Authors Note: I have written this piece because we have been doing Stream of Conscious in the Academy. Our phrase that day was “A tree dropping its leaves” and I excelled from there. I have been trying to work on voice and vocabulary today. I hope you enjoy.
A tree drops its leaves on a cold, fall day. The leaves from the trees looked like balloons blowing through the gusts of wind. Colors of orange, brown, red, and yellow had came sailing towards the ground. Today seemed like the perfect day to have some fun outside and play in the leaves. As I was wandering around the driveway, I had seen something not so particular in the yard. It looked like a piece of litter lurking in the piles of leaves. Since my mom always told me about being a good person and saving the world, I thought I should go and throw it away. Once I ran over to get the paper, I realized it was a lottery ticket for five million dollars. The name of the lottery ticket was ‘Lucky Loot'. My mom and I lived in one of those old shacks that you find in the woods and think to yourself, I wonder if the Wicked Witch of the West lives in there. Once my dad passed away in a construction accident, we found out he had a lot of debt and we were stuck with it. We had to give away our 1.5 million dollar house for a rickety shack the size of a garage. Anyways, since the ticket had not been scratched off, I decided to run inside and grab a quarter to scratch the numbers off. I had scratched the first number, which was a 7, and then a 9, and a 3. I checked the lucky numbers and there they were, 7, 9, and 3. I couldn't believe my eyes, as I dropped the quarter out of my hand yelling for my mom to wake her up. "Mom, come down here, I got something to show you. And it’s not your ointment that came in the mail today."
"What then, if it's another one of those magazines for Dog Fancy in the mail, I’ll read it later.”
“It’s better than that, just come down.”
“Fine, be right there.” My mom finally dragged herself out of bed and came to look at my discovery. I was so excited to show her what I had found. She looked over at me and couldn’t believe her eyes either. She started to jump up and down in her pink striped robe. “We’re going to be rich, how did you find this and where, let’s look for more. “My mom yelled like she was some kind of a wild animal.
“Slow down, slow down, we should probably take it to the bank before we think it’s anything real.” My mom then finally pulled herself together and drove me and my dog Sprinkles to the bank. Since my mom doesn’t have a husband, she thinks the next best thing is a dog. So she got this ugly half shaved rat dog that cries whenever it goes to the bathroom. I have no idea why she named it Sprinkles because it looks more like a mental rodent then a dog. We then got out of the car at the nearest bank and I followed my mom into the bank. We walked to the counter and found an overweight man with overalls, glasses, and a very bad haircut as the teller. I almost wanted to throw up just by looking at him, but I was too excited to do that.
“Can I help you?” The man asked.
“Yeah, I recently bought this lottery ticket and I think I have won.”
“Ok can I see your ticket please?” My mom handed him the ticket as he positioned his glasses on his head to have a better look. “I’m impressed, I’ve only heard of 2 other people who have won this kind of lottery ticket. You are one lucky woman, but be careful. Although you got a lot of money in your hands, doesn’t mean you should spend it all at once.” My mom didn’t really care what the man said, since she was too busy thinking of what she could do with 5 million bucks. ,
“I want the 5 million right now.” My mom demanded.
“Uh, alright” He replied. I had known this wasn’t the right decision to make and we should probably keep some in the bank. I wanted to speak up but I also didn’t want to spoil the moment, so I kept my mouth shut. After the man wrote the check we sprinted out the door like Road Runner would do in those old TV shows.
After my mom and I got home, my mom was headed for the telephone book to find the luxury car dealer down the street. She called them up saying she wanted Ferrari that cost about two hundred fifty thousand dollars. I thought she was going overboard by buying a car, so I finally stopped her before she thought she was queen of the world. I had thought we could use the money for something better then what we want, but for what we need. I needed to stop her before she bought the world, so it took all the courage inside me but I finally talked to her. “Mom, don’t you think we should use the money to pay the debt off the old house and car.
“No, not now, we have so much money, I could swim in it.”
“But what if we run out of money?”
“We won’t, now quit your wining and I am going to buy some more stuff that I don’t need.”
“Wait what about me?” She had already left the house and left me and Sprinkles home alone. I was glad mom was looking happy for the first time in 5 years, but I think she might have lost it. Soon we might be living in a mansion and the next thing you know, we’ll be back on the streets looking for loose change and eating from food stamps. I had to put a stop to this. I waited for my mom to arrive and make her stop buying everything she saw. She finally came home about 3 hours later with a brand new expensive coat, sunglasses, and shoes. “Want to see what I bought?”
