ELAR Writings

Hatchet, by Gary Paulson, has a main protagonist named Brian. Brian has many problems in his life. Including being in a plane crash, finding out that his mother is cheating on her husband (The Secret), having to survive on his own in the wild, and facing many dangerous natural occurrences. Some struggles that I have/had in my life include, worrying too much, my parents’ divorce, and taking life for granted. Brian and I have very different lives, but we also have some incidents that are similar. 

I have had to struggle with living with the fact that my parents are divorced for half of my life. They only broke up because they always were fighting. This can be a tough burden to live with when it happens earlier in your days. Brian also lives with the fact of his parents divorcing because of his mother cheating on her husband. Brian describes this strain as, “...was like a knife cutting into him. Slicing deep into him with hate.” This is when he remembers seeing his mother kissing that other man. Although he is always thinking about this aching topic, he is also pushing through and trying to focus on his survival. 

While he is trying to endure being away from family, he is also pounded with many situations where he is forced to face the wrath of the Earth. He faces a tornado and a plane crash, almost drowning, a moose, and just finding food. While Brian Robison faces almost all of the earth’s greatest challenges, I just sit at home, having life easy. I have a lot of food in my refrigerator, a lot of items in my bedroom, and a bunch of things that I don't even use. I know I take life for granted.

In conclusion, Brian and I have things in our life that are similar, and some things that are different. Paulson illustrates a beautiful world of many possibilities and opportunities for Brian Robison.

13-YEAR-OLD BOY STRANDED IN CANADIAN WOODS FOR 54 DAYS BEFORE RESCUE

This fateful morning, at 10:22 am, the Canadian government sent a search plane to find a pilot that had a heart attack and died. Thirteen year-old Brian Robeson was then found merely hours later while searching for the pilot (name unknown). Brian said that he was on a Cessna 406 bushplane to visit his father in Canada, when the pilot suddenly had a heart attack, leaving Robeson to attempt to fly the plane on his own. Without knowing what to do when the plane got out of control, he crashed in an L-shaped lake in the Canadian woods. He was then left to survive in the forest with only clothes on his back and a small hatchet. 

For what anyone knew, the pilot of the Cessna bushplane had no medical records of Coronary heart disease, or high blood pressure. So he likely died of old age, stress, or heart failure.

Brian was found after the course of fifty-four days due to a distress signal by radio. The people listening to the radio mentioned a voice, but couldn't understand it well. They described the voice as, “It sounded like a kid, but it was distorted. I think he said something about his name being ‘B____ ______son,’ and that he and a deceased pilot ​were in a plane over the Canadian woods.”  This controller had thought that the reason the voice was distorted was because the radio battery had not been replaced or that the emergency radio had not been used in a very long time.

When Brian arrived back at the police station in New York, his mother was more than overjoyed to see him alive and back home. Police said his father gave no response, he was likely  never aware of Brian’s missing persons report. 

1/27/2024, K LaRose News, United States

About 3 or 4 years ago, my mom, brother, and I would drive to Houston, TX every other month to visit my grandparents. When we arrived, we would unpack our belongings, and then immediately dash to their backyard. 

My grandparent’s backyard was a huge, monstrous place. There were lots of different places where we could go to pass the time. This included a pond, pathway, bridge, broken down zipline area, walking stick basket, chicken coop, and greatest of all: a forest.

If I was ever bored in that old and creaky house, I would explore their giant backyard. One of my favorite places to go to was a wooden pathway. It was fun because it led to many different points in my Granny and PawPaw’s backyard. When you were walking on it, you passed their weird Moai-looking statues. When you got to the end of the pathway, you saw this giant rock with a painted-on tic-tac-toe board. Instead of Xs or Os, there were smaller rocks painted like ladybugs and beetles. 

Since my grandparents wouldn't let us go in the forest alone, we would try to go on a little walk each day. Though, my Pawpaw had to stay at the house because his back always hurt. 

Sometimes, their dogs, Gracie and Stella, would come along. However, they could only come along if someone was with them, for their collars were set to certain boundaries. For example, if they ever traveled outside those certain boundaries, it would make a high pitched sound which only dogs could hear. Because of this, they always waited by the gate; even if they did not have their collars on. They would wait for my Granny to take their ‘collars’ off, then the very next second where they felt their necks were free, Gracie and Stella would jolt into the forest. After a while, they would always come right back to the porch. 

