Odd Thomas by: Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas is an amazing story written by Dean Koontz. I have never read any of his books until Wendy suggested this book and actually checked it out for me to read. I started reading it and I couldn't stop. This book, to me, is scary, mysterious, and funny. The setting takes place in a small town called Pico Mundo in the middle of the Mojave and near Las Vegas. The main character, Odd Thomas, can see dead people. (I know that sounds so cheesy, but he can see dead people.) Anyways he calls it his sixth sense. The dead can't talk, but they can do everything else like a human. The dead even feel like real people. Odd can also see these black spirits called bodachs that hang around people that are going to die or the people that are going to kill someone.

Besides Odd being able to see all bodachs and dead people he lives a normal life. Odd works at a Grille and is deeply in love with this girl named Stormy. Stormy and Odd were destined for eachother because apprently they have matching birthmarks and this Gypsy mummy told them that they would love eachother forever.

The story begins when Odd sees a man that is surrounded by bodachs. Odd knows that this man is up to no good so he follows him to his home. Odd breaks into this man's home and finds out that this man actually has files about famous killers. While Odd is searching through these files of these insane killers he finds a file about this man that was surrounded by bodachs. His name is Bob Robertson. In Bob's file all it says is August 15th. The date is August 14th and Odd knows something bad is going to happen the next day.

Odd keeps a close eye on this guy and makes sure that his close friends including Stormy stays as far away from Bob as possible. The most surprising part to me is when you find out that the killer is something completely different! I can't tell you the end of the story but I will just tell that the end is unexpected, a little confusing, and sad.

There are some very weird things in this story that make me wonder if there are really people that act like this. Overall though the story is very well written and I wold reccomend this to people.

"I Walk This Lonely Road" by: Ronnydell

I walk this lonely road, books in my arms, and my bag swinging back and forth. All around me I here rain softly plopping on the ground. Each leaf soaks up this water to give off oxygen. Hopefully this rain won't hurt the poor leaves. To the left of me there is a line of cars. Each car is protected by the trees or by covers. I am not protected though from the rain.

To the right of me there is a line of houses. Each house looks the same. Each house has a front yard and a back yard with grass, plants, and a couple of trees to protect the porches. As I look around each house has a gate to protect the people from invaders. I am not protected from anything as I walk this lonely road.

I look to my right and I see my favorite dog, Da Bao. I call to her and she comes to me happily. Her paws are muddy from the dirt she palyed in. Her rib cage is clearly visible from lack of food. Da Bao is still smiling though as I rub her chin. Her breathing becomes quieter as she finally feels safe and comfortable. I check the time, 6:15, it is time for me to say good-bye. I wave good-bye to Da Bao. I can see the dissapointment in her eyes as I leave.

I walk this lonely road with my shoes splashing in the puddles now forming from the rain. I look down and stomp my feet to the ground feeling free. No one can tell me what I can't do now. Now I walk to the beat in my head, "Mr. Farenheit" by Queen. this beat is fast and upbeat, The beat makes me have an extra bounce to my step. That extra bounce makes the rain seem, playful and inviting. I walk slower letting the rain fall onto my hair and face.

I look around to see if anyone was looking. Everyone was in their homes trying to stay protected from the rain. I stop and stand in the rain letting the rain now fall down on my books and back-pack. I look down to see my books starting to soak in the rain. I knew they would get ruined if I stayed out too long. So I started walking down this lonely road.

Now my hair is wet and plastered to my head. I don't care now it feels good to be unprotected from something. Still no one is outside. They are most likely afriad of getting wet or catching a cold. The only time I have seen someone catch a cold was in movies. No one ever catches a cold from playing in the rain. I look down at my books, and I see them getting wet now. I check my watch again, it's now 6:20. I realize I have tons of homework still to finish. I now look up and see my house coming into view.

There are three trees in the front yard protecting the cars underneath from the rain. In the backyard there are three more trees protecting all the stray cats from the rain. Surrounding my whole house and yard is a gate that protects us from any intruders. Our house is the same as any other house on this lonely road.

I dread walking into this jail and doing the same thing over and over again. I try to walk slower into the front yard, but my conscience is stronger and it now pulls me closer to the protected home. I didn't want to walk in and lock the front door and then shut another door inside the already closed door. I didn't want any doors blocking me and this unprotected freedom. The rain seemed to whisper to me, "stay". I couldn't listen though to that lovely whisper. I could feel the watches ticking seconds pound on my wrist telling me to get inside and work on homework.

Now the steps came that led to this first door that would keep me inside for the next fourteen hours. My feet seemed to jump over those steps and to make it to that first door. Now my hand went up to the button to let my family know that I was home. My finger pressed the button and the sound of the bell echoed throughout the house. My mom answered the door as usual and said, "Ni Hao. How was your day?"

