p u t h g au e h t in NET
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Issue #1 Summer 2021
High school is like an old car driving down a bumpy road filled with twists and turns
High school is a window of time that that shines it’s like a daycare teachers take care of bad kids high school is like a neighborhood it’s full of people you know and grew up with it’s a cycle of ups and downs you live and you learn you make mistakes to be great high school is a trap
-Creative Writing Class The NET Summer 2021
Staff Maria Boyland Master Marketer & Photographer Sean-Del Franklin Master Editor
Jonquil Porter Master Marketer & Design assistant Joseph Perez Design Team Member
Kendra Landry Design Team Member Delmire’ Moore Master Designer & Marketer Khaliyah Ari Master Designer & Editor Nakiyah Pearson Master Designer & Editor
Sage Harris Master Photographer & Design Mentor Erin Lierl Advisor Beverly Potashner Advisor
Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.
Contents
Poetry
“Poetree” by Nakiyah Pearson 1 “A Place” by Delmire’ Moore 3 “I Am” by Sean-Del Franklin 5 “Happiness” by Sean-Del Franklin 6 [Untitled] by Joseph Perez 7 “Love” by Nakeshia Buckner 8 “Phenomenal” by Nakeshia Buckner 8 “Poetry Is” by Various Authors 9 “New Orleans Is” by Various Authors 10 “Animal Perspective” by Lester Simmons 11 “Buff Kangaroo” by Lester Simmons 11 “Simply Paradigm” by Keagan Davis 13 “Erasure Poem” by Beverly Potashner 17 “Erasure Poem” by Maria Boyland 19 “Fourplex” by Various Authors 21 “Little Girl in the Clouds” by Nakiyah Pearson 23 “Larisi Bowy” by Jonquil Porter 25 “We’re not equal” by Khaliyah Pearson 27 “The Fear of Death” by Kendra Landry 29 “Where I’m From” by Mark Rainey 31
Fiction
“The Human Being and His Way of Thinking” by Bayron Blanco 33
Memoir “My Memoir” by Juan Pablo Arguijo
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“The Story of My Life” by Wilmer Colman 45 “Where My Story Began” by Jose Guzman 46 “My Memoir” by Van Taylor 47
Screenplay
Life and Shadows by Jammonie Cornelius
Visual Art
Nala Stiggers Kelley Leggins
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Keagan Davis Lovely Peters Ozzy Boyland
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Charles Russell
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Jonathan Chambers
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Poetry
Poetry Photo by Bre’Yonna Glover
Poetree
by Nakiyah Pearson
Sakura trees that are not there The bonsai trees that are here to stare The flowers and statues are filled with wisdom and power.
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Photo by Nakiyah Pearson
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A Place
by Delmire’ Moore A place I always used to play at was City Park. City Park had many rides and other fun activities to do. My old elementary school was right around the block from the park so anytime we had any fun activities on a daily basis like gym, recess, and Fun Friday, we’d go to the park and have our fun time over there. My best friend and I would always climb the trees and run around with the ducks.
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Artwork by Nala Stiggers
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I Am
by Sean-Del Franklin I am– the sun that shines in the wide blue yonder I am– the positivity that will consume the negativity of your demons I am– the bond that never faded away I am– the tears you wail away I am– the minerals that makes up the most precious diamond ruby earrings you wear upon your face I am– the humor that makes you a little looney I am– the heart you shattered into a million piercing pie/ces I am– the feeling of you looking so charming
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Happiness by Sean-Del Franklin
The rare pleasure of happiness is chaotic but also blissful, Coast... to... coast people all around the world go out seeking For happiness everyday. Happiness is accuracy, righteousness and tranquility Of your mind too most; No longer being attacked by negative presents; being grounded in your peace is severely important to you and your essence.
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Untitled
by Joseph Perez Cuando me siento en mis sentimientos Me siento a escribir lo que presiento Lo lamento quiero escucharte pero soy duro como el cemento No lo veo pega duro como viento
Photo by Maria Boyland
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Love
by Nakeshia Buckner L O V E
from the letter that was never wrote cause occupying arguments and grabbing coats very viciously everyday til one spoke experience the pain and our love will be woke
Phenomenal by Nakeshia Buckner
not perfect but out the original some see in action some see in visual no exact date time or place but phenomenally God will make a way standing in the dark but seeing clear as day
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Poetry is... Poetry is like a cat on catnip and chasing a laser. like a dog wanting his snake toy kids playing in the sun learning about space. poetry is an old married couple
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Photo by Khaliyah Pearson
New Orleans is... New Orleans is like a mystery star New Orleans is a box of crayons New Orleans is like a loud alarm that you can’t hit the snooze button on New Orleans is a bomb that is waiting to go off New Orleans is fun and crazy
by Nakiyah Pearson, Khaliyah Pearson, Kendra Landry, Delmire’ Moore, and Bre’Yonna Glover
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Animal Perspective by Lester Simmons
I am in the jungle. I’m hunting for food to survive. I smell delicious deer. When I eat the deer I will no longer be hungry.