“You bought more?”
“Of course, come outside.” I followed her out to see a red Ferrari outside our old shack. “Hop in, were going somewhere special. Oh and also grab Sprinkles.” I got inside the car which felt so nice and looked like nothing I had ever seen. She turned the key and the engine made the sweetest noise ever. I loved the car but knew what I had to do.
“Hey mom, after we go to this ‘special’ place, could we go to the bank and pay some of dad’s debt off, so that we can live without having the bank hovering over us?”
“Nonsense, we have plenty of money for that later.” We finally came to one of the most luxuries neighborhoods in our town. It was called “Un Montón De Dinero De La Calle”. Which meant, “Lots of Money Street”. I thought it was a very stupid name for a street, but the name was right, they were the richest people in California. I thought we were just taking a drive to show off our new car, but mom suddenly came to a stop at the biggest house there. “Welcome to your new home”. My mom said. I got out of the door to see a butler waiting patiently at the door for us. I stood in doubt with my mouth open and my eyes wide. I couldn’t believe myself, this house had a 5 car garage, a swimming pool, and its very own tennis and basketball courts.
“May I give you a grand tour of the house, sir?” The butler asked.
“Uh, okay.” I stepped inside to see two master stair cases heading upstairs. Sprinkles ran up and down them like she had never been in such a big place before. “Mom how much did this cost?”
“Oh, only the rest of our money.”
“You mean you didn’t save any money for food or payments on our old house.”
“Aw, who cares we got this giant house to live in now.”
“The bank cares, and they’ll track us down until we pay for the old house we had, we’re done for.”
“Well I don’t care, so why don’t you enjoy yourself while we live here.”
We’re living here now, but what about our old house and all our stuff there?”
“Since we got this house, we don’t need that old shack or the stuff we left behind. Now go to your room, it’s the third door on your right. Take the elevator up to the 4th floor.” I finally stopped arguing with my mom and headed upstairs to my room. I took the elevator upstairs which was right next to the 96 inch TV in the living room. There I found hallways full of doors, pictures, and sculptures. I had found my room where my mom had told me and opened the door. The room was giant, with a TV, Foosball table and a king size bed. The room was crazy and unrealistic. Although this was one heck of a dream, I couldn’t let this happen to our small family. After dinner I planned what I was going to do tomorrow. After breakfast I was going to go down to the bank and tell the teller what my mom had done.
When I woke up next morning our butler had already made breakfast in bed for us. He had given me a bacon, egg, and cheese omelet, my favorite. As soon as I finished I threw my shoes and clothes and headed for the garage. I opened the garage door to see a bike perfectly fit for my size. It was one of those real expensive BMX bikes the professionals use. I had always wanted one but now I have to give it up by doing the right thing. The bank was about two miles away from my house, so I had to ride quick before my mom found out where I was. Halfway to the bank I was panting and grasping onto any air I had left in my lungs. I finally peddled my way into the bank’s driveway, and parked my bike in the grass by a lamp post. I walked inside sweating from all the biking to see the exact same guy from the last time we came to the bank. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, my mom recently bought a house and she has a lot of debt that she needs to pay for. Do you think by any chance you could come over in an hour to talk to her?”
“Oh, you must be her son, Allen. She told me you’re a very nice boy. Sure, I’ll be over there in one hour.” I left with confidence that we could get things straight but I was scared about my mom’s reaction to all this. When I got home from the bank I saw Sprinkles tying herself around a tree with her leash while our butler was walking her. I laughed out loud wondering how many dogs it would take to screw in a light bulb because dogs are just so stupid. As I walked inside, I could hear my mom playing Just Dance on the Wii. She always wanted to get fit even though she her diet was chocolate and soda. I walked downstairs and told my mom that someone is coming over. After 1 long hour of waiting, I finally heard the doorbell ring. I quickly opened and invited the man in. Since the bank had closed early today, the man wore a shirt that had Poker Chips and playing cards on it. “So I hear you have some debt to pay off your lost husband?”
“Who brought you here?”
“Your son of course, and by the means of all the debt you. I could say you have just the right amount to pay it all off by giving us your house, car, and your butler.”
