JUST A THOUGHT

Something really bothered me today. I felt sick, terribly sick, like as if somebody punched me in the gut. It was that awfully familiar feeling I felt not so very long ago, when I moved to Santa Laurensia Junior High. How I hated that feeling. Of being alone, unfamiliar. I felt as if I was the wrong puzzle piece in the picture. That feeling of missing what I left. In these times I wished that I can go back to the past and undo everything, just to prevent that horrible feeling. But what I realized was that everything don't always turn out how we wanted it to be, yet it turned out just right. If I were to go back to the past and undo moving to Santa Laurensia, would I? Of course, a year ago I would undoubtedly do so if I had the ability to, but now? If I didn't went through what I did, I wouldn't have met my friends in grade 7. I wouldn't have been in 7B. I wouldn't have invented Ranjit, and I wouldn't have been a member of the BPSer. I wouldn't have gone to Kidzania with my friends and release the burglar from his prison cell(in return, he would give us money). I wouldn't have joined in the wonderfully warm family of the Student Council of 2012. All of that happened because of that one decision I made last year which I thought was a mistake. Now, I won't go back in time, undoing that decision even if they pay me. I have no regrets whatsoever moving to Laurensia. And I know that I won't regret graduating from grade 7 and moving to grade 8 later on.

Here is a poem from Apple's ad, Think Different. I post this for the people out there who felt discriminated, unaccepted. People who are called "freaks" and "weirdos", people who eat their lunch alone, people who are different from others.

"Here's To The Crazy Ones. 

The misfits.

 The rebels.

 The trouble-makers.

 The round pegs in the square holes.

 The ones who see things differently. 

They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. 

You can quote them, 

disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. 

Because they change things. 

They push the human race forward. 

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world - are the ones who DO !"

I know many people who are often teased because they are different. I want them to know that being different is not a flaw, and that they should never regret being different. Being different is a gift. People who have the imagination to think of ideas that goes against what we were taught, going against the status quo, is pure brilliance. Because people who change our world break the rules. And I want "the crazy ones" to know that they are able to change the world. "Because people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world-are the ones who do." 

