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The following narratives were written by sixth grade students of Jeremy Brooks at North Davie Middle School.

Our Dear Lady, Sansa

By Layla Beck

I walked to the lake on that chilly September morning. “Sansa!” I called, she couldn’t have gone that far right? I thought. Everyone assumed she unhooked her chain and took off to the lake, I mean, it was her favorite spot. I could feel the tears pricking my eyes as I found her collar ripped into two pieces. Mom was bellowing in the distance I could tell she was directing her calls at me. Quickly, I put the shredded collar in my back pocket not wanting to let anyone see it. “Did you find anything useful?” Mom asked with tears in her eyes “No, I’m sorry” I said as I started erupting into tears on my mom’s shoulder. We had Sansa for almost five years but within five minutes she’s gone.

Almost two years later and we still haven’t found her. Mom never got over it, it’s quite agonizing not being able to let go of something you once loved so much. Till this day no one knows about the collar I found, I hid it in my jewelry box inside one of the compact compartments. It still had the distinct fragrance of honey and sugar from when we washed her that night because she bounced around in a big mud river. We still go to the lake two times a year but it’s different now. Mom just sits inside and dwells on all the memories that we’ve had here. We repeatedly ask mom to go outside but she always refuses. But, I have a weird feeling that this visit is going to be different.

“Layla! Come help us unpack!” Dad bellowed “Coming!” I yell back, as I walk down to the car I can’t help but feel the warm wind hitting my face and blowing through my hair. I think to myself ‘How could this beautiful sanctuary hold so much?-’ “Layla now!” Dad interrupts. As I harshly grab my pillow and blanket my sister steps on my heel and my shoe falls off “Oh come on!” I groan.

A few hours later of sitting around Aubrey and I thought it would be helpful for all of us to take a swim. “Dad, can we go swimming now?” I question, he waves his hand sigingling ‘yeah whatever’ I faintly hear him say “ We’ ll be out there in a little.” Aubrey dashes down the driveway while I just slowly wandered while kicking rocks down the driveway. I finally arrive at the lake and steadily trudge over to our spot. About mid-thigh into the water I attempt to leap onto my ice cream shaped floaty, immediately I feel this icey sensation all over my body. As I rise out of the freezing water I feel someone tapping on my shoulder. “Hi there, are you okay?” a little girls asks “Oh yeah I’m fine just trying to get used to the water you know,” I reply trying to hide embarrassment.

An hour later I see Dad and Robert walking over to us. “What took you guys so long?” Aubrey questions “We were making everyone lunch. Here are your guys sandwiches.” Dad replies while handing us both a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. While eating our sandwiches we see the same little girl from earlier chasing around a dog. It looks so familiar.  I can feel the shivers running down my spine as all the nostalgia runs through my body. It’s Sansa! I thought. Quikly, I stand up, dropping everything and dash over to the little girl. My family stares at me like I’m a lunatic. “Hey, you have a really cute dog! What’s their name?” I ask, trying to be discrete “Yeah this is Lady. Do you want to pet her?” the little girl asks. I don’t reply, I just study every part of the dog from its feet  to its… eyes. Now I remember, Sansa has heterochromia. “I’ll be right back,” I tell the little girl. I sprint over to Dad to tell him to tell him about my recent discovery. “Dad, I think I found Sansa!” I burst out “What! How?” Dad bellows “We have to get your mom,” Dad says. While getting in the car, we told Aubrey to stay and keep the little girl and Sansa occupied.

“Mom, we found Sansa! Get up and get in the car.” I yell running into the house. Immediately I see Mom, eyes widened and running right past me.

Driving into the lake parking lot, I see Aubrey and Sansa walking up to the car with the little girl beside her. Mom jumps out of the car and runs up to Sansa, Sansa breaks through Aubrey’s grip and jumps into Mom’s arms. As I help Aubrey up from the ground I see what seems to be the little girl’s parents walking over. They take ahold of their daughter’s hand and walk over to Mom. “Is there a problem Ms.?” they ask,  Mom starts to get off the ground while saying “How long have you had this dog?” “About two years, why?” her dad answers with a confused look. “Because we lost our dog at this lake about two years ago. This dog here looks exactly like ours did,” Mom explains “Are you trying to say we stole your dog?” the little girl’s mom questions, “No, no I’m not, I’m saying that you found her and took care of her! I’m just glad she didn’t get into some psycho’s hands.” Mom says. “What did you guys name her?” the little girl’s dad asks, “We named her Sansa. I heard you named her Lady,” Mom says “Lady Sansa, isn’t that a cute name?” the woman asks her husband,“Yeah it is, but Ms. can I ask you something?” The dad is referring to my mom.

