Coming After You

Blood dripping down his face, falling down to the ground as he stood there. Staring at me. Red drops came streaming from the corners of his mouth. Fresh blood showing he had set his teeth in a living something. Something that might soon be dead.

He turned his head to the side, giving me an examination before taking one step forward. With his hands behind his back he looked at me intensely. I saw his empty eyes going from my neck to my side down to the floor. The grin appearing on the bottom half of his face changed his look. He did not only look dangerous, he looked like a disgusting creature. Except for the few drops of blood that landed on his ripped shirt, his hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks and the stench that came from his presence was like death. He was enjoying this. The anticipation felt good to him.

‘Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!’ Screaming from the corner of the room I had scrammed myself into, I was trying to get him to stop. Begging him to stop as I had been since the first minute I saw him. He took another step forward, coming closer and closer to me. Not giving me any space to move. I was stuck and he was pleased with himself. It was obvious in his eyes, now so bright it was almost like they were glowing.

An excruciating pain shot through my body and I went flying across the room. His hands had grabbed the back of my head and with ease he had thrown me against the wall on the opposite side of the huge room. My head hit the concrete wall and it created a bloodstain the shape of a cloud. More blood came rushing from my veins. If I had the time, I would be wondering about how much blood was lost by now. Liters, probably a third if not half of all my blood I had already lost to him. I was scared for my life and was not sure how much longer I could go without any help.

‘Stop running. You are not going anywhere.’ His voice was scary with an accent so thick I could barely understand what he was saying. ‘Just give up. We both know you cannot out run me.’

I don’t know how I had gotten myself in this situation but it would not be long before my body would shut down. After running for such a long time from something so strong it was bound to give up. 

My head felt as if it was bleeding like a waterfall. My thigh, where he had ripped me open before, did not stop pounding underneath my weakening grip. Not willing to give up, my mind pushed a bit more. I did not have any strength to stand up or move in any kind of way. Because of that, talking was my only option. ‘You don’t want to kill me. This is not what you want to be known for.’

He stopped in his path and clicked with his tongue before turning his head again. ‘See and this is where you are wrong. I do, very much so.’ It was like he smiled for a second but then the evil grin was back on his face. ‘I take it you haven’t seen the posters across town?’ I didn’t know what to say so I kept quiet, hoping he would go on and explain it to me himself. ‘O? You didn’t, did you? That is amazing. Teenagers are so oblivious to their surrounds…’

I tried to swallow my fear but my throat was too dry. Breathing was becoming harder. I wanted him to let me go. I didn’t know what I did, it seemed to be a mistake and now I had him coming after me. ‘What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything wrong to you.’ My eyes were filled with tears as I felt his hand go up my arm and rest on my shoulder. I started shaking heavily and within seconds I was trying to calm myself back down. I felt him rubbing the skin of my neck with his thumb. Knowing what was going to happen I forced myself not to think about it.  

‘On those posters are missing people. People that I have killed. Soon enough your face will be on one of those posters. Soon enough you will just be another one of them...'

Halloween

It was my first time celebrating Halloween. Apparently, here it is a big deal. Everyone dresses up, decorates their house, throws a party or goes trick or treating with little kids. That all, when Halloween is just not a thing back home. I mean yes it is but no. Some people have small decorations, some people go trick or treating, some people give them candy and some kids even go as far as throwing a white sheet over their heads as a costume. In the end, nobody really celebrates the death because that’s all it is right?

So here I was putting my Halloween costume on when I heard something moving in my closet. I turned around to see my friend going through my clothes. ‘What are you doing?’ Ruth looked up for a second but then went back to what she was doing. ‘Trying to find something to wear for tonight.’ I saw her pulling out different items, looking at it for a second and then dropping it. ‘Ho. Hold it right there. I don’t want a mess in here. And you are not going to find anything in there. If you recall, I told you thousands of times, we don’t ‘do’ Halloween and I had to go out and buy my costume.’ She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. ‘No, you don’t get it. I want to look attractive, there is going to be cute guys there.’ Her ignorance made me sick. It has been like this for weeks and if we were not forced to be friends I would have lashed out on here so many times already. ‘Ruth, no I don’t want you wearing my clothes.'
 

