The Game

Arjun Rao

Rader

1/5/16

The Game

I looked over at the scoreboard. 14-14 showed brightly in pixelated red. Six minutes left in the season closer, and… 3rd and goal. As we gathered in the huddle, we could see the sweltering heat had gotten to everyone. From crossing, to diverging, to deflecting, our hard-earned 14 points had been a team effort.

Wiping the sweat off my brow, I looked over to Coach Tracy to call the play. As she looked down at us to make the call, we could all see the mischievous glint in her eyes that told us she was cooking something special up for the Packers’ defense.

She began to whisper the complex play to us. “ Hudson, Sutton, Arjun, trips to the right. Stowe, slot left. Sam, QB, and Kennedy, center. Stowe come around on the front of Sam for the reverse. Arjun, go 3 yards behind Sam to take the pitch from Stowe. Sutton, Hudson, run nines. Kennedy, run a 5 to the right.”

I felt like butterflies on a sugar rush were zipping around in my stomach. Could I really pull off the play, I thought to myself. Coach saw the look on my face and pulled me over. She told me encouragingly, “ You can do this. You’ve already pulled off the play once this game, you can do it again.”

I thought about this, and thought about the tying touchdown I had scored earlier in the game. 1st and goal, from the twenty(flag football plays with the first down at midfield and about 25 yards each side). As I jogged back to the huddle after my 10-yard run, Coach Tracy was looking hyped. She clapped me on the back and yelled, “ Let’s go, that’s how we do it!” I was happy to hear the praise from Coach but I had a nervous feeling in my gut as one of my teammates trash talked the Packers corner. As I had feared, the whistle blew, and a flag was thrown. The referee gave us a 10 yard penalty, and we were in a hole now. I was mad. Mad at Parker, mad at the ref, mad at Coach Tracy. As I caught the screen that the play had called for me, I used that frustration in my game, making a precise spin move and then outrunning everybody down the sideline. As I ran past the pylon my anger evaporated, and I gave the ball to the ref and then let out a yell of my own, overjoyed to get the touchdown.

My mind came back into focus, and I yelled, “READY, BREAK!”

When I jogged out to my position for the third and goal, it felt like a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. “Ready, set, hutt, hutt!”

The ball was snapped, and as I sprinted from the wideout towards Sam, I felt a rush of excitement overtake me. I caught the pitch from Stowe, and spun out the corner, making him go head over heels. It felt like everything was going in slow motion as I raced down the sideline, quickly cutting in to juke out the linebacker. Finally, I was one-on-one with the only person who could stop me, the Safety. I bull-rushed him and then nimbly cut out right before impact, striding into the end zone.

A sea of red 49ers jerseys surrounded me as I received a tsunami of backslaps and high-fives. I handed the ball to the ref, and as I jogged back to the huddle for the conversion, I promised myself that this touchdown would end the hard fought game of flag football, which it eventually did. “READY, BREAK!”, I yelled and then jogged to the slot.

Advice from a Tennis Player

Ace your dreams

Defend your court

Set your sights on high goals

Spin life in your favor

Don’t pressure yourself too much

Make sure you always have an advantage

Be a winner

Smash your goals

Every fault means you’re learning

Be outside and on the grass

Always run to the ball

Break records and be happy

Challenge calls you’re not happy about

Always have a partner you can trust

Rally back from defeats

Enjoy the fans!

Ben's Dream Middle

                 Foreword: This is the middle of the story Ben's Dream , by Chris Van Allsburg. The middle of the story just had pictures, and our assignment was to write the middle based on the pictures. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, but if you want to, buy Ben's Dream on Amazon!

