Thursday, March 8, 2012

word, words, words

Another way to play with words - and to produce an infinite number of texts:

1)
please pick 20 words from the words in the picture and number them from 1 to 20

2)
write a text (poem or story or article or journal entry etc) that uses the words in the order you have given them (i.e. from 1 to 20)

3)
write a second text in the same genre that uses the words in reverse order (i.e. from 20 to 1) -> see what happens

4)
you can go on trying other sequences of the same words and see what happens

5)
ask a friend to give you his/her sequence of words and do the same thing

Here some words to start with:



Have fun!

gudrun

22 comments:

  1. 20 Words - Blog Entry

    Words:
    1 - Magic
    2 - Fool
    3 - Wax
    4 - Smile
    5 - Dream
    6 - Electro-magnetic
    7 - Mountain
    8 - Gym
    9 - Barricade
    10 - Facebook
    11 - Red
    12 - Sky
    13 - Bully
    14 - Trilogy
    15 - Rave
    16 - Stone
    17 - Cold
    18 - Queer
    19 - Ironic
    20 - Memory



    Story #1 -
    (1 to 20)

    Once upon a time, there was a boy by the name of Fredrick who liked to show everyone his magic tricks. They were terrible and everyone found him to be a fool. He was also very ugly as well. His chest hair needed a wax, his smile was crooked, and he only had good looking hair in his dream.

    For one of his tricks, he used a small machine that was electro-magnetic and tried to a mountain. It was a joke, everyone laughed at him. If you didn’t guess, it did not work and he was quite embarrassed, as one could imagine. One day, one of his friends suggested he go to the gym to get bigger and try the magic trick again. Unbeknownst to Fred, one of his enemies had actually built a large barricade behind the mountain, which made it quite impossible to move.

    One of Fred’s worst tricks involved a city wide hype. He went online, went to Facebook and told everyone that later that day he would attempt to make a red sky. Unfortunately, he failed once again. Fred was sick and tired of all his mess ups.

    The next day at school, one of the meanest and biggest bullies had shown up to school. This was a really bad bully. He gathered everyone around for a big announcement. He had taken a video of all Fred’s magic trick attempts, and compiled them into one big video. He titled it ‘Fred The Goof : The Trilogy’. It was an instant hit; everyone at the school loved it. Eventually, it was remixed online, turned into a song, and many other things. Rumor has it that the song about it was played at a rave. He was also featured on the cover on the Rolling Stone for “Worst Magician of the Year”. His song was also on the hot charts, it went from cold to hot within 3 days! Everyone loved this thing, everyone was watching it, including some who were quite queer. It was actually very ironic seeing as how Fred was very weird and they were bashing him. Maybe they just forgot, because it was out of their memory.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Story #2 -
      (20 to 1)

      Dear Nicholas,

      You may not remember, it may have slipped from your memory, which is quite ironic, but that’s another story. As a child, you were rather queer. I know it’s somewhat cold to put it that way, but it’s true, you were a weird child. You were so annoying some times, the other kids would throw stones at you! It was relatively hectic, and it reminded me of a rave of some sorts. I remember one time you invited a whole bunch of your friends over to watch the spiderman trilogy. It was funny, you even invited the school bully, and he didn’t show up.

      After nobody showed up, you looked to the sky and screamed bloody red murder. I always felt so bad for you, in fact, it got so bad, you had to delete your Facebook account because of the whole thing! You were so angry, at one point you set up a barricade outside of you room and locked yourself inside. You were in there for days, doing god knows what.

      Eventually, you found a way to get rid of all your pent up anger and decided to go to the gym a few times every week. On your off days you would climb the local mountain. It was really great, you turned into a much better person. I was extremely proud of you! It seemed like more and more people were attracted to you, sort of like an electro-magnetic machine. I always wished that you would have friends, and it was finally happening, like a dream come true. You should have seen the smile on my face when you came home from school one day with your new best friend.

      I remember him quite clearly actually. His name was Neil, he was a nice, friendly fellow. He was extremely interested in wax figures, but don’t take me a fool, I knew he was good for you. He made your day in and out, and you two always managed to have a lot of fun. It was magic.

      - Lovingly, Mom



      Tyler MacDonald - 36073112

      Delete
  2. 20 words
    1. Moon
    2. River
    3. Crossroad
    4. Question
    5. Heal
    6. Travel
    7. Beautiful
    8. Magic
    9. Song
    10. Earth
    11. Vast
    12. Vagabond
    13. Mountain
    14. Rock
    15. Memory
    16. Weave
    17. Reluctant
    18. Grow
    19. Nurture
    20. Secret


    She tried to take everything in, from the upper most crescent of the moon to the darkest depths of the river. She was at a crossroad in her life; she had to ask herself some important questions in order to move forward, to heal. She had to ask herself what she wanted, what would make her happy. She wanted to travel, to have experiences as beautiful and as full of magic as her dreams. She wanted to hear a song and dance, not just to move her feet, but to feel the earth beneath her toes. She wanted to be a part of this vast world and not let it swallow her whole. She wanted to give it all up and become a vagabond. She wanted to live on a mountain and know every crevice and crag well enough to call that mountain her home, her rock. But she was scared. She was unsure that she wanted her comfortable life to be a memory. She would have to weave a new web to protect herself from new threats, and she was reluctant to do so. But she also knew that in order to grow she had to stop being scared of her fears, start nurturing her strengths, and most importantly, stop running from her secret.

