Being Invisible

By George

 

Dear George,

We have gone away for a few days and will be back soon.  We think we can trust you to be good.  Take good care of yourself and don’t do anything foolish.

 

Your kind and loving parents

 

When I woke up in the morning and saw this letter sitting on the table I knew I was going to have some fun.  With no parents, I could do whatever I wanted.  I was just about to start playing video games when I had an idea.  What about trying to make that invisible potion I had read about.  My parents would never allow it because it needed some weird ingredients.  But who would care now.  No one would know.  I started collecting the ingredients.  I needed these things: ground up pecans, soy sauce, gasoline, a chicken bone, rotten mangos, and a whole lot of lemon juice.  When I put everything together it made a kind of sizzling noise.  Then it turned into a creamy mixture.  I summoned up all my courage and tasted it.  It was kind of sour and burned when it went down.  Then I started to get a weird sensation.  The next thing I new, I was completely invisible.   

            I started to walk down the road.  First, I saw someone really struggling to lift a big crate.  I was pretty sure I could lift it and I wanted to help so I went over to the crate.  I managed to pick it up and in a deep voice asked ”Where would you like this sir?”  The guy jumped back in surprise.  To him it looked like the crate had picked itself up and asked where it would like to be placed.  “Right over there”, the guy replied weakly pointing to a spot in his garage.  I walked over there and set the crate down.  Leaving the guy still surprised I got up and left.

            Feeling rather good about myself I continued walking down the road. I was just noticing what nice of a day it was when I reached Billy’s house.  He’s a good friend but sometimes he can be a little annoying.  I glanced through the window to see if he was home but instead of seeing Billy, I saw a Milky Way bar sitting on the table.  I love Milky Way bars and I just had to have it.  I decided to sneak in and get it.  I cautiously opened the door and walked soundlessly over to the table and took it.  Billy’s little sister, however, saw the candy levitate and screamed.  I quickly ran out of the house and into the yard.  I kind of felt bad, but I did enjoy the Milky Way.

            I decided to head home.  I was just coming into the driveway when I saw something strange; a black van was parked in my driveway.  Whoever they were, didn’t they know my parents were away?  The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed.  Just then, two men came out of my house.  I can’t really explain why I did this, but I hopped in the back seat of the van.  It was filled up with boxes.  I don’t know what was in them, but they looked weird, unlike boxes.  The two men got in the van, chuckling evilly.  “We really got ‘em, eh Jackson”, one said.  The van took off at a breakneck speed.  “Yep, your right Johnson, that bomb we put in their house should do them good”, the other replied.  I suddenly was scared.  They had put a bomb in my house.  I had to do something.  Then I had an idea.  “I am your conscience”, I said in a deep voice.  “Turn yourselves in to the police or I will haunt you for ever.”  The trick worked.  The men were scared out of their wits.  None of them said anything, but they had come to a mental agreement.  “Drive yourselves to the police station and confess.” I said.  They did what they were told.  The one called Jackson started balling, but they confessed.  The police sent a man over to disengage the bomb and I snuck in his car for a ride home.

            After the police had left, I started wanting to be visible again.  I remembered reading that when the clock strikes midnight, you become transformed back into your regular self.  I was tired so I brushed my teeth, got my pajamas on, and went to bed.  “Good morning George”, I awoke to a friendly voice.  It was nice to be back home. 

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” The crowd roared.  I was sitting in my seat preparing to watch the bald eagle fight the peregrine falcon at Bird Stadium.  Bird stadium is a place where you can bet which bird will win the fight and then watch from your seat.  The whole situation was tense.  I was deciding on who to bet when I thought maybe I should do some research on the two animals.  I grabbed my iPhone and looked up the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle.  Most people thought these two birds were the same, but I thought I could find a few differences.

COMPARISON:

BALD EAGLE AND PEREGRINE FALCON 

Physical appearance

The physical traits of the bald eagle and the peregrine falcon are very different.  The bald eagle has a body with an average length of 36 in. and an average wingspan length of 85 in..  The peregrine falcon is much smaller. Its average length is 14 in. with an average wingspan length of 40 in..  The bald eagle is covered mostly with brown featherers except for its white head and tail.  The peregrine, however, falcon has a gray back with a black and white striped underbelly.  Both the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle have talons with which they can catch prey efficiently.  They are also similar in that they both have a short curved beak.  The talons and the beaks of these birds help them to be fierce predators. 

