Interlocutor: a Literary Magazine 2019 Edition

Interlocutor: A Literary Magazine 2019 edition

The International School of Louisiana (ISL) was founded in 2000 by a group of parents eager to make a contribution toward improving the quality of public education in Louisiana. The school’s founders envisioned a public school offering a foreign language-based academic program with a global perspective. By offering a new choice in public education, ISL hopes to generate educational opportunities of the highest caliber for all students in Louisiana.

ISL was Louisiana’s first language immersion charter school and is the only Louisiana school to be named a “Charter School of the Year” by the Center for Education Reform, the nation’s leading education advocacy organization. From their first day of school, students are taught core academic subjects in either French or Spanish. At ISL children learn a second language naturally, through everyday conversation and classroom instruction.

The mission of the International School of Louisiana is to provide a challenging education emphasizing language immersion, international awareness, the celebration of diversity, and community responsibility.

Interlocutor was created by Kyle Scott’s 5th grade class of 2015-2016 at the ISL - JP campus to publish original student work, designed to coincide with National Poetry month.

A very special thank you for all of the student submissions, and the teachers who helped!

Cover Image: “Galaxy Void ” by Unique Price (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

ISL-EDU.ORG | [email protected]

Contents

Jaelynn Legaspi - untitled photograph ..……………………….………………………….………….…………..... 4

Unknown - Party Horse ...…………………..……………………………………………………………………….….… 5

Britany Sierra - Self Portrait ………………………………………………………………………………………...…… 6

Rayne Smith - Can You See Me? ……………………………………………..……………………………………..… 7

Lilliana Hageman - A Whisper, A Truth, A Lie ………………………………………………....……………….. 11

Sam Beck-Bird - untitled photograph ..………………………………………………………………………..……. 11

Bhrieana Walker - The Barbie.……………………….…………………….………………………………………..... 12

Santannah Brazil - Angel’s Helper (Inspired by Judge Angel).……………………….……………………. 12

Ysidro Castro - The Dinosaur .……………………….…………………….…………………………………….…..... 13

Unknown - Bone Dinosaur .……………………….…………………….…………...... 13

Re’Yan Gordon - El Fuego/ “The Fire” …………………………………………………………………………….. 14

Mallika Mohan - Squack! I’m a Phenix! ……………………………………………………………………………. 15

Quincy Blondiau - The Ringed Planet …………………………………………………………………………….… 16

Sidon Coleman - Untitled Photograph …………………………………………………………..…………………. 16

Bailey Bush - Untitled Photograph ……………………………………………………………………………….….. 17

Mia Fountain - The Ghost ……………………………………………………………………………….………………. 18

Mariah Sanchez - Halloween Flowers ………………………………………………………….…………………… 18

Analia Roussell - Self Portrait ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 19

Brianna Leathem-Brazzini - The Trash Queenz ………………………………………………………………... 20

Robert Squall - Untitled photograph …………………………………………………………………………..……. 21

Layla Monnerjahn - “The Pet” …………………………………………………………………………………………. 22

Javier Lewis - Untitled drawing …………………………………………………………………………………….… 22

Lilliana Hageman - “Granny”, and untitled photograph ……………………………………………….. 23-26

Amelia Duffy - Untitled illustration …………………………………………………………………………………. 27

Mauricio Gonzalez - The Super Jumper …………………………………………………………………………... 28

Various artists - The Gallery of Faces ………………………………………………………………………… 30-31

Re’Yan Gordon - Arco Iris/ “Rainbow” ……………………………………………………………………...…….. 32

Amelia Duffy - Untitled illustration …………………………………………………………………….…………… 32

Sidon Coleman - Storyboard …………………………………………………………………………………………… 33

Kaley Marsh - Self Portrait ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 34

Unknown - “The Bug” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 35

Unknown - Untitled ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 35

Kyren Burke - “The 100th Day of School” ………………………………………………………………………… 36

Eli Sanders - Untitled photographs …………………………………………………………………………………. 36

Unknown - “The Breakfast” …………………………………………………………………………………………… 37

Brandt Fischer - Untitled illustration ……………………………………………………………….……………… 37

Louise Bohan - “The Clothes” …………………………………………………………………………….…………… 38

Penelope Emery - Illustrations ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 38

Noah Rosiglioni - “Captain Einstein and the Dinos” ……………………………………………………..…… 39

Brandt Fischer - Game Review: “Warface” ……………………………………………………………………..… 42

Kelli Jefferson - Untitled collage ……………………………………………………………………………………... 42

Cylis Wolters - “Humpty Dumpty” …………………………………..………………………………………………. 43

Natalie Martinez - Untitled illustration ……………………………………………………………………………. 43

Brandt Fischer - “Spoods”, and photo manipulation …………………………………………………..…….. 44

Lilliana Hageman - Poem collage ……………………………………………………………………………………. 45

Liam McDermott - “The Shadow” ……………………………………………………………………………………. 46

Jaelynn Legaspi - Untitled photograph ……………………………………………………………………….…… 46

Brandt Fischer - Untitled illustration ……………………………………………………………………………..… 47

Evangelina Moulton - “A Walk on Saturn” ………………………………………….……………………………. 48

Unknown - Untitled ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..… 48

Max Klein - “Forbidden Entry” ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 49

Mallka Mohan - “The Book” …………………………………………………………………………………………… 51

Laurel Miller - Untitled watercolor ………………………………………………………………………………… 51

Larissa Vasquez - “The Delivery” ……………………………………………………………………………………. 51

Joleigh Neale - “Little Stranger” ………………………………………………………………………………………. 52

Libby Northup - “Nothing is for Sure” ……………………………………………………………………………… 53

Jaelynn Legaspi - Untitled photograph ………………………………………………………………………….… 56

Noah Rosiglioni - Catman ………………………………………………..…………………………………………..... 57

Sophie Ramirez and Unique Price - “Karma” …………………………………………………….……………… 61

Colby Jackson - Untitled illustrations ……………………………………………………………………….…….. 62

Sidon Coleman - Untitled collage ……………………………………………………………………………………. 63

Mica Detige - Self Portrait ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 64

Gerowin Banks - “The Wrong Journal” …………………………………………………………………………….. 65

Jaelynn Legaspi - Untitled photograph ………………………………………………………………………..…… 65

Taryn Lazarone - Untitled watercolor ………………………………………………………………………………. 66

Various artists - Urban Inspiration ……………………………………………………………………………..…… 69

Britany Sierra - “El monstruo del lago eterno / The Monster of the Eternal Lake” ……………….. 70

Joseph Rojas - Untitled illustration ……………………………………………..………………………..………… 70

Isabella Montero - “Zanie” ………………………………………………………………...…………………………… 71

Regina Opara - “The Relative” ………………………………………………….……………………………………… 72

Unique Price - Untitled illustration ………………………………………………………………………………….. 72

Kailyn Saboe - Untitled collage ……………………………………………………………………………………… 73

Eli Sanders - “War” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 74

Taryn Lazarone - Untitled illustration ……………………………………………………………………………... 75

Corbyn Thonn and Raul Zajur - “The Handprint that won’t Wipe Off” …………………….. 76

Brandt Fischer - Untitled Photograph ………………………………………………………………….. 76

Robert Squall - ‘This Game Grinned” ……………………………………..……………………………. 78

Yahir Valentin-Santiago - “The Game” …………………………………………………………………. 79

Dario Perdomo - Guardian Robots …………………………………………...…………………………. 79

Belle Adelman-Cannon - Unseen ………………………………………………………………………… 80

Lilliana Hageman - Untitled Photograph ……………………...………………………………………………… 80

Mariah Sanchez - Untitled Photograph ………………………………………………………………………….. 81

Tallulah Basinger - Sophia and Lula the Horse ………………………….…………………………………….. 83

Kyle Scott - “Elysium” …………………………………………………………….…………………………………….. 84

Sidon Coleman - Untitled Photograph …………………………………….…………………………………….... 84

Vladimir Nogiuera - “Hurricane Flags” ………………………………….…………………………………………. 85

Jack Wilkinson - Untitled Illustration and Calligraphy …………………………..………………………….. 91

Various Artists - The Art of New Orleans Architecture ………………………………………………………. 92

Mico Fuji Williams and Capri Bobadilla - “The Mystery of the Mort Family” ……………………….. 93

Back image: In Memory of Stan Lee by Eli Sanders (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Photo: Jaelynn Legaspi (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

- Britany Sierra (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Can You See Me?

Photo: Jaelynn Legaspi (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Jerry had always been the daring, crazy type, but I’d never thought he could go this far. He brought us to the Six Flags in Texas before, Six Flags Over Texas, so I thought that when he’d said “Hey Sarah, wanna go to Six Flags, tonight?” that’s what he meant. Nope. He’d meant, “Hey Sarah, wanna go to that abandoned Six Flags off of Lake Forest and Michoud? There’s a chance we might die but who cares?” So now, mislead, I’m at the Six Flags off of Lake Forest and Michoud. I should've known we couldn’t get to Texas that fast. Kyle came with us which was a bit more comforting. I held onto his warm, sweatshirt covered arm, and prayed this little trip would be over soon. “Can we please go back to the car? I don't like it here.” I said. The park was giving off a bad vibe. Plus, it was a really foggy night which was not helping. But, as usual, Jerry ignored my pleas. He was always the cocky male type. Never scared, talks about how he can get all the girls if he tried, but he obviously hasn’t tried because he has no one. He and I had been friends forever and knew everything about each other, so I never even thought about cutting him off, but sometimes he gets on my nerves. Kyle was always quiet and by my side. I hugged his warm body and kept walking. ✧✧✧

Twenty Minutes Later

“Let’s go home, man. Sarah’s obviously uncomfortable. We should just go back.” Kyle was right. I was uncomfortable. But, I wasn’t going to let him speak up for me. I may be scared of abandoned and supposedly haunted theme parks, but I was no wuss. “A-actually, we-we can stay. I’ll be f-fine.” I said, the words barely escaping my shaking mouth. Jerry finally noticed me and turned around. “See Kyle, she’s lasted this long! She’ll make it. Plus, it’s kinda fun watching her tremble.” Sometimes Jerry makes me want to punch him so hard his mother will feel it from beyond the grave. That was mean, sorry Jerry. We continued walking, no punching involved. Kyle whipped out his phone. “Who’re you about to call?” I asked. “No one, the game will be on in a few minutes. I want to see it when it starts. ”He said. “OOH WHICH ONE?!?” “Cowboys vs. Colts. You’re a football fan?” “Duh, who doesn’t like football?!” Me. I don’t like football. I don’t understand it and never will. I just need something to distract me from the dark. Kyle’s face lit up nonetheless. “Cool, we can watch together!” “Cool.” Not cool. “I see you, Sarah. Do you see me?” said a dark, whispery, jagged voice. “What was that?” I asked. “Oh, um-I just said we could sit by the bench up there and watch it later, is that ok?” Kyle asked. “You didn’t say anything else?” “It’s STARTING! Woo COWBOYS!” “But the-the...Who was that?” “No. NONONONONO. YES!!!” Okay Sarah, just watch the game. Put it out of your head. It was just you imagining things. Was it Jerry? Did he say it? “Jerry? Was that you?” “I’m watching the game, Sarah!” said Kyle. “Who cares?! Where is Jerry? Jerry? Where are you? Jerry!?” “Shut up! It’s 12 to 1 and the Cowboys need my motivation. Ugh, girls.” Where was Jerry? Who sees me? Why don’t I feel like only the three of us are here? My heart beating out of my chest, I ran into the darkness to find Jerry. He may be a pain in the aspartame, but he’s still my friend. ✧✧✧ You know that gut feeling you get when you know something isn’t right? I wasn’t feeling it anymore. Everything was calm and serene. I’d even turned the flashlight off because I’d felt so at ease. When we’d started we were in Goodtime Gardens and now I was in Cajun Country. My legs felt like falling off. “I see you, Sarah. DO YOU SEE ME?” “SHUT UP!” I screamed. “NO, I CAN’T SEE YOU! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR?”

