“Dreams why must you follow me?”

“I’m here to give you hope that you’ll need to succeed.”

“But you are so hard to reach. There’s so many obstacles that occur before I reach you.”

“I know my dear, but you must not let the barriers get in your way and knock you down. You must overcome them.”

“But what if I’m not strong enough to overcome it?”

“Your stronger than you think. Your power is from within.”

“And how do I access this power that you say is inside?”

“You just must imagine and believe in yourself and one day you’ll be able to reach your dreams.”

“Why do you still encourage me even when I feel weak?”

“Because I’m your truest supporter. I believe if one believes in one self you can conquer anything.”

“Its still so hard though to believe in the darkest moments.”

“You must still try young one. Find a motivation and soon you can reach anything. Just believe.”

I am a caramel soft sofa.

I’m a frosty, white snowflake

that falls between a triangle of palm trees.

I’m as fierce as a wolve.

I’d be a 14 year old basketball

that’s as freshly polished as a brand new Porsche.

I’d be a fancy, well-known restaurant

that is a place where families escape to laugh.

I’d be a slow hip hop song that’s also trendy.

People would love to sing and dance, never getting tired of the rhythm.

I’ll be as sharp as a shattered piece of glass.

I’ll be as spicy as Jalepeños Nachos.

 

A

dream is a dream.

She’s the first contact you

make in the world. She’s the soil

and the base for life. She lights the path of the long, dark, and lonely

tunnel. She is something you yearn for. A star that glistens

 in the dark. She’s what you try and hold on to. She’s

accompanied by her friends’ courage and hope.

Giving you a reason to push       through barriers and carry on.

          She leads you through the feelings           of ambition, motivation, and drive.

     The final steps you need.                                                           The steps which lead to

suc                                                                                                                                               cess.

 

Shiny stars bursting out of a white envelope,

inside a perfectly folded acceptance letter.

Words scream out, “Congratulations, you’re a star”.

A  bittersweet feeling overcomes me, thankful

to be accepted to a great academic school,

but at the same time, I don’t want to go to

Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. I want

to be one of the aggressive falcons at FMS.

Mr. Helwig decided to try and convince my mom

to pick ARS for a “much better education”.

Of course, he won and changed her mind, so I’m forced

to become an Ann Richards Young Women Leader.

 

They all knew each other from Pre-Kindergarten.

They were all friends and had close bonds with each other,

but I was the new girl that showed up in fourth grade.

Coincidently, there was another new girl too,

Zoe Fisher and we became each other’s friend.

We always stuck together and started gaining friends.

Throughout my fourth and fifth grade years, I felt closer

with my 2015 class. We established a deeper type of

bond that united us all as one. Eventually,

it was time to graduate and walk across the stage.

Although I showed up later than most in the grade,

they made me feel like I’d been there forever.

 

Running across the basketball court back and forth,

screaming and squealing from the sharks chasing us.

Gasping for breath, tired of being the shark’s new bait.

Celebrating my victory from arriving

to my destination, the other side, “the sea”.

I’m one of the fastest and hardest to catch

since I dodge all the seaweed to stay in the game.

I eventually gain the shark’s attention,

and both sharks disguised as Maddie and Fernanda

decide to chase me, but Maddie and I collide.

We both fall down hard. I break my fall with my wrist

and land on her ankle. We both shriek out with pain.

 

We’re rushed to the nurse office for a checkup

just to find a vacant room with no nurse present.

Eventually, we find the guard, and she pretends

to be a nurse, by doing an examination.

I’m cleared and go back to P.E class again.

Throughout the day, I feel faint pains throb through my wrist.

By the eighth period, it was hard to lift objects.

I call my mom to be taken to the ER soon.

After X-rays and eternity of waiting,

The dark-haired male doctor enters the white room.

I’m diagnosed with a slightly fractured left wrist.

For two months I adapt to one usable hand.

 

I’m nervous, standing on the big and brown stage.

The bright yellow stage lights are shining down on me.

There are many unfamiliar faces in the crowd

that watch me, waiting for the choir to start singing.

My hands start shaking, drips of sweat form on my head,

a lump is in my throat preventing me to sing.

I feel as though I’ve forgotten the lyrics

to the song that we’ve been practicing for months.

I build up the courage and search for the lyrics.

Once they are found, I start to sing. A large weight is

lifted from my chest when the song is over. Applause

fill the room. I’ve finished my first performance.

 

“Teasia, come to the front of the cafeteria”

A frightened but confused feeling washes over me.

I know I haven’t caused mischief recently,

so why would Ms.Rutz call me up to the front room?

As I drag my feet near her, everyone watches me.

To my surprise, an ecstatic expression is

spread across her face. She hands me a large, yellow

envelope and says “Congratulations Teasia”.

I become eager to reveal what’s inside.

