“Why do people vote for certain leaders?”. People agree to follow cruel leaders because they will manipulate people into thinking that they will fix their fears. History seems to repeat itself with dangerous people in charge. Its is noticed that this is an ongoing pattern through both fictional and historical examples, whether it’s in novels or textbooks.  

If this argument is looked at  from a universal point of view, it reveals that we had god awful leaders. There is a website of the 25 most awful dictators and rulers of all time. This website is important because it has historical stories on these dangerous people from the past. It was cool yet shocking. All of the people on that list, are horrible people that are murders. For example, a man named Hitler is on that list. He singled out an entire religion, and blamed society's problems on them. He murdered and tortured many Jewish men, women and children. He was so terrible that it is impossible to not know who he is. School emphasizes who he is. How did he get elected? That man tricked people into thinking that it was one religion's fault, and that he would get rid of them to make germany better. People wanted their fear of the war and being poor to be fixed, so this was the other “solution” they could think of. Now that people look back on this history, they can realize how many stupid mistakes they make when people walk all over us. And that's what Hitler did, that manipulating son of a whale tricked others, and when he was in control he made people fear him so much, they dare not stop him. Yes, eventually Hitler was stopped, but he ruined people's lives in Germany for many years. Cruel leaders, ruin peoples lives.

A great world example of why certain leaders are chosen, is Donald trump. He promises society that he will fix american by doing what the people want and make their fears “disappear”. He promises not to let certain races in this country because of ongoing terrorism.  The people in America are afraid of the terrorist threats being made by a group called isis. Trump made a proposition to get rid of immigrants, build a wall, and put labels on muslims because they are apparently the problem to terrorism. Some disagree with those who vote for him, because he is another person we should fear. He will be the next hitler. As anyone can see, we never learn. We are voting for a man who will also try and destroy a religion. Now, this quote from a trump supporter, proving that people only vote for him because he will deal with fear in harsh ways. “Men and women….fearful that they are being displaced by minorities and immigrants, and nostalgic for the way America used to be.” This states that donald trump is voted for, because he is the “solution” to fix people's fears on america. I'm sorry, but facts cannot be hidden Trump is proposing to single out people in order to benefit him, but it's actually manipulation on the people. Why? Well, how will this help the people, it just gives him full power and control over society in America. Yet again, we could have someone who has the power to harm others, is this what we really want?

Speaking of finding bad leaders, Jack is a wonderful example in the book Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding. Jack had a little group of younger boys,  following his every order and believed in him. Jack used fear and manipulation to get the boys to listen to him. He put into their minds that he could save them on this island. To hunt and have food, to provide shelter, their little brains thought Jack could provide them with these skills. He proved himself when they went hunting, so they assumed he would keep them alive. But, Jack was cruel. If you weren't on his side, you'd be dead or almost dead. Even if Jack was doing something wrong or hurting someone, they still followed him. They feared Jack, so they dare not go against him. Which is what normal people do, you die or stick with the crowd and live.The only reason jack was voted to be in charge, was because everyone thought that he would get them off the island, even if he was harsh. “I'm scared of him”-Piggy (93). A person on the island with Jack was a boy named Piggy. He outright said that he was afraid of Jack. This just shows how Jack sticks fear in others hearts. Piggy said this when something was suggested to go against Jack. Piggy was too afraid to do it, so he backed down. “Jack had Robert by the hair and was brandishing his knife.”(114) Okay, don't tell me this isn't scary. Jack grabbed someone's hair forcefully and put a knife to their neck. How is he not crazy. “What's going on in this scene.”is what one could be thinking. In the book, they are only suppose to be playing a PRETEND game of catch the pig. Robert played the pig, but Jack got too into it. Personally, I think Jack was just trying to prove how strong he was. He was showing that he is strong enough to protect the others, and that he has complete control. Here again, Jack tries to prove himself strong. “Jack was standing before a group of boys……”we hunt…..i'm going to be chief.” (133)Hunting is a good survival skill and small boys like to do wild things. This is why they follow him, because they will feel some of their problems will be relieved if they follow Jack. He is seen as a great person to follow because he is strong, knowledgeable, and will riden his followers fears, thus, he is voted for.

How can we stop it, well I have no idea, that is for yourself to decide. I'm just here to prove an argument, so go ahead….can this statement be argued with? Will humans continue to choose leaders who create destruction, or will we one day learn from our past mistakes.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the files.