    Reverse order

    When he was a little boy he had secret that he kept from everyone. Under his bed he kept a box, a very special box. He called this box his imagination. He kept special care of his imagination, he made sure to nurture it so it would continue to grow. He was reluctant to share it with anybody because he thought they would question it, or tell him it was not possible. But one day, he met Annie. Annie was unlike anyone he’d ever met, and she too had an imagination box. As a spider weaves her web, he and Annie grew their imaginations together, and the strength they had together made what they had separately all but a memory. They turned rocks into mountains and droplets into oceans. Once day they were vagabonds roaming the vast, barren desert, and the next day they were children of the Earth, singing songs in foreign tongues and chanting magical, beautiful mantras. Everyday they would travel. Time travel, space travel, travel in planes and trains and cars, they would travel in everything you could imagine and go everywhere you could possible think of. They would heal soldiers and answer questions of all sorts. When faced with a crossroad they would go one way and vow to come back and see what lie on the other path. At the end of the day, they would walk over the same bridge, look down at the river to see the moons reflection, and know it was time to go to bed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FORWARD!

    He looked at the river to the east. He felt so hollow inside, a void.

    “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Where do I go from here?”

    “Life is a labyrinth, for which there is no exit.”

    This was all the mirror responded with. I kicked the stone wall. What is the secret to life? It can’t really be just a giant gamble, can it?

    I used to love this job. It had always been my dream, but it had turned into a nightmare. The magic was gone, and I was beginning to doubt there had actually been any in the first place.

    My guide, Marco, called out from the other room. Marco was a dancer, and a mathematical genius. His thoughts would come in waves, and it was sometimes difficult to keep up with him.

    He was the one that had set me on the path of James “the king” Smith. I added James as a friend on facebook, and I asked if he was free to talk. His response was a single word: “zero”.

    “Screw him,” I thought. I decided to track down the princess instead.


    REVERSED!

    The princess was not happy. Some peasant had just called her a zero. She warned him to watch his mouth, but responded defiantly, “I’m free to do what I want!”. He was right. In the old days you could hang a man for calling a princess a zero, but nowadays they could get away with anything.

    She logged on to Facebook and saw that the king had uploaded some new photos from the ski trip he went on last winter. She looked at one of him jumping into the hotel pool, making waves for the little kids. He was very smart, a genius in fact, but not a very good dancer. She tried to guide him through a simple waltz but he failed miserably. He called dancing ‘black magic’, but she dreamed that one day she could teach him to love it.

    The gamble she made yesterday with the gardener was a secret. She wagered that she could throw a stone through the window of the house from the barn. If she won, the gardener was to construct a labyrinth from the hedges in the rear gardens. She had wanted this for a long time, it was like a void that she needed to fill. She picked up a hollow tube that she had found east of the river by her school and swung.


    Words:
    river
    east
    hollow
    void
    labyrinth
    stone
    secret
    gamble
    love
    dream
    magic
    guide
    dancer
    genius
    waves
    king
    facebook
    free
    zero
    princess


    Rob MacEachern

    ReplyDelete
  4. 1)
    1. Smile
    2. Yesterday
    3. Dream
    4. Free
    5. Beautiful
    6. Frown
    7. Computer
    8. Facebook
    9. Question
    10. Work
    11. Gym
    12. Travel
    13. Rare
    14. Know
    15. Princess
    16. Original
    17. Love
    18. Dance
    19. Mirror
    20. Prince
    2) Journal Entry:
    March 8, 2011
    “As I sat on the bus today, I toiled over the events of the week, as I made my way home. I couldn’t help but smile, thinking of the fact that yesterday I was just another UBC student suffering from “endless midterm syndrome,” and today It was as if I was living a dream. 7 midterms later, I was finally free, and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world. The past month consisted of more frowns than I’d ever imagined possible, my computer, endless piles of notes and textbooks, and how could I forget…Facebook! (I mean I had to stay sane somehow) Question after question I found myself doing more work than probably all of my years of high school combined! (And that’s saying a lot) There was a point where I thought I might as well quit. You know, just go to the gym to avoid the mess, or travel around the world and just drop out of school. I mean why can’t being a princess be a profession I can pursue? It may not be original, but I would love to dance around in front of a magic mirror and have my prince charming come and take me away. Oh who am I kidding?! That was the moment I snapped back to reality and realized nothing worth something in life comes easily. I know it’s going to be tough, perhaps even impossible at times, but every experience will allow me to grow somehow, and then sooner than I know it, I’ll be done. I suppose for now however, I should just be content with my few days of freedom before finals take over my life.”
    3) Journal Entry:
    March 8, 2011
    “ I thought for sure, it couldn’t be true…there is no such thing as prince charming. I mean It’s not like I’m living a fairytale, and my mirror definitely doesn’t talk, but there was something about today that makes me want to dance around the room. I happened to bump into a stranger today, who knocked me off my feet. (Literally) It was a rather original way to meet, but for that moment, even amongst the crowd of people trying to weave their way to class, I felt like I princess. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s a rare feeling…something along the lines of fireworks exploding inside you. It probably sounds even crazier, that without ever even having a conversation with him I can experience such a thing, but it just happened. One minute I was on my way to class trying to decide where I wanted to travel this summer, and the next minute I had bumped into and was being caught by a stranger. I walked dazed to class after that, and came to terms with the fact that I might never see him again, until… later that day when I was at the gym. I had a lot of work to do that evening, but I decided to go workout first, and there he was. I thought of question after question that I could ask him at that point. Anything, to start a conversation. I mean what other option did I have? I could try to find out his name somehow and add him on facebook? But it’s not like I had a computer at that point to “stalk” him on facebook, and realistically speaking I would not be able to just guess his name and find him. Thinking of that must have caused me to frown, but it was at that moment that he saw me. He had the most beautiful eyes that I had ever seen, and maybe it was just me, but I’m certain I saw him almost drop his free weight as our eyes met from across the room. It felt like a dream: the kind where everything happens slowly so you are aware of every little detail. Yesterday was irrelevant, as was tomorrow, and even the day felt like a blur in that moment that seemed to last forever. I couldn’t help but feel a little foolish as I stood there, but all I could was smile, as he made his way towards me.”