“Sarah, come find me. COME FIND ME SARAH. FIND ME.” “NO!” I ran and ran and ran yelling, “NO, I DON’T WANT TO FIND YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!” I spun around only to see a blur of darkened tents and carnival rides. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I turned back around and ran past Cajun Crafts and Cajun’s Dance Hall until I stopped at the river, where if I’d have gone any further, I’d have fallen in. Right then, with nowhere else to turn, I heard the voice again getting closer. ✧✧✧ Frantic, I tried to run but I had nowhere to turn, I couldn’t swim and I was not a good runner. I was going to die here alone. “You found me, Sarah!” I stepped back as the figure with a mask and a voice walked closer. A few more steps and I might fall in. I recognized the voice, but the mask threw me off. “Stop. Back away. Get away from me! GET AWAY! JERRY!!! KYLE!!! HELP! SOMEONE!!! “Don’t walk away, Sarah. Come closer. Find me… ” “I FOUND YOU, NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!” another step back. “Okay, Sarah wait, you’ll fall if you go any further back! I’ll take off my mask, alright?” “NO. Walk away. Run away. Just go away.” “Look, it’s just me!” he raised his hand to lift up the mask, “It’s only me.” “STOP!” his hand moved closer to his face, I backed up ever so slightly. “Stop that!” “Wait, Sarah, it’s me!” the figure took of the mask to show his face, and in the dimly lit light, I just barely saw Jerry’s face. “Jerry?! You scared me! I HATE YOU!” I laughed. I’d really been mad at Jerry when he chased me, but I was not scared. I was just angry that this was happening to me and no one else. Nevertheless, I laughed. “I know you do, you yelled it multiple times as I chased you. All that time, I’d only been scared of my best friend in a mask that changes your voice! I laughed and laughed and Jerry giggled with me. Until my stomach hurt, in which case I backed up and fell onto the surface of the water. It was so cold and so slow of a fall, it felt wonderful. Then, I plummeted to the bottom of the lake. Just floating there peacefully. Looking up, Jerry was swimming towards me. He had a look of urgency on his face like something bad was happening. What bad was happening? We were just laughing. And then I fell… I can’t swim. I tried to call for Jerry, but the words wouldn’t leave my mouth, there were only bubbles coming out of my nose. Jerry swam closer and tried to pull me up. Once. Twice. Finally, after the third tug on my still body, the bottom of the lake let me free and Jerry pulled me up to safety. Then, no warning, he started pumping on my chest. He was repeatedly beating on my chest. One hand atop another. Bum, bum, bum, bum. I could see his grey sweatshirt in the light. He’d always loved that sweatshirt. I bought it for him for his 15th birthday. He put it on as soon as he saw it. “Thanks, Sarah,” He’d said. “You always know what to pick.” His smile on that day was the biggest smile I’d ever seen him show. I remember when Kyle got his first football. He was only three years old and lived across the street from me, so we became friends easily. I ran over to his house the day after he got it. He wanted to play. He threw the ball to me, I missed, picked it up, and handed it back to him. One time he threw it too far and too fast, it landed right into Ann Perkins’ houses window. Ann, being the tattle tale she is,

told her mom. Kyle and I ran and laughed and ran and laughed until I tripped over a rock and started crying. Realizing I was lost in thought, I looked for Jerry. He stopped beating on my chest and was sitting with his head down opposite my body. I got up. “What’s wrong, Jerry? I’m okay. That was a funny prank!” It really wasn’t funny, I was scared out of my mind, but Jerry looked scared out of his so I had to calm him. No reply. I touched his back to soothe him and then he jumped up. He looked terrified and sad and lonely. He looked around and faced my in the process. It was almost as if he couldn’t see me. I wanted to call his name but the sound of carnival music caught my attention. I’d always loved carnivals, but today not so much. It was coming from the shack I’d run past a few minutes ago. It was lit so bright I couldn't see the inside. But, I was curious, so I walked inside.

- Rayne Smith (7th grade French, Uptown Campus)

Photo: Jaelynn Legaspi (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

A Whisper, A Truth, A Lie

A whisper A truth A lie Life goes on Death becomes the best of us Toxin Poison Without knowing Murder upon us A whisper A truth A lie The possibilities are many One moment you’re alive The next you’re gone Forever Fading into blackness Slowly A whisper A truth A lie We can’t control it A monster We try to avoid it But we can’t Soon enough Not only death But they become the best of us.

- Lilliana Hageman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Photo: Sam Beck-Bird (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

The Barbie

The Barbies that are loved The Barbies whose heads can pop off! The Barbie that was lost The Barbie that has bangs The Barbie that is extra poseable The Barbie that has a bald spot.

- Bhrieana Walker (4th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Illustration: Santannah Brazil (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Dinosaur

The dinosaur that I loved so much The dinosaur that looks weird The dinosaur that can swim The dinosaur that can dig The dinosaur that can whip with its tail The dinosaur that’s so big The dinosaur that’s so deadly The dinosaur that runs so fast The dinosaur that just hatched The dinosaur that’s so smart The dinosaur that’s very dumb The dinosaur that eats plants The dinosaur that can charge The dinosaur that looks like a bird The dinosaur that has a vicious toe claw.

- Isidro Castro (4th grade French, Uptown Campus)

The fire El fuego

The candle caused a fire La vela provocó un incendio.

The fire burned the house that the candle was El fuego quemó la casa donde estaba la vela. in. El fuego se hizo más grande. The fire became bigger Todas las personas en la casa escaparon. All the people in the house escaped A través de la puerta, incluso el perro. through the door, even the dog Pero uno... Viejo hombre jenkins But one... OLD MAN JENKINS Fue por la ventana a diferencia de los otros Went through the window unlike the others Afortunadamente los bomberos apagar el fuego, pero Thankfully the firemen put out the fire, but Los bomberos no revisaron ni vieron SI TODOS ESTABAN BIEN THE FIREMEN DIDN'T CHECK AND SEE IF EVERYONE WAS OK Al día siguiente, todos los bomberos. fue despedido The next day, all the firemen got fired - Re’Yan Gordon (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Illustration: Mallika Mohan (4th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Ringed Planet

“Good night!” Annie called from her room. Annie was sixteen, she was a thin girl with blonde hair. She always wore three rings on her fingers. One ring on the right hand was completely made of silver; the two on her left had a big ruby in the middle, and the other her mother gave her. It had small writing on it, symbol writing. She was left handed anyway, and she loved to look at her rings while she wrote. She had already made her bed. She was ready to go to sleep. Her room was damp. She could just feel it wasn’t like her normal, cool, freshly aired room. It looked like a sixteen year old’s room. No dolls, stuffies, nothing. Just some old dressers, makeup, her bed (where she spent most of her time), and her laptop. She lay in her bed then, put her sleeping mask on and fell asleep. She woke up with what felt like sand in her socks. Annie lifted her sleeping mask and looked at her finger. She only slept with one of those rings on, the one her mother gave her. It was still there. Annie smiled. She looked around, it was hotter than when she went to bed. What Annie saw was not her room, it was a different planet! She could tell it was not Earth, the smells, the blue broccoli like trees, that had tinsel. Like Christmas. The ground was sand, but purple sand. No living things were there, except the trees. That’s what Annie thought until she saw...humans? No, couldn’t be. Something. They were something. Shooting stars were picking up the beings. But it was so far away, she almost could not see them. She stood up, determined to get off of this hot planet. She got all of the sand out of her socks and pajamas. She walked around a bit, then tried to wave one of the stars down. “I’m dreaming!” Annied shouted. “Wake me up!” Anne was trembling. She could not believe this was real. It wasn’t. It couldn’t be. She was sweating, it was super hot! She needed to think fast. She tried running to the star to pick a spot, but it kept getting further and further away. Every move she made, they were always far, far away in the distance. Annie realized the shooting stars were going right over her. She formed an idea. Annie grabbed the ring off of her finger, and ran to the nearest ‘tree’. She put the ring on the ground, and climbed to the top of the tree. She grabbed a strand of tinsel, and then climbed back down. She didn’t see her ring.

Photo: Sidon Coleman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

She looked all around the tree, thinking “where was that ring?” It meant too much to her to give up the search. She hadn’t seen her mother since the day she gave her that ring. She remembered singing her get on to the airplane to go on her long business trip to France. Annie knew her mother was going to live there a while. She was in the military, but not for seven years! She was nine when her mother left her. She hadn’t taken that ring off since. She was still digging for that ring, she needs it. After a couple of minutes, she found it deep in the sand. “Found it!” she yelled. Ready to get off of this hot dream planet, she tied the tinsel around her ring, making sure it was tight. When the perfect moment came, she threw the ring up and she pulled with all of her might. She lassoed a shooting star! She jumped on it and flew up. She flew it back to her house. “My baby!” Annie heard as she opened her eyes. She looked down to make sure her ring was there, and when she saw it wasn’t there, she looked up. “Where’s my ring?” she said. But she didn’t yell. Her voice tried, but only whispered. She looked around. “Here.” Her mother handed her the rings, then gave her a light hug. “Mom?” Annie murmured. “Yes, yes! You recognize me?” her mom said with glee. “What happened to me?” Annie said quietly. “We were in a horrible car crash on our way to France,” her mother responded. “What about dad?” “Dad’s at home, honey.” Her mom gave her a smile. “No. You left me and dad to go to France, you’re in the Army.” “That coma must have gotten your brain all messed up, Anastasia. I’m not in the military, silly.” “Anastasia? Coma?” Annie repeated. “Yes, baby. You’re in the hospital. You had a coma, buy you’re okay now. I’m sorry this happened to you, love.” Annie looked at the ring. The writing was the same, but it looked like little pictures of her lassoing stars. She put it on her finger. She thought to herself, “Anastasia, huh? That name will look good on me”.

- Quincy Blondiau (5th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

- Image: Bailey Bush (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Ghost

The ones who notice the storms in your eyes the silence in your voice the heaviness in your heart are the ones you need to let in.

Los que notan las tormentas en tus ojos el silencio en tu voz la pesadez en tu corazón son los que necesitas dejar entrar.