Buff Kangaroo by Lester Simmons
This kangaroo has real muscles. You actually can see his muscles, it’s like a real human. The only thing he has that a human doesn’t have is a tail.
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Simply Paradigm by Keagan Davis
A yellow buzz peaceful as can bee It climbs up the pretty green flower tree From its perception it’s a tasty thing For that’s all it’s eyes can perceive It ruffles through the brown seeds When its body is heavy with the tasty dust thing It flies home to it’s queen and when it’s there you already know what it brings The royal jelly that makes the yellow queen sing A nice little airy breeze As you turn you see Two brown birds perched on some leaves Maybe they just met but they make a good team In their simplicity they have complexity Which lets me know things aren’t how they seem Strong black man with locks instead of bling He took the time to plant the Paradigm spring And it became an oasis for all the crawly or winged things
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Untitled
by Travis Jordan He was there everyday All up in my space and in my face A natural born bully, such a cliche Though I knew his heart was in the right place A brothers’ love is impossible to underplay And it’s just as impossible to replace Even the very day father came and took him away He knows I’ll love him until I’m old and grey.
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Drawings by Kelley Leggins
Erasure Poem by Beverly Potashner
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Drawing by Lovely Peters
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Erasure Poem by Maria Boyland
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Fourplex
by Sean-Del Franklin, Nakiyah Pearson, Khaliyah Pearson, and Kendra Landry
After “Duplex” by Jericho Brown
A poem is a house with thin walls I hear my father dealing with “customers”, I hear my brother dealing with his “customers”, sometimes I hear my late husband through the walls. Back against the wall I hear death, calling my name or is it my feening customers. Feening customers I’ve been taking care of them kids for long, my kids are grown they don’t do anything. My daddy don’t do nothing bills getting high. A poem is a house with thin walls. A poem is a house with thin walls, hustling until dark until my legs fall off tryna come up. The poem is a house of family my kids haven’t worked yet, I’m getting old and next they’re gonna have no place to go. My mama is kicking my brother out he has no place to go I tried to tell my brother to stop dealing. Dealers and dealings coming to a stop by the cops. a poem is a house with thin walls.
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Little Girl in the Clouds by Nakiyah Pearson
I started off like a little girl with an imagination as tall as the clouds. Playing and running. My braids follow me as I run ahead. I felt the hot sun toast my skin making it as red like a strawberry. I closed my eyes imagining some place better. Some place away from here. I opened my eyes and my surroundings disappeared. I wasn’t there. Now i was finally with my imagination. In the clouds. Except now it wasn’t my imagination anymore it was now my reality. I felt the crown of my head. My blue scarf was gone. It was replaced with a gold halo with sun rays reflecting off of it. Now that i’m finally where my imagination once was i smiled and ran towards the sun.
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Photo by Jonquil Porter
Larisi Bowy by Jonquil Porter Katrina mató todo We 21 to a house because they flooded us out Got fam up the road, Got fam who met they maker Got fam on the corner Tryna take a different road Trouble easy to find hard to lose
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Photo by Khaliyah Pearson
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We’re not equal. We’re not equal .
by Khaliyah Pearson
There is a difference between white people And people of color. White people think they do no wrong. The ignorant ones. They call us names and slurs. They tell us ignore them, they’re stupid . They say we’re just mad . We’re not living in the damn 50’s. They steal appropriate the culture , And think we’re stupid . “It ’s just an outfit, calm down .” As they do it. Hairstyles, slang, culture , they want to be Black Until it ’s time to actually be Black . There’s an empty void of equality, Waiting to be filled . But will it ever fill? Why can’t we be angry? Why aren’t we being heard? There is a difference between us. Our oppression hasn’t ended . It ’s been years. Cops still target us, while the white people sit behind The call . They are still living in the 50’s and slavery days. They worship crooked presidents like he cares about us. They say liberty and justice for all? Who is all? Innocent people of color being charged For crimes they didn’t do. While the white men and women Get a slap on the wrist. There’s a difference between us.
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Photo by Kaliyah Pearson
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The Fear of Death by Kendra Landry
My heart is full of fear i have nowhere else to go the weather is gloomy my family will not show the tears rushes down my face water splashes on my feet the men on the road sweep to the sweet i often ask them why but this time im saying goodbye im sorrowful on the water on the beehive i walk down the side facing the trees my life is damn there working me the sun never came up yet and I haven’t worked a sweat I´ve cried for many years hopping my life will grow i tried selling my soul but feelings will never show i’m fed up i overgrown the lesson i’ll never forget
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Photo by Keagan Davis
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Where I’m From by Mark Rainey I’m from where the sun doesn’t Shine and Family members die. Where I am from innocents Die, rats run and hide, it’s not safe to play outside. Where i’m from Loose Lips sink ships...Talk is cheap. Where I come It’s dark and certain cars can’t park. Laws watching when it’s dark No-one really likes to Love and trust would get you crossed. In my section baseheads walk all times when it’s dark Always think smart, you don’t wanna get lost… Everyone takes Losses even the ones nobody saw.
