It was a hot mid-July afternoon, as I recall, the day I finally decided to make a brave attempt to talk to her. She was sitting on her front porch, eating an orange popsicle, reading Teen Vogue magazine, and wearing short cut-off’s and a loose black T-shirt that had a logo of a band I had never heard of imprinted on it. She looked approachable enough.

As I made my way to her house, the butterflies in my stomach grew increasingly. I approached quietly as if maybe the sound of my feet might make her mad—I don’t really understand why I was so terrified.

She looked up from her magazine and for that quick second I honestly thought I was going to make a run for it but reality took hold of me when a genuine smile appeared on her face.

 “Hi!” She greeted me. “You live next door, right?”

I smiled, hoping to seem confident and as mature as she did. “Yeah. I’m Peyton.”

She put down her magazine. “Nice name. I’m Hallie.”

I nod and smile, unsure of what to say next. She looks off into distance as I let my brain race of ideas of what to say next. I wonder what she’s thinking.

 “So…” We both began to say at the same time. We both laugh.

“You talk.” Hallie insists.

“Well, I don’t really know what I was going to say.” I admit sheepishly.

Hallie laughed. “Me neither.”

From there, we began to talk about everything—our favorite bands, foods, celebrity crushes, and animals. I told her about the immature boys in town and she told me about the cute jerks from where she was from. I told her how it was like living in Riveredge my whole life and she told me how it was like moving from place to place every year

I nearly didn’t realize that it was getting dark until my mother told me to come home.

Hallie and I exchanged hugs and good-bye’s, promising each other to hang out again the next day.

 Day after day, we began to hang out. We shared magazines, sleepovers, secrets, and plenty of good times. She was now my best friend and I was her best friend. We understood each other. By the time we started our first year of high school in September, we were inseparable.

 Now, we were in the second semester of our ninth grade year. By this time, I knew Hallie almost as well as myself. I knew she was not as perfect as I thought she was when I had first met her. She had problems like every normal teenager; probably even more so than me.

Her parents were constantly fighting these days which ended in Hallie running to my house in tears. She’d cry and complain as I hold her it’d all be okay even though we both knew there was no guarantee that it would. It was beginning to become a normal routine.

Things got worse for Hallie. Her older sister, Tiffany, was arrested for possession and use of marijuana. Later, her dad, too, was arrested for abusing her mom. It was only her mom and her living at home now, but Hallie was at my place most of the time anyway; she couldn’t stand to see her mother sit on the couch, pretend to watch TV, and smoke.

 “I can’t stand this, Peyton.” Hallie told me. We both sat cross-legged on my bed across from each other.

I take her hand and give it a little squeeze. “It’ll be okay.” This was my line.

Hallie looks down. “I hope so.” This was her line.

We sat in silence for awhile, just listening to the sounds of the birds chirp happily outside my window. It sounded peaceful and joyous but for us, it was only a cover-up for the sadness.

 “My mom wants to send me off for foster care.” Hallie whispers.

“What?” I exclaim. “Why?”

“She says she wants me in a better environment with people who can take care of me.”

I can feel my heart drop to the dark pit in my stomach, the place where all my happiness seems to go. “No…You can’t go.”

“There’s nothing certain yet.”

 “I don’t care. You can’t go.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You can stay with me.”

Hallie breaks down into tears. “I just want things back the way they were.”

 I wrap my arms around her in a big hug. I let her stain my new shirt with her tears.

 Well, it turned out Hallie did have to go into foster care. The good thing was that she ended up with a really caring family. I barely ever got to see her anymore. We wrote letters to each other all the time. We’d send each other little gifts through the mail. She was still my best friend and she would always be.

I received another letter from her. This is what it said:

 Dear Peyton, The family I am living with now is really wonderful. They are so kind and so loving. I love my foster siblings. They are all younger than me but I like being the ‘big sis’ for a change. Nothing else is really new from my last letter but the truth is, even though it saddens me to be away from you, I am much happier here than I was with my real family. There isn’t so much drama here. What a relief, hey?

 I hope you are doing great as well. I hope that you are happy now too. And I just thought I should let you know that I really appreciate you being there for me and being such a wonderful friend. To be honest, I had thought about suicide so many times back then but you were what kept me alive. You were—and are!—such a great friend who anybody is lucky to have. Keep on being you because you are my hero…You saved my life.

 All my love and a thousand hugs,

Hallie

After I read this, I cried. A happy cry, though, for the first time in a long time. I thought I was so lucky to have Hallie as a friend because she was so intriguing. I didn’t think I could mean that much to someone else.

 I miss Hallie tremendously but I am touched by the effect the presence of her in my life did to me. She taught me a lesson in life: Everybody needs a friend and don’t let people fool you into believing that some don’t. Maybe even you could end up saving someone’s life.

THE END

Speak to us of Children.

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,

not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

-Kahlil Gibran

For if dreams die

Life is a broken winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

-Langston Hughes

*Penelope is suppose to be my best friend. We’ve grown up together. We promised eachother to be best friends forever…no matter what happens. …But *Penelope seems to break a lot of promises to me these last few weeks. She’s not the same anymore. She’s different…she’s not my best friend–she’s a different person now.