New York Penguin Group, 2003.

"Why I'm Voting for Donald Trump." CNN. Accessed March 30, 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/27/politics/donald-trump-voters-2016-election/.

"The 25 Most Evil People in History." The 25 Most Evil People in History. Accessed March 30, 2016. https://25mostevil.wordpress.com/.

There is no such thing as objective responsibility. Despite our social biology, the very nature of our existence leads us only to pursue things that directly affect us in positive ways. Though we live in an illusion of empathy and selflessness, there is no such thing as a truly selfless action. Every action we take is entirely self-serving in some form or another, and the only responsibilities the “strong” have to take care of the “weak” are those that we give ourselves in a self-absorbed sense of superiority.

This becomes apparent in Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, as they introduce the character Piggy. Piggy is a fat, asthmatic boy, who can barely see without his glasses. Ultimately, in a survival setting, he is a detriment to the boys survival. As he says, “My Auntie told me not to run… on account of my asthma.” However, he has one thing that the boys need: His glasses. This gives the boys a reason to take care of him, and they do. They keep him alive for a long time. However, as soon as he outlives his usefulness, they take his glasses, and they kill him.

So, what is responsibility? Well, taking a step back, this ultimately boils down to subjectivity versus objectivity. As conscious creatures, humans do not live in an objective world. Conscious beings see the world through the senses, and see the world through their own perceptions, and cannot see the objective world. Now, what does this mean for responsibility? Well, this means that responsibilities exist only as the ones created by living, sentient beings. So, what responsibility do the strong have to take care of the weak? Well, the strong only have the responsibility that they create for themselves. However, sometimes this paves the way for people to pretend to create their own responsibilities as a way to mask an ulterior motive.

This was seemingly the case in the USA’s invasion of afghanistan following the September 11th attacks. By the end of September, 2001, the Bush Administration had its troops on the offensive in the Middle East. Only a few months had passed before President George W. Bush said the following in the State of the Union: “In four short months, our nation has… captured, arrested, and rid the world of thousands of terrorists, destroyed Afghanistan’s terrorist training camps, saved people from starvation, and freed a country from brutal oppression.” Saved people from starvation. These were the things he was proud of accomplishing in the four months that United States troops occupied Afghanistan. Now, this seems good, but, ultimately, it was not the purpose of the invasion.

The occupation was a direct response to the attacks on September 11th. However, people in Afghanistan were suffering starvation and brutal oppression before the invasion and the attacks. Helping the people was not the intention of the administration. It was not the intention of the troops deployed. It seems that the people helped by the troops were simply in the right place at the right time, and it gave Bush a chance to pat himself on the back for his efforts helping the ‘weak.’ The invasion came from a place of vengeance, and while it helped many people, it was entirely coincidental, and did not reflect the United State’s efforts to end world hunger.

Imagine Piggy is Afghanistan, and the rest of the boys are the Bush Administration. The boys could have said that they take care of Piggy because they have a responsibility to. Being stuck on the island, they could have said that they have a responsibility to take care of their own, and that since Piggy was their friend, they were responsible for his wellbeing. However, this wasn’t true. They kept Piggy alive because his glasses were the boys’ only way of starting a fire. His glasses kept him alive for a long time. However, as the boys gave in to their reality, and fell farther away from civilization, realizing that they weren’t actually responsible for Piggy, they realized that they could steal Piggy’s glasses, and then, having done so, they killed him, as they no longer needed him. Just as boys killed Piggy as soon as they didn’t need him, the United States killed many civilians in the Middle East once they had gotten recognition for helping them.

While there is a fair bit of controversy surrounding this issue, there is a fair amount of evidence to back up the claims that United States soldiers killed Iraqi civilians. One incident, known as the Al Ishaqi Massacre, was the accused deliberate murder of eleven Iraqi civilians, before blowing up their home. While it was written off by the Pentagon as an action against Al Qaeda militants, five out of the eleven people were children, the youngest of whom was said to be only five months old. However, these were not the stories we were told. Rather, we were told about the soldier’s heroic acts helping and saving civilians, by none other than President Bush in the State of the Union.