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1) Knight
    2) Name
    3) Red
    4) Fool
    5) King
    6) Sun
    7) Vision
    8) Illiterate
    9) Lazy
    10) Queen
    11) Void
    12) Song
    13) Trilogy
    14) Damsel
    15) Dragons
    16) Treasure
    17) Yearn
    18) Dream
    19) Prince
    20) Head
    (Choice words are bolded)

    I chose to write a series of limericks...

    (1-20)
    There once was a knight named Red
    “He’s a damn fool!” his King once said.
    He stared at the sun
    Till vision he had none
    The fool that was a knight named Red.

    The knight was illiterate and lazy,
    His Queen even thought he was crazy.
    He voids his head
    If you simply misread
    A song in the ‘Trilogy of Daisy’.

    Red met a damsel named duPreasure.
    Who had love for dragons and treasure.
    He yearned for her
    But she said “Sir,”
    “You can dream of me in your time of leisure”

    A Prince once came to Red and said,
    “Kill the King and bring me his head
    But Red looked lost,
    His eyes went criss-crossed,
    He accidentally killed himself instead.

    (20-1)

    There was a man that kept a head
    In his bedroom beside his bed,
    “It’s a head of a prince
    He would try to convince
    “In your dreams” the others had said.

    “I yearn to find treasure and dragons
    “To find damsels to ride in my wagon”
    Trilogies will cast me,”
    Songs will sing of me,”
    “Only then can I drink from my flagon”

    The man wants to fill a void.
    To the Queen he was once employed.
    But he was too lazy,
    His memory too hazy,
    By the void his life is now destroyed.

    This illiterate man had once dreamed,
    His vision bright as the sun it seemed,
    “The King shall be a fool”
    “Red shall be cool”
    “And I will be named the knight Raheem”.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It was a cold day in East Vancouver. It was raining as the hooded man stood outside the tutoring services that specialize in math. It was here that fateful day a year ago changed him. It was here he saw his son in a new way. It was here it became known his son was a bully.
    The man recalled that day. It was sunny and he had a smile on his face. Kids gad their costumes on, yelling “trick or treat” as they walked. He had gone to pick up groceries at the store and he had to get home while the milk was still cold. He hadn’t remembered the way properly. He only goes to this specific store once a year, yearly.
    It was when he approached the stoplight he saw the front car’s bumper sticker .It read, “My kid’s a genius; honor roll.” Above the “genius” was a crown. King Genius? The man asked himself.
    As he broke free of his train of thought, he saw to the left his son with a frown on his face. He was looking at a smaller kid whose eye had swollen like a bulbous number zero.
    The man finished his tea, and got out of the car, staring hard at his son, the villain. It was rare to see him like this. The man felt the Earth beneath him soften as his bold knees buckled, but he kept moving. This was urgent. He got to his son before he hit the kid again.
    The man’s son looked up at him and froze. The smaller kid dropped the puzzle set he was holding and ran. The son tried to explain that that was his puzzle the boy had taken, but the father grabbed his son by the shirt, ripping fabric as he did, and threw him in the car violently and drove home in silence, unable to stare at his son, for the man was once in the same position as that little boy. In his son, he saw his childhood’s worst nightmare.

    words (1-20):East,math,bully,smile,trick,cold,yearly,genius,king,free,frown,zero,tea,villain,rare,earth,bold,urgent, puzzle, fabric

