The Portfolio quilt
By Melanie Stafford
Table of contents
- Summer nights
- Wolbloknash
- Life
- The basement
- The cat
2.Writers observations
3.story slam
- Story slam 2 (Heartbreak)
4.Poetry
- The white lantern
- Disasterology
- Nature
- Music
- Cupcakes
5.Flash fiction
- The killer
- The house
6.Short story
- The lifeless run away
7.Screenplay
- Me and the moon
8.Extra piece
- Silent (Flash fiction)
9.Revision piece
- The missing brick (short story)
10. Course reflection
Due: 6/1/16
Creative writing
Teacher: Katherine Penley
Summer nights
Wolbloknash
Life
The basement
The cat
At first he thought it was the cat, but it was defiantly not the poor homeless kitten he had adopted. It was 50 feet to tall.
Writers Observations
2.4/5/16 My house 6:07 I woke up more tired than when I went to sleep. This concerns me because now I am going to be sleepy all day long.
3.4/7/16 Outside the connector 8:02 I can hear the birds. This interests me because it's almost never quiet at school.
4. 5/4/16 outside the 100 and 200 wings 12:01 It's may 4th! This interests me because I love the newest star wars movie.
5. 5/5/16 Lobby 12:10 Cedelia doesn't have a lunch this concerns me because she has a big meet today and I don't have anything to give her.
Story slam
The white lantern (poem)
Disasterology (poem)
Nature (Poem)
Cupcakes
Up in the cardboard for
Pink frosting to top the
Cupcakes baking in
A oven in the ------------------------------>
Kitchen for
Everyone to smell their
Sweet aroma floating around.
The killer
The house
The Lifeless run away
My house was on fire and I was the only survivor from it. Our happy family was torn apart. The cops said that the fire started in the back yard, which is where I remembered that Dad always smoked out back. He never smoked in the house because Mom never let him in till he was done smoking his cigarette. I never played out there because it smelled horrible. I always played in the front yard which was much bigger. I only played in the backyard when I practiced soccer. I wasn't that good but I tried my best. I used to have the dream of getting accepted into the soccer team in seventh grade. But I never got there. It would have been the same anyway, since I didn't have any friends in sixth grade. My only friends were my dog Penny (who also survived the fire) and and my gold fish Robby (who didn't survive). Yes I know what you're thinking, that he was in his fish bowl which is full of water and couldn’t escape but the table was made of wood. When it burned, his fish bowl smashed on the ground and he was out of the water and and he well... I don't want to say, it brings back too many memories that I don't want to remember. All the good times, like the time I took him home. I should probably stop. So anyways... They took penny away from me when I went to the orphanage. They acted really nice when I first came, even giving me food and comforting me. But every time I said that I wanted to meet the other girls they always changed the subject. That made me wonder about them. It made me more suspicious about the home and the girls that lived there. Ruby, tall and pale with orange hair, and Libby, short and pale with mud brown hair, were the owners of the orphanage. Soon after I got there they sat at a table with me and had, what they called, “quiet tea” for about an hour. "Can I see where i'm going to sleep at?" I asked the them."Maybe later, honey." Ruby promised, a strand of orange hair falling across her forehead."Ruby! I don’t think we should..." Her poofy haired partner scolded."She's been asking all day,” Ruby explained. “We should show her her around."Libby gave me a worried glance. "But sis..." "But nothing." Ruby commanded as she stood up from the table.They did seem a little mad at each other. Like they were kids still in the rivalry stage. The anger in the air lasted for a second until they calmed themselves and smiled at me. "OK Hun, just follow me." The short one said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me from the seat. So I followed Miss Libby up a winding staircase. I gripped my lucky book bag, which was brown with pink butterflies on the front pocket. A patch of light denim from a pair of my grandmas jeans covered a hole on the bottom. "When I was your age I went through a pair a week." My grandma would say. She had patched the hole, that was caused when I put too many books in the bag. I miss Grandma Betty. She