Hello! Welcome to the 2022 Arrow – Hackley Middle School’s Arts & Literature Magazine. Stay tuned for more posts to come over the next few weeks and then keep an eye out for the hardcopy, published version coming soon.
And now, some splendid writing samples:
Halloween
by Charlotte F. ’28
Halloween,
a creepy, cold,
and crisp night.
All the costumes are so different.
All the people dressing up as something
they wish they were.
A toddler wishes to be a unicorn;
she has a long, pointy, swirly, and colorful horn
and wears a big puffy tutu
with a shirt with a snout and eyelashes
as long as her face.
The pumpkin seems almost alive.
It already has a face and all it needs is a heart.
The skeletons are nothing like your own.
The bones are weak, unlike the strong
growing bones inside your body.
The ghost is white as clouds,
the sheets cut into pieces
like a toddler’s Christmas present
for its mother.
Spider webs, like a big ball of white clouds
all mushed together but can not be separated,
they are a unit
all wanting to go different ways.
On Halloween, you hear noises
whether they are inside your head
or just right behind you.
Your sister trying to jump scare you
when you really hear her creeping up behind you.
The feeling of being startled
when you knew she was approaching.
The owls are hooting
like a song repeating itself over and over.
The sound of the crackling candies
while you pick them up and put them in your bag,
like the crunching of leaves on a nice fall hike,
each leaf disintegrating as you step on it.
The wind blowing past your ears
like a beat you have been longing for
but have not found until this moment.
The bark of the trees, losing their leaves
feels like the underside of a dog’s paw.
The animals try to get their last bit of food in
before they have to hibernate,
all scurrying around the woods
until there is nothing left but leaves,
trees, and grass.
Halloween cupcakes.
Chocolate, the color is like a dark and creepy night.
The orange frosting is like the leaves on the ground changing colors,
the leaves sticking out like a lollipop in a bin of gummies,
and the pumpkins being devoured by squirrels
while the seeds are spilling everywhere.
The purple frosting like the witch in your dreams
with warts all over their face, thin like a stick
but tall like a giant.
The hair black as space and white as snow,
the cloak and dress, purple like a plum.
The taste of the cupcake is creamy, rich,
like biting into heaven.
The frosting as it sticks and spreads all over your mouth
and the cupcake itself splits into tiny little crumbs,
each one as delicious as the other.
The taste reminds me of making brownies in North Carolina
at my grandmother’s lake house.
The birds are chirping around the outside of the house,
while the brownies start to bake in the kitchen.
The silly designs on the cupcakes remind me of the dreams
I had as a kid, spiders with googly eyes,
remind me of a clock as it ticks back and forth.
Looking at the pumpkins with big creepy smiles,
make you think while you are sleeping,
one will pop out at you.
Brystal & Snow
by: Evelyn Wang
Brystal was a smart girl, and she loved reading although her parents strongly disapproved. Her parents were very strict and kept her busy with chores. They treated her more like a servant than a daughter; of course, her parents had actual servants too. She lived in the center of the Western Kingdom, and her father was an advisor to the king. This made the family well-known and made her parents big-headed.
Brystal woke up to a sunny day; she felt cheerful because she had a test that day. Any test could please her, but she preferred math instead of home economics and how to tie bows. She put on her white dress and a matching headband and heels. She looked into the mirror. Her hazel eyes and brown hair glittered in the sunlight. Her dress flowed perfectly, and her hair was perfectly brushed. But she absolutely hated what she saw. She was another girl, an unworthy citizen of the kingdom. She purposely messed up her hair and crumpled up her dress. She looked in the mirror again.
That’s more like it, she thought. She walked down the stairs and grabbed her bag and an additional sweatshirt, just in case.
“Bye Mother, bye Father!” shouted Brystal into their family’s mansion with no response. Brystal’s head drooped, and she walked out of the house.
Ding! Ding!
“Class dismissed.” said Ms. Jeran. A smile bloomed on Brystal’s face, she knew all the answers to the test she had just taken; it was a piece of cake. As she walked home, she looked at the rolling green hills surrounding her. It was nice to look at because green was her favorite color, but she also kept a noticeable distance from it. She had been told that tigers crouched in the shadows.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a white fluffy ball with black stripes on it. She jerked her head toward it and saw that its head, body, legs, and tail all had stripes on it like a zebra or like a…
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH TIGER!” she screamed for help, but unfortunately, no one heard cries. She carefully turned the figure over and leaped back.
