#30 The Deadliest Catch

The Deadliest Catch

It was a brisk, cold morning in the small lakes of Minnesota. Only the creatures in the water would make a stir of noise as early as it was, except me, Scrappy Coco in my Alumacraft fishing boat. I’ve been a fisherman all my life and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. I’m 6’2, 220 pounds with a trimmed beard. My whole life I have been looking to catch my arch nemesis and dream fish. The one they call Franky the Fish. He is the biggest fish in North America and they say he is roaming these frigid waters. No one really knows if he is out there or not, but there have been numerous sightings around this area. I’m looking to be the one that can catch this monster fish, but I would not know what I had coming to me that day.

It started at six in the morning when I woke up. I thought to myself this is it, this is the day I catch the monster. I had some egg whites and sausages for a good morning’s breakfast and I sat down and read the paper. As the newspaper’s headline read, “Franky Strikes Again.” Stating that yet another person has been killed by this dreaded monster. I knew I had a long day ahead of me.

“That no good flea bitten goose has done it again,” I said to myself.

I got the boat ready for another long haul set out to find and catch Franky once and for all. Every single time I come close to reeling in this monstrosity, he always gets off my line. This time is different though, I have equipped myself with fishing line that has a 50 pound breaking point and a rod that has been proven to not be able to break under numerous amounts of pressure. As I arrived to Farm Lake, I noticed that there was a dense fog on the water. Every ripple that I make with my Alumacraft fishing boat could possibly stir the water up for Franky to surface himself. I casted out my heavy duty line into the water where Franky has been spotted numerous times. Reel in, cast out. Reel in, cast out. Reel in, cast out. Hours have passed but nothing seems to be working for me as I tried one last time. I threw out that line one more time in hope of something when suddenly, BAM! I get the biggest bite of my entire life and the biggest fish in my entire life right on my line. It’s Franky.

I said to Franky frantically, “I have a very particular set of skills. Skills that allow me to do things most other people can’t. I will find you, I will catch you, and I will kill you.”

“I don’t care about you or your stupid skills Mr. Coco,” Franky said. “You will never catch me alive in my swamp! Never!”

He struggles to get off my line, but he is no match for my super duty pole and line. I pull him closer to the boat as he still has some fight left in him, he pulls and pulls, but gets too tired and finally he gives up. I pulled his scaley lookin’ fins in the boat and measured him. 53 inches, 28 pounds.

A world record if I’ve ever seen one, I thought to myself.

Later that night I got him stuffed and mounted on my wall in my cabin. This one went in the record books for sure.

Suddenly, Franky jumped off the mount and told me, “Do you really think you could kill me Mr. Coco? No I kill you.” Franky jumped with his razor-sharp teeth and bit my head off whole. With Franky hiding my body, I was never to be seen again. No Questions asked, no witnesses, no worries. The End.

#29 Rose

Rose

Today was the big day. It was our first basketball game. I didn’t play basketball, but i still went to the spirit games. I usually found some friends to go with, but today all of my friends were busy. I just decided to go anyways because i figured I’d find someone to sit with. As 6:30 rolled around i had gotten dressed and made my way to the high school. It was much more crowded than usual, but i couldn’t find anyone to sit with so i just kind of lingered by the door. After a while i decided to go outside and get some fresh air.

When i went outside i noticed a figure out by the end of the building. I didn’t think much of it at first. I looked closer and saw that the figure was shaking uncontrollably. I was concerned. I slowly made my way down the sidewalk. The closer i got the more clear the figure got. It was a little girl, no coat, and no shoes. I squatted down in front of her. Her skin looked so pale. I reached my hand out to grab hers. She flinched before i even touched her. “It’s okay”, i assured her. “What’s your name”,I asked. Her voice squeaked,”Rose”. I was concerned. “Where are your parents?”, I exclaimed. She just looked away and shrugged her shoulders. I could see the disapointment on her face. As she turned her head, i noticed a yellowish brown mark on her face. I reached out and
 rubbed my thumb on her cheek. “I won’t hurt you i promise” I told her. The look on her face told me she had been told the same line multiple times.

