The Meandering Mind - Creative Musings of 7th Graders

by Jason Trinklein

When she saw the blue van’s wheel crush her silver ballet flat into a silver pancake, she went silent.

  “Oh my gosh, Ellie.” She was in complete shock.

  She started to cry and I gave her an enormous hug.

  “It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.” I reassured her.

  Chapter 7

  Driving the van that hit Charlie was a middle-aged man wearing work clothes and talking on his telephone. He seemed familiar but I didn’t know him. One of the chauffeurs had stopped the blue van that hit Charlie and called the local police department, while the rest of the chauffeurs had come to our aid. The police and ambulance arrived soon after the call was made. Although no one was hurt, certain precautions had to be taken to assure everyone’s safety. Both Charlie and I were taken to the hospital to check for any broken bones and bandage any wounds. And as for the man driving the car, he was taken to the police station to be questioned. My whole soccer team insisted on coming to the hospital with us, but we made them stay and enjoy the party.

  The drive to the hospital was silent, except for a few occasional mumbles and the scratching of pens on paper. As if she was reading my mind, Charlie broke the silence, “Hey Ellie… I know I already said this, but… thanks for saving me back there. You saved my life.”

  “No problem!” I said, because I couldn’t come across any other words.

  “But…the van was barely around the corner…how did you know it was going to hit me”

  I though for a while on how I should answer. Should I tell Charlie the truth about my dreams? Or should I just keep it to myself?

  “ I… I saw it coming around the corner when I got out of my car.”

  Charlie shook her head and looked down. I could tell she was trying to judge whether I was telling the truth or not.

  When we pulled up to the hospital doors, we were rolled into the ER and given a room. Our parents had already been called and they were waiting for us in the room. When the nurses wheeled us in, our parents stopped their conversations and stood up to give us huge hugs and kisses. The whole room filled with voices saying things like “Are you okay?” and “What happened?”

  Eventually, the doctors came in and started to examine us for any injuries.

  “Does this hurt?” No. “How does this feel?” Perfectly normal. “Do you feel any pain here” No, I’m FINE. After about 2 and a half hours in the emergency room, the doctors decided Charlie and I were okay to leave the hospital.

  The sound of the wheels on the pavement was as soothing as the waves crashing on the beach. I almost dozed off in the car, until my mom asked me to tell her the full story. So I did, leaving out the part about my dreams. She had a concerned look on her face. “You could have gotten seriously hurt, or even killed, Ellie! What were you thinking?”

  “ I was thinking I had to help a friend.”

  That night, while laying in bed, I thought about all the decisions I had to make. I had decided that I wasn’t going to tell anyone about my strange dreams until I finally knew how to control them. I was so exhausted I could barely think. So I closed my eyes and slept. No dreams tonight, just the back of my eyelids.

  Jamie Wilson - One Big World

  Chapter 1:

  We were minding our own business, playing with an apple, until the galloping of a horse, many horses, interrupted our game. It was the sound of the Confederate soldiers. We watched as they passed by us and continued in the direction of the next battle to be fought tomorrow. We live in Charleston, South Carolina. I live with my family: Peter my brother, Anita my sister, and Ma and Pa. We own a plantation and make much money during the year. We own a family of slaves and they work in the fields all day. Sometimes, I watch them work until the sun goes down. Jamie! Time for supper! I say goodbye to my friend Paul and start sprinting for my house. I come to the house and on the table are my favorite things for supper, chicken and corn bread. Yum! I sat and ate my meal. As soon as I was done, I ran outside and watched the slaves going to their shed to eat. I followed them and watched them. They ate some kind of stew and sang songs, not English. I think it was Gullah, as my schoolmaster taught me. My ma called my name again and off I went, back to the house. I ran up the stairs to my room and read a good book. My ma came in and tucked me in. she kissed me good night and off to sleep I went. I was resting for the next day.

