Grace to Grass

CREATIVE WRITING
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CREATIVE WRITING
Short Story
Grace to Grass
Jones is a middle- aged man. He is seated at the couch in his house cutting a desolate figure. Things have changed for the worst. He can only recall the wonderful life that he had before his current situation. He just wishes if he could turn back the pages of time and relive his happy moments. For once he has realized that not all that glitters is gold and neither do things and situations last forever. His life was tumbling right before his face; he cannot save his face or that of his family.
Jones possessed a likeable personality, adequate flow of witty words, and good strong figure- the outward qualities of a high- flying manager. Besides, he was a man of sufficient income, and an air of pride and nobility oozed around him; this was expected especially having been brought up in an extremely wealthy family; he grew up in the Chicago City`s leafy suburbs often reserved for the "who is who" in the society; and attended the most important institutions of learning in the country. His position as manager at Gontran Company elevated his position further. In his life, he never knew what lacking meant, neither was he aware that people had to toil in order to be successful; greatness was bestowed on him since birth, he was literally born with a silver spoon. Due to the wealth of his parents he went through childhood and early adulthood with no hustle at all. Rumors had it that he paid his way to acquire a degree since he rarely stepped in classrooms for lectures; in addition, he paid his friends to do the assignments for him. After completing his undergraduate, he worked in his father`s company as one of the top managers. Since he lacked competency in management skills and ignored most of the advices given by the other managers, he greatly contributed to the dwindling profits of the businesses. His lavish lifestyle also meant that he dipped into the businesses accounts when he ran out of his own money. However, his father had a lot of faith in him and could hear none of the complaints from the other managers.
As a result of his father`s confidence in him, Jones was assured of his management position regardless of the complaints from the other managers. Although, after sometime, the other managers` complaints lowered his self-esteem and made him feel quite inferior the feeling of which he did not take well. He therefore, crafted for ways to ensure that they are dismissed from their jobs so that he can have the overall authority and employ new managers who will be ready to listen to his orders and put them in an awkward position to complain about his performance. After a period of deep thoughts and crafting, he eventually came up with an idea he thought was best enough to convince his father to dismiss the other top managers. And indeed yes, it was a very good idea that can make any business owner to take swift action against the perceived culprits. Jones laid two very serious claims to his father about the other managers; first, they were conspiring to defraud the company through a tender contract they were formulating for the supply of office equipment and provision of insurance services in the forthcoming financial year. Secondly, they would use the money obtained fraudulently from the company and their good relationship with customers to establish a new company with nearly the same name and which provide the same products and services as Gontran Company. As expected his father saw a threat to his business and immediately dismissed all the top managers apart from his son Jones who was made the managing director.
Under Jones management, the company recruited new managers who he had perceived to be having submissive traits during interviews. In letter of appointment he stated categorically to them that they must adhere to his policies and that he expected minimal complaints from them about his performance. As if that is not enough he created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation within the company; he despised the subordinate staff and he did not treat the new managers with the respect they deserve either. His wish was law- all the staff followed his commands even the ones they deemed detrimental to the company`s performance without questioning lest they lose their jobs. Jones did this with total disregard of the consequences of his actions. Sooner, the company began posting gradual decline in profits. Eventually, the profits were no more and the loss began to set in; this was a result of low motivation of employees and massive personal expenses by Jones from the company`s accounts. By the time his father realized what had happened to the company it was too late and the damage done was irreparable. He sought the advice of financial experts but they offered him no hope; in their analysis, the company had a lot of debts and made very little revenue.
Finally, Jones had brought misery to his family; they could no longer afford the lavish lifestyles they were used to. His father was full of regrets; only if he could have heed the advice about his son`s poor performance and incompetency may be things could have been different. Jones was remorseful of his past deeds and arrogance but it is too late; the milk is already split. His only wish is to be given new chance and he would do things differently; his past experience is the best teacher.
Satirical Piece
Facebook- Satire
Facebook is one of the major inventions of information technology; a global phenomenon that touches majority of people`s lives. There are a good number of people especially those who are above middle adulthood who are unhappy with this invention; they consider it as a waste of time and that it also reduce the social skills among individuals. Perhaps I should say that these are people who have not found out the excitement of Facebook, or maybe they are too old for it. But again, as I think of it Facebook is a bad thing. In fact nobody needs to be in Facebook, unless you are overly wealthy and do not need time to look for wealth. With the ever- increasing cost of living all over the world, you must be very unreasonable to waste almost half day hours, cumulatively in Facebook instead of looking for money. The chatting, viewing of video, pictures and profile and exchange of messages may indeed put food on your table. They say that Facebook brings people who have been separated by distance together, who said you need them in the first place? Out of sight, out of mind. Not only is Facebook credited for its ability to bring people from diverse ethnic, religious, racial, social and economic backgrounds together but also in enabling them share their diverse experience as well. I do not see the sense in this because Facebook is well known for not so good things such as encouraging infidelity in relationships, spread of hate messages and display of imagined lifestyles where individuals portray themselves the people they are not. Thus, Facebook should be frowned upon by any person worth his salt; after all, those who seem overly worthy in Facebook, are not so worthy in real life.