- Mia Fountain (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Illustration: Mariah Sanchez (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

- Analia Rousell (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Trash Qweenz ;)

This might be the most important piece of trash you have ever picked up. If you want to know what happens to this “Earth“ in 20 years, keep reading (cue dramatic theme song). In 20 years, the Earth will not be humans or aliens or teenage girls obsessed over makeup (same thing right?). No, it will be a better world. It’s a world where only pieces of rejected trash and rivers of bleach live. The world is called Trashinia. The beauty standards are different - no, wait, there are no beauty standards. We aren’t like humans who judge by looks but pretend they don’t. No, we are the trash qweenz ;). This is the moment when it all went wrong. Well, wait, first I must tell you what happened. It’s a very long and weird story. This all started in 2027, a year everyone thought would be the best year. A year when finally your robot would actually listen to you. A year when there was no such thing as love. Love was frowned upon. But there was still one problem. The teenage girls all hoarding the mirror. Non-stop trying to get the newest Stormi cosmetics lip gloss (Kylie's daughter had her own line) and fighting each other during Black Friday and ending up in the hospital. Also, they would buy makeup for 25 cents and then wonder why after they applied it it resulted in a breakout. Worst off was all the trash resorting from this. The makeup wipes covered in nasty old makeup and the old beauty blenders. We the trash queenz ;) wanted to stop this. We were tired of being used (literally). So, we decided we would take over this planet, and that was the beginning of the trash queens. ;). 2.20.27 was the seventh annual purge (a.k.a. Black Friday). Mackenzie was our first victim as she was putting on her 1,000,000,000,000 layer of makeup challenge (because 100 wasn’t enough). She was about to finish the last layer when suddenly one makeup wipe started creeping out of her trash can. Then a few Q-Tips along with seven tissues from that morning followed (because she started crying when she failed the Patrick triangle and Mikkie Tutorials makeup tutorial). Soon enough she was filled up to her chin with makeup wipes, Q-Tips, cheap dollar store eyeshadow applicators, and tissues (all from that morning), and later her parents found her suffocating. They called 912, but no one picked up. Someone must have cut the line. Next was Cardi B’s daughter. Cardi decided to name her daughter Paprika since it was trending. She was at Coachella getting a overpriced glitter highlight done when suddenly all the glitter jumped at her. She was shook, but not for long because the glitter soon choked her to her death. Finally, George. George was gross and stuffed up from having a cold He had used five boxes of tissues. Since he was so crusty and gross, his mom yelled at him for the 5th time to go take a shower, and he did. But what happened after that was surprising. The shower curtain that was sick of George's crusty dusty self wrapped around him like a snake and cut off his blood circulation, and he was found dead in his shower with the water still running (shame on you, George). They all got what they deserved, and that was only the start. We killed everyone in one day. The whole population was wiped out (by makeup wipes) in one day. All that was left was the trash. Not stupid conspiracies theories that the world was going to end. No more of the Paul sisters. All that was left was their trash. Now the trash lives with one ruler, “The Ruler”. The Ruler’s ultimate goal was completed. Now all that was left was to dispose of the uncivilized human bodies. One of the Trash Queenz ;), Felicia, said,

“Ew I stepped on a piece of human”. “Ewwwwww you should go take 5 mud baths,” said Patricia. “Do not fear, I will baptize you in the bleach river,” says The Ruler. “But what will you do with the other bodies?” Patricia said. “We will fry them as if they were fried Oreos and then dunk them in fresh bleach for dessert.” From that day on, the trash feasted upon humans until the end of time. And they all lived happily ever after. - Brianna Leathem-Brazzini (7th grade French, Uptown Campus)

Photo: Robert Squall (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Pet

The pet who died from loss of red blood cells The pet who hissed at me The pet who let me pick him up The pet who ran away from home and chases a cat The pet who I barely know The pet who is soft and fluffy The pet who looked like he drank coffee The pet we gave away.

- Layla Monnerjahn (4th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

- Javier Lewis (4th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Granny (Based on the storyline of the popular game Granny)

I was riding on my motorcycle on the way home from work and then it happened. I was about to pass a strange and unusual house when this woman walked into the middle of the street. She had a messed up white-ish dress, no shoes, bloodshot eyes with no pupils, white hair and a bunch of bald spots and a baseball bat with blood stains. Honestly, her face was so ugly I could only look at it for a split second. When I had asked her if she needed help she made a loud grunting noise and raised her bat and hit me across the head. It happened too fast for me to prevent it. . . . I woke up to a loud ringing noise in my head. I don’t remember… What happened to me? I looked around the small room and there was, on which I was laying on, a bed with a very thin mattress, a long table, a small wardrobe, a painting and a small round table with an ugly white and black zebra style vase. I slowly got up, doing my best not to make noise. Something caught my eye on the long rectangle shape table against the wall. I went over to look at it. Someone had scratched “5 Days” on the bottom left hand corner. I went to go and look at the vase but oh clumsy me… Of course I knock the vase over. Wow, good job me. I hear footsteps. Going up the stairs. Is it that woman? I wondered. Scared, I hid under the bed. I pray that she doesn’t see me. The last thing I want is to end up dead in this disgusting house. The footsteps are getting louder. She’s coming. The woman walked into the room. She looked around. Will she see me? She had merely looked around the room when she left. Right before she left there was a loud clang of metal hitting the floor. I slowly looked toward the door avoiding making noise and there was, waiting at the door for me, a bear trap. A BEAR TRAP?!?! Does this woman just carry around a bunch of bear traps? Where does she keep them anyway? It’s not like she could keep them in her pockets. When she left, I got out from under the bed and peeked my head out into the hallway. The woman was walking down the stairs. I decided to go to the room on the right which ended up to be a disgusting, unsanitized bathroom. The tile, unwashed for what looked like a decade, the sinks and bathtub bloodstained. There was a random cupboard in the corner. Squeak… I froze. More footsteps.

I needed to act fast. The cupboard… I ran quickly to the perfect-ish hiding place. Fully in the cupboard, I close the door as quickly as I could. The footsteps are getting louder. And louder. And louder. Since there were holes in the door of the cupboard, I ducked down, trying my best to not make noise. She stepped into the room and looked around blankly. Is she blind? Should I take the chance? Would taking that chance be brave or dumb? Deep breaths… Deep breaths… I slowly opened the door. I put one foot out of the cupboard. The woman whipped around and raised her bat. By then, I was out of the cupboard. It’s too late to turn back now… Bam! . . . I woke up to a throbbing head. When I got up and went up to touch my head, I felt the sickly feeling of dry-yet-wet blood matting my hair down. I looked around the room realizing that is was the same room that, I think, was the room that I woke up in last time. I only remember so much… It’s all just just bits and pieces… I got up. Maybe a little too fast because all the blood rushed to my head. I groaned. When I went to go open the door, I found that it was locked. I tried looking for a pin or a key or something that would help me open the door. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Wait. Wasn’t she attracted to sound or something? It was worth a try. I walked over to the vase and knocked it over. I rushed to the bed and hid under it. As I watched the vase hit the ground, I wondered: How has this vase not broken yet? Actually, why am I thinking about this now. I have more to worry about. Like those footsteps. Wait. Ok… So far my plan is working… As she turned the doorknob, my heartbeat got faster and faster. She opened the door and looked around blankly, picked up the vase, set a bear trap down and walked away. I think it worked! But now is not the time for celebrating. Now is the time to get outta here.

- Story and photo by Lilliana Hageman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

- Amelia Duffy (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

- Mauricio Gonzalez (3rd grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Gallery of Faces

Rainbow / Arco Iris

Red is so bright Orange is so flavorful Yellow is so light Green is between yellow and blue Blue is the color of the sky Purple is so princely Pink is the color of flowers

El rojo es tan brillante La naranja es tan sabrosa El amarillo es tan ligero El verde está entre amarillo y azul El azul es el color del cielo. Morado es tan principesco Rosa es el color de las flores

- Re’Yan Gordon (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus) Illustration: Amelia Duffy (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

- Sidon Coleman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

- Kaley Marsh (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Bug

The bug that bit me The bug that stung my leg The bug that died in front of my face The bug that had 6 legs The bug that was beautiful The bug that was in my hair The bug that stinks up my life The bug that scared me to death The bug that was in my bed The bug that had antennas The bug that’s yummy

100th Day Of School

The 100th day of school has finally come The school year is almost done Kids that look like old people here and there Wait, why does that guy look like a care bear?!

I hope today is not over But I can’t wait to ride the new rover I better get on the bus So I better stop the fuss

Wait, this is out of my mind! I’m going back in time! To the beginning of the 100th day of school Which was the greatest day of all

- Kyren Burke (4th Grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Photos: Eli Sanders (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Breakfast

The breakfast that my cat ate. The breakfast that had delicious pancakes. The breakfast that fell on the floor because my cat knocked my plate over. The breakfast that I ate at school because I had not time to eat at home. The breakfast that was amazing. The breakfast that was the best and my favorite which is OJ, scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. The breakfast that was a lot; I could not finish. The breakfast that was way too much and more than my normal breakfast. The breakfast that I could not finish because I could have been late to the bus stop. The breakfast that I ate in 10 minutes because it was not much.

Illustration: Brandt Fischer (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

The Clothes

The clothes that were tight The clothes that were baggy The clothes that were fancy The clothes that I always end up freezing in The clothes that were beautiful The clothes that were small The clothes that were uncomfortable The clothes that were out of style The clothes that were too big for me

- Louise Bohan (4th grade French, Uptown campus)

Illustrations: Penelope Emery (6th grade French, Uptown campus)

Captain Einstein and the Dinos

Comic: Noah Rosiglioni (4th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Game Review: Warface (PS4)

We all know we have short lives, and if you ́re going to waste it playing video games, than you might want to read this. Warface is a solid game because its pistol. If you can hold the trigger and the pistol is rapid fire than it is a bad game because its too overpowered but, in Warface, the pistol is not rapid fire.

One thing I do not like is when you start the tutorial the game tells you to follow the character and he just wobbles to the target it just looks super wacky and it needs to be fixed. Another thing I like is that its not pay to win ,the in game currency is easy to get and the weapons are very cheap and easy to earn plus, when you rank up, you get to choose your reward from three things , an attachment , armor , or weapon.

Finally, I think Warface is good because of the four classes you can be such as a rifleman, a medic, an engineer, or a sniper. In conclusion, I’d say Warface is worth my time. So consider playing it .

- Brandt Fischer (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

- Kelli Jefferson (7th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Humpty Dumpty

One night, five kids went out on a camping trip. Around 8:00pm, they started telling scary stories amongst themselves, but one stood out; It was Humpty Dumpty. And this is how it went. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you said, “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again”? Well, just put it like this, they found out the hard way. But really, what does happen? First, you disappear and reappear in a dark room, but is it really a room at all? You’re tied up, there’s duct tape on your mouth, and there he is: Humpty Dumpty, holding a hammer. Then, you end up on top of a wall. One side has water, and the other side has cement ground. You see that there are rocks tied to your feet. So that makes it a lose-lose situation. Then, he somehow walks on air, and says “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall”. He pounds his hammer on the wall, “and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. What does he look like? -- ME!!!” and pounds the hammer again. “And so you’ve said, and so I’ve heard that you, my friend, know my story.” ...whichever way you fall - you die!

- Cylis Wolters (5th grade, Uptown campus)

Illustration: Natalie Martinez (5th grade French, Uptown campus)

Spoods

The Spiderman who is trash. The Spiderman that is bad at being a superhero. The Spiderman that has a sickness. The Spiderman takes names. The Spiderman that was Tobey Maguire.

- Poem and Photomanipulation by Brandt Fischer (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

- Lilliana Hageman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Shadow

As I walk into the humid and hot room that is in some places light and others dark. I´m not happy to be here but I sure am making money for it. I´m here because I have a client who wants to build a whole new factory in this old one. I just got my P.H.D after 20 years of working for it and I'm very proud of myself. I'm here to see what it's looking like and as of right now, it's not looking so good. This place most definitely gives me the creeps. Every time I hear anything like the rats chomping on their food or the quiet scream of bats, I get goosebumps all over my arms and legs. The old smell of rust and mold doesn't make this situation any better. “Dr. Solomon you have to see this”, yelled my hard working, consistent and beautiful, assistant Jenna. “What”, I said. As I walk over there, I pick up this terrible aroma, but I can't seem to tell what it is. ¨Come quick¨, she said. I start running down the dark hallway of this dark, moldy and haunted building. When I arrive to where Jenna is standing, there is this trash bag with a body in it. ¨Is he alive”, I said with disgust. ¨No, I checked his pulse and nothing. I tried to call the police but no signal ̈. ̈Well we should get out of this place and tell someone,¨ I said. ¨Already tried, the doors are locked”. “What? How, who locked them? Look, we have to keep going, and try to get out of here.” As we run to the other side of this terrifying building, I can’t help but notice another trash bag and its full. “Stop,” I said with haste. “What happened, Doctor?” “We need a plan and A.S.A.P. How are we going to get out of here “. I was thinking of a plan when suddenly a scream of horror comes out of nowhere.

