem like they will be one of the more important foes in this series. Could it be that they are some kind of vampire or demon? I also wonder why Alex seems to be so heartless and so cold. Is it possible he too is not human? His sister and his best friend disappear and we never find out what happens to them so I am wondering if they are dead. It seems like the most likely answer but I really hope not because I like Laylen and Ailsin. Gemma is the main character yet we know so little about her history. I want to know who her father is and if both he and her mother are still alive. Mark and Sophia are her grandparents yet they don’t seem to love her at all. Could it be that they really aren’t her grandparents? Could they have stolen her away when she was young? It would explain some of their terrible behavior towards Gemma. I made one prediction so far. I think that the man with the scar from her dream will be Alex’s father. We often here about this man with a scar and we know nothing of Alex’s father so it makes sense that they would be one person. I hope by the end of this book I get at least some answers to my questions.

Writing Reflection #6

Question #1

Before I can really answer this question I must say that I’m not entirely sure I know what I want to do with my life after high school. I know that I need to get an education so that I can get a good stable job (I've only heard that about a million times from my family…) but I would almost like to travel for a year first. In the long run though I think it will be best if I just go straight to school so I can finish as fast as possible. I think I will study to become a vet or a teacher. By using my blog I can post many pictures and in depth comments about my animals to give future employers an idea of how dedicated and knowledgeable I am concerning animals. I hope to be a large animal vet so the work I do with my horses will be valuable in the future. Though, even if I end up being a small animal vet I still have a lot of experience with dogs, cats, and many other small mammals, that I have owned or cared for. My work for the Winnipeg Pet Rescue Shelter will also come in handy, so I could make a post for the shelter as well. Or if I was to go into teaching I could use my blog to show my talent in writing and responding to what I read. If that is the case I should probably try and post some of my short stories on my blog as well. I’m not sure what kind of teacher I would be…Maybe a French or English teacher, or possibly some kind of science teacher? I guess I will have to wait and see where my talents lie. In the meantime I’m going to do everything possible to keep my options for the future open and plentiful.

Question #2

Comment #1

http://elijahtomas.blogspot.ca/2012/10/six-word-memoir-6.html?showComment=1351520461704

Comment #2

http://katelynscreativewriting.blogspot.ca/2012/10/personal-addition-15.html?showComment=1351521255137

Comment #3

http://benshewchuk.blogspot.ca/2012/10/six-word-memoir-6.html?showComment=1351560546434#c6334045751778536366

Question #3

I must say that the commenting part of our blogs is not my favorite. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the comments other people leave, but I find it hard to come up with some comments of my own. It’s easier when they are blogging about something that you find easy to relate to but for the most part I find it hard to come up with something more in depth than ‘wow that’s a really good idea’ or something along those lines. I think a good comment is anything that is in depth and is giving an opinion of the post. You can contradict someone’s idea as long as it’s in a kind and civil manor. I would say a bad comment is one where you get absolutely no feedback about your post or one where the person is just outright rude. The benefits of commenting on someone else’s blog, is that you can complement and/or relate to any post that you find inspiring or well relatable. The benefits of receiving comments is that it encourages you to keep posting and to show you that your thoughts and ideas are being looked at and considered by other people. 

Reading Reflection #5

 Kelsey's iPhone

Book: Tiger’s Curse Series

Author: Colleen Houck

1.     Tiger Tracker: The first app I created for Kelsey was a Tiger tracking app because throughout the book she constantly losses one or both of her tigers, so I think this is definitely something she would want to have. I put a tiger paw print for the picture because for the most part when we track an animal we look for their foot, or should I say paw, prints.

2.      Dragon Riddles: I created this app because throughout the series, Kelsey has to solve multiple riddles in the form of poems and/or prophecies. This app was designed to help solve all the riddles using the dragon’s cunning. I used a picture of a Chinese dragon (No it is not a snake) because that is the kind of dragon they encounter in the series.

3.      Google Quests: This app was designed to keep track of their location. I have a kimono with a map on it because that is what they followed when they we’re out of time.

4.      World Clock: I chose this app because Kelsey and the rest of the characters are almost constantly traveling to opposite ends of the world, so it is an app I can see her using often. I drew an earth and put the hands and the marks from a clock.

5.     Kadam Notes: This app is designed for Kelsey to write down anything she needs and also to save all the notes and research that Mr. Kadam does to help them on their quests. Kelsey is always losing or ruining the paper notes that Mr. Kadam sends along, so this app will be very useful.

6.      iProphicies: This app was designed to keep track of all the prophecies that Kelsey is given over the course of the series. This way she can always have them at hand and will never have to try and memorize them.

7.     iWeapons: This app was designed to keep track of all the weapons that Kelsey receives from Durga throughout the series, as well as what they can do. They also find out that they can combine certain objects so this is where they could keep track of everything.

8.      Translator: As I mentioned earlier, the main characters travel all over the wold, and though Ren and Kishan can speak multiple languages, Kelsey can only speak English. There are many times during the series where a translator would have come in handy for her.

9.       Flying Tiger Airlines: This app was designed to keep track of the Rajaram’s private plane. It can be used to call the pilot to any place they find themselves as well as keeping track of where the plane is flying.

10.     iQuotes: This final app isn't as useful as the others but it is one that would be very important to Kelsey. Kelsey loves to read and she loves to quote the books, poems, and any other media she can think of. This is an app where she could keep track of her favorite quotes or look up ones she forgot.

For the case of the iPhone I chose to draw the Damon Amulet. This amulet is the key part of the series, because all their quests lead them back to this amulet. On the amulet is a Yin Yang made up of the two tigers in the series. They balance Kelsey’s life and are the most important parts of her life.

Reading and Writing Reflection #4

Reading response

Book: Tiger’s Quest

Author: Colleen Houck

Pages Read: 230-270

This is the end of the second book in the Tiger’s Curse series. I have had many questions and comments as this book has come to an end. But so far I haven’t been able to figure out the “So What” of this series.

I will start with questions. The first question I had has to do with a new character that has been introduced in the story. We learn about an ocean teacher and I wonder how he will be tied into their next quest? Another big question I had was concerning the dreams of Ren that Kelsey has been getting. Could they be true dreams sent along their deep connection or could they be a horrible trick played by Lokesh to find out Kelsey’s location? I truly hope they will find a way to rescue Ren before Lokesh destroys his mind and spirit! When they go to see the ocean teacher, there is much that is revealed about their destinies and also a lot of cryptic messages and promises that can only make me wonder how their lives will tie into the destiny of the world? As Kelsey and Kishan make their way to the spirit gate they are attacked again and again so I have to wonder whether or not Kelsey will even make it up to the spirit gate alive?  

I can make a few guesses about the “So What” of the book but I think it will become clearer by the end of the series. So far I think it would be something along the lines of ‘fight for what you believe in and the people you love’ because of all the sacrifices Kelsey makes to help Dhiren and Kishan. I truly hope that all her sacrifice will one day be worth it…

Writing Reflection

Well due to some technical difficulties, I am only just posting this now. I really enjoyed the six word memoirs. I love creative projects like this where I can use my creativity to really express my talents. My favorite part of this assignment would most likely be combining everything together and looking at it as a whole. I think that the picture really influences the point or phrase that you are trying to express as well as making it more visually appealing. Over all I think it was an easy assignment because I found it enjoyable. I learnt that it is harder to compress your thoughts into just six words, than I thought it would be, but I enjoyed the end result. I learnt that as a reader, writer and thinker I enjoy having a visual to add on to my writing and I found that it helped me to think and be more creative when we had to combine the two together. So I really enjoyed the six word memoir assignment and I hope we will do another like it.