Three days later, we are going home after an astounding trip. We get to take Sansa home after longing after all these years. Lucky for us, The Martin’s live only three blocks away. After the whole dog situation, we all decided it was most beneficial to let us have the dog because it was ours in the first place. But, also good for me, I got my dog back and I made a new friend! It turns out that the little girl isn’t really that little, she’s eight, only a few years younger than me! Lillie, the not so little girl, and I have many more things in common then I could ever imagine! If it wasn’t for losing Sansa I would have never met my best friend, Lillie.

Run Til You Drop

By Ganna Elbahrawi

“Gosh, this is boring!” I said as I groaned and sweat dripped down my forehead. The bellowing of little kids shot through my ears, “Why’d we have to come to this park, I’m not a baby!” Liz said annoyed, but before anyone else could rant, the sweet melody of what we longed for so long hit us even more than the sun could. It wasn’t the party music that blasted either, “Ice cream!” I yelled as I walked towards the sweet humming of the ice cream truck. I inhaled the summer filled aroma. Before I could enjoy it, I turned to yelling. An unfamiliar man running with my mom’s purse!?

I could feel my instincts kick up and my rage as well. Before I knew it, I was running as fast as I could. I could hear the muffled sounds of my friends telling me to stop, branch after branch cracked under my feet. I could feel the whole forest staring at me, the colorful forest seemed to lose it’s hue as I dashed faster,It got darker and darker, I could hear my own heart beat as if it was going to pop out of my chest, it seemed like the man holding the purse turned into wind as he got farther and I got slower. I looked down to see a puddle of water? No, sweat. It was as clear as day and as I groaned, I fell back in agony realizing I had overworked myself and the man was gone.

Just as I thought it was over, I looked up to the once colorful forest to see a policeman! Maybe I could catch him, “I’ve got to call, what direction did he go?” He looked serious, scary serious. I pointed North and off he went. As I waited, I noticed something in the distance. I squinted, hard. And then, I saw it , the mysterious man crept into a building! I didn’t just want to stand there, I had to do something! I had to be still like a detective,  not to make a sound like a mouse. Wow, how dumb could the man be? He stood there crouching and praying not to get caught! But something sparkled in the light, my mom’s purse! And that’s why I was there. I pounced at him! “Give back my mom’s stuff you criminal!” He kept silent, maybe even deadly. I didn’t care at that moment,  I just had my eye on the prize. I screamed as loud as I could. I heard the birds in the trees leave and before I could do anything, he pounced back! My ears started ringing as he grabbed at my neck, woosh! The policeman! I couldn’t move,I was in shock. There was commotion all around me but everything seemed blurred. Time stopped. The policeman grabbed me and as I looked around I felt okay, everything was going to be okay.  I glanced at the man in the back of the cop car but couldn’t feel remorse. “I guess it’s good we came here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have seen you run like a maniac!” Liz said, chuckling. I felt proud of myself and could finally enjoy this hot summer day. I could finally have my ice cream.

Christmas Tree Chaos

By Adysen Weymouth

The sound of shattering pierced through my ears. “Oh no, my ornament!” my mom said, rushing to get a broom. She had been putting decorations away from Christmas, my favorite holiday. “Mom it’s only been a few days, the decorations don’t need to be put away yet!” my Sister, Gracie said, slightly annoyed. Gracie usually helps mom with decorations, she was just taking a break. She had been sitting next to me in the kitchen, until she heard the shattering. Gracie is always worried about something, especially our mom. So as a normal reaction, she dashed to the living room in a cloud of concern. Reluctantly, I made my way to my mom and my sister, I was just curious about how much they had gotten done. Strangely, they actually managed to get all of the ornaments off the tree already. Usually, they work quite slow because we enjoy the decorations. Maybe they just changed their minds that Christmas. Since all of the ornaments have been removed from the tree, all that’s left is the lights.

“Alright girls! You two go make hot chocolate, we’ll do the lights after,” Mom said with her unique smile plastered on her face. Like always, I was the first in the kitchen. After a few seconds, Gracie emerged from the doorway. Opening the cabinet, I marveled at the amount of mugs we had. They were all very intriguing and different from each other.  I had selected the perfect mugs with lots of precision. However, as I was grabbing the last one I dropped them! They crashed to the floor with the ear splitting sound of them shattering. “We break things way too much in this house!” Gracie, interrupting the commotion said. Mom must’ve heard the familiar noise because we heard her groan and shuffle to where we keep our broom. Beneficially, the brooms aren’t far from the kitchen. So, Mom walked in about a minute later holding the cleaning tool. It is very vital to this household.

