The End of The World

Human Life as we know it!

By:Josie Houle

Authors notes

1. I want my readers to hear that what is going on in this world can affect them at anytime, and that you should always be prepared for any catastrophe. I am not looking in to change the world with a short story essay, all i want is for my readers to know that things can happen!

2. Writing my short story allowed me to use creativity and open my mind. I have so much of that though that i find it hard to write a “short”story.

trying to come up with the detail.

3. I found my story to be very time consuming, i would have to say that the hardest part was trying to

4.  my feedback should sound however the reader feels about it.                                                               

As we know it our world is tortured with cruel things every day. Rape, murder, war, money, food and so much more. The question is how much longer do we have until people get sick of it all?

I woke up with a scream in my ear, “mommy, mommy wake up”. My daughter Lilly had screamed in my ear that had shrieked for 4 years now. I am use to it but it never gets old. I slid out of bed and walked out to the kitchen letting the smell of coffee lead me. It better not be the cheap kind my husband likes to buy sometimes I hate that kind. My son Liam started looking at the TV funny; I’ve never seen him do that. I walked out to the TV and the news was on, I saw a whole entire mob of people at banks showing different locations. They were yelling than it showed people at the white house and other important places, I never payed any attention to what they were called in school.  “Honey” I said “what is this even about”, “hold on” he said “I’ll be right there”. The news was live and then I saw people getting hurt I then realized that this was pretty much where I live. My husband walked in and was astounded from the news. I saw a very worried look in his eyes which made me worried, than I said “what are we gonna do”.

The phone rang and it was the town of Albany I answered it. “Hello” I said, “hello, we want to inform you that you should either take shelter or evacuate the town because we are having a catastrophic (economic collapse). You and your family are in immediate danger and you need to do everything that you can to stay safe and we wish you the best of luck. If you need shelter the public schools, libraries and or hospitals are in ideal place to go, please find the appropriate place to benefit you and any neighbors, friends, family or pets thank you. My head felt like it was under the most pressure ever, “kids, and honey” oh no we need help, no no no no”! I said.*$#! #$&**%$! I said screaming nasty stuff everywhere, my husband took me and held me and told me everything was gonna be ok, I felt scared where were we going to go? My husband said “do you remember my mom”? “Yes” I said, “well she lives in a small town so we could go there” he said. “Where does she live in I said. “In Wendell MA” he said, “well I’ve never heard it so I guess”. I went into the kid’s room and started to pack their bags for them and then Lilly and Liam came in. “mom what's going on”? Lilly said.  “Yeah” said Liam, “well it’s difficult I said but we have to go and you have to listen to everything me and dad say”. Whatever happens I love you so much and I will not let anything bad happen to you guys I stood there holding them for a few moments”.
I finished packing my kids bags bringing pretty much everything that they owned. “Now we're going to grandma’s house so be on your best behavior” I said. The kids knotted, and me and my husband packed we also loaded food and everything we thought that we needed into the car. I know that this situation is going to be the end of our human sanity that we once had. At least for those who want to keep their sanity? Once we got everything loaded into the car we hit the road. The first 10 minutes of the car ride were much quit.
As we got about halfway to grandma GGs house I started seeing lots of people walking thru the woods, and also noticed that we were one of the only cars on the road. I started to get scared that someone was going to jump out at us and I just couldn’t help but make a little yelp. My husband Sam looked at me funny I whispered to him what I saw so that the kids would not hear. He said not to worry about it I could not believe what I was dealing with, I could not believe it. I couldn’t relax or breathe or even think Wright. All of the sudden I saw someone on the middle of the road.
They just stood there with a gun pointed tort us. My heart dropped, they shot at our car and my husband screamed out “duck”. He stepped on the breaks and then we came to a stop. Someone opened the door and dragged Sam out. They shot him right on the spot, I wanted to scream but they would hear me. “Honey, Honey” Sam woke me up I guess I was dreaming, thank god too because if that was real then I don’t know what I would do! We pulled up this grassy driveway with stones and pebbles embedded in the ground. It was I nice small place and I actually found it intriguing it was a long driveway and it seemed safe and looked safe. As we pulled up to the house there was no sign of interference, so I felt better. We all get out of the car and we head to the door. Sam walks up and knocks on the door, his mother opens with a concerned look on her face. Sam said “can we please stay here for while until everything is cleared up”. Well what needs to be cleared up Hun?
Sam explained to her that people are going crazy because we were having an economic collapse. She let us all in and we unloaded, she had the perfect place almost like she bought it in preparation for us. It was just turning from nightmare now to a good dream. I felt so happy and so did my husband, all I could think about now was how long this thing would last. There was a slam and voices outside and we ran to the window there was about 20 people outside the house yelling out “surrender your house” I was happy that my husband parked the car in the garage.               

