VISION STATEMENT
The BHS Language Arts Division is dedicated to the implementation of a rich, varied curriculum that reflects the Illinois State Learning Standards & best practices and challenges students to achieve their personal best. |
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Congratulations to sophomore CAITLIN BAUER
and junior AERIENNE LANCERO and ANSU OOMEN for receiving the March Bartlett Authors of the Month award! Make sure to stop into the library to view their work! |
by Caitlin Bauer
I’m holding this rope like a life line, because in every sense, it is.
Across from me are the faces of people I hate, people who have pushed me down so far that it was almost impossible to get back up.
I tighten my hold on the rope, the rough texture almost as rough as the match…but not quite.
I breathe in a huge gulp of air, and then I heave and pull with all the strength left in me.
But it’s not enough, and I feel it never will be enough. The people across from me pull back, harder than before. The strength of their pull drags my feet forward and it feels like strings tugging at my heart.
I’m going to lose, and I can’t control that. This match is like tug of war, deciding if my dreams will prevail, and yet I don’t have the strength to win.
I think for a moment to give up. Seeing all those faces, pulling the rope away from me, are harshly intimidating.
There’s so many of them, there’s no possible chance to win. My thought is negative, but an honest one at that.
Just as I’m about to let go of the rope, a sudden pull of strength comes from behind me. All the people on the other side of the rope jerk with the pull, their faces becoming angry masks of fury.
Their simple expression sends a touch of smugness through me.
“Pull harder! Don’t let them destroy every ounce of dreams you have,” a voice says behind me, and I expect it to be the voice on my savior. I don’t turn to look at who ever has come to help me, but their voice is familiar and strong, and I know this person wants me to achieve my dreams almost as much as I long to.
So I do as they say, and I pull harder and am instantly gratified to see the other side of people slide forward again. Every inch of their loss adds an inch on my gain.
All their faces suddenly become shocked, mystified, astonished. They don’t believe that I can beat them all, even with the extra savior behind me.
But I can, and I will.
I pull the rope faster and harder and they all are dragged forward. They don’t decide my future, I do. They won’t hold my passionate dreams in their hands, I do.
And I almost stop when one of them sends a wary smile my way and says, “I dare you to let go.”
And right then, at that moment, I feel so powerful that I could leap off the highest cliff known to man kind, and I’d live to tell the tale.
I smile a very sly and smug smile. I won’t let go, because to let go of this rope would crush every chance of accomplishing my dreams.
“No, I dare you something,” I say, tightening my hold a little further, “I dare you to stop me.”
I tug one last pull and everyone is dragged over to me, lying on the ground, now unable to have any control over me, my dreams, and my future.
I drop the rope and saunter away, knowing I’ve won.
I am the author of my own life, and I don’t plan to write in antagonists any time soon.
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| Mrs. Suzanne Colombe - Language Arts Divisional |
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