When I open the envelope a letter yelps

“Congrats! Teasia has been selected to receive the

2016 African American Heritage Award”.

 

There’s one-minute ticking down until class ends.

Everyone begins to organize belongings

so that we can finally leave our third period.

But Coach O is still talking and usually he

doesn’t care about the extra noise, but today

he is in a terrible mood for some reason.

He suddenly snaps and tells us to stop moving.

Some people listen and stop, but the other half

continue to move, talk, and annoy him further.

This angers him and he yells out, “The longer you

take to stop moving, the more minutes I will spend

talking and keeping you from going to fourth-period”.

 

This statement enraged me. I believed he had

no right to hold us all back for an action that

only half of our class was taking any part of.

I decided to speak up and say, “If you’re going

to hold us back, you’ll need to tell our teachers

the reason we’re late for their class”. This made him

madder, so he replied angrily, “I will” and

continued talking. Outside of class, before we

heard students rushing, but now there was pure stillness.

Soon after, he finished talking and dismissed us.

But before I left, he stopped and gave me a speech.

I got my first white, yellow, and pink demerit.

 

An email appeared across the top of my screen.

 Basketball Tryouts. I choose to brush it aside.

I’ve never been part of an actual sports team.

My friend persuades me to “give basketball a chance”.

I show up on Thursday to tryouts, and they’re

many girls that look very experienced players.

After the coaches run some fundamental drills, we

do shooting drills. While we were supposed to be

listening to Coach Tilson, Symantha “passes” me

the ball, which hits my face, and breaks my only glasses.

Although I’m mad, I shake it off and resume.

Later that night, I discover I made the team!

 

After winter break, Mrs.Willie introduces an

essay contest that the class must all compete in.

We all write essays on different violence types.

The submission due date is in less than two weeks.

So we do the writing process on our own time.

I write my essay about domestic violence.

I revise it to my best capability.

Before I know it, time had raced by so quickly.

I do one last glance over it and turn it in.

Many months go by and the season changes to spring.

One day, Ms. Willie tells me, I’m the only

finalists from ARS and I received three awards!

 

It’s February 27, 2016, so it’s my birthday.

I’m 13 now, officially a teenager.

This is the first year that I’ve done no planning.

No birthday lists or plans were made in advance so

I had to come up with some last-minute ideas.

I decided to go shopping for new clothes and shoes.

Later, it was time to open gifts. I received

emoji bedsheets, headphones, and a bean bag chair

since I was going through the emoji phase. After,

I went to eat at Steak N Shake, my favorite

restaurant, I went back home and watched Fuller House,

and later ate cake. Overall I loved my day.

 

I remember the events leading up clearly…

My mom realized she’d forgotten her phone in

the car and went to get it. It was around 11.

I paused the show until my mom got back, and was

so overjoyed over how well the day had gone.

Suddenly my mom comes back with a serious

expression, I can tell something is wrong. She

says she’s missed several calls from Nana and

suddenly my heart drops, I feel sick, and I’m

hoping that I’m dreaming or wrong. Why today?

The phone connects and a few seconds later my

mom’s cries. And I just know my grandma has passed.

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember it like it was yesterday.

A cool, refreshing breeze

whistling through the trees.

The warm summer sun

shining down on my face,

and warming my little beating heart.

My little hands reaching out

to grasp my parents’ much larger hands

for security.

As we walk,

step-

by

-step,

hand

in

hand.

My parents lift me a little

and I swing back and forth,

having a blast of a time.

I throw my head up

to look into my parents’

twinkling, deep brown eyes.

And I scream with enjoyment

“Let’s do it again”.

 

She sat outside

on the grassless yard

looking at all the monsters

roaming the streets.

Kids gathered

dressed as witches, goblins, and vampires.

Suddenly, the young girl awakens,

realizing the old lazy witch,

evil goblins,

and scary vampires

were all just strange enchanted fantasies.

They were just made up,

And fake, just an abstract painting.

One big dream.

One little innocent girl,

who loved to have fun.

 Had a heart that shined like gold.

An imagination as large as all the oceans combined.

Dreams as large as the universe,

without giving a care in the world.

To her, the world was a perfect place.

 

Now many years later

She notices all the dark clouds in the sky.

She steps back and sees the world clearly.

 

There is a society that rates you.

There are people who judge you

based on your features and try to rip you apart.

The world that the innocent girl once thought was “perfect,”

Was all one big dream.

 

A bright and shiny sun,

fresh smells of clean air,

and newly cut grass.

The perfect summer day.

 

In the middle of the yard,

a deep blue pool

filled with crystal clear water

sat and begged someone to join it.

 

My very tall and skinny uncle,

wearing his sweatpants and white tank top

encouraged all us kids

to go outside,

enjoy nature,

and swim.

 

We all rush to change to swimsuits.

Then race to jump in.

We spend hours together

just playing in the pool.

Together as one.