    The fabric tore, and the laundry line snapped. The puzzle on the wooden table by the tree blew away as the weather channel showed an urgent weather warning. In bold text, the word tornado was flashing as the Earth shook beneath the TV. A storm here was rare. The worst thing that had ever even been witnessed here was a villain in a cartoon series on the children’s network, and that too plenty of years ago.
    I was just having tea out there the elderly farmer thought to himself. Zero tornadoes have ever occurred here he said with a frown, out loud this time, the only other living thing to hear him being his dog, King. The man looked at his genius dog. On a yearly basis, he seemed to learn about 10 new tricks, though he shivered with cold at this time. The man thought the dog would never have time to come up with an ew trck. He was old too. Still, the old man wore a smile. This tornado was a bully, but do the math, soon it will pass, venturing towards the east, leaving us in peace.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 1. Name
    2. Mirror
    3. Unite
    4. Love
    5. Child
    6. Dream
    7. Bold
    8. Holy
    9. Beautiful
    10. Red
    11. Treasure
    12. Queen
    13. Princess
    14. Original
    15. Prince
    16. Facebook
    17. Travel
    18. Create
    19. Facebook
    20. Frown


    He demanded the man for his name,
    But the man only followed, his every action,
    His every move, confused was he,
    Everyone else knew it was merely a reflection on the shiny mirror,
    But he was puzzled, frustrated,
    With this new friend, acquaintance, he wanted to unite, in spirit
    For was he in love,
    With himself,
    For he once had a child, but
    Soon he lost him too,
    His self-love, self-centeredness,
    The cause of it all.

    His dream, a bold dream, to be holy,
    And in a beautiful kingdom, carrying red rubies and dazzled with treasures,
    He dreamed of his queen, his princess, and himself, owning an original silk cloak,
    Being a prince charming to the end of the fairy tale,
    But he lost it all.
    He became indulged in facebook, ten hours a day,
    No time to travel, no time to create,
    His fairy tale.
    Instead, he sits in front of his computer,
    A frown to the end of the story.

    Part 2:

    The great magician frowned,
    As he stared at his computer,
    He was a magnificent magician, he knew of
    Every trick in the book,
    Umbrellas, scarves, disappearing acts,
    He could do it all, but
    He had new tricks to create
    If he was to travel to England,
    His fame recognized through facebook,
    A performance for the prince,
    He needed tricks, original ones,
    For the princess and queen,
    A treasure chest? A red beautiful silk suit?
    What to do to impress?
    Produce holy fountain of water,
    In front of their eyes,
    A bold trick is was, a dream he’d had
    For years as a child, he was determined.
    Magic was the love of his life,
    His name, fame, and tricks would unite,
    And looking at the mirror,
    He could not recognize who he was,
    For magic was his life,
    He could not recognize the face in the mirror,
    The image was not clear, nor was the man’s name.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Words in Order:

    1. Knight
    2. East
    3. Hole
    4. Dream
    5. Name
    6. Smile
    7. Travel
    8. Memory
    9. Labyrinth
    10. Love
    11. Song
    12. Villain
    13. Messenger
    14. Mirror
    15. Mountain
    16. Gamble
    17. Enchant
    18. Poem
    19. Electro-magnetic
    20. Holy


    Story 1 (1-20)

    The Knight of the East rose out of the hole,
    It’s as if he’s stepped into a dream,
    And this dream has a name: Homeland
    It’s a dream that was once reality a long time ago,
    And this dream makes him smile.

    He’s travelled for many long years,
    In search of his mission’s objective.
    The memory of home slowly faded away,
    As he explored deeper and deeper,
    Into the labyrinth of the underworld.
    Even when in the darkest of places down there,
    The knight’s love of his home, family, and people
    Never vanished.
    You could even hear it for yourself,
    As the knight used songs to help him,
    through the darkest of obstacles.

    Then, as he approached the very bottom of the underworld,
    He found the villains lair. His objective was nearby.
    A messenger of the villain passing by,
    did not live very long after he laid eyes on the knight.
    The lair was made entirely out of mirrors,
    And was setup on the tallest mountain of the underworld,
    Mt. Cataclysm.

    The knight gambled his life as he sneaked past the guards,
    And he used enchantments to confuse them as well.
    He finally reached the villain’s chamber.
    This was the only room in the entire fortress not made out of mirrors.
    He was reciting a poem of evil sorcery to himself,
    Before he noticed the knight and stopped reciting instantly.
    The villain cast a spell of the knight,
    that sent electro-magnetic waves hurdling towards the knight.
    But the knight, with a special and unexplainable holy power,
    Deflected the waves and struck the villain down,
    with a single blow of his sword.

    And so, he returns to a dream like world,
    With his mission accomplished and no debts to pay.
    He finally realizes his dream is reality.
    Now, the world is at peace, and the knight can rest with his family.

    (Stroy 2 (20-1) posted in another comment below)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Story 2 (20-1)

    A priest, with his great holy perspective of the world,
    Is having a difficult time understanding electro-magnetic waves.
    A concept of science he could not have imagined himself.
    He tries to read a poem about it,
    Written by a physicist with a degree in literature.
    The words are enchanting,
    but the meaning is misleading for the priest.
    Instead of researching, the priest gambles
    with the meanings of misunderstood terms.
    Understanding such terms would require mountainous knowledge,
    That a physicist himself would totally understand.

