Category Archives: Fiction

Finn

Posted on by Standard Respond

By:Max

It was a sunny day in Virginia beach. Finn and his family were down by the beach enjoying the warm sand and the cool ocean. Then, suddenly, Finn thought he saw a fin. He went berserk. “SHAAAAAAAAARK!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. He tried to move every one out of the water. The fin was coming closer, and closer, and closer. It was twenty feet from the shore when his 5 year old sister said, “That’s a shark floaty”. Finn felt his face get hot, “false alarm everybody” he said with a meek laugh. He heard giggling from a group of girls walking by. He back to his house. Alone. He figured that he may of overreacted a little, but it wasn’t his fault. When he was 5, he loved the ocean. He went out there everyday. Then one day, when he was out on the beach with his dad, his dad froze. He was looking at what Finn thought was him, but actually at the shark right behind him.

 

He panicked and stopped for a moment. Then he realized that he needed to swim as fast as he could. He was almost out of the water when, “CHOMP”, he looked back and saw red in the water. He lost his big toe. From then on, he had been extremely afraid of a shark coming onto the beach.

 

When Finn got home he had a snack and then fell asleep watching tv. He awoke to his parents coming home at midday for lunch. They told Finn to make himself some lunch and invited him to come back down to the beach with them. He agreed to because he was bored and there was nothing good to watch. So on the walk back to the beach, they talked about overcoming his fear of sharks coming onto the beach. “but fear is natural and it keeps you safe” he argued. “well too much fear is also bad, you need to have confidence in yourself” his mom told him. “when we get to the beach, I am going to go out into the open water and show you that it is completely safe.” his father said.

 

They got back to the beach and set up their shelter and all of them walked down to the water. Finn’s family kept walking into the water but Finn stopped. “I’m going to stay here, the water is kinda cold.” he said to excuse himself from getting into the water. “Okay, but you watch and see that it’s safe.” his dad told him. He watched as his dad swam away from the shore. “Ten feet, twenty feet, thir- hey wait is that a shark fin?” he yelled to his dad. His dad responded “no it’s just a porpoise, like I told you, this water is completely safe”. He was out about 100 feet around where Finn had seen the porpoises. “see look, I’m fine!” he yelled to Finn as a wave went by. “Where” Finn yelled back. There was no response. Then there was a crash as a legion of jets came by, shattering the windows of nearby buildings. Then they flew away to the aircraft carrier in the distance.

 

The shark was gobbling down everything in it’s path, “Gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble gobble!” then there was a deafening roar as the jets came back and  started shooting at the shark. The shark just ate them and expelled them with extreme force at the jets. “The jets are getting hit!” Finn screamed. His mom heard “I wanna throw a fit” and replied “why, that won’t do anything”. Finn heard “Fly, cat front to my ring”. Then suddenly there was a hiss as a missile was released. Then there was a boom louder than anything Finn had ever heard. when the smoke cleared, they saw that it was raining shark guts. Then the shark guts turned gray, then they grew fins, and mouths.
The shark had multiplied then the jets started shooting them. “why are they doing that? they’ll just shoot them back.” But then Finn realized that there weren’t bullets going up, but the babies were vaporizing. The Jets flew away when the sharks were gone. “phew” Finn felt relieved. Finn’s family left the beach happy that nobody got hurt. They continued going to that beach and never had another problem about sharks. Finn didn’t quite get rid of his fear of sharks, but after the run-in with the mutant shark, he was much happier to go into the ocean because he knew that if he was in trouble, help would come.

Loops of Fear

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Hayden

 

The summer of 2014 me and some friends went to Busch Gardens, I was about 12 years old and only went on a couple roller coasters. But my friends have been telling me that Busch Gardens have the scariest roller coasters ever. I had just got into the car and I was really scared.

“Have you ever rode the Griffin I heard some fell of and plummeted 100 feet down to the ground”, said Kyle.

As soon as he said that I got really scared and didn’t know what to do. I was a scared like it was the end of the world.