Photo: Jaelynn Legaspi (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

When the sound zooms straight into my ears I realize my beloved assistant Jenna was no longer at my side.

I run as quickly as I can to where I thought the sound came from. I don't wanna think of what could happen from now on but im gonna end up with no choice. I reach another trash bag that was full of a dark gory red like the color of a poison apple. Jenna is now gone forever. I was trembling and no longer had words to come out. Yes I am a doctor, but not the medical type. I wish now I was then maybe I could help these poor people whose lives were taken by some terrible person or thing for all I know. I am now the only one left in this dark building that has brought fear and sadness to my soul. I now have to get out of here without dying alone and scared. As of right now i’m not sure If can. I am usually a confident man with hope but im now lacking both of those things. Suddenly there is another scream at nine o’clock, louder than the first. But it was more than a scream, like a screech or This scream gave me more goosebumps then I have ever had in my life. I am now terrified and hopeless. And I have found myself just standing there in the dark space with no movement. As I'm standing there a dark shadow like figure comes from the pitch black background. The figure walks closer and closer before I ask, “who are you” and with no answer, he has taken my life too. I felt death unfolding through by bones. I ended up his most recent victim and I’m now like all the others. Dead. As I die I realize who it was. I recognized the shadows posture and the little bit of the eyes I could see. My assistant who I thought was dead killed me. I thought we had something but apparently she didn't. As I lie there I question a lot about the past few hours but my time came to an quick end.

- Liam McDermott (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Image: Brandt Fischer (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

A Walk on Saturn

Once there was a girl by the name of Angelina, and she wished to be the first person to walk on Saturn. But she thought to herself, “How am I, a 10-year-old, 5th grader, going to get to Saturn?” Then she decides to get some sleep. As she is slowly drifting off, she hears some strange noises, like people speaking gibberish. Then, as she is starting to wake up, the very first thing she notices is the smell. But, it’s also very cold, and just had a weird feeling all around. At first she thought she was on Mars or Neptune, but then she saw the big ring around it, and realized it was Saturn. But she still couldn’t get off of the smell. It smelled as if thousands of rotting fish were right in front of her. But she started to realize other more important things. Things like, how she got there, or how to get back. Then she starts to walk around, and try to figure things out. She walked for about 30 minutes, but it was worth it, because she found this beautiful creature. She looked so elegant, and kind of had a dusty rose, light pink theme. She kind of looked similar to a Gryphon, but not exactly. So, Angelina decides to try and talk to this beautiful, elegant creature. Angelina asked her if she could help her get home. She responded with an elegant, smooth coice, and said, “Yes, but for a price.” Once Angelina heard that, she was almost instantly nervous, for all she had was her outfit and herself. The Gryphon-like creature must have seen Angelina’s worried face, for she started laughing and said in her smooth voice, “I’m kidding! All I need you to do is get this scratch right here.” As she started to signal to her left shoulder blade. Then she continued talking, “It’s been itching for 643 years now! I’ve been counting.” After that huge relief, Angelina said, “That’s fine with me as long as you take me home.” Then the beautiful creature took off, and they were on their way. Angelina was so excited! She ended up catching a star! She got a few cuts, but that was ok. The ride tooka few hours, and Angelina started to get worried her parents would wake up and she wasn’t there. Then, she started to see her planet Earth, it got closer and closer. Then the creature said, “Get under my fur so you don’t get burned!” She did as the creature said, ad got under her fur. She could still feel the warmth, though. Then, as if the creature knew where she lived, they got to her house exactly. When she got there it was 5:58 am and her parents woke her up at 6:00 am. With only 2 minutes to spare, she put the star in the jar, which had now cut her hands so bad they were bleeding. She rapidly got in bed after that. A few moments later, her five year old brother CJ was in there jumping on her telling her to wake up. Then, he realized the star in a jar and asked, “What’s that?” Angelina just smiled and went to wash her bloody hands.

- Evangelina Moulton (5th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Forbidden Entry

As a helicopter flies over the Atlantic, Mia the pilot in the cockpit. Searching for any sign of anyone, Erica the engineer making sure that everything is steady. Sophia the navigator, checking a map so they don’t get lost and trying to find the mysterious island that they all there for. At some points Sophia, yelling which direction to actually be going in. Landon the explorer, telling a story of the sahara and how he got to a city just in time. Jack the messenger, listening intently to how to survive a desert because nobody knows what the team will experience on the island. Finally Mateo the diver, trying to listen but instead nauseous because he’s air sick. Soon everyone hears Mia’s voice in their headphones “There’s some stormy clouds ahead maybe some cumulonimbus so buckle up, and Mateo, there are BB’s under seat I thought somebody needed them.” Landon and Jack laughed because Mateo always brought Barf Bags. Then, almost on cue Mateo reached in and got one and it instantly filled up. “ Heeeeeeeeeeeey” Landon said “To pass the time and not watch all the BB’s fill up with puke, do you want to do ‘would you rather’?” “NO!” Erica and Sophia said in unison through the microphones. Jack laughed because one, last time Landon said “Would you rather be Sophia’s cat, or Erica’s bird?” on their Atlantis expedition. Then a loud thunk on top of the helicopter . “What was that!?” said Mateo after a barf. Then barfing again. “Something not good and Mateo, GET THE EMERGENCY BARF BAGS!” Erica said with a worried tone at first then just started yelling. Then the emergency symbol pops up and everyone but Mia rushes for everything that they need. Everybody jumps out with a parachute except Mia. This is routine for them and Mia and her Helicopter, Dr. Flight spiraling down but they don’t hear a explosions instead they’re to focused on getting down to a small house with their names on it. The team enters the small house unlocked and each one had a bed, gear they need and a letter:

Don’t worry, each member is safe, now in the morning you must say what you are here for, if you lie you may never leave this island ever and you must stay here until the next team comes. You will learn, change and maybee be the next generation with our Archean artifacts. Don’t make me lose this bet for ;3000; ok? Signed- The Archean priest.

The team was confused except Mia and Sophia and went to bed. Sophia understood it and wrote on the back of the paper “Against who?” As she wrote it down the pencil was transforming into ink and a quill, still writing she was shocked and she got a response under it “It’s best if you don’t get who.” and she decided to sleep on it. Mia, who didn’t get the letter, who slept in the helicopter. The next morning the team (except Mia who scanned the area) told the truth “to explore this island” and they were allowed to set foot in the next area.

For Erica she took out her walkie and set it to a 500 ft radius then said “Is anyone in the area?” In response, she heard Mateo’s voice, followed by Mia’s and Jack’s. “Ok, I’ll try to find the helicopter and get it fixed, everyone else, I think the best option is to group up.” Everyone thought that is was a good idea and stayed put to get anything. While she searched and found out that the gate she came out of was slowly sinking. Then she found a clue in a forest full of red glowing lanterns that said. “To find what you seek lies underneath.-crystal of fire” As Mia and Erica reunite the two talk while Erica tries to fix the helicopter. But, at first she finds out that the window was almost broke in half. Landon sought to do what he did best, exploring. But first he knew he needed sophia to map it out with him so he turned on his walkie and said “Yo, Sophia, I think we need to meet somewhere.” “I hear you, I see a observatory maybee meet there?” said Sophia. During this conversation Mia tells Erica about it. “Ok, I’ll find out and tell you what I found.” said Landon and got a bit swamped and got a clue. “Hurry! One of my areas is getting drowned!! You must reach to get me!-Ocean’s Chalice” since he did get to the observatory early he looked inside and found maps of everything, and a normal mahogany chest full of nothing. He thought that the clue is important and walkied Erica while she said she had one to. Then Jack saw his entry sinking and has one phrase stuck in his mind “Four hints to get the treasures” and started wandering he went through a watchtower and found a clue “Where the sun rises and the moon falls you will meet me there-Earth Stone” then another in a lost lagoon “I’m passive at night-Earth Stone” Even though he wanted to study a wood that made the forrest seem to be in twilight. Mia then took the helicopter for a spin and found areas sinking so she took into a forest with red leaves even though it’s spring. Then shoring up Mateo’s gate and a bridge. Then found another clue “The fish is at the bottom of the island”. Then Sophia found Landon and found another clue: “In the day the transformation is complete-Earth Stone” Then she led Jack and Landon to Erica. Then Mateo found a rock that he named skull rock, because it looked like a skull, before finding two clues: “It’s loud near the where the embers are cooling down-Statue of the Wind” and “It’s quiet near the end of the moon”. Erica then thought of making sure the island doesn’t sink, and heading south, she saw the hollow that Jack talked about and made a little hut and took a branch to study. Then Landon went to sheer cliffs and shore and found a palace made of coral, which he already saw in Atlantis. Mad that it was sinking again, he shored it up again. Jack gave his clues to Sophia. Then being smart, he shored up Erica’s gate and while doing that he got two more clues: “The octopus is near the cliffs-Ocean’s Chalice” and “The code is OCFI1-Ocean’s Chalice”. Once he realized that was the last one, he gave them to Landon and looked for the last one, which Mia had and gave to Landon as well.

- Max Klein (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Book

The book with funny plots, that makes me giggle to myself. The book with surprising twists. The book that scares me. The book that leaves me hanging. The book that makes me feel good. The book that makes me feel happy. The book that has a girl like me.

- Mallika Mohan (4th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Upper image: Larissa Vasquez (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus) Lower image: Laurel Miller (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Collage: Joleigh Neale (5th grade French, Uptown campus)

Nothing is for Sure

There was a knock on the door. The door of the house 7204, St Marks Avenue, Ocean Hill, Brooklyn, New York. I knew who had knocked, it was my brother James’ girlfriend, Aimee. It was time to eat, and Aimee ate with us every night. As I walked out of my room to say hey to Aimee, the first thing I saw was my dad watching the news: ¨Michael Vincent, leader of the blood gang of New York, recently...¨ Blah blah blah, I didn't listen. I tried not to think about gangs, they scare me way too much. Besides, why should I when I have no connections to any gangs whatsoever. ¨Dinner is ready!¨ I heard mom call. We all sat down around the table and held hands. ¨Who would like to pray?¨ My Father asked. Ï will!¨ I said excitedly. ¨Since when do you volunteer to pray, feeling good?¨ James said across the table. Ÿeah, something like that.¨ I said a nice prayer, and we ate the best fried chicken in all of Brooklyn. Once our stomachs were full of grease and spices, I helped mom clean up the kitchen until it was spotless. That is how she liked it, spotless, and not just the kitchen either, her whole life, perfect and orderly. My Father believed the same thing, they agreed on everything to the point where it was annoying. When I finished the dishes, I walked into my old bedroom, the smallest one, about the size of a rich person’s closet, that somehow James and I had to share. I walked in only to see James putting on his black jacket, his black leather jacket that had been given to him by our late grandfather. ¨Where are you going?¨ I asked. ¨Going out.¨ He answered plainly. ¨Well I know that. Out where?¨ Ï have things to take care of.¨ ¨What kind of things? You go out every night and I have no idea where you’re going. Don’t you love me? Why don’t you trust me?¨ Öf course I love you! How could you ask something like that? I would do anything for you, in fact, I would die for you, and not just for you either, anyone innocent¨ Ÿeah, yeah, do anything for me accept tell me where it is you go every night.¨ ¨Someday you’ll know.¨ He said while walking out the door, Aimee joined him. He was lying, he didn't have anything to take care of. He was probably just going to hang out with his friends, like a normal teenager, I thought. I just went to bed and tried not to think about it, because I knew my brother loved me, and that he really would die for me. The next morning I woke up to the smell of pancakes. Again, the best pancakes around. I was a little surprised because it was so quiet. Usually at this time the news would be on, my father complaining about what’s on the news, James and mom talking, coffee pouring, dogs barking, etc, etc. But today, it was quiet. As I rolled over, I saw why. “James? Are you up?” I asked, but heard no answer. I opened my eyes only to see that James was gone. Immediately bad thoughts flooded my head. Where was he? No matter how late he was out, he was always back in the morning, but

not this time. He was just at a friends house, just a friends house, I convinced myself, although still one voice in my head was telling me he wasn’t.

