Short Story Group Tasks

Libby – How conflict shapes the story, explanation of the theme

Marcy – Description of the main characters, a connection or visualization

Chris – A general plot summary, summary of literary devices,

Lillie – How the setting provides an appropriate backdrop, explain what the story teaches us about the human experience

Blog #4 - The Beginning of a Thing Called a Hug

The Beginning of a Thing Called a Hug

In the beginning of the town named Heartlake, there wasn’t affection. People didn’t know about love or caring for one another. Everyone went about their way; waking up in the morning, working through the day, coming home and eating dinner, going to bed, and starting the cycle over again day after day, month after month, and year after year. They didn’t know what they were missing. This cycle went as far back as anyone could remember, even history knew no different. The town of Heartlake knew no different until a man named Jim Carey entered into their lives. He was an interesting man. No one knew his story and no one asked. It wasn’t that he wasn’t kind enough, in fact that was the reason why he was considered so interesting and unusual. He was always smiling and never getting down on himself or anybody else. The people of Heartlake rarely smiled and when they did they most always covered it with their hands to ensure that no one else saw it. After a substantial amount of time, the new news of Jim Carey entering their town became old news. He was still considered interesting and unusual, but Jim Carey knew what he was getting into. He knew that he was one of the few people on the Earth that actually had love in their hearts and he knew that it was his job to spread it. He knew that it was going to be hard and that he had to be patient.

One day Jim Carey was taking a walk in the woods when he stumbled upon a woman that he knew from town. She was standing facing towards him but she had no expression in her eyes and her body language gave him no clues as to what she was feeling inside. From what he had gathered at his time in Heartlake, she was an extremely hard working woman. Everyone else was hard working as well, but she was exceptionally hard working. She hardly ever slept and he knew that she had lost all of her five sons. It was contributed to many different illnesses and they all passed away at different ages. She was holding a rope and he could now see that she was staring at a nearby tree. He walked up to her, stood right in front of her, and looked deep into her eyes. They stood like this for a long time and eventually she stared back. He could tell that her eyes held immeasurable amounts of pain and suffering.

“I can’t do this anymore.” She whispered. As soon as those words were spoken, Jim Carey embraced her in his arms. She didn’t know what he was doing, but as soon as she was in his arms she felt the pain and suffering lifted from her chest.

“This is called a hug,” Jim Carey said in return, “you needed it and I am intrusting in you that you will pick the right time to pass it on.”

That was the beginning of a thing called a hug. After that Jim Carey disappeared from Heartlake, but his memory remained. It became a better place. When someone was on the brink of a breakdown, the hug would be passed on. It became widely known and appreciated. It is even something we still use today to help life a burden off of a friend in need.

Blog #3 9/11

            Tonight at the kitchen table I was talking to my mom about where she was during September 9^th, 2001. She said that she was giving me a bath at my Grandparent’s house where we were staying at the time because our house was under construction. She said she left me for a split second to listen to the news that was constantly playing at the house. She said that she listened to the newscasters hysterically describe the scene over and over again throughout the day. I was only four years old and at the time had no idea what was going on. I had no idea that hundreds of lives were being lost and hundreds of families were being torn apart. Now that I think back, it is funny how I could be so young and so innocent that I had no idea that such a horrible time in our history as a nation was occurring. I was probably worrying about what I was going to eat next while others were worrying about whether they were going to live or not. I know that soon after this incident came the Iraq war, but I do not really know the details about it making me unable to make an educated opinion on whether it was the right thing to do or not. I do know though, that war is horrible and needs to be extremely well justified. Today being the 11^th anniversary of this traumatic occasion I think that it is important that we all look back on the lives that were taken not only during the day of September 9^th, 2011 but also in the Iraq War that followed. Many lives were taken that can never be replaced and we need to always remember the sacrifice that those men and women made for us and be grateful for the lives we were given.

Choice #3

      Pangea use to be a place of peace. It was before modern technology and it was a place where people solved their problems through communication instead of intimidation. There were no guns and ammunition, no wars between conflicting religions or ideas. Everyone truly loved one another and did as much as they could to help one another. 

     There was a man named Zachariah and he was the head keeper of Pangea. He made sure that peace was kept throughout the lands and he was completely devoted to keeping the peace and keeping the people of Pangea safe from the elements. The elements were the occasional floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and natural disasters of the such. The elements also included the gifted child that was born every century. These children came every century at the exact same time and sometimes used their gifts for good but sometimes used it for evil. Zachariah had been the head keeper for as long as anybody could remember. He did not age and his wisdom never failed. Every one of these children that he had come across he was able to handle and channel their gifts towards making Pangea better. The children that obtained bad gifts beyond his ability to control were considered outsiders and were gotten rid of. Now, you might think that in a place of peace it is cruel or unjust, but these children's gifts could turn a persons mind into jelly and their heart into a piece of coal. They could make a persons limb fall off with the blink of an eye and cause immeasurable pain unless dealt with in the proper manner. Zachariah did the right thing every time and he knew it. He never questioned himself about any of these decisions until Gabriela was born. She was a beautiful baby girl with black hair and eyes that held a heart with only a glance. Everyone fell in love with her in an instant, everyone except for Zachariah. It was early for the gifted one to come but year after year went by and nothing happened. Gabriela was becoming more beautiful by the day and along with that became more and more loved. Zachariah never stopped watching her. Everyday like clockwork, Gabriela would take a walk and be gone for exactly 12 minutes each time. From what Zachariah could figure out she was doing nothing wrong. She would blabber to herself about nonsense that Zachariah just couldn't figure out. This bothered him very much. Never before had he not been able to figure something out. This went on everyday of every year up until her twelfth birthday. It was December 12th and not only was it Gabriela's twelfth birthday it was Pangea's 1212 year of existence. There was a big celebration and everybody came out to celebrate. Everything was decorated and there was a lot of music, food, drink, and laughter. At 12:11 in the afternoon everything suddenly became dark and eerie. The world seemed to come to a stand still. Everyone felt it. They were confused and frightened so in turn they all looked to Zachariah for guidance. Before he even had time to think, at 12:12 everything became engulfed in water. It was not an ordinary flood because Zachariah could always feel those coming hours in advance. The water was mucky and he realized that it was what Gabriela had been talking to herself about all this time. She had planned this. The water seemed to eat away at the skin as soon as it came in contact with it. Everyone attempted to run to the top of the hill that was in the center of Pangea, but no one made it. Not one person. For the approximated 12 minutes that it would have taken to get to the top of the hill all that could be heard was the pained screeches and howls of people as they were burned by the water. Everyone drew their last breath, everyone ran for the hill, everyone except for Gabriela. Gabriela swam through the waters infested with the remains of humans freely and joyfully. She would peek out of the water with her eyes turned black like the inside of her soul. She would peek out of the water and play with the big beautiful hands of Zachariah that had now turned white from the contaminated waters of Gabriela's flood. She would never let these hands be lost, for these were the hands that would remind her for the rest of her existence of her great conquest. Gabriela, the little girl that the people of Pangea loved, had created the worst day in history and had started the evil that would continue on forever.  

Author Bio

         Hello everybody! My name is Lillie and I was born and have grown up in Wisconsin my whole life. I have four siblings; two older sisters and two older brothers making me the baby of the family. I am fifteen years old going on sixteen on February 5th of this year. I love playing sports of all kind, basketball being my favorite. I also love music. I have a big family who are all very musical. My grandma has a beautiful voice and plays the piano wonderfully. She is my inspiration and I hope one day I will become as great of a musician and person as she is. Thanks for reading and I'll keep you posted!