I know it is not nice to say but it is pure honesty. Something she could learn from. She calls me rude and maybe it is but I don’t care. I don’t want anyone to ever think that we are alike. We’re not. I am honest (and rude) while she pretends to be some sort of nice person, calls everybody beautiful or gorgeous and everything looks good on everybody. She is lying. Sure everyone is beautiful to someone but not everybody is beautiful to you being the one person that you are. If someone is wearing something that makes them look hideous you don’t go ahead and tell them they look good. You tell them it does not look good and then advice them to do something else. If you don’t, you are lying. It doesn’t matter who it is or how old they are. Always tell them how it is. When they look back later and realize how stupid they actually looked, they will remember you telling them they looked beautiful when they obviously didn’t. They will remember how you told them time and time again they looked good; they will start to doubt you. Were you ever honest at all? When did they actually look good, if they did at any point?

I get that people might think I am rude by saying this. Everyone has their own taste and all but if your face looks like a canvas painting because your makeup makes you look like a deformed Barbie doll then nobody will argue with that. So don’t tell someone with a canvas painting-like face they look good. You are lying and you know it. That is not a case of difference in taste. That is case of ‘one of the two is just as stupid as the deformed Barbie doll’.

Remind yourself, there is a difference between looking beautiful and being beautiful. Chose your words wisely. I am saying you should not tell everyone they look beautiful, like Ruth does.

Like I said, everyone is beautiful to someone. That is true. Actually, in your life you will be truly beautiful to tens of people. Maybe even more than hundred, thinking you won’t end up being a polished public figure.

So don't forget: you are beautiful, you just might not look like it.

Music Lyrics

I never hit so hard in love.

In the torn up town, no postcode envy.

All I wanted was to break your walls.

In a tidal wave of mystery.

And now, you're not coming down.

I came in like a wrecking ball.

I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies.

We clawed, we chained, our hearts in vain.

Even if we're six feet underground.

I will always want you.

Music In My Ears: Ask A Teacher About Music

What music or songs reminds you of your childhood?

Miss Orman: anything from the 80's.
Me: K3, a Belgium group with three girls.


Who is your favorite singer or group or song and why?

Mr Griffin: Learning How To Fly - Tom Petty
Me: Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Little Mix, Demi Lovato.

What music reminds you of someone you love? Your child? Spouse? Parents?

Miss Orman: Lennard Cohen, jazz music and Miles Davis
Me: Annie Lennox reminds me of my mom because she loves her.




Do you go to concerts? Which concerts are memorable to you? Why?

Miss Orman: whenever she can go, she wants to go to see Bruce Springteen.
Me: Yes I love going. I loved seeing Annie Lennox in London when I was not even ten years old with my mom. One Direction was my favorite, in both London and Amsterdam!

Which music or atist was 'controversial' or 'offensive' to some when you were growing up? Is any offensive to you now?

Mr Griffin: Eminem was seen as offensive but nowadays nothing is offensive to him.
Me: Lil Wayne. Just no.

Which music or artist do you really dislike or refuse to listen to?

Mr. Griffin: Justin Bieber. Why? 'Because I am not a little teenage girl.'
Me: Lil Wayne. Your IQ goes down by listening to that guy.

Six-Word Memoirs

A foreign exchange student from Holland.

Born, lived, died. All for you.

Shoot first, think later. - Chicago, Illinois.

Trevor: pizza lover and friends maker.

Jaden: my sister and best friend.

Baby you light up my world.

It's a party in the USA.

When am I gonna marry Harry?

Through My Window

Straight ahead I see a road with trees on the other side,
To my left I see our front porch.
There are two deer there, eating grass.
I have always heard of the deer being out there, I just have never seen them before.
The leaves, just fallen off the trees, on the ground seem interesting to them.
The look like mother and child, maybe, somewhere further away, the father is looking out for them.

Black Out

Because I was ill the day the class actually did the assignment, I don't have the book pages but I used an internet news article instead. In this article the reporter writes about new baby names. In here I blacked out every word that was not a name.


New Baby Names For 2013: The Newest Ideas On Nameberry

Written by Pamela Redmond Satran for Nameberry

 

Think there are no new names? Think again. Among the newest of the 50,000 baby names in Nameberry's database are ancient religious names ripe for modern revival, fresh nicknames for old favorites, and nature, word, and surnames transformed into firsts. One may be right for your 2013 baby.