“He is just joking”, said Jack. I was relieved that Jack said that.

We pulled up into the parking lot and saw the crowds of cars and I could even see how big the roller coasters were.

“ We should go to the smaller roller coasters first then hit the bigger ones later”, said Jack. I was so relieved after he said that now I have some time. We got into groups. I was paired up with my best friend Kyle and we went to the Lochness Monster the oldest roller coaster there. As we got in line my heart was beating really hard it felt like I ran a couple miles. Me and Kyle were now up to the front row and I  became really scared. As we went into our seats, I sat down and buckled up. As the rollercoaster started to move I saw all of the loops and spins and  I felt like I was going to throw up so I decided to just close my eyes and wait until the roller coaster was over. But as we got towards the end of the roller coaster it seemed like it was really fun. I decided to open my eyes and as I took a little sneak peek, it looked really awesome. As we got of the roller coaster I was really happy like I won the lottery.

“That wasnt that bad was it”, said Kyle. I told him yes it wasn’t and I was really happy because that was one of my first roller coasters. We rode it a couple more times. Then we met up with the rest of the group to have lunch at the buffet. I walked into the line and I saw all the luxurious foods and just picked up everything I could. As soon as I sat down I dove right in shoving food down my mouth. We finished all of our food and we decided to go to the scariest roller coaster there and it was called the Griffin. I was kind of scared but I knew 100 percent that I could do this.  We made our way into the line but we saw that there were a ton of people wanting to ride this amazing roller coaster. It took awhile but we made our way up into the front of the line. We got into our seats and I was really scared but I knew i could do it.

“You’re going to be fine it’s just like the Lochness Monster”, said Kyle. I went into my seat and buckled up and was ready for the roller coaster. The roller coaster started to move and I closed my eyes. All of the sudden I found out that we were going up and I opened my eyes and saw that we were inclined. Once we got  all the way to the top we stopped for about 10 seconds and the roller coaster took off. The roller coaster was as fast as a jet and it was really scary. But all the sudden I was having so much fun and when they stopped the roller coaster I knew I wanted to ride every roller coaster in this amusement park.

“That wasnt that bad, I said to my friend Kyle. Then me and Kyle went to as many roller coasters as we could before we would have to meet up with our full group. The next roller coaster we went on was called the Alpengeist and I was a little worried about this one. Since I rode a lot of the roller coaster I knew I shouldn’t be afraid of this one.  We buckled as normal and the roller coaster started moving as we started moving Kyle said that this one was probably the scariest one here. That messed up my confidence a little and my heart started to beat rapidly again. There was a lot of loops and turns and I felt like I was going to throw up. I was really happy I did not. The rest of that trip was amazing, I had tons of fun with my friends and I rode a bunch of roller coasters and got over my fear. We went back to the hotel to go to sleep after a long day of fun.

“Are we going to go back to the amusement park”, I asked in excitement.

“Yes of course we are”, Kyle had said back to me. As I was falling asleep I thought about how much fun I had overcoming my fear and how it took a lot of courage. I woke up early in the morning ready to have some more fun. I rushed to wake everybody up so we could get there early. We got in the car and made our way to the amusement park. When we went into the parking lot I saw no cars and I was really happy that we could ride a lot of more roller coasters. But there was still one roller coaster that I haven’t went on yet. We made our way to the to the roller coasters and rode a them for a while. In this trip I overcame my fear and it took a lot courage to do that.

The Inescapable Abyss

Posted on by Standard Respond

No matter what someone might say, everyone is afraid of their own mortality, simply because it is inescapable. Impermanence has been a universal concern for as long as humans have existed, and it is the inevitability to rule all others. Perishability is having a single life that can be ended at any point in time for any reason, and once it ends, you get no more chances. Transience looms above the world, observing the widespread and immense fear that it has created with its own mere presence.