left the country and they couldn't find her. On the bottom of my bag there's some dark magenta spots from a marker that had leaked. My thoughts were interrupted by the old creaky stairs, that with each step only seemed to get louder. We finally reached the top, which was a short hallway. I heard faint laughing "What's that?" I asked, afraid."Nothing to worry about..um...er... what is your name again?" "It's Madeline, miss." "Nothing to worry about, young Madeline, it is just the other girls." "What are they doing? Can I play with them? Do they like to play outside? When can I meet them?" I asked as Miss Libby pulled me away from the noise. "Probably playing some weird game again like truth or dare." To me it sounded like she didn't like what they played. Suddenly there was a loud creak behind us."What's that?" I asked as I turned around. There in front of me was a tall guy with short brown hair. He was wearing faded blue overalls. "Hello Luke." Miss Libby said coldly to the boy Good morning, Miss Libby!" he said it with a smile on his face.He looked at me. "Hi kid, what's your name?" "It’s.....it’s ....it’s Madeline." I said, sort of scared because he came up behind me when I least expected him to. "Girls, open the door. There's a new girl here and she wants to meet you." The room became quiet and then the door opened slowly. A girl with brown curly hair poked her head out. “Bonnie, open it all the way.” Miss Libby asked. “Wait.” said Bonnie, closing the door. Bang, crash, bong, came from the room. It sounded like pencils dropping and a peanut jar hitting the floor. “I’m waiting.” Miss Libby called to the room. The door creaked slowly open. There stood six girls. “Madeline, this is Bonnie, Alyssa, Hannah, Emily, Clare, Molly, and Thorn... Wait, where’s thorn?” she asked.“She’s in the bathroom.” Molly said. She was a girl with dark skin, black hair and looked like the youngest. Bonnie was a buff girl with pale white skin and light brown curly hair. Alyssa was a tall girl with light black skin and big puffy dark brown hair. Hannah was a tall skinny girl with dirty blond hair and tan skin. Emily was tall and had light brown hair and was pale. Clare was a girl with blond hair and average colored skin. “Come in” Clare said, smiling at me. The floor was clean but stuff was pushed into the corners and the trash can was over-flowing. “I know it might look messy but it's OK here” said Bonnie. It turned out OK, I loved it there after that I even made friends with Luke. “I thought that I was the only one who liked the book The expeditioners!” I said. “Nope I love that book I’ve read it like 50 times and recommend it to everyone I know.” he sounded so happy. We talked and talked for hours. Finally it was dinner time, after dinner I played some games with the other girls. Then we went to bed and that was the end of my third day at the orphan home. Later that night thorn talked to me, “If I have to share a bed with you one more night I’m going to throw you out the window.” She treated. I couldn’t stand her treats one more night and I felt like I didn’t belong, so I decided to ran away. But first I had to do something before I left the orphan home forever. “Luke I’m going to run away and you can’t stop me.” I said. “I’m not going to try and stop you just want you to know where you can find me.” He said as he handed me a little folded up piece of paper. “This is a picture of my home.” he said as he handed me a picture of an apartment building. I turned it over and it said B 39 on it. “That ‘s my apartment number. If you ever want to come and visit. I’m sure my roommate won’t mind.” he told me. We hugged and I jumped out the window onto the fire escape. For the next two days, I wandered around the city dodging cops and asking random people for food. I was cold and spent the night in a cardboard that was soaking wet. I decided that it was time to visit Luke in his apartment. I waited until night and went to find the building in the picture. After what felt like hours I finally found the building. I went into the lobby and walked up to the lady behind the desk. “Hello can I help you?” She asked me politely. “Ummmmm I’m looking for apartment B 39.” I asked nervously. “Sure it’s just down the hall 8 door on the left.” I walked down the hall and knocked on the door. Luke opened the door and hugged me really hard. “You’re not a lifeless run away to me.” He whispered in my ear.