WORST FAMILY IMAGINABLE

If I were to imagine the worst family I could have, my dad would be Sherlock Holmes, my brother Sheldon Cooper, and my mother would be Robin Scherbatsky.
 Every morning I'd wake up to the sound of nails scratching a chalkboard (the sound I despise most) from an alarm clock my dad made. As I wake up I'd find some electrodes glued to my head by my brother to measure my brain waves while I was sleeping. "Sheldooon!!!!!" I'd shriek as I remove those electrodes from my head. I'll find him sitting on "his spot" of the couch while eating his cereal. He'll look at me with disappointment. "Why did you remove my electrodes?" he ask calmly. "It's my head, and STAY AWAY FROM IT," I reply.
"Well, It's my electrodes, and it is worth more than your head," Sheldon said. I groaned, and before I leave to take a shower, I looked at him with mischievous eyes.
"You know, Sheldon? If I were you, I wouldn't be eating that cereal. I dropped my earring inside the box and had no choice but to search inside the box, touching the cereal, and when I couldn't find it, I dumped the cereal on the table and when I found my earring,I put the cereal back in its box," I said. Sheldon gaped at me. "You..you.. touched it?" Sheldon asked in disbelief.
"Yep, every one of'em," I said.
Sheldon started to rinse his mouth with orange juice. "Sheldon, I wouldn't drink from that glass if I were you," I'd say. Sheldon stopped drinking.
"Why?" he asked demandingly.
"I was on kitchen duty yesterday and I can't find the clean rag so I used dad's old shirt," I replied.
I watched with glee as Sheldon's eyes lit up with fury. "Oh, and Sheldon? Don't tell mom or dad or I'll be touching more of your food," I'd say with a wink.
Sheldon just sat there, looking at his contaminated breakfast.
I went up the stairs and found my dad in his study, fixing his watch. "What did you do this time, child?" he asked, his eyes still fixed on the watch.
"Nothing, dad," I'd reply.
"Oh, my dear, from 13 years of experience I believe that you have found it useless to keep things from me," he said. "Do tell me why you touched your brother's food and use my shirt as a rag?" Even though I've been living with him my whole life, I still find it unsettling when he assumed stuff.    My dad's study was made so that no sound can enter the room, yet he knew about my conversation with Sheldon.
"He glued electrodes to my head, dad," I'd say.
"Well, that is awful, but you do realize if you do this to Sheldon he'd become worse? He will try to order food as much as possible and will try to get you back," he said, finally looking up from his watch.
" I know, but-"
"There will be no buts. Doing this to your brother can only make matters worse. I do applaud you for having that brilliant idea to annoy Sheldon, but if things do get out of hand, I might need to.." he smiled mischevously, "do something about it."
I shuddered. Sherlock Holmes must have millions of punishments up his sleeve. The last time I did something like this he had pasted 251 Internet Explorers on the desktop of my laptop.
"Understand?" he asked.
"Yep. I understand," I'd reply as I leave his study.
Holmes also had lots of juicy punishments for Sheldon, like one time, he invited lots of guests to our house to celebrate Sheldon's birthday and Sheldon was forced to socialize. Holmes did outrageous things to annoy his children, like how he pretended to die so that Sheldon and I would pay him more attention.
Well Sherlock Holmes was a curious man, and a more curious father.
I walked down the hallway and found my mother, crouching next to Broady, our labrador. Broady appeared to be unconscious, and I knew the reason why. "Dad?" I asked her, and she nodded.
"He had tried to kill Broady 3 times today,"she said, scratching Broady's ear. My mother was probably the most normal family member, unlike my psychotic father and my abnormal brother. The thing was she hated children that isn't hers. When Sheldon and I were younger, our mom usually refused to pick us up from school, and preferred to wait for us in the car. My earliest memory was that of my mom cowering in a corner when a three year old tried to approach her.
"Dad!" I called. He rushed out from his study and brought some sort of vaccine and he inject our dog. Broady sprang back to life and ran away from Sherlock Holmes as fast as possible. My dad took a sip of embalming fluid. He had this method of sipping bits of poison so that he can become immune to it. "You have to stop doing that," Robin said.
He only chuckled as he walked back to his study.

I like these characters personally, but as family members? Not so much. I really do prefer my own family.

C.L.O.W.N.

CRACKERS AND INTERRUPTED NOTIONS

  3 years had passed, and things have changed in the village called Thornton, although the townspeople can't decide whether it was for the better or the worse. Most citizens didn't even notice it. In a modest cottage in the suburbs of Thornton, Quinton Kingsleigh and Ivy Azure were discussing that very issue while they were eating their afternoon snack, blue cheese and saltwater crackers. The two had just met at the beginning of the school year, yet they have treated each other as close friends and had enjoyed each other's company very much.

