Soles of a Thousand Words

            So originally my story was about Gadublees. They were made up forest creatures who found themselves fighting off the intruding Japanese beetles. After that idea faded I decided to wright a story of a sister's bucket list which incorporated many of my own bucket list items. It wasn't until this past Tuesday that my story found me.
           I often spend many hours on the T. I take the redline all over Boston numerous days through out the city. I am a very in depth observer. I am oblivious to the obvious but some how susceptible to the small things. My favorite part of taking the T is looking at the passenger's shoes. I have never seen the same pair of shoes. There are so many different pairs. Sometimes not matching ones. I believe that a person's shoes tells a story about them. A story of where they have been, the things that they've seen, or the places they've come across. Now I know that my short story will incorporate several pictures with a story from the shoe's owner for each picture.


Here's the first of many to come:


 






               I bet you think I'm a loser, don't you? My beard unshaven, the faint smell of whiskey on my breath. The 




layers of clothes worn as my blankets for the cold mid December night.




               I've traveled all across the country, and learned that these streets of Boston is where my homes at. It




may be an untraditional home, but this is where I rest my head at night, where I relax in my spear time. What 




would you call it? I am certainly not homeless for these streets provide me the same comforts your homes do. 




Houseless would be the correct term. For I do not have a house, but a home I do. There are no beams that hold a




roof over my head when it's raining, but rather two arms that hold a newspaper and deflect the raindrops as the 




wet ink runs down the palms and down my sleeves.




               I was just sixteen when I ran away from home. I didn't run because I had a bad home life or no friends, 




I ran to find something. I had no idea what, but knew it wasn't in that house or that town. I felt suffocated. It could 




have been my anxiety or the fact that my metal health was deteriorating but there was no way I could stay and 




grow. I needed to free myself and my mind. I needed to grow and explore.










(The story is still in the making. There will be several different ones that make up this one 




short story. I plan on righting one every time I go into Boston which is roughly twice a week. 




The passengers are my inspiration.) 

Rage over Fear

That 3 year relationship I spent him were the best and the worst years of my life. He put me through Hell but taught me so much. Taught me not to tolerate anything from any guy. He taught me that if someone really loved you they would not pin you up against the wall and threaten the ground you walk on. He taught me that someone who loves me would not leave me with scars on my back and on my knees for the rest of my life. This story however is not how he hurt me or made me stronger, but how his foolishness changed my sister’s life forever.

           

It was two weeks after we broke up for the last time. My sister and I were walking home from the bus stop. I remember hearing the squeal of Jason’s tires as he took the sharp turn on to my street.  Me and Beth had moved over because we knew teens flew down the street, excited to be out of the “seven hour torture”.  Only this car was different. This car had my ex, Ryan, in the passenger seat. He egged Jason to get closer to us. To scare us. He loved to taunt me to play with my mind like a puppeteer. Jason did as he was told for my ex not only put fear into me but anyone he was associated with or met by.

           

That’s when it happened. The corner of Jason’s car sent my sister flying forward. Her glasses surpassed her own body’s height. The glass of the cracked frames met each of the sun’s rays that pierced through the turned trees. My sister laid on the ground in a heap. Her arm was clearly broken. I dropped my books and ran to her side. I put her head in my lap. Not a word could break the overwhelming search for breath. My mouth was open but only sobs could make sound. The tears ran down my face and splashed onto hers. She was so still, so peaceful. How could she look so calm? I didn’t want her to look calm. I wanted her to cry or to scream with pain so I knew she was alive. But nothing happened. I screamed to my neighbor to call for help.