Our society speaks a great deal about responsibilities, and in America, being a world superpower, many speak about helping the third world quite a bit as well. However, it seems that people rarely practice what they preach, just like many who talk about their objective responsibilities. Ultimately, humans are not required by any law of nature to do anything. They can create their own responsibilities, but can also do things for other people because they want to, or because others want them to, without locking themselves into objectivity.

Works Cited:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies

New York. Penguin, 2003

"President Delivers State of the Union Address." President Delivers State of the Union Address. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

Mills, Ajanae

Pahomov

English 2

05 April 2016

Options

In life, there’s always those who are superior or those who are the weaker link. As humans we have a common instinct to ignore the weaker link or help them, but whose responsibility is it to actually help that person? The answer is, there isn’t really one set responsibility. The strong take care of the weak if they feel they have a moral responsibility to do so.  

As people, we are sometimes put into situations where we are at that time the stronger person, so we are looked at as if we have a responsibility to take care of those weaker. In Lord of The Flies, a book written by William Golding, a character named Jack took on the responsibility of leading the boys due to the fact that they looked at him as the much more stronger and adamant boy out of the group. Jack recites.. “We’ll get food,” cried Jack. “Hunt. Catch things.. until they fetch us.” (Page 30) As we can see, Jack had no obligation to care for the rest of the boys because one, he was a child himself just like them and he does not know what he had to do to fend for himself in the wild and secondly, he was not the cause of their crash landing onto that island but because he felt morally responsible to help a group a of boys who looked to him as a protector or adamant ruler aka “the stronger person” he took on the responsibility of the group.

As we get deeper into the book, things start to spiral downward. The original elected leader Jack, turns evil or a term we have used previously to identify these actions, “savage”. Jack had clearly separated the island into 2 groups. One called followers and the others called leaders. Despite all of the bad Jack was doing, people still followed behind him like lost puppies while stronger minded characters such as, Ralph decided to step up and take matters into his own hands. Jack had left Ralph, Piggy and some other children behind while taking majority of the boys along with him. “We’ll live on our own. The four of us-” Just like Jack in the previous example Ralph felt as if this was his time to take responsibility being the stronger person out of that small group of kids and step up to protect them. Jack’s tribe was too busy focusing on the slaughtering of pigs and all other types of savage activities that they lost focus of the meaning of strong and the point in taking responsibility. It was not necessarily Ralph’s obligation to take care of these kids, because there was already someone who had vowed to support the boys while on the island but, when he realized responsibility was falling short he stepped up to the plate.

Not relating to the book is a real world example. As US citizens, we know how strong the US is in military, economy and governmental ways compared to a lot of other countries who are fairly behind us. In 1945, at the end of a long known as World War Two, the US bombed Japan twice due to the fact that they would not surrender. This bombing caused the total destruction of their country. Later after this bombing, the US helped in the reconstruction of Japan which later included the occupation of Okinawa by the US military. According to the US department of state, “ Between 1945 and 1952, the U.S occupying forces led by General Douglas A. MacArthur enacted widespread military, political, economic and social reform.” This shows a prime example of moral responsibility held on the backs of a stronger person but in this case society. The stronger person was the U.S and they had every right to feel responsible, seems though they were the ones to originally bomb Japan. In this situation, readers can only guess that guilt drove the US’s moral choice. Maybe they were guilty for the killing of all the innocent children and adults when they bombed them, or the total destruction of a place people called home. Not even long after the bombing of Japan was the US there picking up the pieces they had left behind because they had chosen to.

We will use another example of the US deciding to help with a national interest. That national interest being the Syrian Refugee crisis. The US had taken action along with multiple other countries to help take care of these refugees. Organizations from the US such as WFP (World Food Program) had sent food packages to the Syrian Refugees, the US even arranged areas where these refugees can settle in at, here in the US. This is prime example of shared responsibility. The US took responsibility of this tragic epidemic for one or two reasons, the first reason being it is a national interest and the second reason being morality. The US is known for being a big helper or supporter when it comes to events like that or terrorist attacks and they’re the first there to reach out. Simply because they have a reputation to help others. If a country is that big with lots of resources, why not help the people who are clearly suffering?

Coming to a conclusion, we can see that morality plays a big role in choices people make and things do not always boil down to blame. You do not always have to be the cause of something for you to simply want to help or take the responsibility for it. Throughout Lord of The Flies, we’ve seen multiple choices made by various characters in this book who has made choices based on reality and in real life we see choices made off of morality every single day. Morality is something that plays part in our everyday lives, sometimes we as people need to just open our eyes and look.