“Where’s James?” Father asked as I entered the kitchen. “I don’t know, I was going to ask you the same.” I replied. “He better not be hanging out with the wrong people.” Father said intensely. ¨He’s a good kid.” Mom said while giving Father a look. “Get your breakfast and get out of the door, you’re running late! James is probably already there, so get a move on!” I ate quickly, but also tried to enjoy the sweet, delicious pancakes with sticky syrup. Then ran out and started heading to school. It wasn’t the nicest morning in Ocean Hill, the sky was full of grey clouds dark as charcoal. It was also cold and snowy, a dark winter morning. I began to think about where James could be, or where he was last night. There was a war in my mind, trying to figure out if he had been truly “taking care of things”, because if he was, I had a bad feeling. Yet, I could come up with nothing, nowhere bad he would have gone. Soon I saw Aimee. “Where’s James?” She asked as she walked with me. “I thought you would know! You really don’t?” “I have no idea.” “Where did you guys go last night?” “He just dropped me off at my house. He wouldn’t let me go with.” She mumbled that last part. “Go with? Where?” “I don’t know, he wouldn’t say and I’m getting scared . We need to find him, as soon as we can.” “What’s going on? Where is James?” Aimee looked away from me. And I just stood there, scared of where James could be. As she turned, I heard her go: “Oh my gosh!” She screamed as soon as her eyes were facing the other way. As I proceeded to turn around, I saw why she had screamed, and I also found James. There he laid, on the ground, still, calm, breathless, dead. There was caution tape, cops, neighbors surrounding him. Aimee and I ran straight through the ugly yellow caution tape, the cops tried to stop us. “Back away, back away!” They screamed. We ignored them. Aimee knelt down next to him and burst into tears, and I stood there next to her, in shock. I stared at his cold face, unable to move. The cops ran up behind Aimee and tried to grab her. “Get your hands off of her! Right now!” I shouted.

“Who do you think you a-” “I think I’m the brother of the victim!” I cut them off. They all slowly let go of her, and backed away. I knelt down next to her, and suddenly all of the pain and confusion, fell out of me like leaves on trees during the fall. I was still in such disbelief, James was gone. Gone forever, I would never see him again. This thought haunted me. Life- life without James… Nothing could ever be the same. I started looking at the blood, and thought of the pain he had probably experienced. As I looked closer, I noticed a knife in his hand, also covered in bright red blood. “So far, we think it’s a suicide. All evidence proves it.” Said one of the cops standing near me. “No! He would never!” Aimee said, still with tears in her eyes. “Ma’m, I feel deeply sorry. Many times when something this tragic happens, loved ones don’t know how to-” “No!” She shouted with all her might. And I knew she was right. James would never do something like that. A detective approached us, and in a very kind and sincere tone said “I feel deeply sorry for your loss, I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now, but in order to help you, we want to find out exactly what happened. We’re going to have to ask you to leave the scene.” “Of course detective.” There was no going to school now. So Aimee and I started heading back to my house, to grieve with my parents. We took the backway because we didn’t think people would be hanging around there. Well, we were wrong. “There’s no way that James committed suicide, I know- I mean knew him, he would never.” Aimee said. “You’re so right. James was confident, happy, bold. We’re going to figure out what happened, no matter what it takes, this will be resolved.” “You’re both right.” Someone came out of the shadows and scared me half to death. As soon as I could see their face, I recognized them. It was Michael Vincent, leader of the blood gang. The blood left my face and I stood motionless. Maybe if I didn’t move, he wouldn’t see me I thought. It didn’t work. My heart started beating uncontrollably. I heard Aimee’s too. “Oh, don’t you want to know how your brother ended up dead?” “Y-y-yes.” I trembled. “O-o-ok.” He mocked me. “Well, my gang, had an attack planned last night. There is a rat in the gang, and when I find him, he’s dead. This rat leaked to James our plan, not knowing he would show up trying to stop us from killing our target. He stood in the way, not a good idea. So the one who was meant to be killed that night was given a choice; die or stab James to death. Obviously he chose to stab James, then we killed him anyways. We left the knife in your brothers hand, and they will never know, and you will never tell them. If you even try your family will be dead before you get home.”

When he stopped talking, I finally looked away from him, only to realize we were surrounded by gang members. “What do you want?” Aimee said boldly. I could tell she was holding back the tears. “What do I want? I want to never see your miserable faces again.” “You want us dead?” I made out. “I don’t care what happens as long you are far away from me. Dead, alive, doesn’t matter. I can’t afford another crime on my record though. Try and turn me in, just watch what happens. Here are your instructions; you’re leaving New York. Like I said, I don’t want to see your miserable faces ever again. So if you value your life, you and your family will leave, and never speak of this to anyone. You are Josiah Washington, an only child, for all they know.” “You can’t just make someone leave everything behind, their entire life.” “You can do whatever you want when you’re the leader of the blood gang.” Aimee gave me a look, and spoke to me without using her mouth. She was telling me to run, I saw her fingers counting down, when she had only one finger out, we took off. All those years of track that my father had forced me to do had really paid off in that moment. We ran like our lives depended on it, because they did. “Remember our deal! No cops, no more of your faces in mine!” He shouted as we sprinted. Once we had ran a good mile and a half, we finally stopped. “We’re telling the cops, right?” She said out of breath. “Of course.” We then proceeded to talk with the detective, but the problem was that no one believed us. We tried and tried to convince them, show them, but they only called us crazy and stupid. Eventually we came to realize that it would not work, no matter what we did. We would simply have to live with this. We walked back home sad, sorrowful, hopeless. At this point we were not thinking about Michael’s threats, and we had almost forgotten them, well, that was until we came home to see mom in agonizing pain from a gunshot, and Father next to her in shock and crying. We rushed her to the hospital, and while we were there, Aimee and I explained to my Father everything that happened. The discussion ended in tears, and we made the decision that after all that had happened, we could not live like this. It was decided we would go to Chicago, but we will never forget what happened. That’s what they could not make us do, forget. We would always remember James, who died trying to save another. So here we are in Chicago, six years later. We don’t know if one day Michael and the gang will show up. We live our lives, we go on, but we will never forget. The pain doesn’t fade, it only blends in.

- Libby Northup (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus) Photo: Jaelynn Legaspi (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Catman

Comic: Noah Rosiglioni (4th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Karma

Two humans stood silently at the end of the hall. The soft yellow light shone onto their faces as they looked ahead. Dust coated their sweaters. The tall, dark skinned girl stomped around in the dust that piled on the yellow floor. She had a wide grin on her face. “Finally!” She exclaimed with delight as she gripped the blood stained weapon in her hand. “That took forever,” She said, the grin still on her face. The black haired girl turned her head around to look at the brown haired girl. “Wanna keep going? We’re almost to the barrier,” She asked her friend. “First let’s go to Temmie Village.” said the brown haired girl, her name was Sophie. “For what?” The black haired girl, known as Unique, asked while raising an eyebrow. “Duh, to get HP to fight Asgore, they sell the cheapest stuff.” said Sophie, upset that they would have to kill another innocent monster. “Hm, okay. You got dog residue? I still painfully remember how that dog stole the orb, though,” Unique said, giving an annoyed look. “No. I don’t, but I have gold. Is 26 gold enough?” Sophie said, looking down at the floor. Unique gave a sigh. “No! How could you spend that much money? Geez,” she said. “Let’s just keep going forward. Asgore’s up ahead.” “You know we will die though, and we have no items.” Sophie sighed, frowning and glaring at the dust coated floor. “Well, I still got this knife,” Unique said reassuringly. “We can surprise attack while he’s talking, and-- hey, what’s wrong?” She said, her face dropping into a slight frown. “It’s just that..Mama and papa told me to all-” “Oh, come on! I think that you’re rubbing off of Tori. We can just ‘RESET’, anyway. It’s not like anyone could remember. Let’s just go!” Unique cut her off with a slight raise of her voice, while dragging Sophie with her to the throne room. It was time to fight the “final” boss, and Unique was impatient. She wanted to fight, not spend all of their time chatting. She furrowed her eyebrows as she neared the throne room, Sophie close behind her. “Okay, remember what I said,” Unique whispered outside of the room. “We attack while he rambles. I know you have a weapon, so we’ll double attack. Got it?” She asked her slightly shorter friend. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say” she said staring right at the door in front of her “Good. There’s no going back now,” Unique said, heading into the room with a grip on her friend’s wrist. She dragged Sophie along with her, her other hand pushing the door open. There, they found a tall goat monster watering the plants. It took a second before the monster noticed the two. The boss monster, and king of monsters was known as Asgore. He had a soft smile on his furry face, obviously not noticing the dust on both of the girls’ clothes. He must’ve mistaken it for dirt. “Oh, hello there. Are you lost?” Asgore asked, but the children kept silent. Asgore kept going.

Images: Colby Jackson (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

“What kind of monster are you two?” The king asked in a soft voice. Unique’s face twisted into a creepy grin. The dark haired girl rushed forward, jumping in front of the monster, and slashing at his neck. “Sophie, stab him!” Unique yelled as she landed on her feet, slightly stumbling backward at the force of her land. Asgore grabbed his neck in pain as it bled, and made his white fur red. Sophie, who was not agreeing with this, walked toward him slowly, watching him in pain. She stopped in front of him, and stared at the floor, “I can’t do this.” she stared at Asgore, then stared back at Unique, who looked frustrated. Asgore had a small smile. Unique grumbled in dissatisfaction. “Fine,” she mumbled, just loud enough for the other two to hear. “Be stubborn.” She glared at Sophie, and shoved her into Asgore, making her hold the knife. The poor monster’s face became painted with horror. The king started become dust, from the bottom, to the top. The dust flew away, deeper into the throne room. The poor monster’s soul was the only thing left of Asgore, before a group of familiar pellets circled around the soul. The pellets then hit the monster soul, making the soul also turn to dust. Unique stood there with a poker face as she let go of Sophie, who seemed horrified. “..Flowey,” said the dark haired girl as she glared at the talking flower. The soulless flower timidly smiled under Unique’s cold glare. Sophie stared at the flower, visibly startled. A second after, the brown haired girl’s expression became emotionless. Flowey seemed timid, and scared of the girls. After all, they did just commit genocide on the monsters in the Underground, but he also had a hopeful gleam in his eyes. “I.. I can be helpful. See?” The flower said, referencing to the king’s soul, which didn’t exist anymore. Unique didn’t want to deal with the annoying flower. It tried to kill them both when they fell down. From then on, the dark haired girl didn’t trust anyone, except for Sophie. The monsters would try to fight the two, all of them. She couldn’t trust them.

“What do you want?” Sophie asked him, her straight face almost seeming scary to Flowey. Flowey mentally shivered, and looked down. “I want to help, please. I can be helpful. I can..” Flowey froze when he saw the two girls gripping their weapons. They both look down on him. “P-please, don’t kill me!” he exclaimed, his voice going high pitched. Unique only smiled as she slashed at the poor flower. The two started walking towards the barrier. There was a bright light at the end but there was someone there, they couldn’t see who it was. “Uh, Unique who is that” said Sophie. “I really don’t know, but let's go see”. Both afraid of who or what’s ahead.

