In My Mind

I woke up shocked by the honk of the bus. I scrambled to get everything together and walked up to the bus door. This is usually the moment in movies where the kid has second thoughts on running away and then tells the driver, “Never mind,” but that’s not me. I walked into the bus with a confident step and my chest facing the sky. 

The bus only cost twelve dollars for 63.5 miles, so I still had plenty of money left for food and maybe a bike. 

The first step to my plan was to make it to Naples, Florida, get a job as a babysitter, stay there for about a month, and then move on. My plan was already in motion. It was all happening so fast.

So, my birthday happens to be during the month of March. This year, March is during quarantine. For those of you whose birthday is NOT during quarantine, I am here to tell you.

1# You don’t have to introduce friends from school to friends who are from something else, like church, or neighbors. That is something that always annoys me because when MY friends invite kids that I don’t know, I always like to try to become acquainted with them. But when I invite friends that my other friends DON’T know, they don’t make an effort at all. (Half of the time, at least.)

2# You find tons of things to do for your birthday that don’t require going to a public place, and that you could probably do many times during quarantine. For example, you can have a picnic (if there is good weather) or play some board games.

3# You ONLY get to hang out with whoever is with you, so there will probably be no friends at your birthday. If you have a rough home life, then do a video chat with your friends or whoever makes you feel comfortable. If you have a good family that your close with, then it should be fine.

Those three reasons are part of having a birthday during quarantine, and if you have a birthday during quarantine, please comment any ideas you have or any experiences.

—Valentina

           1

I was looking out from my bay window in Miami, Florida when it all happened. Me and my family were packing to go on our annual Anderson family trip to Barcelona. My family has always been the prepared type, so we packed all of our clothes into our micro suitcases. I had never really liked these trips because of how they all seemed to be about how my family thinks they are so much better than me. About how Dad says I should have learned something about Barcelona. About how all my older siblings think I’m so stupid, and about how all my younger siblings think I am just something there for them to annoy. Suddenly, I realized how much I was annoyed with my life. 

I had thought about running away many times before this fateful day. It started when I was five years old, and my father  was screaming, “Eden Grace Anderson, have you gone stupid?!” and whipped me with his belt because I had forgotten how to spell “estuary”, and “polyurethane”. Then, when I was eight, my mother forgot to show up to my honor roll ceremony and told me that I’m such a know-it-all. Finally, just last year when all my siblings left to go to Disneyland with my older cousins on my 11th birthday, and called me “Eddie” even though I asked them to call me “Eden”.

  But this time was different. It was the perfect time. I had my suitcase all packed, and everyone else was too busy to notice me. I  grabbed the money jar, (which has a total of $657.32) said goodbye to my dog, Oreo, and ran out the door. Lynn, my best friend (and across-the-street-neighbor) in Miami was outside in her front yard. “Hey Eden, where you going? I thought you had to leave for your family trip?” “Um, yeah…I’m just going to get the mail!” I lied. Who would get the mail with a full packed suitcase and two maps, one of Florida and the second of California? 

I ran all the way to Mulberry Street, past the high school, past the middle school, past the elementary school, and Lou’s Mini Mart. I ran so much that I fell asleep once I reached the bus station. Right on the bus station bench.

Hi everybody…I have to make an announcement to make!

I am writing a realistic-fiction novel called, “The Billionaire Runaway”. I have not finished it, nor have I contacted a publisher or an editor, but I have decided that I will post it chapter by chapter on this blog.

Please comment if you like it, if you don’t like it, don’t say anything at all. (Unless it is helpful or constructive criticism, then you may.) Thank you! 🙂

—Valentina

I know many of you must be thinking from this title, “Ummm, aren’t you a little young to be talking about, let alone Knowing about this?!?” Well, the answer is, no. No I’m not. Whoops, I think I just referenced Phineas and Ferb!

You know what? When I am done with this whole thing, someone is gonna be like,”so what will you do to stop it from happening?” Honestly, I think that there is not much we can do to stop it. We Just have to stop having so much comfort, and to stop staring at our devices. We are all just getting fat and old looking at tiny screens. ( Which is what I am doing writing this post.)

Have you seen the movie Wall-E? You know what happens to all the humans on the ship they have made for comfort? How they get incapable, and gross? We are not there, but that is what could happen.

But the fact that we KNOW that we know this gives us some hope to make it a lot better.

#1, ask if a friend can hang out and if they can, you can draw a picture blindfolded .

#2, you can play a board game (specifically pie face if you have it.)

#3 (this is what i like to do with my friends) Have a subject and do a fashion show with that subject.

(sorry this was a short post)
-Tori

Why do so many chip companies only fill in half of the chip bag? I personally think that this is kind of stealing from the customer. We pay a full 1.99 for a HALF full bag of chips. Some companies say that they do this because they “don’t want to crush the chips”. Honestly, who cares if the chips get crushed or not? I mean, I know that if the chip bag was full some of the chips would fall out when you opened it, but that is okay!

That was part two.

—Valentina