The Sun Comes up in Shadowlands

Everything was planned weeks in advance. Everyone knew what to do and where to stand. The lights were dimmed and the room grew increasingly silent. No one was in open view. The line of sights had been broken and everyone waited. Their hearts beginning to race as the seconds began to feel like minutes, minutes felt like hours. Your own heart felt like it was beating against your chest with a thousand forces. The sweat dripping from your brow. But none of this was from fear or pressure. It was excitement. Taking a breath that, to you, sounded like the groan as if someone just read the most boring speech and a random individual requested it to be read again because they had fallen asleep at part of it. Then it that’s when the true moment came. The sound of the tumblers of the door clicked and turned before stopping short. Metallic jingling was echoed through the wall as you assumed keys were being used to unlock it. The door opened in a normal fashion and in the next second the lights flicked on. This was your que to strike!!! “SURPRISE!!!” The sound of birthday horns and confetti bursts from everyone in hiding. The guest of honor undoubtedly shocked if not surprised so many people got into their room when the door was locked, but that info could wait till another time. Everyone got together and congratulated them on their wonderous day. Then that’s when it happened. “So what kind of cake did yall get?” The rooms festive cheers and

December 17th, that is my birthday. Having switched school counties in middle school my birthdays always had to find the best of both worlds between two different groups of friends. Well, I had recently discovered the magic of social storytelling in games like Dungeons & Dragons. At this point three of my friends and I would meet up every two weeks for a late night session of fantasy tabletop role-playing. These nights were the high points of our social lives; it only made sense that I wanted ALL of my friends to experience this awesome game. So, I invited everyone asking them to come over around 6:00 p.m. and expect to be there until around midnight. I loaded up on snacks, came up with an adventure for us all to go through, and actually cleaned a little. Everything was set up for everyone to have fun, eat snacks, stay up late, and hopefully find a new hobby. Unfortunately that is not at all what happened.

I am still in my room because I have butterflies in my tummy. I knew I had to go down so I did and we ended up having so much fun. We ate cake, played games and I opened presents. Just like a normal birthday party, but the time came. I had to go into the woods. I just hoped and prayed that everyone would forget about it but then, out of the blue, Tony

I opened my gifts and thanked the givers, who continued to argue with me. The waiters ended up throwing away most of the cake, because my family members seemed to have lost their appetites. Eventually I grew too tired to squabble anymore. I had to leave before anyone guessed my secret. I thanked them all for coming and hugged each one goodbye.

This birthday had been wonderful. My friend Emily and I hiked up to a place called Griffith Observatory. I had heard that the view was amazing and you could see all of LA. I walked to a artsy concrete staircase where you could see the lively and bustling city in the background. From our point of view, the skyscraper buildings looked tiny and ant sized. The golden crisp sun had slightly set behind us and caused the sky to shift deep colors throughout the city. When the cotton candy like clouds drifted across the electric baby blue sky, I felt an overwhelming rush of pure happiness. The condensed and shrubby bushes in front of us were a shamrock green color, and looked as if they were full of life. I knew

Jane and Nhi was at an app. Dinner was delicous sphaghitti. Jane and Nhi got home. They ate dinner whileI went upsatirs to do my stuff since I ws done eating. Upstairs I played my guitar and rewrote my thing in my writing journlal for school. I changed into a peom. Inside of the random stuff I wrote down I made a poem called Unforgettable and Wonders.Around 6:45 Nhi wanted me to go on a bike ride. We did we biked around to Devinere Farms park and then by the Kishuwakee River. Only a little because it was getting dark and the sun already set it was just a few clear clouds left. We stopped to take lots of pictires. We got home at 7:45. Jane and My were watching Big Brother,that game show is on 3 day in a week. Anyways,I went upstairs to hang out with Nhi. I bought in my writers journal to decorate it. I ended up reading the older magaiznes other then cutting it out. I didn’t have ideas in my head and was about to gie up afte only finding a skittles founing,a cute dog chewing a ball and flowers. Then,I saw this horizantal picture of a Hollywood sunset. It was for Hollywood stars but I jut cut that

Shadow often does small coin tricks throughout the novel, but there are two coins in particular that take on greater significance. His gold coin symbolizes the sun, while his silver coin symbolizes the moon. Taking literally the idea that these heavenly bodies “watch over” the earth, both these coins offer protection in different ways. Together, they represent the importance of balance and duality, gold and silver, life and death, the sun and the moon.

