The Lonely Flower

     It's been really harsh. All my friends are gone. That bunny shows no mercy. All it does is come and stomp on us, wreck us, ruin us. Most of the flowers around me died from injuries, ranging from broken, leaking stems to torn, rotting petals. Some just died of fear. It all started back when we were first planted.

     We were all seeds, obviously, bought from your local Stein's. We were all crammed in a bag, though I didn't mind because I spent most of my time sleeping, so I didn't notice anyway. One day, we felt the bag shake. We were tossed and turned, rumbling inside. Then it all stopped. I couldn't tell, but I'm sure that two days had past before the violent shaking started again. Then the bag opened. Oh, how happy I was to have finally gotten to breathe! Unfortunately, within the next few seconds, that become once again a fantasy as we were separated into three's. We could hear each other calling and crying through the soil. Thank goodness I was put with my two best friends. Jem and Raphael. Yes, I know, it's weird for a girl like me to have both her two friends be guys, but I honestly couldn't care less. They're great friends, and at this point, I don't think it matters the gender. Anyway, back to the story. All three of us made the plan to escape, when suddenly, we felt water being poured on us. We panicked a little, when suddenly, something strange and brown popped out of Raphael. He screamed, and fainted. We both started laughing until the same thing happened to us. Well, let me just say, THAT shut us up. When we finally woke up, there were many more brown things sticking out of us. And they were much longer, too. It also felt like we were getting closer to the surface somehow, but I couldn't really tell. A few days passed, and we were up above the ground, so we couldn't even see those ugly brown things anymore. We could finally see out friends and family! Just as it seemed great, and all of us were tall and colorful, something happened. The bunny happened. It started out with Grandma Gladys. She just all of a sudden passed out. When she woke up, she said she saw something. Something white. It had red eyes, she said. Long ears and soft skin. She told us not to let its cuteness fool us. Then, she had a heart attacked. Every moment from then, even though we were pretty sure she was just crazy, we looked out for whatever she had been talking about. Then, it showed itself. The bunny came out of nowhere, it looking so adorable. Then, we forgot all about grandmas advice until he stepped on Grandpa Jack. And then Aunt Kathy. And then Grandpa George. Then some of my friends. More and more were being killed every day until it was just me.

      Just me in that lonely patch of flowers. The bunny never came back after I was the only one left. No, there would be no pride in killing us all. It's too bad that I'm too old to do anything now. It really is a shame that we all had to die a cruel and painful death. But not me. I was strong. But not strong enough to save them all.. and seeing that bunny hopping towards me, I can now say, I am not strong enough to save myself now, and this is the end of my story.

Three Best Friends

     "My turn! My turn!" Cried Burgundy Bunny. She climbed up the slide and slid down with a smile on her face, laughing as she went down. "Fine, I'll go on the merry-go-round then." shouted Khaki Kangaroo. He walked over and started pushing himself, listening to the metal squeak and watching the rust slowly fall off, bit by bit. After all, it WAS an old playground they were at. Swinging all alone sat Platinum Panda. She was never really good at making friends because she had a hard time opening up and expressing her emotions. The park was always the place she went to clear her head.

     After a while, Burgundy looked over at the swing set and decided that she wanted a turn. But there were only two swings. Khaki wanted to swing, too, only one was currently occupied. So they chatted for a bit, discussing what the plan would be. "We could just push her off," thought Khaki. "Absolutely not! Shame on you!" said Burgundy, almost a yell-whisper. "That would be SO mean. Plus, she already looks kind of depressed. Let's try something else." "You're right.. I'm sorry." apologized Khaki. "Alright, alright. We could just ask her for a turn." suggested Burgundy. "That's a good thought! You always have better ideas than me." said Khaki. "Now come on, let's just get over there and get on with it!" Burgundy said as she hopped over to Platinum.

     Suddenly, Platinum looked up after being touched on the arm by someone. She gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." said Burgundy. Platinum just shrugged and said "It's okay.." Burgundy asked if they could have a turn and Platinum agreed, got up, and sat on a nearby bench. "You see? That wasn't so difficult." said Burgundy. Khaki looked surprised and said "What? Difficult? Pfft. Nothing is difficult for me." "Yeah, okay. Whatever. I'm going to go and talk to her, she looks kind of lonely.." said Burgundy. "Well, okay." said Khaki. Burgundy approached Platinum and started a conversation. Platinum actually started to open up! They were instantly friends, and Platinum was so happy that she now had a friend. Well, little did she know that she was getting a bonus today. Two for the price of one. They walked over and Platinum met Khaki, who soon became friends also. They became the very best friends that friends could ever be. An extremely unusual bunch, really.

     After a few months, they had become closer and closer. They would go shopping together even thought Khaki wasn't a big fan of it, but hey, that's what friends are for, correct? One night, Khaki decided they should throw a party. "What?!" screamed Burgundy. "A party? We've never done that before.." "Well, no, but we could invite the school. You know, get to know other people and make new friends." Khaki suggested. "New friends? Aren't we good enough?" Burgundy sadly asked. "Well yes, of course, but I mean, my mom always told me that it's good to make new friends." answered Khaki. During this whole conversation, Platinum stayed quiet. She was nervous about the idea but was to shy to share her opinion. After some arguing and agreeing and a little bit of overreacting here and there, they had finally decided.