Modest Proposal
A Modest Proposal for Stopping the Spread of HIV/ AIDS
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is considered a pandemic with dire consequences ranging from economic, cultural to social. It is a disease of the human immune system that is caused by the Human Immune Virus (HIV). Despite a lot of research in regard to treatment of AIDS, there has been no breakthrough in finding its cure or its vaccine. Since finding solutions to cure AIDS has been elusive and the risk of spread of AIDS among our population is still at all time high especially due to lifestyles preferred by people, I have a modest proposal to solve this problem. Here it is:
Isolation and confinement of AIDS infected people will be the most effective solution to this pandemic. Therefore, I suggest that all the infected persons be held and confined in a strong room under maximum security. New incidences of infections should be reported instantly so that same action should be taken. We can no longer afford to put the lives of the majority population in danger in the name of freedom for all. Actually, it is the knowledge of AIDS- free society that allows individuals more freedom. Just like criminal offenders are outcast in the society, AIDS- infected persons should be treated as such. This solution will allow them to pursue their sexual pleasures among themselves without putting the lives of entire population in danger, in addition to letting them "die sweetly". Besides, this solution will go a long way in reducing the current massive resources that is channeled towards research, prevention and treatment of AIDS, thus, directing them to more essential sectors of the economy such as education and health. Thus, as observed this solution would be a win- win to the entire nation, if not the world.
Poem: Emily Dickinson style
Young Love
Rays of sunshine reflecting new day,
Daily hustles and bustles in the streets of Newark,
Jay and Joy, young love birds full of joy and happiness,
Nothing but love is between them,
They are holding hands; they are joined like fence`s chain link.
Theirs is a special bond for everyone to see, the blind can feel it,
They surely enjoying each other`s company,
The envy of many they are
In the world of superficial love, theirs seem deep and genuine
Bonds like this, with no doubts, are meant to last.
In the restaurant it is no different, young love that seem to be a lifetime
Their tender faces, suggests they are no more than teens,
Feeding each other, well- meant smiles and laughs,
And eyes focused to each other
Reminds the rest of us in the restaurant what true love is,
Had we not forgotten?
Posing question silently in us the older; what happened to such true love?
They seem not bothered with the world but their own world,
Touching each other`s skin,
A feeling they cannot find with anyone else,
Joy looking at Jay with her bright eyes,
His lips find a way to hers.
To Joy, Jay is her mighty king,
And she is his crown`s jewel
He is the mountain high and huge
She is the valley wide and green,
He is the pure and clean river
The ocean where her rest is.
They leave the restaurant hand in hand,
The air of love oozes around them
They give sweet love sight
Their tender age notwithstanding,
Or that is, actually, the age of love?
I only hope theirs lasts forever, never to be consumed but only to blossom.
Poem Using Network of Images
Ideal Summer Day
The summer morning sets in
With family and friends lazing around the house,
Seven o` clock,
No breakfast ready
House in an after- party mess,
None of them seems to care,
Mike the rabbit as canny as ever
Calmly and gently offers to clean the house
The trick is right there
No breakfast, no clean up!
Everybody still reluctant
Breakfast is still a mirage,
Sooner!
By the tolerance of Joy the pig,
We are assured of breakfast
Her reliability openly evident,
Us taking advantage of her "naivety"
Our younger sister indeed a blessing
To her we are admirable and heart descent.
O Ruth, monkey, the genius
Cheerful and energetic friend.
In her, all the dirty works of the house will be done,
All solutions needed for them are on table
This girl of pure genius rally us up
Tasks concluded.
Our stomachs full and house clean
Probably need some cheer ups?
Yes!
Jack the real monkey
Not short of ideas as usual.
Our uncle`s charm and charisma
Leads us to the play field
Some resistance notwithstanding;
Suggestions for mountain climbing and cycling
All absorbed by monkey`s charming,
Not done yet
Monkey decides not basketball,
But football,
Who are we to refuse his choice of ball?
All but mum- the goat
As always enjoys being with us,
But on the sidelines,
Her cheering comes in handy
In our football muddy
Her offer for a gift to the best,
Makes the game the best,
Voila! We call it a day,
Exhaustion in order
Back to our couches
Reflecting
What a great day it was?
Only if the house- chores will be forgotten,
Before squabbles over them begin.