Works Cited

1. Office of The Historian. "Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945–52 - 1945–1952 - Milestones - Office of the Historian." Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945–52 - 1945–1952 - Milestones - Office of the Historian. Office of The Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

Zoë Chernowski

Silver Stream

On the Flip Side

There are always two sides to the same coin, which means that there are always contrasting views in society. One of these strong contrasting views is savagery versus civilized behavior and what they are. One might argue that certain things are savage, such as specific aspects of a religion, while another would view them as civil. However, in truth no one person can decide for the commonwealth what is wrong or right. The definition of "savage" is truly relative to everybody else in the society.

In the beginning of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, a group of schoolboys are stranded on an island. Two of the more popular boys, Ralph and Jack, decide to have a vote and see who should be leader. Ralph wins and the boys gather together and Jack and Ralph agree to form one large group. However, later in the book there were many arguments, and different values prompted Jack to break off from the large group with his group of hunters. Jack and his tribe eventually steals another boy, Piggy’s, glasses to start fires. Ralph and his group is outraged, for if Jack’s tribe wanted fire, they could’ve just asked. Ralph’s group decide to go and confront Jack and his tribe at Castle Rock, Jack’s tribe’s home base. “‘Which is better - to be a pack of painted Indians like you are, or to be sensible like Ralph is?’ The great clamor rose among the savages. Piggy shouted again. ‘Which is better - to have rules and agree, or to hunt a kill?’” (180) Here Piggy asks the questions to Jack’s tribe to try to convince them they are being savage. However this is only Piggy’s viewpoint of the situation. To Piggy, rules and a signal fire is the most important thing they should have on the island. Piggy is trying to make it sound universal; that agreements are better than hunting. His thinking of yelling at the boys and making his statement universal is obviously flawed because he’s trying to push his ideals onto people who don’t believe the same. Also consider the argument that all of the children on this island are high class European boys. Their idea of savagery is different from everyone else’s who isn’t a high class European boy, because they are exposed to a certain environment. If savagery is truly defined in all of society, then why were these conflicts of savagery versus being civil created and still exist today?

Connections can be between Lord of the Flies and the real world also. World War II, perhaps one of the most famous wars in world history is one of many examples. One case in point is in the book Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II by Keith Lowe. It explains how Europe was ‘savage’ after World War II based on the author’s research and inferences as a British Historian."As Keith Lowe makes painfully plain, Europe in the months and years after the end of World War II was as much a cauldron of hate, murder and despair as it had been during the reign of Nazi Germany." Lowe likes to argue how Europe was still considered 'savage' even when things were supposed to be 'civil' because the war ended. This is again, another British perspective on the events that followed, and naturally views would be different if someone was not British. Lowe describes a moral collapse of the people, but who is he to judge whether or not other people’s morals ‘collapsed’? Much like Piggy in Lord of the Flies, Lowe is projecting this idea that certain people are savage because they are acting differently than him. The fact that people might be bitter about a war recently lost suddenly makes the losers savages and the people moving on and not reflecting on the recent past, civil. The same values of having these so called ‘rules and order’ make people have this great image of being civil. However, the question must be asked, who makes the rules and does this reflect on the image of being civilized?

Now, back to the points presented in Lord of the Flies. The large group of boys have an assembly to discuss the events and the fear of the beast. However unknowingly to the boys, there is no ‘beast’ and it is nothing more than a dead fighter pilot. However they are all overshadowed with their fear and what to do. In the middle of this fearful debate Ralph and Jack start to question his authority in this time of supposed danger. “‘He’s like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.’” (126) Here Jack criticizes Ralph, his leadership, and how he’s a coward. Jack exclaims later on that Ralph even said the hunters were useless, but he never retrieved meat for the large group. So what can be seen here is the clear differences in the boy's’ values; Jack values survival on the island and hunting for food, although to Ralph and Piggy, this seems savage because his values are different from their personal ones. Because of these conflicting values and how savagery is relative, these boys tend to clash against each other. Jack is seen as bloodthirsty by the boy’s whose priority is to get rescued, meanwhile Ralph and Piggy seem weak and powerless to the boy’s whose priority is to hunt and survive. This in turn causes the group to crumble and weaken because no one is willing to put everything into other’s perspectives.