My brother, Xander, and I always loved our walks. We were very fascinated by how tall the trees were, what it sounded like when it was quiet, how muddy the ground would get when it rained, and how green nature was. It was always mesmerizing, memorable, and magical. 

One sunny morning, Xander and I were intensely bored and wanted to play a quick game of hide-and-seek. Our rules stated that we couldn't hide outside, and that we had to count for one minute without peeking through your hands. Xander had claimed the role of hider, so that meant that 6-year-old me was stuck being the boring old seeker. Without telling any adult about what we were doing, I started counting to one minute. 

Ten seconds, then thirty, then forty seconds, then sixty. 

“Ready or not, here I come!” I said. I then removed my hands from my face, and opened my eyes. I started to search the one story house for my older brother. 

After three or so minutes of searching the house for my brother, I soon realized that he was nowhere to be found. I had searched the living room, kitchen, everyone’s rooms, and the cluttered hallways. There was only one story, so it wasn't like he was hiding in an attic upstairs or in a secret room.

The last place to look was the hallway bathroom. I opened the door. I peeked in the closet, looked behind the shower curtain, and carefully scrutinized the cabinets. My tiny brain was full of thoughts like, “Where did he go? Did he disappear? Did I overlook? Did I not look enough? Did he wander outside, despite our rules?”

I told my mom and Granny. After I explained what had happened, they quickly looked around the house. Then, they had a distressful idea. “What if he accidentally hid outside?” It could’ve been a possibility, but I was uncertain. I realized that it was the only choice if I ever wanted to see him again.

We opened the porch door and walked out, hoping that Xander was out there. Somewhere. 

Once we stepped out, the bright sun shone through the trees. The soothing breeze whooshed against our desperate faces. We glanced around, hoping to see a small boy in a neon red shirt, but all we saw was green: the color of nature. We then stepped onto the wooden path, heading towards the woods. 

“Xander! Where are you?!” shouted my mom.

I then saw a tiny head peek out from behind a tall, thick tree. Once I had recognized my older brother, I dashed over to him, calling over my mom and Granny.

“Hello? Why are you guys screaming?” said the one hiding behind the tree. 

“We were looking for you! The rules said that no one was supposed to go outside, Xander!” I replied.

“Oh, sorry.” he said as my mom took a deep breath of reassurance.

“Next time, please pay attention and think about your safety.” she said, staring at my brother. “There are all kinds of dangerous creatures out here.” added my Granny.

We all went back inside, with Xander’s clueless hand in mine, hoping to ‘never’ play hide-and-seek again. 

Kenley M. LaRose

Attending school can be exhausting. You have to carry along heavy books and assignments throughout the whole day, stay up to finish homework, wake up before the sun, ignore the kids who think they are the boss of you, and even get to class in a shorter amount of time than it seems. Usually, people would not want to go, but if we never went to school, no one would be able to live their lives as normally or as efficiently as we could if we did go to school. Although it may be hard to want to go to school, it must be obligatory.

First of all, if you never learned how to get a stable, professional, and profitable job, you would not live the life that your family wants/wants you to have or be able to provide for you and your family. Even if you got the most perfect job in the world, you still would not know how to do it correctly, thus leading to no pay. For example, if you wanted to become an attorney, you would need to perceive how to advise and represent clients in criminal or civil happenings and improvise a professional-sounding speech, with hundreds of eyes on you, with your heart beating fast, with your mind empty because you would not know what to say. There are many things to do, which is stressful when not completed correctly. However, if you continue every day through your school years and college, you will know exactly how to handle every circumstance or situation. This would make you feel confident to look forward to your experience and its pay. 

Also, going to school can provide extra ways to make you excel further in your life. If you do not want to acquire a professional job, you could try an apprenticeship or something that still proves yourself. In addition, by learning how to do extra curricular activities, you have knowledge that tests your problem solving, collaboration, communication, improvisational, and confidence skills. National Center for Education Statistics (.gov) says, “Public school seniors reporting selected indicators of school success by participation in extracurricular activities.” This means by students engaging in after school extracurricular activities while younger, sets your future self up for easy success.

Schools could make learning a more enjoyable experience so people could be more detail-oriented, improve their abilities to do everyday tasks, and higher their intelligence. They could also do things to help you want to go to school like making projects, homework, and assignments more fun. They could also teach you about your interests and what you want to continue doing throughout your life. They could also offer simple rewards for doing well on assignments and tasks. This will make students more focused and determined to complete their tasks well in their classes and later in their lives. 

