Anika Scheele

Story: The Tree

Poem: Jealously

Poem: The Game of Wonders

Slam Poem: Yukon's Cherry Coke Phobia Experiment

Slam Poem: 13 Steps to Successfully Kidnap Someone

THE TREE

The tree. I had always been told to stay away from the tree. I didn’t know why. But now, it looks different. Is it the lighting? Is it because I have never seen it at this time of day? I don’t think so. There has to be something. Maybe I should go look at it. I’m going over there. I want to see what happens.

“Tanny!... Tanny!... Tanny Elizabeth, get out of bed you're going to be late for school!” my sister yelled out. I didn’t want to wake up. She knew I didn’t. I never did. I knew I had to so I did. I got out of my comfortable bed and put my feet on the cold, hard floor of my bedroom. I quickly walked out to the hall, which was nicely covered in carpet. I walked down the steps to the kitchen and heated up a waffle for breakfast. “Tanny E. we need to leave by 7. I have to be at work by 8, so it will be a quick morning.” Quinn, my older sister, told me as I swallowed my last bite of waffle. She was basically my mom due to the fact that my mom was always outside with our cattle. In my opinion I think she likes that cattle more than my siblings and I.

I got out the door and stared at the tree in our front lawn. It haunted my thoughts because I wasn’t allowed near it due to its age. Personally I think there is more to it, but it wasn’t like I could find out. I got to school at 7:45. It felt so much longer just because I had to listen to Quinn’s horrible music taste. She knew I hated it but she never let me listen to my music. When I got into my classroom, I didn’t see the one person I was hoping to see, my best friend Dallin. She was the only reason I even showed up at school anymore. After I sat down, I saw her run in. I was so happy and she seemed to be as well. “Oh my gosh, Tanny you will never guess what happened this morning! Jonah told me after school we were getting a dog!” I couldn’t believe this news. Dallin has wanted a dog since her old dog, Juno, had died. I congratulated her on finally getting a new dog and then class started.

“I swear she is coming” I told my teacher, Mrs. Tipper, as we stood outside waiting for Quinn to come get me. I knew she wasn’t coming though, it had already been an hour. “Tanny, it has already been an hour. I think we both know she forgot.” I knew she was right but I hated admitting it. I finally agreed to let Mrs. Jones, my aunt Andy, take me home. (She had to since Mrs. T couldn’t). I couldn’t help but feel a pit in my throat knowing Quinn would be sitting at home forgetting about my existence. I knew she was forgetting me because she used to care so much about the fact that mom had hurt us. Except, now she was leaving me just like mom did. I wouldn’t forget this. Ever. It hurt so much that my sister was following our mother’s path.

When I got home, I saw Quinn exactly where I thought she would be- on the couch watching Gilmore Girls. I didn’t even say anything and ran up to my room. I sat on my bed crying. How could I not when I knew she had forgotten. She didn’t even notice I was home. I heard someone coming upstairs, so I wiped away my tears and acted like nothing happened. In my room came Quinn. “I’m so glad mom picked you up I was going to be late so I called her to get you.” “Did you not realize Andy dropped me off? Jeez, you don’t recognize anything. I came home and you were sitting on the couch. Mom was right where you left her. And I couldn’t help but run upstairs and cry thinking about how you are abandoning me just like mom.” I said. As soon as it came out of my mouth, I ran out of the house. I couldn’t handle it anymore.

I sat on our porch swing and faced the big tree. Quinn didn’t come out because she knew I needed space after what I had told her. All I could think about was the old tree. The tree. I had always been told to stay away from it. I didn’t know why. But now, it looks different. Is it the lighting? Is it because I have never seen it at this time before? I don’t think so. There has to be something. Maybe I should go look at it. I’m going over there. I want to see what happens. I got up and started running for the tree. Neither my mom or sister could keep me from it now. It’s not like either of them cared anymore.

I started climbing when I heard Quinn’s voice say “Tanny Elizabeth get down from there! You are going to get hurt!” I had to reply so I did. “You seem to care now but you didn’t earlier, you won’t tomorrow, and you never will again. I know how this goes. Don’t try and get me down because I’m not going to come down!” Quinn knew it was useless. She stopped trying. I knew she didn’t care. If she did she would have been more persistent for me to come down. But she didn’t. So, I kept climbing. I was close to the middle of the tree when I saw a small butterfly. It was very beautiful. Green and blue with black outlines. My favorite kind.

I got to the top and I tried to sit in the middle of the trunk, but there was nothing there. I fell and I heard my mother scream my name. I didn’t know what had happened but I saw a little door in the side of the tree. I no longer heard my mother’s voice, so I decided to go through the door. After I opened it, I saw paradise.I stepped out of the tree and admired my surroundings. I walked forward and a fairy looking thing came at me. “Hello! Welcome to paradise! My name is Noona. We will get you a room at the Inn. It is quite empty right now. I am so glad we have a visitor. Last time we had one of you it was 47 years ago. Her name was Mae, but we called her Marra. What is your name?” Asked the little fairy. “My name is Tanny, Tanny Elizabeth. What is this place?” “This place you ask? Well this is Temberville. Home of the unnatural and unreal. I hope you find us welcoming! I will introduce you to some people in town.” As we walked, Noona introduced me to two people. Zinnaya- Who is a fairy as well. She is VP of the whole town. Then there was Drimfas. Drimfas was a very old man. His original name was Freddy. Apparently he had fallen through the same tree and never wanted to leave, so he stayed. I figured the last person to come to this world was possibly my mother who went by Marra, but her name was Mae.