  Chapter 2

  I woke up the next morning to the sound of sizzling bacon and the sound of the slaves digging. I put on a clean pair of clothes, washed my face, and ran down the stairs to find an egg and a sliver of bread and bacon at my seat. I sat right down and ate. When I was done, I went outside to do my chores. After I milked the cows, I brought the milk inside to drink. I went back outside and finished the rest of my chores until about 2 pm. I then went to find my friend Paul to play another game with him. It turns out he had come down with an awful fever and couldn’t play. I was a little sad but I went back home and sat around the house for a while. My ma asked what was wrong and I told her about the fever of Paul. She understood my feeling and told me I could go to the market if I wanted. I got really excited and jumped right up to run outside. I ran past the schoolhouse, past Paul’s house, and into the city. I turned the corner and there was the market. So much fresh food was here, I couldn’t even believe it. The main reason my friends and I liked to come here was to hear news and gossip. I listened in closely to a man talking about the war. I heard that the Confederacy had won the battle! I was excited inside and ran right home to tell ma and pa. As I was running home, I stopped and glanced at the working slaves. I felt a little bad inside for them. After I told my parents the great news, I went upstairs to my room. I thought about the slaves even more. I finally decided that tomorrow, I would make talk to the slaves.

  Chapter 3

  I woke up, ran down the stairs and went straight outside, towards the slave house. As I was running, I felt a little scared. I was worried if the slaves didn’t understand me or something like that. I kept running anyway. I got to the house and went inside. There they were. The slaves stared right at me. I talked English. One of them understood me. He told the others what I said in Gullah. They all said hi back. I was astounded. They could all speak English. I asked what they were planning. They said, at the same time, “Escape”. I felt lightheaded. I told them something that I never would have guessed I would ever say: “I want in”. They all looked at each other and smiled at me. I smiled back. There were four of them. Jack, Shania, Qui, and Marko. I told them that we should sneak out at night and I would pretend that I was watching them. They seemed to like the idea. We planned it out for tomorrow night. The plan was set.

  Chapter 4

  The next morning at 4 in the morning, I snuck out and traveled over to the slave house. They were all awake and going. They all got excited when I came in the door. I reviewed over the plan and they all understood. I ate breakfast with them. I really liked the stew they make. When they started to work, I pretended to be harsh on them. They understood I was faking. I did this until dark. We went to the slave house and got ready. When the time was right, we headed outside. Ma and Pa were sound asleep. We ran all the way, nonstop, to the county border. We looked back and kept on running. We ran and ran all the way to the state border, then the next state border, then the next. We reached the Ohio River and crossed it. We were safe. I knew we did the right thing. I was happy for them.

  Chapter 5

  We were walking through the woods and then I saw it. Paul’s dad! He noticed me and raced right over. Jamie! What are you doing here! And why are you with your slaves! All of a sudden, a bullet went straight through Paul’s dad’s head! I freaked out. Then, I blacked out. When I woke up, I found I was in a medical room. A bunch of doctors were inspecting me. I felt fine. They were inspecting my head. Then, I felt a sheer pain in my head. It was agonizing! I overheard the doctors say I fell on my head when I fainted. I tried to stand but couldn’t because of my head pain. The doctors told me I n
eeded to rest for a few days. I told them okay and back to sleep I went. After my head heeled and I felt better, the slaves asked if I wanted to live with them in Cincinnati. I told them yes. They seemed pleased by my answer. I’m glad that I’m with joy, with hope, and set free! I knew that I was free from all worries and so were the slaves and I’m thinking they knew that because they seemed anxious to move to their house. When we got to the house, I was very excited to live here. We all held hands and walked into the house together. I was out of breath when I saw what was inside. A beautiful house full of texture and good construction was what I found. I was anxious to live in this beautiful place.