In general, students should go to school so they don't miss out on any mandatory opportunities in their lifetime. Though learning could/would/will be difficult, people still go to school, so please try to promise your future to be exceptionally distinguished and successful. Plus, if people came to classes, they would be more mature, collected, detailed, and educated. This will cause more people to look for schools to go to and succeed. Although going to school and trying to deal with everything is hard, think of what the world would be like without learning.

Two teen nymphs meet up for their first October activity at 11:24 pm. Ether and Kyle are relaxing in their clubhouse, waiting for one individual to arrive. Ether is in his swivel chair with his pink tail swaying back and forth, drawing with his black and pink headphones plugged into his phone. Kyle is sitting on a blue bean bag chair reading his favorite novel about ghost hunting. Suddenly, there is a powerful knock at the door when the clubhouse´s lights flicker. 

“Hey, Ether, could you please get the door?” Kyle softly said, refusing to glance up from his book. 

There is a long pause. Though Kyle repeated his question louder, Ether continued to draw.

“Ugh, fine. I guess I´ll have to get it.” Kyle says under his breath as he slowly leans up from his seat, walking towards the dirty brown door. He starts to open it with an exhausted expression on his face. Finally, when Kyle turned the circular knob, a blue-haired figure quickly pushed through the door.

“Seriously guys? What is taking you so long?! I’ve been waiting on the porch bench for forever!” Iris says after a quick sigh. “Anyway, why don't you guys have your backpacks and things on? Hurry up and let's go!”

The other two just stood for a second, trying to recollect what their best friend was yelling at them for. However, there was no time. Iris had already pushed them out the door. 

“Hold on, I forgot something…” She runned back into the clubhouse to grab everyone's backpacks and flashlights. After a minute, she comes back out and locks the door.

“Ok! Nooow we can go!”

The three start walking down the long, narrow sidewalk side-by-side as the gray moon shone on the street. The crickets and cicadas sing as their shoes walk past a forest gate.

“Hey, Iris?” Ether poutfully asked. For, he was disappointed that he did not get the chance to finish his song. “Why are we going to the Never Forest at night again?”

“Because that is the whole point of our club? The Abandoned Seekers??” Ether was clueless, yet kept walking, reaching for his flashlight. “The point is to explore abandoned places at night to get the spook factor!!” She smiles with determination as she adjusts her glasses.

Kyle interrupted them. “We really agreed to that idiotic name?”

“Whatever, just go with it,” said Ether. “Wait, guys. Do you know where we are?” He adjusted his flashlight to make it shine brighter, then waved it around to try to see anything other than rocks, dead grass, tall trees, and dirt. The others also turned their light sticks and flashlights on to help illuminate the area. Iris was to Ether’s left.

“I think we might’ve gone to dee-” Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a shift in the tone around them, for there was a rustle in the brush. The forest was then quiet enough to hear a leaf float into a puddle. 

A shadowed figure came out behind them, breaking the silence.

“Hey! What are you guys doing out here?” Ginger says.

“We could ask the same question for you…” the club members say in unison, looking at each other with a startled look.

“Well, if you want, I can show you back to your clubhouse, it's getting late so you should probably end your club session?” The red-clothed person said, as if persistent.

“Wait, Ginger, how did you know we were in a club session? You don't even know what it is based on, you never pay attention to us, and, we are already always doing things together. How would this be different?” Iris spoke as she stood as a professional detective.

Suddenly, Ginger’s eyebrows tipped downwards, her face in rage. She attempts to run away fast, only to trip on a large rock. Her body starts to transform in weird ways; each of her two arms split into three, becoming new limbs. Another tail grew beside the first. Her skin became a new pointy, sharp, and purple surface. On top of everything, she grew taller. The monster started to get back up.

Ether, Iris, and Kyle were just standing there. Frozen. Horrified. Their frenemy was no longer the spector they once knew.

It was never actually her, but a monster known as a Cephelosextbrachioporphuroechinseptoculoduocornusduocaudpod. This creature covered in horns is known to impersonate your friends or anyone for that matter. They have the ability to horridly shape-shift. 

If you ever encounter one of these beings, run away and don't look back. For they could get to know you well, then take over your life, pretending to be the new you. 

Don't be like our friends of The Abandoned Seekers, be wary of where you go. There could always be a possibility of where you shall never be seen again.