Waiting in ER

“I’m sorry sir, but we cannot attend to you at this moment, there are others here who have much more grave injuries than you, and you look absolutely fine to me.” the nurse responded coldly. “You don’t understand, I am suffering from a tremendous pain in my head!” responded the man. “Sir, it could just be a headache, why don’t you go home and lie down, or if you insist, I can not help you, and you must wait like everybody else.” responded the nurse coldly again. The man, frustrated took a seat and began to wait. He took a look around and saw that the ER waiting room was almost full.

He noticed a man, slumped over in his seat, clutching his arm, and upon a closer look. the man was bleeding profusely from the arm. Then a loud shriek overpowered all the noise, it was a woman who was clutching a boy, perhaps her son. The boy had his eyes closed and had a peaceful look on his face. Immediately, a band of nurses came rushing in carrying the boy on a stretcher, with the sobbing mother in tow.

The man began to reinspect his own injury, the man was not bleeding from the head, as far as he knew. He began to think of the incident that had only happened the day before, a beating that he had received countless times before by the same old bully. Of course, all the other beatings had never left him feeling like this. The bruises and black eyes, he had begun to get accustom to, but not the dizziness he was feeling now. Ever since the beating, the man could not get a grip on himself, having trouble even with the simple process of going for a walk. He was getting up much later than he had been used to, and when he did, only with a tremendous amount of effort was he able to make his way out of bed.

The man took another long look around the waiting room, almost nothing had changed, the wait it seemed, would take a great amount of time. What he did notice was the clock, in what felt like no time, he had kept himself thinking for thirty minutes. A sharp jolt of pain hit him, and it only seemed that the pain was getting worse and worse.

He felt tired, sleepy in fact. The sights around him only seemed to slow down even more and more as the pain grew and grew. This, though, he did not pay attention to, just to the blurs all around what seemed to be the waiting room. A particularly light blue blur made its way around an even larger brown blur and started to make its way towards him.

“Sir,” the blur said, “the doctor will see you now.” He was having trouble making out what she was saying after that, and he just continued to stare at the blur, the blur continued, “Sir? Are you feeling okay?” The man continued to stare, he looked down to what he believed to be the floor, and slowly closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

Short Story 2

“Today is the most important day, today decides whether all the work was worth it or not.” Connor said to himself, only inaudible by the fact that the noise of the train and of those commuters around him was much more louder. The day, had been the final exam, Connor had been studying to become a doctor. Connor enjoyed helping people, and doctor would be the perfect job for him. It was early in the morning, around six-ish perhaps. Connor was extremely tired, not only had he gotten up extremely early for the test, but had spent the entire night studying.

In short, it wasn’t particularly a great day, but things could get much worse. Over the loud noise, came an even louder rumble, and then after that, came an even louder crash in the car in front of his. The train had come to an immediate stop, sending everyone crashing forward. Connor fell and hit his head on a seat, Connor fell to the ground and continued to lie there. He raised his hand up to his head and touched the spot where the pain was coming from. His hand came into his view and noticed his blood. All he could hear were moans of pain, the lights began to flicker, on and off, until finally, Connor lost consciousness.

Connor awoke to what seemed almost exactly to the scene he had passed out to, the horrifying moaning was still audible throughout the car, with the only difference being the lights had completely gone out, giving the car a much more eerie feeling. Connor struggled to get up, he heard a voice behind him. He looked in the direction and saw a man standing, struggling to keep himself up. Connor quickly made his way towards him and carried him out of the train.

“Hey are you okay?” asked Connor. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, just a bit dizzy.” answered the man. “What’s your name son?” asked the man. “Connor, and you must be?” “Jake.” “Well, there are still people in there, we should help them.” said Connor.

They went inside of the train car, and immediately, the moaning began again, the pair began to pull people out. Many of the passenger had been injured, and a grown man was bleeding profusely from the head. Connor quickly began to look for medical supplies. He found a Medical Kit, and started to work on the man. “What are you, some doctor?” asked the man. “No, just studying to be one.” answered Connor with a smile.

Connor began to look around, and that was when he truly realized the situation they were in. At both ends of the tunnel, rubble had fallen and blocked off the paths, blocking any sort of escape. The scene hit Connor deep inside of him. How could they possibly get out of there? Connor pushed the thought aside and began to work on the other passengers. When all was done, Connor, with the help of Jake began to sort through what supplies they had. They had four bottles of water and a couple of snacks. The supplies would not last them a very long time. When he announced the state of their situation to those around him, the looks on their face only worsened. Connor tried to lighten the situation by stating that they were already being searched for and in a couple of days they would find themselves rescued.