Not so long ago, Drake’s song “The Motto” sparked a revolution among people of all ages and walks of life. The phrase mentioned in the song is “YOLO”, meaning You Only Live Once. This also means that there is a certain pressure on younger people to live their lives to the fullest, predicting that the future will be horrifying if not nonexistent, leaving regrets of not having more fun while you could. The general idea of YOLO is lighthearted and fun, encouraging young people to have fun while their youth allows, but when you get to the core of the slogan, it is actually quite morbid, and people quickly realised the morbidity. A few popular pop songs were released soon after the slogan grew, like One Direction’s “Live While We’re Young”, and even Vampire Weekend’s entire album Modern Vampires of the City, touching on how most people associate their adult life with death. One song from Vampire Weekend’s album’s title perfectly describes this concept, titled Diane Young (it’s a pun and a great song ( Check it out )). The pop culture world just brushed these upbeat songs off, neglecting to realise the real meaning of them. The rise of YOLO has only increased the immense fear of mortality, indicating that death is creeping upon us while we enjoy our youth. The simple fear of transience is what drove the YOLO slogan to its international fame.

Another focus is that most people feel that they wasted their youth, resulting in a sad adult life (and sometimes, sadly, suicide). Teenagers and young adults are doing more with their lives than ever before, and while this is a good thing, it also results in them doing reckless activities that they might not have even dreamed of doing before the rise of YOLO and the pressure on youths. The simple truth is that people are stressing themselves out too much trying to do more exhilarating things in their life that the forget to actually live their life how they want, only slightly outside their comfort zone. Ephemerality is having only one life that can be ended any minute by an infinite amount of reasons, but you can’t live every life. Nobody can do everything, but you might as well try. That’s where many philosophers enter the conversation, stating that the sole purpose of human life is to ( at least ) attempt to do everything. Have you ever met, or even heard of, someone that can play the piano,  fluently speak 20 languages, play football and soccer with the pros, and is also a singer? Me neither. People usually try to master things that they are good at, then begin learning other things according to their interests in life. Living the fullest life you have (according to some philosophers) is measured by how many enjoyable things you have done on your own in your life. That’s the root of why people stand by YOLO and are afraid of growing old. They feel that by the time they become an adult, their jobs take over their social and personal life and the rest of their life is a speed train to death, yet again leading  right back to humanity.

Perishability is the basic root of every fear. You are afraid of rollercoasters? Probably because you are afraid of dying on one. You are afraid of planes? Probably because you believe in the very real chance that the plane could crash and you could die. Other fears are more complex, for example, in the Book Thief, a bomb is dropped on Munich, Germany, the setting of the story,  killing everyone Leisel has ever known, leaving her alone. Impermanence is still a root of the fear of being left completely alone, because usually the reason you are alone is because of a death at some point. Leisel is alone because her family and friends were killed, yet she wasn’t. This fear is buried inside Leisel from the very beginning of the book, where she is sent to her foster parents alone because her brother had died along the way. Fears that don’t incorporate impermanence into them are not exactly fears, more like things that you are immensely afraid of.

It is impossible to get over your ineluctable transience. I dare you to sit alone, with no distractions. You will most likely begin to question your own Humanity, the purpose of life, and other philosophical topics. Just thinking about Perishability strikes fear in anybody because no matter how many bullet-proof vests you wear, no matter how many vitamins you take, you will die at some point and there is no way to stop it. It is, however, possible to overcome the impermanence of those around you, but even that results in contemplating your own Humanity. Ephemerality is absolutely inexorable and morbid, only meaning the end of a life. this is where irony takes place, because many people make their living off of human’s simple perishability. Morticians, funeral Directors, and many other vocations exist solely because of ephemerality. These people are taking advantage of the inevitable and making the most of their own lives, turning the tables of the concept of living your life to the fullest before you die.

