In My Field Of Paper Flowers

Theme: COT- The Game
Word Count: 595
Story: The Mind Game

At my school, you can play all sorts of games. There are 'game' games, like basketball and soccer that are the only real expression of school spirit, since our seasonal pep rallies have made it a habit of failing to do so this past decade or so. There are the corny games in class invented by teachers. Prime examples of these games are 'Vocabulary Bingo' and 'European History Jeopardy!' ...Thrilling.

Another class of games is reserved for the more daring and witty of us students. These are the foolhardy games. They usually involve contests to see who can send the most text messages in class without the teacher noticing, or who can get the most paper wads into some unfortunate's open book-bag, or sometimes the trash can.

But the best game, by far, and my personal favorite, is The Mind Game.

It sounds deceivingly simple at first, and you probably have heard of it. But anyone can tell you, it is one of the most difficult, enthralling and captivating games you could ever play.

The Mind Game starts out with two people. It can start anywhere. In a convenient study hall, a rowdy cafeteria, opposite sides of a debate class, anywhere. The Mind Game is all about strategy. You can keep the game a secret in order to win, or you can spread it around like a wildfire and make things exciting. The two initial players start out on opposite sides, and the goal of the Mind Game is to trick them into coming to your side.

One of the best things about the Mind Game is that there are endless possibilities of ways you could win. The one trick to winning, though, is to know. You have to know yourself, your field of play, your opponent's teammates, and most of all, your opponent.

There's never been a playbook for the Mind Game, simply because of the amount of detail and diversities involved.

To help you visualize:


Her eyes flit around the classroom, making sure nobody saw her pencil top eraser fly off the end of her pencil. Satisfied that her little secret is safe, she leans over sideways and grabs for the eraser, continually scanning the room.

There!

A flash of green catches her attention, and she zeroes in on it, finding herself returning the gaze of a boy across the room of her last period study hall who she doesn't know. Sitting up, she breaks the uncomfortable moment, eraser forsaken. A sudden rush of embarrassment, and something else, colors her cheeks as she straightens the folder on her desk unnecessarily.

Only three minutes left in the study hall, she focuses with all her intensity on her open textbook, pretending to read.

As the last minute of the school day comes, she hears the rustle of movement as all the other students packing up and getting to their feet. It is distracting, and she tries her best to drown it all out, despite the fact that there are only thirty seconds left until the bell.

Unexpectedly, her eraser bounces down on her desk, and she is startled into looking up. The boy with the green eyes smiles and tells her that she dropped that, and without another word, follows the rest of the students out the door as the bell rings its farewell for the day.

Getting to her feet and shoving the eraser in her pocket, the girl glances up again just in time to see the muted glass bottle green eyes snap away and disappear around a corner.



The Game is on.

Theme: Bionicle- The Legend of Lhli
Word Count: 506
Story: Who Is Your Hero?



“Turaga Vakama?” A small voice called out in the street.

“Yes, little one?” Turning from the doorway of the building he was exiting, the Turaga saw a young mask of a Matoran child, and across the street, on the opposite sidewalk, a small throng of Matoran.

“My little sister, she wants to tell you that you’re her biggest hero ever.” The spokes-Matoran pointed to his group of friends to a hidden Kanohi Akaku in the back of the group, ducking away shyly. “But she’s too scared to tell you,” He added in a whisper.

The Turaga of Fire smiled beneath his mask. He began crossing the street towards the group. There were at least half a dozen of them wandering around in the empty mid-morning square, since all their parents were working this time of day.

“But, uhh, Turaga?” The child hastened to catch up to his elder. “We also wanted to hear a story, if you have time.” As they reached the cluster of Matoran, their little masks bobbed up and down in agreement.

“I’ll always have time for you,” Vakama asured them, offering his beaten-armored hand to the little sister. She turned her warm orange Kanohi up to look at him, still timid, and he smiled into her soft blue eyes. “What can I do for you?”

The little girl giggled and grabbed his hand in both of hers, practicaly swinging from it as Vakama started to make his way to a carved bench. “Turaga Vakama, who is your hero?” She asked him.

Vakama sat down slowly, surprised he didn’t literally creak with age, because he suddenly felt thousands of years older. He knew exactly who his hero was. As his troop settled in around him, he picked out his words carefully.