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Fiction
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The Human Being and His Way of Thinking by Bayron Blanco
Once upon a time, there was a poor boy who had to fight every day to get his daily bread, he had to sell vegetables to keep going and help his family to keep going since he only had his mother and his two little brothers, after selling vegetables she had to go to school. He liked his studies a lot, he wanted to be a doctor but on the way he suffered a lot since his family had financial problems he had to go barefoot to school the pants he used to go to school had them in bad condition that generated problems for him bullying at school his classmates made fun of him when they saw that he was poor but even though he was poor his academic performance was so good that his teacher decided to give him a scholarship for his studies since the teacher already knew that he did not have enough resources for going to college, much less for college. At school it was a bit more of the same, they didn’t bully him so much because he already had school shoes and new pants but he still lacked school supplies at recess, he was the only boy who didn’t eat anything because he had no money but that never did. He stopped and that helped him get a university scholarship since his grades were always something to talk about. Being in college and his recognition qualification did not disappoint, they were very good at it, it was so good that some classmates were envious when they saw that this boy was so good with his projects and work, he caught everyone’s attention, it was his best stage, but not everything was colored. in pink one day one of his classmates looked at him selling vegetables and began to record him already making fun of him. He felt helpless and very angry when he saw that everyone around him made fun of him for the simple fact of being poor, however he never stopped. He wanted so much to be a doctor and to help his family move forward. Time passed and the boy who was poor achieved his goals, he even had his own family, he managed to silence many mouths, his enemies even respected him, the world looked at him differently now, he managed to give his family a decent home and have money to spare but the fact That they made fun of him so much in his childhood and adolescence just for the simple fact of being poor marked him so much that after that he was not the same boy, he was so focused on having money that he forgot the true meaning of life his mind became Filled with greed and hatred, he had everything, cars, mansions, he never lacked food again at his table, he also changed friends, he felt that now he had to have friends
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from the same social class, he was no longer the same humble boy he used to be. He spent a lot of time at work so much that it was rare the day he didn’t go into overtime just to get more money and raise his social status again. On an ordinary day the man was going home after a long day at work. Tired, he took his car keys and started driving home, but in the blink of an eye he had a car accident, losing his life at that moment. Suddenly the man woke up on a side that he had never seen before and heard a voice telling him “son, it’s your time for your departure” the man asked ‘who is talking to me?’ “I am God your creator. surprised, the man replied ‘so soon? But he still had a lot of plans. ‘ “I’m sorry, but it is time for your departure,” God replied. What do you bring in that suitcase? The man asked God. “Your belongings” answered the man. My belongings?! Are you bringing all my things, my clothes and my money? The man replied “that never belonged to you was of life. Do you bring my memories? “Those never belonged to you, they were from time.” So you bring my talents? “That didn’t belong to you either, they were part of the circumstances.” So you bring my family, friends? “They never belonged to you, they were part of the way.” Are you bringing my wife and children? “They never belonged to you, they were from your heart.” So you bring my body? “No, it never belonged to you, it was from the earth.” But if you bring my soul? “No, it wasn’t yours, it was mine.” Then the man full of fear snatched the suitcase from God and when he opened it he realized that it was empty with tears of sadness rubbing in his eyes he said ‘So I never had anything sir?’ “That’s right, you had nothing and you had everything at the same time since each of the moments that you lived were only yours and only yours. Life is too short to fill with hatred and grudges.
Photo by Delmire’ Moore
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I’m ozzy! :3 I use he/they pronouns and I’m a non binary artist <3 Im planning on making a coloring book with these three characters in different environments. I wanna make multiple posters too and Ive already made one into a poster! I came up with the characters out of the blue, but Mr. Kay suggested I make a coloring book with them. Since then I’ve been coming up with a lot of different things I could do with them. :) I’m a lot more active on my Bubblehouse! @ ozzyl but My Instagram is @ voyloid
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Artwork by Charles Russell
Memoir
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My Memoir by Van Taylor
Stories, Myths, and Folklore The leader of my family is probably my mom because I have not really been around my family as much. It was always me,my brother, and her but she used to tell us a lot about the little engine that could, how he used to say he couldn’t make it up the hill until he started saying I think I can I think I can I think I can and he started pushing himself harder to go and my mom used to tell me this story everytime I said I couldn’t do something to motivate me to keep pushing I remember around Halloween time I used to visit my cousins and they used to tell us about the Boogie Man and Bloody Mary to scare us. They used to say if you go in the bathroom and cut the light off and say “Bloody Mary” 3 times she would appear to kill you. I remember one night they pushed me and my other cousin in the bathroom and cut the light off and forced us into the bathroom and to say Bloody Mary 3 times. We used to cry but we realized nothing happened. I still told my mom and they got in trouble. My family believes that if you sweep someone’s foot that they will go to jail, or if you cross a pole or look in a black cat’s eye it’s bad luck and you have to knock on wood for good luck. My pops believe in spirits. He died and came back to life a couple times and he said he entered another world but worst and he said when people die and have unfinished business on the earth that they stick around until it’s time to cross over. I kinda found out everything on my own, like where I was from and which part because I had a lot of my family members trying to get in touch with me who would tell me about my dad and he wanted me to come home. I figured I was from Mississippi after he said he wanted me to come home. A Journey I have gone on a journey before Katrina hit. Me,my brother and my mom
