I continued to fight my way out of the shell for what seemed like hours, until finally my persistent efforts awarded me with a crack in my shell, large enough for me to squeeze my head through and push my way of my safe haven. ... I flippers couldn't propel me like they would in water where my body structure was built beautifully for. ... In the distance I could see the reflection of a bright light that, like the salty breeze, drew me in. ... The salty breeze that was with me since the beginning seemed to vanish and the light the guided us was gone, there was nothing but black and comple...

• Word Count: 1105
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

These black people were being mistreated by the whites and were being told to do meaningless things. It disturbed me a great deal. You remember the part where the blacks were being forced to blast away at this big rock. It was pointless, like firing into a continent. ... In many ways he was just like me entering the Congo. ...

• Word Count: 387
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

His smile greeted me. ... When I arrived at his house, he met me at the door and asked me to come in and have a seat on the couch, I was a little worried at this time. ... So, since I have said that, "I want to ask you a question." And he reached over to the dark brown oak end table beside him and picked up what looked to me like a small black box. He looked back at me and said 'Will you marry me,' as he opened the black box to reveal an elegantly lavishing looking solitaire diamond ring engagement set. ... When we finally broke apart and I sat back down on the couch, he took the...

• Word Count: 808
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

To me an alarm clock is more like an annoying mosquito flying around my head waiting for that right moment to strike its unsuspecting prey. ... Sitting on top of my mild, ivory-colored dresser, my alarm clock, with its bold black body and luminous numbers, almost like glaring, green eyes staring constantly at my every move during the day, I can't help but think that it is only plotting against me. ... In desperation, I slap it down to my floor, hoping that I have finally won, but to my dismay, it shocks me by biting my hand, letting me know that this battle isn't over; it has just ...

• Word Count: 470
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Every time I am here, there is nothing else but the beach and me. ... The wind blows my damp hair into my face, refreshing me with every gust. ... It is black and green with white spots on it, lime or something, which makes it cold and slick to the touch. ... I hold the seashell to my ear and hear the soft echo of the waves, like the sea itself was contained within its small chambers. ... The sun is gone and the ocean sinks into blackness. ...

• Word Count: 618
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Everything that could have gone wrong, smacked me in my face and left me with a black eye and my right cheek swollen with ignorance and carelessness. ... The whole room is pitch black except for the moon shining, guiding me with a path of light towards the bathroom. ... While picking pieces of my mind off the floor, I notice the mirror, half black and half lit from the reflection off the ground that's illuminated by the full moon, staring at me through my window. ... I feel like my brain is about to explode with emotions building up. ... Find me God, Find me- I fall over onto my back...

• Word Count: 884
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The team works together, as we watch we see the struggles from both the white and black teammates dealing with school, life, and the team coming together as one; not the black side and the white side, but as one team. ... The integration of schools was a big culture shock for both black and white students. ... Having this movie in a different time area than the one I have been alive in kept me very interested. ... The team, which in the beginning of the movie, can't even be in the same room together without fighting, becomes so close that each one considers the other like a brother....

• Word Count: 440
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

I always am able to answer myself when that thought arises and my answer is, "because although you don't fit in with them, you like how they are the nicest people you've ever met. ... The influence of the group not only affects me, but also the whole community.... This question did give me a nice perspective on how I conduct myself whenever I am in such diverse groups. ... The influence of the group not only affects me, but also the whole community.... This question did give me a nice perspective on how I conduct myself whenever I am in such diverse groups. ...

• Word Count: 827
• Approx Pages: 3

People of all kinds filled the empty space before the stage-I saw an elderly man in a Polo shirt and a girl dressed in black with fishnet stockings, both singing to the same tune. ... Then, my friends lifted me up and placed me on top of the world. ... I felt like I was on top of the world and nothing could hurt me then. ... Not me. ... Words can't give a feeling like this justice. ...

• Word Count: 606
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

As I looked above me, the light shined down on me as if it were going to encase an angel, a misty light blue with smeared streaks of darkness. ... I felt like I was having a seizure, but I knew I wasn't. ... Everything went black, I couldn't see anything, and I knew I was drifting into unconsciousness. ... "Ash, please don't ever leave me, I love you to pieces and I need you," she told me. ... It felt like I was being stabbed everywhere, I wanted it to stop. ...

• Word Count: 609
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Numerous theorists believe that academic letter grades are as close to a measurement of a person's mental capacity as white is to black. ... I felt like a struggling zebra fighting to remain at the equivalent of my other classmates that created my herd. ... Initially, the assessment caused me to investigate my past academic devotion. ... Like a bottle filling a baby that understanding fed my mind with the needed knowledge. ... Through my methods I truly believe that I embraced the change and shaped it in a way that would benefit me in my future. ...

• Word Count: 392
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

At the tender age of four, my parents surprised me with a new red bike. ... The dog lunged at me, knocking me off my bike and onto the ground. ... She had on her favorite winter attire, a big brown Eskimo jacket, which made her look like a big bear. ... When I first saw Sandy, I immediately, wanted to run and hide, but my father pulled me close, making me feel safe and secure. ... After, I was on the ground, I remember screaming, seeing blood, and total blackness, I had fainted. ...

