Rough Draft Short Story

There she was for the third time today, just sitting in front of the wall waiting for it to come down. Everyday, for about 6 months now, Elena just sat in front of the wall asking herself: when will it come down? What’s it like on the other side? It has to be better than here, right? After running through those same questions, she went home to her family. The family she loved very much!

In the woods when the sun was just starting to set, there was a van driving on a long-abandoned road, behind the wheel of said van was a tired looking girl who seemed to be about 19. She took a sip of the long cold coffee, and turned to the turquoise haired girl sitting next to her.

Have you ever had those days when you felt like you could no longer make it? Those days when you felt down for the count, and as though no one understood or had you back. In that instant, you wailed! Then you stopped and thought to yourself, I’m stronger than this, and the only way out was if you made a way out.

I sit here at my career center feeling the tension of having to pull more weight than the guy next to me and all I have thoughts of is its time to cash in my flex days and get away. If I have to hear one more conversation about real tree apparel I will surely go insane. I needed a fix for this never- ending case of the Mondays, I quickly turn my attention to the brigade of travel sites all designed to allure me with last- minute deals, cheap getaways. I normally resist the temptation to engage in a spur of the moment decision, but I?m on edge today and on the other hand it?s time to let the rest of the office pull their own weight and a little of my workload for once. If there is such a thing as poetic justice in life, this is clearly one of those times.

One of my Best friends Cheyenne turned 17 over spring break. I couldn’t make it to her birthday party so to make it up to her she slept over for two days and I surprised her with a trip to knots berry farm. She was ecstatic! Her excitement was contagious and as soon as we stepped through the gates of knots berry farm we got on any ride with a 15-40 minute wait no matter how many loops, twists, or turns it had. We craved the thrill. Although there was one ride that intimidated us both… it was the Supreme scream.

Wiping my tears from my wrinkled face, I put together all the pieces. It was like I just received a huge slap to the face, how did I not see this before? I clutch onto the diary, knowing it holds what my family went through behind closed doors. This ugly truth is the reality that I have been missing.

It was just another beautiful day at the stables. I was 10 years old at the time. My younger sister Kelsey and I were scheduled to have our usual horse riding lesson that day. However, we were completely unaware that our ordinary afternoon would soon take a turn towards disaster. The lesson started with us warming up and taking turns going over a series of jumps. But in an instant, Kelsey’s horse spooked and suddenly my 6 year old sister was desperately clinging to a 1,000 pound mare that was galloping out of control. I watched the flurry of hoofs and sand in shock as my sister clung to the mane that clearly could not support her weight. Time seemed to slow down in that moment as I helplessly watched her slide from the saddle, to the front

The summer I turned twelve, my mother decided to fulfill her lifelong dream of building a horse stable in our backyard. In order do this, she enlisted the help my dedicated father, who spent four long weeks building a perfectly adequate one.. He was outside from dawn until dusk every day, hammering nails into pieces of ash brown wood and structuring them into what looked like a small house.

"Dear diary, the trip here was exciting and we were all looking forward to it with so much anticipation. The conditions on the boat were awful, though. To many of us crammed in a small space. No fresh air, and little to no food or water. But we are here now so our lives should be changing for the better!"

On a chilly, windy morning on the Oregon Coast, I wake up at six to attend the daily camp counselor meeting. Without a sound, I tip toe my way to the door without waking the five girls sleeping in the cabin. I stop by the Undertow Cafe before the meeting. The fresh smell of a hot cup of chai wakes me up for the hectic afternoon that awaits. In the meeting, we talk about today's events and the activities for the girls. As I walk into the dining center, four hundred middle school girl campers await outside. Looking out into the crowd, I think,“Which girls will sit with me for this meal?” or “Will any of the girls think I’m cool enough to sit with?”,

She walks to the centermost oak tree near Mason Hall, she finally has found the perfect shady spot on an 80-degree day. She passes the boy from her Psychology class and gives him a small smile. She’s taking a journey to a jungle she doesn’t normally observe, a place where many humans and animals inhabit. There isn’t a breeze and the air feels drier than usual. The Diag seems unfriendly today, as she sits down she’s nervous of her surroundings. She plants herself on a somewhat clean patch of grass and pulls out her shiny laptop. She is reading “Werner Herzog’s Conquest of the Useless” for her freshman English class. As she dives her way into the reading she starts to think about where she is, what is going on around her, and the journey that she is on. A bushy red squirrel approaches her, she’s confused why it’s coming so close and quickly gets up to escape its presence. “Why in the world is this squirrel so close to me” she thinks to herself. The girl moves from the tree but as she get up she starts to notice specific details she hasn’t before.

On a hot summer day in August, 4 friends named Kyle, Aden, Nick, and Aidan went out to play Basketball at Aidan's house. When they were playing outside they got hot and got fried in the sun, so they leaped into the pool. After they jumped in the pool they thought to themselves that why don't we go watch a baseball game.

Girls are starting to wear short skirts and the principal is making them kneel down. If the skirt doesn’t touch the floor, then it is too short and the girls are sent home. This is a problem because students miss their classes for that day. At Jane’s school, there are designated smoking areas, but no one smokes. The good thing is Jane is aware of detention, but is curious about exactly what it is. The good thing is, Jane has never had to find out. Jane became very focused on her homework and her many research projects. Jane finds herself going to the library more and more as she searches through encyclopedias, dictionaries, or just books that pertain to the subject she is interested in. Janes prized possession was her typewriter. Jane knows that using a typewriter is only for final

A car pulled up to the cabin. All of us counselors were anxiously waiting for campers to arrive. A mom got out and was waiting for her daughter to do the same. Creeping open, the door widened and the girl got out. I didn’t know the girl which most likely meant this was her first time at camp. I had gone to camp myself for eight years, but aged out and was now a Counselor in Training. The girl and her mom were both well dressed and put together with long acrylic nails and slighty snobby attitudes. She also had a brother who would be going to Rio Vista for boys while she was here at Sierra Vista for girls. Her dad helped her move in by bringing in her trunk and they put the sheets on the bed that would be hers for the next two weeks. Then her

When I made a suggestion to go tubing, her mother responded with disbelief that she would enjoy it but would not be possible. At that exact moment I knew that my job for the week was solely to make my camper and any camper see how much they were capable of doing. When we went tubing, the smile on her face was enough to leave me breathless. She enjoyed it so much she even took two turns. The surprise and shock that her mother had when we watched the videos of her daughter riding a tube gave me such a satisfying feeling, one that I will always cherish and remember. I had a realization of why this camp became so special to me, knowing that I pushed my camper’s capabilities and added a boost of confidence to her makes me extremely proud to have been a camp counselor at Camp Able.