After a few minutes of sitting with her there was a loud noise. A door on the side of the building was slammed shut. A man was walking our way. Rose stood up and started slowly backing up. Immediately i knew what had happened. The man began to walk faster. I grabbed Rose and ran as fast as i could. “ROSE!!... YOU GET BACK HERE!”, The man exclaimed. I held the back of Rose’s head as she clung to my button up. “ I promise, everything will be okay.”, i whispered to her. I felt her brittle hands grip harder. I knew then that she trusted me.

As soon as i lost the man we continued to walk back to my house. My mom was confused when i walked in and set her down at the kitchen table. I handed Rose some juice, and walked to the phone. I walked around the corner and waited for the call to go through. “Hello this is the police department”, the operator said. “Uh... I.. uh...” “yes sir?” the operator said again. “ I have a girl... I... I.. mean I saved a girl.. Well i think.”i stuttered. The conversation continued and the operator explained to me that they could not take her into the police department tonight. I agreed to take care of Rose for the night. When i walked back into the kitchen my mom had already made a little ice pack for her. It’s as if she already knew what happened because she stood back and smiled at me. My mom asked Rose if she was hungry. Rose looked around and she grinned but quickly straightened out her face. My mom knew she wanted something so she made her mac’n’cheese.

 After dinner I went to the attic. I knew somewhere there was a box of my sisters o ld dolls. After searching for a few minutes i found a box marked  “lucy’s toys.” I
picked it up and blew a cloud of dust off of it. After the dust cleared I carefully pulled a little doll off of the top of the box. On the bottom of the doll’s foot was a carefully stitched name “Lucy”. I felt a smile come across my face and went back downstairs. I went into the kitchen where Rose was sitting at the table. Her face was glum. I sat by her and asked “Do you like dolls?” She shrugged her shoulders,”Daddy never let me have one.” I felt my heart sink into my stomach, but I quickly smiled. “I have a gift for you.” I handed Rose the doll and the excitement on her face was the happiness i had always dreamed of. She threw herself across the table and into my arms. I had never seen a child so happy. We played for the rest of the night until she fell asleep. I carefully placed her on the couch and covered her up with a blanket. I looked at her peacefully asleep. I kissed her forehead and turned out the lights.

At 8am the next day there was a knock at the front door. It was a police officer. I woke Rose and told her it was time to go. I rode in the car with her to the police station. When we got there a woman was pacing back and forth. As soon as we walked through the doors Rose let my hand go and ran to the woman. I smiled because i knew that she was in safe hands now. The woman began to cry. She walked my way and threw her arms around me. “Thank you...” she whispered. As Rose and her mother began to walk away i called out, “WAIT!” Rose turned around. I squatted down once more and pulled a doll out of my pocket. Rose gasped and grabbed the doll. She squeased it tightly. I
 reached my arm out and rubbed my thumb on her cheek one last time. That was the last time I saw Rose.

#28 My Experience

My name is Sean I live in city called Bloomington and the population is about 130,000 people.  I live with my mom, brother, and also my sister. We loved it in Bloomington until one day my mom told us we had to move. I didn’t understand why we had to move until my mom exclaimed, “I don’t have the money for this month's rent.”

I looked at her as if I didn’t feel good. I knew that we had to move when she said that, and I knew that we didn’t have any place to go. So I had to go around downtown to go get job applications. I was walking around for hours just trying to get job applications and then I went back home and told my mom that I was going to help us get our own place.

She said, “You don’t have to, honey.”

“I want to, Mom. You did a lot for us kids and took care of us and you deserve all the help you need. And we have to stick together.”