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left to meet up with some of my brother’s dad’s side of the family in Texas. I remember we spent one night in this big house. It had about 8 rooms in it and I think there were about 20 of us there so me, my brother and my mom shared a room until the morning. The next morning everyone woke up around 7 and we got back on the road. We were probably on the road that whole day. I kept falling asleep so I wasn’t really paying attention to where we were but when I woke it was like 5 in the a.m. We were at this big hotel in Tennessee. It was our first time out of Louisiana and really in a hotel, so we made sure we had some fun. Me, my brother and my cousin went running around the hotel being bad, doing stuff like playing hide and seek, running around the building even knocking on other people’s doors and running away. It was fun. That same night, all of us went to this big pizza place with this arcade and we just had a lot 0f fun. A couple days later, we had to leave the hotel because Katrina was over and it was time to go back home to see the damage. Everyone packed up, got in their cars and headed back to Louisiana. Something I learned that changed my life Something that I learned that changed my world was probably rolling skating because it was so fun and entertaining. Growing up just to see people skate and do all these different things on skates just made me want to try it and once I tried and learned how to skate I just fell in love with it. I went skating every weekend. I learned different tricks. learned how to skate faster and how to dance on skates. It took me a minute to learn, but it was worth it. Till this day i still love to skate. My experience of danger My experience of danger was my first getting shot at. There were a lot of shootouts around my apartment when I was growing up so we couldn’t go outside as much as we wanted. One day it was getting late and a lot of kids from the apartment complex were outside playing, including me. Out of nowhere one of the grown ups was telling all the kids to get inside, “They finna start shooting!” But before we could do anything it happened. Everyone started running and as we were running you could hear the gunshots and see them flying, hitting cars and busting windows. I got inside safely, but when I came back out, one of the kids was shot and was bleeding a whole lot. He lived; he just got shot in the hand, but that was
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scary moment for me. I was glad I wasn’t one of the kids that was shot. I guess I was lucky. The time I got saved by good luck A time I was saved buy good luck was probably the time I got expelled from school and I knew I was going to get a whoopin and probably get punished for the rest of my life but for some reason my mom was not mad at me. The reason I got expelled was because my mom had this pocket knife that was shaped like a toy car and I had seen it sitting on the counter, but I didn’t know it was a knife, so I took it and put it in my bag to bring to school to show it off to my classmates. So when I got to school I took out my bag and had it in my pocket and proceeded to walk in the building. As i walked past the metal detectors it went off. So the security guard checked me and searched my pockets and found the car and opened it up and it turned to a knife. I was surprised and I kept saying I didn’t know it was a knife, but they still sent me to the office and I still got expelled. When my mom came to the school she believed that I didn’t know what it was, so she just took me home and I was home schooled for the rest of year. Something I did that I was afraid to do Something I did that I was afraid to do was talk to my crush my sophomore year in gym class. It was this girl I liked named Mariah. She was a junior and it was kind of hard for a sophomore to talk to girls in higher grades. One day the coach made everyone play dodgeball. The coach plucked the teams and me and Mariah were on two different teams. A couple of minutes went by and we were down to our last two: me and some other dude versus Mariah and some other guy. I got the dude on her team out and then it was me and the dude on my team versus her and she didn’t have a ball. The dude on my team threw the ball at her and she caught it, so he was out. It left me and her still playing, so she threw her ball and missed and I threw my ball and hit her on her head and she fell down. When she fell I saw an opportunity to try to talk to her, so that’s what I did. I faced my fear and helped her up told her I was sorry. She smiled at me and told me that it was okay and that’s when I just faced my fear and told her that she was beautiful and I asked her for her number and it was good from there.
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Something I realized about myself Something I realized about myself is that I really love to dance. Dancing was something that really made me happy when I am upset or frustrated. I remember when I was younger when I used to eat cereal I would start dancing out of nowhere. I would just start dancing because the cereal was so good. It just made me happy to the point I just had to dance. Dancing was always a big part of me. My mom and my dad used to dance when they were younger, so I guess it just fell on me. The thing is with me, I don’t like to dance in front of people. I like to dance alone. I feel more comfortable. I don’t know why when people watch me it just throws me off.
Artwork by Johnathan Chambers
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The Story of My Life
by Juan Pablo Arguijo Hello my name is Juan Pablo but I prefer to be called JP because it sounds good in English. I was born in Tegucigalpa, the current capital of Honduras, I then moved to a town called Talanga with both of my parents, three years later my father moved out to the United States with my uncle and my grandfather because there was no work where we lived, in a month my dad, uncle and grandfather arrived to the United States, he started working and a year later my father built a house for my mother and me in Honduras. I was five years old at the time and I was in first grade. I was very good at school and hardworking. Five years later, my dad asked my mom to move to the United States with him, then two or three months later my mom decided to move to the United States with my dad. I was very sad because I was no longer going to be with her, so my mother left and I stayed with my grandmother. because of this they had to change my school. It was a new beginning for me because I did not know anyone in the neighborhood where my grandmother lives. as time passed by I got to know the people who lived there. I met a boy my age and we became very good friends. during this time my mother was already with my father in the United States.