When we got to the Inn, Noona told me she would bring me some new clothes. I didn’t know what was wrong with my t-shirt and shorts, but if she wanted me to have new clothes I guess I would have new clothes. After I got settled in, I heard a knock on my door figuring it was Noona, but it wasn’t. It was Drimfas. He came in with a worried look on his face as he paced back and forth through my kitchen and living room. “We have to get you out of here. You can’t end up like me.” “Woah Drimfas, slow down. What do you mean?” I asked. He went on to explain how he went past the line. The line of life. It was dark and dreary and only real humans had ever gone there. Once somebody went there they decided to go back. He told me it was like taking a birdseye view of the earth and seeing everything bad about it. He had already told Noona that he was planning to leave. However, he wanted me to leave with him. But, I had only just gotten here. If he wanted to leave, he would leave by himself. Unless of course, he waited for me. He, thankfully, obeyed my wishes to stay.

It was finally time for Drimfas to leave. We had to wait until 7:13 in the evening to let him go back because that was the time that he arrived. He said his goodbyes and he walked through the door in the tree and then the door disappeared. That was it. The only other actual human being in this whole entire world was gone. I was all by myself now. Well, with the flowers and creatures and fairies. It felt as if I had lost a part of myself when he left. I had only known him for a little while, but it was a nice short time. Now I am the only human left in this place.

After Drimfas left, we just went back to what we were doing. I thought it was odd but I wasn’t going to stop them from doing their thing. Noona came up to me right after. “I know this might seem odd to you, but we don’t really celebrate when you leave. You might be going back to your world but we want you to stay with us. When anyone leaves, the darkness grows. We never tell anyone that. I tried to tell Drim, but he freaked out and wouldn’t listen. I had to tell you so that you wouldn’t leave.” she told me. I was very confused. How did the darkness move when people left? Were we the only things keeping this ecosystem alive? “So your saying if I leave the darkness will take over?” I asked. “Basically yes. Unless we can defeat the King of Darkness- Ozzy Osbourne.” I couldn’t believe that one of my favorite singers was in one world with me. However, he was trying to end the happiness of this little ecosystem. I hurried back to my room to see what I could do to save this world from Ozzy freaking Osbourne.

“AHHH HELP!” I heard Noona scream early in the morning. I looked out my window and the darkness was closing in on the world. I ran outside and I saw that she had been hurt by the darkness that was slowly closing in on us. When I got to her, it was too late. She was gone. I knew I had to save them from him. He was too dangerous. There was no other way but to kill him. I knew what I had to do.

I gathered everyone that was still alive in the town and I told them what had happened and what we had to do. They all agreed to help me. We got them armor that could protect them from the darkness and we headed out. We had to find where he was camped out. It was pretty obvious when we saw a giant black castle. We obviously didn’t knock but we did break in through a window. “I have been expecting you.” Ozzy said as we all fell in his window. “I am planning on taking over and all I have to do is get rid of your armor and you're all gone.” I thought about how he was very right but very wrong at the same time. He couldn’t just rip off our armor. It was harder than that. Then all of a sudden I hear Ozzy scream. I looked over to him and he was on the ground. Purple in the face and what appeared to be as very very very very dead.

All of the darkness cleared away and I heard a familiar voice. “You killed him! You saved our world!” Noona said as she came flying into the room. I knew what I had done and now I could leave. They had brought me here to kill the King of Darkness and that's what I did. I was ready to go home and everyone was ready to send me back to the real world.

I was sent back and the first thing I knew I was in a hospital. All I knew was that I had climbed back into a tree through a little tiny door. “Hey, how are you doing?” I heard a familiar voice ask. It was Quinn. She seemed very sincere and so I told her I was ok. My doctor had come in and told me what happened and how I had fallen through the tree and only got a concussion which was good, but they needed to keep me for a few nights to make sure I was truly okay. Quinn and my mom hired somebody to finally cut down the tree. I was just sad I would never get to go back to my wonderful fantasies of Noona and that crazy world that I just so happened to have killed Ozzy Osbourne in. What a crazy hallucination…

JEALOUSLY

I watch her walk past me

I look at her hair

A cloud of jealousy washes over me

My short brown hair cannot compare

To her long blonde locks of luxury

Her style I could never rock that

I stand in my shorts and t-shirt

As I watch her walk past

She walks to her friends with her lululemon

The popular ones who used to care

The ones she stole from me

She stole my popularity

This cloud of jealousy

Overwhelms me

THE GAME OF WONDERS

I had won the game

In the shed

Was my prize

That I had to get

The shed was scary

And big and dark

It was covered in a cloud

Of what appeared to be dust

I went in the shed

And was immediately locked in

I screamed for help

But no one came in