“Oh, it’s a newborn. How cute!” she reached down to the tiger cub; it growled at her, but it really sounded like a meow.
It’s scared … is it scared of me? How scary can I look? Besides, it’s a tiger!
“It’s alright,” she picked up the little tiger and wrapped her sweater around the little tiger and it slowly stopped shivering.
“There, there, little tiger,” said Brystal in a soothing voice. Brystal inspected the cub for injuries and noticed its eyes. They were the color of her dress but a little lighter.
“Wow, your eyes are beautiful,” she remarked. “I’m going to keep you as a pet; I think I’ll name you Snow. Do you like…” before Brystal could ask, a piercing roar thundered, and four white tigers all with black stripes surrounded her.
“Give me that cub!” roared the biggest and most dangerous one, counting all the battle scars.
“Wh-wh-who are you? Wh-wh-what do you want?” asked Brystal with a trembling jaw.
“Forgive me; I’m Bloodthirster, and these are my siblings Slasher, Amber, and Vice,” Bloodthirster said snidely. Brystal could feel Snow shifting uncomfortably. Only one thing was certain, she couldn’t give Snow to the tigers.
“Now hand over the cub before you trigger my decision to rip you into shreds,” Bloodthirster barked.
“No!” she snapped back.
“Fine,” said Bloodthirster through gritted teeth; it nodded at its siblings, and the tigers advanced on Brystal.
“Last chance,” warned Bloodthirster.
“I’ll do it!” Brystal screamed. An idea was forming in her head. She turned her back on all the tigers and took her cream-white bunny doll and threw it as far as she could throw anything. It flew across three hills, and it landed in the valley between two of the hills. The tigers tore after it thinking it was the tiger cub they wanted. Brystal ran away from the path and zipped into her house. She slammed the door behind her and took a minute to catch her breath. Brystal and snow lived happily ever after…
The End
Ode to Fall
by: William S. ’28
Oh, Fall, the best season.
When the trees, auburn, just sit there,
memorizing the evergreen next to it,
and what the deep, red leaves begin to shed.
The leaves, the trees, waving in the ever so gentle fall winds,
rustle against fences and windows.
Smelling the cool, calm winds while the fall leaves blow in my face.
It’s as if I have been slapped in the face with nature,
with its dense and earthy smell.
As I jump into the leaves, I feel about a thousand soft leaves wrestle against my face,
as if someone is wiping my face with a washcloth, swiping ever so gently.
As I pop up, I am glared at with antagonizing eyes.
Walking past a house, I see pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons galore!
The pumpkin is a shimmering gem, but as I walk away,
I see a squirrel rip the pumpkin open with its very own hands,
I wish I was that squirrel.
Oh fall, as great as it is, so quickly turns into winter.
Behind the Smile
by: Mia S. ’28
She was a beacon for everyone in the little town. She was an important person from the town. She was a star, THE celebrity of the little town. She rode her carriage from her house on the hill every day. She would smile and wave. That smile on her face every day of the year. She was perfect. At least, that’s what was on the outside. Inside, she was ruined. She was forced to keep her smile up all the time. She was scared of not being good enough. She needed to be the perfect person. She needed that, not for herself but for her town. She needed to be the perfect light. She was not. Deep inside, she knew that. She had been abandoned at five years of age, running away to the little town. She worked hard and steadily every day of her life and became the star she wanted to be. Her life was a dream. Or was it? She spent the moments she had alone, letting her smile slip. Even in the moments, she was in public, if you truly gazed into her eyes, you would see the pain and sorrow building up inside her. She spent every day fearing imperfection. She wouldn’t eat for days, fearing that she would not be as beautiful. She was lonely, most of the time. She waited, by the fog-stained window for someone, anyone, to find her. She longed for someone to understand her. She still stood tall and proud, her red dress billowing behind her, in front of the crowds. Laughing, waving, smiling. No one would ever know what was hidden behind the smile.
Jason’s Tasks (excerpt)
Brady A. ’28
There was a guy named Jason who got into trouble with the gods, so he had to do trials to please them. You might be wondering how he got in trouble. He got into trouble by saying, “Let’s go start a civilization named Rome.” When he went to his house, he got zapped up to Olympus. Zeus, Hephaestus, Artemis, and Apollo were the only gods present. Zeus said that Jason must not go start a new place called Rome, but must do trials for the gods instead.
