"The Strange Man at the Bus Stop."

Sometimes we never find out why things turn out the way they do. We never really have answers to all of our questions. We come up with more questions than with answers. And even when we think we have an answer we are just stuck with never-ending questions.

            Everyday as I walked to the bus stop, I came up with millions of questions and I never seemed to have any answers. At the bus stop next to the apartment, there was a man inside the building. His window was always open. Everyday ten minutes before the bus arrived, he left his apartment and came down to the stop. He was always dressed in all black, even on the hottest of days. I never knew why he stood there because he never got on the bus. A smile never danced on his face and his eyes never grinned. Its as if his whole body was alive except his soul. Everyone has at least one reason to smile or to be happy about. But it seemed as if he didn’t. Look at me, I’m dying of cancer and my husband just disappeared, he left without even giving me a reason. But I still smile.

            I stood there observing the man while he just stood there looking down tears began rolling down his face. I didn’t know what to do or what to say. As the bus approached the stop, he began to back away and just watched people get on the bus. As the bus drove away, his black silhouette became less and less visible. The bus rides to the hospital seemed longer and longer each day. My body wasn’t getting used to the long uncomfortable rides that also smelled like public washrooms that haven’t been washed in months. As my stop approached, there were less people every time. Eventually I was the last one on the bus as always.

            The first thing you see when you get off is the cemetery, and right across the street was the hospital.  As I turned around I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew I was alone because I had just turned around. I wanted to turn around but a part of me kept me from doing so. It’s as if someone was standing in between me and whoever had their hand on my shoulder.  The next thing I knew, I was laying on a hospital bed. All I could hear was multiple voices and my vision was blurry. I saw a black figure standing behind all of the doctors that were attending me. I realized that it was the man from the bus stop. But what was he doing here? I didn’t know him, so why was he here? At the foot of my bed, was my mother. She was crying and all she was saying was “I thought she was getting better.”

            An hour passed. My mother left. I was lonely once again. Why wasn’t anyone coming to my room to give me my radiation? Minutes later, my vision became blurry once more. But I could see that same man from the bus stop approaching me. My body became paralyzed. His face wore an evil smile and all he said was “I’m sorry things had to turn out this way but its time for you to come with me.”

Thanksgiving

Everyday we are all blessed with having a great education that others wish they had. We also have to thankful for classmates that make hard classes easier. I'm thankful for having Milton and Alan in our class because they always make group work and discussions fun and we help each other when we don't understand. Overall I'm thankful for our English class because discussions are always fun and we all make things easier to understand.

Then He is Dead?

If I were to be in Macbeth's place I wouldn't be able to risk everything he did. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I influenced people's happiness and life in a negative way. I would prefer to work hard for something that i really wanted even if it didn't guarantee success; at least i tried and gave it my all. Nothing in life comes easy, at least not the things that bring us happiness in the long-run. Even though Macbeth didn't have everything he wanted, he had everything he needed to be happy, so why risk it all for something that might not even work out? Sometimes its better to just make the most out of what yo already have. But there's always those people who want it all,like Macbeth.

"From the crown to the toe, top-full direst cruelty"

Lady Macbeth is saying that she wants to be full of evil. She is so ambitious and will do anything for her husband to have the crown. It seems as if she'll do anything for royalty, even if it means to betray people who have been loyal to her as well. Its interesting to see how a woman's opinion can highly influence their husband's minds and thoughts. During this time period men didn't take women's thoughts and opinions into consideration. Lady Macbeth reminds me of a modern day wife that is manipulative and will do anything to get their husband to get them what they want even if means that they have to be cruel and evil.

No New Tale to Tell

Greed is the root of all evil.

Many people could argue that they agree or disagree with this statement. I think that Greed is not always the beginning of everything that is evil. Greed can lead people to do evil things but evil consists of other things as well. People do evil things out of  jealousy, hate, and revenge. At the end everything circulates around greed and they eventually lead to evil actions.
       One might ask themselves can greed be prevented? A good example of this is a child learning and being taught how to share with other children. If a child isn't taught how to share and how to interact with others, then eventually they'll be in the situation where they don't know how to share and will turn greedy; Although they might not be evil.

Truth.

Truth plays a huge role in everyday life. Whether or not we are told or say the truth can change our lives and how we view the world and people. In Grendel, the shaper is trusted by everyone. The shaper seems as if he only tells the good things people have done. However, the truth in real life can be altered to make things seem good or pleasant. Just like the shaper, many people only tend to remember and recall the things they want to or the things that have made them feel well about themselves. The truth can be painful at times just like the shaper. The shaper could say anything he wanted and people believed him because of his previous words an his loyalty. The shaper had the ability to make people turn against each other just like the truth (or lies) can make people turn against each other or understand each other and one's actions. Whether or not we tell the truth can change things drastically just like if the shaper had been truthful from the beginning things would have been different for many people.

"Me"

Every time I'm asked to write about myself for a certain class I find it difficult. But I guess I can begin by introducing myself. My name is Stephanie Mata and I enjoy reading, mostly as a hobby but not as much when I'm required to. My favorite season is fall. I'm addicted to caffeine and I love anything that smells and tastes like pumpkin spice. But just like any other teenager I love summer and I am already missing it. I always go by one rule in life: always make the most out of everything. This summer I gave back to my community and I joined a local youth group that helps teens that are in need. 

       Although Junior year will be more stressful I know that it will all be worth it at the end. I'm looking forward to making more memories with the people that I love. But I am also certainly looking forward to become a better reader and writer this year.