We cleaned everything up and shortly after, Mom said, “Now we can make hot chocolate!” and so we did. The fragrance of warm, comforting chocolate filled the house. We all enjoyed hot chocolate very much so it didn’t take very long for us to finish.  “Are you guys almost done? I want to get the lights off!” Gracie announced, eagerly. She can be quite annoying when she’s upset, so we quickly went to the living room. “You guys know what to do,” our mom said, lingering behind us. Gracie’s job was to plug the lights in, and mine was to start unwrapping them. Since it was her job, Gracie plugged the lights in. Mom and I started unwrapping them, there was a slight burning scent but I assumed it was from our fireplace.  Along with the smell, there was a small flicker of light which I also ignored thinking it was just a normal light. Not questioning those things was not a good idea. Next thing I knew, the flicker grew brighter and the scent got stronger…It was a flame!!! “Mom…what is that?” Gracie asked, lingering a few steps away from the tree. Looking up, pure horror spread across her face when she saw it. “Get water, right now!” She screamed, sprinting to the kitchen. Gracie and I followed, hoping to stop the treacherous fire fast. Everyone frantically got water in any available container, the only sounds were panicked screams and water crashing to the floor like glass. Luckily, the flame was quite small and easy to put out.

“That was terrifying,” Gracie said, shocked. We all just stared, scared, confused, and speechless. I felt like time had frozen. The event kept replaying in my head. It. Was. Petrifying. Nobody said anything, it made me more anxious. Finally, someone said something to break the silence, “We should probably get this tree outside,” it was Mom speaking. Silently agreeing, we all started attempting to pick the tree up. Mom had grabbed the bottom, Gracie the middle, and me the top. Together, we brought it outside and laid it on the porch. “It must’ve been dried out, it hasn’t been taking in water,” Our mom confessed marveling at the wet and burnt tree. After a while of being in shock we all went inside to process what had happened. “So, um what now?” I asked, looking blankly at the water. “We clean this mess,” our obviously concerned mother said. That’s exactly what we did. It was just water though, it didn’t take long. “We should be more careful next time,” Gracie said. Mom and I just stared at her, annoyed. “What? I’m just being honest,” Gracie said before disappearing to her room. Mom and I stayed in the living room for a bit before also going to our rooms. And that was the end of it, we never spoke of it again.

The Diving Board

By Dominic Bost

I was swimming in the town pool, “Do you want me to teach you to do a frontflip off the diving board?”Owen said. I had never tried to do a frontflip off the diving board,”Yes!” I said immediately. “ Allright, you need to tuck your chin and act like you’re rolling in the air, try not to land on your back” Owen said. I got onto the high dive and jumped, I landed flat on my back into the water. “You didn’t tuck your chin or roll!” Owen exclaimed.

I got back on the high dive and tried again, I tucked my chin and flailed into the water. “You didn’t roll,” Owen said.

“Ok, you try it!” I yelled. “Ok, I will!” Owen yelled back. He got on the high dive and did a perfect front flip, got back on the high dive and did a perfect backflip. All I could do is stare in amazement at what he just did.

“Now you try it,” He said.  I got on the diving board one last time, I imagined myself tucking my chin and rolling just like Owen showed me. I jumped and I felt nervous as soon as my feet left the diving board. I tucked my chin and rolled, I felt sudden pain go through my back, it felt as if I was whipped by a Roman whip for several hours before backflopping  into the pool eight feet above the water. Everything was blurry, water shot up my nose, the chlorine burned my eyes. I could barely pull myself out of the pool. I walked over to Owen and said,” I tucked my chin!” “But you didn’t roll enough,” Owen said. “Ok!” I said “I’m giving up and going to drink my soda, considering there are not any bees in it by now”

I went over to my soda and took a sip, I heard a buzzing noise coming from the can, I felt pain worse than backflopping into the pool, I pulled my mouth away from the can and attempted to pull the stinger out.That’s how my summer ended, wonderful right?

Coming Home

By Isaac O’Toole

“Isaac! Wake up!” is what my Mom bellowed. I didn’t want to, but I had to go to school. My Mom said one of the best things she could have, “Your Dad is coming home.” It was some of the best news I had heard in a long time. I bolted straight to her. I asked so many questions it sounded like nonsense. She interrupted me and said, ”He’s coming this afternoon.” I was baffled because he had been in the war in Iraq for 6 months. I was so excited I could barely handle it. I sped to brush my teeth, put on clothes, and comb my hair as quickly as I could.