Bellamy: The up-and-coming Bellamy is a surname-y riff on the trendy Bella genre of names. While the Bella connection makes Bellamy feel more popular than it really is -– there were only 53 girls named Bellamy in the most recent year counted, vs. nearly 20,000 named Isabella -– we see it rising through the ranks in the coming year.

Bizzy and Zibby: Elizabeth is a name that keeps on giving, maintaining her centuries-long usability while inspiring new nicknames for each generation. Our two newest: Bizzy and Zibby, both fresh, adorable, right for our fast-paced times.

Chrysanthemum: This rare flower name is a symbol of the sun in Japan. The heroine of a children's book called Chysanthemum by writer and illustrator, Kevin Henkes, loves her distinctive flower name until classmates tease her about it, making it an excellent storybook choices for any child with an unusual name.

Elowen: Elowen is a Cornish nature name that means "elm," a relatively new entry to the lexicon thanks to the revival of the Cornish language. Two other Cornish names new to Nameberry are the saints’ names Keverne for boys and Merrin for girls.

Eos: Eos -- pronounced with a long e at the beginning and two syllables -- is the Greek corollary of Aurora, goddess of the dawn. This ancient name with a sleek, modern feel might be an innovative way to honor grandma Dawn.

Eyre: This lovely name -- the Old Norse surname Eyre sounds just like air -- is best-known as the surname of eponymous Bronte heroine Jane, and would make an appealing and distinctive middle name for the daughter or son of fans of that book.

Hallam: British surname Hallam was used as a first by the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who named his son after his dear friend Arthur Henry Hallam. Tennyson, whose own surname was used as a first for his son by Russell Crowe, wrote one of his greatest poems for Hallam.

Kilala: Sanskrit name Kilala, which means "ambosia," comes to our attention via the princess heroine of a manga series. Kilala is a fresh way to get to the stylish double-L sound also heard in Lily, Lola and Delilah. Indian place name Kerala is another new entry on Nameberry.

Maro: Maro, an ancient saint's name as well as a Japanese name meaning myself, is given to a figure who rings the bell in the European city of Dubrovnik. The name Maro may stem from the Roman Marcellus, related to Mars, the god of war, or it may be a feminine form of Maria, connected with Mario.

Mazarine: The charming French Mazarine is a color name also used for a butterfly that bears the deep blue hue. It was originally used as a first name in honor of Cardinal Mazarin, a leader of France in the 17th century.

Senara: Senara is the name of a saint who also figures in a mermaid myth. The church of St. Senara in Cornwall houses the mermaid chair made famous in the novel by Sue Monk Kidd. The name Senara is related to the Breton name Azenor, itself a variation of Eleanor and Helen meaning “bright.”

Spartacus: Spartacus is the famous name of an ancient Roman slave -- and star of his own eponymous TV series! -- who led a slave revolt and became a renowned gladiator, only to die in the ring. Not considered baby-appropriate for centuries, Spartacus just might rise again along with the names of his fellow gladiators.

Tupelo: Author Tupelo Hassman turned this name of a Mississippi town, best known as the birthplace of Elvis Presley, into a contemporary first name. Tupelo might also be considered a nature name, as it’s the name of a southern tree with soft, light wood.

Whimsy: Whimsy is a, yes, whimsical word name, sibling to Pixie and Bliss. While it has an undeniable offbeat English aristocratic charm (maybe we're thinking of Dorothy Sayers' fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose middle name was Death?), we see this as more fitting for a middle than a first name

 

Poems for Paintings

Poppies Blooming

 

Poppies Blooming in a field.

Nearby the only church in town.

On Sunday people walking through.

Women with umbrella's.

Kids in Sunday clothing.

Families together, people alone.

Coming in union, as one.

To celebrate together before they leave.

Leave to go home, back to their own.

Back through the field with Poppies Blooming.

 

 

 

Water Lilies

Water Lilies in the pond.

Far away from reality, in a world to imagine.

With romantic couples rowing in little boats.

Birds chirping their songs and frogs singing along.

Fish jumping out of the water, trying to see.

What was happening to me, as never before.

I was swimming in the pond with magic water.