..TO BE CONTINUED..

- Sophie Ramirez and Unique Price (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Collage: Sidon Coleman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

- Mica Detige (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Wrong Journal

Day 1, Preparation: I decided that i need some equipment and people to help along the way, so i got my two friends (Dave and Boris) and other Items for climbing and keeping away wildlife and plan to go out tomorrow night. Day 2: We’ve started our trek into the erie Six Flags park at the western side of here and stuck to the ground attractions. Dave kept on marking our every move on a map even though we had a picture of the park’s layout. There are a ton of dangerous crocodiles here and Boris is the only one who can toughen up in this creepy place here, so he is leading us around the park. We spotted several roller coasters that looked like we could climb, a bit dangerous but possible. Day 3: The water levels started rising yet it seems that it hasn’t rained last night, Strange.We thought it’d be a good to start exploring roller coasters now before we would have to leave. Since we explored all of the ground attractions we climbed a roller coaster, and it was fun and exciting, we remembered when the fireworks started and when we saw them they were so beautiful! (Boris didn’t seem to think it was exciting,rather he thought it was quite boring, Dave didn’t like it one bit and stayed on the roller coaster emergency exit stairs, ready to leave).

Photo: Jaelynn Legaspi (7th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

Day 4: Strange...the way we got onto the roller coaster was destroyed and had too big of a gap no one could jump it. Boris and I had to walk across the coaster until we reached the end, Luckily it didn’t have any twists or loops so it was not too hard to reach the end and get off the ride. It was getting late so we called it a day, and decided to never climb the roller coasters until we were sure it was safe before walking on it Day 5: I kept on seeing things that I swear I saw! At first I thought I was missing details or forgetting things, like maybe that tree was there or maybe there wasn't a broken car, but I

SWEAR I saw a floating figure in the fog, it still bothers me that they didn’t see it, I know I saw it, I know it exists and I know it exists! Something is going on and i need to prove it. Day 6: To prove my ghosts theory we headed to the snack areas. I knew something was up when I found a brand new gumball machine. When we inspected it it started to shoot gumballs at us! We took cover behind a wall and devised a plan: I would run around with something to shield myself with while Boris knocked it over, dave would break the machine wiring and turn it off, the plan went flawlessly, and now I have proof that someone,something else exists in the park. Day 7: The water levels were so high that we had to wade through the waist high water and tried to reach the exit of the park and unknown force pushed us back into the water and took us off course. I need to get out as fast as possible or else… Day 8: This journal’s cover just changed colors? Also the pages seem a bit more yellow, and it feels a bit older than before. Another thing I’d like to note is that everytime we try to leave it is just an arch that bridges to different areas together, I really am starting to get scared.

- Taryn Lazarone (6th grade French, Uptown campus) - Day 9: We have to SWIM to get from place to place now that the water level has risen way too high. Whenever we have the chance walk on top of the higher parts of the park that havent been flooded Day 10: I’m scared I’m really scared, Time has started to jump backwards I feels as if I am eternally falling, the fear of this park gnaws on the back of my mind, Inside this empty world with only a journal a pencil and the thought that something else exist in the park Day 11: I am in some kind of cloudy world I think? I can look down at the world but I can’t interact with it, I think you know where I am going with this. To put it quite frankly I am dead. Day 12: I need to get out of here as soon as possible or I might be stuck here, and I am slowly devising a plan on how to get outta here. The plan is to: 1. Get past these two weird

winged creatures blocking the border and, next i’ve gotta go through a strange pipe and hope for the best Day 13: I started to activate my plan, I snuck past the guards, I hopped in the pipe and without hesitating I proceeded to bolt across the foul smelling dark pipe, water splashing against my feet. But then I saw something I couldn’t describe just staring at me with glowing red eyes bright as the sun, I pushed it down and sprinted in the opposite direction. Soon I saw sunlight shining out and, without second thought, I just jumped out and I started to fall down to my favorite part of this godforsaken theme park, the entrance. Day 14: When I left home to go to the park I said I was visiting a friend's house and when I got back, I didn’t see why to change that story. I never knew what happened to Boris and Dave after leaving that park and I guess I never will, and everytime I get reminded of them whether it is a missing poster or an advertisement with a kid that looks quite similar to them, my heart aches everytime I get reminded of them.

- Banks Gerowin (7th grade French, Uptown Campus) -

Urban Inspiration

El monstruo del lago eterno / The Monster of the Eternal Lake

Había una vez una Mujer llamada Evelyn cuando ella era una niña fue un exploradora, fueron a las montañas para la insignia de valentía en las montañas, después de una hora escucharon un ruido muy raro, como que era de un un animal pero no les importo, ese ruido continuo por cinco horas entonces las niñas le dijeron a la jefa de la trupa haber si podian ir a ver qué era ese ruido, la jefa les dijo que ella iba a ver un vistazo, las niñas se metieron en la tienda para esperar a la líder, la líder estaba corriendo y estaba mojada, las niñas no sabían qué pasaba la líder les gritó, es un monstruo,corran. Las niñas corrieron, mientras Evelyn le preguntaba a la líder que miro pero la líder le dijo que corriera Evelyn juro que ella cuando fuera grande iba a venir a ver si era un monstruo de verdad. Desde ahora ella ya tiene una hija llamada Emma, Evelyn le contó a Emma la historia del monstruo del lago, Evelyn le puso el monstruo del lago eterno por qué la líder dijo que el lago era muy hondo. Evelyn y Emma fueron a las montañas, el mismo ruido que había escuchado Evelyn esa misma noche que fue acampar cuando era una niña, de pronto escucharon los ruidos más cerca pero no les dio miedo. Un rato después estaba tan oscuro y salió el monstruo del lago eterno agarró a Evelyn y la llevó al lago eterno su hija Emma estaba gritando, salió corriendo para buscar ayuda, estaba tan asustada y nerviosa, ella les contó a todos de el monstruo del lago eterno y nadie le creyó. Hasta que vino un hombre misterioso y le dijo que mostrara el camino, el hombre andaba armado de muchas armas. Emma le mostró el camino escucharon el ruido muy seguido hasta que se escuchó muy cerca se escondieron y el monstruo salió de la nada y el hombre misterio empezó a disparar, hirió al monstruo y estaba sangrando el monstruo fue al lago, Emma y el hombre misterioso estaban esperando para el amanecer hasta que que no escucharon ningún ruido era como que nadie pudiera hacer ningún ruido, fueron a chequear y encontraron a el monstruo del lago eterno muerto, solo faltaba encontrar a Evelyn el hombre misterioso entró al agua y no salió por más de 1 minuto emma estaba muy preocupada hasta que miró al hombre misterioso sujetando a su madre el hombre misterioso le dijo a Emma que uno podía respirar ahí abajo, entonces Emma por eso atendio que su madre no había muerto solo que estaba en un trance. Al siguiente día su madre despertó y vivieron felices para siempre y el hombre misterioso se quedó en la ciudad.

There was once a Woman named Evelyn, and when she was a girl she was an explorer. One day, Evelyn and her friends went to the mountains to test their courage. In the mountains, after an hour they heard a very strange noise, like from an animal, but they did not care. That noise continued for five hours, then the girls told the boss of the Trupa to have if they could go see what that noise was. The boss told them that she was going to see. The girls went into the store to wait for the leader. The leader returned, running and wet. The girls did not know what was happening, the leader shouted at them, “A monster, run!”

The girls ran, while Evelyn asked the leader to look but the leader told her to run Evelyn swear that when she was big she would come to see if it was a real monster. From now on she has a daughter named Emma, Evelyn told Emma the story of the monster of the lake, Evelyn put the monster of the eternal lake why the leader said the lake was very deep. Evelyn and Emma went to the mountains, the same noise that Evelyn had heard that same night that it was camping when she was a girl, suddenly they heard the noises closer but they were not afraid. A while later it was so dark and the monster from the eternal lake came out and grabbed Evelyn and took her to the eternal lake her daughter Emma was screaming, she ran out to get help, she was so scared and nervous, she told everyone about the lake monster eternal and nobody believed him. Until a mysterious man came and told him to show the way, the man was armed with many weapons. Emma showed him the way they heard the noise very often until it was heard very close they hid and the monster came out of nowhere and the mystery man started firing, wounded the monster and was bleeding the monster went to the lake, Emma and the mysterious man They were waiting for the sunrise until they did not hear any noise was like no one could make any noise, they went to check and found the monster of the lake eternal dead, it was only to find Evelyn the mysterious man entered the water and did not go out for more 1 minute emma was very worried until she looked at the mysterious man holding his mother the mysterious man told Emma that one could breathe down there, so Emma that's why she took care that her mother had not died alone that she was in a trance. The next day his mother woke up and they lived happily ever after and the mysterious man stayed in the city.

- Britany Sierra (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Illustration: Isabella Montero (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

The Relative

The relative that makes me feel well fed The relative that falls asleep The relative that dances all the time The relative that lives in a different town The relative that has a lot of children The relative that goes to lower school The relative that goes on readys The relative whose name is weird The relative that’s a baby The relative that’s always involved The relative that loves you so much The relative that nobody likes.

- Regina Opara (4th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

- Image: Unique Price (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Kailyn Saboe (3rd grade French, Uptown campus)

- Eli Sanders (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus) -

- Taryn Lazarone (6th grade French, Uptown Campus)

The Handprint That Won't Wipe Off

Crazy, this job. I´m stuck in one of the world's most haunted places, cleaning up after other people. What comes around goes around, right? At least I get paid for it. Apart from that, my job is fine. Except for one thing. That handprint one the window by the stairs. It won’t come off. It’s the most peculiar thing. Tourists come to this place every day. They don’t notice the handprint. They just walk past it. But I know it’s there. It always will be if I don’t get it of. Some sleep here to get the ghostly experience. They say it is scary. The only thing that is scary is that handprint. Who did it belong to? How old is it? How will I get it off? My employer thinks everything is fine, that it is perfect for the “scary” vibe. Nobody will notice it but me, because only I can see it. They do not notice it. I scrub and scrub until I cannot anymore and it takes all my strength away. But, it could be the handprint itself draining my energy. Causing me to be tired the next day. It is doing it on purpose. It is there only for me, for me only. It wants to kill me!

Photo: Brandt Fischer (6th grade French, Uptown campus)

My purpose in life is to clean. But why stop at random things like candy wrappers. My duty in life is to clean off that handprint before it is too late. Before I get wiped out of existence. But wait! I could give the job to someone else. No, only I can see the handprint. I go to my doctor’s appointments regularly, but they say nothing is wrong. They say I’m just letting it get to me and that it probably isn’t real. But it is! Yet only I can see it. They all think I am seeing things. No I am not. I am only seeing the handprint.