I wanted to help her out. Then her good friend from grade school told my mom that we could stay with her until we get back on our feet. It took a lot of weight off my mom's shoulders. I could tell that she was still stressed, but I could tell that it gave my mom relief. I didn’t like the fact that we were living in the country and I knew I wasn’t going to like it because I’m more of a city person.

When we got to Fenton I looked at my surroundings and things I could do and there was nothing at all fun to do. We were literally in the country. I wish we didn’t have to move, honestly. I kept telling myself that maybe it will get better, so we got settled in and had a good time for our first day being there at the house. A few days go by and my mom asked me if I was going back to school or getting a job. I told her I was going to go back to school. That made my mom proud.

I felt better about enrolling in school because it would get me out of the house and I could meet new people. I don’t like being at school, but it will give me something to do and I wanted to play football again. And seeing my older brother graduate made me wanna graduate, too. My mom called the school and set up a meeting so I could get signed up for classes. I wanted to graduate so I could go far in life and get a good job.

So today is the day of my meeting to get enrolled. The guidance counselor, Mrs. Ramon, offered me to do this one schooling outside of the actual high school where I would go for a few hours and come home. But I wanted to be in an actual school around other people. Plus, I could play football for an actual high school. Mrs. Ramon said, “Great! You will be starting school today and I will get your schedule for your classes!”

I told Mrs. Ramon, “Thank you” as she headed to the printer to get my schedule.  

My mom began to get up from her chair and gave me a hug and told me to have a good first day at school. I told her, “Thank you, and you have a good day, too.”

I sat in the office until first hour was over because one of the teachers I didn’t know asked if I wanted to go to first hour or sit in the office. I said, “I’ll just sit in the office until first hour is over.” I didn't want to walk in right in the middle of class.

As first hour ends, I go to second hour, which is science and we were watching a movie learning about whatever it was I can’t remember. Then after science I went to my third hour class, which is English. I had to introduce myself to the whole class and what I like to do. I said calmly, “My name is Sean, I came from a big city named Bloomington and I like to play sports, hang out with friends, and I like to draw.” Mr. Skrewert introduced me to the class and told them about the stuff I like.

After class I asked Mr. Miles about playing football because he is the coach he told me, “Yah you can go over there today. Meet us over there behind the middle school.”

I ended up going out for football and enjoyed my time meeting new classmates and teammates. We went to state and despite falling short of a championship title, we still ended up second in state.

Even though I was unsure about going back to school, I made a lot of friends, got good grades, did a lot of fun activities and went to homecoming. Overall, it’s been a great year.

#27 Volleyball State

The bus slowed to a stop. I opened my eyes and pulled my ear bud out of my ear. Looking out my window at the school, I grab my bag and headed off the bus. Little did I know today was almost my last day playing volleyball.

I walked into the school and past the gym, which was already filling up with people. The athletic director showed us to our locker room. As our volleyball team piled into our locker room, our coach was already drilling us on getting ready faster. The best day of my life and I’m already annoyed. I get ready with my team and for some reason today my jersey that I have been wearing for four years seemed to fit different today. I head into the gym. I look up at my parents as they point at the scouts across the room, I’m instantly nervous. I take a deep breath, set my water down, and start to stretch.

The music begins to play above me and the other teams comes out. They all look so much bigger than our team and for some reason much older. But I didn't let that affect me. I grab and ball and start to warm up with my best friend dawson, our setter. After warm ups and the national anthem, I sit down on the bench and wait for the starting line up. “A 5’8 libero, senior, Brooke Thompson”. I stand up and my knees feel weak, I know this has to be the best game I have ever played in my entire life. I shake the officials hands and the other coach’s hand and head onto the court.