I had to answer the way I always do, "Ni Hao. My day was ok." That answer seemed implanted in my head because I answered her question the same way every single day. I now enter my protective jail. It felt stuffier compared to the space and fresh air outside. Outside the air was real compared to the air conditioned air inside my house.

I am now in front of the stairs that would lead me to my second door that would protect me again from the "chaos" of the house. I drag my feet upstairs. Each step seems heaiver than the first. I can almost hear the books laugh at me and mock me saying, "Haha! You have homework. I get to keep you in that room for the next three hours. You get to stress over me while trying to figure out what is the real situation in that story." I try to ignore their annoying voices, but their laughs grow louder and louder each step I take up those stairs.

I am now at the second door that leads to my room. In my room there is only one window that shows a tiny bit of freedom that I could have if only these books were gone. I plop on my bed and open the first book. Now the books try to control their laughs as I open them up and start my homework. The rain is still plopping outside. Now everyone is protected from the beauty of the rain. I have given into this protection.

Edith Merrielees

Dear John Steinbeck,

I am thankful for your lovely letter. It seriously has cheered me up to know that you are glad about what I have taught you. I still do make my students summarize a story into a single sentence. They say it is hard and difficult, but I tell them that John Steinbeck had to do this exercise and look what he is doing now. After I say that then they all start working hard on summarizing that story. 

Yes, I remember that advice I gave you about traveling to Europe instead of all around the world. Well, I can't believe I am saying this, but I am glad that you didn't take my advice because now look at where you are in your life. Receiving a Nobel Prize and writing amazing short stories. 

Which reminds me, congratulations on winning the Nobel Prize. I read your accepting speech and it made me almost cry. It was very well said. I love your simile when you said, "to roar out like a lion out of pride in my profession." That part of your speech made me become proud of what I taught you and what you have done for our community. I like how you told what the true job is for a writer. To inform and expose our many grievous faults and failures to the world. It is also the writer's job to celebrate man's proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit. I am glad for what you have written for the world. You have given hope to the world during the most hardest times of the century. I am glad that I was able to teach you the secrets of writing and I am even more glad that you have applied my secrets to your writing. 

Yours Sincerely,

Edith Mirrielees

My Buddy

So, one day me and my buddy John were walking through this beautiful park. I could hear something exploding in the background. I noticed them on the way here. There was water shooting out of the ground and going really high. When we drove by I could smell some horrible smell. It smelled like rotten eggs. Anyways, while me and John were riding through this beautiful park I smelled something. The smell was a combination of wood-moss-fish-fire and a small hint of honey. I have never smelled that smell before, but my instinct told me that it was the smell of a huge black animal. My instinct was right. I looked out across the field and I saw a huge black monster walking about. I knew he was sniffing us out to see if we were good to eat. I knew right away that this would not happen. I started barking as loud as I could to try and scare him away. I smelled great fear and annoyance in John once I started barking. Even though he was scared and a little annoyed that I was barking I knew that this was going to save him. I started barking louder and louder. Then suddenly I saw two huge animals in the distance! Both of them smelled of hunger and annoyance. They wanted to eat both of us in one gulp. A long time ago when me and John met I swore an oath to keep John safe from any danger no matter what. This was a time when I needed to keep that oath. The animals started walking towards us slowly which made me even more mad. One of them stood up on its hind legs and roared at me. To me that was a challenge. I walked forward and started barking as loud as I could. By that time I smelled complete fear in John. He was scared and I needed to make that fear go away. I was about to start running full speed toward those big animals, but then I felt someone grab me and throw me into this big shelter. Before the door shut I saw John looking at me. There was a strong smell of anger coming from him. I knew that I made him mad, but he needed to be protected. Now he is putting me in this shelter to keep ME away from those huge animals while he needs the protection. I suddenly felt the ground start to move and then I could not smell those huge animals anymore. I started smelling that rotten egg smell again and I knew that we were moving quickly away from those huge animals.

Later on that day we drove to this huge shelter where many people sleep in it. We payed for one of those rooms. I was so tired from all the protecting that I plopped onto the carpet and fell right asleep. Once I fell asleep I had another dream about those huge animals again. This time there were hundreds of them! They all smelled of anger. One suddenly grabbed John, my buddy, and run off with him. I started running after the huge animal, but I could not run fast enough. Then I felt a hand on my head patting me. I woke up and I saw John smiling at me. He smelled of comfort and pity. I realized that it was just a dream and that he was safe.