I want to show them the handprint. They won’t listen. No one will. They always say it’s not there or that’s impossible. It will always be there you fools! I am getting sick of it. I go to seek advice from it. I know it will tell me how to clean it off. It must! I want to change the window. But no! I cannot, because it will still be there. It will still be there in my dreams. I must get rid of it! I ask Mr. Louis if he could give me some time off. He did. The handprint still haunted me in my dreams. It has a hold on me and will not let go! I must get rid of it! I couldn’t take it anymore. I got my trusty axe. I got my mask. In my car, I pondered. How would I show Mr. Louis the handprint. When I got there, I stood by his door and I could hear him talking to his secretary through his speaker. ¨Hey, Sandy. Where is Mr...eh...what's his name, Johny? Yeah, where is Mr. Johny?¨ he said. At that moment, I started breaking down the door. His screams filled the room with terror, exiting me. ¨Mr. Louis? Mr. Louis? Are you there? Mr. Johny is here! Hello?¨ said his secretary. I knocked him out with the butt of my axe and captured him. Before he would let out a scream, I tied him up and put him in the trunk of my car. The ride was splendid, hearing him mumble and yell in the back. ¨Where are you taking me you deranged monster?¨ he said. ¨To the handprint of course. Where else would we go?¨ ¨Back to my office where I can call the police on you!¨ Walking through the halls, I brought him to the handprint. ¨What is this madness?¨ he said. He could finally see it. I shoved him through the window. I heard him yell out in fear! I then saw no handprint. I have done my job. I can now rest in peace. But wait! Surely someone will notice that he is gone! But who? How? Why? I must get rid of them. But what of the scream? Surely someone else heard it. I must get rid of them too. I must get rid of all the evidence of the handprint. I disposed of Mr. Louis´s body, making sure no one will find him. The others will surely know. I went to go dispose of all them. It is the will of the handprint. So now I rot in prison. Doing as my master says. I always do as he says. I always will. He dwells everywhere. He dwells nowhere. Nobody else can see him. He is the handprint.

- Corbyn Thonn and Raul Zajur (7th grade French, Uptown Campus)

- Robert Squall (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Game

The game that’s broken The game that got me mad The game that is missing The game that’s cool The game that’s bad The game with Mario in it The game about coloring The game about baseball The game that’s animated The game that I am the best in.

- Yahir Valentin-Santiago (4th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

- Image: Dario Perdomo (3rd grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Unseen

May 5, 18--

Dear Mother,

This is Charlotte; I recently got transferred, well I wouldn’t say transferred. More like stolen out of my home, our home, (while I was still grieving, or suffering you could say) and brought to St. Vincent's Infant Asylum. It is a ‘home’ for sick and orphaned children, but I swear I’m not sick, I have no symptoms. No headache, loss of appetite, dizziness. I feel perfectly fine, except, of course, I still miss you. They think I am orphaned and physically I am, but spiritually you are always with me no matter what they say. I wish I could just prove it to them that you are still with me, but you won’t communicate with anyone but me. They must think I am crazy talking and writing to my dead mom, but I don’t care what they think. Honestly, I would rather be living in your, my, our, the house rather than this ‘home’ that isn’t even close to the real thing. Photo: Lilliana Hageman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus) Although I believe the children here are sick and peculiar, how would I know, for they don’t pay attention to me. They seem to always be out of it. Looking off into the distance as if they’re trying to find something late at night… I haven't spoken to one of them yet. I’ve tried, but they must not be able to hear me.

Photo: Lilliana Hageman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus) ✧✧✧ It’s Tuesday which means it’s been a whole week or maybe more. At this point I’m not counting. This place is dreadful, and no one talks to me, on the other hand I’m tired from staying up and thinking of what will happen next. So far I have remarked that everyone under the age of 5 and over the age of 15 interact purely on a level of necessity. Everyone else has friend groups or cliques almost like school except harder. (Not the academics of course, but the social aspect). I feel, for some reason, I don’t have a single friend. I even saw this girl, Evelyn, who came in two days ago but she already has all of the thirteen year olds calling her name. It’s not that people are purposely avoiding me, I wish it was that simple, it’s more that they don’t even notice me. It’s terribly scary and I don’t know what to make of it. I wish I could just slap one of them across the face and scream, “HELLO!!!”, but I’m not rude enough or brave enough to disobey the common sense you taught me as a child.

At lunch, I used to sit sit a table all alone but more recently (over the past few days, weeks, months, I stopped counting once I realized there was no hope of me getting out of here) I have become horribly desperate so I sit at the table across from Evelyn and all of her friends in hopes to become seen and noticed and maybe even popular, but my efforts are in vain. Is it too much to ask to have the respect to be looked and the respect to be thought of, considered, even talked to? Is it too much to ask mother? Or have I made an oversight in judgement, or done something to offend you? You have stopped talking to me along with everyone else, and I am worried for you. I have heard little whispers of girls and boys talking outside my room, in the cafeteria, and in the hallway that my room is haunted by a girl my age who died in my room over a decade ago. I find it a little, well- let’s just say creepy is an understatement, but I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary. It’s hot at night, especially in New Orleans (even though people say it’s always cold, at least when I come in the room). I don’t think I’m getting sick at least I hope not because I don’t want to die here alone and estranged. I know I am here because they think I am orphaned but you are always with me whether you will talk to me again or not. You will still always in my heart and you will never be gone. If they just asked me I would tell them you’re still alive if only they listened, but the staff of this place don’t seem to see me either…

Photo: Mariah Sanchez (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

I’m sick of nobody noticing me! It was fine for the first week or two but at this point I can’t. I can’t deal with it any longer, I might actually try a way to escape this place. People always at lunch talking or in the halls whispering always about the girl she’s everywhere! She’s in my dreams, in my head, she is invading my life! I need to calm down. Tomorrow I’m going to say hi to Evelyn. I’m sure she will be me friend. I know she’s nice. It’s dinner, and I saw Evelyn today. I was going to say hi but right before I sat down I heard her talking to her friends I had to sit close to her what she was talking about and it almost

felt like I was eavesdropping but they must of known I was there… they had to have noticed me. Finally, I got close enough to hear what she was saying she was talking about the girl, the one haunting my every waking move, the one making me insane. She said she figured out her name. “Her name is-” I ran out of the room. I had a feeling that something was wrong so I went with what’s left of my gut instincts and left… It was too much to take I felt too connected to this mystery girl. I felt too close to her, I couldn’t betray her, I couldn’t figure out so quickly.

✧✧✧ This is my last entry, For I realize what the girl died of. It was yellow fever. She got it from her dying mother and then she came here to this same asylum, in this same room I sit in right now, probably even on this same bed. Now I have realized why no one sees me; I realize why it gets cold when I enter the room. I hope you have figured it out too. Although it makes sense why I felt connected to her I wonder if I should have figured it out earlier, and maybe you should have too. If you’re smarter than I am or should I say than I was, you probably did figure it out. Congratulations to you! If you haven’t, though, I will leave you with only one last clue of who she is; I will tell you the name of the ghost girl that was haunting me, the girl that I resented, the girl … her name was Charlotte.

- Belle Adelman-Cannon (7th grade French, Uptown campus)

- Tallulah Basinger (4th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Elysium

“And they lived untouched by sorrow in the islands of the blessed along the shore of deep-swirling ocean, happy heroes for whom the grain-giving earth bears honey-sweet fruit flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods.”

- Hesiod, Works and Days (700 BC)

Between the moon’s The off-duty shaman High noon Looks out over the levee wall And the coming of dawn And watches as a tanker arrives A Mardi Gras Indian From Hong Kong, Of purple, of orange Silently pressing its bow wave Wanders through Into tomorrow The nocturnal neutral ground The crew 10 stories up Where Elysian Fields Avenue Dancing to Depeche Mode Becomes North Peters Street. From speakers in the captain’s bridge To celebrate their arrival In the lunar glow To New Orleans. He is mistaken for a lost Oleander Far from the brass remains of The sailors exchange glances his second line With the Indian Far from the scent who now stands on the levee, Of food cooked on the curb saluting to him as the sky ignites. He is the guardian to the gates He silently raises his staff Of Elysium. Approving their passage Through the aorta of America To the city Deeply stirred from joy.

Kyle Scott (6th grade ELA teacher)

Photo: Sidon Coleman (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

Hurricane Flags “It’s been 13 years since Katrina. Since, the park is closed and all the staff and visitors disappeared, the mayor ordered the police on 24 hour patrol, and there’s something inside that he doesn’t want us to know. Tonight I say we find out.” I said to my friend Benoit. I met him on an “expedition” into the Mayan Temples. We both had the same tour guide. While the guide had her back turned talking about the culture and such, I snuck away. Benoit followed. “Yes but uh —— how do you plan to get in?” “Leave that to me.” We hopped into my new hot Chevrolet, put the key in the ignition, and then started riding down Royal, took a left on Toulouse, dashed down Decatur, cruised down Conti, and parked in premium parking P402. Although we were just a mile away at 729 Royal, it took an hour to get there because there was a lot of traffic, and Benoit wanted to stay to see more paintings. “Could we not have walked? If we did we could get a baguette, “ Benoit asked. “For the fiftieth time, we don’t need a baguette!” I snapped. We hugged the fence until we came to the side of a building. No cameras, no pedestrians, and no one could see us because of a big dump truck giving of horrid smell. The only people there were Benoit, Chuck, and I. “About time,” said Chuck “I was about to pack up and head home.” “Where’s the stuff?” I demanded. “What stuff?” he smiled wickedly. “I believe he doesn’t know what we’re here for.” Benoit stated. “Chuck where are the tranquilizer darts and guns?” “Oh, you’re here for those. Back of the trailer, where’s the cash.” I pulled a small green brick out my pocket and handed it over to Chuck. As he was walking away, he turned around and asked: “Where’s the baguette?” “What?” I asked very confused. “It’s just that Benoit usually gives a baguette.” “We didn’t walk this time. Sorry.” Benoit apologized. As we pulled away, I told Benoit: “Remind me to grab a baguette on the way back.” We pulled over on the side of Lake Forest Boulevard, and exited the vehicle. Our plan was to sneak through the woods towards the front entrance. Then, take the uniforms of the police. And somehow come up with a distraction. Trekking in the forest, we found metal scraps flung all over the place. A giant Spongebob sign was stuck in the net of branches. We came into a clearing in the woods. I could see shadows moving in a pile of wreckage. I turned around to warn Benoit to be cautious, but before I could he was halfway down the clearing climbing over pieces of scrap metal yelling: “Bonjour. Who’s there?” “WHAT?” Called back a squeaky voice from behind the wreckage. I had a flashback to elementary school. I recognized the voice. “HELLO! IS THERE SOMEONE THERE?” The voice was awfully familiar. “George? Is that you?” I recalled my classmate’s voice from when we were in third grade. “Jackson?” He came out of the wreckage. He was wearing a ripped khaki shirt with navy pants. Besides his long blonde hair he looked exactly like his younger self.

“Where have you been?” “After I moved to New York, when I finished high school, I decided to go ahead and get a job down here in the Crescent City. I haven’t gotten a job opening since so I’ve been out here collecting stuff to fix and sell.” “Here. Have a piece of bread.” Benoit tossed him a piece of a baguette. “You want to come with us to sneak into that creepy place?” “Sure. The best scrap is in there.” Suddenly, a twig broke behind me. I got a glimpse of a black figure before it ran off into the woods. “Did any of y’all see that?” “See what?” They both asked in unison. We continued on our way towards the front entrance. We hid in the bushes. There were three guards, but we only had two darts. We would have to face one. We ate the baguette in silence, hoping that this worked. It was delicious, but of course the plan went haywire. We hit the first one in the neck (bless my aiming) but missed the second one (curse my aiming). Luckily, before he had time to react, a rock soared past my ear and hit the guard dead center in between eyes. The guard fell with a loud thud. The other guard turned, shooting in our direction, but didn’t know where we were hiding. George took a sheet of metal using it as a shield and got close enough to whack the officer. “What’s with all the shooting?!” A mad voice yelled on the walkie-talkie. I took the device and responded as real as I could make it sound, “Three armed men are running to Jazz Plaza.” Then I threw the device on the ground and shot three times at it. We took the uniforms of the guards. While the police where in the south, we would be in the west of the park. As we ran into the park, the glass entrance sign, crackled under our feet. We came across a ride location sign spray-painted with the words: “Welcome to Zombie Town Kids”. To the left of it there was a picture of a clown covered in blood. “UhJe ne pense pas this is a good idea.” Benoit said, his voice a bit shaky. “Come on man. It’s probably just fake blood from someone vandalizing this place.”