Diet

The diet of the bald eagle is somewhat different then that of the peregrine falcon.  The bald eagle eats mostly fish, but also small birds every now and then.  It will swoop down at high speeds and snatch a fish out of the water.  The peregrine falcon, on the other hand, has a diet that mainly consists of partridges and other small birds.  If it sees a bird there is no way that thing is going to escape.  It has the ability to dive at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour!   After capturing a bird it flies to its perch and eats it.  The bald eagle usually brings its caught food to its nest and eats there.  Eagles will also feed on carrion.

Habitat

The bald eagle is most commonly found near the ocean for dietary reasons.  It moves around an area of coast staying relatively close to its nest which can be found at the top of a tall tree of telephone pole.  The peregrine falcon prefers a woodland habitat where it make its nest on the ground.  It goes around the woods seeking food.  Both the eagle and the falcon are uncommon to see in the wild.  Additionally, perigrine falcons can be found perched on large buildings in the city or swooping down at a pigeon in a quiet street.

After having read this article I realized that the bald eagle was larger and stronger but the peregrine falcon was much faster.  I put away my PDA and went over to the betting table.  I decided to chose my favorite of the two: the peregrine falcon.

FIVE YEARS LATER

I awoke one morning to a bright November day.  The sun shone across little bits of frost from the night, that all but dazzled my eyes.  I got dressed, hurried down the stairs, and brushed my teeth.  After a quick breakfast I went outside and hopped on my bike to go to school.  It was a very cold morning indeed, for as I reached the main road and waited for my friend, a wind whipped up.  It was about ten minutes of standing there in the cold before my friend Robert arrived.  “Boy I really do wish we still had busses,” he commented sadly.  I was once again reminded of the crisis our country was in.  About a month ago gas prices had soared to $15.00 a gallon.  Then just last week the last coal and oil had been used up.  It was a devastating change.  Our family survived on a small amount of food and a small solar powered light bulb.  As we pedaled down the road we talked of old times.  We passed a small stand selling tiny windmills.  Then we turned into our school, Erskine Academy.

When we walked in the school all the kids were shouting for joy.  I was puzzled.  “What is going on?” I asked Frank, a good friend of mine.  “The headmaster said that there is no classes and that everyone can work on building a very effective electricity machine,” he replied in a rush.  I now understood what was going on.  Everyone was creating some sort of sustainable energy machine.  I doubted that any of the projects would work well, but it was still a good idea.  

At the end of the day everyone had come up with a plan and felt confident with it.  Mine was a huge magnifying glass over a black board put into the sunshine.  The magnifying glass would warm up the board which radiated heat. The heat would then rise upward into a chamber.  The hot air would turn a fan which would turn a generator.  The teacher said all our ideas were good, maybe not practical, but good.  That night I was reading a book on how solar panels work and I started to think.  Couldn’t you twist the cells double and then fold them over to get twice the energy out of them.  I came to school the next filled with excitement.  I asked our science teacher about my idea and she said she would have to think it over.  Later that day she came back to me and said she thought it might actually work.  I stayed after school and we discussed how it would work and some tips to make it better.

My mom said she would walk with me the long walk to the city to show the governor my idea.  He liked it and said I should sell the idea to a big company and they could make it and distribute it.  I sold it to Apple for $10,000.  The first thing I did with my money was make a donation to my school for helping me and encouraging me. 

Frederic the mouse woke up to a loud noise.  He groaned, rolled over, and sat up in his bed.  He wondered what was going on.  Then he realized that he had slept in and his parents must be out gathering food.  He checked his watch.  It was 3:30 p.m..  Boy, he really had slept in.  His parents would be so mad.  He had missed all of morning chores and he was supposed to be babysitting his little cousin Jacky.  But still, he was curious about the noise and went over to check it out.  He peeped out of his little window and saw the huge yellow loud thing coming to drop the boy and the little boy.  Freddy always did like the little boy better because he had all those furry fake animals in his room.  Sometimes he would take them all out to play and have them fight each other.  He loved to watch that.  That particular day, though, he decided to follow the big boy around.