It was Wednesday and none of the things that happened that day were planned. In the morning at school, Aaron, Gabe and I have class together.

My 2nd birthday. There are silly blues clues decorations everywhere. There are polka dot balloons, sweet yummy cake, and big shiny presents. There is a camera pointed at my face. The faint sound of muffled talking goes through my head. I hear the sweet words of “Happy Birthday” several times. As I open my gifts, I hear the rustling of the slick wrapping paper. My nose picks up the scent of the smoke from the birthday candles.

Dear Diary, today is my 21 birthday! Sammy is picking me up at 8 o’clock for a night of dancing, fun on the town, and a lovely dinner. For the dinner, we intend to meet up with our friends John, Sandy, Jolly, and Danny, but in between the time, I need to tell you what I have planned for tonight…

I waited impatiently as i waited for my mom and her boyfriend to make up their minds. I knew we were probably just going to get the usual barbeque and original hot wings with a side of fries; Honestly it’s our tradition now, but im not going to complain i like this tradition. I tapped my fingers on the seats of the Wing Stop; Occasionally running my finger over the edge of it, my fingers making even more contact with the polished lumber. I finally heard the cash register ring and i perked up,and hurried to chose our table.. I chose the four seat table by the walls, and i got comfortable quickly as i sat down right next to the wall. I saw my mom and her boyfriend chatting presumably about work. I took out my phone and listened to them while

The morning sunshine seeped through the cracks between my shutters, lighting up my room. I could hear the clock ticking and the rays of sunlight bouncing off of my eyelids. I barely got any sleep last night because I was ecstatic that tomorrow was, my birthday! I jumped up out of bed, how could I have forgotten that it was my birthday? Suddenly all of my drowsiness turned it into excitement and I jumped up, throwing the red gradient quilt off of my bed. I slowly walked out of my room, making very little noise, checking to see if anyone else was awake. I peeked through the intricate staircase railings and tried to spot anyone downstairs, no one was in sight. I tiptoed down the cream coloured stairs, reached the bottom and got startled when my mom yelled, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”, her voice bouncing off the walls of house. A grin so big spread across my face, I couldn’t believe I was turning four years old!

It was 2:00pm, I spent almost the whole day roaming around the house doing nothing, just thinking about everyone else. How come everyone was busy today? I assumed half of my friends forgot it was my birthday. At 3:45pm our door bell rang. Out of curiosity I ran downstairs to check and it was my childhood friend Trisha. While wishing me happy birthday, she gave me a friendly hug. Then we went to my room. There she took out pictures from when we were young, candy jewelry we played with when we were young. It was basically a reminder to me that no matter how old any of us get, we’ll always be stupid little kids at heart and will stick together. It was a wonderful and a thoughtful gift, but that was not it. She went outside to her car to get something, and when she returned it was another gift, a beautiful blue dress with a design coming out from the left side and a slight cut on both sides.

We all sat down and talked. We talked about how everyone has been. My sisters school and my brothers new job. While we were talking there was another knock on the door. I went to go open the door and it was the pizza and the wings. I payed for them and grabbed the boxes and walked into the kitchen where my family was. Everyone was really hungry but my family really wanted me to see the big surprise they got for me. SO we agreed we would go outside to see what they got me. We went outside when I saw what they got me I almost cried in joy. My family got me the same looking motorcycle that was on my cake. It was a black Kawasaki Ninja 2017. It had a nice leather seat.The lights were bright white and it was really shinny.But I had one question.

I arrive at my front porch with the last bit of Dutch chocolate cake from my birthday party at work. It’s inside a glorious glass display my co-workers purchased. My boss gave me the rest of the day off. How else better to celebrate my special day than with my husband? I reach into my purse, rummage through the makeup and sticks of chewing gum, and pull out my house key. After turning the lock and entering my home, I call out, “Mason! I’m home!”