Poetry, Flash Fiction, and a Short Story by Naveena Lall

The End

My eyes close in fear

Because the decision you have made is quite clear.

I run to my room in a hurry

My mind full of worry;

I try to stay strong

But everything just seems to go wrong.

I try not to cry

But with the tears I try

To find the memories.

My mind stumbles as I try to recall

Sadly, I can’t remember much at all.

I stand there shocked

Unable to remember who you were

Everything just seems like a blur;

Then I realize who you have become

And my heart goes numb.

I know that I have lost you

Even though you said,

“I’ll be your friend till’ the end.”

But now I realize it was all pretend.

I thought you were my friend,

On you I used to depend.

But now we have reached the bitter end,

And it seems clear

That my greatest fear

Has come true,

All thanks to you.

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I thought 6 weeks seemed like so long;

Half of my summer would be gone

But now these 6 weeks have passed

So very fast.

I made so many new friends

And I hope our friendship will last without end.

I will miss all of you

And I hope you will miss me too.

I don’t want to say good bye

Because I don’t want to cry.

But now our time is gone

And it is time to move on.

Flash Fiction #1

Mary was on her way to her first job interview; she wished to become a secretary, not just any secretary but a secretary for the President of the United States of America. As she entered the Oval Office, she was so nervous that her hands began to shake; she nearly spilled her hot coffee all over the lush, white rug. “Hello Mary. How are you today,” asked the President. “I am fine. Thank you,” replied Mary. Mary then handed him her resume and he reviewed it with great care. “Wow Mary, you have wonderful references. I will have to make some phone calls and I will get back to later,” said the President. “Thank you for your time,” replied Mary.

Then Mary ran out of the White House as fast as she could and she immediately went to Starbucks to get a white chocolate mocha latte with two shots of espresso. After she finished her latte, she quickly drove home and stood by the phone waiting for the president to call. Two days later, the president called Mary. “Mary! Thank you for applying for a job at the White House. I just wanted to let you know that you got the job; you are now officially my secretary,” said the President. After she got off the phone with the President, Mary jumped around with joy. She yelled at the top of her lungs and danced around her apartment. “After 60 years of being a secretary, I finally got the job of my dreams,” shouted Mary.

Flash Fiction #2

My mother and I were relaxing on the beach when we got the phone call. “Your daughter, Miss Anderson, got into a car accident. She is in a coma and we may have to move her to Mayo Clinic,” said the nurse. My mother immediately burst into tears, but I just sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe it, my sister got into a car accident. What did she do wrong I thought to myself. Did she forget to wear her seat belt? Did she go over the speed limit? Did she forget to give her turn signal? My mother and I quickly ran to her car and began to drive to the hospital. When we reached the hospital, a nurse had greeted us with some terrible news: “Sorry to cause all this trouble for you, but it turns out that we had contacted the wrong Anderson family. I am sorry for disturbing you. Have a nice evening.”

Flash Fiction #3

“I want to go to the French Culinary Institute,” the student told her counselor. “Okay. That is an interesting career path. If you truly wish to attend the French Culinary Institute, I recommend that you find a summer job at a local restaurant,” replied her counselor. The next afternoon, the student went to a local Olive Garden to apply for a job; two days later she got a phone call informing her that she had gotten the job. After her first night on the job, she realized that cooking was not her forte. The next day she went to her counselor and informed her of a new decision that she had made: “I want to go to the American Ballet Theatre and become a ballerina.”

The Dreaded Road Trip

“You’re kidding, right? Are we really going on a family road trip? I can’t waste my summer like that,” shouted Anna. “Yes, Anna we are going on a road trip and you will be coming with us. No excuses will be tolerated,” said her father in a low, icy voice. “We will be going to San Diego, California and we will leave in two days.” “Two days! That isn’t even enough time to hang out with my friends and go shopping for new clothes! Dad, you’re ruining my life,” yelled Anna. Then Anna ran up to her room and slammed the door shut.

The next day Anna left in a hurry; she didn’t bother to talk to her father or eat breakfast because she was angry. As she walked through the halls of her high school, she realized that no one was there. When she walked into her biology class, it was empty and not a sound was heard. Then Anna realized that summer vacation had started yesterday! Using all of the energy she had left, Anna ran home as quickly as she could.

