The Jour ney t o Peace Wr it t en and Il l us t r at ed by Pabl o Lievano Dedicat ed t o Bar r et Tef t and Jer emy Bet inol
Van cou ver , Year 2301 A.D Brendt was watching a movie. It was from the Star Wars saga. The effects were old, but they were that way in the 300-year-old movies that his great - great - great-grandfather had left him. His favorite movie was a saga called ?Star Wars? because they had the same powers as he had. He felt a connection to the struggles of these Jedis. What stunk was that they lived in a galaxy far, far away so he couldn?t rely on their help to understand his powers. He had learned that his power was called the force, and he practiced something called a ?force push?and a ?force lift?. He had gotten the hang of it.
The other bad part was that the ?Jedi?had these glowing sticks of light known as ?lightsabers?which could cut through anything, absorb gasses and block shots. He didn?t have one because the rocks that made the lightstick came from a planet called Ilium in the far, far away galaxy. He used his powers to stop crime, but each time he saved somebody, they didn't even say ?Thanks? for saving their life. This was starting to get on his nerves.
M iam i, Year 2301 A.D Jake was watching the news. He was on the news, in fact, which was probably why he was watching the news in the first place. This was because just yesterday he had saved a bank from being robbed for 50 Million dollars. The problem was, he didn't want to be on the news. He just wanted to help people. In fact, he was very shy, so he was watching in the hope that nobody would be able to recognize him. It was hard to pass incognito when you were a guy with wings stuck at your back . For him, it was super hard to actually do that, as his magical wings conspicuously stuck out of his back. His wings were cool and all but, it really made him stick out in a crowd. All he wanted was to be a normal person. But, alas he had them and they were mostly indestructible and gave him great power and responsibility (that he didn?t necessarily want). They were ?mostly?indestructible, but he had one weak spot right in the middle of both of them. Every time that spot was touched, his back burned with shooting pains firing up and down his body. It was hard to be so different. Jake was desperate. All he wanted was to be normal. Was that too much to ask? A normal life?
Miami, Year 2301 A.D Jake went to the Miami Beach Junior High. It was the only place where he felt comfortable. Everybody thought his wings were cool. His best friend was called Pablovich. Pablovich understood him. He knew he was shy, and didn't like to be the center of attention. They were alike. Pablovich was a tech and mechanical genius. He built cool robots, and he rarely spoke. Nobody knew how he felt, not even Jake. He had figured out Jake?s wings were made from an ultra-rare material which he called Pabloonite. It was super strong and virtually indestructible except that every piece of Pabloonite had a weak spot.
The same was true with Jake?s wings. There had been a concentration of the weakness and so he had a medium sized weak spot. He was trying to figure out how he had them because he analyzed a portion of his wing and determined it was a mineral. He figured out he had been born and the wings had started to grow when he was just an infant. Pablovich had some crazy ideas. Once he tried to stuff a bully into a locker, but with his weak muscles, he was the one who got stuffed.Since no one knew how he felt, and he rarely talked, he sometimes did random things no one saw coming.
Miami, Year 2301 A.D Brendt was constantly moving. He never stopped in one place for more than 6 months. This was because he was searching for a place that felt like home. It was hard to find this place. He had Canadian and a American nationality. He had been on the run for as long as he remembered. He had a big travel bag with his most precious belongings with him. In his bag he took his Star Wars movies. They reminded him of his great - great - great grandfather. He didn?t have many belongings. He always found a job at supermarkets as a restocker. This was because he could restock entire shelves with a move of his hand. This made him some good money, so he rented an apartment for 6 months at a time. It was hard, but he always found a place at a reasonable price. He had an old car, a MyCroft ASX from the year 2286. It ran on ElectroChargez IV(4) [Please note that in 2302, humanity had finally figured out that clean, renewable electrical energy was the best way to get around]. His life was a lonely one. He didn?t have a family- he had been living in an orphanage since he was 12 and when he turned 16, he escaped the orphanage but was left to a life on his own. He lived in the streets for awhile and then found a job. Then he rented a furnished apartment. His homeless life behind him, Brendt focused on his new goals: finding a place where he
belongs, even with his special powers.
Nor t h Car olin a, 2302 A.D Jake was flapping his wings furiously. He was flying towards Washington D.C because Pablovich had gone crazy and was running away towards Washington in a gigantic helium balloon. He said something about lockers just before he left. He calculated that, non-stop he could reach Pablovich, who should be in Virginia already. He decided that he wouldn?t rest. The good thing is that Pablovich also had to stop to refill the helium on the balloon. So he kept on going.