Short Story
Mike`s Party
It was an ordinary Saturday morning, I had just woken after sleeping for some several ours, at least compensating the early morning hours I wake on weekdays. Without a really ideal plan for the day, I was lazing in bed texting friends. I did not want to get out of my bedroom, since my presence in my mother`s sight would mean being assigned some chores here and there around the house. Staying in my room is the most preferred option as she would think am still asleep and would bother less to call unless she got an urgent issue to be attended to. As I was just about to get out of bed, I received a call from my friend, Mike;
"Hello Peter"
"Hello" I replied
"Sorry for disturbing your sleep this early, I would just want to remind you that I have my birthday party tonight and you are invited", he said to me.
"Thanks a lot for the invitation, to be sincere I had forgotten that you got a birthday today", I told him
"No worry buddy, probably your new iPhone makes you forget everything" he joked.
(Chuckling) I responded "not quite."
"You welcomed" he said as he hung up the call.
Having had my evening plan sorted, I took a quick breakfast. But just as I was finishing my mother entered the dining room.
"Morning Peter" she greeted me
"Morning", I answered.
She then requested me to go along with her to the uncle`s place. But I pleaded with her to let me attend the birthday. Of which my wish was granted. I went on with my chores as I waited eagerly for the evening to set in.
Eventually, it was seven o`clock. I put on my favorite leather jacket, t-shirt, pair of jeans trouser and sneakers- just simply getting into party mood. After half an hour drive, I was at Mike`s place. This time was different because he no longer lived with his parents; after securing a job he moved out to his own house, but not so far away from his parent`s. I got there at right time when other friends and family members had just arrived. The party started in earnest; cheering and celebrations filled the house. Food and drinks were in desirable quantity. We ate and drank as we wished- after all another Mike`s party of the sort will be after a year. However, when the time for Mike to cut his birthday cake arrived, the worst happened- the cake happened to be stale and produced stinking smell. It seems it was mistakenly packaged or probably the store attendants at the mall had not checked on its expiry date. For a while, the mood in the party changed and everyone looked gloomy and disappointed.
This did not last for long, though, as Mike`s mother rushed to buy a fresher and indeed bigger cake. We went on with the party and tried to forget what had just happened. Although Mike`s mood got dampened a little more compared to the rest, it picked up as the party went on. His spirits were further raised by the gifts that he received from friends and family. By the time the party came to an end in the early hours of the morning, Mike was overwhelmed with joy and he summed it by saying:
"Then you all for coming and making my day great, I highly appreciate your presence and gifts. Many thanks".
Short Story
Never Say Die
Throughout her life, Valentina had been known as a determined, fearless and bold woman. She always went for what she wanted in life and no obstacle or challenge seemed so difficult for her to overcome. Her life was marked with many instances where she had demonstrated courage. She never feared failure and took any opportunity she saw head- on; if she failed, it was not failure but lesson learnt on how to do things differently and better next time. Having been brought up in a poor family, she defied all odds to become successful.
Valentina`s father was a painter while her mother owned a small fruits grocery. The combined income of her both parents could hardly cater for the family needs. Valentina was the first born, she had two younger brothers. Due to her parent`s meager income, they lived in a dilapidated apartment in the downtown slum neighborhood in Alabama State with poor water and sewerage systems. Besides, it was a very insecure environ that they had to be in the house pretty early. As a family, quality diet was a luxury; at least three meals a day was not guaranteed. The only time they could enjoy a quality meal was when a local charity organization could offer them free relief food or when visited by uncle of theirs who would bring them food. However, the other days they could survive on meals that their parents could manage to bring which in most cases was insufficient in quantity and quality.
In Valentina`s early life, she did not enjoy much luxury that her age- mates in well- to- do families did. Also, she was deprived of her childhood since instead of enjoying the various childhood plays and outings; she was often busy helping her mother in the grocery or at home taking care of her younger siblings. She did not attend the best schools either since her parents could not afford to pay the expensive school fees that such schools demand. However, despite these challenges she showed determination to succeed. She, thus, worked so hard especially on her academic work. She was always the most disciplined student in school as well. Probably, her poor background could not afford her the luxury of being indiscipline. Her hard work and discipline was noted by most teachers in the school. In fact, during one of the class lessons, Mrs. Lucy Truman, a teacher, asked her;
"You are so hard working and disciplined, what could be your motivation?"
"I want a better life for my family and myself", was her response.
