Fahrenheit 451

Author's note: I am putting myself in the place of a fireman in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.  I am trying to show what the life of a fireman would be like.  This book is based in a dystopian world and it's a science fiction novel  where firemen are the ones that start fires.
 
Everyday I go down to the firehouse.  There is where the mechanical hound is kept (a machine that can be programed to find and destroy certain people)  and the other firemen playing card games.  When we hear the alarm, we will all ride down to a house or library, or where we find that books are kept -- especially books that are famous literature such as the Bible.  I don't care whatsoever about those books, I like to watch them catch flames and turn to ash.  Books would be flying around on fire.  To me, it was a relaxing sight.  There was a night where an elderly woman had a house full of books.  Instead of leaving her burning house she set herself on fire.  That night, before the woman died, I was curious as I sprayed kerosene out of my hose and lighted a match onto a pile of books.  I secretly recovered one of the books, then I remembered the Captain saying that a fireman takes a book one time or another; after 24 hours they have to burn it.  I read the book thoroughly and I only had 24 hours before I had to burn it.  I wanted to memorize the book, it could be my only chance.  When I come home I face is full of ash and dirt.  I also smell like smoke.   I'll go to bed, and the next day the cycle goes over again.

That Man on Halloween

   It was the night before Halloween. I, Anna, was gazing out my bedroom window when I was supposed to be doing homework. Fog covered the pathways.  The moon was bright and low. You can faintly hear the howl of the wolves and growl from the bears far off in the forest. Halloween decorations were scattered all over town. Fake spider webs, pumpkins, lights, witches, and what not. However town was unusually silent; until a man started roaming around the cobblestone streets.

   He wore a black overcoat and top hat. His shoes clicked against the stones. I could see his breath as he breathed the frigid air. All of a sudden a group of little boys and girls skipped into the streets out of nowhere. As soon as they got within three feet of the mysterious man, I could see boys and girls fainting. I thought to myself, we can’t have this man wandering the streets tomorrow night when hundreds of kids are trick or treating. I decided to go to bed.

   The next morning when I woke up, the sun shined in my face. I knew that I had to deal with that man that I saw last night. I had approximately six hours before trick-or-treating started. Lazily, I walked down to the kitchen; the house was empty. I wondered where my parents and sister, Madelynn were. There was a note on the fridge. I began to read it, “Anna, we went costume and candy shopping with Madelynn. If you need anything give us a call. We will be back in 4 hours.”

   I gobbled down some cereal and milk.  Then started back up the staircase. Once I got to my room, I quick changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, pulled by hair back into a ponytail, and headed out the door. I took my bike and rode off.

   I was looking for the mysterious man, but I could not find him whatsoever. Maybe he only came out at night. Once I thought about I realized he doesn’t seem like a day or people person. So I decided to go home. It was on my way home when I heard a cry for help. I biked right over and saw a kid, only a kid. Once he saw me, he pleaded for me to get his kite out of the tree. I did, but that was not what I was thinking of. After climbing a tree and falling down with a kite in my hand, I sorely biked home.

   My parents and Madelynn were supposed to be home in about 2 hours. I had nothing better to do so I put on my Halloween costume. My Aunt Sally made it for me because my mother requested it. Once I put it on I looked like a bright orange, childish, plump jack-o-lantern. I felt as if I were four again. Next, I put up more decorations. The ones that we now might only scare a baby.  After about an hour of decorating, our house looked haunted. I put up some gravestones, spiderwebs --fake of course-- spooky music, electronic decorations that move in a creepy motion, and I dimmed the lights. Last, I got a huge bowl of candy.

   I was exhausted after falling, putting up decorations, and all. Slowly, I drifted into a deep sleep. In my dream I saw a dungeon-like room overflowed with little boys and girls. The room was cold, dark, and scary. It was almost as if I were there trying to get them out, but I couldn't. My heart was pounding, I had no idea what to do. I woke up, panting, to the sound of the garage door opening. That was a horrifying nightmare.

   "Hello Anna!" said Mom and Dad simultaneously.

   "Hi," I replied.

   "How was your day? I see you put up some decorations and got on you costume. You look so cute!"

   "Mom! Don't call me cute. And my day was good. I ... "

   "Look, look! I am a fairy princess! Bow down to me," squealed Madelynn.

   "Madelynn, shh. Sorry Anna; what were you saying?" said Mom.

   I replied telling her about my packed day. Then I mentioned the mysterious man in black. She was quite curious and cautious from then on. Mom almost decided not to let us trick or treat later. Madelynn and I were ready to trick or treat now, but my friend CeCe still had to come over.