Wash in gt on , 2302 A.D Brendt stopped in a ElectroChargez on the outskirts of town. He pushed open the dirty glass door. He went to the fridges and grabbed a ElecTrode. ?I wanna buy this.? He said as he placed it on the counter. ?It?ll be 3.65? She said with a deep, cavernous voice. The cashier had warts all around his face. Brendt pulled out some crumpled up bills and some old coins. He dumped them on the counter. He grabbed the bottle and left. When he went outside, he heard an explosion. He was 2.4 miles away from the closest city, Washington. He jumped in his car and sped off to the where the sound of the explosion came from. When he arrived to Washington, he saw a massive helium balloon. On the balloon there was a tiny basket hanging from it. There was a man up there. He pushed the air downwards. He used his power to levitate, and as he went up to the helium balloon, he shouted ?Why are you doing all of that?? ?Why? You want to know why? Very well.? The man in balloon?s basket replied. Wait! He wasn?t a man. He was about Brendt's age! ?All my life I have been bullied. All my life, I have been stuffed into lockers. All my life I have been called nerd. That will happen NO more! I shall tell them I am coming with these explosions.? The kid activated what looked like a C4. Then he threw it. Brendt Moved towards it. Then he saw that the kid had clicked a button in a remote control. The C4 exploded in the air. ?Woah man, Chill! Hold your horses. Why are you exploding them in the air?? Brendt exclaimed ?Because I want them to hear me coming? Said the guy...
Wash in gt on D.C, 2302 A.D Jake arrived in Washington just in time. He dove to the basket hanging from the balloon. Then, just when he was about to go in, he crashed into something. What was that? He struggled to keep in the air. His body ached. He was hit in his weak spot by something that he couldn?t see, something that felt like the air was against him. He saw a kid about his age also falling. He shouted at the top of his lungs. ?YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! I WAS ABOUT TO GET HIM!? ?NO, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! HE WAS WITHIN MY GRASP!? Shouted the other boy. ?GRRR,? was the only response Jake could muster. He realized he had also hit his jaw. Just then, Jake managed to get himself on balance. He let the other boy keep falling. But then he thought, ?Why is the guy smiling? He is going to die!? Just before he hit the ground, the kid pushed the air and he suddenly started levitating! He lowered over to the guy, holding one of his wings. ?We will meet again! But next time you will not get off so easily,? he said, struggling to speak. ?Funny- you realize that you?re talking about yourself,? said the mysterious guy. Then Jake flew off. He felt too weak to follow Pablovich.
Br en dt ?s Car , 2302 A.D It was night now. Brendt?s body ached. His left knee cap hurt badly. The crash with the winged dude had left him tired and hurt. All he wanted to do was sleep. Yeah, some rest would help him. He flicked on his car lights. It was dark. Suddenly his eyes were redirected towards the blue and red lights of a sign that said ?MOTEL.? He walked in. There was a person in the reception that looked like ?I want a room for the night,? he said in a sleepy voice to the motel receptionist. ?Ok sir,? the receptionist gave him a key. ?You?re in room 343. Enjoy your stay!? ?Ok. Thank you very much,? mumbled Brendt as he wearily stumbled off to his room. He climbed up the stairs to the third floor. He unlocked the room and plopped onto the bed. He was fast asleep in no time.
M ot el, Wash in gt on D.C Brendt woke up with a ray of sun in his face. His eyes slowly opened. He jolted up. ?Where am I?? He thought. He tried to remember. ?Hmmm. Aha! Now I remember,? he thought. He was at a motel which he was fortunate to find right after the fight with the winged guy. ?Yeah! But wait! That villain in the balloon is still on the loose,? he realized. He knew that they would have to meet again because their issue wasn?t settled. Next time, he WOULD win! He had the force. He was invincible! Yes! He would wait in the motel till he heard where he was.
Fou r Season s Hot el Spa, Wash in gt on D.C Jake was in a spa. It helped him think and heal. Mounds of thoughts crossed his head. Who was that guy? Why and how could he levitate? What was wrong with Pablovich? It was all very confusing. He put his mind on blank and relaxed. He was angry at himself for not being able to chase Pablovich. Next time he would catch him. He sweared he would. Then he would ask him why. What was wrong with him? Why was he doing this. The only problem was that Pablovich knew his weakness? Jake got in his clothes and decided to go for a noon flight. He standed in the sidewalk, and started flapping his wings. He started rising from the floor. He slowly climbed up the sky. Once he had reached an altitude to not crash, he started flying forwards. Washington was beautiful from the air. All the gigantic buildings, the Lincoln memorial, the Washington Monument and the White House. He inhaled the air. Then he slowly exhaled.