The man that came, The Christmas that went

What is value? Perhaps it’s the priced items that you possess,’ or it’s the items that you capture and remember for as long as you can. We can only determine what we want for as long as we let our minds set value. Value is more than just two objects. For me it’s more than a thought or even a memory. It’s what we have, it’s what we like. And sometimes an individual would rather have one thing than the other, but in my case I have to pick. So, I picked two memories with a cost. I picked the memory of Christmas with the cost of my IPod and the memory of my dad returning from Afghanistan. If you continue to listen to my rampage and inconspicuous story than you will see that I value my family and its moments, time and the story that will make you think. I value both priced and priceless because I can't pick which would sound better in my story.  
The smell of spice and pine spreads through the air giving me the comfort of the holidays. My eyes translate the beautiful unique snowflakes. My breath making a blotted circle on the window ruins, the image outside. I snuggle in tightly with my blanket letting my body circulate the warmth. Its Christmas morning and I almost forgot what the beginning of Decembers spirit was getting me ready for. I was the first one awake and I felt so accomplished because I’m always the last one awake, every Christmas. As every kid would in my house I crept down stairs. My feet made no noise so it was easy to be sneaky. When I approached the living room my beautiful Christmas tree was overwhelmed with presents. My heart felt warm and my stomach had the butterflies because I was so excited. I ran up the stairs with acceleration going through me, my heart was pounding and I carefully woke up all my sisters. Than we all scrambled into my mother and father’s room. We jumped on them making them get up. “Santa had definitely come”, I said to my sister Lizzie. And that excited look crossed her face, we all ran down stairs and the sound of gasps filled the room. My mother and father approached the room with happy looks on their face. As I grabbed my first present I thought about the iPod that had really wanted. I unwrapped it and saw the plastics case that said “iPod touch” and I was amazed it was the newest one to. That was the priced item that I love.

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND. The man who stood by me thick and thin, the loving father that anyone would just die for, is my dad. My father Chad Houle is in the National Guard. He was gone for a whole entire year and my family and I missed him like crazy. That affect typically affected me because I am the oldest and most responsible one in the family, so that meant that I had to do a lot to help my mom. I have Lilly, Sally, Lizzie and Penelope to help with those are all my sisters. I love having sisters don’t get me wrong but when my dad was not there it was very hard. It was a time consuming day at school and I was sitting in class taking a test. When I was finished I placed my pencil on my desk and waited patiently for my teacher to collect my test. Once the people that were not done were finished we were talking about the ancient Greeks. The class phone had interrupted and with a loud mocking ring. I was told to go to the office because I was being dismissed. My assistant teacher Mrs. Nasser had walked me down. I was so curious about what I was being called down for. I saw that my dad, who was still in his Army combat uniform, was standing there with smirks on his face. My heart raced and I ran with my arms out hugging him. I felt a big relief that finally he was back. I missed him so much he is the best. The teachers eyes were watering around me I was in hysterics myself feeling like there was no control for my feelings. That was the best moment I had ever been through just knowing that my dad was there for me. I wouldn’t trade that part of my day for anything because that was a something that I value more than anything. My dad is the best most unpredictable most lovable dad ever in the whole world, he is my hero.

Now I’m supposed to tell you how my items are similar. They are similar because they both have value to them. Christmas mourning and getting my iPod was priced and then when my dad returned from Afghanistan that was the priceless moment.                                                                       These items are different because ones priced and ones priceless. The way I value these items are by thinking of the most important things to me. One bought and one moment, its very important to me that I come across what I value because if I never think about it, than there is no important thought about what matters to you.
Value is the characteristic that makes up what is important to us in our lives. To me valuing who my dad is and the enjoyment on Christmas is what I will value for the rest of my life and what will never change.