Her hard work persisted even in high school, where she was always top of her class. During this time, her leadership qualities were evident, which may be as a result of taking responsibilities so early in life such as taking care of her younger siblings. She was, thus, appointed to be the school`s head prefect. Despite her major achievements in school, her family situation was getting worse day by day; her father could no longer find painting job as often as he did before due to country`s economic slowdown that resulted to reduced real estate developments. This meant, therefore, that her mother was the major contributor to their family sustenance. This development in their family could not deter her from pursuing her ambitions; it actually inspired her much more. One day when she was at home, her mother as if almost losing hope told her;
"Valentina, we are trying so much to make ends meet, but it seems the more we try the more things get worse. We can rarely afford even the basic of things nowadays. It seems our fate to destitution is sealed. Don`t you think life is quite unfair to us?"
Valentina having been touched by her mother`s sentiments, replied in her always- inspiring manner.
"Mum, everything has to come to an end at its appropriate time. The most important thing in life is learning how not to lose hope. We might be poor now but that does not mean we will not be rich sometime in future".
"It may take longer but eventually things will get better. Let us work hard and pray God to reward the work of our hands". She continued.
True to her prayers, Valentina`s hard work and discipline was rewarded almost immediately; she performed extremely well in her high school studies and was awarded a full scholarship by Rockefeller Foundation to study medicine in the prestigious Stanford University. Her fortunes were changing for the better. Her parents and siblings were becoming more optimistic; and they had all the reasons to. Since her scholarship included paid stipend for upkeep, she minimized her expenses and sent the savings to her parents. This enabled her parents meet some of the needs of the family especially to the other two children. Her star was shining more in the university as well; while most students were indulging in "pleasurable" lifestyles such as excessive drinking while paying little attention to their academic work, Valentina remained focused and this was evident in her results. She was finishing her projects within the set deadlines and performing well in examinations as well. This made her to be awarded the prestigious Chancellor`s award which had a lot of benefits including financial. This enabled her to further boost her parents` income, thus, improving their living conditions. They moved from the poor- conditioned house they were living in to a much better one in a well secured street. Besides, her mother was able to expand her grocery shop while her father established his own medium- sized painting company. Indeed, Valentina`s family was seeing better days.
After six years of studies, she graduated with Bachelor of Medicine degree much to the delight of her family and hers as well. Things were definitely getting better for her family. She immediately got a job as a doctor in one of the largest and reputable hospital in America- John Hopkins Hospital. During her break before she started work officially, she spent most of her time with her family. She always inspired them through her well-articulated words, ideas and desire to see her family better. She reminded her family the words she mentioned to her mother a few years ago but challenged them further.
"We have worked hard and God has rewarded our hard work and persistence. Let us thank Him, but not relent in our efforts for a much better future."
When Valentina started to work, she performed her work as a doctor with passion and due diligence. All patients she dealt with expressed their satisfaction of her service to them. She won praise and envy from workmates. Her exemplary work was open for all to see; the hospital recorded more patient satisfaction especially in her department. Due to this, she received numerous awards and bonuses. Since she earned good salary she helped her parents educate the other two children in one of the best schools in the country and she bought a well- furnished and spacious house for her family.
While working, he became close to one of her male colleagues called Jeremy. When not busy, they spent most of the time together; playing basketball, swimming among other things. As time went by, they developed feelings to each other and eventually felt in love. Being convinced that they are meant for each other, they decided to get married. They notified their family and friends of their intentions who consented without any doubts. Since they had received the blessings from friends and family, they went ahead to organize for a wedding. Being highly- paid doctors, resources for a wedding was adequate. They set a wedding date and invited friends and family in addition to other guests. The wedding was held to the excitement of all. They were showered with gifts of virtually all kinds. Her mother could not hide her excitement as she shed tears of joy. She could not imagine that out of such a humble background as theirs, her daughter could be holding one of the lavish and exciting weddings. Neither could she imagine the grandness displayed could befit a person like her daughter who did not have a privileged background at all. Nonetheless, this was literary "grass to grace" real story. Her father was equally elated and when given a chance to address the gathering at the wedding, he was startled speechless, but when he gathered some courage he said this:
"I am overly excited, God bless you all. Thank you."
A year later, Valentina and Jeremy were lucky to have a child, named Frank. Frank was a good- looking baby and showed a lot of excitement. He was a real delight to her parents. When Frank was three years old, Valentina and Jeremy decided to have another baby. This time round they got a baby- girl and they named her, Grace. Life was all good for them and they were indeed living their dreams; fantastic job, good house, nice cars in addition to being blessed with two wonderful kids. Their friends and family were also happy of their lives.
An event then occurred which changed their lives completely. One day, as Jeremy was driving to work, he encountered carjackers who ordered him to stop. He defied their orders prompting them to shoot at the car; unfortunately some bullets hit him in the head, chest and shoulder. This caused massive injuries to him; he was rushed to the hospital by the police and managed to get immediate attention. However, the extent of damage was so high that he became incapacitated and could no longer perform his duty as a doctor since there was severe damage to his head which made him ...