Every living thing has impermanence. Even though some living things can live for a very long time, nothing is truly immortal. How would we even know if immortal? Mere seconds after you deem something immortal, it could drop dead. Even if you live longer than most things, that does not deem you immortal when all you have accomplished is outliving another creature.The present is happening and the past has happened, so what happens next? “Nobody knows what the future holds, it’s bad enough just getting old.”  ( Diane Young, Vampire Weekend )

The quote mentioned in the above paragraph reflects how youths feel about their older years, stating that “it’s bad enough just getting old.” There really is no way to predict the future, or prevent your aging process. From the YOLO Revolution has risen more marketing strategies for makeups geared towards women, telling them that they can pause their aging process, warding off wrinkles and sagging and creating the illusion of being younger than you actually are. The illusion of appearing young makes people feel as if they are young and have more time to live their life. Of course, appearance to others is also a factor of these products, but that still comes down to the fear of transience and getting old, to impress and/or attract those around you to enhance your living experience before your inevitable death.

Some people are afraid of living their life because of what they might learn. Learning something new is always beneficial, because even if you feel like it is completely useless at the moment, it will probably come in handy at some point, and if it doesn’t, you still learned something new. There is one massive side effect of wisdom, however, and that is sadness. As you acquire more wisdom and learn more things, the springtime feeling that you had before you had learned so much has disappeared, replaced by sadness ( and, of course, knowledge ). Certain knowledge makes you happier as you age, but the knowledge of transience is anything but happy. Philosophical wisdom brings inevitable depression after realising the reality of your humanity.

In conclusion, death is quite obviously inescapable, and it is perfectly natural to fear it. That shouldn’t stop you from living your life to what you believe to be the fullest, not what society defines as the fullest. That also means that just because you have grown old, you still have opportunities to do what you want to do. Although work and other problems will get in the way, you can still pursue your passions. YOLO shouldn’t pressure you to do something, or even live your life fast. Nothing should pressure you into doing everything humanly possible before your humanity takes control, or, even worse, your adulthood takes control. The more you delve into the concept of mortality, the more you will begin to realise how deep your fear actually is.  Although perishability is inevitable, universally feared, and looming, it is ignorable.

 

references: ( In the paragraph about wisdom, I am vaguely referring to a quote from Vampire Weekend about the mention of sadness in their album during an interview with Men In Blazers Podcast/Show )

Diane Young, Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampire of the City, 2013

A Fear to Cheer

Posted on by Standard Respond

“CHEER TRY-OUTS ON FRIDAY!!” “Tiana! We should try out!” yelled my best friend Shay. “Sure! Sounds like fun.” I replied.
It really did sound like fun, but the more I thought about it the more scared I became. Would I be flexible enough? Would I jump high enough? Would I be loud enough? These questions ran through my head all week, stealing every bit of confidence I had. I practiced hard, but I still had the fear of not being good enough to make the team.
On Friday, I was very anxious. I couldn’t focus on anything but cheer.
“Tiana?….Tiana?… Can you please answer the question?” “Oh! My bad Mr. Kellogg, um can you please repeat the question?” “Yes, but I would like to see you after class. If x-3=6 what is x?” “Um, 9 sir” “Thank you. Please pay attention from now on.”
How could I focus on math right now? This was the last class before try-outs. The only counting that was going on in my mind were all the 8 counts I needed to know for the routine! After class Mr. Kellogg gave me extra homework and lectured me on the importance of focusing in math.
Shay and I walked to try-outs together and once we got there the nerves really kicked in. We stretched and practiced as much as we could but I was shaking like a leaf on a windy day. I was feeling nervous and weak. It felt as if I could have been knocked down with a feather. Groups of 4 went to the other half of the gym too face the coaches. While everyone else was trying out, my group and I were exchanging positive words. When it was our turn we set all fears aside.

“5,6,7,8!” “Hit your motions!” yelled the coaches. “Her jumps are high.” “She gets high in her tumbling.” “She could be louder.” the coaches whispered amongst themselves.
After try outs my fear of not being good enough vanished. I knew that I did my best and if I didn’t make the team I could try out again next year. My mind was now filled with positive thoughts and I had new level of confidence. I overcame this fear which gives me the confidence to conquer any other fear!

