Stories

Chapter 3

“We should have brought our bikes,” said Charlie. “But maybe we can next time.” I agree with her. Right when I saw that we got to the park, I quickly ran as fast as I could to the swings. Charlie doesn’t follow me. And instead she goes on the slide. Mom and Dad go to the grass area and they go for a walk. I hopped out of the swing and followed them. I'm not trying to hear what they're talking about, but before I could tell them I was following them, I immediately heard them talking about something that I never thought I would hear them talk about because I thought they wouldn’t  care.  “Have you made any thoughts of getting Emma a dog?” Mom asks Dad. “Well, she really wants one, and I feel kind of bad for her when we keep saying no.” Dad replies. “Yeah, and-” Mom pauses. She turns around. Right at that moment, I knew I was in trouble. I'm sorry, I wasn’t trying to listen to your conversation, and I was just curious about what you could be talking about. I'm so sorry. I explain to her, and she says it’s ok. I’m relieved because I thought I was going to be in big trouble. But instead, Mom and Dad told me exactly what they were talking about, and asked me if I’m responsible enough for a dog. I respond by saying, “Yes Mom- well, at least I think I am.” Mom says, “How about we get you a practice dog until we know you are responsible enough. But only if Charlie wants a dog too.” I jump in excitement. Mom and Dad smile at me. I can tell they are happy since I’m happy! I ran to Charlie to tell her the news!  Charlie, Charlie! I scream. “What???” she asks. GUESS WHAT?! Charlie made a really confused face at me. So I just told her. And her reaction was not how I was expecting it to be. Do you not want a dog or something? “Well… I’m not a big fan of dogs.” But Mom says we can only get a dog if you also  want one too!! “Fine, if you REALLY want one, I guess I’ll just tell Mom and Dad that I also want a dog-BUT, only if you do my chores for a whole…MONTH!” NOOOOO!! I begged her, but it was obviously worthless. How can a 7 year old outsmart me so easily??!! I had to say yes because I  really want a dog, but I don’t like extra chores!! You know what Charlie? We’ve got a deal! But you know that when we get a dog, we both have to be responsible and both take care of it. “I know, I know,” She says.

Mom! When will we be getting a dog? “Does Charlie also want a dog?” Dad asks me. Yes, she wants one too. Charlie comes where dad, mom, and I are. “I want a dog too.” Charlie says. “Ok, do  you guys want to go to the dog shelter now?” Dad asks us. YES! I replied. I’m so excited!!! 

Once we got there, I was still really excited. Charlie doesn’t look that excited-but how is it possible not to LOVE dogs?? Charlie comes over to whisper in my ear, “Don’t be too excited. Remember, you still have to do double the amount of chores.” I roll my eyes at her. I knooooow! She laughs at me. I’m just happy I’m finally getting a dog. We walk over to where the dogs are. When I walk past the dogs, I  try to see which one I want, I see one that has scars all over it. It looks sad. I ask dad why it looks so hurt. Dad asks  the worker. And the worker says it was because it used to be a stray. I wonder why they would bring a stray in, and put it for adoption. I look deep into its eyes. I feel like I’m about to cry. I feel so bad for it. I walk closer to its cage. Maybe this is a sign. And maybe it’s telling me that I  should adopt it. The stray looks right into my eyes. I turn to Mom and Dad, and point to its cage. The first thing that comes out of my mouth is, “I want to adopt this one!” Dad and Mom remind me that it's a stray, and I tell them that I know and that I still really wanted it. I look at the puppy in the cage. I’m going to name you… Sadie!

     THE END!

Life Is Life 

By, Ben 

Chapter VII

Drew got out of the car, seeing angry faces of the people around him, besides Max who nodded and another person who just seemed confused.

“Hello, I have come to talk to you.” Drew said gently. “So you are the ‘Anonymous’ person who wrote that letter.” The worker scowled.

“I had a feeling this was you, good job Drew,” Max said.

“Now do all of you see that Drew has the potential to be useful in this job?’ Max asked optimistically.

“Anyone can write a note and throw it into an open window to make people meet up with them.” A worker argued.

“But I’m going to be okay at this job. You haven’t seen me work yet.”

“Drew’s right.” Max said, way more convincing than Drew. “Just because you didn’t see his potential, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have any.”

“Exactly. Thank you Max. Do you still not want me to join here?” Drew asked.

“I don’t want you to be hired. Just because I haven’t seen your potential, also doesn’t mean you have any either.” A worker said.

