November 21, 2016
"The Boy"
Anita Williams (Class of 2020)
They say I'm crazy and they give me medication to keep me quiet, but they stopped and just put me on the streets of Nevada like a stray dog. Then I hear it...the voices. Are these voices I hear following me, or are they in my head? I must try to escape these voices.
I run down the street, no place to go, no destination, and I keep running until the voices stop. I stop in my tracks and find myself standing in the middle of the park. The voices start up again. I look around, trying to see who is there, but there is no one until I see him...It is him, the boy I’ve seen before, the little boy just standing there staring straight at me. Right then I know what I have to do...I have to kidnap him.
Somehow I know he is the key to my problem. I calmly walk toward the kid. He doesn’t even move an inch; he isn’t scared. He just keeps staring at me... like he knows me. I kneel down in front of him and look at him straight in the eye. His eyes don’t show any fear. Why is he not scared? He should be scared... scared of the things that are out at night, scared of being lost, scared of me, but he's not.
"You're not scared...Why?" I ask.
"There's no reason for me to be...Daniel." He replies with a little wicked smile.
He knows my name, but how?
"How do you know my name?" I shout.
"I know everything about you, like I know you hear voices," he says.
How? How does he know? Before I can say anything, a sharp pain starts in my head like I am being stabbed numerous time. I hover over the ground and clench my hands to my head, but then I hear a voice.
The voices...they’re back.
“Sir are you okay? Do you need help?”
I look up to see a man in a police uniform. I can feel my heart racing as he gets closer. I panic and grab his gun out of his holster and point it at him.
“Don’t come any closer!” I shout at the cop. Then I turn around quickly, grab the kid's arm, and run to the closest building. I can hear the cop call for backup on his radio. As I run into the building, I lock the door behind me.
I can hear the sirens ringing from outside the door. The kid sits there and watches me pace back and forth. I have no idea what to do, and then he speaks. “You’re scared. That's not like you,” The kid calmly says.
Still pacing back and forth, I look at him. “You don't know anything about me,” I retort flailing my hands about to demonstrate I’m annoyed.
“There, my friend, you’re wrong. I know more about you than your own parents. Well they wouldn’t really know that much, after all, they did leave you in the park when you were seven.”
I run up to the kid and grab him by his shoulders. “Who are you!” I yell while shaking his shoulders.
“I am you, Daniel Waters. I am you,” the kid replies.
Astonished, I don’t know what to do. I back away from the kid slowly, then before I know it, the door bursts open.
Police pour in through the door and grab me, still shocked. I don’t have the strength to resist and right before my eyes, the boy fades away.
OCTOBER 16, 2016
Creative Writing Prompt: Write a myth to explain the naturally occurring shape of these rocks found in Lake Champlain.
The Pointed Rock
By Colin Lynch (Class of 2020)
As the story goes, Medusa was a gorgon. This means that whoever beheld her was turned to stone. What was not known was that she had a husband. A very unfortunate soul he was, for his wife to be morphed into such a vile creature. In fact, it was even worse for him, as he was not informed until it was too late.
After Medusa’s transformation was complete, she couldn’t bear to be seen in such a state by anyone, so she rushed home to her cave, which had served as her residence. She just sat in the corner, sobbing.
It was not long after that Medusa’s husband returned home. Medusa, ignorant to the effects of being a gorgon, was even more struck with grief to the effect than she expected. She had thought that her husband would have simply left her after viewing her disgusting physique.
Once her husband entered the cave, Medusa unwittingly turned him to stone. It took her a moment to process what she had done. It was then that she realized she truly could not go back into civilization. Upon closer inspection of her husband, she noticed that the statue was shedding a teardrop made of the same stone that the statue itself was erected from.
Because she knew that she had to get this story out, but did not want to be seen, she scattered the teardrops the statue continued to part with around the area, leaving us, the interpreters, to determine the rest.
It is thought that the stones represent the tiny part of humanity and hope left in her lover, with the small hole serving as the tiny bit of him still there. Perhaps Medusa is determined to remind humanity to behold those they love when the time is there, for no one knows when that time will expire.
