Personal Narrative: Mermaids

My heart began to beat at a rapid rate, “THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.” As the scuba diving boat came to a halt, all I could see was the dark, deep, blue ocean separating me and the island of Dhidhoofinolhu on the horizon. The day began so simple as my family and I were enjoying breakfast on the shoreline, admiring the Maldivian sunrise, talking about the plan for the day until my father said, “We are going whale shark diving!” At that moment I was delighted, I had always wanted to go swimming with whale sharks because they are beautiful, harmless creatures. My sister and I immediately ran to the watersports center of the hotel, scrambling to find the right pair of flippers and scuba masks so that we could leave promptly.

Before I started going to SOTA, I had been homeschooled for the past X years. And when I transferred from homeschooling to high school, it was like traveling to a different country. During the early months of my freshman year, I felt like everyone around me was speaking a different language and sadly I didn’t have google translate. I was unsure about how to appeal to the seemingly endless crowds of unfamiliar teachers, students, and social customs. This, as I have discovered is unfortunately not just a high school thing. Even when you have survived freshman year and have some vague sense of who you are and how to be your most authentic self, one can still face the common feeling of being out of place in your current environment.

Drowning. Over and over and over again. Every time I died they would bring me back. Every time I came back I was less myself. I was terrified. Not for myself but for my country. Not for myself but for my family. Attacks on my soil day and night and my family could be next. They want what I have. My information. But I won’t crack. Under these bring lights day and night. A cloth is draped over my face again. Water gushes into my mouth as I struggle for breath filling my lungs choking the breath from my body. I can’t breathe. I can’t sleep. They don’t allow me to eat. They try to twist and break my body with poisons and malnourishment. They tell me no one is coming for me. Good. We don’t negotiate with terrorists.

I'm sure you've heard the story of Ariel, the little mermaid with crimson hair, a captivating voice, and mesmerizing blue eyes, and of how an evil sea witch stood in the way of her and the love of her life. However, you haven't heard my side of the story—the story of what truly happened, I am this so-called villain; I am Ursula.

Laboratory animals that escape outright physical pain and discomfort are almost always subjected to isolation, depression and anxiety. In fact the worst evil we inflict upon animals condemned to scientific research may be the act of removing them from the natural habitat, or breeding them in captivity, and then placing them in the artificial environment of a laboratory cage, where they have no hope of having the kind of life nature intended for them.

I am the most competitive person you will ever meet. I hate to lose. In everything I do, from swim meets, to track meets, to academic competitions, my goal and my intent is to win. I want to win! Though I don’t necessarily have the great ability to perform like a winner. I’ve had to accept, that maybe, just maybe, I can’t excel at everything. One night, after a particularly devastating swim meet, I sat down and had to think about why I had lost. Maybe my goggles were on too tight! Yes! That had to be it. Or maybe my competitor cheated and just didn’t get caught! All these thoughts were racing through my head, yet the most obvious one never seemed to cross it. Maybe, after all, I just wasn’t as good as he was. No, that wasn’t possible! He and I looked exactly alike! We acted the same! We had nearly the same techniques!

I hear the laughter and shouts of children, the playful chatter of dolphins and the cries of birds soaring overhead. I smell salt, fish, and freshly popped popcorn. I taste the salt on my tongue when I breathe; the metallic sense parching my throat. I feel the smooth, silky, rubbery hide of the dolphins as the swim against the wall flipping their fins for more fish. I see smiling faces of children, wonder-filled eyes, families united, dolphins performing tricks, and trainers teaching man and beast alike. Water, wind, salt, sun, dolphins—all of these are a part of my dream, to become a marine biologist.

The Blurh here again and I breifly explained my life. When I was eleven my mother was murders by something I thought was to be imposible but the an accident make me the imposible. I was a forensic scientist and the Galactic labs set off something that created a storm cloud above my lab and struct me while I was holding chemicals. I was in a comma for eight mounths and when I woke up I had amazing abilitys, this acident make me the impossible. Now, I am able to move at the speed of lighting, and I can run to the future.