                  Ben hears a rumble, and is knocked off his feet. He looks up and says," Where am I?" As he looks out the window, he realizes that he's not in the middle of the storm anymore. The door suddenly creaks open, and Ben sees...water. Water, far as the eye can see. But there's something else, way in the distance. Ben puts on his glasses and strains his eyes, and saw a giant statue, holding a torch! He faintly remembers something about it, but he just can't place it. But, there's a rumble, and Ben finds himself next to a giant clock tower.
                 Ben asks to nobody in particular," What am I doing in the ocean, next to a giant clock tower." He had no answers though, so he tried to remember something about it. " Hmm..., it's probably from a big city because it's so big, other than that, I've got nothing." Just then, there's a rumble, and Ben finds himself under a giant bridge.
                 The bridge is sinking but cars are still going through it."Is this London Bridge?" Ben asks himself. No, but Ben faintly remembers something about this bridge, but he just can't put his finger around it.Then, a car falls off the bridge and makes a beeline for Ben's house. Ben screams and braces for impact, but there's a rumble and Ben finds himself floating next to a giant leaning tower.
                 The tower looked like a giant, multi-level cake, and Ben felt his mouth water. He remembered that this was some sort of monument from Europe, but after that useless fact his mind was a blank.But, Ben sees people in it and is about to shout for help when there's a rumble and Ben sees crumbling, ancient pillars a hundred yards away from him.
                 The pillars he sees look old, old enough to be from Grecian or Roman times. They look to have some sculpted statues on top of them, but there so crumbly Ben can't make head or tail of them. Ben reaches into his mind for a glimpse of a memory, but there's a rumble and Ben sees a giant yellow head.
                 Ben says to himself " It looks light yellow and grainy, and has triangular ears, and has no nose( What was that about?), but other than that, this head has no identifying features. It looks like ancient architecture, but I've got nothing else in my mind about it" To Ben, it looked like nothing more than a tourism magnet. But, just then there's a rumble and Ben finds himself near a castle.
                 It had a bell tower like a cathedral, but the massive size of it made it look like a castle for royalty. It's architecture was rounded, and it had many buildings. Seeing it bobbing around was a funny sight, and Ben thought so too. He silently giggled to himself. Ben reached out from his balcony to touch it, but there's a rumble, and Ben sees a giant marble building.
            Ben quickly saw how big this building was. With three rounded main buildings, it looked like a guaranteed bucket list trip, like lots of the other monuments. Ben told himself," Wow! This thing is massive. Ben found himself taking out his camera to take a photo, but there's a rumble and Ben finds in front of him... a giant wall?!
            Ben had seen many strange things floating in the ocean today, but he was still taken by surprise at this titanic wall. Ben quietly asked himself, " What in the world is a giant wall doing bobbing up and down in the middle of the ocean?" Ben remembered something about this, but before a memory could be triggered, there was a rumble and Ben found himself next to 4 giant faces!
            Ben was astonished to see 4 giant faces floating in the ocean and rubbed his eyes to see if he was hallucinating. He looked at them again and there they were still floating around plain and tall. Ben was about to scream or pinch himself when a voice said," Ben, wake up."

The Sword of Summer

By Rick Riordan

Main Characters:

The main characters in “The Sword of Summer are Magnus Chase, a sarcastic, witty, and quick thinking son of Frey that saves the world using the rope Andskoti and his sword, called Sumarbrander or, as the sword likes to call itself, Jack. There is also Samirah-Al-Abbas, a daughter of Loki and a personal Valkyrie(handmaiden of Odin) for Magnus. She is the one who brought Magnus to Valhalla( Norse heaven for fighters who died an honorable death), and she is a fearful fighter. There is also Blitzen, a dwarf in service of Mimir and a fashion designer. He is a daughter of Freya, which makes him a cousin of Magnus. There is Hearthstone, who is an elf in the service of Mimir. He is dumb(in the no talking way), and is very good at casting runes. He had a very harsh childhood, because his brother died and his brother was perfect to his parents, but since Hearthstone was dumb, they treated him like something they couldn’t wait to get rid of.

Setting:

The setting in the sword of Summer is in the nine worlds of the universe. Magnus and his crew traveled through MIdgard(where humans live), Jotunheim(the world of giants), Valhalla(the world of slain heroes that died bravely in combat), Vanaheim(where the Vanir gods live and where slain heroes that were sons or daughters of the Vanir usually go[Magnus was a special case]), and Nidavellir(dwarf land)

Details:

At the beginning, Magnus was just a homeless teenage guy with no idea about this Norse mythology, and hung out with his homeless buddies, Hearth and Blitz(Hearthstone and Blitzen in disguise sent to protect him by Mimir). Then he dies in combat with the king of fire giants, Surt, and gets taken to Valhalla by Samirah. While in Valhalla, the norns recite a prophecy that completely does not make Magnus’ day. Then, Blitzen and Hearthstone come and take him away from Valhalla. They then meet Samirah, who has been kicked out of the Valkyries.They then start looking for The Sword of Summer(Jack) and eventually find it. They have to save the world from Fenris Wolf( the most powerful being in the nine worlds) so they go to Nidavellir to retrieve the rope Andskoti from the elf Junior. Junior challenges Blitz to a competition of elf blacksmithing, and the loser has to pay for it with its head. Blitz wins, and he makes Junior give him Andskoti. They retrieve Thor’s replacement weapon for him and go to the Isle of Heather where they plan to rebound Fenris and they……………..do something, but I can’t tell you what happens

Theme:

I think the author’s message is to accomplish big things, many challenges will have to be overcome

Connections:

Text To Self:

My connection with Magnus is once my friend told me to say “My corpulence is downright brobdingnagian” and then he laughed and laughed and laughed. I don’t know what those words mean, but I think the general idea of it is I am stupid. This relates to Magnus because he was tricked into saying to an eagle(really a giant in disguise) by my troth I swear to bring you an apple of immortality. That means I will bring you an apple of immortality or I will die and go to Helheim(hell).

Opinion of Plot and Theme:

Overall, I really liked the plot of The Sword of Summer. It was very interesting, and you never knew what was going to happen next. Also, the book was very funny, with the sarcasm of Magnus and the other characters. The Sword of Summer is a book I would recommend to anyone with a reading level appropriate for it. I can't wait for the second book to come out, The Hammer of Thor.

