Slice #6 of 31 March Challenge

The Surfboard

I dragged the faded blue surfboard behind me into the waves.  Once I was out deep enough I got on.  I tried to remember everything the instructor said.  I dragged my hands through the water.  I saw a wave.  Paddle paddle paddle.  I grabbed the sides of the board and pushed up.  I stood up.  The board bounced underneath me.  I stretched out my arms and tried to keep my balance.  I rode the wave in for a little while before I fell.  It was exhilarating.  I dragged the board back out to where my dad was.  He tried to catch a wave and stood but then lost his balance and fell back down.  The waves started to get bigger.  I tried to catch one but fell as soon as I stood.  I was bringing my board out when my dad called, 

"Five more minutes!"

I paddled out.  I found a good wave and caught it.  I stood and I rode the wave all the way in to the shore.  It was the perfect way to end the surfing lesson.  

Slice #5 of 31 March Challenge

The Morning

"BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!"

"Just a minute."  

"COME ON." 

"HURRY!"

"QUICK!"

"YOU'LL MAKE US LATE!"

"GET DOWN HERE!!"

I run down and gulp down an energy bar so fast I almost choke. 

"Where is your sister?"

"How should I know?"

"YOU BETTER NOT MAKE US LATE!" my Mom yells up the stairs.  

I pour cold water down my throat.  Frost covers the ground in an icy blanket.  The door glides open.  I grab a fleece and zip it.  My breath puffs in the air and my footsteps crunch.  

"TIME TO GO!!!" my sister yells.

I race against my sister to the car but she wins.  Oh well I'm stuck in the middle seat.  Just another school morning. 

 

Slice #4 of 31 March challenge

Kindred by Octavia Butler

“I don’t have a name for the thing that happened to me, but I don’t feel safe any more.“

-Edana Franklin

26 year old Edana (Dana) Franklin is a black woman from the late 20th century.  She and her husband Kevin have just moved in together when she is suddenly transported back in time to the antebellum south in 1815 to save a small, red-haired boy named Rufus.  She quickly realizes that Rufus is her ancestor and so she continues to help him.  With slavery at every turn, her trips back in time become more and more dangerous Dana wonders whether her life will end before it can begin.  

This book is interesting but also intense.  This book contains crude language, torture, racism, and talks of sexual harassment.  I like that the author mixed historical fiction with science fiction.  I think the characters were well thought out and I liked that some were more mysterious.  I would reccomend this to grades six and up.

Slice #3 of 31 March Challenge

The Secret World

She could feel the current pulling her out deeper.  She could taste the salty spray as the waves crashed on the shore.  She could hear the water whisper its secrets to her, all but hidden under it's smooth surface.  She could see the wind paint the sky.  All of a sudden the girl dove.  She disappeared, melding with the water.  Her whole world came to life.  She saw rainbow fish dart away as she swam towards them and big black and yellow fish admired her from below.  An orange pufferfish glided by and revealed a huge sting ray.  When she came up she knew that she had seen a world no one else would.

Slice #2 of 31 March Challenge

The Muffin

Have you ever thought about how weird the word muffin is?  I was munching on a delectable blueberry muffin when this thought occurred to me.  I nearly spit the muffin all over our new countertops.  I was eating a muffin.  MU-FF-IN.  It is just so peculiar.  The fact that I myself was eating something so strange left me positively awestruck.  Has it ever occurred to you how weird some words are?  I hadn't thought about it before but so many words are so weird!  Now I think about it a lot!
Please add in the comments your favorite word!  Thanks!

Slice #1 of 31 March Challenge

The River

The breeze gently brushes my cheek and ruffles my hair.  My toes are chilled to the bone from the cold water rushing over them.  The water distorts them and makes them look longer then they are and turns them a pale blue color.  There are only a few other people by the water and the sound of them is drowned out by the river.  I turned to the left and watch the water cascade over some rocks into a deeper part of the river that's surrounded by tree's and saw my cousins and sisters knee deep I ran down and splashed them.  By the time lunch was ready we were all soaking wet.

Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/98799884@N00/235458062">Stream</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)</a> 

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor - Week #2

“Once upon a time,an angel and a devil pressed their hands to their hearts and started the apocalypse.” 

With their armies united all seems to be going as planned for Akiva and Karou.  But when they see thousands of warrior angels descend upon them they realize there is no hope of survival until Akiva's sister Liraz pushes them through a portal to the human world to make sure Jael comes back to their world- Eretz weaponless.  In the human world there is an ordinary scientist named Eliza, who has an extraordinary dream.  She dreams about the end of the world.  But it is not the end of her world.  Back in Eretz the Stellians believe that Akiva and Karou's war does not concern them until they realize that they are Jael's next target.  The Stelians must not be the victims of a war because if they are it would mean the end of the world just like in Eliza's dream.  

I enjoyed this book but it was a long read.  I did not get bored with the book but it definitely took me a while to finish.  It is kind of confusing because it is told from several different perspectives so you never quite know who's talking but I also kind of liked getting to hear the story from different points of view.