Straight down I go with my eyes closed, vertically, 60 feet in the air, as I drop straight down the water slide being scared tremendously! At this moment, all I could feel was the pressure of my body moving and my adrenaline going. As I opened my eyes to see if it was coming to an end, all I could see were sharks staring at me through a clear acrylic tunnel surrounded by water filled with sharks. Sharks, who are known for killing , who are ruthless/ dangerous, hungry and are man eating creature that attack any human without thinking about it. These sharks were all different sizes (pite,standard,ginormous) swimming fast towards the clear acrylic tunnel with there eyes wide opened ready to eat. At that moment, my heart started beating fast and I started praying that I would make it out safely. I could not wait for this slide to be over. All I wanted to do was see my mother and go on the Bahamian beach. But, as soon as I saw these sharks staring at me, I closed my eyes,tightly, and drop start into the water. Panicking, I

Most of us showed little to no fortitude that we would ever be rescued. Finally, at about lunchtime a boat came to our island. I was so excited. They asked us what happened. The older boys told them that one of us died, and it was an accident. Simon was murdered, but I didn’t say anything. They took us back to the United Kingdom, and an adult asked me whom my parents were. It took me awhile to remember, which made me feel like an animal, but eventually I remembered and they took me home. I was so happy to see my parents, but they didn’t seem to believe it was me at first. I looked in the mirror and could barely recognize myself. I was so dirty and unkempt. I truly did look like an animal. I plan to forget about the beast, murder, and everything else about the

Captain Vic watched the sleeping mermaid from her hammock thoughtfully. It's…more beautiful than anything I've ever seen in my life.

Imagine yourself trapped in a cage, engulfed by darkness, the feeling of dread the only thing standing by your side. Every day you tremble in fear of what new twist those lab coats have in store for you. You lost your faith that you will be saved long ago and that your destiny is to die in this forsaken cage. This is what animals used for experimentation go through on almost daily. Throughout the last few centuries, millions of animals have undergone many cruel and stress inducing tests and experiments. Nowadays, many studies show that using animals for testing is unnecessary and that scientists should not have any real need for it. In this paper, I will show how the use of animals in labs is unnecessary by explaining the history of experimentation,

Cameryn couldn’t quite distinguish the shadow through the sand mixed water, due to people’s exhilarating movements, not to mention the asperous waves. She swam further and deeper into the cold water, trying to maneuver through the swimmers’ frantic movements and the vigorous current. Once she forced herself past the breaking waves she could finally make out what she saw, and it was breathtaking. Cameryn saw a castle, or rather a whole entire underwater fortress! The imperial view was so astonishing she didn’t even see the mermaids approaching her on grand chariots led by great, majestic sea horses.

At the beginning of my life; I was sewed, stuffed and dressed at a company called Cute Pets. Then, I was sent to a store called Toys “R” US; which is where my old owner’s mom got me from for $5.50. I was for her little girl’s birthday, so I was put into a purple sparkly gift bag. On, December 20th of 2014 she was turning 5 years old. Her Name was Annie, and when she opened the bag I saw that she had bright blonde hair and glimmering blue eyes. She took me straight to her room, where she played with me and her other toys; Mr.Snuggle the Bear, Bluey the Whale and Clarice the Porcelain Doll. She also named me Snowbell

Finally, I pulled my car into a gravel path and hoped for the best as I walked into the building nervously. But as I walked closer to the front desk, I felt a sense of ease and I remembered my whole purpose of being there. Then receptionist asked me, “Can I help you?” and in returned I said “I am here for Pup Pup.” As I following the nice lady to the back, there was huge difference from the waiting room to where placed the rest of them. The moment I stepped foot behind there, this disgusting odor instantly hit me and all I heard was something screeching against the medal fences. Not the mention the atmosphere was awfully unsettling and I couldn’t bare to think how these animals live in this