Well, how does this relate to the example of World War II? Just like how Jack and Ralph had different views, the opposing countries in the war also had this. There is the other viewpoint on how World War II was 'civil' and actually created a lot of opportunities and sparked a national movement for minorities. This is greatly debated, just like the boys and the view of hunting is savage; the war was savage. However, to prevent the collapse of two different views, put the ‘civil’ parts of the war into light. History, Art, and Archives: United States House of Representatives published information about Black Americans in Congress. A lot of the information given was actually about World War II and how it sparked such a great change in the United States. "It brought economic opportunities and opened new avenues for participation in American society… Wartime experiences also mobilized black political activism." These so called civilized events were all created due to World War II. These events could be represented by the values of the boys in Lord of the Flies; specifically Jack. While the War might seem savage (such as Jack), it actually had a lot of civilized behavior associated to it and not all of the outcomes are considered bad.

So as a whole, savagery and being civilized is relative to what people believe and people’s morals. Ultimately, not just one group of people can consider something concretely bad or good. In order to get the whole picture, one must be willing to look at it in many different perspectives, do not become separated by ignorance like the boys in Lord of the Flies. There’s always three sides to a story after all; yours, mine, and the truth’s.

Works Cited:

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin Group, 2003.

Yardley, Jonathan. "“Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II” by Keith

Lowe." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 07 July 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinion/savage-continent-europe-in-the-aftermath-of-world-war-ii-by-keith-lowe/2012/07/07/gJQAihmBUW_story.html>.

"The Second World War | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives." The Second

World War. U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Second-World-War/>.

What makes a good leader? Men and women who can hold their own and bolster the attitudes of their subjects. They can put the needs of the people before their own, even going as far as to put their life on the line to save others. They are truly remarkable people, except when it comes to electing them. In some countries, like the United States of America, in order to be given the title of chief, eligible individuals compete by entailing the way they will help the group to future voters. However, when they start to describe the many ways why they are better than the other candidates, this is when the crazy stuff starts happening. They begin to tarnish the reputation of the other competitors in order to make themselves look good. By using degrading tactics on their fellow combatants, they can prove their own reasons why they can be the best head of the group. Therefore, all potential leaders do is slander each other so they can make each other look bad in the eyes of the people they’re supposed to be governing.

In the book “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, a good number of boys are stranded on a deserted island after surviving a plane crash that happened to kill  the adults. One of the boys, named Ralph, explores the island and finds a conch. He uses this newfound tool and to summon all of the children towards him. The kids then vote Ralph the leader of the group, much to the dismay of another boy, named Jack. In Chapter 6 of this book, this dismay transforms into spite. After hunting for a supposed beast in the forest area of the island, Ralph, Jack, and another boy are discussing their adventure. But when Ralph talks about the hunters in a negative fashion, Jack becomes indignant. The latter calls his own meeting with the other boys on the island and takes Ralph’s words and warps them in order to use them against him. “‘...Ralph said my hunters are no good.’ ‘I never said that!’”(126) This exchange between Jack and Ralph shows how one potential chief will slander the other to look better in the eyes of the public. When trying to convince his fellow islanders that he should be the new and consistent leader of the big group via displaying his own leadership skills by leading his small group of hunters failed, he turned to dirty tactics to get his way. By warping Ralph’s words and shouting them to the group, Jack implanted the thoughts in the boys that he needed them to have: Ralph has no faith in them. By doing this seemingly little action, Jack has infected the boys’ minds with distrust in the other candidate. This is exactly how Jack was able to start his own group later on. He swayed most of the boys’ opinions to his side by slandering Ralph’s reputation and making him look unfit to lead. This is how he became the leader of the bigger group.