   "Ding, dong!"

   "She's here!" I yelled in excitement.

   "Hey Anna, nice costume," said CeCe.

   I wanted to get away from my family so we both went into my bedroom. Right when we got in CeCe whispered,"Have you seen this really odd man? He wears black and every time he goes past some kid, they would faint."

   "Yes, I have. In fact, this morning I was trying to find him. I couldn't and thought that maybe ... "

   "He only comes out at night," we said simultaneously.

   "Anna, CeCe trick or treating is starting!" my mom yelled from downstairs.

   Both of us scurried down and ran right out the door. Madelynn is went with my mom since she is too little. CeCe and I ran door to door. By that time we had a lot of candy, and oddly a fork. I can faintly heard Madelynn's shoes tapped against the ground behind us. As the night got dark the moon showed more and more. I at the time knew that the mysterious man would be out anytime soon.

   "I found him!" yelled CeCe.

   Together we ran over and grabbed him on the shoulder. The "man" turned around,"Hey guys what do you think of my costume?" said a girl. "And what's your problem?"

   "Sorry, we thought you were someone else...gotta go!" I replied. Then, we sprinted away without looking back. As we ran people were looking at us. All of a sudden someone jumped down from a tree and we rammed right into him. CeCe and I fell over with a hard thump.

   The next thing I knew, we were in the same "dungeon" from my dream along with twenty other kids. They looked starved, zombie-like, as if they have been here for the last week with nothing. From what I saw there was no possible way out. We are all prisoners of the mysterious man for the rest of our lives. Then the man walked in, glanced at all of us, and left with an evil chuckle.

   In the end, we will never see the daylight again. All of our family will never see us again since were kept captive in this death hole. My life ends here, I bet if I never saw that man I would have never got here. Everyone else is pounding on the walls and yelling hoping that someone will hear, but we don't even know where we are. How is anyone supposed to find and save us. HELP!

On Top of the World

I am on top of Mount Everest,

I can feel the frigid winds brushing against my skin.

I am panting from a long hike up world's largest mountain.

I spent days climbing and suffered injuries and coldness.

Now I am up here,

I feel on top of the world.

                                                                                                    

http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/asia/mount-everest-north-face09.shtml

The Giver

I had recently finished The Giver by Lois Lowry.  It is science fiction and a Newbery Award winner.  The Giver is about a boy, named Jonas, who has been volunteering throughout his years as he is supposed to do.  Every December there is a ceremony in which the children of the community go into the next group of age.  Sometimes, something will happen when they go into the next group; otherwise, they will just be more mature.  When an age group is eleven and will become twelve, there will be a Ceremony of Twelve.  During the Ceremony of Twelve all of the children becoming a Twelve will get their lifetime job in the community.    When the Chief Elder is giving out the job assignments, she goes in alphabetical order.  Jonas knows that his name is next, but then the Chief Elder skips it.  All Jonas can do is wonder why.  When the Chief Elder finally calls his name, last, he walks up onto the stage.  The Chief Elder says, "Jonas has not been assigned; Jonas has been selected."  He became the Receiver of Memory, an extremely rare job.  The Chief Elder notes that their community only has one Receiver who will now train Jonas to take his place.  Jonas gets his instructions for Receiver of Memory and the next day he is off to training. 

On Jonas' first day of training, he meets the Receiver that will train him. That Receiver is named The Giver.  Jonas goes into the room that he is to meet in.  There, The Giver, will pass on the memories that he has, onto Jonas so that Jonas will be the only one with the memory.  Everyday after school they do the same process, passing the memories until Jonas has them.  Some of the memories are happy and joyful, while others are scary and brutal. 

When Jonas is in his dwelling his father brings home a newborn since his father's job is a nurturer.  The newborn is named Gabe.  His father takes care of Gabe at their dwelling during the nights.  But when Jonas finds out that something bad is going to happen to Gabe, he makes a plan to run away with Gabe.  Jonas goes on a long, tiring, life threatening trip by bicycle just to save Gabe.  To protect them both Jonas will use some of the memories that he got to transfer to Gabe.  When the journey comes to an end, technically they are still in the middle of nowhere, but Jonas knows they're almost there.

The Giver is a very well-written book with fantastic vocabulary, story line, and more.  I recommend for anyone to read it.  There also sequels to The Giver and I plan on reading those too.  This is also the first book that our book club will be reading.  I hope that they like it as much as I did.