Colorado

 Author's Note: This piece is for my writing circle group. We wrote about the 3 facts and a fiction, and I picked the fact about how I have a pet salamander.

  I was bored out of my mind as I sat in my packed van. My Dad was driving, staring off towards the traffic while my mother read a book that seemed to entertain her. My sister was in a deep sleep, occasionally mumbling random words that made no sense. She was probably sleep-talking. So that left me, stuck solving word searches and playing cards by myself. We were about 30 minutes from our destination. This had been a long and tiresome, 24 hour drive.

 I decided to look out the window to pass the time. I became mesmerized by the pitter-patter of the rain drops. It was consistent: never taking a break as it fell down. It almost seemed like the background music to a lullaby. As I day-dreamed, I fell into a calm sleep. Before I knew it, we had arrived, and I became very excited! We had finally made it to Colorado!

 I jumped out of the van faster than anyone imagined me capable of. I sprinted towards my brother and his girlfriend with my family slightly behind. We had this long group hug and there was silence for only a moment. But then, we all rambled on about the drive and how their experience has been down there before we arrived. It was all small-talk until my brother brought up this one story about something him and his girlfriend had found in the pool that they life-guarded for. They began explaining how one they were life-guarding, this guy said he thought he saw something unusual in the water. Some brave souls decided to take a closer look. They braced themselves for the worst, but it ended up being a small, harmless salamander! A tiger salamander to be exact. Nathan and Shannon decided to take the little fellow in. They rambled on about how they finally were allowed to keep it. Shannon had told us that the guy who originally found it named him Walter. The guy didn't want to keep it and wasn't able to take him home, so Shannon and Nathan took over. They didn't change his name because they felt the name suited him perfectly well.

They ended up showing us the salamander, and fed it moths. It was very vicious when it came to food. Although, it didn't hurt when he bit you because he doesn't have any teeth.

Nathan and Shannon wanted to take him home, but they couldn't because they were leaders at the camp in Colorado. So we ended up taking Walter home and put him in a fish aquarium. Now he has a brand new reptile aquarium and everything. We now feed him dry crickets and occasionally the wild moth if there's one around. He sometimes even eats pinky mice which we feed him on special occasions. He isn't very active during the day, his usual day is just burrowing in the soil. Other than that, he's a great pet and eats when he's fed!

Great America

 Author's Note: I wrote this piece in my writing circle. My writing topic was Great America. I worked on expanding my word choice.

I was happy that I got in line early because it was getting longer by the minute. I was terrified: the ride looked so scary and I couldn’t move my feet. It was like they were glued to the ground. I didn’t want to move, but the aggravated people tried to slide past me. As I neared the front of the line, I took a large gulp. I could see the first loop not too far away from me. It wasn’t long before I got in my seat ready for the ride. I was so distracted by the roller coaster, that I had forgotten to put my seat-belt on! The worker told me I had to fasten it, so I did as I was told. Before I knew it, we were on our way. I closed my eyes for a split second before realizing that this wasn’t so bad! We were just going up and up and up. All of sudden I remembered a saying my grandpa had told me, “If a hill goes up, it always goes down.” This was definitely something that related to that. I opened my eyes and took in the view that was overlooking the park: it was breathtaking. I had no idea something could be so high up! Barely after three seconds, my heart had skipped a beat. We were headed straight towards the ground. I couldn’t help myself, I screamed as loud as I was capable of. I noticed some others screaming along with me. We headed towards the second loop, and I saw some people putting their hands up in the air to make the ride more fun. I decided to try it. It felt like I was a bird, flying through the sky! A few moments later, and we were back to the station where the roller coaster had started. The ride had been so much fun that I hadn’t even noticed that it was over! I felt very accomplished. I had just ridden the tallest ride at Six Flags, Great America.

Semantic Devices

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest134079-1409033-semantic-devices/

Symbolism: All Summer in a Day

Tragedy: Storms- In this short story, there was a lot of thunder and rain storms. Clouds and rain make people feel groggy. To me, this usually means that something sad is going to happen. "It rained. It had been raining for seven years; thousands upon thousands of days compounded and filled from one end to the other with rain, with the drum and gush of water, with the sweet crystal fall of showers and the concussion of storms so heavy they were tidal waves come over the islands."(p.1)

Tragedy: Overgrown garden- Since there's rain for seven years straight, there's an overgrown garden on Venus. This makes the people feel like they're trapped in where they live. "They stopped running and stood in the great jungle that covered Venus, that grew and never stopped growing, tumultuously, even as you watched it. It was a nest of octopi, clustering up great arms of flesh-like weed, wavering, flowering in this brief spring." (p. 3)

Romance: Colors- There's a lot of lighter colors in the jungle because there is no sun to make the willow trees green. This makes people feel like they have no life because they are stuck inside. "It was the color of rubber and ash, this jungle, from the many years without sun. It was the color of stones and white cheeses and ink, and it was the color of the moon." (p. 3)

Tragedy: Beneath stairs- The people on Venus have a home underground. They feel like they're trapped because they only get to see the sun once every 7 years. "The sun faded behind a stir of mist. A wind blew cold around them. They turned and started to walk back toward the underground house, their hands at their sides, their smiles vanishing away." (p. 4)

Tragedy: Lightning- There's a lot of storms and thunder on Venus. Lightning also occurs along with these. This makes people feel scared, because they have a chance of getting struck by lightning. "A boom of thunder startled them and like leaves before a new hurricane, they tumbled upon each other and ran. Lightning struck ten miles away, five miles away, a mile, a half mile." (p.4)

Tragedy: Closet- Margot was stuck in a closet while the sun was out. She felt alone, and forgotten. It was also dark which makes her feel sad. "They surged about her, caught her up and bore her, protesting, and then pleading, and then crying, back into a tunnel, a room, a closet, where they slammed and locked the door." (p. 3)

Tragedy: Colors- Colors can determine everybody's mood. When the sun came out, the sun made them feel happy! But when the sun disappeared, they became very sad. "The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun." (p. 1)

Tragedy: Darkness- Darkness makes you lonely. It also makes you feel sad. The people in this story have to deal with darkness for all of their life. "The sky darkened into midnight in a flash. They stood in the doorway of the underground for a moment until it was raining hard." (p.4)