Ever After

Once upon a time, I awoke in a strange place. I turned around; a man, a toy, stood behind me. He told me that to return home, I needed to find and save his daughter, Princess Porcelain. He gave me a key, the one that would unlock the chest filled with the hearts of the toy soldiers, stolen by the evil Queen Carolina. I set off in search of Porcelain. I awoke in a forest clearing, in the dead of night. I felt a chill run down my spine. I spun around to come face to face with a women, Queen Carolina. Her beauty was intoxicating. She pulled me close and told me that if I join her and her army of toy soldiers, then I could have everything I ever wanted. I could not resist. All of my dreams. . . come true. There was a certain feeling I had around her. Somewhere inside, I knew that she was dangerous. However, she was all I needed. Whatever she wanted, I wanted because we were in love. I used to be somebody else until her. Then, everything changed. Carolina was toxic. Being with her was like drinking poison. I could not be away from her though, not even for a minute. I felt that if I did, I would not survive. She gave me this strength and security. I guess that my life was so hard before. And even though Carolina was killing me, I had to have her. The thought of her leaving made me nauseous. I was asleep. I was in a dream. A girl suddenly appeared, a smile on her face that could save a life. She took me by the hand and pulled me out of the shadows. She looked me in the eyes. I had found Porcelain. She showed me what life would be like without Carolina. A life of which I had never lived. I wanted it. I wanted to be happy, but I could not let go Carolina. Porcelain told me that it was going to be okay. I felt better with Porcelain. I was healthy. I knew this was the truth, no matter how much I tried to deny it. We arrived at the assembly line where all of the toys were created. Porcelain and I convinced the toy soldiers to overthrow their queen. We showed them what a real life would be like. The soldiers joined us on our quest to defeat the queen. We found the chest full of hearts. I put the key in the hole and turned it. . . The chest opened, a bright light emitting from the inside. The hearts found their way back to their origins. The queen fell to her death. Without the lives of others, she held no purpose for life. The toys were free, no longer under control. They were able to lead a normal, healthy life worth living. They were not miserable but happy, and as was I. I lost myself to a dream, a dream that my wishes come true without any consequences. I was spinning out of control. One day, I could not tell where the dream ended and real life began. Either way, it was going to end. I turned to Porcelain and stared deeply into her eyes. I wanted to return home, but I needed her to come along. I knew that she was the one, my lifeline perhaps. She saved me and mended my wounds. She would keep me safe from my demons, from all evil. I loved her. I knew this love was real. I was fully healed because of her. Sometimes, when my eyes see something that my heart cannot explain, my mind makes up a history to make sense of it all. I create a new story, one with a fairy tale ending that I deserve. I sit back, and I say to myself, "Once upon a time, I awoke. . . in a strange place. . ."

Repeating Apologies

In eighth grade, I had a best friend, Nykky. We met the previous year but had not talked that often. However, as the next school year began we talked more and more. Soon after eighth grade began, we became very close and practically inseparable. We knew almost everything about each other, and we did everything together. We both had been through very hard times and had issues, but we would always try and fix one another. She basically shaped me into the person that I am today. It was pretty much her and I against the world. I thought we were going to be friends forever, but I was wrong. Just as every friendship, we had are ups and downs. In May, we had a pretty big fight, over something I do not quite remember. We did not talk for a while because I was the cause of that situation. I apologized for my wrongs and tried to convince her to accept it and take me back. We reunited but remained friends for only about a month after that. I messed up again and ended our friendship once more. In August of that year, I realized that I still needed her in my life and tried to apologize again. Unfortunately, she said that she did not trust me and could not be close friends with me. Somehow, I regained some of her trust. Because our friendship grew unhealthy, we slowly drifted back apart and have not talked in over a year. Even though I still miss her sometimes, I am okay with the fact that we are no longer friends. I now have better friends, and I am sure that she does too. Losing someone that I truly loved was hard, but life went on and got better.

A Lesson Learned

I have been faced with more struggles this year than I ever have been before. My biggest struggle would be the amount of pressure I have had to handle. I have always been an honor student, so I am pressured to remain that way. Sometimes it gets rather difficult to tolerate it whenever I have a big test approaching or when the grading period is coming to an end. Since there is so much pressure to do well upon me, I have had to study more and become a bit more responsible. This was yet another struggle I have encountered. Previous to this year, I never really studied for any exams. This was not a wise decision on my part. I had no idea how frequently I needed to study this year, so it was difficult trying to adapt to that. However, I managed to change my ways which resulted in some accomplishments.

Be Prepared

The Ohio Graduation Test(OGT)that I am most nervous about taking is the history test. Overall, I am a good student. By that, I mean I pass my classes with fairly well grades. However, I struggle a little with history class. So far this year, I have always been border-line with my final grades in that class, barely passing with an A. I learn history lessons by copying notes given by the teacher, something that we do not do in class. Our teacher gives us reading assignments quite often which is unfortunate for me. I cannot read a history book for the life of me. I can read the assigned pages, but I cannot grasp any of the concepts. It is like the saying, "It goes through one ear and out the other." Another problem I have is that I find most of the lessons really boring. Thus,it is hard for me to focus in class. I am not that stressed about these state tests quite yet, but I know that I have to come up with a plan soon. A lot of my friends do really well with history, so I can ask them to help me understand the material that should be on the test. There are also many practice tests available. By taking these, I can get the idea of what I need to work on. The practice tests will also relieve some stress that I may have. However, since I still do well in school, it should not be too hard to pass the test.