    The priest’s personality is a mirror image of how he interprets this poem.
    How so?
    He thinks of himself as a messenger of God,
    One who can communicate with a higher power than himself.
    He also believe the ultimate villain is the devil himself,
    and he conducts songs that remind us of his betrayal to God.
    So, his interpretation of modern day physics,
    does not come as a surprise to anyone.
    He knows light is an electro-magnetic wave,
    But what he knows is light is really power of God.
    So he interprets the poem to be blasphemy,
    And so he interprets anything that goes against the word of God as blasphemy.
    His love for God has blinded his knowledge of the world around him,
    And so his personality shows how he much he loves God.

    Like being lost in a labyrinth,
    He cannot recall a time or place
    When he believed, even for a moment,
    God did not hold all the answers.
    As he ages, his more doors close on the memories of his life,
    And it seems like every day now he travels to a new place,
    When in reality, he never leaves his small town.
    He smiles at people, who pass beside him,
    And sometimes tries to recall if he knew their name,
    Which rarely happens.
    But his memory of God, even with his decomposing mind,
    Will never be lost.
    He will never forget what he defines as truth and false fact.

    Now, every day seems more dream-like than the next,
    And he often feels like he’s being plunged deeper and deeper into a hole,
    As his vision closes around his eyes.
    He knows that he will die soon,
    and he knows it is God’s will that makes it so.
    He wants to be buried, in his child-hood hometown just east of the city.
    What he doesn’t want is to feel suffering.
    So he requests that the knight, who helps those to pass away,
    Will help him ease the path,
    When he climbs the stairs to meet St. Peter,
    And finally unite once and for all with God.

    And in the end,
    After maintaining his religion, belief and his thin perspective of other beliefs and science,
    he still doesn’t know what an electromagnetic wave is.

    (Both of the stories together were too large to post at once)

    ReplyDelete
  10. 20 words:
    1. love
    2. genius
    3. prince
    4. gamble
    5. work
    6. yesterday
    7. play
    8. see
    9. dream
    10. beautiful
    11. princess
    12. pleasant
    13. bold
    14. nurture
    15. original
    16. frown
    17. know
    18. smile
    19. enchant
    20. vision

    Forward:

    Love was the name of the game.Sadly, Jimmy did not know how to play it. Her name was Jane and any genius could tell you that Jimmy was not her type, but for Jimmy this had gone past the point of realistic.He was destined to be her prince charming and he would not be willing to give up, no matter what the gamble. As it worked out, Jane was Jimmy's next door neighbour. To Jimmy it still felt like yesterday that they would see and play everyday together; however reality was, after the 6th grade, things would never be the same. Jane become popular and moved on, while Jimmy stayed still. Till this very day, It is still Jimmy's dream to sweep away his beautiful princess to a place so pleasant, Jane would never want to leave. But the question was "How?" he would ask himself. He had to be something new and original. Something very different from the rest of the brainless jocks that would usually hit on Jane. Jimmy always knew behind that smile was really a frown, which only he would be able to cure, It was Jimmy's turn to show her, to enchant her with this vision he had been planning for so long. Tomorrow would be the day. Jimmy marked an X on his calendar. Just as he had for the last 316 days.

    Reverse:

    Every night I would read my daughter the same bedtime story and every night she would listen. I could tell she had a vision. I wish I could tell her that life would not be so perfect. She would not live in the so-called enchanted forest. It frowns me to know the truth, but what can I do when I see that smile. Each time it feels original to her, but I know that it really is nothing new. Nothing bold, nothing pleasant. It is just a princess, as beautiful as they come, trapped away in her castle. She is waiting to be rescued away, so she can see the world and play and laugh because, of course, that's what everybody should be doing. This part sickens me today just like it did yesterday, but "nope" everyday after work same old story. I gamble whether I should even be feeding her this nonsense in the first place, but she can't go to sleep without hearing the words of prince charming. Whoever wrote this must be a genius. They have got life and love all figured out just like I thought I did when I was fifteen. I should've listened to Taylor Swift, maybe then I wouldn't have ended up like this at the age of 20.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Words:
    Mirror, gratitude, ultimate, unite, new, secret, poem, rave, fool, dream, trilogy, villain, dragon, trick, genius, facebook, free, name, knight.

    You stand in front of your mirror, and you look at yourself with gratitude. You peer into it, and your ultimate mirrored form appears. You are united with yourself. You feel new. Your other you, the you, you peer into only knows of your secrets. This makes you want to write a poem about how odd you’re feeling. You then keep staring at yourself. You take on different personas. First, you feel like an actress, you exaggerate every facial expression and hand gesture. You then grab your shades and begin “fist-pumping” as if you are at a rave. You then stop and feel like a bi-polar fool. But then , you remember that dream you once had when you were in the lord of the rings trilogy and begin acting like Arwin the elf princess. You then begin acting like Saruman, the villain, raising your staff to call the dragons. Reality then hits and brings you back to life, you managed to trick yourself so well. Boredom hits you and you feel as if there is no more excitement in life. You then notice your laptop. You sit down and load the webpage created by a young genius, facebook. Your free time gets wasted as you keep refreshing your new feeds. You then remember the boy named Knight you met at a party and search his name. The addiction begins.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reverse:
      I feel like a knight today. I feel like putting on some heavy armour and running outside to go fight in a battle. If my name were knight, I would feel so free. People would search my name on facebook and say “oh she’s the cool genius I met yesterday, what an awesome name!” I would not need to use cool tricks to seem cool. After hearing my name people would correlate me to the ages of when dragons and magical villain’s existed. If I were actually a knight, a could have actually had a trilogy based on my story. Oh I dream of being a knight in the old ages and showing fools what true bravery is. There would be no raves but rather poems written about me. I would have no secrets, I would feel so new! I would make all the people unite, I would be considered the ultimate knight! People would greet me with gratitude and they would want to mirror me.