When we were in the car my sister Ella  and I were planning how we would surprise him. We made it to school and I walked straight to my class because I wanted to get the day over with so I could see my Dad.

Immediately, I had to start morning work. It was painstaking to do. We learned how to add things like 5+7 and 2+8, it was so boring. What made it even worse was that I already knew how to do it. It was also bad because I didn’t think I would use it in the real world. Finally we made it to my favorite class, PE! I love playing dodgeball. Bam! Swoosh! Smack!  That’s what echoed in the gym. Wham was one noise I hated because it meant that I was out. Huffing and puffing I went to ELA and the whole class came to the carpet.  The teacher was telling us the story of the “Three Little Pigs”. Everyone loved it. Once she was finished she said, “Isaac, someone is here for you,” while pointing to the back of the room. Turning to the back, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Tears ran down my face. I sprinted to the back to meet my Dad. I gave him a hug and was never going to let go.

Finally I said, “I love you.” A deep voice said back, “I love you too.” When we let go we went to get Ella. She was just like me.  She was shocked, excited, and overwhelmed. We left school and once we got to the car my Dad said, “I hope you two remember that I will never leave you again.” He also said he would take us wherever we wanted. Ella and I discussed and decided to hike.

During the hike, we told jokes, laughed, talked about school, and my Dad told a LOT of Army stories. Overall I didn’t care about any of that. I was just happy that I had my Dad back.

The Last Straw

By Makayla Boland

“Kayla!!” my mother said as she burst into my room.

“Oh my gosh, what do you want?” I said in annoyance because I was not in the mood for her shenanigans I was tired, and about to take a nap.

“You NEED to pick up this room!!”

“Ugh, I’ll do it later” I finished saying as I exhaled deeply and rolled my eyes.

The yelling and anger began to intensify so did my mother’s movements. She seemed as if she were swimming, but in the air…? Her hands kept getting closer and closer to the metal point.

“You will clean this room or else!!”

“Ha, or else what?”

“Or else… um, you’re grounded!”

“WHAT?!!?! That’s not fair you always tell me that this is my “oasis” implying I can do what I want with it correct?”

“Uh… no! My house, My rules!” she had just finished saying as I heard her mumble “Ha see I got her no way she’s winning!”

“Correction mother, I got YOU!!”

“You didn’t!”

“….How is that??”

“Well you can either clean this room, or I’m taking your phone!”

“Oh well, it probably won’t even be for long!”

I laid down to take a quick nap. Due to the fact, it had been a long day and I hadn’t got much rest.

“Kayla! Sit up here and listen to what I’m saying to you!!”

As I sat up with a quick motion, she tried to hug me, I jerked back.

“MAKAYLA! Stop this nonsense, I’m not playing!”

“Mom seriously, I’m not in the mood to deal with this!”

“Kayla, neither am I!” I had just finished saying this, but my voice got shaky she just kept getting closer and closer to the metal point.

“THEN STOP ARGUING WITH ME!!”

“I’m the boss, I do what I want when I want!”

“Ok, let me get this straight… you said and I quote “My house, My rules!” So if it’s your house, you should be the one to clean it?!”     

“NO!! It’s your room!!”

As my mother finished saying that, I heard screams of pure terror and agony.

I looked at my mother and the bent metal straw had a goopy liquid that looked like blood and what seemed to be flesh on the inside of the straw.

I saw my mother scurrying into the bathroom. I yelled her name in shock as I thought to myself, “Is she ok?” “Did she get hurt?” the only thoughts going through my head at that very moment I would never wish upon ANYBODY. As I went to check on my mother in the bathroom my eyes saw something I could never unsee. The straw went through my mom’s hand… I was terrified. I rushed to get my dad, I yelled his name all through the house. Finally, I found him in the garage. I was so scared I couldn’t talk properly.

“D-dad m-m-mo-mom is hurt!!”

“What are you talking about Kayla?”

“Mom, we were in an argument and she was flailing her arms everywhere and then all of the sudden the straw went through her hand!”

As my dad and I ran up the stairs there was blood everywhere.

My mother’s eyes were filled with tears.

We immediately rushed her to the hospital. “Mr. Boland, Your wife, Mrs. Boland will be okay. We gave her stitches and some Tylenol to relieve the pain. You may take her home now. Just make sure she rests her hand as much as possible” My mother, father, and I got home and watched a movie together. From then on my mother and I learned to not flail our arms aimlessly.