“My hero was warrior. He was brave and strong and corageous. He saved Matoran and Turaga alike, and was loved by all. I had the privilege to meet him personally, and he showed me nothing but kindness. Unity, Duty, and Destiny were all that he lived for. I wish he was here today for you to see, he was truly great.”

“What happened to him?”

“Did he ever save you, Turaga Vakama?”

“Can we see a picture of him?”

“Did he fight off Rahi?”

“What was his name?”

Vakama closed his eyes. It hurt him to keep secrets, even if it was from these younglings, who wouldn’t understand the truth anyways. But, in a way, they already knew his hero. They already knew Toa Lhikan. He was there when they ran around with their miniature Lava Boards. He was there at the annual Lava Surfing competition. He was there in the mask of the brave Captain of the Guard. He was there every day, in Vakama’s gratitude, because if Lhikan hadn’t been there, so long ago, none of them would be living on their blessed Island Paradise. But none of this, they could know.

And because of this, Vakama had to say, “Children, why don’t I tell you another legend of Lhii?”

Theme: CoT- Treasure
Word Count: 483
Story: Cinderella

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She spins and she sways
To whatever song plays
Without a care in the world
And I'm sitting her wearing
The weight of the world on my shoulders


I am looking into baby-blue eyes, so big that that I can see my reflection, as I sit in the rocker and sing off key since mother is running late tonight. I smile my own goofy daddy smile into those eyes, and your toothless smile is reflected back at me.

Beautiful, and I will remember it forever.


It's been a long day
And there's still work to do
She's pulling at me
Saying "Dad, I need you,"


I toss you over my shoulder and spin in tight circles, calling you a sack of potatoes. Your adorable giggles that melt my heart are intermingled with chattering words that you've only just learned. Too dizzy now, I set you down, and you amble over to your beautiful mother, your palm-sized feet leaving palm-sized indents in the grass. You are the most precious walkie-talkie I will ever have.

Beautiful, and I will keep it in my heart forever.


"There's a ball at the castle
And I've been invited
And I need to practice my dancing
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"


I stand, cheering at the top of my lungs, to your mother's embarrassment. She claps enthusiastically, but leans over and asks me what could possibly be so intense about pee-wee soccer. I shrug and cheer louder. You stumble over the soccer ball, which comes all the way up to your toddler thighs, and your peals of laughter warble through the air like butterflies.

Beautiful, and I will love it forever.


So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms


And time passes as it does, with its own enigmatic manner. Time is callous, unyielding, and merciless, not bothering to stop for anyone or anything. It leeches strength from the very bones of the greatest of us, leaving frail shells spotted with age.

Still, time is generous and compassionate, feeding life into the youngest and brightest of us, strengthening them and giving them wisdom. Helping them to grow up, flowing with just enough benevolence to let you live life to the fullest.

The whole thing is beautiful, and it's the world we live in.


'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella


The world we live in is so big, I can't fathom it.

But my world is so small, but it's all that I can fathom.

It is you, my beautiful daughter.


I don't want to miss even one song
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight


It is you. Your smile, your laughing eyes, your hugs that you dive into with all your heart, the melody in your name, and the sweet sound of 'daddy' carried by your voice. It's what I live for, and what I treasure above all else.


And she'll be gone...







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(Disclaimer: Lyrics belong to Steven Curtis Chapman.)

Theme: Bionicle - Visions
Word Count: 401
Story: The Visionary

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"Get out,"

Dispatched to the Northern Continent on Makuta Icarax's orders, Pridak had been granted jurisdiction over a small peninsula. What the Makuta had failed to mention, however, that the land's primary inhabitants were rocks and Rahi.Perhaps to lessen the sting of the slap to Pridak's ego, they'd dispatched a small herd of Matoran to go with him and serve as his staff.

The Matoran ducked his head in compliance. "Sir,"

Pridak sat down heavily on his stone work desk, knocking the scout's report tablets to the floor with a resounding clatter. He looked out the window of the shack that he was supposed to call a fortress. Instead of seeing the occasional boulder that littered the landscape, he saw Xia.



The imposing skyline stabbed into the sky, reaching for the twin suns as though trying to dethrone them. Fire fueled the race to the heavens, new factories and foundries being created every day. Smoke and haze seeping from the buildings hung in the air, tasting like grandeur. The addicting sensation of success, production, and monopoly thrummed trough the streets, making the realm of the Vortixx truly unique and beautiful in the Universe.