  Chapter 6

  After the first night, I loved the house. My parents found out about the sneak out and they were terrified but they still understood. When they pulled up the driveway, ma was crying the whole time. I told her not to. She did anyway. They gave me the last of my things and said their goodbyes. I said my farewells and wished them luck. They said likewise. I knew it would be hard without them but I knew that I would love my new family. They care for me and love me as much as my parents did. I’m excited what treasures I will find in this new life. What I hope to find is better lifestyle, more food, and of course, freedom. I love my new family and I will never find a moment where I don’t love them until the ends of the Earth. The care for me as much as real parents and I love them just as much. I will, every now and then, visit my old parents and tell them about my new life but I must focus on my new life with the slaves, or now called ma, pa, brother, and sister.

  Chapter 7

  Later that year, my new family adopted me legally by the city of Cincinnati. I felt even freer than ever before. My family was free and that is all I could care about. I felt good about my new life and happy I made the decision. I try to think about my old life but I can’t because that was the past. My old parents were nice but now I am free. The war has ended and racism still exists in some, but never in me. I have come to learn to respect others, no matter what the differences. No matter what my friends may criticize me about or make fun of me, I must keep my head high at all costs. I feel lucky to have a family like this and always will be. I am so proud of them and their victory to overcome racism. My family and I have the power to do anything as one. We will always be there for each other and always care for each other. Well, isn’t that what the definition of a family is? That is what it is to me. Life couldn’t get much better since I moved in with my old slaves. We have become one big world.

  Joel Bunting - Road to Happiness

  Chapter 1

  1821. Hot, sunny day right off the coast of Senegal, Africa. It’s me and my loving family washing our clothes in the nearby river. It’s me, my mom, my dad, and my little brother. They are the best people I could ever have. We would play games together, make jokes and have fun together. I love them all and I don’t know what I would do without them.

  I thought I had the greatest connection with my little brother. He is only two years younger than me, but he’s like a best friend to me. We have many similarities. We both love to play “kick the ball” together. He is very good at it for only being ten. He acts more mature than other ten year olds. With his height and the way he acts, you could consider him as a twelve year old.

  We were almost done washing the clothes and there was a ship coming towards us. We did not recognize the ship, very large and quick. We didn’t know what was going on. Once it hit shore we were trying to find out what type of ship it was. We walked over and we got closer and closer. My parents were very curious but my brother and I were very anxious and scared. We were right next to the ship. We were way to close. Before we knew it, there was a large net casted over us. We were trapped. Seconds later, large men came down and lifted us onto the boat. My family and I were thrown down into the bottom of the ship. The only thing on our minds is that we wanted to know what was going on.

  Chapter 2

  Cold and moist. The bottom of that ship was awful. Strangest thing is that there were other people down there with us, people our culture. Finally, some people who speak our language. They also didn’t know what was going on.

  The ship didn’t move for two more days. More people kept getting thrown down in the bottom of the ship with us. The more people there were, the less room we had.

  Two days later. We left our home, not knowing where we were going. The ride was tough, lots of bumps and shaking. The whole place was cramp. All we had was a little cot and that’s all the space we had. They feed us one piece of bread a day. I split it into six pieces so I would have a little piece every couple hours.

  Many people on the ship with us passed away. Mostly of starvation, but a person seven cots down from me died of a disease. Many people were worried that they or their loved ones had caught the disease. If one died they would take your body and throw it overboard.

  I couldn’t take it anymore. We’ve been on the ship for many weeks. Half of the people with us have died. Sometimes I would wish I was the person who had died. I want to be put out my misery. Other times I was happy to be with my family. They meant everything to me and they probably thought the same about me.

  After many miserable weeks the waters calm, less bouncing and bumps, and I noticed we were moving slower. Minutes later we were almost completely stopped. Slower and slower we moved and then we were stopped by a “clunk” that jerked us. That must have meant we have hit land.

  Chapter 3

  Once we hit land we were sitting there for a few minutes.

  We had half as many people as when we had when we started. Couple minutes later, the latch was an unlocked, and they opened the door. I’d say, about eight men came down and hoisted us up onto the deck of the ship. We were pushed around and they sent us down the walkway. There were people standing around us, screaming and laughing. One man spit right under my eye on my upper lip. I wanted to kill that man, but there was nothing I could. I couldn’t wipe it off but they had us cuffed behind our lower backs. We were sent down a narrow walkway onto the land.