Pablovich?s Secr et Hideou t Pablovich was finishing his droid army. Once that was done, he would storm on D.C and DESTROY it. ?Muahahahahhahaha!? he laughed maniacally. He would make everybody regret that they bullied him! He would be the Dictator of the states and become supreme dictator! ?Su-preme Di-rec-tor, the droid ar-my is rea-dy? Said his 2nd in command, Tron 5-2346 F3 as he walked into the room. ?Very well, very well! Prepare the transports. We go to Washington tomorrow!? Pablovich barked with a maniacal look on his face. ?Yes Su-preme Di-rec-tor. I shall get the tran-sports rea-dy.? Said Tron. Pablovich sat back down and
finished the last droid. He put in the last lines of code. Yes! His droid army was ready!
Daw n , Wash in gt on M on u m en t The droid transports stopped in front of the sleeping Washington Monument. Pablovich got off the command transport. ?Yes! At last! I shall get my revenge! Tron, Unload the troops!? Exclaimed Pablovich. ?Yes Su-preme Dic-tat-or.? Tron said. The glossy grey color of the droids shined in the rising sun. The droids started walking around hitting lightposts, trash cans and making lots of noise. Some house owners turned on the light to see what was happening. Pablovich stared into a window and saw a woman with a phone. She was probably calling the police. Pablovich heard a noise in the distance. ?Tron, What is that?? Pablovich Inquired. ?It appears to be a news helicopter, sir ? Tron Reported. ?Good. We can use it to attract Jake and the levitating guy.? Pablovich had to destroy them before they jammed his plans. The news helicopter hovered over his army. M ot el, Wash in gt on D.C Brendt woke up with a strong sound. He opened his room door and saw a hotel worker on the floor with a silver bell covering a plate. Brendt helped him up. ?Thank you, sir ? Said the hotel worker. Brendt went back into his room and switched on the T.V. He flicked through the channels looking for something attracting. Suddenly something on CNN caught his attention. There was the maniac! At the Washington Monument. With a robot army! ?Dear lord! Geez! This guy really is a maniac!? Brendt quickly got dressed.
He ran down the stairs onto the reception. He stopped at the counter. ?Hello. I want to check out. Im kinda in a hurry so can we make this fast?? He said. ?Yes sir. Credit or debit?? Asked the receptionist. ?Credit!? Brendt exclaimed as he pulled out his cellphone. He opened the app MyPay. He moved his cellphone on top of a BlueBank machine. There was a beep. ?Thank you sir. I hope you enjoyed your stay!? ?Yeah I did!? Brendt shouted. He was already halfway through the door. He jumped on his car and ignited the engine. He drove off to the Washington monument. Fou r Season s Hot el , Wash in gt on D.C Jake woke up with some big sounds. He got dressed and went outside. There was a news helicopter hovering over the Washington Monument. He also saw crowds running away from it. He went back into his room and flicked on CNN. There was Pablovich! He had a robot army! Plus, he was trying to throw down the monument. If he managed to throw it down, lots of civilians would be hurt, plus the monument for the first american president would be history! He had to stop that! He rushed onto the roof. There was no time to go to the door. Once on the roof, Brendt jumped. He started flapping his wings. If his calculations where correct, he estimated it would take him approximately 15 minutes. There was a speeding car beneath him. It was also going to the Washington monument. He flapped his wings faster. He had the monument in his view. He prepared for a quick landing. He was going to stop flapping once he was over Pablovich and then before he hit the floor he would flap one big flap. That?s exactly what he did. Except he saw himself forced to flap before or he was going to be run over by the car. The car door opened. The levitating dude went out of the car. ?I have come to stop you!? He shouted.
Wash in gt on M on u m en t Brendt arrived at the Washington Monument, and he noticed the winged dude had also reached it. ?Well look who is here!? He force-pushed the winged dude. Then he forced pulled a robot towards him and ripped off a few cables so he could deactivate his foe. The robot fell to the floor. The maniac shouted ?Robots! Grab Jake and the levitating guy!? ?Yeah about that, I?m Brendt! Not nice to meet you maniac!? said Brendt ?Hey! I am not called Maniac! I'm called Pablovich! Now robots... grab him and Jake!? The robots outnumbered Brendt and Jake 2 to 25. They pinned Jake and Brendt to the floor quickly. ?Hey. If we want to get out of this alive and defeat that Pablovich, we must team up.? Brendt whispered to hide his suddenly developing plan.
their plan and ability to finally cooperate, they had defeated all the robots and Pablovich. Without his robots, Pablovich was defenseless against the powers of Jake and Brendt. The police came in with a straightjacket. ?Well, this man is going to have some vacations at the Mental Hospital,? said one. ?Nooo! I don't want to! Leave me alone! Stop this!? Pablovich screamed. Jake was put onto a stretcher and sent in a Ambulance. Before he left, he said. ?I guess my wings aren?t so bad.? ?Bad? They totally rock man!? Brendt exclaimed. ?Thanks dude? Jake said weakly. A cameraman and a reporter came over to him. ?How does it feel to be a hero?? asked The reporter. ?Great!? Brendt exclaimed. ?Oh, and I almost forgot? he then used the force to put all the robot parts on a big pile.