      Delete
  12. 1. computer
    2. free
    3. dream
    4. create
    5. magic
    6. guide
    7. puzzle
    8. void
    9. math
    10. play
    11. knight
    12. love
    13. damsel
    14. smile
    15. fool
    16. quicksand
    17. travel
    18. ultimate
    19. barricade
    20. dragon


    1 -> 20

    In a computer generated world far, far away existed a free country by the name of Dreamland. It was created by a crazy geek through the wonders of magic. In other words, Dreamland was a video game. The game was available free of charge on the internet. Unfortunately the game did not come with a guide. This made the game very hard to play, as the puzzles were too challenging. The internet was void of any instructions on how to solve the math puzzles. Although difficult, the game was still very fun to play. The main story starred a fearless knight who was in love with a helpless damsel. Her smile was said to fool any man. The knight travelled the ultimate journey through living quicksand traps to save her but was killed in the end in a barricade by a dragon.


    20 -> 1

    The legendary dragon barricade was known to all as the ultimate test of strength man brave men and women travelled through the quicksand traps, past the fool's tricks, and through the evil smiling damsels. Love motivated brave knights to play this evil test. Even crazy math skills were of no help in the land of void. Puzzles without guides played tricks and defeated many. Magical Wizards have created transferable dreams for young children to experience the epic adventure. Even today, there are many free computer games depicting this journey available on the internet.

    Chris Tong

    ReplyDelete
  13. FORWARD
    Rain streamed down the window in branches, reluctant to travel alone. Wind struck the house in waves, rattling the rock bed beneath her. The girl’s slender body quivered under the thin wool blanket in the prison she called home. She was trapped in a dream as a lonely queen with only the crown of her youth to comfort her. To love and to smile were part of a memory she lost along the way. Her mother was the sun and the sky to her, but like a beautiful damsel she was taken by a trickster named Death. Now she was left without a second glance, and nothing but a meaningless name: Child Orphan.

    REVERSE
    He was child orphan without a family or a name but nobody could believe that at first glance. In the schoolyard he was a trickster, scheming damsels as beautiful as the bluest sky. The sun beat down as hot as it had in the summer’s memory. He trod aimlessly through the grass and weeds when she snuck him a ‘come and get me’ smile. He was in love. He wanted to crown him his queen. It must be a dream he thought as he pinched the wool-stitched sleeve on the only shirt he owned. She was a slender blonde perched happily on a gleaming rock. His brain was a useless rattle in his skull as he fought to mumble hello, but only managed a wave. The innocence of their youth brought them to giggle as they reluctantly took each other’s hand and dreamt the day away.

    1. Reluctant
    2. Wave
    3. Rattle
    4. Rock
    5. Slender
    6. Wool
    7. Dream
    8. Queen
    9. Crown
    10. Love
    11. Smile
    12. Memory
    13. Sun
    14. Sky
    15. Beautiful
    16. Damsel
    17. Trickster
    18. Glance
    19. Name
    20. Child Orphan

    ReplyDelete
  14. Knight
    Rational
    East
    Vision
    Secret
    Trickster
    Mirror
    Quicksand
    Mountain
    Gratitude
    Pleasant
    Taxes
    Jade
    Create
    Game
    Memory
    Genius
    Harvest
    Omnipotent

    Forwards
    Once upon a time, a Knight rational and level headed decided to head east; for he head a vision telling of a great trickster who used mirrors filled with quicksand to break apart mountains. The knight valiantly traveled to the east as his vision guided him. Eventually, the very quicksand he envisioned tangled around his feet. Helplessly he dangled and prayed looking upon the grand mountain that lay before him. Suddenly, a great crack split the earth apart and the knight fell through the newly created chasm-- he woke up dazed in a warm bed with food at his bedside. He wasn't sure who had helped him but he owed them his gratitude. He enjoyed this momentary peace, a pleasant peace, not having to think of woes such as taxation and work. Eventually, he got up and left the home. To his surprise, as he walked out he glimpsed a green flare from a large Jade in front of him. With nothing to do, he decided to create a memory game with this smooth Jade stone. Every day he invented new and interesting ways to play with this Jade. Eventually, his memory became unrivaled and his thinking had become incomparable. His touch seemed to give life to the jade, every thought he had manipulated this jade in a different way. Organisms on the jade seemed to be unifying, collecting and creating agriculture for the harvest. His games on the jade brought about their development, and it had been an age since he was brought to this home, it almost seemed like an infinite amount of time had passed. He became omnipotent.