Although I believed what I had said, I couldn’t get the picture of that shadowy figure stalking us in the woods out of my head. “I’ve never seen this section of the park before.” Said George, “It’s almost always heavily guarded.” As we passed the “Spongebob Squarepants the Ride” his eyes seemed followed our path. Or maybe they did. Continuing in the Cajun Country section of the park, we walked into the Cajun Dance Hall. The place was total wreckage. The only place with sheetrock was the area around a door that said kitchen. A clanging noise was coming from the kitchen. I was the first one through the door, unfortunately for me. Standing over a chopping board stood a ginormous plastic lizard with a chef’s hat. On the chopping board was a severed ear and by the blood on a knife nearby, I didn’t think it was a prop. The plastic reptile slowly twisted its neck around the way you see in horror movies. The only exception: this wasn’t a movie. The inanimate object lunged quicker than I could get out of bed on Mondays. It opened its mouth to reveal blood stained paint. Stuck in it’s teeth were half a dozen vital organs I was pretty sure you couldn’t live without. I didn’t want to add to its collection. I clenched its mouth shut. I struggle with the reptile. George ran out of the room. The croc caught eye contact with me. In the beady eyes of the monstrous effigy I could see the souls of workers trapped inside. Then they were gone. George found a lead pipe, had tossed it to Benoit and he swung it right at the seam of the neck of the alligator. With a loud pop and a swarm of the smell of rotten flesh (you only need to smell it once to recognize it. Mummies are disgusting!), the possessed plastic was beheaded and the ectoplasmic forms vanished. George and Benoit pushed the massive 50 pound body of of me. “I th-think I know why th-this place is gu-guarded.” I said. My body was still shaking from the close encounter to death, but despite the severed ear that lay on the chopping board we continued through the park.

We moved on to Ponchatrain Beach, which was the largest section of the park. Since we knew kitchens weren’t safe we went to Midway Games and Arcade instead of Jazz Burger Cafe. Inside broken consoles were tipped on their side, screens cracked with electrical wires sprouting, and joysticks cracked in two. One console had even gotten stuck in the roof. Only three consoles had not broke but had severe water damage. “Pacman was my favorite game.” I said passing up one of the wet consoles. As soon as I stated my opinion, the three consoles turned on, two flashing “Pacman, Hit start to begin.” The other said “level 1” as if someone else already started the game. The only ghost in the game was Inky. “Should we play?” George asked. “Knock yourself out. I’m going to keep searching” I responded. “Je joue aussi.” said Benoit. George and Benoit both pressed their buttons. I was standing next to Benoit when the floor opened up beneath us. We fell onto a soft black foam floor with blue foam walls. When I looked up and saw a yellow gate I knew we were in trouble. I turned around. Benoit and George had three bars on their forehead. We were now the ghosts of Pac-Man. I was wearing blue for Blinky, Benoit had pink for Pinky, and George had orange for Clyde. Inky was another question. In the far left corner of the room sat a man in red robes. He was asleep with only one bar left. I went over and tapped his shoulder, “Wake up.” “Wh-what.” He got up and saw us. “Y’all are Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. With all four ghosts I think we can get out of here.” “And who are you?” I asked. “I’m Inky.” “I knew that. What’s your name.”

“I’m Dave the arcade manager. I came after Katrina to see what I could salvage but got stuck in here. One life left.” “Were going to help you get out.” Said George. Then he whispered to me, “How are we going to get out?” Leave it to Clyde to be stupid. “I think that the ghosts are faster than Pac-Man but not by much. When he eats the power cookie he can eat us and we become slower. For the first few rounds stay away as far away as you possibly can. The higher level Pac-Man gets, the faster we can run. Then I’ll chase him, Pinky will ambush him, Clyde do you and Dave you can choose to do whatever.” “Okay, the next round should be star” Dave was thrust forward toward the gates as they opened. The lights went off. When they came back on I was also out of the gates. Then I heard a distorted version of the Pac-Man start song. Then chomping. “The round has started.” I guessed. Running to the farthest edge of the plain, I could hear the chomping getting louder. I ran back to the ghosts start. The last one in the safe house was George. I ran past a cherry and found myself slowed down. Pac-man used the first power cookie. I ran towards screaming I heard in the distance. I saw Pac-Man chasing down Benoit (now dark blue). This wasn’t a Pac-Man it was a large black and red sphere drooling blood. Dark red beady eyes followed the color of my friends shirt. I ran after them. In about 2 seconds the power cookie’s effect would wear off. Then we could trap Pac-Man. “Benoit!” I yelled, “In two seconds turn around and stop.” “Are you crazy!” He yelled back. “Just do it!” When the effect wore off, Benoit stopped turned around and started chasing him. Pac-Man turned around and ran right into me. I could see the same shapes in the eyes of Pac-Man as I did in the alligator. The Pac-Man exploded. I was blown against the foamy wall, then everyone was teleported back to start. Everyone came over to me. “What’s with the new thing on your head?” Dave asked. I looked in the reflective yellow gate. The middle bar turned into a circle. “Guess I get another life for getting Pac-Man. The circle must mean two lives.” I said. “What happened to the plan?” asked Benoit. “Pac-Man was trapped in between us. There wasn’t that much time left on the power cookie so I ran after you so he would be trapped.” “What if this wasn’t like real Pac-Man.” he asked, “I could’ve died.” “But you didn’t.” The next round didn’t go as smoothly. To try and ambush Pac-Man, I yelled to George to go right, but of course Clyde went left and straight into Pac-Man as he got the power cookie. A disgusting belch emerged from Pac-Man as Georges eyes flew past me. The effect wore off. I was able to chase Pac-Man into George so he could get his life back. Pac-Man had one life left. Dave and I started out again. Since the ghosts where faster than Pac-Man, we decided to split up and flank him from both sides. Pac-Man was about to get the power cookie. Dave leaped to reach Pac-Man but missed. We turned blue. As soon as Dave got up he was decapitated by Pac-Man. It was Dave’s last life. His soul emerged from his body and joined the swimming pool of death. When we got out of here, he would be erased. I ran, but then I noticed something. Between the walls, floor and Pac-Man there was some space. Not a lot but enough that if I squeezed against the wall I wouldn’t get hit. That’s why

Pac-Man waited for Dave to get up. Pac-Man still raced after me. I decide to put this theory to test. I pushed against the foam wall making an indent the shape of my body. Every game has glitches. Four seconds left. Pac-Man ran off. I chased after him still blue. I reached at the last second. Then I turned backed light blue as I felt the warm radiation of Pac-Man’s plasma on my hand. We were all launched back to floor level. One of us didn’t make it. “Where’s Dave?” asked Benoit. “Pac-Man got him.” I said trying to hide the grief in my voice. There was a long pause. “We should get out of here.” suggested George. “Agreed.” I said. On our way back no one spoke. The signs swayed back and forth trying to get our attention to go inside, but all of us were no longer interested. We continued walking in silence, in the dark, wondering how this wretched place came to be.

We were almost certain we would get caught by the security, but Jazz Plaza was deserted. I hadn’t noticed it when we first walk in the park, but the Gazebo had blood on its roof and both the malls had blood stained windows. Only when I turned the corner I saw why this place was abandoned. Officers, S.W.A.T. team, and guards were hung from trees, poles, and some of them sat dead on the window sills of buildings. The rest lay unmoving in a circle around the dark figure I saw in the trees, but this time I could see him or her. Torn purple fabric surrounded a mannequin with wires and blood oozing from the tears. The face had a square jaw, double chin, and a green mask giving a cruel smile. He was also wearing a jester’s hat so I guessed he was from the Mardi Gras section of the park. He charged at Benoit. George jumped and pushed him out the way. Then they rolled over and got up, but the jester was faster. George was stabbed in the back, but Benoit got away. George’s last words were, “Run!” Both him and the mannequin crumpled over. The mannequin stopped attacking us surprisingly. Benoit and I were walking away when we heard someone getting up. I turned around and I was George. “George?” I asked alarmed. “George is dead.” he mused, “And next I’ll take your head!” he finished in a warped, angry, distorted version of George’s voice. He gave the same cruel smile then once more attacked us. The jester dashed and flung Benoit onto a mall wall then ran over and snapped his neck. There was no way I could escape. He knocked me out. When I regained consciousness I was tied to a pole next to the entrance. Benoit was hanged on one side of the entrance gate and there was a noose on the other calling my name. They were connected by a sign that read, “Come out, come out, to play!” The jester came and hoisted me on the noose. To make my suffering worse, before I died he nailed the sign onto my stomach as a greeting for fellow explorers.

- Vladimir Nogueira (7th grade French, Uptown campus)

- Jack Wilkinson (6th grade Spanish, Uptown campus)

The Art of New Orleans Architecture

Photos: Robert Squall (6th grade Spanish, Uptown Campus)

The Mystery of the Mort Family

If you are interested in happy endings, you would be better off reading a different story. In this story not only are there no happy endings but there is no happy beginning. This is because not many happy things happened to the lives of the family of fours Morts. In 2002 a family with a daughter named Christina Mort, a son named Charles Mort and a dad and a mom. Chuck Mort and Annabelle Mort They were a pretty normal family. Apart from the part where all of their names had something with death. Mort is death in French, so I guess they were destined to die together. They went on a family trip to the Six Flags theme park in New Orleans. The first ride they decided to ride was the Mega Zeph, he tallest roller coaster in the whole amusement park. There was a malfunction with the safety device meant to keep it from sliding backwards. The cart in front of them fell back and the family of four got decapitated. The weird thing about it is that the bodies were never found but the heads were. Six other people were seriously injured but they survived. Three years later, Hurricane Katrina hit and the park was destroyed. In 2010 trespassers started reporting paranormal activity. One teenager by the name of Carter said he saw writing in blood on a wall near the bathrooms spelling out “ Christina “. After the policeman saw the report, David Williams went to search and found nothing, the theme park was just normal. A week later, David Williams went missing leaving his wife and kids alone. His wife did everything to help but he was not found. The search for the man went on for two months. One day, a local woman discovered David’s head and no body near the wetlands by Six Flags. In complete fear, the woman went to the police , the search of Officer David Williams was covered. Three months later, three teens got arrested for trespassing, they were playing the Ouija board and said they saw the bodies of Christina and Charles when they looked through the planchette. The police paid no attention to it as they knew Christina and Charles were long gone. The bodies were never found but they may have wanted to take a closer look. One week later, one teen committed suicide by shooting herself in the head with a gun. Her father was not home at the time but when he heard of it he did not know where she got the gun, he didn't have one in the house. Her neighbors said she was screaming at Christiana to stop singing. The two other teens were found dead in a car crash on Six Flags Dr. . One day Detective Manny Washington said “Enough is enough, we need to find justice for the three teens and Officer David “ . A year later they still had nothing just more and more disappearances and deaths revolving around the Six Flags. Until one day a strange braken entry happened at the police station. It was a group of four people, 2 younger and 2 older. They checked back at the security camera footage and it was quite strange. They saw nobody, just doors flying open and glass breaking as if the group of people were ghost. Finally a week later the building had disappeared altogether. The only thing left were the body of Officer David Williams with a dirty old picture of the Mort family in his pocket …

- Mico Fuji Williams and Capri Bobadilla (7th grade French, Uptown campus)

In Memoriam: Stan Lee (1922 - 2018), by Eli Sanders (6th grade)