This example from “The Lord of the Flies” can be likened to a different example in the real world. The example of a real election happening right at this very moment between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. These two candidates are the frontrunners for the Republican spot in the Presidential election in the United States of America. Due to this, both of them are trying their hardest to convince the people in every state in the country that they are the best choice for the most taxing job on all the Earth. However, while each of their campaigns were used in a positive manner for a good amount of time, once the going got rough for both of them, slander took its roots in the situation quickly. A few weeks ago, a nude picture of Donald Trump’s wife Melania went around circulating the internet, ridiculing and berating her. Trump was annoyed by this. To retaliate, he falsely accused Ted Cruz of using this picture in an ad of his. On Twitter, he said “Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!” In order to take attention off of himself and his family, Donald Trump had to use slander to put this same attention on his opponent Ted Cruz. This way, all of the eyes in the nation would be on him, awaiting his response, instead of on Trump. This also causes the public to think what secrets Cruz could be hiding from them, and not think about Trump’s wife being the first lady. While at first, Cruz reacted normally in this situation and politely complimented Trump’s wife, he soon followed suit in Donald’s slander and began calling him out, calling him a coward. All this does is prove how easy it is for potential leaders to slander each other in order to make themselves look like the better person to lead to the rest of the public, even in real life.

In conclusion, in both real life and pure fiction examples, potential leaders barate each other and tarnish each other’s reputations in order to get the people’s vote. They do this by slowly putting the negative thoughts of the other candidates in the public’s heads, helping them come to a decision not to vote for them. They can also do this by outright instigating the slander, getting their opponents to react back at them. This makes their opponents look like children in the eyes of the nation instead of themselves, causing the nation not to vote for the opponent. By using slander, future chiefs can have an easier time swaying the people than by saying the good qualities they posses themselves. For this reason, it can officially be said that all prospective heads do is smear the reputations of other people so they can look unfit to lead in the eyes of the subjects they’re supposedly caring for.

Everyday I go hunt for some frogs near the river I get about 3 frogs a day then all a sudden the frogs stopped coming I got nothing this month. i've been eating nothing but small insects but those tiny bugs do not make my hunger go away. I need to find frogs or eles i will starve to death. huh I sense something unusual. what is this a human wearing leaves and branches who has all these frogs!? I’m going fallow him out. As I sliver though the forest chase the human I see less and less of my and more of habitat and hear noses I never heard before I'm so scared. is this more humans and there knocking down the trees and digging into my home with these yellow thing I must confront them but there's too many and i'm unfamiliar with this place. I can't do anything can I- hay!!! I what is this rope around my head it no no the human again!!!.

*plunges toilet* I can’t believe I am cleaning this damn toilet again. I come in here day in and day out, and tell myself I am going to quit this god forsaken job. But who am I kidding, I know I need the money and don’t have too many options here. Why can’t people just have the decency to do this crap at home, it would make my life a lot easier and I’m sure be a lot more comfortable for them. Now on to the urinals which believe it or not are worse to clean, you would understand if you knew what it is like to clean poop from a urinal. I’m not dealing with this right now, I’ll let Randy do it when he clocks in I don’t got time for this. *exits bathroom*

Now I have to clean the rest of the mess in the damn restaurant. *Grabs broom* Look at all these french fries on the ground, it’s like a whole order of them. *Sweeps* They actually don’t look half bad *eats one* mmm, it’s delicious. *Whispers* Oh crap. Hey boss I was just uh cleaning up here. What I didn’t eat those french fries off the ground, what do I look like eating fries off the floor. What are you talking about? I what? Wait a min.. Okay look I know that I am not the best worker at this McDonalds but you can’t fire me I really need this job. But I do actually work around here. I’ll admit I… But I’m not making excuses. Okay I will get all of my stuff and never come back then.

Who ever needed a stupid job like that one anyway huh? All they make you do is miserable, degrading work just to make freaking minimum wage, it’s totally not worth it. Fine I will show the world that I am better than that sorry excuse for a job, and that I could make it perfectly fine without them. Well at least if you look on the bright side, I won’t need to almost kill myself everyday after work. I also now have experience with a job that I really don’t like, so I know moving forward what to look for in a job so I don’t make the same mistake twice. So I guess it wasn’t a total lose after all. Now it’s time to go make my ex-manager's’ job living hell as a customer.