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They often sent me money to buy things to go to my new school and they also gave me money to take to school in order to buy food which was enough to also buy snacks. At that time, twenty lempiras were about a dollar in Honduras. On weekends they gave me a hundred lempiras which were about five dollars, and on holidays they bought me clothes and gave me more money. They gave me up to five hundred lempiras. That was twenty-five dollars. it doesn’t sound like much in the United States, but in Honduras it was a lot for a boy my age. Three years had passed since my mother went to the United States where my father was, and my parents called me to ask if I wanted to go to the United States with them. I was really excited. they told me that I was going to go with an uncle of mine. He was very good to me. He treated me like his son. then we began to prepare for the trip. In a week we were ready to go. I said goodbye to my family in Honduras and then we left. The trip was relatively easy, all we had to do was follow a guide (a person who knows the way to get to the United States). We traveled by car, buses and walking. I was eleven years old by the time. In a few months I was going to turn twelve, and I wanted to be in the United States with my parents before it happened. In two days we were already in Guatemala. We were staying in a nice hotel and I was sick because every time I got on a bus my stomach hurt and I started vomiting. We spent a day resting because the next day we were going to travel for three days until we reached Mexico City. When
I arrived in Mexico City, we rested in a nice hotel. We stayed two days. we ate well. I ate spicy chicken with other things that I don’t remember but they were the best meals I ate on the trip. After resting for three days we went to Monterrey Mexico. It was a two-day trip. When we arrived we stayed in a house and the next day we went to the border of Mexico and the United States. we arrived in one day because we had to avoid a police point. Then we arrived at the border and we were there one day, then they handed us over to the immigration police. it was at night when immigration police took us to an immigration center where I had to sleep to a degree of frozen temperatures and the only thing they gave me was a slim blanket. The next day they took me to a place where I stayed for about two days, it was a room where I slept on the floor and the bathroom was in the same place, then they took me to a woman where she took care of me and took me to school. I was with her for four days, until they took me to where my parents, I took two planes, one was small, which took me to Houston, Texas, and then I took a very large plane that took me to New Orleans. When I arrived at the airport. I grabbed my suitcase and began to walk quickly to see my parents. I came to the hall where people were waiting for their relatives, I looked everywhere and I did not look at my parents, I kept walking and looked at them, I ran and them You know, six years ago I did not look at my father and my mother was three years without seeing her, I was very happy to be with them, when we went in the car I asked them about my uncle and they told me that the signed aviary to return to Honduras, I got sad, and the following days I was getting started and going to school I was very nervous about the language but at the same time happy because I was meeting new people.
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Where My Story Began by Wilmer Colman
My story began in a very small town in Honduras called Aguan. I was born in 2004 in Ceiba Atlantida I have 2 brothers. I come from a very small culture called Garifuna. The people in my neighborhood believed in ghosts. I had an experience with a ghost. I woke up in the middle of the night and I ask my grandma for some water she left to the kitchen to get the water the whole room was dark, I see something like a ghost or a spirit I started screaming to my grandma she came in the room and turn the light on and the ghost just disappear. My culture is really small. The majority of the people are elder and they are really proud of everything they have achieved in life. MY culture began in the caribbean, when slaves escaped from their masters. A Lot of them ended up around the caribbean that’s why you see black Spanish people. I grew up with my mom, my grandma, my two brothers and my uncle who I call dad. I was 9 when my mom told me that I was moving to the US. At first I didn’t want to move because I was leaving my grandma behind. My mom and my grandma told me that a few months later my grandma was going to move with us too. But she died a year and a half after I arrived. So I decided to move. I was coming with just my little brother and my little cousin. It took us one week to get here. The journey was a crazy experience especially when you get to Mexico. In Mexico we had to hide inside
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houses because we couldn’t let the people from Mexico see us. Our guide had to pay money to the cartels in Mexico because every person has to pay. I’m not sure why. One day in the morning we were staying in a motel. We had a mom and her baby in our room. Her baby started crying. They had two police officers outside. They said that babies are not allowed in a motel. They left to get more patrols and we had to rush into a jungle where we had to stay for about 4 hours. Before we had to cross the border we had to stay in a house full of people and we had to sleep on the floor. When we crossed the border they put me and my little brother in a cell and they put my little cousin in a different one. I talked to my m0m on the phone. She told me she would see me in a week. It took me about a month to see her. It was 2014 around the summer. My first day in New Orleans, I didn’t leave the house till school started. I was nervous because I didn’t have any friends and I couldn’t speak English. I was a small kid. I had to deal with bullying. That’s why I started hating school. A few months later I wasn’t doing too good at school because I was getting suspended because I had a fight or because I cursed another student. I was always the one that got suspended. Ever since I arrived here most of the things that I had learned are bad. Personally I don’t think New Orleans is a good State to start a family. The majority of the people that used to be around me were negative. I don’t have any family members here, just my mom and my brothers.
