As I said in a previous post I've been working a lot on my dance, harp, piano, and writing talents. During the school year my English class was given an assignment to write an essay on the things that high school teens carry. This subject ran through my head for a week before (I'm sorry to say) last minute, I actually sat down and wrote it. Since then, I've taken time and made some changes to my essay and decided to post it for people to read. Hope you enjoy.
The Things They Carried
They walk to an underlying beat. Their steps blend into a melody consisting of dramatic, melancholy, and upbeat moods to create the movement of their story. The tones of their paces reflect their individual lives. Some are influenced by the things they carry and yet some manipulate their situations to carry what defines them.
The bag pulses with a rhythmic drop, resulting from the deep pull of gravity toward the earth. Weightless thoughts rush through the carrier’s head as she rushes on through her schedule. She worries about her many grades, her fitting behavior, and her constant focus on the work placed before her. She overworks her intellect and deprives herself of sleep on a daily basis, hoping that what she learns is sufficient to either her parents’ lost legacy or her hope of a successful life.
He walks through the hallway, his muscles, bones, tendons and all else throbbing with the pain of hours of exercise. He stands tall, trying to carry the weight of the eyes around him, always watching for a slip in character to gossip about. His bag isn’t heavy with books or learning material because of the need to make room for his sports equipment, cologne, I-pod, and any other object to boost his status. He carries in his heart the hopes of gaining a scholarship through his athletic ability, knowing he won’t do well otherwise.
She carries the knots in her hair, the dirt under her fingernails, and the bruises from constant impact from an unnamed being’s beatings. Why should she tell? She carries the weight of her jailed up mother and drugged up father, keeping them as certain reminders of the life she wants to avoid but seems tied to. Her feet drag her on, creating the constant bass-line of the sonata of life. She hides away her personal drugs, hoping soon to find a place to hide and get away from reality. Although she wants to stop, the addiction only pulls her farther in. She carries no hope.
These lives all differ and yet all connect. They create different parts of a melody, some notes recognized more than others and some playing part as the constant beat keeping everyone else in line. Their paths cross and parts unify and harmonize to create the complicated lives of modern day teenagers.
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Keep reading my posts and let me know its being read. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this.
Until I write again,
Alina Lauren Cooper
1 comment:
you're soooo good at this. keep it up! i love reading what you have to say :)
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