  We were taken more inland to a stage with a podium. Many well dress people sitting in aligned chairs in front of the stage. I, My family, and the other fortunate survivors were taken one by one onto the stage. There was a man with a top hat and a suit that said something I couldn’t understand. The man pointed to me, arguing grew in the audience. The man would talk very fast and would point to random people. One man dressed in all white came onto the stage and grabbed me and took me down and with him. Then the man stopped and turned around. The man in the top hat pointed to the rest of my family. He nodded his head and grabbed them. We all followed him. He took us down a dusty, sandy road to a large farm with a large mansion in the middle. The man sent us into a small house with many cots. We were only in that house for a couple of minutes. He grabbed us and sent us out to the field to work. The strangest thing was that there were other Africans out there with us. We wanted to know if they spoke our language. My brother said one word to the other African. A man slapped my little brother. I knew that meant not to talk.

  We were put to work. I could hear a man singing far away. He spoke our language. It was beautiful singing. That sound to my ears actually made me smile. I haven’t smile in about a month.

  Chapter 4

  The smile to my face was a wonderful feeling. I forgot about the tingly feeling on the mouth and cheeks.

  It felt like a hundred degrees out working in the field. Bending down planting all the seeds was hurting my back. I needed a drink of water. My throat was dry as the broken crust of the dessert dirt. Every time I bit my teeth together I could taste the crunch of dirt in my teeth.

  I could see the man in all white, with two buff men next to him, approaching my parents. The men grabbed my parents and took them away. I ran up to my parents and grabbed their hands. I was smacked on the right cheek. I feel to the ground bawling, not just because the man smacked me, but also they were taking my parents away from me and my little
brother.

  I couldn’t stand living without my parents. They would guide me through everything. Now, I’m on my own taking care of my brother. He is hard to take care of while taking care of myself. He doesn’t understand what is going on as well as I do, but we don’t understand what we are going to next.

  Luckily it was dark so we could rest and we had the whole night to think about this. The other workers and I entered the very cramped room. We all lay down on our cold, musty cots, and we cry ourselves to sleep. But me, I couldn’t sleep not knowing where my parents are and if they were even alive. We can’t stay here. The riskiest thing to do in my entire life, but it is the only thing we could do, we must escape!

  Chapter 5

  This place is not a place for me and a ten year old. We had two options.

  Option one, forget about our parents, move on in life, and spend the rest of our life on this plantation. Option two, escape this rat hole and somehow reunite wit our parents, with the possibility of getting, hunted found, and killed. I’m going to go with option two because I can’t live without my parents.

  My brother and I decided to make a plan. We sneak out late at night and make our way out of the house to the wheat fields because of their height, we will never be seen. Only problems we have are the house lights, the raccoons and snakes in the wheat field, and where we are actually heading. My mother always told us to follow the North Star.

  Next day was the last day we were spending on the plantation. That night is the night we become free from all pain and suffering. I’m done crying, being smacked, beaten, and all the torture they have caused me. Tonight I’m free!

  But, unfortunately it’s just the beginning of the day. The day went as slow as possible. The day was average, low food, little water, hard work all day.

  The sun is falling slowly and every second I wait I get even more eager. The sun has dropped and night fall has swooped in. My and my brother’s plan was to pretend to sleep for a little while then head for the wheat field. Pretending to sleep was hard because I was exhausted at the end of the day, but I did my best to stay awake. I got up after I thought everyone has fallen asleep and grabbed my brother and creaked out the door. Getting to the wheat fields was all the way around the house. We had to sprint around it and into the fields. It was dark and I couldn’t see a thing. We just keep running forward through the wheat. We saw an opening at the end. We sprinted through and to the river. Are only option was to swim across the river. We jump right into the cool river, which was relaxing from the long sprint. After a breathtaking swim we made it across but, we could he dogs barking from behind us. They were after us.