Memoir by Jose Guzman
I was born in Ceiba. I was living with my mom and dad, but when I was 1 year old my dad came to the United States to have a better life. He was not earning enough money to feed his family, so he had to take another step. It was easier for him to come here because he already knew how to speak English. He used to be a Spanish teacher for the Americans that were going to Honduras but he was not earning enough money so he came as an immigrant to the United States. Five months later he brought my mom because he needed some help and he needed his wife. I was about to turn 2 years old when he left. So my grandma took me, that is my Dad’s mom. All my life I have lived with my grandma. Being with her was fun. She was kind. She always took good care of me. She was like a mother to me because she raised me. There were two more kids living with my grandma. It was a girl and a boy. They were younger than me. They were my two cousins. Sometimes I had to take care of them but we were really close. I had a lot of friends. My favorite thing to do was playing soccer. At about that time I was not that good but I practised a lot and I got better and better. I used to go to the beach almost every day with my cousin Pedro. He was like my best friend. We were always together. It was fun living in Honduras but the bad thing was money. Sometimes we didn’t have anything to eat but my grandma always found a way so we can be good.
My father and my mother separated but they had a child, my brother, and a girl but she died. My mother has found another man. They are together and have a girl, my sister. One day they called my grandmother. They told her that I have to go cause they already killed my uncle , my mom’s brother, because he was the leader of the gang in Ceiba. The other side wanted to kill all his family and I was one of them. They already wanted me to enter the United States. My mother, my step father and my Dad got together to bring me. I was sad. I didn’t want to leave my grandmother. She was my world. But she was the one who convinced me to come because I told my mom that I was not leaving my grandma, but my grandma told me that if I went I would be able to help her more. That was a way to convince me because she knew that I loved her too much to leave her. I was crying so much. My cousin and my grandma were crying too. It was so sad leaving my family to go to another family that I don’t even know. I knew they were my parents but I had never lived with them. I didn’t know them. So the day came my grandma took me to the coyote (coyotes are the people who help the immigrants get to the United States. They guide you.) So the coyote, Nery, picked me up. He had a boy with him. It was another immigrant. We got along so well. He was older than me. He was 14 and I was 11. His name was Jimison. So first we went to Ceiba to get some papers. And we stayed in Nery’s house for 4 days. Because he was planning everything. We started getting out of the city on
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Friday. We took a bus to Guatemala and then we had to get off. Because The Guatemalan police wanted to deport us. So we got off the bus and ran to a forest. It was so awful in that forest. There was a lot of wet sand. We stepped on animal poop and People poop. It smelled really bad. We had to stay there for about 30 minutes until the police left. Then we walked for about four hours to a cabin of a friend of Nery’s, he helped us. He was very kind to us. He gave us food, water and he gave us a bath too because we were smelling really bad. We stayed there one or two days. Then we went to the border of Guatemala with Mexico. We had to pass a great deep river. But thank God that Nery’s friend got us a boat. We were going well in the river. But as there were too many people on the boat that it almost fell. I can swim. But I was scared because the river had a lot of current. I was very scared but in the end we passed to Mexico. We had to walk for almost five hours to catch a bus. When we caught it. It was a relief for us. We were very tired. And then we traveled a lot, we spent a lot of time there. They were very beautiful until we got to Palenque Mexico. We stayed there for like 3 weeks until we could go to Tuijuana to grab the train. When we went to grab it we had to hide in a thorn branch so that they wouldn’t grab us. My body was hurting a lot. I was even bleeding. I was crying because I was in a lot of pain and at that time the train passed. The beast. I wasn’t going very fast but we had to run as much as we could. I could no longer hold my feet . It is because I was also very beaten with all the
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thorns. My friend Jimison helped to run. He grabbed me. The train began to slow down and we could catch it. We rode the train for like an hour or two. We were fine on the train but it was very cold and I was in a lot of pain. On the train, there were a lot of people. People were crying because they lost a relative. A man was crying and I asked him what was happening and he told me that his daughter had died on the way. It really hurt me very badly. After we got off we almost reached the border. and went to a house where there were a lot of people, who wanted to cross. People crying other wounded many children with fear. A couple of times we had to turn off the light because the immigration passed a lot and we had to hide well so they wouldn’t hear us. After they left we had to stay there. One night I couldn’t sleep. We had to sleep on the floor and it was smelling bad. We were there one day until nightfall and we already had to cross The border. It was very cold then we went to the border we walked for two hours and then the immigration followed us with dogs. They were faster than us. We couldn’t hide because they would be able to smell us. We ran as long as we could until a man helped us. He had a truck. He picked us up and we left. He left us in a place where we could rest before reaching the border and we met two ladies. One had a girl of about 1 or 2 years old. They needed us to help them cross and they told us that the gang LOS Z were grabbing people taking the money and if you didn’t give it to them
they would kill you. And they told us that they had already killed a lot of people but they managed to escape. We had to hurry and get to the border. When we got there we had to go through a very deep river with a great current. All of us were very nervous but we had to pass to get to the other side. Nery was not able to pass because he was just the one guiding us. He had to go back to Honduras so it was just me and Jimison and the other three girls.