“Three days,” she said to herself. “Three days until my worst nightmare comes true.” Then Anna picked up the phone and called her best friend, Kelsey. She told Kelsey the entire story about her family road trip and expected Kelsey to pity her, but she got an unexpected reply. “You are so lucky! I wish my parents would take me on a road trip. You get to go to the beach and Sea World and lots of other exciting places,” said Kelsey. “Thanks for the sympathy Kelsey. I am not lucky at all! How am I supposed to have fun with my family? They are so boring,” replied Anna. “Maybe if you just give them a chance you will have fun,” said Kelsey. “I’ll try,” said Anna, “But it isn’t going to be easy.”

The next morning Anna took out her suitcase and began to pack; she packed swimsuits, shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, sweaters, jeans, and skirts. She also grabbed three books, her Ipod, a portable DVD player, six movies, extra batteries, and anything else that would keep her from being bored to death. Her suitcase was very, very full; it was so full that the only way she was able to shut it was by sitting on it and having her little sister zip it up. For the rest of the day, Anna lounged around the house wishing that tomorrow would never come.

Fourteen hours later, Anna’s worst nightmare came true as her family began to load the van with their suitcases. “Anna, get up! Hurry up and get ready otherwise we’ll be off schedule,” yelled her snotty little sister, Emma. Instead of listening to her sister, Anna took all the time in the world getting ready. “Anna,” her father shouted. “Get down here right now or we’re going to leave you at home.”

As soon as the family was packed into their van, they set the GPS system and were on their way to San Diego. After thirty minutes, Anna’s sister, Emma, began to complain. “I want to go see Shamu now! Shamu, where are you? Shamu, where are you? I miss you Shamu! ” “We’ll see Shamu soon, Emma,” replied Anna’s dad.

At about the same time, the engine of Anna’s family’s minivan began to hiss and sputter. Suddenly, the car came to a halt. “Dad, why are we stopping,” called out Anna. “Looks like there’s a problem with the engine, I’ll go check it out. We may have to stop for a while.” “But we’re in the middle of no where and I don’t even get reception for my cell phone,” wailed Anna.

Two hours later Anna’s father announced that the engine of their minivan was broken and they would have to get it fixed at the nearest auto shop. “Dad, does that mean that we get to go home,” Anna asked her father. “No Anna, we don’t get to go home, and don’t get too hopeful because I am not going to let anything ruin our family vacation,” replied her father. That night Anna’s family spent the night in a small hotel and waited for their car to be repaired.

“I have good news,” shouted Anna’s father at 6am the next morning! “The car is fixed and if we leave in an hour we should be able to reach San Diego in a day and a half. Girls, hurry up and get ready!” Anna, her father, and Emma then load up the minivan and began their journey to San Diego. Two days later they finally arrived at their hotel, the Pacific Terrace.

Surprisingly, Anna found their hotel room to be very comfortable and she really enjoyed the mints that were left on her pillow each morning. On their first night in San Diego, Anna and her family decided to dine in the hotel restaurant and go down to the beach. They had fresh seafood for supper and afterwards, they collected sea shells while strolling down the beach.

When Emma woke up the next morning, she had a fit. “Shamu, I want to see Shamu the whale,” she constantly yelled at the top of her lungs. “Emma we will go to Sea World later on but right now you need to get some sleep,” said her father in a calm voice. “But I want to go now,” replied Emma. “No Emma we can’t go now because you need to sleep,” said her father. Two hours later, the family was on their way to Sea World and Emma was screaming with joy.

“Shamu I love you,” exclaimed Emma. “Emma, shut up. You’re ruining the show,” said Anna in a stern voice. After the show was over, Anna and Emma went on a few water rides. Later on that evening they went back to the hotel and went to sleep because the next day was going to be a long one.

On the final day of their vacation, Anna’s family went to the San Diego Zoo. While they were there, they saw many animals and Emma fell in love with the cute little monkeys. “Daddy, can I get a pet monkey? They are so cute,” said Emma. “Are you crazy Emma? Look at them, they are not cute at all,” said Anna. Then Anna’s father took them back to the hotel so they could spend their last night strolling down the beautiful beach.

The next morning, Anna and her family began their journey home. This time their trip was quite smooth and their minivan did not break down. As soon as Anna arrived home, she realized how much she missed the beach. She also realized that although family road trips may seem dreadful, they usually turn out to be amazing.