The whistle blew and the ball came across the net at me. I pass the ball to the setter and then the first kill by Rachael. We are in the lead 17-12 I can feel the floor shake every time we score. We win the first match 25-16. We got to the bench after we switched sides and our coach is happy, but yet she still lectures us to try and improve the game, and of course all pressure is on me. Now that we are on the other side of the court I’m now right next to the scouts. I can feel them staring at me and criticising us. I take a deep breath, and watch as Jenny serves the ball over the net. ACE! Off to a good start. The announcer yells through the microphone “The 12th kill by Rachael” and the scouts are loving her. I can hear my parents voice in my head telling me this is my only chance to win and to get a scholarship. My team is very happy but still so serious. It is game point 24-23. I watch the other team set up the ball, pass from their lebrio, then the set, and I watch the hitter begin her approach. I’m watching her hand as she goes to swing. Boom right to me, cross court, close to out of bounce but I can't be for sure so I dive for the ball, throwing my body out of bounce. I save the ball passing it back onto the court. My body slides hard and fast into the wall and I’m out. Everything is black.

I wake up in a hospital bed, I open my eyes to a bright lights across the ceiling. I hear a voice but it isn't so clear. I look over and see my parents, my coach and my team. They are all there smiling at me. My head starts pounding as they try to all talk to me at once. The doctor comes in and tells them “One at a time please”. He bends down to me and tells me that my head condition isn't bad, but may be serious if I don’t take it easy, so I have to come back next week. My mom comes closer to me and she says, “We won baby, you made the game winning point, and the scouts are very impressed, in fact they are here now in the waiting room”. The best news of my life. I thought I might of been done for ever, lost my chance, or did not impress the scout, my team, or my parents enough. But I did, they are so happy, the happiest I have ever seen with me. After I was released I got a call asking to play for University of Wisconsin. I’m shocked. I never thought I would get to play for anyone, let alone the greatest universities around. I told them yes. I have been playing for Wisconsin for 3 years now, and every day is a great day.

#26 The Day That Changed Beth's Life

The Day That Changed Beth’s Life

Don't take things for granted. The day that changed Beth’s life. Let’s just start from the beginning of Beth’s day. So Beth day was normal basically, so she thought. She had her friends and her boyfriend. She doesn’t really talk to people besides her friends. She went through the whole day just like usual like at lunch she would sit by her boyfriend Drake, Sarah her best friend, and Sarah’s boyfriend Lucas. But as she went through her classes like usual they were still the same.

After school all four of them went to Sarah’s house to hang out before the boys had to leave for there game. They both kissed their boyfriends goodbye and said, “See you at the game." Then Sarah and Beth got ready for the game. They stopped at Casey’s so Beth could get her daily Mountain Dew slushie before they went to the game in Morrison. Then they were on your way to the game jamming to the radio and talking about their boyfriends. They soon got to the Morrison High School. Walked in when the boys were warming up. Soon the game started and Beth and Sarah sat down to watch. Through the whole game Sarah and Beth were cheering and screaming. They looked like they were having a great time. The boys had won that night by only eight points. After the boys were done and got out of the locker room. Sarah drove that night. So Lucas sat in the front seat by her and Beth sat in the back seat with Drake. They went to Mcdonalds to eat they ate there. They enjoyed their meal they all got chicken nuggets and fries. Then they left and were on our way home we were just listening to music and having fun in the car.

They were just going down the same road that they always do and just then Beth’s life changed. A deer came out right in front of Sarah swerved and the car rolled three times. Beth knew that things would change after that. She grabbed on to Drake tightly and wasn’t letting go. The car rolled once twice and the third time it land on the wheels. They were in a corn field and it was dark and foggy. Sarah’s car was damaged badly. Beth woke up in a hospital. She was shocked the doctor said that she just has a broken arm and a concussion. Beth’s mom was in the room and after the doctor left. The first words out of Beth’s mouth were, “Where are they?" Her mom tells her to calm down. Beth breaks down in tears and her mom comes over and sits by her and says, “They are all dead."

#25 Code Blue

Code Blue

It was the morning of January 13, 2016 when Norbit's life turned upside down. Norbit is
the average highschool teenager. He got decent grades in school, loved basketball and was
actually decent at it. Norbit was sitting in the back of the classroom talking to all of his friends
and teammates when the local police showed up and called him to the front of the room. His face
instantly turned white and he was in shock; he calmly walked up to the front of the room and
asked them what he had done. They told him he had done nothing but to not ask any questions
and that they will explain once they are out of the school.