    The two had discussed that very issue at a great length before, and now had found it boring. Ivy was watching Quinton eating blue cheese with disgust and amusement. Ivy had always thought blue cheese inedible, and Quinton (who quite liked the taste) tried to convince Ivy to at least take a bite. "Oh, come on Ivy," Quin had said. "How can you know you don't like it if you don't even want to try it?" he asked, flashing his signature lop-sided smile at Ivy as he tried to make the blue cheese look as appetizing as he could. Ivy raised her eyebrow and giggled. "Quin, I really can't digest that," Ivy said. Quin finally gave up and he ran his hand through his rumpled flaxen-blond hair. Quin was 13 (14 by the end of the week), and was quite popular in his school. Quin had an athletic body, and he was the star-player in his school's wedgehog team (wedgehog was similar to basketball but more ancient). Many girls in his school adored him(he was thought to be good looking), many boys wanted to be him, but he was often found alone contemplating things that others had missed. Quin had a rare gift of figuring things out by himself. In other words, he's clever. In fact, Quin was the smartest in his school and undoubtedly smarter than most adults. Many thought that Quin liked being alone, but the truth was no one would join him.
  That was until Ivy Azure came.She was 13 years old, with copper red hair (which she often tied back into a ponytail), a tan complexion, and (her most recognizable feature) sparkling emerald green eyes. Ivy used to be home schooled and taught by Yuri Gotchski ( a famous tutor), until a couple of months ago when she was transferred to Quin's school, The Berkenz Academy. Quin found Ivy interesting, for Ivy was not the lovely, fragile, pixie-like girl she appeared to be. Ivy mastered many art  of self defense known to man at that time, and had unbelievable physical strength and abilities. This Ivy had never told Quin before, but Quin had figured that out. Ivy preferred to keep things to herself, but with Quin, it's impossible. Quin found out that Ivy was taught self defense by her father, Desmond Azure, who was a former conman. Quin had figured Ivy's dad was a conman right when he met him.
   Desmond had just went home from his new job as a lawyer, and Ivy had asked how it had went. Desmond had grunted and said that he liked his old job better, when the adrenaline had caused him to use his brain better. Desmond's cautiousness (he had a habit of locking things securely and leaving no trace of himself wherever he went) and Ivy's confession that her dad's old job worried her had supported Quin's inference. Desmond was about 35 years old and had been living with his daughter and wife. For his family's sake he had quit his "job" and found a decent one.Quin had asked Ivy about her dad's "occupation", and she had sighed and said "That's why I don't bother telling you stuff Quin, you'd figure it out in split seconds."
  Desmond had taught Ivy the art of self defense, despite her mother's disapproval.  Ivy's physical strength and abilities were pure talent, though. Quin had assumed that Ivy was trained in 125 ways to hurt people (in spite of protecting herself, that is), and Quin was rarely wrong. Despite her abilities, Ivy was proven to be a friendly, good natured girl and won't cause unrepairable harm to anybody. Ivy was quite logical and curious about many things, and she couldn't ask for a better company than Quin. They can always find interesting things to talk about, and that day, after the two had discussed the changes in Thornton, Quin had thought of something that had been on the back of his mind for quite sometime.
  "Speaking of changes, I heard that the downtown theater is closing down," Quin said, locking his sky blue eyes with Ivy's.
"Yeah, I heard about that too from Gertrude, that woman who sells milk," Ivy replied, munching her share of saltwater crackers.
"It's a shame, I had a friend there once. He was an entertainer, performing magic tricks every weekends. He goes by the name Zappidy Doodle on stage," Quin watched Ivy's amused expression at the mention of the silly name. "Off stage he was better known as Charlie Browning."
" I've never heard of him. What happened then?" Ivy asked, genuinely curious.
So Quin eagerly told her about Charlie's sudden disappearance. Charlie and Lucy have disappeared six months after Lucy's pregnancy.
Ivy thought to herself for a moment. "Dead relatives can cause people to go and visit the family, which will look as if they disappeared suddenly," Ivy said then she shrugged.
"Very unlikely. I doubt that Charlie and Lucy have any relatives. Even during the celebration of Lucy's pregnancy, only the townspeople came. No trace of relatives," Quin said, rubbing his chin (an old habit of his). Quin began thinking to himself, muttering things.
"Um, Quin? Not to interrupt you, but we need to get going," Ivy said, pointing to the orange-colored sky outside the window.
"Hm? Oh, okay then," Quin replied as he stood up and brushed the cracker crumbs off his shirt. The cottage was neither Quin or Ivy's home. The cottage was a gift from Jacques Pepperfield, Quin's old friend. Jacques and his family had moved to the mainland and can't seem to sell the cottage at a good price. So, as a farewell gift to the Kingsleigh family,the Pepperfields had given the cottage to the Kingsleigh. Mr and Mrs Kingsleigh didn't know what to do with the cottage, and they had given Quin the right to do anything with it. Quin had never set foot on the cottage until Ivy came, though. They had found it as a suitable place to gather, with a fireplace, nice oak furniture, and cabinets which the two had used to store food incase they got hungry. The two had promised their parents that they will be back before nightfall, and Ivy and Quin knew that it won't be good to disobey their parents (although they both could easily outsmart them).
 Quin, rubbing his eyes out of fatigue had risen from his seat and put the chairs back to its place. Quin was extremely tired (last night he could barely sleep because of the street cats "singing", and this morning he needed to run lots of errands).
Ivy cheerily skipped to the front yard where her white horse, Artemis, had been tied to the fence. She was about to climb up the saddle when Quin looked at her disappointedly. Ivy, who had already climbed up the saddle nudged Quin with her knee. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I thought I'm supposed to ride Artemis. You rode him the way here and I had to sit on the back, and trust me, that was quite embarassing. People were staring at me, wondering why the girl had to ride," Quin said.
"Oh, so now you're saying that men are far more superior than women?" Ivy asked pointedly.
Quin only shrugged, and they both laughed. Ivy did let Quin ride this time, and Ivy wrapped her arms tightly around Quin's stomach as she muttered, "Quin, please don't kill us both."