"The Boy"
Anita Williams (Class of 2020)
They say I'm crazy and they give me medication to keep me quiet, but they stopped and just put me on the streets of Nevada like a stray dog. Then I hear it...the voices. Are these voices I hear following me, or are they in my head? I must try to escape these voices.
I run down the street, no place to go, no destination, and I keep running until the voices stop. I stop in my tracks and find myself standing in the middle of the park. The voices start up again. I look around, trying to see who is there, but there is no one until I see him...It is him, the boy I’ve seen before, the little boy just standing there staring straight at me. Right then I know what I have to do...I have to kidnap him.
Somehow I know he is the key to my problem. I calmly walk toward the kid. He doesn’t even move an inch; he isn’t scared. He just keeps staring at me... like he knows me. I kneel down in front of him and look at him straight in the eye. His eyes don’t show any fear. Why is he not scared? He should be scared... scared of the things that are out at night, scared of being lost, scared of me, but he's not.
"You're not scared...Why?" I ask.
"There's no reason for me to be...Daniel." He replies with a little wicked smile.
He knows my name, but how?
"How do you know my name?" I shout.
"I know everything about you, like I know you hear voices," he says.
How? How does he know? Before I can say anything, a sharp pain starts in my head like I am being stabbed numerous time. I hover over the ground and clench my hands to my head, but then I hear a voice.
The voices...they’re back.
“Sir are you okay? Do you need help?”
I look up to see a man in a police uniform. I can feel my heart racing as he gets closer. I panic and grab his gun out of his holster and point it at him.
“Don’t come any closer!” I shout at the cop. Then I turn around quickly, grab the kid's arm, and run to the closest building. I can hear the cop call for backup on his radio. As I run into the building, I lock the door behind me.
I can hear the sirens ringing from outside the door. The kid sits there and watches me pace back and forth. I have no idea what to do, and then he speaks. “You’re scared. That's not like you,” The kid calmly says.
Still pacing back and forth, I look at him. “You don't know anything about me,” I retort flailing my hands about to demonstrate I’m annoyed.
“There, my friend, you’re wrong. I know more about you than your own parents. Well they wouldn’t really know that much, after all, they did leave you in the park when you were seven.”
I run up to the kid and grab him by his shoulders. “Who are you!” I yell while shaking his shoulders.
“I am you, Daniel Waters. I am you,” the kid replies.
Astonished, I don’t know what to do. I back away from the kid slowly, then before I know it, the door bursts open.
Police pour in through the door and grab me, still shocked. I don’t have the strength to resist and right before my eyes, the boy fades away.
OCTOBER 16, 2016
Creative Writing Prompt: Write a myth to explain the naturally occurring shape of these rocks found in Lake Champlain.
The Pointed Rock
By Colin Lynch (Class of 2020)
As the story goes, Medusa was a gorgon. This means that whoever beheld her was turned to stone. What was not known was that she had a husband. A very unfortunate soul he was, for his wife to be morphed into such a vile creature. In fact, it was even worse for him, as he was not informed until it was too late.
After Medusa’s transformation was complete, she couldn’t bear to be seen in such a state by anyone, so she rushed home to her cave, which had served as her residence. She just sat in the corner, sobbing.
It was not long after that Medusa’s husband returned home. Medusa, ignorant to the effects of being a gorgon, was even more struck with grief to the effect than she expected. She had thought that her husband would have simply left her after viewing her disgusting physique.
Once her husband entered the cave, Medusa unwittingly turned him to stone. It took her a moment to process what she had done. It was then that she realized she truly could not go back into civilization. Upon closer inspection of her husband, she noticed that the statue was shedding a teardrop made of the same stone that the statue itself was erected from.
Because she knew that she had to get this story out, but did not want to be seen, she scattered the teardrops the statue continued to part with around the area, leaving us, the interpreters, to determine the rest.
It is thought that the stones represent the tiny part of humanity and hope left in her lover, with the small hole serving as the tiny bit of him still there. Perhaps Medusa is determined to remind humanity to behold those they love when the time is there, for no one knows when that time will expire.