Personal Narrative

It's a Friday afternoon, I plan to go to Great Wolf Lodge in an hour with my church. I see one of my friends so he says to his mom “ Hey, that's my friend” I said “Crap” So I go inside to sign in to go and see my friends just sitting in a corner on a big sofa. We are listening to music and just talking then a green bus comes.

I have lived in only one location my entire life: Edwardsville, Illinois. A peripheral suburb of St. Louis, it stands as the rare oasis of people in a desert of corn, pinned in its own personal bubble. Due to this blend of time and isolation, I developed a natural familiarity with my hometown. But, throughout my childhood, I longed to break free from the confines of the bubble and venture outward. However, this changed last summer, as I walked through Richards Brickyard, our family heirloom, that my great-grandfather, Benjamin Richards, founded over 120 years ago. I felt these childlike sentiments slip away. The bubble that had surrounded me for so long began to vanish, and the picture that it had been obscuring was slowly revealed.

It was a hot summer day in Hammond, Louisiana and I was pouring down sweat like I had just jumped in a pool. The game was just about to begin, me and my team was eagle eyeing the bomb squad. It was so quiet that you could hear your own sweat hitting the bench. The umpire broke up everyone’s concentration by saying, “play ball”! The defense had ran out on the field and I started rolling ground balls from 2nd to short-stop to third base. They had all made good throws back to me and then I threw the ball into the dug-out because the game had begun.

It was the last games of the baseball season. We had are worse pitcher pitching for our team. And they had an ok pitcher pitching. We got to the semi finals and our coach was going nuts. I was in the locker room getting ready for the game and my teammates Austin and Tevan were right next to me also getting ready they were one of the best players on the team.

That morning I woke up on the second week of summer, ready for my championship baseball game against Portsmouth. Our U11 all star team sat in second place in the tournament going into the championship against the number one seed Portsmouth Eagles. The whole day leading to the game, all I could think about was the game, not even the amazing apple pie my mom made because my sister begged for it.

I got off the bus in a hurry to get some fresh air because that bus was filled with New York air. I saw the field that we were going to play on and we slowly walked up to the field. All of us were nervous to put on a show. We all had butterflies in our stomachs.

Running back and forth on and off the field, trying to score as many runs as each side could when batting. Then when it came to defense, we tried our best to not let the Braves score any runs. Around the top of the fourth inning is when it all started. I was up to bat. The first pitch came in, I swung the bat and the ball escalated into the air, landing out by the fence in the right center gap. I was running as fast as I could to at least get to second base. I slid into the bag and the umpire yelled, “Safe!” I was super excited and my adrenaline was pumping like no other. I was so anxious to score it was unreal. Now there was one out, I’m still on second base. Cora Blume is up to bat, and kills a line drive into the left center gap. When a line drive is hit usually you get off halfway or at least enough where if they drop the ball you can make it to the next base, or you can get back if they catch it. Next thing I know the girl makes an

The bus ride down to Peoria was long, but because of our anticipation we felt like it flew by. The tournament directors threw a banquet for all the participants. Each team had a half an hour practice and then were asked to come to the banquet. The next day after the banquet was our first game. We played Hall in our first game, it was a tough win. We were overcome with excitement and happiness. My team and I were moving on to the championship game. The next day we all were up bright and early with excitement and anticipation. We made it to the fields early so we could practice before the game. the game began with the national anthem giving us a new hope for the game. The other team was tough, the pitcher was striking out all of our hitters. The pitcher also hit four home runs during the game. My team and I lost the championship game, but we still made

My first thought when I woke up was that today is the first competitive baseball practice. I couldn’t wait! To start the day, I grabbed a bowl and some cereal like any other day. When I got out the milk carton, I smelled it, and noticed it had gone bad. So, I threw it away and opened the new carton. Then, I grabbed a spoon and started to eat. As I was in the process of eating, I heard my mom from a distance say, “Max, start getting ready for your first baseball practice!” Silly mom...she had no idea I’d been waiting for this day for about a week.

The next day rolled around. Game day. I was too excited to eat anything at all. I got to the bus, and I sat by my pitcher. It felt like the bus ride took years. Once we got there, I warmed up my pitcher, my nerves eating me alive. My coach tells us that it’s time to start the game. I was so nervous, I was having second thoughts about catching the game. But, I did it anyways. I put my gear on, and went out to the field, greeting the umpire on the way out. I get in my catcher’s position, ready for the pitches

The first thing I did this summer was my family and I went to Myrtle beach South Carolina. The first thing we did there were we went to this restaurant called River Side. Next we had to wait for my aunt to get there so we can get our apartment. Once my cousins and aunt got there we got our room key so we got into our apartment. Then we went to unpack all the cars and decided what room each person someone would sleep in. After that we went to eat lunch and we almost got lost. The next night we went to a boardwalk right by the hotel. And then on Wednesday we went back with our cousins this time and found a store called the stupid factory. It had funny shirts in there and stuffed animals. On Thursday it was 100 degrees,

I was raised in a Christian family and home. My father was one of the three first black policemen in the area and my mother was the housekeeper of a prominent family. My grandmother was one of the mothers of her church. I am the youngest of five siblings. Likewise, at the young age of nine years old, losing my parents influenced my journey with God in many ways. Our mother had us in church every Sunday. Additionally, we were involved in all the youth programs such as the Usher Board, Youth Choir, and the YPCL. So, when they passed I couldn’t understand why God would do this to me while I was so young (taking everything from me).

Racing at night going One-hundred and forty miles an hour on US-27 holding the lead, Shift six gear, speed topped out at two-hundred miles per hour passing by cars smoothly. I chanted I am immortal, I am a god! while I pushed my sports bike to its limit. Suddenly a black car approaches. WHAM! I get Rammed from behind and lose control of my bike slamming into a Semi-truck up ahead. Lights out. When I peeked my eyes, I saw 4 humans around me. Thump after thumb I believe I was in an ambulance rushing down the turnpike. I looked around and the first words that came to my head are “Rick this is just a dream”. This is the story of how I escaped from an illegal laboratory that clones and modifies humans.

Inside, my mind is racing as I stand there motionless. The last few weeks have been spent preparing for this special moment in time. “How will I do, will they be staring at me, are they laughing at me?”. All these thoughts have completely overwhelmed my mind. In a matter of moments, I recognize that my heart is on the verge of exploding. “Why did I ever decide to go through with this, I am not the type of person to put myself in this type of a situation. I should run away now before it gets worse ”. It will be starting any second now, the panic has taken over and I stand there waiting for the embarrassment to begin. The ball is hit straight towards me and I swing, hence striking it back over the net. Although mostly a reaction, my partner

We had just arrived at the fields and it was only 7:15 in the morning. It had been raining the previous night so the grass was still a little wet and it was a little chilly. As I was grabbing my bag out of the car I asked my parents, “Do you think I should take my jacket out there with me?” “No, you’ll be fine, you’ll be running around.” answer my mom. As I was walking over to our bench i could feel the butterflies in my stomach, I was starting to get more and more nervous. I could feel