C.L.O.W.N.

EPILOGUE

   Once, a long time ago in a town called Thornton, lived a young man named Charlie Browning. Charlie was a marvelous magician, entertaining people in an average theater downtown. Every weekends he would entertain people (mostly kids) in the theater, pulling rabbits out of hats and whatnot. He loved to watch the glee in people he entertained, especially children. The smiles upon the children's faces were one of the many things that Charlie loved. The one Charlie loved most was none other than his wife, Lucy Browning (whom he loved more than life itself). 

  Charlie lived a life that knew no sorrow. His salary enabled him to afford a nice home and live comfortably with the person he loved most, but he always felt like something was missing. Charlie soon found out what was missing, and the answer was children. He had always been fond of children, that one day he and Lucy decided that they should have a baby. Lucy did eventually. Charlie and Lucy were thrilled, and they have prepared a nursery for their child to be. 6 months had passed, and one day Lucy felt an excruciating pain in her stomach. Charlie took her to a witch doctor . The witch doctor told them that Lucy can't bear a child in her womb, and made them choose which one do they want to keep alive, Lucy or the baby. Charlie insisted that Lucy should live, but Lucy couldn't bear the thought of losing her own child. The couple argued for a very long time, until eventually Charlie won the argument. The witch doctor gave Lucy an elixir that will make the heart of the baby consume it's body until it ceased to exist (the witch doctor didn't tell the newly-wedded couple that, for it will most likely horrify them). With her eyes brimming with tears, Lucy reluctantly drank the elixir. Lucy swallowed the liquid, and suddenly Lucy felt a searing pain inside her stomach. 

    Then, a flash of events happened all at once. Lucy screamed at the top of her lungs. The witch doctor drew back in surprise and knocked down a shelf full of bottles. Charlie leaped to his wife, desperately trying to help her. 

   Ever so suddenly the room fell silent, and Lucy fell into Charlie's ready arms, unconscious. Charlie realized the horrifying truth . Not only did the screaming stopped, but  Lucy's heartbeat had stopped as well. Charlie cradled his dead wife, unsure what had gone wrong. He cradled his dead wife, desperately trying to avoid the truth; that she was gone. "Lucy," Charlie called softly. "Lucy please don't go.." he cried. Still cradling Lucy in his arms, Charlie looked up to the witch doctor pleadingly, hoping that he might know how to bring Lucy back to life, or at least tell him what had gone wrong. The witch doctor just shook his head with sympathy . He knew what Charlie didn't. The elixir didn't only made the heart of the baby consume its flesh; it consumed Lucy's heart as well. 

Two Truths and One Lie

Dear readers, I have 3 stories about myself, two of them are the truth, while one of them is a lie. Identify the story that is a lie!