    Reverse

    One day an omnipotent god decided to observe the harvest taking place in his domain. To his surprise, rather than harvesting one of the citizens in the society was a genius having immaculate memory. This citizen created games to entertain his compatriots using the jade that they lived on. Eventually however, this intellect seemed to be collecting taxes from his subjects, the pleasant mood disappeared from the city and the gratitude disappeared from the peasants faces. Mountains disappeared and seemed to re-organize themselves into structures, bridges were built over the quicksand. The society was developing. One day, a mirror appeared in front of the intellect and a devious trickster told the intellect to stare into the mirror to see a vision. The intellect saw his vision, telling him to go east, to abandon his people and showed the horrors of his actions to himself. He rationalized and decided to become a knight, rational and level headed deciding to travel to the east for the vision he received from the trickster was something worth pursuing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. 1. Smile2. Mirror3. Moon4. Dream5. Love6. Bold7. Earth8. Rare9. King10. Rave11. Name12. Fool13. Slender14. Mountain15. Question16. Yesterday17. Free18. Sky19. Tea20. jade

    I smile as I examined my reflection in my compact mirror. I turned by head to the side and then to the other, admiring the contours of my face. I could see a luminous glow from my face like the full moon in the star-lit sky. Would it be too narcissistic of me to think I look pretty? I blame all the people calling me beautiful every day. Well this face of mines is how I achieved my dream of becoming a model. I’ve always loved the glamorous clothing the models wore, the striking makeup. I really admire the designers who are willing to go to the bold frontiers and push the limits of aesthetics. The other perk of the job is that I can fulfill my heart’s desire to uncover the rare beauty of the Earth. I’ve probably surpassed the King of England in the number of places I have traveled to. It is also nice to see all my international fans rave my name.

    But I am no fool. I work very hard to maintain this beautiful face and slender body. I don’t even remember the last time I’ve eaten a piece of white bread, only steamed vegetables and salmon. Don’t even get me started on the number of hours I’ve logged at the gym.

    Every day I feel like I am climbing a mountain but I won’t stop because I know I’ll get to the top. However, sometimes in moments of weakness, I question myself, “Am I truly happier today than I was yesterday?” Perhaps if I was not a model, I could be like a majestic bird, soaring freely in the sky; I could do everything in my own accord. I try so hard but I am easily dispensable in this fierce world where there are a plethora of girls who are younger and prettier than I am. This job would probably be more stable if instead of a beautiful face, I had an interesting, unique face to model with.
    As I took a sip of my green tea, the only beverage I am willing to drink besides water, I stole a glance at the jade bracelet on my wrist. My mother would scold me badly if I ever dared mention silly things like this in front of her. She always told me “if you decide to start, never waver and look back.” That’s right, I have to be strong and win this fight.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Reverse

    In the land of luminous jade and fragrant teas, there lived a large dragon with ruby red scales and round golden eyes. As it flies in the sky, it is free of all opponents. No one dares cross the path of the large, fire-breathing dragon. However despite his menacing appearance, the dragon was a gentle-hearted sole. Just yesterday, unbeknown to anyone, he stopped a raging forest fire by blowing it out with his wings. No one questioned what had happened and some even assumed it was the dragon that caused the fire in the first place. Misunderstood by everyone, the dragon could only spend his days alone in his cave on a mountain far from the nearby village.

    What he didn’t know was that a young, slender girl was currently climbing the mountain to come find the dragon. When her sister caught a mysterious illness that the village doctor could not cure, everyone told her to give up and start preparing the funeral. The girl was called Ginger and like her fiery name, she stubbornly would not give up so easily. There was a legend that circulated the village that the tear of a dragon could cure any disease. People called Ginger a fool for searching for a dragon, but petty words would not change her resolve. Others raved and protested in fear she would anger the dragon, bring harm to the whole village. At this point, even if the king commanded her to stop, Ginger would not back down in her quest to save her sister.

    Once dominating the Earth, dragons have now been reduced to a rare sight when the humans began exterminating them for atrocities they did not commit. They might look dangerous, but in reality dragons did not wish anyone harm.

    It took Ginger a week to scale the mountain a dragon was supposed to live in. Ginger hesitated for a second in awe as she reached the large cave the dragon resided. But the thought of losing her sister due to her cowardice was unacceptable. Ginger took a deep breath and walked in.

    “Great Dragon, my name is Ginger and if I may be so bold to ask, I have brought you all my worldly possessions to exchange for some of your tears. My younger sister whom I love dearly has fallen sick to an incurable sickness and it is said only tears of a dragon can cure it. My sister has so many unfulfilled dreams and aspirations and I cannot let her leave the Earth so easily. Without her, my days would be like when the moon embraces the sun,” Ginger pleaded.

    The dragon was shocked to see and hear a human coming to his cave. She was also talking to him in a civilized way as if he were not a beast. But that doesn’t mean she could be trusted so easily.

    “I have no use for anything for a human’s material possessions, what else do you have to offer?” asked the dragon sternly.

    “I can give you anything you want to save my sister,” Ginger said woefully.

    “Come up and visit me once a month and I shall shed you a tear.”

    Ginger was shocked, why would the great dragon ask for something like this. Didn’t he hate humans and cause destruction to all the land.

    “What is your response?” shouted the dragon impatiently.