I kept denying it at first. I kept thinking that somehow I could break through, somehow she was still my best friend. All the things she’s lying to me about, I thought I could just give her time and soon she’d tell me. But no…not yet. She kept promising me that she wasn’t hiding anything from me nor lying to me…but I know the things she isn’t telling me. I know her promises can’t mean anything to me anymore. I can’t lie, it hurts so bad…like a knife that repeatedly keeps stabbing me….and the worse part? She doesn’t seem to care anymore.

Today I looked at her. All I could see was the body of my once best friend…somebody else’s soul is living in there now. I can’t stop but wish that someday my best friend will reclaim her spot in this world…and the imposter living in her body will leave. All I can do now is move on and let her be. She doesn’t need me anymore, and I won’t ever need her. Yet still…..*Penelope, I miss you…Please come back…You know who you are.

-Zoey94

*Name has been changed.

Opinion A: YES THEY SHOULD BE BANNED.

*Fireworks are dangerous mixtures of chemicals. When ignited they can explode in unpredictable ways. People have been terribly injured through the unsafe use of fireworks.

*Fireworks displays pollute the environment. The reactants involved can produce nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, both of which are poisonous gases and produce acid rain. Noise pollution is also created.

*Fireworks are very expensive, and they last for only a few seconds. We would be better off using the money to celebrate special occasions in other ways.

*Selling fireworks is selling EXPLOSIVES. The bomb in the Admiral Duncan Pub was made out of fireworks. It’s strange to think that the government does not consider this.

Opinion B: NO THEY SHOULD NOT BE BANNED!

*Fireworks are a traditional way of celebrating for some cultures. The move to prevent fireworks could be seen as discriminating against those groups.

*People who want to use fireworks will continue to do so outside the city. In wooded areas or farmlands far from emergency services, the risk of fire or accident would be greater.

*Firework displays that mark special events promote tourism and bring economic benefits to the community.

*Fireworks may be dangerous, if not used safely but cigarettes are dangerous, so are bricks, and cars….and etc….Why not just ban everything?

Anyway, please let me know your opinion on whether or not you think fireworks should be banned and why or why not.

It’s not like I’m even good at this job. To tell you the truth, I’m not that impressed with designer fragrances. I mean, what exactly do they put in the bottle that makes it cost so much? Ground diamonds? Nearly extinct flora?  Every time some woman stops, sniffs her wrist, and murmurs, “Well, that’s a delightful scent,” I nearly say, “Yeah, but so is spring fresh Tide, and they don’t charge a hundred dollars a bottle for it.”

Never once have I told a woman, “Yes, it’s expensive, but you’re worth it,” or “It will drive men crazy.” The only man this perfume will drive crazy is your husband, and that’ll be when you inform him how much it cost.

¯-It’s a Mall World After All (novel, Janette Rallison)¯  

((You can buy ‘It’s a Mall World After All’ on EBay.))

[11.] And now you’re laughing at your stupidity.  Feel free 2 copy and paste this on to ur profile!

Dear Mrs. Samsel,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Samsel are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people’s carts when they weren’t looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5 minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women’s rest-room.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, ‘Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away’

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&M’s on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved the ‘CAUTION – WET FLOOR’ sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping
department and told other shoppers he’d invite them in if they would bring pillows and
blankets from the bedding department..

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, ‘Why can’t you people just leave me alone?’

9. September 4th: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the ‘Mission Impossible’ theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his ‘Madonna Look’ by using different sizes of funnels

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled

‘PICK ME! PICK ME!’

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed a fetal

position and screamed ‘OH NO! IT’S THOSE
VOICES AGAIN!’ and last, but not least

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, ‘Hey! There’s no toilet paper in here!’

Note: This is a true article that was printed in a southern newspaper less then a year ago

TAKE A DEEP BREATH BEFORE READING THIS

There was an atheist couple who had a child. The couple never told their daughter anything about the Lord. One night when the little girl was 5 years old, the parents fought with each other and the dad shot the Mom, right in front of the child. Then, the dad shot himself. The little girl watched it all. She then was sent to a foster home. The foster mother was a Christian and took the child to church. On the first day of Sunday School, the foster mother told the teacher that the girl had never heard of Jesus, and to have patience with her. The teacher held up a picture of Jesus and said, ‘Does anyone know who this is?’ The little girl said, ‘I do, that’s the man who was holding me the night my parents died.’

If you believe this little girl is telling the truth that even though she had never heard of Jesus, he still held her the night her parents died, then you will forward this to as many people as you can.

Or you can delete it as if it never touched your heart.

Funny, isn’t it?

Funny how simple it is for people to

trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell.

Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says. (Or is it scary?)

Funny how someone can say ‘I believe in God’ but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also ‘believes’ in God).

Funny how you can send a thousand ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.

Funny how we can go to church for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week. (Are you laughing?)

Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me. (Are you thinking?)

Pass this on only if you mean it.

Yes , I do Love, God!

I never wanted to believe that you could lie
That friends deceive
And here I stand I’m still the same
I watched you change
You wont come back

[Chorus]
I wonder what it’s like to be like you
(I wonder what it’s like to be like you)
To never really care how bad it hurts
(To never really care how bad it hurts)
So go ahead and lie and keep moving on
It’s all about yourself and you’re never wrong
I’ll watch you crash and burn

The day is gone
It’s cold out
I walk alone as you fade out
I don’t know why I’m reaching out
And now I know you wont come back

[Chorus]

Do you remember the days?
Way back when we used to say
Nothing can change us
No one will stop us
I’ll never be like you

I’ll watch you crash and burn
You’re never wrong and you keep moving on
[4x]