Me and the moon
Door opens she walks out. Cue door sound effect. She closes it and walks down the steps. Once on the sidewalk she puts headphones on cue music. She starts jogging. Once she rounds corner and cue title screen. Once title screen fades cue music back again. Once girl is in the park move cameras to view the sky. Then cue voice over.
Clara:
“Hi my name is Clara and I now live in Virginia I moved here with my dad it’s just the two of now. My mom died after being crushed by a tree. Even now it’s too painful to even think about. Ever since we moved here I’ve been taking these midnight jogs. They combine three of my favorite things. Running, music and…”
Camera goes black. Cue voice over again.
Clara:
“This was the moment my whole life changed.”
Camera like blinking.
Aron:
“Sorry I wasn’t looking at where I was going. Are you ok?”
Camera shows Aron
Clara:
“Yeah I think I’m ok and I wasn’t looking at where I was going either.”
Aron:
“Do you need help getting up?”
Aron holds out hand and clara reaches for it. Camera slowly moving up. Then bam fall back down.
Aron:
“Maybe we should stay down here for a while.”
Both sit up.Camera foucuses on aron.
“My name is clumsy mic clumsy sir. And you must be runny mic music gal.”
Clara:
“Uh no it’s clara but nice to meet you clumsy mic clumsy sir.”
Clara says while blushing and holds out her hand.
Aron:
“It’s Aron or just clumsy.”
Aron shakes her hand they both blush.
Clara:
“So what are you doing in the park at 12 in the morning?”
Aron:
“What are you doing in the park at 12 in the morning?”
Clara:
“Tushay sir clumsy. Tushay.”
(Scene)
Silent
The missing brick
I work at the hospital down the street from the family dinner. It’s a big hospital for our small town but it fits the amount of people here. The rooms fill themselves in no time practically less than an hour of the person leaving, but we’ve never turned anyone away from our doors. Which is a record we are proud of. I’m a nurse and get bossed around by everyone except the patients I know what's good for them, so they listen to me willingly most of the time.
Like that they should lay off the milkshakes from the loris drug store, which are very good so I do understand wanting a milkshake. Most nights or mornings I work at the hospital checking patients and emptying bed pans which isn’t the best part of the job but luckily I’ve got rubber gloves that go up to my elbows that are great. It's not glamorous but it does pay good for working 6 hours I can pay the rent get groceries and save some for a rainy day as my grandma used to say. I think my grandma was the reason why I’m a nurse.
She died just as I was going into college. The doctors had no clue what was wrong with her. So I changed my major from math teacher to nurse. Right now I just wanna go home. I’ve cleaned 16 bed pans and had 5 kids scream in my ear.
I’m tired and have a huge headache. I looked down at my watch it was 4:57. “Finally!” I said, a doctor looked at me weird as he passed. But he can’t judge me he probably just got here. And I’ve been here since 9 yesterday. I went to the stairs and went down all the way to the employe parking lot.
My best friend george was waiting there for me. “So how was your shift at the loris sick station?” I asked him as we started walking. “Eh the usual more annoying every shift. You think that kids would stop screaming when you walk into their room. I got whacked with a baseball bat!” He said.
“I know it’s insane but now we get to go home! Here you drive my right foot got ran over by a wheelchair.” I said as I tossed the keys his way. “Oh gosh You know I can’t catch.” He said angrily as the keys flew past his head. “Sorry forgot,. I’ll help you find them.” I said as I walked to the driverside of the car. “Where did they go?” He said. “I don’t know get out your flashlight. Oh wait Maybe they fell in this hole.” I said as I walked over to where the whole was and put my hand in.
But I didn’t find the keys I didn’t even find the bottom. So I got on my knees and reached in. I fit in my whole arm and still couldn’t find the bottom of the hole. “Hey gorge come here can you bring your flashlight too?” I asked him.
“Sure. I’m coming hold.” He said getting out his phone and pulling up his flashlight app. He came over and shined it into the hole. We both looked down. “Do you see the bottom?” He asked me.