Chris Van Allsburg Essay

The author Chris Van Allsburg is a writer of fantasy and mystery. From Zathura to Bad Day at Riverbend  most of his stories are fantasy, and they sometimes have a mysterious twist.  His stories usually have a hidden message in them, like in Probuditi, a book where a boy plays a trick on his sister, only to find his sister played a trick on him, the message is “if you play tricks on people, prepare to have tricks played on you”.  Chris Van Allsburg is an author that uses his author’s craft to always make his stories great.

The story Two Bad Ants is my favorite story by Mr. Van Allsburg. It tells a tale written from a narrator’s perspective in the world of ants.  In the beginning the queen ant tastes sugar crystals and decides they are delectable.  She orders a scouting party that goes on a journey to a human’s house and brings back one sugar crystal each for the queen.  But, two ants decide to stay behind in a  paradise of crystals. When they wake up, they have wacky misadventures.  Two Bad Ants is a story of teamwork and how not working as a team can get you in trouble.

Chris Van Allsburg’s Bad Day at Riverbend tells a story written in the world of a coloring book.  The page where Riverbend (the pages where the story is set ) is has not been colored yet, so when a horse comes in with greasy slime(crayon) on it everybody is frightened.  Sheriff Ned Hardy goes looking for the rider and finds that he is also covered in greasy slime and in a bad state.  Both these are products of a four year old’s imagination and artistic mind.  This book gives the reader a glimmer of what their crayon drawings would feel like if they were alive.

The books Two Bad Ants and Bad Day at Riverbend are two similar but very different books.  They are both written from a narrator’s perspective in worlds that the human cannot manage to see with the naked eye.  Two Bad Ants could have very well happened in real life (if you don’t keep your sugar covered you could get ants) but Bad Day at Riverbend is purely fictional (coloring book drawings aren’t alive!).  These books are very good, Mr. Van Allsburg didn’t disappoint.  

I think Chris Van Allsburg was an interesting author to study because his author’s craft and extraordinary illustrations make him an author hard not to like. The plot of his books, like Jumanji and Zathura,  have twists and turns around every corner and are fun to read.  For picture books, his stories  have lots of depth and meaning to them.  Overall, I’d rate Chris Van Allsburg an 8 out of 10 author.

The Birthday Party

   I'm in my house. Playing outside. Nothing seems out of the ordinary except...except...today's my eighth birthday party! Six of my friends were invited, five came. When my friends started filing in, I took them upstairs to play Madden 10 on my Wii. Unfortunately, there were only two controllers but the guests were good sports. While two of us were playing, the others took turns making their own unlimited topping, 11 inch pizzas from Pizza Studio.
  After we had fun with the Wii, we went to my backyard and played outside.We played the classic game Monkey in the Middle, but with our own twist. The two people who aren't monkeys have two decide who plays wide receiver and who plays quarterback. There are two monkeys chasing the quarterback, trying to strip the ball from him, and there is one monkey covering the wide receiver. The receiver ran routes like X-Clown, Double Seams, and Drag Outs.
  Then, the pizza came! Its heavenly scent wafted in the air. Everybody quickly came inside and devoured their delicious masterpieces. After that, we had cake. But it wasn't a regular cake, it was an ICE CREAM CAKE! We ravenously gobbled up that football cake(it was shaped and looked like a football) until not a single crumb remained. All the ants must have felt disappointed.
  I then opened presents. I got a Pokemon card set, Jenga Tetris, a $20 Barnes and Noble Gift Card, a $20 Amazon Gift Card, and a $20 Target Gift Card. Later, what better too happen than than my mom checked the mail and found a $50 Barnes and Noble Gift Card. To wrap up my birthday party, we played Mario Kart Wii until everybody left. That was the best birthday party ever!

The Nerve-Wracking Auditions

  The room was about 30 square feet. There were a lot of plaques on the walls. It was just me and a lady. I should have felt comfortable but I couldn't because she was watching me like a hawk. The "Welcome" mat at the front of the room didn't feel welcoming at all under the circumstances.
   I had worked seven whole months. Those seven months were brutal, and I was lectured tons of times on the values of "practicing" and "memorizing" and whatever by my very strict piano teacher, Mrs. Deering. I did practice half an hour a day! Usually an hour! But, all that lecturing and practicing was going to come down to this final span of 12 minutes.
  Let me just say that every minute of those auditions felt like an eternity. Playing " The Pink Panther" was the easiest because the tune of the tune of the song was easy to memorize. The first song I played was "United We Stand" and every time she looked down on that report card and made note of something I thought I was going to be sick. The passing grade was easy, even if you got 16 more Cs(negatives) than As(positives) you would still pass but I still felt like I was going to be sick to my stomach. While I was playing "Hogwarts Hymn" I could barely remember the notes of the song. On the last part, I thought I played a note wrong and I thought that mistake would cost me a good grade. After "Hogwarts Hymn" I played "Snake Charmer" in which I thought I had the tempo all wrong. After that eighth song, those twelve minutes were over. I felt like doing a hop-skip-jump dance. I braced myself for a bad grade but I got 11 As and 5 Cs. I had passed! My nerves relaxed. A ton of weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I got into the car and happily relaxed. Finally, those piano auditions were over.