.... just wasn't ready for me. So I thumbed through the course book, singing a chorus of no's until I arrived on the Debate and Public Speaking page. There resided a large photograph of a boy confidently standing behind an ornate podium, clearly frozen in the middle of some captivating and influential argument. I read the passage describing the course and was immediately sold. How could a stuffy math class or a trivial course in art compare to “a course that teaches students the skills and techniques of competitive debate, culminating in a week long tournament?” So I filled out the forms and mailed them and before I knew It .....

.... windows overlooking the entrance to the house. There are black shutters on each window. As the porch continues to the south side of the house I am now looking over the Pacific Ocean. A huge eight foot picture is facing the same way I am. As I look down and observe the ocean I see two piers jutting out into the Pacific. On either side of the piers are huge boulders protecting the coast line from erosion. The house's walls are made of stucco and it has an old fashion shingles that are a clay color. As I walk into the back yard I am surrounded by the best things a man could ever want. Well not quite everything! But a lot of .....

.... proof. My mother's knickknacks were arranged neatly in their proper order on top of the entertainment center. All of our CD's and tapes were put away in their correct spots behind the clear glass door of the entertainment center. The kitchen table was clear of clutter, and the sink was empty, accept for the drying rack in the right partition. Then the doorbell started to ring, and the people began showing up. We had a lot of fun at the party, but I was not prepared for the aftermath the next morning. I woke up late Saturday morning with a slight headache and went downstairs. As I walked down the stairs, I coughed from the .....

.... been climbing for a little while when the blue bird turned back to its nest. "Goodbye, Chris," the blue bird said. "Don't forget to tell me what's at the end of the ladder." Chris climbed higher. Soon he met a woman dressed in coveralls. She held a hammer in her hand and two nails in her mouth. She was pounding nails into a board. "Good day," said Chris. "Good day," said the woman, taking the nails out of her mouth. "What are you doing?" asked Chris. "I'm a carpenter," said the woman. "I'm building a home to live in." "On a ladder?" asked Chris, astonished. "Sure," replied the carpe .....

.... smile, "Of course." He paused as the man sat down, "Do you have a name, son?" The man smiled, "My friends call me Stan. And you...?" "Gregory McFinnly." He shook Stan’s hand firmly and suppressed a yawn. "Its a beautiful morning." Stan nodded and turned to face the sunset, "Its too bad it all has to end." "What?" Gregory cocked his head. "It’ll be all over soon," He smiled faintly. "I work for the government. At least I did until last night; they fired me." He paused as though he were awaiting an inquiry from the old man. When none came he continued, "I know things. Of course I swore I’d never tell them to anyon .....

.... she usually ends up buying these clothes for herself. I just smile at her and tell her how nice they look on her. Finally, she’s most jealous of my other friends. She’s constantly telling me ridiculous things about them in hopes to turn me away from them. God forbid me spend time with them one night instead of her. It was also pretty much impossible to have a boyfriend. She used to tell my boyfriend so many lies and when a break-up actually occurred from it, I confronted her. She admitted to being jealous of the time I spent with him and apologized. I still ask myself today, “How can a person be so jealous of the stu .....

.... it a little at a time to them. In the summer time my grandmother and whoever happened to be at the house would sit out on the sundeck for hours and talk about anything and everything imaginable; she was known as the neighborhood gossip queen. The sundeck was a place for everyone to sit and relax in the warm sunny breeze. My grandmother was a very spontaneous person, she did what she wanted to at the drop of a hat and nobody ever stopped her. She was always very active in many thing like Veterans Auxiliary, making crafts, cooking, cleaning, etc., but always had time for the ones she loved. Living at my grandmothers house was .....

.... painfully that this would be the last time that he would ever walk along this beautiful beach. As his eyes watched the waves, and how they caressed the muddy shoreline, he began to think of the future. His thoughts were quickly disrupted. “Hey bud, how's it going? What was so important that you had to talk to me about?” Chris asked. “It's to hard. I can't go on with it.” “What? What can't you go on with?” Chris demanded urgently. “It's just, that, that, this will be our last weekend together”. “Wait a minute. Slow down, your not making any sense. None at all. What do you mean that this will be our last .....

.... riding a roller coaster, came to me. No one else seemed to complain, so I attempted to ignore the issue by putting myself to sleep. Over 45 minutes had past before I was awaken so abruptly by the grasp of my dad large hand on my shoulder. "Time for lunch!" quaintly said with a jolly cheer hidden deep in his voice. One after another we trickled from the car, emptying quite quickly. I took a large deep breath of what I assumed would be fresh air. Instead, I coughed. The air wreaked of exhaust and was dry, concentrated with dust. It was my fault I hadn't observed the large sign reading "Trucking Pit Sto". The letter "p" ap .....

.... in school and my attitude was changing a lot, for the worse. This got a lot better as time passed. Ahh the present, the me as I am right now. Just recently I have gotten a massive dose of reality. I do not know how, or what from, or anything like that. I woke up one day and it all hit me. I realize now that a lot of stuff in my past was stupid and meaningless so I stopped it. Some of it is still left in my psyche though, but those parts are not really the bad ones. I am pretty sure I have always been a very head strong, independent person. I have never followed what someone else is doing without a good reason for it. Also, if I .....