“No. Try feeling for the bottom.” I told him. “What if there’s a spider or venomous snake at the bottom?” He asked unsure about sticking his hand in something that seemed to have no end.
“Just do it! Your arms are longer than mine. Please.” I yelled. Without a word he nealt down and hesitantly moved his hand close to the hole and after what seemed like hours he slowly stuck his hand in. He got farther and farther in the hole. Soon his whole arm was in it including his shoulder. I noticed that the whole had gotten bigger.
“Wait get up I wanna try something.” I told him. As he got up I sat down and stuck one of my legs in and then the other one.
“What are you doing?” He asked me.
“Just watch.” I told him. Soon my waist was right above the hole.
“Woah how did you do that?” He said as he looked at me.
“I don’t know I just noticed that it got bigger as you stuck your arm in. So I thought I could fit through.” I told him.
“Wait you’re not going to..” “Yes I am. See ya!” I told him and fell through the hole while screaming. I landed and flew back up. And I fell back to the bottom and found the keys. I turned on the flashlight they had on them and looked around I was in a huge room. Underneath me was what looked like a trampoline
So I jumped up and did a flip mid air. I went back and took a running jump but couldn’t make it straight up. So I looked around and around but it seemed like there was no end to the vast room of trampolines. Then I heard a weird sound that sounded like something was vibrating. I reached in my jean pocket and couldn’t find my phone. So I found the trampoline that I fell on and saw it on the ground.
I picked it up and looked at it george had called me 19 times. I called him back. “Hey, abby you ok? I called so many times and you didn’t pick up I thought you were dead!” He yelled through the phone.
“Ok just calm down. Where are you? And don’t yell at me again.” I told him.
“Sorry I was worried who would pay the rent! And I’m in the parking garage.” He said.
“Wow that’s what you were worried about? Come on down scaredy cat. Wait I heard something. Ahhhhhh.” I screamed into the phone.
“Abby? Abby? I can’t lose you! You were my only friend!”He yelled franticly.
“Aww thanks you’re so sweet.” I replied.
“Wait. You were kidding?!” He yelled madly.
“Yeah, don’t worry I help you pay the bills.” I told him.
“Ok that's it!” He told me as he hung up the phone. I moved out of the way just as he fell onto the trampoline. Once he stopped bouncing I went over to him.
“Hey you finally came!” I said to him.
“Yep. And now I’m; going to..” He stopped abruptly as we heard something.
“Hey is anyone down there?” Said a deep voice.
“Yep wanna join us?” I yelled up.
“How did you get down there? This hole is too small for anyone to go through.” He replied.
“It expands just try it.” George yelled back at him. We both stepped aside as we heard a scream. And down came a doctor. Just as he landed the light coming from the hole stopped and the room got darker. “We’re trapped?!” George screamed dramatically.
“No of course not we’ll get out” I told him hopeful.
“Yeah sure and then we’ll go buy some live pokemon at walmart.” The doctor said sarcastically.
“What’s You’re problem?” Abby asked.
“Nothing what's yours buttface? Or should I say stupid!” He said moving closer to her.
“Hey back off you're the one who's stupid! Closing us in here and all!” George replied as he walked in between us.
“Aw protecting your girlfriend are we? And I didn’t close us in here!” He yelled at george. George went quiet and started to blush. He slowly moved to the side.
“Why are you such a jerk?” Abby yelled in georges defence.
“Aw such a cute couple. Defending each other and everything.” He said mockingly.
“WILL YOU JUST STOP IT AND TRY TO BE NICE FOR TWO SECONDS?!?!” Abby yelled angrily.
“CAN YOU JUST STOP TALKING FOR TWO SECONDS?!” He yelled back at her. Abby slapped him in the face. “Hey....”Abby heard nothing more she grabbed george by the wrist and ran off with the flashlight leading their way. She slowed down after about 5 minutes of george begging her to stop. He was gasping for air. She was in more shape than he was.