   The next thing you know, Khaki is right and Burgundy is still nervous and shaky about the idea. Platinum is still silent, remaining in the shy state that she is in. In a few weeks, the party takes place. Behind his parent's backs, of course. What teenager doesn't disobey the rules sometimes? They soon find out that it was the worst idea possible. Like every bet made, one person (or animal in this case) gets to say "I TOLD YOU SO!" while the other sits there in shame and regret.

     Platinum and Burgundy had lost their friendship with Khaki that night, him finding new friends and joining the 'popular' group, and them isolating themselves from everyone else. Khaki just didn't realize they weren't ready. But hey, friends come and go. Only some will be there forever. Like they always say, you don't know what you have until it's gone.

The Way Lyrics Tie to the Music

Author's Note: The purpose is to explain how the two poems "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Field Below" tie to their music to create songs.

In the song "Big Yellow Taxi", the music and the notes and the way it's sung makes it sound happy, but if you actually listen to the lyrics, you'd think about how sad the meaning actually is. I think that the singer should've made the music sound more like the meaning, because now it just sounds misleading. Plus, is doesn't make much sense to make a song about something sad sound happy. On the other hand, the song "Field Below", the music and sound actually matches the meaning. The music sounds sad and like it's missing something, and actually, you might not think that if you heard the music without words, but the music by itself would give you the impression that it was sad. That makes a lot more sense to me.

Might I See You Again?

Author's Note: The purpose of this is to explain Sophie's life and analyze the quote "Whatever happens with the lessons -- might I see you again?" from the Clockwork Prince

     One day, as you stroll down the streets of London, you notice a woman sitting in a corner, with a bloody rag clutched to her face. What do you do? Do you stare? Maybe help her? Walk by and ignore her? This is the way that Sophie from the Clockwork Prince started out. After many years of recovery and servant work at the London Institute, avoiding the training she is almost required to have, she cannot avoid any longer. Charlotte, her employer, has hired two not-so-family-friends to help and train herself as well as her friend Tessa, who has never had any sort of training either.

     When Charlotte first found Sophie, she was crouched in a corner in the city, bloody and filthy. Having the kind heart that Charlotte does, she decided to give Sophie a hand even though she was a mundane, and not part of the Nephilim along with herself and the rest living in the Institute at the time. Sophie told Charlotte what happened to her face, and why she could never trust a man again.

     At this time in Shadowhunter history, people only hired their maids for their beauty. Not for their service. While Sophie was working for her previous employer, the son of the household had wanted her. Yes, in 'that way'. He had attempted several times asking her to be his, but every time, she refused. One day, he could not take the rejection any longer. He took a knife and threw it at her face, saying, "If I can't have you, then I will make you ugly, so that nobody will ever love you again!" Then, trying to tell the employer about this event, the son stepped in and had lied, telling them that Sophie had come onto him, and cut her face for self defense. Sophie was instantly fired, and put on the streets.

     When Tessa and Sophie started their training, they were assigned their teachers. Tessa with Gabriel Lightwood, and Sophie with Gideon Lightwood. After a few weeks, Tessa had noticed the way Gideon had been looking at Sophie.. Could this be something? During the same practice, though, Tessa's friend Will had gotten into a rather large argument with Gabriel, therefore putting the training offer in jeopardy. They had all left the room, except for Sophie and Gideon, who had stayed. Sophie sat down in exhaustion, Gideon right after her. As they talked about the recent events, Gideon had spilled his feelings for her, then asking, "Whatever happens with the lessons -- might I see you again?"

     This quote displays a fair amount of interest in Sophie; and it is obvious why something like this would surprise her. After what she's been through, she doesn't know what to say. She doesn't know whether to trust him or to just leave him hanging. If that were me, I'm not so sure I would trust him either. It's a pretty hard thing to recover from, even after several years. Trust, you see, is like a mirror. Once it's cracked, you can put it back together, but you can still see the cracks that were made.

     From Gideon's point of view, though, he probably would've have worked harder for Sophie's trust before asking this if he had known what really happened to her. Yet, I still admire the fact that he had the guts to ask such a thing to a girl he barely even knows. I would never do such a thing. This puts a large place in the book because he always acted like he hated coming to lessons, only that day, he confessed that because of Sophie, he actually looked forward to coming. He had called her talented. Sophie liked to hear these things, but was still hesitant.

     After all the events in Sophie's life, and all the events leading up to this day, the sweet talk that Gideon had said that sounded like music to her heart, Sophie didn't know what to do. Could she trust him? Should she fall into the either deadly trap or comforting embrace that Gideon has offered her? Is it even possible for a girl to ever love a man again if that had happened to her?

"By the Way" by Ali and Kasia

Authors Note: This poem is a parody of the poem This is Just to Say, and the narrator is Holly speaking to Lauren from the book Dark Secrets.This relates to when Holly killed Lauren's mother. The mood is happy. Well, in Holly's point of view it is. In Lauren's point of view, the mood is sad. The tone is murderous or maybe vicious.

I have killed

Your mother

When she was

By the lake

And while

You were probably

Sleeping

In bed

Hate me

I don’t care

For I did it

And I’m glad