Sara and Raechel were best friends since 2nd grade. They had just came back from seeing Straight Outta Compton. When Raechel and Sara had went through an alleyway Raechel came out on the other side leaving Sara bleeding out on the freezing dirty ground. Our main character is Laura who is Sara’s older sister. (You are Laura in your writing)I am a rookie detective who has a nice family and a rich husband. (Laura is speaking)I was talking to my brother Tommy since I was scared that Sara hasn’t called or texted in 3 weeks. “Where in the world could Sara be. I miss her” I said. When I was walking down an alleyway I had noticed had saw a hand hanging from a dumpster so I wanted to see if it was real or not so I opened up the dumpster and she had saw Sara there laying with a stab wound right in her heart. I had screamed in terror and then she called the cops for help. My husband Oliver had showed up at the crime scene and then he said “what happened why did you call and then talk really fast.” I could not even face Oliver as he saw the paramedics carrying Sara’s body on the stretcher. “We have to tell our kids later about what happened to Sara”. Oliver told Laura “ I- I didn’t want to leave them in the house alone when you called they are in the car right now”. As we turned around we had saw that our kids. Slade and Roy saw their aunt laying down on a stretcher with a blood stain on her heart they just looked at their parents and they family had grieved together. Two days later it was Sara’s funereal, I had looked around to see who was present and who wasn’t. Everybody was there except the reserved seat in the front row. Laura had remembered that she had specifically reserved that seat or Sara’s best friend Raechel. After the funeral I had asked Oliver and their kids if they saw Raechel they all had said no. Laura had went to an abandoned club and went to the basement finding her hidden cave. I was actually a vigilante who helps people and does not kill. She has a white costume and fights with two nightsticks. Her vigilante name is White Canary, she travels the night to find out who had killed her sister. One night she had saw thugs robbing a liquor store near Sara’s death site. White Canary tries to fight all of the thugs by herself and leave one standing to interrogate him. She is getting pummeled by the thugs, When she looks up she sees a masked hooded figure in the night. He beats up all of the thugs and then interrogates one of them and he says that he saw a red headed woman about 25yrs old, and also a knife in her right hand. White Canary stands up and says “ Who are you why are you investigating the exact murder i’m investigating. “I am investigating a death of my wife’s sister’s death”. Shocked Laura had said “Oliver is that you”? Soon after their reunion they both had put together all of they had found out about Sara’s death. Both of the leads they had lead into dead ins.They chose to have Tommy take the kids to Spain to keep them out of trouble. Tommy, Slade, and Roy checked into a hotel called Nanda Parbat. Laura had called over to Tommy and the kids to check on them. Oliver kept trying to figure out why Raechel hadn’t answer her phone or e-mails. Slade and Roy were watching tv when they heard glass shattering in Tommy’s room; they rushed into his room when they had saw Sara repeatedly stabbing Tommy in the heart. As the teenagers watched in fear as their uncle died of blood loss, Sara was looking strange when she was walking closer and closer to the boys White Canary came through the window and knocked Sarah out cold. “Mom”, the boys yelled as they gave her a hug. As Oliver was coming up the stairs he saw his best friend dead on the bed.

(Phone Rings, picks up the phone) Hey, Ashley! Yeah I know (pause) did you see her trying to sit at our table like she was one of us?! (pause) Right, like that is sooo unacceptable. (pause) She was what! She is not taking Jaden to prom, he's my ex and he still likes me so he´s obviously gonna ask me. (pause) What kind of girl asks a boy to prom anyway! (pause) Right! She's such a loser. Anyways I was hoping Jaden would have a grey suit because I just got this pink dress and it has hints of grey in it and it would be soo cute with a grey suit. No, Ashley, he def is going to ask me, just like how Jake´s gonna ask you. Don't be scared, it's going to happen, who else does he have? (pause) Exactly… Yeah so… (gets cut off) Oh okay, yeah imma show my mom my dress too, see if she likes it.

(Looks out bedroom door and screams) Mom! Dad! Ha, like they would answer. (Mocks mother) Yes, Amber that dress is so pretty. (Acts like father) Oh no that dress is too short for you to be wearing. (Turns back into herself) I don't know what I was thinking. Seventeen years of my life and only talked to my parents for about ten of those. Ha. (Holds dress in front of her as if she was looking at herself in the mirror), Hey, mom don't you think this would look cute. (pretends to be mom) Yes darling, you are gorgeous. (back to herself) Hey dad, you know Jaden´s gonna take me out to prom. (mocks dad) He better get you home by twelve. (disappointed look, stomps hard like tired) Maybe i'm just hoping one day they’ll finally answer back. Sike… (small giggle) Maybe I just keep forgetting my irrelevance to existence. (sarcastic voice) For some reason I keep thinking i'm somebody special. But it’s so crazy; in school, EVERYBODY knows my name. Most popular in my whole school. (does a little snobby pose of herself in the mirror) but when I get home it’s like I’m completely invisible. (looks sad and goes to sit down on her bed)