Jimison went first with his family, then it was me. I met My mom. She cried when she saw me. I met my stepfather and my brothers and we came here to New Orleans. I felt very uncomfortable with my new family. I had no friends until I realized that Jimison also lived in the same state as me then we met and we spent time together exploring the state. It was a hard road but I made it thanks to God.
We went to the river. It was deep and cold. I was worried about the little girl but Nery said he was going to help the little girl acroos so he did. When we were waiting for him. I fell because I couldn’t take it any more. My feet were hurting so much. It was really cold. Almost all my body was hurting, so I fell. The current was taking me and then Jimison helped me out. I was about to die and he saved me. He grabbed his back and took me to the other side. We were already in the United States. We were happy. The immigration police came to grab us. He grabbed us and took us home. He couldn’t deport us because we were already in the United States and we were miners and the other ladies had a girl. They couldn’t deport them either, so me and Jimison were separated from them and to this day I do not know anything about them and I really liked them. So we went to a shelter. They questioned us and we all had to say that we were cousins so that they would not separate us. We stayed there at shelter for about 2 months.
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Screenplay
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Life and Shadows
1
by Jammonie Cornelius
EXT OLD LADY’S HUT
CREEPY OLD LADY is smoking a pipe. CREEPY OLD LADY Watch out. Wilding kids. Sorry, miss Greta.
KIDS
CARL What’s that mole on your face!!! CARL Pointing at the lady KIDS
Laughing and snickering GRETA ARRRH.
GRETA
Whipping the boy’s hand away leaping onto the floor
CHILDREN Scattering, crying and weeping for their mothers kin MOTHERS/DADS comes running grabbing their scared little chern into their arms
fields ?
MOTHERS/DADS What’s wrong ? Why were you all in the
CHILDREN crying and shaking! Brushing off what their parents just asked. (stating) CHILDREN The creepy old lady attacked us! MOTHERS/DADS Stunned and baffled at their children What old lady?
claims.
MOTHERS/DADS
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KIDS Pointing back to the previous field only to realize that there was no little house nor creepy old lady. CEDERICK from the back of the crowd of rowdy mothers and dad (A single farmer father of 1 soon to be none) Scream out of disparity CEDERICK I Don’t see em!
WHERE’S HE ?
CEDERICK Franticly as tears start to build and voice begins to crack EVERYONE LOOKING AROUND AND CONFUSED CEDERICK WHERE’S MY SON ? WHERE’S CARL? PARENTS/KIDS slowly retrieving back to their houses and huts as the sky begins to crackle with thunder and lightning CEDERICK lying on the ground crying and mumbling snot and tears flowing heavy as the rain that began to pour CEDERICK I WAS SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HIM! I WAS POSED TO BE THERE! CEDERICK Gripping at his head and hair with enough force the plucks out a few strings as he re adjusts to pound the ground with heavy fists. CEDERICK (In heavy like mumbles)
I PROMISED HER !...
CEDERICK All alone lying in heavy rains and sharp grass on the edge of the Mysterious village. 2 EARLY MORNING INTERIOR MALENDA’S HOUSE MALENDA As she makes herbal tea looks out of kitchen area window and says MALENDA
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Poor boy done spent the darn night out in the field Sheily. MALENDA staring at Seily waiting for her to acknowledge her statement of Cederick who spent his night in the field where his son was said to last be seen. 3
INTERIOR CHURCH BUILDING: Towns Council Meet
TOWNS KEEPER or counselor
Standing on potem
like some sort of judge
TOWNS KEEPER Ok. Settle down. Settle down. Now can anyone explain or have any idea why the children of Dubond Village was marching in the fields towards Hell’s Gate Forrest. TOWNS PEOPLE Bunch of and chatters one lady from the back bursts aloud HELENOR (Village Clothing Maker) Someone killed my Sheep now how am i supposed to keep the village warm this coming winter? GEORGE from left of rowdy crowd and burst out GEORGE (Cattle farmer) My Meat cows have be on the decline. Ever since the death of the old lady and her son. BY THIS WINTER WE WILL BEGIN TO STARVE... SILENCE. TOWNS KEEPER
TOWNS KEEPER
Smacking his gavel in rage
TOWNS KEEPER No one shall speak on the forbidden act. We all agr eed. GEORGE Why should we have to suffer the consequences of others unholy act? KEBLAR
From middle of the room with vicious out burst
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Towards towns keeper KEBLAR (Towns Bread Baker) How can you let this happen? You said If we burned her and buried the witch remains in the forbidden forrest entrance our kids would be safe. BUSCHER (Towns Butcher) Shut up. This isn’t right . Im gonna take my boy back to house with his mother and siblings. KEBLAR Coward!!. He put us all in danger he couldn’t do
it! KEBLAR Referring to Buscher in a angry tone
KEBLAR You weak bastard you’ve killed us all! COUNSEL HALL/ TOWNS PEOPLE Gets loud and fussy as Buscher exits the Church building BUSCHER Pauses and frozen by the sight he sees as he steps from the building corridor KEBLAR
Walking towards Buscher yelling
KEBLAR IT IS YOUR FAULT. YOU ARE THE REASON WE HAD TO COVER UP THAT BOYS MURD.. KEBLAR George
Goes quiet when he sees the sight that greeted
TOWNS CHILDREN Standing in straight rows of four marching pass the fields the borders their remote village into the brush the separates the field from dangers and horrors of Hell’s Gate Forrest each foot and step in perfect sync as if mesmerized/possessed by a paranormal entity and only for a split second can Buscher and Keblar see the glimpse face of the old they murdered to cover up the killing of her grandson. CEDERICK Running from the other side of the field towards the marching children reaching them just before they can enter the brush.