I looked up to see Jayson and Ryan standing there. Jayson’s face was paralyzed with fear. Not fear that he had hurt my sister but fear that he may get in trouble. The fright of my sister’s life quickly changed to rage over the two men that stood before me. I looked from Jayson’s face to Ryan’s. The corner’s of his mouth were tweaked upwards. He looked me in the eyes. Looked straight to my sole. He tried to toy with me, but I was done with his mind’s authority over mine. I lay my sweater over me sister’s body. I shot up and charged toward that malicious piece of dirt. My mind was far gone, to far for him to control. Only the revenge for that stupid smile of his remained. I tackled him to the ground. “You son of a bitch! How could you be smiling right now!?” I punched him square in the nose. Instantaneously his nose let a river of blood appear. He grabbed my hair and ripped me to the ground. “You think your tough now?” The only defense I had was to hit jam my knee into his crotch. He let go, his knees flew to his chest. He heaved for a breath of air. “HOW DOES IT FEEL!?” I continued to slap, punch, scratch, as much as I could. He fought back too, but this time I couldn’t feel anything, the pure determination to hurt him like he had hurt me for the past three years, and now my sister, made my body incapable to feel any physical pain being inflicted. I could hear the sirens racing down the street. The loud piercing harmony of the ambulance and cops brought the battle to a sudden stop.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Bucket List

            No one knows when their time is up. Even with technology these days the exact time and date can not be exactly targeted. It may be a pre-determined thing. You may be born with a ticking time clock, counting down the days to your pre-determined death. Even so you yourself will never know. There is so much in this world to do before that buzzer wrings. So many places around the world and beyond, seen by only few. The fact that most people do not explore blows my mind. How can you follow the same routine day in and day out? Do you realize that every minute you spend here is a minute less you have? Most live their lives in fear. The fear of knowledge, the fear of heights, the fear of spiders ect. I am not saying I am not afraid of anything because certainly I am; But my imagination and determination to travel around the world has made me decide to stand up. I will not curl up into a ball and watch the minute hands tick away. I have a need to go further beyond the land I was raised and the streets I have walked. I want to experience even simple acts, one that someone just takes for granted, or sees but never does. This is how I came up with my own bucket list. Simple tasks or actions, and some not so simple, that I have been writing down since I can remember. It is not that I am preparing myself for death but the exact opposite. I am preparing myself to live and carry out any dream or wish that I may have. I know that life is short. The past sixteen and a half years have flown by, and I know that when I come back and read this when I am thirty I will be saying the same thing. The difference is that I will be fully content with how I spent those last thirty years.
           A bucket list is a list of things a person wants to accomplish before their time on Earth is up. Some things on these lists may be reachable, others may just be dreams. No two people have the same bucket  list. My Sister's List, by Maura Kathereine Flaherty is a story of a girl who discovers her deceased sister's bucket list. From there she is taken on a crazy journey. Her sister's list is fully duable but not with ease. The things on the bucket list have been inspired if not extracted directly from my bucket list. A few items a reader my learn about is the dream to run across Fenway Park's field during a Red Sox game. I will be fully clothed with no drugs or alcohol in my system. This is not some intoxicated canter across the field this is just one check mark on my list. To feel the field's grass between my toes. To feel so small out there while the walls of the park tower over me with hundreds and thousands of spectators. To feel that adrenaline pump as I run from security. The only thing that could make this any better is if I could get away with it. If I could somehow devise a plan with a  friend or two. To map out Fenway and create a route. To have someone waiting in a getaway car. And a day later when I am being brought out in handcuffs in my classroom by police, the grin on my face, ear to ear, will not budge. I know the fee is a thousand dollars, I already have 650 saved up. So come at my security a grand for a dream that I will never forget and never regret is well worth it to me. The list is filled with actions like these and also actions less extravagant. My goal is to fulfill as many of them as I can. Checking them all of may be impossible because with the more time I spend here the more I come up with. Although there is an ending in the story, there is no ending to my list.
          A bucket list is something that gives someone hope for he future. It excites them with the knowledge of the journey awaiting them. Some may want to jump of skyscrapers, others may want to crochet a blanket. There are no rules to this kind of list, no guidelines, no person to tell you no. Do what you have got to do, you only live once.

