1998 Creative Writing Contest Winners

"My Personal Odyssey"

If you know Greek mythology, you recognize the name of Odysseus, also known as Ulysses, and remember his difficult trip home after the Trojan War. From his name comes the word "odyssey," which the dictionary defines as "any extended wandering or journey." In writing about your own odyssey, consider a significant journey that you have made, a trip of the body, mind, or the imagination.

My Personal Odyssey

"What the?" I said as I listened to the news report.
"A new scientific breakthrough, light-powered space rockets, allows people to afford their own space shuttles! And, they can go faster than light in space!" The news reporter went on and on about other stuff, but what my mind was on was that I could afford my own spacecraft! My own spacecraft! I couldn't believe it! It was like I swallowed a million energy pills. I mean I was really pumped up!

I raced through my homework, and since my parents were at work after school, I was home by myself. I had written down the address to mail a letter to order the spacecraft. I called my mom and dad on the phone and, of course, they did not let me buy the thing of my dreams.

I spent the next month trying to convince my parents to get the spaceship and they kept on saying no. No, no, no. Why was that word even invented? Well, anyway, after that month ended, my parents finally got so tired of my begging that they bought the spaceship. When the box containing it came, which took another two months, I took the scissors and cut the packaging tape off. It looked like a giant stick, about ten feet, with a big pod section in the front and two  light-powered engines on either side of the back of the stick.

When I went inside, I saw that the controls were quite simple. An instruction manual told me that the ship used a mind link, which required you to keep concentration and kind of fly it with your mind. The controls I saw were the on and off switch, the shield control (on, off), and the computer keyboard and mouse. And the best thing was the whole-shebang cost - $777.

After I had gone through the instruction manual, I decided to make a test run.

When I was out of the atmosphere, I looked into the deep blackness of space. But that darkness was illuminated by the constant glow of the bright stars of yellow flame. I hit the faster-than-light-travel button, and I was zooming off. I turned around and punched the button again. Now, when I was back right on top of earth, I thought of my house in Agoura Hills. I directed the ship to my house and landed in the backyard because it was the only place within our property line that was big enough for the spaceship to fit.

The next day at school I told all my friends about my new spaceship. None of them were very impressed except my friend who lived across the street and had seen the ship land and take off.

That afternoon I finally got to start my real journey. When I was in deep space after a light speed jump, I seemed to be nearing a planet. It looked as pretty as Earth from this view. I decided not to land or I might get zapped or something. I'm kidding, but who knows? They might have had phasers like on Star Trek.

I saw a lot of constellations up close and personal such as Hercules, Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Pisces the Fish, and Orion the Hunter. The computer connected the dots and drew the pictures for me so I didn't have to play dot to dot.

I've always wondered, "How big is the universe?" Like my grandfather used to tell my dad, when pigs can fly, I'll tell you why. I guess that's what the masters of the universe were saying to me. When pigs can fly, I'll tell you why.

Next, I saw a nebula. It was a bunch of dust particles together with light on them, which helps you to see them. After that I could barely make out the shape of a black hole. I did not go near it because I knew its gravity pull could crush entire planets!

When I went to a solar system much like our own, I got closer to the asteroids orbiting around the sun. There were only five planets in this solar system. I landed on the fourth closest to the sun and looked around a little bit. I took out my soccer ball and kicked it upward. It took a long time to get back down because this planet's gravity was not all that strong.

I punched in the light speed button and zoomed away. This time I got out of the galaxy. I looked towards the Milky Way. It was very pretty. It looked like a big circle with spokes coming out of it. I turned the ship around and saw a lot of other similar galaxies. There were oval ones; circular ones with only two spokes, irregular-shaped ones, and many more.

When I was just flying along having fun, I didn't notice I entered the middle of an intergalactic space war. I happened to be eating a banana right then and after I was done, I threw the peel out of the hatch. I finally noticed the war when a great green beam of light lanced towards my ship and missed it by a bare quarter inch. I found the weapon system and grabbed the joystick.  Anybody who shot at me I shot back at, careful not to hit them because I did not want an alien race to get mad at me for disintegrating one of their ships. I was having fun. It was like a video game come to life! Since I had a lot of games at home, I had had plenty of practice. The fighting in the intergalactic war seemed natural to me.

No time to talk now. The sensors of my ship saw a few new alien ships materializing in back of me. I turned around to face the new enemy. They were well trained, and one almost hit my ship with its weapons. I replied quickly with a fire of my own weapons, which nicked the side of what looked like the leader's ship. It left a dark burn mark on the side of the leader's ship. After dodging and firing for a while, an exploding sound came from the leader's ship. Then I realized what I had done. My banana peel had gotten stuck in the engines of the leader's ship, and the engines had overloaded and exploded.

While one side retreated, the other side rejoiced.

I had turned the tide of an intergalactic space war by eating a banana. It seemed pathetic to me, but to the aliens I was a big hero. The boy who threw a banana peel out of the hatch and had caught it in the engine of the leader's ship to win a battle. Pathetic. Very pathetic. But anyway, now back to normal, sane life because all this seemed too insane.

When I looked at the air display, it showed that I had about half an hour left of air. After exploring the universe for fifteen more minutes, I decided it was time to go back home. I went through the landing procedure, and I was in the back yard once more, back on Earth, on land. With no artificial gravity or other things like that.