*           *           *

Days passed, slowly, one by one, and the time was becoming even more and more agonizing. Connor woke up to a panic. The passenger had all huddled themselves around something. Connor made his way over to the commotion and his heart stopped by what he saw. It was the man he had taken care of first, he was lying on the tunnel wall, and he didn’t seem to be breathing. Connor ran to him and began to check the pulse, only, there was none. Connor began to try CPR, no matter, for the man would not breathe. Connor’s vision began to blur, he put his hand up to his eye, he was crying, and he could not control himself, Connor started to sob.

*           *           *

“End of the line huh?” said Jake. “Was that a pun?” asked Connor. “Huh? What? No, of course not, just slipped out was all.” “I can’t believe we still haven’t been found… Are we even being searched for?” asked Connor. “I have no idea, but don’t get your hopes up.” replied Jake. “Hey, just in case we don’t make it, thanks for taking care of all of us alright?” Continued Jake. “Don’t say things like that...help will arrive. I’m sure of it.” answered Connor. “Are you okay, you don’t sound fine.” “Yeah, I’m okay.” “Are you sure, you’ve been so busy taking care of us, you haven’t really been taking care of yourself, you even gave up some of your portions…” ‘I’m fi-” Connor felt pain in his head. Not only that, but he swore he could hear machinery in the distance. “Hey, do you hear that?” asked Jake. “Yeah, I do.” “We’re being rescued!” The pain was getting worse. He was tired, so incredibly tired. “They’re almost through Connor! They’re almost here!” He was struggling to hear what Jake was saying. All he could hear was Jake screaming his name, “Connor, are you listening? Connor. Connor!” Then Connor saw it, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, he was attracted to it, he wanted to go to it, what he saw, was a bright, white light.

Short Story 1

“Well what do you propose we do with it?” asked Eric. “I suppose the most reasonable thing would be to get the cops.” answered Leon. “That may be true, but you can't tell me you're not interested in it at all?” said Eric. “In that? Why would I find something so disgusting so fascinating?” Leon took another glance at the soaked lump bobbing in the water, slowly rising and sinking, it would eventually find itself lying on the shore.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, the few bits of light cast a shadow on the lump, making it much more difficult to make out what said lump was. Just barely, one could make out what looked to be a face, if one were to look even closer and a tad bit to the top, you would find yourself staring into the hole in the man’s forehead. Leon found himself shaking himself with disgust.

“Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re so worked up over just a dead body?” teased Eric. “The more important question is, why are you  not so worked up over the body. It’s a dead body for Pete’s sake, it’s not something you find on a regular basis, and not something pleasant at that.” said Leon.

By this time, the body had beached itself and lied on the sand. Eric began to make his way towards it. Leon, against his better judgement, began to follow reluctantly. The body was only a few yards away, a smartly dressed man, probably no more than 30. The blood from his body had drained and paled.

“Do you think he has anything on him?” asked Eric. “What?” asked Leon. “I asked, do you think he has anything on him?” repeated Eric. “I know what you asked you fool, but I’m shocked by what you asked. Do you plan to steal from him?” asked Leon. “Well, is it really stealing if he has passed on? I mean, it’s not like he’ll put up a fight.” joked Eric. “You are a sick man. A disrespectful one as well. If you’re going to do this, then I have no intention of staying here anymore.” said Leon. “Then go on, and don’t expect me to share any loot that I find either.” stated Eric. “That is completely fine by me.” retorted Leon.

Leon began to climb the beach, heading back to the car. Eric watched him trudge his way along until he went over the hill and was no longer visible.

“Well, what do you have for me my friend.” said Eric to the body. The body, as expected, continue to lay there, and did not answer back. Eric began to slowly slide off the drenched suit jacket. It looked very expensive, which only excited Eric more, as a man with great taste would have some very worth-while items on him. Unless they were taken from him before he was killed, but Eric tried to ignore the latter and put it out of his head. He checked the left pocket, nothing. He began to search the right pocket and felt something, paper and and a little bag. The paper, which was disappointingly, not money, was instead rolling papers. And in the bag, a pile of wet, useless tobacco. “Garbage” Eric thought to himself.

Eric began to slip off the man’s dress pants. He checked the pockets and once again, found himself disappointed. The pockets were empty, and there was nothing else to check through. The man had not a single penny on him, nor a wrist watch of sorts on him. Other than the useless tobacco and soaked papers, there was nothing. For a moment he pondered about taking the dress suit and pants with him, and ultimately deciding it was for the best to leave them. He dropped the clothes and began to make his way up the hill back home.