Fourth grade,(pause) mom I got an A on my science test! (biggest smile slowly fades from her face) Oh, after you finish your phonecall? Okay... Fifth Grade,(pause) Dad this dumb teacher.. (cuts herself off and pretends to be her father type on the laptop) NOT NOW AMBER! (goes back to herself) Oh okay. (plays around with her fingers as she slowly walks back to sit on the bed). (Big sigh as she plumps onto the bed) And lets not forget how you used that same line six grade through the rest of my current life. You know, I get it now. I understand you not wanting a daughter and the pain of having me anyway. I understand I am not what you wanted. One joyful night turned into your biggest mistake. I know.

Everyone at school always says, “Amber has the cool parents” or “ Amber gets whatever she wants from her parents.” But I don’t! I want their attention. I want their acceptance. I want to be that child they don’t regret. I just wanna be something they care about. (starts crying into her hands) (knock knock on the door) (she looks up at the door) Mom?

(Kneels on floor) What's this I feel? A sharp pain in my neck, flashbacks of mine (foosh). My mind sounds something like that. My friend that I hold dear, clinging onto my body, holding me like prey on his bed. His name is Nick. I'm trying to move back, but I can't. I am stopped by his forceful arms and thirst for my blood. The fangs in my neck are so pleasurable and painful at the same time. But it all hurts. Not just my neck, but the pain in my brain is arising. I see a light, that keeps flashing, as my memories are flowing by. My memory is coming back, people who I cannot recall until now; my parents.

I'm Mei, and no, I am not a vampire, simply human, but I am very difficult to understand. I remember nothing from my past. The only person in my life was Nick, the vampire, and that's all I can recall. I sought him for answers, and for years he refused. I want answers, now that I am 18 years old, I think I can handle it.  Except I wanted to talk about it, not become someone's meal. Why now, in our home, did he give into the temptation, to bite me. I wish he told me instead, but I don't want him to let go, because, this is the only way I can look into my past, without lies. (sighs)

I see my parent standing, at the edge of a cliff. Answers answers, I need the answers! “Mommy, Daddy, where are you going.” I hear groans and moans, from the people who I seem to reach my hand out to. Long fangs comes down from their face and.. “ow OW!” the friend that I love, is clenching my neck even harder. Knowing that I am about to witness something painful (grabs neck)

The past begins to lead me to, wearing something sticky red. Blood, its blood. My white nightgown is stained in dread of red. The taste and texture do not tempt me, it's gross. (closes eyes and shakes head) I want it to go away. But my parents seem to enjoy it. As I reach out my hand, I notice the long teeth, and the major blood stains on their clothing. “WATCH OUT” says Nick in my memory. But why is Nick here. I hear the sound of gunfire, and I drop to the floor. I sat up, but my parents never did. (puts hands on face)

(sits down in chair) He took my parents away, without giving them a chance to redeem themselves. Lights, I am seeing more lights! MY head, oh my head...it spinning and it wont stop. Nick's fangs hurt, but these memories are killing me more. (stands up quickly and clenches hair)

My brain is playing like a record player. The Nick in my memories raises and protects me. I feel hurt, because, how can the person who killed my parents, raise me without showing any shame. He lied for so long. Experiencing both good and bad memories at the same time is difficult. I don't want to see them, good nor bad, they still traumatize me. I am afraid to lose the people I love again. Nick, my parents, the fear , the pain, the love and the blood. They all won't stop spinning around me.

His teeth are so painful and pleasurable I am losing consciousness. My mind is nonstop. Now that the bad things are over, I see him, only him. Caring and loving me. Before my mind stops playing like a cassette tape, I feel the tears that I have kept in for so long, run down my face. And I hug ?”
7ike a want something to come back.)

This feels like a dream. It's harder and harder to register all of this. Even though I know Nick is still at my neck, he will eventually let go. He will leave me, just like the rest everybody else in my life. Lights lights, flashing bright lights! I'm falling….Somebody please catch me! (pauses, and puts hood over head) Nick catching me, is the last thing I remember. He erased...my memories. (sits down from 3 seconds with eyes closed, then opens eyes)