Immediately after he was escorted out of the room, his friends started asking each other if
they knew anything, but each one of them though had no idea what just happened. Next thing you
know, the bell rang and class was dismissed. All of them instantly ran down to the office to
ask their principal, Mr. King, what happened. He said the only thing he could tell them was it
would be best if he told you and not me. All of them couldn't even imagine what could've
happened and started to blow up his phone and his brothers. Eventually he had texted them all to
please stop texting him when he gets a chance that he will explain.

At this point, his brother Mike and him were riding in the cop car heading to the hospital.
The cops had explained to the boys that their mother was involved in a crash heading to work
this morning and she was being airlifted to the hospital. The police had also explained that their
mother had been hit by a drunk driver and that he had passed away at the scene but she was in critical condition. They were about a block away when they saw the helicopter arriving and
about to land on the roof of the hospital. The boys both thought this was one big prank that their
mother was pulling on them because Norbit's brother had been out drinking the weekend before
and that she wanted to teach them a lesson. Now Mike and Norbit were being escorted by the
cops through the doors of the hospital. When they walked through the door both of them saw
their mom being escorted on a gurney to the trauma room. As soon as they saw this it hit both of
them instantly and both of them started to run to her but the cops had stopped them so the
doctors could work and save her life.

They had then been escorted by the nurses to the waiting room and told the boys that
their mom was in very good hands and that they had the best surgeons around working on her
and she had a good chance of survival and that they should not worry and that they will be out
soon to check in with them. Norbit and Mike had been sitting in the waiting room for hours and
hadn't eaten since that morning, so they asked the lady at the front desk who had been watching
them all that day where the cafeteria was so she walked them down there and she decided to get
some food, too. When they went down there they both got the same thing: a bag of chips, sandwich,
and a pop. They both walked up with the lady and scavenged their money but they didn’t have
enough. So the lady kindly paid for them because she felt so bad. The boy thanked her and told
her how they weren't the richest family in town and didn't have much money because it was just
their mom and them but they would sure find a way to pay her back. But the lady said that it
wouldn't be a problem and that they didn’t have to pay her back.

Finally after sitting there all day and night, the doctor came back at around 3 A.M. and
woke up Mike and Norbit said that their mom was in recovery and that if they wanted to go see
her then that would be alright. The boys ran into the room to go see their mother when they
walked in she was laying there all hooked up to machines and banged up. Norbit said to his
brother real quietly this isn’t mom, it can’t be. Mike said yes buddy it is, she just is banged up
and she will be back to normal in no time. Next thing you know she awoke and said Norbit…
Mike… is that you guys? They ran up to her immediately and hugged her and had told her how
she was in a crash yesterday morning and that they have been here ever since. They also told her
about how the nice lady at the desk paid for their lunches and how they got to ride in a cop car.
They also told her how the driver who hit her was drunk and he passed away.

A couple weeks had passed and the mom was able come back home and the boys returned to school. The parents of the other kids at school had set up fundraisers to help pay for the medical bills and brought them food because she wasn’t able to cook. The fundraisers made enough money to pay off all the medical bills and she had enough to go out and buy a new car for them since they didn’t have one. During all this Norbit had to quit basketball even though he didn't want to because he had to come home after school to take care of his mom so she could make a speedy recovery. He knew that it was the right thing to do so she could get back on her feet and he knew he still had two more seasons left of basketball and he was just thankful he didn’t lose his mom.

#24 Homecoming Week

Homecoming Week

Finally, homecoming week is upon us. It’s my junior year and now that last year’s seniors are gone we are set on winning homecoming week. Last year we got second, the seniors winning, like always. I’m tired of the seniors always winning even when we do better than them. Last year they only won because of their float, which I admit, was pretty good. Even though their float was good and they deserved to win even when underclassmen should have won they never do, and I want to change that this year.