M edSt ar Hospit al, Wash in gt on D.C Brendt was at the hospital where Jake was. He was in a special room for people like them, people with special powers. He went over to the room where Jake was. Jake was awake. ?Hey Jake!? Brendt exclaimed. ?You?re awake! Are you feeling better??
?Hmm.? Jake thought about this. They were severely outnumbered. ?Ok.? Jake whispered back. There weren?t many options.
?They put this special kind of ointment on my spot to help me heal, and I can leave today after lunch.? Jake explained, pointing to the spot on his wings where he had been injured.
?Great! Ok here's the plan: I will push them off me and pull them off you with the force. Then you will spin and I will move you around with my power, breaking bots with your indestructible wings! How ?bout that?? Brendt exclaimed.
?Cool! Hey I was thinking about staying here in Washington. Do you think it's a good idea?? Brendt asked. He then explained his reasoning for wanting to stay in Washington D.C.
?Good plan! LET?S DO IT!? Jake exclaimed.
?Well that's up to you. But I?ve made my decision. Im staying here. I want to help people like us, with powers to feel good about them and not feel like freaks, just like I did.? Brendt?s tone told Jake how serious he was and how important this topic was to him.
Brendt Forced pushed the bots holding him. Then he forced pulled the ones on Jake. ?You ready?? ?Never will be. But let's do this.? Jake said back. Jake started spinning. Then Bendt closed his eyes and started moving him. ?CRUNCH, CRACK, PHSSSST, WOOOOFSH, SCHWING? It was a concert of destruction. Metal mayhem. He heard a scream. He opened his eyes. Jake was on the floor. He was injured. ?One hit my weak spot.? He was incapacitated. He?d never felt such pain before. He mumbled,?BUT WE MADE IT!? They did make it. Due to
?Sounds cool! Can I help?? Brendt Asked ?I think this place is perfect to be my new home.? ?Great. C?mon, help me up out this bed. I?m going now.? Jake said. He made it clear that it was his intention to help Brendt in his quest to help others like him. ?Sure? Brendt Said. Brendt and Jake walked out the Hospital to start their new life- to make the world a better place for special people like them.
Abou t t h e HS Em pat h y Book Pr oject The grade 5 Literacy Group students published and illustrated these empathy picture books as keep sake gifts for their High School buddies. The grade 5 Literacy Group students conducted several empathy interviews with their High School buddy. These interviews were designed to help the grade 5 students to understand key components of their buddy?s identity, which were captured in these picture books. Prior to the interviews and picture book project, the grade 5 students investigated ?what makes a great story? by closely reading several award-winning picture books. They learned about plot, character development, author ?s craft, and literary devices. The grade 5 Literacy Group students even inquired about a literary device of their choosing, developed a lesson plan for their High School Senior, and then taught the concept through an interactive small group mini-lesson to that senior. Those literary devices made it into these picture books as our students know that, properly employed, they enhance a great story. The grade 5 Literacy Group students should be commended for the energy and enthusiasm poured into these final products. Our hope is that our Nido High School Seniors appreciate the pieces of ?their identity?that our students crafted into their picture books.
Abou t t h e Relat ion sh ip
Pablo met Jeremy and Barret for the first time the 21st of November last year. At first he felt uncomfortable because they were so much bigger than him. But later Pablo got to get to know them better, and found out they were really nice guys. They had their first Empathy interview in November. Pablo asked them a few questions and recorded their answers. The interview session was for about 45 minutes. He found out that Jeremy was curious because he told me that if he could do anything in the world, it would be demolish the internet, just to see what happens. Pablo also found out that Barret was a funny guy because he told him his favorite day was Saint Patrick?s day because he got to pinch people. Once he was done with the interview he sent them a few questions via email. Later, Pablo filled out a Character Analysis. He put there all the information he had gathered from his 2 buddies. Ironically, Pablo later found out that his mom new Jeremy?s mom. Pablo wishes the best for both Jeremy and Barret as they go off into university, and he hopes they enjoy his creation.