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WAITT!!! STOPP!!!
CEDERICK
CEDERICK grabbing one little boy CHILDREN Snapping out of their hypnotized like trance some starting to cry, others jolting in confusion as parents and towns folk come to save their babies. 4
EXTERIOR OVER LOOK OF VILLAGE AND MYSTERIOUS FIELD
TOWNS PEOPLE/PARENTS/CHILDREN Slowly walking back into the center as some return to protection homes hugging they kids reassuring their safety, farmers locking up what’s left of cattle and harvest Preparing for the long night. Or So They Think! 5
NIGHT TIME/ INTERIOR
TOWNS KEEPER
NARRATOR: HOUSE
Talking to secret meeting group
TOWNS KEEPER So do you think we should drag him out there?
wife.
CLARA No its wrong . Cederick just lost a boy including a EDWARD Whats it to us if we leave him out there to die. He didn’t think of us when he didn’t bury that body only himself. Coward! FREDO I say we kill em in front he village. Let em know what happens when you put people in danger for selfish reasoning. Its time to control this village. Yeah
EDWARD
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WOMEN in the meeting WHAT!/NOOO!/WHY?/WHAT? CLARA Its wrong. Its not the way to go we don’t even know for sure he’s the reason for whatever the heck is going on . CINDI Our kids are at danger and may so the entire village i don’t think killing a not guilty man in front of the very people your trying to protect is going to help or do anything. And it say we have things under control we might as well cause a riot. CLARA Right! If killing was what we think started it then why should it make it better? FREDO Well i say we make em pack if stuff and kick it. We cant tolerate liabilities we all we’ve got, and if you can well i cant and i Wont! TOWNS KEEPER Points great points you all have, i say we give Buscher a chance at life and let him walk, tomorrow we shall exile him from this village and on and if returning shall be hanged in the fate of the village it self. TOWNS KEEPER INSTRUCTING THE MEET TOWNS KEEPER Every one have a good night and safe travels home we’ll all meet at dawn to discuss on these matters and most importantly. DONT let anyone know we was here or what we were discussing. 6
Dawn EXTERIOR BUSCHER’S HOME TOWNS KEEPER Buscher, we decided that it’ll be better for the all of us if you just packed your things and left. We don’t fault you for what you done but do expect that you be held accountable for your reckless ac-
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tions. BUSCHER What about my son!?! BUSCHER out of confusion and anger BUSCHER Im not guilty of nothing why toss me away like some dog . Can we at least talk about the matters i have a child for god sake. TOWNS KEEPER Your son?! What about the village? We dont need no more liabilities for all we know he can be as weak as you. I say he can leave with you but must never return for the penalty put on his father will be seth on him. BUSCHER beginning crying coming to a mumbling sob as he doesnt know what to do next.
BUSCHER This is wrong. This aint right, you all shouldnt be here! Leave me, my son be.
FREDO Come on Buscher you got two minutes or im going to torch this place.
BUSCHER continuing to be a bit harder BUSCHER I cant. I cant bring my son out there he’ll never make it. EDWARD Walks up drops torch on the highly flammable wooded house EDWARD Im sorry. But this the way its gotta be EDWARD Sandning frowns as he walks away from the flames as they ingulfed the whole house, Father and son inside
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What the hell? CLARA FREDO
CLARA
Deeply angry In immediate arousal FREDO YEAH EDDIE, at least some men here still have back bone for bloody sake.
CROWD quickly scattering before anyone can see what they have now down. 7 LATER THAT DAY Exterior Buscher burnt down home, now crisp grave. TOWNS KEEPER speaking to gathering crowd TOWNS KEEPER He was a good man. The boy was only a child will forever hold that sparkle we once saw deep in him. And in memory of the Dipper’s we will come together every so of as one to make sure that we all have support in one another and be able to release stresses that a person may hold on to. TOWNS KEEPER in a different tone than a second ago TOWNS KEEPER We all really need each other now. And what that being said you all should keep your loved ones close and prepare for some dark nights. For all of our history this has been a safe haven of sorts and peaceful harmony, now. Now we’ve don’t know what fully going on(lie) but believe it to be something in the woods or the lake we don’t know, So people please its imperative under any circumstances DO NOT enter the forest, and if so badly make sure its life or death involved and that your with more than 3 accomplices.
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About Caught up in the NET The Net Charter High School is a New Orleans high school for students who are trying to accelerate. Ms. Erin and Ms. Beverly’s creative writing class accepted art and writing submissions from students and staff members to create the first annual issue of our literary mgazine.
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