    “Yes! Yes! I can do that,” replied Ginger eagerly. “But I have a question, do you not hate humans? All my life I have been told to beware of dragons as they detest humans.”

    “Yes I do detest humans, the humans that only live their lives in fear and hostility without seeking out the truth,” the dragon replied. “I shall shed you a tear, but please come back to understand my story.”

    The most beautiful droplet leaked from the dragon’s eyes. Like a mirror, it had a clear reflection of radiance.

    Ginger smiled at the dragon and graciously told the dragon “Thank you! Thank you! I will never forget your kindness. Next time I will bring my younger sister with me to listen to your story.”

    ReplyDelete
  17. 1.smile
    2.name
    3.memory
    4.dream
    5.love
    6.song
    7.student
    8.poem
    9.gym
    10.free
    11.holy
    12.rare
    13.magic
    14.mountain
    15.yellow
    16.wax
    17.lazy
    18.play
    19.unite
    20.blue


    Reverse
    The day was blue and gloomy.
    But yet we still unite.
    We play and work all days light.
    Although were lazy we still try.
    “wax on wax off”, we all say.
    Sudden bright yellow glows the sky.
    Mountains of heat rays blast as we lay.
    Like magic thrown from god himself.
    So rare and special we experienced.
    Felt holy from the lord as our moods change.
    So free so kind so happy and glad.
    We all hit the gym to bust out rhymes.
    Creating poems that usually don’t shine.
    We are students have I forgotten to state?
    This song is for you guys, what can I say?
    Love is spread throughout this day.
    Dream on hard cause your wish will come true.
    Memory created will thus flow through.
    What’s your name mister or miss?
    So I may now greet you with a smile too!

    1-10
    I smile ever day as it goes.
    Name out souls as it flows.
    Creating memory that remains.
    Through our dream it stays.
    One day I said I love you.
    The song that played said it too.
    Student body is one,
    like a poem that runs.
    Our memories are in the gym.
    Where we can all be free.
    “Holy smokes” a guy says.
    How rare and hilarious could he be?
    “It’s like magic,” he said.
    Running up the man made mountain.
    It’s yellow and bright out in the window.
    Na, its just wax reflecting off a candle.
    Way too lazy to check it out.
    So play that music loud and proud.
    We can all unite as one.
    Yellow and happy but yet sad and blue.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Words:
    1. genius
    2. orphan
    3. dreams
    4. magical
    5. secret
    6. stone
    7. labyrinth
    8. dragon
    9. beautiful
    10. illiterate
    11. knight
    12. games
    13. king
    14. queen
    15. memory
    16. eat
    17. princess
    18. dance
    19. earth
    20. rave

    Story 1:
    Once upon a time there was a magnificent genius of an orphan who spent most of his lonely days conjuring up dreams. Little did he know, there was something magical about his drams. They were created out of nothing and then stored withing the depths of a secret stone labyrinth heavily guarded by a dragon. No one knew of this beautiful secret until the day an illiterate knight came across it while playing games with his horse, that was also illiterate. The knight saw the labyrinth and was confused by its appearance, so he traveled alongside his horse (yes he walked beside it, as he wasn't very intelligent either) back to the kingdom to inform the king and queen. The knights memory was very poor, mostly because he had taken too many arrows to the knee, but the king and queen managed to understand what he was saying. They decided to eat a hearty meal and both set off to explore the labyrinth, leaving their beautiful, but dim-witted, princess daughter on her own. Unfortunately, since the labyrinth was heavily guarded by the dragon, both the king and queen never made it back out alive. The daughter, now an orphan, wasn't sure what to do now that she had become queen, so she decided to marry the illiterate knight that sent her parents to their inevitable doom. Her first order of business was for the entire kingdom to dance until they could dance no more. So everyone on Earth proceeded to rave until the end of time, even the little boy who's dreams were the reason behind everything that had happened to the kingdom
    THE END.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Story 2:
      Dear Journal
      We have had to rave for 4 months straight. I couldn't even believe it has lasted this long. Everyone on Earth has to dance and no one can do anything about it, as the dancing forces of kingdom are executing anyone who doesn't follow orders. This is all happening because of the orders of the former "princess" who is stupid to realize the consequences of her orders. So many children in our orphanage have died because they didn't have enough food to eat to support all the activity involved with the dancing. In my years alive, I've never had as many horrible memories as I have had in the past 4 months, and it is all thanks to the so called "queen". Her husband, the King of this disastrous Earth, is just as stupid and irresponsible. All he does is sit on his butt all day and play games with his horse. I can't believe he was even knight considering how illiterate he is. What used to be a beautiful and prosperous land is now turning into dancing hell. No one knows what happened to the previous king and queen, who took care of our nations so diligently. Some say they were killed by a dragon in labyrinth made of stone, but I don't believe that. I believe their daughter was out to get them, and hatched a secret plot to have them killed, and told some people about the labyrinth story to make it seem like their death was a magical tribute to our kingdom. Life is just getting worse and worse at the orphanage now, and I don't know how much longer I can last. All I have left is the ability to create amazing dreams from my genius orphan brain. Soon, that will be gone too, as I will waste away from this dancing.

      Harry

      Delete