“Drew, I understand that you don’t have a job and you want money, but you need to learn that life isn’t always fair. And money isn’t that good anyway.” An employee said softly.

“I’m not just doing it for money. I never had a good relationship with my mom. She kicked me out of the house, I then got tempted to be obese and drink often, and now everyone but Max and maybe my dad hate me, and getting this job might show the world that I am not a loser and I can do stuff, and maybe that would  make people appreciate me more. And now can I please have this job to get back my reputation of capability?”

“I don’t know Drew, I’m sorry, but my loyalty isn’t with you, and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to let you be here anyway.” The same employee who thought Drew wanted the job for money said.

“Quiet, Samantha, we won’t let Drew have this job, and if you continue acting so sympathetic, our boss will probably fire you, unlike Max who is too skilled to fire. But even Max might get fired.” A worker said.

Drew realized that Max seemed to have enough, “Drew is gonna be hired, whether you like it or not.” But when Max said that, his boss went out of the room. 

“What is going on here? Drew! What are you doing here? You can’t be here!” “Tell him Drew.” A worker smiled.

“Yeah, Drew, tell him.” Another said, making Drew feel kind of uncomfortable with everyone staring at him, waiting for him to ask to be hired and make a fool out of himself. But everyone was still staring at him. So he realized the only way to get out of this was to speak.

“I have come here to get hired. I don’t care if you don’t like me, or think I would be bad at this.” Drew said, trying to sound confident, but failing.

“I think you should care, because I don’t like you, and think you would be bad at this, so I just simply won’t hire you.”

“But Drew can still–” Max said, but his boss stopped him. “Why are you here? Leave, all of you!” The workers started to go into their cars, but their boss stopped one of them.

“Ethan, come here.” Once the employee Drew assumed was Ethan, his boss spoke. “Good, I just wanted to let you know that you are fired.”

“What? Why? It was Max who was defending Drew.” “I don’t care! Max at least is good at this job. I wouldn’t tolerate imperfection, and you once put an orange in the tangerine section. That is not perfect. Max never screwed up. You may leave now.” He then turned to Drew.

“And what are you doing here? Didn’t I tell everybody to leave!” “Sorry!” Drew said quickly and scurried away into his car, and left.

As Drew was leaving, all he could feel was surprise. He thought Max was gonna get fired if someone was. He didn’t expect anyone to get fired.

Drew also wondered if he fired Ethan, just to not waste any time. And if Max actually never screwed up. He seemed at least twenty five years old, so how could he not have made at least one mistake?

After all, when I first met Max, Max told me he shared not being serious with me. Could it have been possible he lied just to make friends with me?

But why would Max want to make friends with me? I literally increased the risk of him getting fired when he became friends.

Or there was that chance that Max kind of like Drew desired to have a job nearby where he lived to have people in his town knowing that he isn’t a failure and even also had a bad childhood. But took it way more seriously and was stressed enough to not mess up so he did everything he could Or he might have hid the mistakes to not get fired.

At this point, Drew didn’t really care what Max was hiding from him or his boss. Being this isolated from having a good life made him mostly only focus on himself.

Drew didn’t really need to focus on anyone anymore but Max and possibly his dad, because they were the only people who were kind to him.

Drew really just needed to get the job and then everything might be good. He just wanted to have a good life for at least a year. Then even if that life gets taken away from him, he could at least cherish the life he had for a time which was too short.

Drew drove to his house and started to think about something he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought about already.

How did the meeting go? Okay, he knew it went bad, the employees still hated him and didn’t want him to get hired.

But could it have been possible that together with Max, we might have made Samantha, I think that is her name, on our side? Nah, she seemed to be empathetic but still with her boss. Well then I guess I pretty much know the answer.

Drew realized how obvious the answer was, and why he didn’t think about that before it was because he knew what happened in the meeting.

Before he even thought about that, he already knew that the result of the meeting was that it turned out to be horrible.

Chapter VIII

Drew went into his house and walked around in a circle, thinking about what to do next. Perhaps I could try my best to organize another meeting?

If he did it once, why couldn’t he do it again? He could just get another paper and this time write Drew instead of anonymous because they would probably know it was him.

He got a paper and a pencil, then wrote the same thing, maybe different wording, because why would he remember exactly what he wrote? Well this is what he wrote:

Meet up at 8:20, again. This might seem like a stupid idea but trust me, I’m not a failure and someone who won’t be able to contribute to this job, even if I seem to be useless.       -Drew

He went back into the shop and threw the paper in the window again, then an employee instantly saw it so he opened and read it.

