MERCER COUNTY 2011 Brian M. Hughes Mercer County Executive The Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders Ann M. Cannon • Anthony P. Carabelli John A. Cimino • Pasquale “Pat” Colavita, Jr. Samuel T. Frisby • Andrew Koontz • Lucylle R.S. Walter Office of Economic Development and Sustainability Elizabeth Maher Muoio, Director Division of Culture and Heritage Idamis Perez Margicin, Chief Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission Milagros Medina, Chair • Brian O. Hill, Vice Chair Nora Ananos • Laura Desai • Deborah Ford Dr. Howard Goldstein • Mel Leipzig• Ted Plunkett Cover design by Amy Runyon 2011 Teen Arts Festival is coordinated by A Celebration of the Arts Mercer County Culture & Heritage Division. This Festival and Literary Anthology is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the Mercer County Creative Writing Anthology New Jersey State Executive and the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Council on the Arts Table of Contents This Literary Anthology is the result of the hard work and dedication of the following Literary Arts students: Nancy Badilla An Eye Opening Summer . .1 Madeline Price Shallow Sea . .2 Nancy Badilla, Capital Prep Charter High School Cressie Barlow To Me . .2 Cressie Barlow, Capital Prep Charter High School Maeve Humphreys The 21st Century “Global Citizen” . .3 Kristen Barroso, Capital Prep Charter High School Caoimhe O'Sullivan Roche Essay . .4 Emily Pham Madame’s Poetry . .5 Jaire Battle, Capital Prep Charter High School Kristen Barroso Revenge is… Satisfying . .6 Te’Asia Burris, Capital Prep Charter High School Joseph Rejent Dancing in the Headlights . .8 Leslie Caceros, Capital Prep Charter High School Madeline Price Observations of the Pine Barrens . .9 Shyheim Russell, Capital Prep Charter High School Ipsita Rao The Letter . .10 Caoimhe O'Sullivan Roche, Lawrence High School Zonia Rueda My School . .12 Madeline Price, Lawrence High School Grace Townsend Untitled . .13 Olivia Davis, Lawrence Middle School Zonia Rueda Mi Escuela . .13 Mariefred Evans, Lawrence Middle School Shyheim Russell The Akuma Chronicles . .14 Integra Feliciano, Lawrence Middle School Leanna Smith The Hope Trilogy . .15 Maeve Humphreys, Lawrence Middle School Sujay Shetty Untitled . .16 Emily Pham, Lawrence Middle School Integra Feliciano I Have Power . .17 Kevin Quis, Lawrence Middle School Marcus Sanders Believe It’s True . .17 Ipsita Rao, Lawrence Middle School Jake Verga Untitled . .18 Emily Hayes Looking Back . .19 Leanna Smith, Lawrence Middle School Olivia Davis A Storm in the Pacific . .20 Sujay Shetty, Lawrence Middle School Cassie Spain The Scene That Celebrates Itself . .21 Patrick Thornton, Lawrence Middle School Patrick Thornton Biography of a Swimmer . .22 Grace Townsend, Lawrence Middle School Te’Asia Burris Rubies Among Diamonds . .23 Jake Verga, Lawrence Middle School Kevin Quis The Wolfs Howl . .24 Passion Davis, Mercer High School Mariefred Evans A Country Life . .25 Michael Hartnagel, Mercer High School Jaire Battle Gentleman’s Code . .26 Emily Hayes, Mercer High School Michael Hartnagel Wake Up! . .26 Miguel Saez, Mercer High School Shadura Lee Infected . .27 Marcus Sanders, Mercer High School Unique Crawford The Rise and Fall of Eve . .28 Jessica Servis, Mercer High School Sarah Freeman Schizophrenic Nightmare . .29 Zonia Rueda, Princeton Friends School Jessica Servis Addictions . .29 Jascynt Pecco Nature’s Bud . .30 Sarah Freeman, Robbinsville High School Passion Davis One Cold Night . .31 Joseph Rejent, Robbinsville High School Leslie Caceros Promise in the Dark . .32 Cassie Spain, Robbinsville High School Miguel Saez Slashed Skies . .32 Unique Crawford, Trenton Central High School Shadura Lee, Trenton Central High School Jascynt Pecco, Trenton Central High School Cover design by Amy Runyon 2011 Mercer County Teen Arts Creative Writing Anthology 2011 Mercer County Teen Arts Creative Writing Anthology Promise in the Dark An Eye Opening Summer Leslie Caceros Nancy Badilla Sometimes when one door of happiness closes, another may open up. Yet you may As I fastened the last button on the ugly burgundy shirt, I glanced down to my name be so willing for the closed door to open you don’t even bother to open a new door. tag. “Nancy Badilla. Food Services. Six Flags Great Adventure.” I began to talk to my- It’s sad to hold on to things that cause us more pain than happiness, yet I chose to self, My first job. I can't screw this up, Mami is counting on me. At only fourteen years of live this beautiful lie, when I already know