“Hey Kate, are you ready for the first game of the week?” Abby asked.

“Of course I am, but the real person you should be asking is Harry. This is the first game of hoco week and we can’t afford to lose it,” I said.

“Oh and guys, by the way, we have last minute morning practices for battle of the bands monday, tuesday, and thursday,” Josy said.

“Good idea, we should let the guys now,” I said.

All the students made their way to their set of bleachers, starting with freshman nearest to the door. As Abby, Josy, and I got to our section we called the Battle of the Bands boys over to tell them about the practices. We all sat down waiting for Mr. Borm to come infront of all the classes to do our class yell. The freshman went first and they completely failed, then the sophomores, and when it came to us we all screamed as loud as we could, so far we were the best. Finally, it came to the seniors and they were close to us but I think we still won.

They called the person who was in the food eating contest from each grade to the middle of the gym. Naturally, we all followed that way we could watch. As we all gathered around to watch them go to town on the lemons they had to eat, we were so excited because we knew we had this first game in the bag. When I was cheering for Harry I looked over at Dan, the seniors contestant,  and I watched him shove one of the lemons off the table and into the garbage. Surprise surprise, seniors are cheating, again.

Finally, the moment of truth. As Mr. Borm counts up how many lemons each class has left, we are all waiting in anticipation. Mr. Borm walks over to the classes.

“Juniors! Juniors are the winners!” Mr. Borm yells.

I look around to see the whole junior class erupt into applause and screams. Then I look over at the seniors and they were so mad. Oh well, they are just mad because they cheated and still lost.

The next few days went by and the seniors and us juniors are pretty close to each other on the scoreboard. Seniors have 68 points, juniors have 66 points, sophomores have 57 points, and freshman have 49 points. All that we have left to gain points is Battle of the Bands and float judging.

“The order of Battle of the Bands will be freshman, then sophomores, then juniors, and lastly seniors,” announces Mr. Borm.

“Alright guys, we have to kill it out there for Battle of the Bands, because if we don’t win this and the seniors win the Float building then there is no way we can win homecoming games,” I say.

“She’s right we really have to push ourselves if we want to win homecoming games, so let’s do this!” Josy yells.

The freshman went and it was terrible. Then the sophomores went and it wasn’t that terrible but it definitely could have been better. It was finally our turn and I couldn’t wait. As we walk out onto the court my stomach begins to have butterflies but I try to ignore them, this was our year and I wasn’t going to let anything stop us.

Our dance had gone really well, and the seniors wasn’t too bad but I think we still beat them. Although I was pretty sure we had beat them, not everyone else was.

What was taking so long? The judges had been deciding for like 10 minutes now. We were all really nervous by now and couldn’t sit still. I look up and I see Mr. Borm walking over in front of all the classes.

“I am pleased to announce that the winners of the 2017 Battle of the Bands is.....the Juniors! Seniors came in second, sophomores in third, and freshman in last,” Mr. Borm announced.

We all stood up screaming and jumping up and down. We could not believe it! Now we just have to get first or second in float building. We started to walk outside to get on our floats. I just wanted to parade to be over so we could find out who won homecoming. When the parade had came to a stop we all jumped off our floats and ran inside to find out the winner of the games. Sophomores had got second. Oh no, seniors were one point ahead of us, if we won Battle of the Bands that makes us three points ahead of them because they got second. If they then got first and we got second they would be two points ahead of us. I ran over to see what place the seniors got and I started yelling so Josy and Abby ran over and they looked at what place the seniors got too.

“They got third! Oh my gosh, we won homecoming games,” screamed Josy.

Then the whole junior class started yelling and screaming because we actually did it! They cheated and we still won! We all hugged and then we knew we had to go because we all had to go get ready for the Homecoming football game! I secretly knew we were gonna win that too.