• Word Count: 539
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

On the other hand the part that always got me down was the fact that everyone else could ski anything from The Bunny hill (the easiest hill) to Black Diamonds (the hardest) and even moguls (the bumps on the Black Diamonds that make them even harder). ... Not skiing the moguls was like when Jerry had "looked back over his shoulder at the wild bay as he played on the safe beach" (Lessing 176). ... Encouragement from everyone wasn't much help either because them telling me how easy it was and how non frightening it was only made me feel ridiculous for being frightened in the first place. ...

• Word Count: 1019
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

Now this shot isn't like a normal shot. ... I winced in pain as he injected me with the serum. ... I was shaking like a Chihuahua that hadn't went number 2 in two weeks. ... At that point I must have blacked out because next thing I knew I was in my hospital room. ... The next day, my teacher called me from school and had certain kids talk to me. ...

• Word Count: 722
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

It seems to be like any demolished residence: smashed windows, shingles falling from the roof, and concrete being chipped off from the porch. ... Suddenly, my brainless comment on leaving, rewinds over and over in my mind, leaving me with only sorrow and regret. ... I swing harder, kicking outward while leaning back against the will of the ropes in my hands, causing me to climb higher. My memory kicks in again, but only showing me the four-year-old girl I once was before. I see my little black boots in the air and turn around to see my mother pushing me swiftly, letting me be fearless and u...

• Word Count: 519
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

And the fact that I had no clue what their intensions would have been to appear like that in front of me, also made me even more uneasy about the situation. ... This was very strange to me. ... From the long brown hair all the way down to her stockings and black and blue tennis shoes. ... I even described what the girl looked like. ... We talked for hours, laughed, smiled and even picked on one another like she's been there this entire time. ...

• Word Count: 702
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

You set down the pair of rusted blocks of iron from your last set and glance at the black and white mural of Arnold Schwarzenegger staring down at you, then back at yourself in the mirror. This may all seem like a perturbed place in the eyes of others, but to me it is a place where I can truly let go of the world around me. ... This place is a second home to me. ... But as I continued to develop as a weight lifter, I realized how great it is to break the discomfort which once intimidated me. I had no idea that such a place could grow on me, it changed the whole way I look at life and developed...

• Word Count: 497
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

She was 17-years-old when she had me. ... Looking at pictures of her as a teenager, I see a woman who dealt with the pressures of a child at 17 and carried herself like a mature woman. ... She put the fear of God in me. ... She uses derogative names towards black people and is very closed minded against gays and lesbians. ... However, she loves to have lunch with me and my 24-year-old friends. ...

• Word Count: 454
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

This disease had eaten away at my immune system and left me feeling and looking like a train wreck. ... Grace was very beautiful, black shining ringlets framed her heart shaped face and boys fought for her attention, but only with Kat's blessing. ... Then with wild eyes Grace started to approach me. ... My shame and embarrassment stung me like a bee and I just wanted it all to end. ... I let my mum cuddle me like I was a baby, for what seemed like hours. ...

• Word Count: 984
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

You looked at me, dead in the eyes, like you could look through my body and into my soul. ... You once told me that life is like a handful of sand, slowly slipping away like time, and the sand that sticks on your hand in the end are the memories worth holding on to. ... I was watching you dying slowly and I don't even know what to do, so I put on a smile for you, just like how you put on a smile for me. A few days before you left me, it started raining, you told me that you wanted to feel the rain for you always loved it. ... A shooting star, a shooting star so bright that it lend me thro...

• Word Count: 1172
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

When I was young I was a really crazy kid that liked danger and was always getting in trouble for trying new things that are not good. ... I was a quick learner and my dad decided to buy me a bike when I was four years old, the bike my dad got me was a mean glossy black bike with a horn that could be heard miles away. ... I was four years old so grounded was literally only for like three days and I guess my dad saw that I really wanted to learn so he convinced my mom and fixed my bent handlebars from the accident and bought me a helmet. ... I wasn't a considered a big kid so when I rode ...

• Word Count: 1000
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

The expletives showered down like rain on a tin roof. ... What nerve this large black man had, whirling around his stick without a care. ... Just me and the catch of the day. ... And even that's too much for me to worry about most of the time. ... Anyways, you look like your down on your luck. ...

• Word Count: 469
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

Like the advertisement I am showing, a race car is not really the best thing to ride in unless you are in an actual race. ... You won't look like you are in a race competition. ... It also comes in many other colors like black, burgendy, forest green, red, navy blue and creme. ... If something makes me happy or makes anyone else happy, they should do whatever they think is right, and I know purchasing this ride is the right choice. ...

• Word Count: 357
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

The various colorful fish illuminate the underwater scene like a rainbow that stands out in the infinite blue sky. As the gleam of the sun hits the ocean, a large black tail glistens in the sun as a large whale breaks the crest of the water. ... I could finally relax and enjoy life while the ocean's beauty captivated me. It seemed like everyone who sat in their cozy cottages overlooking the ocean were engulfed by its presence. ... An air of peacefulness, happiness, and serenity surrounded me. ...

• Word Count: 708
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

Me? ... On me anyway. Realizing how cold people are, and that even if one can try as hard as they do to make kindness and heart infectious like the black plague...they still fail. ... I search for things to hold on to, to keep me alive, or to keep faith in. ... Others become like stone. ...

• Word Count: 1025
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School