the hideous truth. It’s foolish that I sit here age, I shared the responsibility of supporting my family. With a bundle of nerves, I every night and cry about it, rather than telling you about it. But I guess sometimes my walked into the restaurant where I would spend the next couple of months, serving tears are the words my heart is too reluctant to speak up. pizza to the theme park crowd. You promise you love me, and she’s just a friend, but I feel like your promises mean “Don’t be nervous,” Vera, my manager said, “You’re smart; it'll be a piece of cake. nothing, and are equal to a promise made in the dark. I don’t think you will ever fully Just remember greet, take the order and deliver the food to their hands.” comprehend what you really mean to me. I take all this unnecessary pain because I “Yeah, piece of cake, got it,” I replied as she continued to rumble on, explaining how don’t want to imagine my life without you. I’ve gave our relationship my all, and I won’t to use the touch screen menu scattered with fast food items. I was beginning to daze stop now, not for her. off when my first customer appeared through the window. I promised I would never leave your side, and I’m still here, after all the broken "Excuse me, do you guys serve pies?" the customer asked. promises and shattered dreams. The situation is truly confusing because I’m tired of Pies? Doesn't he see that this is a pizzeria? I thought to myself. “No" I replied. The being lied to, but I just can’t let you go. I know there is no worst way of being blind, than customer walked away in disbelief. choosing not to see, yet I sit here and blindfold myself. "Nancy, a pie is a whole pizza. This is a pizzeria. We do indeed sell pies," clarified …….And so maybe I should open up a new door, because it would seem best, but Vera. At that second, I felt as if I had just shown my foreign underwear to the entire for now I remain blind, and I find myself trapped in the darkness of lies. theme park. I could not believe that six years in this country had not taught me such a simple synonym. After moving from Costa Rica at the age of eight, I was a little sensi- tive about my grammar mistakes. I kept replaying the incident in my mind, making it a little bit worse each time. I constantly looked over to the clock, counting down the min- utes until it was time to go back home. When I arrived home, I launched onto my bed as if it was a pile of feathers. The next morning I woke up still tired and suddenly I wanted a cup of coffee. I was surprised that this new experience came with new morning cravings. I was determined Slashed Skies to begin a new day with fewer mistakes this time. As I kept working that summer, I Miguel Saez made fewer mistakes and I realized that no one saw me as a lesser person for the mis- take I made, instead I was seen for my hard work and reliability. Slashed skies with no clouds, Nothing by darkness. On the last day at Six Flags, ready to hand my uniform in, I ran into Vera. "Hey Always dark, no light. Nancy, before you get going, I wanted to ask you if you were interested in working Not even rain. weekends at the restaurant of a friend of mine? I was telling him what a diligent and Day after day always darkness. motivated worker you are," she said. Although I politely declined Vera's offer, deciding People feeling depressed, to focus on school, I left Six Flags that August night standing taller than I had in June. People feeling hurt. On my first day, I was a self-conscious teen worried about the ways in which my immi- Slashed Skies are very silent grant status might limit me. On the last day, however, I walked out a self-assured young Not a sound woman who had just realized that the sky is the limit. There will never be blue skies Never to be found. 32 1 2011 Mercer County Teen Arts Creative Writing Anthology 2011 Mercer County Teen Arts Creative Writing Anthology Shallow Sea but be stabbed from the front i was withering Madeline Price like a spring flower in the winter Did I dare enter the dark water and face the unknown? I couldn’t tell what slimy so i flew beasts I might encounter or whether they would welcome my presence. Nonetheless, I to the furthest of the meadows took the plunge. I volunteered to go seining in the bay on that radiant July morning as I the closet to the horizon, realized I had to seize this opportunity to make the most out of the day’s wetland ad- the sun was shining, venture. The water was warm and refreshing, nearly comforting, as it slowly blanketed golden tears dripping into the oceans my body.