Just Live

Just think we are living our child hood now. When we were twelve and looked at pictures of us at six the attitude and spirits in each were the same. They had an innocent feel to them. This is the biggest thing, when you looked at them did you laugh? That goofy innocence of a person's smiles fades, as they grow older. You may not realize it in the moment but look at your folk's pictures. The difference in their smile is noticeable; they were more stiff and fake. It could be the fact that with age comes stress. The stress of love. The stress of money. The stress of aging. The harsh realities of life hit you hard, overwhelm you. One or two bumps or burdens come your way, and it’s a bad day once in a while. Then you wake up one day and just realized you’re not a kid anymore. Those years you can never relive, the best years of you’re life. The years where you didn’t have to worry about anything. You got to spend days running around outside playing tag and capture the flag. Those days are over. Here comes bills and taxes and whatever other legal obligations we’re required to fulfill. 

I wasn’t even going to right about this tonight. I almost submitted some bullshit about love and friendship. But tonight one of my best friends, a girl I have come to love and trust found out she would not be able to play any more volleyball this year. Yeah it’s just volleyball, but it’s really not JUST volleyball. It’s her last season of volleyball ever in high school. The last game of volleyball as an innocent spirit.  With girls she will probably never see again. When she had finished practice and go home to her family, her mom, dad, and siblings. This is the last time any of us will get to do this.  Go back to the comfort of our home. This is the last year we’ll have this feeling. Although due to economic issues we all may end up living back at home after college, the walk through the front door will never be the same. That feeling of safety and security from having memories surrounding you. Soon that feeling will change. It’s going to be a constant weight; and every time you walk in more pounds will be added. But I will not follow the same path. I think these feelings are those of suffocation. So why don’t we all get off our asses and live? That’s what I am doing. I hope to see every nook and cranny of this earth. The good and the bad because how do we know what’s good if we don’t have bad? There’s beauty in bad, and that is to make you realize just how beautiful life is. I vow to never lose that same energetic goofy smile. I will be that crazy Aunt in my family.  The one that wears the funky clothes and half the time no one really knows what she is saying but is just as happy as she is because of the look in her eye and the laughter at her own jokes.

I guess today is just one of those days where you realize that the joyful and innocent years of high school are ending, and although there were definitely hard times there are much harder ones to come. “But ya gotta keep ya head up,” as the wise 2Pac would say. Enjoy the year you live because no moment can be rewound and lived again, don’t lose that smile, and just live life.

Voice memo- This I believe essay

https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/132dbd74a0df9994

body

Maura K. Flaherty

This I believe. I believe in traveling. The majority of the people living in this state have not left this state. They have lived in the same town, city, or community for most of their lives. But what does that do for the brain? I imagine it is screaming. It feels suffocated with the same old images. There is so much out there, beyond our safety barriers, we have the choice to explore.

When I was a little girl I thought I would live in Pembroke for the rest of my life. I had no interest in leaving. Pembroke was my home and I wanted it to stay that way, but now I have no idea where home is. Home is where your heart is; I’m still searching for mine. My trip to Nicaragua changed my view on home. It was my first taste of the real world. The sights I saw, the things I smelt, all new, my brain was feasting. I realized then that I have no idea who Earth is. She has so much to offer and I have confined myself to one tiny part of her.

How many times do we live? If re-incarnation is not on the radar then the answer is once. I have realized in my seventeen years of living just how fast life is. I am already seventeen. I have lived and breathed air on this Earth for that amount of time and looking back makes me realize just how quick time slips. Before I know it I will be married with kids. I do not want to look back on my past wishing I had done more while I had the time.

I am not sure where I will be in ten years but I know that I hope it is not thetown of Plymouth, the state of Massachusetts, or the country of the United States. I want to take my knowledge and my work to places elsewhere. To be smart means to read books and study, but to be intelligent means to absorb information and culture from places outside your home. I cannot wait for my mind and spirit to flourish with unknown wonders of life. I cannot wait to take the shackles of my brain and spirit. I have already loosened them. Exploring the woods, the city, now it is time to move on and fill the rest of my years with the wonders of the world, and I know I am ready.

Before I leave this world I hope I travel to every corner. I hope I see The Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the ancient palaces of Beijing. I hope to just travel and explore with no guidelines just me a backpack and a companion for protection. I understand times have changed and it can be dangerous where ever you may go, but I am not letting a few stories define my brain’s living quarters. It’s hungry and I am ready to feed it.