For the first trial, he had to figure out a way to capture lightning in a jar. So, he went out in search of materials to make a canister. His first thought was to have it strike a jar so he found a really high place on a tree and took out a ceramic jar. It took many nights until finally, lightning struck, but it hit the tree and cracked it down the middle. He scrambled down as fast as he could before it fell. After it fell, he retrieved his jar and went back to the town to ask around for help, but no one knew how. So then, he decided to get his jar and a shield and went to a place that is commonly struck by lightning. He placed the jar down and held the shield over his head. Finally, when the lightning struck, it hit the metal shield and not the jar, and Jason passed out. When he returned to consciousness, the shield was sparking and sizzling, and when he touched it, it shocked him. When that happened, he had an idea. He took the shield home and melted it then turned it into thin flexible strings and wrapped it around the inside of the jar. It worked, and he proudly presented his creation to the gods.
For the second task, he had to become the best at archery so he fashioned a bow out of olive tree wood. He began to practice, but after about six months and several blistered fingers, he realized it was a trick task. So, he told the gods he couldn’t become the best archer because Artemis and Apollo were the best. The gods were pleased with his response.
The third task was to try and capture and bring Cerberus up to Olympus. He had to go into the Underworld, and he did not know how to do that. At first, he tried digging, but after a few hours, it seemed pointless. Then, he thought he just needed to find a hellhound to lead hin there. He searched for a long time. Finally, he found it and followed it for a while. He tracked it through trees, mountains, and near seas. Then, the hellhound tensed; Jason thought it discovered him, but then it jumped up and disappeared. That puzzled Jason but soon, he realized that it somehow jumped to the Underworld. So he went to find another hellhound and followed it, but this time he brought a rope. When he found it, he followed it; when it tensed to jump, Jason wrapped the rope around his neck to go into the Underworld. When he landed, the hellhound pounced. He sidestepped it, pulled out his bow, and shot it in its back knees to immobilize it. After that, he went on his search for Cerberus. There were so many other hellhounds, there was not a spot where you couldn’t find them, but yet none were the three-headed Cerberus. So he went to Hades’ palace, and tied to the front door was Cerberus. When Cerberus saw him, he howled, and all the other hellhounds came running. Before the hellhounds could even think of what to do to him, Jason ran and sliced the chain attached to Cerberus, held on to it, and jumped as high as he could; it almost felt as if the wind was pushing him up. Somehow, he ended up on the earth. He had to run as fast as he could because Cerberus was chasing him, but Jason had a plan. He ran to Olympus so the gods could deal with Cerberus, and when he got there, panting from the effort and drenched with sweat, the gods summoned a glowing golden cage and put Cerberus in it, sending it through the floor. A deep thunderous voice boomed, “Well done.” Jason looked up to see Zeus.
For the final task, Jason had to make an automaton. So, he went to the local shop and bought a ton of bronze. For the first part he decided to do the legs, so he started a giant fire. Then he took the hot bronze out of the fire and started hammering it into thin flexible strips and big sturdy plates. He did that twice because he had to make two legs.
He got a stand that had a leg shape and wrapped the front and back of the knee with the thin flexible strips. They overlapped a small amount because when the knee would bend they would slide over each other. Then he heated up the plates again and bent them in a way so they would interlock and stay up in the shape of a leg. Then he poked holes through them and added rivets. While he was letting the legs cool he made something like a skeleton structure to go inside so it would hold everything together. After the legs cooled off, he made a waist which would attach to the legs and the body but it was too far in the fire so Jason burned his hands getting it out. So, he had to take a break and rest his hand in cold water every once in a while. Since he couldn’t make the automaton he drew the designs and tried to figure out better ways to make it. Several days later he was able to start on it again but this time it was going faster because of the designs he drew on what to do. But, he new plans required more bronze and he ran out of it so he went back to the local store but the people were avoiding him because he was soot stained and covered in ash and he changed since before the trials finally when he got to the store the owner did not seem to be afraid of him which was good. After he got more bronze he set back to work. Finally, he started on the head and he decided to make the head a head like shape with a welding mask. When it was done, he made the top of the neck have indentations that would fit tabs. The bottom of the head has tabs sticking out so the head could screw in. Then he had to take it up Mount Olympus and he asked the gods to put magic in it.
All at once the gods started muttering to each other until it stopped and Zeus declared that they could put magic in the machine for him. Then the machine began to move around and it started talking and it said its name Rocky. Then Zeus said, “Jason you might be wondering how you did not die when lightning struck you or when you were super close to the fire for a long time. It is because Jason I am your father”
The End