Photo Essay by: John Steinbeck

The first photo that I like is the photo on page 930. This photo shows two little girls wading through the water. The first girl is holding a bucket that looks heavy. In the background you see a two trailers that look very shabby. The first one shows a window that looks like the curtains are old and torn up. On the side of the picture shows a caption saying, "The company let's us live in 'em when we're pickin' cotton. When we ain't workin', we pay rent. Water's comin' up in 'em now." This caption tells that families were getting worried about where they are going to live.

The second photo that I like is on page 931. This photo shows two children playing in the dirt. They both look a little shabby and poor. Behind the children there is a tent that is filled with pillows and basically their whole house. Right beside the girl there is a wagon with the wheels broken off. The tent has some holes in the bottom. Behind the tent there are some dried up trees that look dead. The ground is dry dirt that looks like it needs rain. The caption underneath the picture says, "We got to have a house when the rains come... jus' so's it's got a roof and a floor. Just to keep the little fellas off'n the ground." This caption helps tell again how the people are worried about the rain falling and everything being wet. The picture shows how certain people lived and how the conditions were before the flood.

The third photo that I liked was on page 929. This picture shows about 4 people standing around a car. The car is most likely their house that they are living in. The people's clothes are all dirty and shabby looking. Behind this car you can see another car and a tent where probably another family is living. This photo helps the reader understand what the people had to live in and how they worked. 

"The Flood" by: John Steinbeck

"The Flood" in another amazing short story written by John Steinbeck. John Steinbeck uses certain techniques to make this short story amazing. Steinbeck uses Description, Dialogue, and Tone to set the mood in this short story. For Description he uses certain verbs that I really like. One of those verbs are, "sucked" he used sucked to explain how the mountains sucked up the water. Another verb that Steinbeck used was, "full". He used "full" to explain how the mountains were full from sucking all the water up. One last verb that I like was, "whispered". He used whispered to explain how the earth whispered. Steinbeck used personification to help the reader understand more how the earth felt or what the earth did. While Steinbeck wrote the story he used certain dialogues that could help the reader understand more how the people talked then or how they felt. Steinbeck used a certain dialogue that the people from the 1920's used, but he did not use quotation marks while using the accent. Steinbeck probably used this way to let the reader feel more like he/she was in the 1920's and listening to someone tell them the story. In the short story Steinbeck's tone is very solemn and sad. The verbs and the way that he writes the short story is very sad and mournful over the flood.

"The Turtle" by: Steinbeck

"The Turtle" is a chapter from the renowned novel "Grapes of Wrath". This novels is set during the Great Depression while the Great Dust bowl was happening. Many people were migrating to California to get a better job and have a better life. That is where this chapter of "The Turtle" comes in. The turtle is trying to get across this street which could relate to the many people trying to get across America to California. While this turtle is crossing the street he has this oat stuck in his shell that won't get out. This oat can mean all the problems and irritations that are happening during the migration. The turtle finally is on the street, but there are many cars that are crossing. One van sees the turtle and swerves to not hurt it. Then another truck comes along that actually speeds up and tries to run the turtle over. The truck that tried to run the turtle over could relate to all the businesses and rich people that wanted these poor people out of California. Luckily the truck just hits the side of the turtle's shell and sends it spinning across the street. Now the turtle is across the street and is now on a dirt road. This road is safer, but the turtle still has the oat stuck in his turtle shell. This ending could relate to the migrating people and all the dirt roads they had to travel. The oat could still mean that the migratory people still had problems that they needed to figure out.

betrayal

There are many different types of betrayal in life. The basic definition of betrayal is to leave someone. There are many different ways of betraying. One way is when your husband or wife leaves you for someone, or when they leave at a very hard time in their life. Another type of betrayal is when your friend leaves you. I think when someone leaves another for a really dumb reason then they are like a coward.

If I was married and my husband left me for a stupid reason, I would HATE him. I am not sure what I would do, but I would definitely be mad. I would probably go crazy just like Medea did. I would probably forget about him and move on after about a year or two. If I saw him though when I was at the store or something I would probably say, "hi" and treat him as nicely as I could. Deep inside though I would probably not want to talk to him and even be near him. Basically I would not want to be around him or even talk to him.

If a friend betrayed me, I am not sure what I would do. I don't think that it would be a big deal because I would have other friends, but if a group of my friends betrayed me then I would not be sure what to do. If a group of my friends betrayed me I would probably become depressed and then try and find another group of friends. The only hard part would be that I would be seeing them every day until they move or until we graduate. It would take me awhile to forgive them, unless they said sorry.

Overall if someone betrayed me I would not be happy, but I would forgive them after awhile. If my husband said he was going to leave me I would become very mad and not want to be near him. If my friends betrayed me though it would be a lot harder for me to forgive them and even see them. I would still have to see them though because I have to come to school. I do not like betrayal at all.