Japanes Beetle Research

                            Japanese Beetles

-Japanese beetles are herbivores. They eat leaves, vegetables, and fruit.

-As larvae Japanese beetles eat turf grass.

-If a product that may be sold has any Japanese beetle infestation or is grown in an area of infestation the company of that certain product is not allowed to distribute it for it may cause a spread in these pesky beetles.

- The Japanese beetles were first introduced to the United States in 1919 in New Jersey. Now they can be found all across the nation except for the Southern states.

-The easiest way the beetles travel from state to state is through plants. Plants with larvae in them are shipped across the states and soon enough they grow bigger and stronger until they are beetles.

- Adult Japanese beetles can fly so if they land on moving transportation they can easily be moved throughout our nation and beyond.

-On many occurrences these beetles are found near airports because people traveling often don't realize that they may be carry a couple "extra belongings".

-"It is generally metallic green with coppery-brown wing covers, which do not quite cover the tip of the abdomen. Along the sides are five patches of whitish hairs. The adult beetle has an oval form and ranges from 8 to 12 mm in length. Typical of other scarab beetles, the antennae are clubbed at the end and may spread to a fan-like form." (Direct quote)

www.karensgardentips.com/.../ten-interesting-facts-about-japanese-beetles-to-help-you-control-them/

- There has been may incidents were other beetles have been confused for Japanese beetles, for there are many look a likes out there.

- The Japanese beetles' original name is Popillia japonica. They are originally from Japan.

-Adults tend to be 1/2 inch long.

- Japanese Beetles are extremely hard to get rid of. So far nothing in the U.S. has worked in stopping these pesky eaters from leaving.

Japanese beetle." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 6 Oct. 2011 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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My moral compass #PSHS

 My moral compass is composed of four strong values I hold in my life. Hardwork is number one. You need to be a hard worker to accomplish your dreams. Dreams should be something you reach for, not something right beside you. You need to be hardworking in the classroom and hardworking at your job. Another value on my compass is excersize. By excersize I don't mean working to get that perfect Hollywood body, I mean excersize to be healthy and live a long life. Excersize isn't just only good for the body but for the mind too. The third value on my compass is learning. It's not only important to learn in school but it's also important to learn outside the classroom. There are so many mysteries and adventures awaiting for someone to teach. Life is a lesson of its own. I hold faith as the last value in my compass. I have faith in Dios. It's nice to have someone to look up to or to talk to. Someone you know cares and who has a greater picture in store for the future. Lifes little battles are only leading to a greater victory. Faith shouldn't just be associated with religion but everday actions. My teamates have faith in eachother, that we'll work as one. Parents have faith in thier children, that after they're done doing thier job, we succesfully finish ours. A moral compass is cool and creative, because not one person's arrow points to the same direction all of the time. Also like compasses we have our North East, South West , and every other little direction. Those are just four of the many directions my compass leads me.

Belief sytem and morality and how they go hand in hand

             Not one person knows what morality is. It is just a word we gave to group a hole list of made

up princapals together. Our belief structure is where we get our vision of morality. The belief

structure is part opinion and part animal instinct.

                Human's are animals. Yes they may have evolved, but they still have nature's instincts at

heart. People come from all differant backgrounds and from all kinds of parents yet the majority

know what's right from wrong. Some of the guidelines come from the laws that shape our

communities but the other percentage of what we do comes from something we're born

with.Human beings know to love their young and to raise thier children. Mother's insincts to

nurture thier babies doesn't have to be taught.

                Although man and women know how to raise thier familie's society has provided stricter and

more educated instructions. Human's know that murdering one another is wrong. They also

know that stealing is wrong. Yet both of these beliefs can easily be challenged by morality. So

that woman may have killed that man. That man beat her every day. Now what does human

think of that? Thiere moralitites influence the way they feel towards a crime and the right

punishment they feel fit for the prosecuter. That boy stole that box of macoroni to feed his little

brother and sister because they couldn't make it to the shelter in time. Automatically human

instincts kick in and challenge our morality. In those two instances our belief system crumbles to

our morality. Education plays a huge role in the evolution of our idea of morality and the

structure of our beliefs.