First story
When I was a third grader, I joined an english class every Thursday afternoon in my old school (SDH). My mom encouraged me to join the class because my school was a bilangual school, and she thought it would be best for me to join the class so I can learn in my school better. So, every Thursday after school, I would go to the classroom where the English class was held, and I would meet some of my friends from school. During the class, we were forbidden to speak in Bahasa in any circumstances, so we commuicate in english everytime. The teachers (some I recognize from school although they never taught me before) would teach us new vocabularies,grammar, writing strategy, reading strategy, and sometimes, we would watch movies in English.We would be assigned to read, write and speak in English. I had a lot of fun there, and the classes had improved my english skills. I stopped taking the classes until I was a fifth grader, and I have no regrets whatsoever joining the english class.

Second Story
When I was six years old, I would play every afternoon in my neighbour's front yard. One warm afternoon, my friends and I were playing tag in the front yard. I was not so sure how it happened, but when I was running around  one of the pointy ends of the metal fence that surrounded my friend's house got caught inside my stomach. I was very shocked, and so were my friends. They ran to my parents to get help right away. I pulled my stomach off the fence and bit my bottom lip out of pain (and also to hold myself from screaming). The pain was excruciating, my shirt was covered in my blood, and I felt my knees weakening. The wound was deep, but not too deep that it could damage my internal organs. My friends brought me to my house. My mom quickly washed the wound with soap and water (the pain was unbearable that I had to bite my dry lips until they were bleeding), and she gave me some medicine and wrap the wound with a bandage. She told me to lie down, so I did and watched a Spongebob Squarepants marathon for the rest of the afternoon. I was absent from school the next two days, which was the best part about my accident.

Third Story
My older sister used to play the violin. But since she graduated to SMA 3, she can no longer manage her time to practice the violin. The violin was abandoned for months, until my parents thought that it would be nice for me to learn the violin. I was not very thrilled about the idea of learning the violin, but my parents insisted, and that was the end of the discussion. I joined a violin class in Willy Soemantri every Friday evening. On my first class, I dragged my feet on the floor and dreaded the very idea of entering the classroom. But of course, after waiting a few minutes on the couch, I was called by the teacher to enter the classroom. We introduced ourselves, and she told me her name was Mega. She seemed nice, and that carried a bit of weight off my shoulders. She taught me basic things about the violin, and when the class ended I became interested in violin. Until now, I still take violin classes and I enjoy it even though it made my bones ache.

Different Ways to Learn

 Education is a very important factor in our lives. Since we were young, education has been a part of our lives. Learning is important, and everyone has their own way of learning. Some teaching methods may work on one student, but that does not guarantee the other students to learn well with that method. Environment and people also effect the learning process. To know more about people's opinion on how a learning process should be, I interviewed Lina (student), Joan (student), and Tricia (student).

What do you think about the way teachers teach you in class so far?

"Most teachers and their teaching method are boring," Joan said.

"I think it's okay," Tricia commented.

How does he environment of the class effect the learning process?

"The classroom's very hot, and it made me lost my concentration,"Joan complained.

"The class is messy and it's very disturbing," Tricia said.

How does the people in the class effect the learning process?

"I can't concentrate in class because the other students are noisy," Tricia said.

"The people in class don't really effect the learning process," Lina stated.

In your opinion, how should the people and environment be to make you comfortable learning in class?

"The students should listen to the teachers and be quiet, and the class should also be neat and tidy," Tricia said.

"The students should be active and calm, and the class should not be hot and stuffy," Joan said.

In your opinion, how should the teachers teach you in class?

"The teachers should teach us using Power Point presentations and also tell jokes in the class, like Pak Eko," Tricia said.

"The teacher should not preach to much and find creative ways to teach us," Joan said.

  In general, some teachers still teach in a not interesting way, although some teach us in a fun and effective way. The hot and messy class also made the students lost their focus. The noisy students also disturb the learning process, although some people aren't effected by the other students in class. To make a learning process more comfortable, the students should be active and quiet, and the class should be tidy and not hot and stuffy. The teachers should teach using Power Point slides, tell jokes, don't preach too much, and find creative ways to teach the students.