“I think that’s a far trade.” I cut in before my mom could speak.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you are not taking any of this.”
“Yes they are mom, you’ve only been thinking about yourself. It’s time for you to give all of this up and go back to our original home!”
“Even so, you still have enough money to buy an apartment. I also think they have some down the road that allow dogs and have a nice view of the lake.” The banker said. There was a long pause of silence and thinking between me and my mom but she finally gave in.
“Alright, fine we can move into a new apartment and sell this house. I’ll also go back to our old shack and get all of our old stuff back.”
After about a week of signing papers we moved into our new apartment. My mom sold all of our extra stuff so I could go to a very nice school called ‘Lake Shore Middle School’. My mom also got a new job as a nurse at a Vet not too far from our house. So after all that ruckus, as the old saying goes “It’s always too good to be true”.
Telling the Truth
Author’s Note: This writing piece is for the 2012 Spring DWA. A literary Analysis is an essay responding to a book or story evaluating and examining the authors writing and purpose. The book I’m examining is ‘Killing Mr. Griffin, by Louis Duncan. In this piece I’ve tried to work on my organization and idea development.
Telling the truth can be one of the hardest things to do in life. Lying might sound like the easy way out, but it gets worse when your friends or family find out what you did. Even if you do something you’re not supposed to do, you have to say the truth. I’ve had plenty of times where I have lied. I know it’s a sin but everybody does it, it’s a common quandary. Lying is very easy to do but can come with a costly consequence. Honesty is the best way to handle a situation you got into. Unlike five kids in Mr. Griffin’s class, they don’t know the meaning of the truth. After having a prank go terribly wrong, they are stuck with the dirt on them.
Mr. Griffin was a very strict teacher who only accepted perfect. These five kids hated his grading ways and wanted to put a stop to them. So instead of having a conference or a talk with him, they decide to pull a practical joke. Like all pranks, something had gone wrong. And during this joke, Mr. Griffin was killed. It wasn’t on purpose but, the group didn’t want to tell anybody. They knew people would start wondering what happened to him, but had their mouth’s shut. Honesty can be one of the hardest things to go through as a kid. Children don’t want to get in trouble, so instead of telling their parents what they did. They decide to add sprinkles of lies to their situation, and after that one lie, more get added. If you tell the truth, your parents will most likely forgive you of your mistake and pretend it never happened. Lies on the other hand, get you into far more problems. When the group was asked about what they did, all but one didn’t tell the truth.
Sue was a very intelligent but isolated girl in the story. Until her so called friends tricked her into doing something terrible. David was a very smart student as well, and Sue had a crush on him. When David asked Sue to go to a picnic, it was actually a trap. Sue was brought into a whole mess of pranking Mr. Griffin. Sue then didn’t have much of a choice and accepted not knowing what she had done. After Mr. Griffin was killed, she wanted to tell the police about what happened but couldn’t. The group didn’t want her to tell because they thought the police wouldn’t believe them. So Sue listened to them and lied when the police called her in for an interview. Lying can become very severe about a tiny topic. Sometimes one lie will lead to multiple lies. Or, when people do find out your lying, they might not believe you anymore. They may think you’re not trustable as a friend. The bottom line is, lying is not the answer. Even if a guy you’ve had a crush on lies, doesn’t mean you listen to him.
The author of the book Louis Duncan, presented this book as if it were a tragedy. Duncan explains how this book is a tragedy by placing symbols into the book, and here are some of them. The kidnapping of Mr. Griffin happened on a very dark and gloomy night. Also, the tree Mr. Griffin was placed by was a large, overgrown, willow. Duncan had placed some very nice evidence that this story was a tragic one. She also used the main character Sue, as a character who wasn’t in control. Instead, Mark, David, and Jeff were definitely in the driver’s seat unlike Sue. Sue usually followed the boy’s rules instead of her own. Until the end of the book where Sue went to the police and aid what had happened.
Sue did the right thing by telling the truth in the end, but it’s always best to tell the truth at first. Lies can hurt people and destroy their trust for you. When people tell lies, it never ends well. If I told a lie to my parents, I would get ground for weeks. Falsehood might sound like tiny little lies that don’t mean much, but when you say one. It can go places like you never thought. The truth is much more trustworthy and won’t get you into much trouble. If you acted like Sue, things won’t go as bad and they might turn out just fine.