The Dance of Death

Posted on by Standard 2

It was a dark snowy day

In the Small town of Larke

All around could hear young Timmy say

“I’m not afraid of the snow and the dark

and the big old brown bears!”

Off he went to take a gift to his neighbor

With no cares,

On the way he swiftly passed

a small creek covered in snow, shining like a sabre

little did he know it was his last

He thought, the ridge is another mile up why not cross now

the river was safe for all he knew

He never even said Ciao

his last, his last creek, his last walk, his last breath

He ran across the river, but never made it through,

he had done the dance of death

 

Timmy thought he was bulletproof

a bad mistake to make on a night such as this.

He sure wasn’t foolproof

Timmy said he was not afraid,

and he sure wasn’t

he said that none had to come to his aid

he was wrong, he needed fear

for that was the only thing that kept his eyes clear

fear is what keeps one sane

all that courage kept him vain

to the dangers of the world

Timmy’s dance of death had unfurled

The Lonely Monster

Posted on by Standard 1

Dolan sat with his head in his hands. He knew that this would happen. Why would an Olly like him? He knew that he was ugly, stupid, and annoying. He still asked her anyway. He knew that he shouldn’t have. He just wanted to feel loved by someone. But he knew he was unlovable. Nobody could love him.

He pulled his head out of his hands. He had spent all of Ms.C’s class with his head in his hands. He knew that she would notice that Ms.C would notice something was wrong if he stayed like that. So instead he just…   Stared at the wheel of the computer cart.

He had liked Olly for half a year. He originally thought that maybe she liked him but once she had found out she just avoided him. It wasn’t the first time that year that he had felt rejected. A few weeks prior someone he thought to be his friend (Jen)  threw a huge party. All his friends were going it would be great! Except…   He wasn’t invited. He had only known Jen for a few months but he still thought they were friends. He only wanted people to be his friend. He felt like people didn’t want him. He felt alone.

The loneliness was the hardest part of the rejection. It felt he was floating through space millions of light years away from the nearest other person. He stood alone against the army of empty blackness. He could not win because the blackness was himself. He was lost within his mind. Lost within the thoughts of self hate.

Weeks turned into months and he still sat alone. He knew that other people hated him. It wasn’t their fault he thought. He knew it was him. He looked at himself in the mirror. Instead of a person he saw a monster. An ugly beast. He was no human. He was a monster.

He half a year later on a cold march day he and his class took a trip. He thought he love Olly. Why he did not know. All he knew was he wanted her love and friendship. He tried to stay close to her. But every time she would run far away. He was mocked by others for trying to find love. They found it where ever they wanted it but he could never find it. He was the unlovable monster.

Later that day something happened. Jen was on the other bus. They had be texting each other. On the bus. She had become his closest friend. He didn’t realize that she was his friend. He was still fighting the war against himself. He didn’t realize that he had friends.

The Jen texted him something he would never had thought to have seen. “will you go out with me” she asked. He stopped for a minute maybe someone did love him maybe some did…

Then she texted again. “It was a dare from Olly.”

His heart sank. He thought that Olly was nicer than that. He realized it then and there. If she was mean enough to do that to he could not love her. She would kill him. He did not want to die. But he wanted to love.

It did not take long for him to fall in love again. Jen was so nice. She talked to him. She was always kind. He realized that she was who he really loved now. Olly was not for him anymore. But of course she didn’t love him. He was truly unlovable.

He knew he wanted to live but he didn’t know how anymore. The pain of being unlovable was just too much. He couldn’t go on anymore. What could do he did not know. He could die?

 

NO.

He could and he will live. Because everything has beauty even a monster. This he would be told by many. All his friends who saw him as a beautiful person that did not have the ability to see beauty in himself. They helped him and he would live. Not as a monster but as a beautiful person.