He went outside. “Go away Drew, you won’t be hired, and that's the end.” The worker went back inside.

I will not fail anyone. Oh well, I guess there is only one thing left for me to do. Drew went into the shop, and went to where he was first gonna get  employed.

He saw an employee he recognized talk to his boss. “And I only failed once, but Max is annoying and keeps begging for Drew to be hired, while I am  your most loyal employee. So why can’t you fire Max instead of me?”

“Ethan, just accept it! You’re fired, and just like Drew, you won’t convince me.” Ethan shook his head and walked away, only then, his boss noticed Drew.

“Great, what do you want now? I appreciate your persistence, but that’s not good enough to be accepted into this job. I want somebody who is   actually productive, unlike you.”

“But I am, I think. I haven’t ever tried, so stop judging me because of my lifestyle. How did you know mine anyway?”

“I know if someone is alcoholic and obese when I see them. I saw your face, I saw how fat you are, and I saw your posture which shows tiredness, definitely not from drinking all day.”

“But I actually drink like three bottles every two days, not all the time. But what if you hire me, and if I am bad, you can fire me, and if I don’t ever mess up, your business is more productive.” Drew said, not able to think of an argument to his idea.

“I’m not fond of taking that risk. What if you are bad and mess up too much, then people would give bad reviews, then what would I do? I would rather not hire you at all, because my business is actually good, so why should I ruin it right now? I get what you're saying but the chances of you not messing up are too low. Now don’t ever ask to be hired again, because the answer is no, and the more you ask, the more I would want to not hire you.”

“I promise you I won’t mess up, just please hire me. I need this job, why do you think nobody including you has high hopes for me not failing the job? I am actually realistically skilled.” Drew lied.

“I don’t care! Leave!” Drew realized that he couldn’t argue for now, so he left. When he exited the shop, he met Ethan. 

“Was your luck different from mine?” Ethan grumbled. “No. He just can’t be convinced.” Drew agreed.

“I have an idea.” Ethan said. “What if we team up together, and hopefully both succeed to get hired. Only accept the job if he lets both of us join.” Ethan said.

What Drew really needed was a friend, besides Ethan would not only be his friend, but also help him get hired. “Of course.” Drew said.

“Okay. Meet up next to the shop but where we are still technically allowed to be here tomorrow. Is 8:20 again a good time for you?”

“Sure, I don’t have this job so I can’t be busy anyway. I’ll avoid eating lunch at that time.” Drew replied.

“Nice, I will avoid doing things when it is about that time.” Ethan said, and left into his car, and so did Drew when he couldn’t see Ethan anymore.

Drew went back into his house, silently praying that he and Ethan would get the job. But what he didn’t understand was why Ethan wanted the job. Probably just for money to survive. Drew didn’t need money yet. He needed a proper life.

He also realized how weird it felt talking to an employee besides Max. Well, I guess it doesn’t really count because Ethan is no longer an employee.

Drew also kinda hoped he could make friends with every worker, he did seem to see how Samantha might have had a chance. But probably still not. Again, she was empathetic, but not on Drew’s side.

Drew now had an entire day left. He might order some Mcdonald’s. Wait no, I have to eat in healthier restaurants now. So he went back to the fancy restaurant he went to a day ago, knowing that the food doesn’t taste that bad.

Drew went to it, and ordered some random stuff that  might have been the things he ate before. And ate them. This tastes horrible! I should start memorizing what I got last time.

Drew decided that next time he goes to the restaurant he should get a paper and pencil to write down what he should and shouldn’t get for future visits.

Drew drove back this time completely active to meet Ethan. Now all he had to do was to do something while waiting. Maybe he could check the time and see people were still working, then he could see if he could somehow meet up with Max?

He checked the time: 7:00, he recalled seeing a sign that says that it closes at 7:10 he could just wait ten minutes for Max to leave then ask him to come

He went next to the shop, and it seemed closed. He noticed the sign, and it said that it closes at 6:10. Oh.

Drew went back to his jeep, to go home and just sleep to waste time instead.

Drew had no problem falling asleep, and of course, setting his alarm first. He was now completely prepared with his alarm to meet up with Ethan, for tomorrow.

Chapter IX

BEEP! Drew turned off his alarm. Why did it have to be this loud today? Oh well. Drew got up. He still had to wait again, for the same time.

It would still be worth it, so Drew didn’t exactly care. This time, he didn’t feel in a hurry anymore, he had the entire day until the store closes.

He tossed some cereal into a bowl and poured some milk and took his time eating it. It’s like I have too much time.