A Principle to Keep

Throughout the novel "The Road", the father and the son try to live in a post-apocalyptic world in a way which they keep certain principles in their lives. In "The Road" the bloodcults are an example of a group of people who seem to have lost all meaning of principles as they murder those trying to survive and devour them as well. Faced with the destruction of the world, keeping to your principles could be the last thing on anyone's mind, but keeping them can be considered one of the most important things. If I had to choose a principle to keep, it would have to be the principle of cooperation. Although there are a multitude of other principles that seem much more important to keep, there is a reason why this one is important to me. Cooperation is what makes the world work, a group of people working together towards a common goal. Of course, depending on what the goal is, means everything. For example, the bloodcults cooperate. They are a group of people who cooperate towards their common goal of trying to survive through unethical means. But, what say if a group of people were to cooperate for a common goal that were to benefit humanity. In "The Road" the father and the son not only survive, but keep basic human principle, say if there were a group of these people just like the father and son. Working together to create something out of society, to go back to what the world once was. If everyone were able to cooperate with each other and try to restore society, there is absolutely no doubt that it could be done.

Thanks!

There are so many people within my English class that I am thankful for, although some, I may have never spoke to, nonetheless, I will give them my thanks for just being part of the class and making it such a wonderful learning atmosphere. Although everybody has received my gratitude, there are those in my class that I have bonded with more, and choosing just one of them proved to be a very difficult choice for me, so I will thank them all. First off, I'd like to thank Rameez, Justin, and Jiawei being my companions that I associate myself with the most. I met Rameez and Justin during my Freshman year, with Rameez and I becoming great friends from the start. I met Justin later, and as well, we became pretty good friends. Now Jiawei I met this year, but nonetheless, I consider him as a great addition to those I consider my friends. We have all sat together since the beginning of the year and have always worked together on everything since, leading to a very tragic and painful experience when Mr. McCarthy only allows a groups of three and one of us has to be left out. The others that I would like to thank personally are Amanda, Gissel, and Elli, who are great people with their own great personalities, which makes me feel lucky to be able to call them my friends. Thank you to all my friends who have made the school year such an amazing one, and know that I am thankful for each, and every one of you.

I Celebrate Myself

For one to celebrate themselves, it can have various meanings to what it actually means, but to me, celebrating yourself is when you have come to the point in your life where you accept who you are in society. You have come to enjoy the person you are, no longer worrying what others have to say about your lifestyle. What they may find weird, you have come to the realization that that is what makes you happy, and if you would rather stay at home on a Friday night and watch T.V. than go out with a couple of friends, why does it matter. You should pursue what makes you happy in life, not what may satisfy others. We were taught growing up to always be yourself, but as you age, reality hits us, don't be yourself is what you're basically fed every day. We live in a world where it is important to hide our imperfections and follow a set guideline to our social norms. We are taught that staying inside is bad and that going outside is not. We are taught to be socialbeings and seek out others, but sometimes we are able to find the most comfort when we are alone and left to our own thoughts. When you finally learned to respect yourself and who you are, that is when you gain true happiness, being able to shrug off common norms, not being worried what others think of you, be the individual that you want to be, not the one that society wants. Shape yourself out to become who you truly are, it may seem difficult if you go against what society deems as right, but sooner or later you will realize that the positive factors far outweigh any consequences you would face. Stay true to who you are, do not become someone you do not want to be, love yourself for who you are, or in other words, learn to celebrate yourself.

Poe

             Edgar Allan Poe was a famous poet throughout the Romanticism age, he was well know for his dark stories, Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. Poe was born with two other children, Henry and Rosalie. By the time Poe was two years old, both of his parents had died. Later he was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Allan, both of whom, made decent money leading to Poe growing up in a fairly well environment. Growing up, Poe had started to face difficulties in his life, with him being in debt and his adoptive parents had shunned him. In 1827 he joined the U.S. Army as a way for his parent to support him and send him money, when this had failed, he started being a nuisance until eventually he was dismissed from the academy. He finally found a break through a job as a newspaper editor for the Southern Literary Messenger. Later on though, he quit the job due to his salary not satisfying him. He continued this for many more years until finally his mysterious death had taken him.

             Now that I have talked about his life, I will talk about his writing. From the pieces I have read, "The Fall of the House of Usher" and his most famous piece, "The Raven" Poe manages to fulfill the the dark entertainment that he is well known for. The Raven, I understood why it was his best piece, reading it and trying to figure out what was going on can be a tad bit confusing, but once you start to piece things together in your head, you understand more and more about what is going on. I wish I could say the same thing for his other piece, "The Fall of the House of Usher" As I read it, I lost interest in it a few paragraphs in, it seemed to drag out a story and then was ended in a way as if he was trying to finish the story and get it over with. Possibly if the story had been shorter, much more thought would've been put into this piece, even with a much better ending than the one it has received. From these two pieces, I am neutral to his writing, if Poe has gotten such great reviews off of everyone else, then I will read more of his pieces to see what makes him a great writer.