The Other Side

Posted on by Standard Respond

The Other Side

Ethan

 

“What’s out there?” my eight-year old brother asked. He pointed up at the fifteen-foot concrete barrier that surrounded our village. The wall protected us, like a cage. The village was an acre wide, surrounded by the wall. No one had gone outside in decades. Those who did never returned.

“No one knows,” I replied. “Personally, I never want to find out. I would rather live in ignorance than be killed by whatever’s out there.” My brother frowned. The leaves danced, with a gust of wind.

“We have to get going soon. A storm is coming.” My brother stopped walking.

“Come on,” I told him, but he didn’t budge.

 

“How do you know that there’s something bad out there? You’re afraid for no reason. Maybe the reason everyone who’s ever left never came back was because it’s so great.” My brother wasn’t like anyone else. He never fit in with the other kids, and always talked about this nonsense. Boom! A thunderclap filled my ears.

 

“We have to go right now,” I told him.

 

“Fine,” he replied. I began walking toward the village. After a few seconds, my brother started swiftly stomping after me.

 

Soon, we arrived at the circle of small houses that made up the village and entered ours. My mom was sitting on the couch reading. “Hi mom,” I said.

 

“Hello Caden,” she responded. “Where’s Ryan? I thought he was with you.” She looked worried.

 

“Yeah. He’s right behind me.” I turned around, but my brother wasn’t there. Where did he go? I thought. How could he have disappeared without me noticing? My mother stood up and hurried out the door. “Wait!” I called. “You can’t go outside! There’s a storm!” She didn’t hear me, so I followed her out.

 

The heavy rain was so thick that I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me, so I waited outside of our house. After a few minutes my mother returned. She was soaked with rainwater and looked like she had just ran a mile.

 

“I told the elders,” she whispered. “They’ve gathered some men and are beginning a search.”

 

“I can help look,” I offered. She sighed. The look of disapproval on her face told me the answer before she even spoke.

 

“No. You can’t. You might get hurt,” she said.

 

“He’s my brother! It’s my fault he got lost and I’m responsible for what happens to him!” I ran off into the rain before she could say anything else.

 

“Caden! Come back here this instant!” she yelled, but I ignored her. I looked through the whole village. There was no sign of him. Where could he have gone? I thought. Why would he run off like that? Suddenly I remembered what happened in the woods. No. He wouldn’t. He’s not that stupid. No one even knows what’s out there. The wall was a guardian; it kept us safe. We had no reason to leave.

 

I arrived at the clearing where we had walked. I looked around. He wasn’t here. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something. A patch of ripped cloth, flapping back and forth in the wind. It was the same blue as the shirt my brother wore this morning. The cloth was stuck to the barbed wire that lined the top of the wall. My mind raced.

 

He went over the wall, when all of us were afraid not to. Why wasn’t he afraid? Fear is meant to protect us, just like the wall. What we don’t know or understand can be dangerous. Yet, we are still curious about the unknown while being afraid of it at the same time. They should cancel each other out, but they don’t. Some people are more curious than others, and some are more fearful. It’s just the way we are. But the way we are can get us killed. My brother overcame our fear of the unknown without even understanding that he did. He has the most courage out of all of us. He probably was afraid when he went over the wall. Courage isn’t not having any fear. It’s overcoming fear for a greater purpose. My brother was courageous because he overcame his fear for curiosity.

 

I grabbed a branch of the tree closest to the wall and pulled myself up. I climbed and climbed until I was able to scramble up onto the wall. I stepped over the barbed wire and looked up.

 

There were no trees on the other side of the wall. As far as you could see, the ground was black. I closed my eyes and jumped down. I didn’t expect a soft landing, but I got one. When I got up, I realized that the ground covered with a thick layer of ash. I saw remnants of concrete structures poking out from under the soot. They looked like they were drowning in the endless sea of blackness.

 

I knew my brother was out there. I can have courage too. I thought. I will find him. I gazed across the sea of ash, and took my first step into the rest of the world.