While eating slowly, Drew had an interesting thought. How would teamwork with Ethan help either of us get the job either again or for the first time? Oh yeah, probably because unless we make a mistake, it would be double the productivity.

Drew then finished it and took a long nap, and of course, set his alarm first. When he woke up, he checked the time, and he only slept for about seven minutes.

He wanted to wake up to his alarm for once, which would go off after an hour minus the short amount of time he spent sleeping.

After half an hour, he finally fell asleep, then eventually the alarm went off. In a second, he stopped the horrible beeping noise.

Perhaps I was so excited to meet Ethan, that I couldn’t fall asleep waiting for about five hours. At least I got some sleep just now. Although I’m not that hungry yet. I should just sleep some more. I’ll probably be hungry in another half hour, so I should actually probably not sleep if I won’t manage to anyway.

Drew, still kind of tired but not tired enough to sleep, got out of the bed, and started thinking about what he should do instead of sleep because he won’t be able to in the thirty minutes left of the alarm.

So Drew just daydreamed about what he would tell Ethan when they met up. The only thing he needed now was to be prepared when he met up with Ethan.

So, I guess I could just start by saying hi. Then we could just talk about how we would get the job, maybe by doing some stuff like somehow convincing Ethan’s old boss. Okay, no, he can’t be convinced at this point. Max and I have tried everything. Okay, I should just think of it as I go. Ethan hopefully has ideas. Drew thought.

Drew continued to think about stuff like how he would get the job with Ethan until he realized something which might help him be hired.

What if I work together with both Ethan and Max. then we can all together help me and Ethan be hired. After all, Max is pretty persuasive, Ethan used to be hired and did only one thing to get fired, and he could just see how desperate I am to get hired to have purpose in life, and together, I’m positive we could pull that off.

The alarm went off again, so Drew turned it off and continued thinking about what he should do to get hired. But then he started to realize something.

I know this job would give me redemption that I can do stuff and I would have a purpose in life, but is it really worth it? This job is harsh, and it has a strict boss, I’m sure most of the employees secretly hate him. And even if I get hired and like it, the second I mess up at the slightest thing, I would be fired and lose my chance to be hired again, possibly forever. Am I just wasting my time? I guess I’ll have to risk it.

Drew got up and again drove to the same restaurant again, ignoring how bored he was, going to one place every day. Still, he needed to be thinner to look more trustworthy. And this is America. There aren’t many restaurants which aren’t fast food.

But at least Drew was right. He was now hungry after waiting for thirty minutes. So he got into his car and drove.

Drew then had an idea. Why don’t I ask Max’s boss to see me work for himself. It won’t hurt his business for me to just demonstrate somewhere else as if I was actually doing it.

Drew then got to the restaurant and at the end decided that he would do that idea after he finishes eating. I wouldn’t consider that as procrastinating if I am just eating.

This time, Drew didn’t enjoy the food anymore. I should eat at Wendy's next time, it’s okay, just once. Drew decided.

Drew finished his meal, resenting the experience, he got back up to his car, and drove to his house. He set his alarm to 8:10, and went to sleep.

BEEP! The alarm continued to terrorize Drew. Really, I can hear it. It’s louder than it was before. Is there some sort of volume button I accidentally pressed or did and forgot?

Drew then finally found a volume button and lowered it, wondering how he never noticed it standing right there.

Drew slowly got off of his bed and went into his car to meet Ethan. Finally, I waited so long for this. Now it will finally happen.

Drew happily got outside to go into his car and meet Ethan after all the waiting he had to do for this interesting meeting.

Drew drove to the store , and saw Ethan, waiting for him. He exited the car and walked to Ethan. As he approached Ethan, he kind of pictured himself working with Max and Ethan and not making any mistake to match the strict requirements. 

But then Ethan’s voice  interrupted his day dreaming. “Hello Drew” Ethan greeted Drew.  “Hi, are you ready?” Drew asked.

“Of course I am, what do you think?” Ethan said a bit rudely, but Drew ignored his minor attitude. Drew continued talking

“So, Ethan, do you know what we might be able to do to get the job?” Drew asked eagerly, hoping the answer would be yes. He waited for this, and hoped the waiting would be worth it.

“Yes, I have an idea, but it might be difficult. We might need Max’s help.” Drew remembered that idea that he was planning but thought wouldn’t work. Now he just realized that it might be his only chance.

“Okay, let’s try to meet up with Max tomorrow.” Drew said. “Sounds good.” Then Ethan left the shop, and so did Drew.

To be continued…