The boy seemed to be in a pleasant mood.  First, the boy went up to his room.  Freddy liked the boy’s room. It was filled with books and pictures and other odds and ends.  There were also posters.  One was filled with animals that seemed to come from a rainforest.  There was another one that had creatures that looked like animals, but Freddy knew they really weren’t.  It was labeled POKEMON.  

The boy took out his shiny black thing that opens up to a bright screen.  He liked to play with it a lot.  But the mother of the boy didn’t like him to use his black machine very much so most of the time he just read.  Somedays he would read for two hours straight.

Suddenly, the boy turned around and looked straight at him.  Freddy tried to shrink into the book shelf but it didn’t work.  The boy saw him.  “Mom, there’s a mouse in our house.”  The boy shouted down the stairs.  Freddy knew he was in for trouble.  He had broken the first law of mice.  Never let yourself be seen by a human.  He hurried off the book shelf.  Now he had a dilemma.  Should he cross the hall and risk being seen by the mother or stay put.  He decided to risk it.  He scampered across the hall and into a closet.  “Oh!” The mother shouted a surprised exclamation.  Just then Freddy saw some peanut butter just lying there waiting for him.  Boom boom boom, the mothers footsteps shook the floor.  Suddenly something snapped right on top of the peanut butter.  Whew, that was close.  If he had eaten the peanut butter he would have been crushed to bits.  But he still had the mother to worry about.  He found the hole that had once been his great grandfather’s fire escape.  Thank you Grampy Gordon!  He dashed right back to his mouse-hole to find Jackie sitting there.  “Weren’t you supposed to be babysitting me?” Jackie asked in a childish voice, “You’re the best babysitter.”  Just then his parents came home.  I’m doing only what I’m supposed to I told my parents.  I’m sitting with Jackie. 

My Favorite Room

When I get off the bus and run up the driveway I am filled the eagerness of going to my living room.  The steps blow by me and I hop down the hall.  As I walk into my living room I am greeted with the familiar sights and noises that the room accompanies.  The big glass sliding door fills the room with light.  My brothers cheerful voice really lightens my mood.  I am now ready for fun.

 

Our living room looks like a great place.  Directly to the right of the entrance there is our toy chest.  It is was made light wood, of a yellowish color, and is filled to the brim with toys.  Just beyond the toy chest is a futon.  It is made of a red mattress bent on a wooden frame.  There are four pillows, two at each end.  After a long day of school I love to just lie there for a while.  In the corner of the room, behind our sofa, is a bookshelf crammed with chapter books.  To the left of that there is the big fireplace that lies on the north side of of our living room.  Jutting out from the bottom of the fireplace there is big flat rock that serves as a small table.  When we hold a meeting at our house we light the fire and its warmth warms all.  

 

To the left of that there is my parents cloth painting that they got from Africa.  The west wall is taken up mainly by our big glass sliding door.  At night it provides an excellent view of sunsets and stargazing.  Our computer is located just to the left of the sliding door and in the southwest corner of the room.  It is used for watching movies, checking the weather, and my mom’s email account.  Most of the wall to the left of our computer are small picture-book shelves and above them are some paintings my grandmother made.  On the floor of the room are two chairs, one red and one white, and some board games and legos.  The rug is a whitish color but usually it is spotted with brown from dirt.  The ceiling has thee fluorescent light bulbs each covered with a glass protective shell.  That pretty much sums up our living room.

 

In our family’s living room many things happen.  First there is the board games we play.  I am a big fan of games like chess and stratego and our living room is the perfect place for playing.  We like to sit on the soft rug and listen to music coming from a CD player by our computer as we play.  For me, music helps me think.  We also have legos in our  living room.  We spread out a sheet and dump the bucket down out.  Legos are a fun way to play for everyone.  Even just lying there on the sofa in our living room can really comfort me.

 

When friends come over we spend most of our time together in our living room when we are not outside.  It just is a good place to be.  The mood of the room makes people feel happy and relaxed.  That is why it is my favorite room in our house.