This whole journey made me think. What started all this? Was it that my parents let me buy this ship? Or was it when this type of ship was invented?  Well, anyway, with my exploration or journey over...

In a few years, transportation relied on this new aircraft to get people around, and I became the first person ever to fly one of these models. Cars are now antiques. Motors are not used anymore. Everything the human race had thought was advanced technology is now primitive. Technology for the human race is headed for the advanced rating in the scales of the universe.  Vehicles did not cause pollution anymore. Car racing was history. Now there is aircraft racing with long tubes used as tracks so the aircraft does not go off course. It's like a road. The speed limits are now ten light years per hour on the new freeways. There are no longer any driveways, just little tubes that lead to the garage in the front of the house. Jets are no longer needed. Just about all the old ways of transportation are all gone. All gone. Poof! No more. All of this because of a new invention that led to a whole new life on planet Earth.

"My Imagination"

My imagination takes me to the heart of South Africa.
Beyond the world, my city, my people.
Into the history of the strong African sister and brother.
It takes me to a place where I lie my head upon a white tiger when I am tired
And feed upon the fruits of this nation with a great giraffe when I am hungry.
I run along side the black panther
or sit and watch his coat shine in the sun
I lie in a meadow of laughing hyenas without one trying to overcome my power
for in this land, they know I am queen.
The one to walk with the king of all kings

"The Lion"

I bathe with the unforgettable elephant or take a journey high above the worldon his back.
I can brush the spots of a cheetah or play the day away with lion cubs.
My imagination lets me run in the wind filled with pollen.
And dance in the tears of the trees.
Do you hear the jungle song of the night
or see the gold eyes of the Congo?
The leopard and I prowl deep in the forest.
Silently in search of a meal.
In my imagination,
I am far away from my troubles of the city
I am in a magnificent place.
An adventurous land.
I know this is mine,
when I ride into a village on the back of a leopard and every one bows at my feet.
Because in my imagination, I am more than just anyone.
I am "Queen" ...........

My Personal Odyssey

I feel a whispering wind cross my face as the curtain parts silently across the stage. The very first thing I perceive is the all-encompassing darkness that, although pervasive, is charged with excitement and anticipation of some unknown event. I feel like Whitman's spider, "surrounded, yet detached..." from the multitude of nameless, faceless people crowded into the theater for one purpose: to watch me. It's so easy to lose myself in that feeling of electrification as I stand, unseen and anonymous, safely behind the curtain wing. I drift for awhile ... and then I hear thrum-pum-pum ... I remember.

The fiery Spanish music of the flamenco guitar draws me out of my shell onto the stage, now aglow with vibrant colors of red and orange. I move languidly into center view, raising my arms above my head, piercing through the darkness with my gaze, focusing my energy upon distant figures of humanity. My movements are slow now, exacting each turn of my head with extreme precision, establishing my presence as the sole focus of attention. Thrum-pum-pum ... it begins.

The sweet flamenco lets me transcend the earthly constraints of thought and action, I become the gypsy - passionate, unpredictable, haughty. My feet execute pass after pass of footwork, zapaterias, while I flair my skirt about me like the corona of the sun. It is a feeling of inexorable freedom, independent of all inhibitions. I am in control, the guitarist plays to my rhythm and we combine to create a transient illusion of fire and life.  Thrum-pum-pum-pum-Bum ... it ends as suddenly as it began. Everything comes back to me in a flood of emotion and piercing light. After the applause and appreciation have subsided I am cast into the darkness once more. I am mortal once more, but the happiness and freedom of the performance linger in my mind like the memory of a dear friend.

My life is built upon a balance of contrasting forces. While I am a passionate and enthusiastic dancer, especially of ballet and flamenco, I feel my true calling in life transcends pure aesthetics. In verity, I am utterly devoted to the study of natural science. So great is my fascination with science that I have spent the last year and a half actively researching the effects human-created disturbance has on intertidal ecosystems. Tromping through the dark night across wet boulders and being ravaged by the waves while collecting slimy specimens is a far cry from the glamour and affectation of the stage.

When I first discovered the world of science my initial reaction was extreme: either I would dance or I would research, there would be no coexistence of the two. This schism was further widened by the sheer time requirements necessary to pursue each activity. As a result, I took a year's hiatus from all forms of dance and concentrated all my energies solely on my scientific research.

Although at the time it was truly impossible for me to spend three hours at the barre and still pursue research, I realized that my life was unbalanced and incomplete without dance. While it wasn't apparent to me when I first examined the situation, over the course of many years dance had become an integral part of my being. I came to understand that much of who I am resulted from my experience with dance and that I identify myself within my art. In fact, discipline, dedication, and the willingness to repeat actions until perfection is reached are all qualities I gained from dance which aided me immeasurably in my scientific endeavors.

In reality, my life without dance was not only unbalanced, but unhappy as well. Dance provides me with the opportunity to channel all my emotions and upset into a positive and aesthetic form. Through dance I can shed all my inhibitions, however temporarily, and experience the sheer joy of living. I feel I have achieved a certain balance in my life: science still dominates my interest, but I temper that interest with the aesthetic release and appreciation of dance. It occurs to me that this is one of many metamorphoses that will take place in my life, beginning in the dark, and hopefully coming to fruition in the warm, vibrant light of understanding and happiness.