2nd Quarter Poetry Journal Reflection

The Last Wolf

Yes, I said.

 I know what they have done.

I jolt up from the concrete. Hard and cold, like me. My clothes are tattered, and my arms and face are full of scars from last nights' trek in the woods. Rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I look around. I can't believe it's almost been six years since the Wave and I'm the only one left...I think.

Now, you're probably thinking, what's the Wave? It was horrible. I still have nightmares: flashes of fear-stricken faces and screaming children here and there, parents unable to find their families. Trees being ripped to shreds.

The Wave hit my town the worst because it was right next to the. Freaking. Ocean. Maybe if we hadn't lived there, I would still have my family. Anyways, all I remember was the hundred-foot wave. The gray water contrasting against the black sky. It started coming down slowly. The faster. Faster. Faster, and I couldn't hear anything after that.  

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I chose to write this piece from a line I saw from the poem, The Last Wolf, and from that poem I chose the first two lines and put it in my story. Just like last time, I wanted to write something ominous, something catastrophic and it left the character with nothing but a small shred of dignity. It was the kind of story that I wanted to keep writing, or it left the reader thinking of an ending for themselves, so in a way, my story was kind of like a DIY story. I want to write more stories that have a darker theme next quarter.

2nd Quarter Independent Reading Reflection

For this quarter, I passed my goal of reading five books and read 10! I'm really happy because I didn't think I would reach my goal at all. I read the Color of Water by James McBride, all three books in the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, and The Selection series books one, two, and three by Kiera Cass. I also finished three of the four or five novellas from the Selection Series and those were amazing too! Obviously, this number is better than last quarter (8 more to be exact), so I'm thrilled to see that I made such an accomplishment. My books were challenging enough for the regular high school student, so it wasn't any pressure on me at all. I chose this challenge because I wanted to read something I was comfortable in reading, so it wasn't to easy or too hard. I can't exactly pick a best book, but the 2 series that I read were the best this quarter. Those books were the ones you couldn't put down, and I loved that feeling. They had a story, and they had characters that had developed different/stronger characteristics throughout the books. I think what I discovered for this quarter is that I love to read Dystopia/Utopia/world-conflict books that questioned society in the books, and how the characters questioned their life decisions too.

I reached most of my first quarter goals by reading more than five NEW books that were more than 150 pages long. I also read some of the series that I wanted to read (Thank goodness!). Of course, I always have new goals for myself because...why not, right? One of my goals is to read more than TEN books this time (that I haven't read), and to make sure they are at least 200 pages this time. I also want to read The Maze Runner series because I saw the movie and I have to know what's next :). I'm also planning to start the Harry Potter series, but I might not finish it because THEY'RE HUGE! Maybe until book five, so I'll be pretty busy this winter break too. One book that I'm dying to read is The Martian, and trust me, I'm sure to make it happen this time! I can't wait to start reading!!!