What's Sad

Do you know what's really, really sad? When your own sister doesn't even like you. That's pretty darn bad.

I have a sister named Anna, nut I never did anything to her that was really bad, like punch her out of nowhere or anything. I do normal sister stuff- just like everybody else. Sometimes we fight, and I do mean to the point of punches, but I never start the fights EVER, but it's always my fault. Always. Every stinkin' time.

So, anyway, I'm sitting here looking through some old word documents on the computer documents on the computer, when I find one I don't recognize. So, of course, I open it just like any other curious person in the world to find a 'legal document' petition thingie.

Basically, it says stuff that Anna wants, but can't get, A.K.A. a T.V. in her room, allowance ( yes, I know it's terrible, but we kids have NO money!), no rules, and for me to be responsible for every little thing she does wrong- which I can tell you is a lot. And at the bottom of this thing which is two pages long lies a space for everybody to sign.
There's a place for Mom, Dad, even the dog, Angel, and our three cats,
Jackson, Lilly, and Pip. Just no space for me. Ummmmm.....?!?!?!?

So I scroll down even more to find the words, and I take this right from the page,

"The Ashley thing does not get a choice."

That, to me, is unbelieveable. That she hates me that much. She barely talks to me anymore. I feel as if we have NO connection, and I'm her only sister for-God-sakes!!! She makes me feel like a puddle of dirty water or like somthing that has to go out with the trash. And I'll tell you something strait up and personal, from one confused girl to the whole wide world-

IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THAT.

What Education Really Is

What Education Means To Me

As my grandfather used to say, “Knowledge is power.” But
where is the basis for this power? The knowledge for our future is
stored in the young minds of our nation’s children, who may one day
change the world.

Knowledge means many different things to many different
people. To children in some third-world countries, for example,
intelligence and even the chance to go to school means everything.
It would mean they could make a few dollars in order to feed their
families when they are adults, if they only had the resources we have.
In America, we have the chance to learn, but many Americans take
knowledge and education for granted. Our United States Constitution
ensures us the right to an education, a right that many other children
all around the world envy.

To me, an education means that when I grow up, and after I go
to college, my family will be well provided for. My own education
allows me, at least, a chance for a good job, with good pay; a chance
to further better myself. My education also means that when I am an
adult, I can find a good job that will help in times of bad health. With
a doctor’s degree or a law degree, I could even buy the summer
home my parents have always wanted, even since before I was a
twinkle in my mother’s eyes. If anyone at all needs another reason to
love our education, know that your mind is the only thing that no one
can take away from you. The government can reposes your house
and it can take away your car. Sometimes, children can even be
taken away for them to be better cared for. In hard times, all you
really have is your brain, so you might as well take good care of it.

The education of America means that we can help ourselves,
and our country, to climb higher on the economic ladder of the world.
Our school system in the United States is very good, but it can be
better. If we had an even better teaching and learning system, we
could really make our country the best that it can be.

So many other parents would die to get the education that we
have for their children, and we’re lucky to have what we do. I think
we should take advantage of the situation, because without a proper
education, I cannot better myself, my country cannot help itself, and I
cannot get a really good job, like I want to.

Recently, a very nice teacher taught me an old saying:
“Make hay while the sun shines-- that’s smart.
Go fishing during the harvest-- that’s silly.”
I think I learned quite a lot from that saying. I found out that I
wanted to ‘make hay’, and that is why education is important to me.

I once was a caterpillar. And I was nothing special- just plain me. And I was never happy, always blue. I was teal and I was turquoise, and I was green, too. I cried, and the colors of my tears swept together as one. And they became an ocean. My ocean. I looked inside myself to find the wet. And I touched it. I blew my hands across the surface, and I lost my balance. I fell and slipped into my wet. And I did not come out. But, I soon began to drown in my blue, and I yearned for other colors. I wanted fiery reds, deep sunset yellows, and a soft, warm purple that would bind me tight and help me to float.

There was a time I hated, and a torrent of raging wind blew inside me. My temper was hot; the sun bowed down to its power, and was lost in the deep, cold parts of my heart where heat erupted from an enraged ice volcano. My rage and fighting words and scorn began to bicker, plotting and conniving. Until the only one left was me and I could point blame at no one else.

I became a rose and I was a purple the color of forever. I took all my hateful, sad, greedy, envious colors and locked them away tight. I was beautiful and I was kind, and I never had the terribly bad feelings I had locked away. No one else, I thought, no one else is good like me. And it was true. It wasn’t long before marks began to cross my skin, showing where others not like I had tread upon me, taking advantage of my pink forgiving state.

Decision hit me, and I dove deep into me in a reckless search for my hidden pirate treasure. The murky colors clouded my eyes, and my cold, numb hands searched the shallow me floor blindly. I eventually found my color treasure and began the black struggle to open it. I could not.

I could not cry, I could not hate, I could not care. I still can’t care. And one day, I will die like that, colorless. I could have stayed sad, I could have stayed angry; but, then again, I could not. I made my metamorphosis. And now I will be this, a colorless butterfly, forever.