“Why did you run?” He asked in between gasps.
“Because I just couldn’t stand that guy anymore! He called us a couple like four times. We are not a couple!” Abby yelled in her annoyed voice. She looked at george for a reply.
“Yeah totally not a couple…… not saying that I wouldn’t be okay if we were, cause that would be fine with me but only if you wanted to…” He said blushing and scratching the back of his head.
“Oh come on I know you’re not interested in that stuff that’s why we’re such good friends.” Abby replied.
“Yeah…” George said looking down at his feet trying to hide his face.
“Ok you have been acting like really weird are you ok?” Abby asked him trying to look him in the eyes.
“Well…I……” George took at step closer and through his arms around her.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” She screamed franticly. He had never hugged her before and right now was not a good time.
“Sorry.” He said softly as he let loose his grip and stepped back. Full of emotions and feelings she stepped back from him and looked at him. He was still the same goofy george. The one whom she shared an apartment with and a job with. Her best friend since they meet.
“I can’t.” She whispered.
“What?” He asked moving closer.
“I just can’t!” She said again louder this time. She Turned around and started off in the direction she was originally headed.
“”WAIT ABBY! YOU CAN’T RUN FROM YOUR EMOTIONS!” He yelled trying to keep up. But soon Abby was yards away. And now he was left alone in the dust. She couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said. Was she really running from her emotions? What did that even mean? She slowed to a walk and kept going.
She stopped and noticed that she was crying. What was wrong with her? She never cried so why was she crying now? She had never been very in touch with her feelings. And right now all of them were rushing through her veins. She was so confused on what she was feeling.
She had never had to deal with her emotions before. So she didn’t know what to do now. She laid down in the middle of a trampoline. Looking up into the darkness.
“So having trouble with your boyfriend? If you want any help.” Abby sat straight up and looked at him as he kept going. “I won’t help you maybe you can find someone else out there who cares.”
She turned away and yelled at him, “WHAT DO YOU WANT! CAN’T I JUST BE ALONE FOR 5 SECONDS?!?” His words had cut deep for a moment she thought he really was being nice.
“I just wanted to know where you're boyfriend was so we could get on with the couples counselling.” He said looking around.
Abby tiredly replied, “I don’t know where he is and right now I don’t care. Why don’t you go find him professor hopalong?” She said looking at him.
“Well I would but I don’t care about him as much as you do, nurse cutiepants.” He replied smartly. Abby turned around and started crying again. What is wrong with me? She asked herself.
“Aww been away from your fiance too long that you’ve become love sick?” He asked smiling. Abby didn’t reply she turned away and bared her head in her arms.
“Ok now you're really starting to make me feel bad. Do you want a hug?” He asked inching closer. Abby didn’t reply. She couldn’t throught all the tears and hair sticking to her face.
“Well good because I wasn’t going to give you one.” He said. Abby felt to hurt she started crying harder.
“Look I’m sorry I was just playing. I didn’t mean it.” He said moving closer to the ball of hair and tears that was abby.
“Look if it’s because of that other guy don’t let it bother you he was probably just a jerk anyway.” He said sitting down next to her. After a long silence he got close to her and wrapped his arms around her. At first she was uncomfortable but after a couple seconds she laid her head on his shoulder. They sat there for what seemed like hours with his arms around her and her head on his shoulder.
With him hugging her she felt like everything was going to be fine and everything was fine. And reality faded around her. After a couple minutes or hours she stopped crying. She tried to smooth out her hair so she could kinda see in the darkness.
“If you want me to stop just tell me.” He said loosening his grip.
“No please don’t. I really need a hug right now.” Abby said wrapping her arms around his arm.
“So you can talk.” He said sarcastically.
“Yeah I can.” She said as they sat his arms still around her and her head on his shoulder. Abby lost track of time sitting there hugging. She woke up with his arms still around her. And wondered how long they had been like this. She sat there in the comfort that surrounded her she never wanted this moment to end.