It wasn't only the landscape that made Xia enviable. It was the spirit of the inhabitants. They were forward thinking, always. Sharp minds formed the backbone of the population, while the perfect combination of ruthless and genius sat in the seat of authority. Manipulative, cunning, and clever, the Vortixx were at the very least admirable.

And the beauty didn't end there. In his mind's eye, Pridak saw Xia's smog spreading across the world, turning everything to the same twisted beauty. Nothing in existence would be able to compare, of that Pridak was sure. It wasn't long before the sharp skyscrapers and strong fortresses of factories blotted out the suns completely.

It was majesty.

And one day, maybe not so far away, that envisioned majesty could become reality. Of course, Pridak would have to work for it. Dreaming could only get one so far. Naturally, he wanted to get out from under the thumb of the Brotherhood of Makuta. At the moment, Pridak thought that would be a bit pre-mature. He would establish his tiny dominion on this Northern Continent Peninsula for now. Pridak was not a Toa, but he did believe in destiny. He would lay low, and wait until the time destiny called for change.


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The only reason I want summer to be over with is so that December will come faster.

Some of you have already heard my speil about this, but the FREAKIN' LES MISERABLES trailer came out a few days ago, and its like a sneak peak of TRUE LOVE!!

Of course, the world will have to wait unti December to witness this cinematic incarnation of pure beauty. But for now, I'm gonna let this poster sit at the top of my blog and make it more attractive

Here's me, celebrating 2 years here on BZP, with an awesome new spinny and an obligatory blog post. Woot!

We started a poetry unit in my 10th grade English class, finally. I've been looking forward to it all year, because I was (mistakenly) led to believe that we'd actually be writing something fun for a change. Aha, well that was a lie.

¹When I see birches bend to left and right
²Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
³I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
⁴But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay

Teacher: "Now, what do you think Line 3 means?"
Classmate: "It looks like a boy swung on the trees?"
Teacher: *deathglare* "Will someone else, someone who respects Mr. Frost and his works, please tell me?"

Well, you get the idea. Lovely lady, my english teacher XP Anyways, we've spent the past few weeks analyzing poety, which is cool, and easier than dissecting Julius Caesar, but still, not writing poems like I'd hoped.

So then on Friday she says we can write free verse in the style of Lucille Clifton for bonus and read it in class for even more bonus. And of couse, that made me happy. Then she gave us a 'Mad-Libs' style outline we had to use for the free-verse. Excuse me, "free verse".

So I turned my outline/fill-in-the-blank-and-call-it-free-verse worksheet into a protest sign, and naturally decided to spruce up my blog with it Might as well, before my premiership runs out, ya kno?

Aha, yeah, I'm starting to feel kinda old. As of recently, I've been starting to look at colleges. At this point, I'm just trying to decide what I'm looking for in a school.

One thing I know (97% sure) is that I'm looking for a college with a strong English (and/or writing) department, and preferrably a Liberal Arts school.  I've been asking around as much as possible, so I figured why not blog about it XP.

So can any of you give me pointers? This entry is more geared towards those people in college or also looking at colleges, but any input would be nice. Some big things I have questions about are:

-Campus life. Clubs, study groups, whatever. Like, if you're involved in any, are they worth it, etc.
-Sports. I've heard that if you play a college sport, it rules your life, even though I'm not wild about that aspect, I am sort of interested.
-Classes. Mostly, did you find yourself having to work a lot harder than in high school.
-Room and board. Even though college is still a few years away for me, I still get nervous jitters when I think about who my roomate might be. Any condolances?
-Spare time, as in how much of it do you have, compared to pre-college life?

Of course, that's barely even a fraction of my questions, but they are some of my biggest.

Bwhahhahaha! *evilsmile*


I hit a chipmunk today, on my third day of learning to drive. gabump

So if you smoosh those two pics together in your head, you'll get the idea of what my first piece of roadkill looked like.

  

Two things.

First, I get my permit (assuming I pass the eye test and the actual test) this coming Saturday!! *superhappyface* I wanted to learn how to drive stick shift, b/c everyone I know says it's acutally fun, but I think I'll be learning on automatic.

Awesome, right? Sweet freedom, I can practically see it.

Secondly, new Epic!

Review Topic

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Phew, I've been looking forwards to posting this for so long. Go take a looksee *hinthint*