My legs turning in to a tail, my hands in power.

I could hear what the fish were saying, what the birds were singing.

As I dove under, taking my last breath towards the Water Lilies.

Artist Profile - Monet

My artist's full name is... Oscar Claude Monet

His date of birth is... November 14th 1840

His date of death is... December 5th 1926

His father's name was... Claude Adolphe Monet

His father's occupation was... a grocery business

His mother's name was... Louise Justine Aubrée Monet

His mother's occupation was... a grocery business

His siblings were: one older brother

He went to school to Le Havre secondary school of Arts. He dropped out when he was sixteen because his mother passed away.

He was married once to a woman named Camille Doncieux. They got married in 1870 but she died of tuberculosis in 1879.

While he was alive there was a lot happening in the world:

- Civil War in 1861 to 1865

- First World War in 1914 to 1918

- French occupation of Mexico in 1863 to 1867

- Franco-Prussian war in 1870 to 1871

- War of the Pacific in 1879 to 1884

He did not have an easy life, he had to deal with the death of his mother, the death of his wife and in the last years that he was alive he lived in Paris during the first world war.

One thing most people might not know about this artist is: he lived in The Netherlands for a while.

Monet mostly worke with watercolor and he is associated with the movement called Impresionism.

Monet's most famous works include: Sunrise, Women in the Garden & La Grenouillère.

Two pieces I like are:

- Water Lilies (1906), because I saw the painting in the movie Titanic and I love that movie. It is also the reason why I picked Monet to be the artist I'd write about because I don't know a lot of artists.

- Poppies Blooming (1873), because my grandma was called Poppy and she passed away before my mom even met my dad so I'd want to talk about that painting because it reminds me of her.

Edward Hopper

I see... A lady grabbing some fruit from the buffet.

I hear... People talking to each other in the background

I smell... Freshly baked bread

I taste... Orange juice

I feel... Like I am on holiday in France

I remember... When I went to London and had breakfast in a very small French looking café. It looked really fancy from the outside but their tea was bitter and the food was gross.

With people's voices in the background, there were hundreds of guests eating in the breakfast room of the hotel in Paris. The cooks worked through the night to get all the food ready in time. Hours of baking, cutting fruit in pieces and preparing meals were needed before the staff could bring it out to the people waiting to eat their breakfast. A lady at one of the big round tables stood up and walked to the buffet. From the corner of her eye she saw a couple sitting at one of the other, much smaller, tables. She tilted her head to the side, trying to hear what they were telling each other. All she got was giggles from the lady when the man told her another one of his jokes. She smiled as she figuered that the two must be on one of their first dates. She looked back at the company she had at her own table. Then she looked down at her hand and saw her ring glinstering in the light that came into the room from one of the high windows. Once again she looked at her table and saw that there was now a man staring back at her. She laughed and walked back, back to her fiancé.

Just Desert

Anne had always had a passion for what others would consider 'scary'. The mystery behind it had always intrigued her. It would draw her in like a paper towel does to water. It was like she never had a choice.

Earlier that evening her parents had decided it was time for them to go out for dinner to catch up on what was going on, so she was on her own.

She got up from her comfortable spot on the couch when she heard someone call for her. Completely aware of the moment, she felt herself change. Lacking any expression on her face she walked towards the noise.

The sound kept growing stronger and she became more emotionless with every step she took, reaching into the darkness that was in front of her, her arms stretching into nothing.

Her white nightgown was flowing around her like the wind swept it up even though all the doors and windows were shut and locked.

Anne brought herself in the direction of the kitchen, not knowing what made her go there except the noise that was now screaming out her name. It was a deafening sound and it hurt her ears as if someone was trying to put a needle through her eardrum.

Her body was out of control. She wanted to put her hands up to cover her ears, but she couldn't. Too afraid to face what made her do all of this, she wanted to run away. But again, she couldn't.

She remembered one time when her brother took off running for his life when they were at their grandparents place.

Back then she had had the exact same reaction as she was having now.

She could feel her body moving but she wasn't in control of what was happening. It wouldn't be long until the unknown would have her completely in its possession. She knew it was coming.

Her legs dragged her into the kitchen and right at that moment her sight got blocked. She was blinded but not like she had ever been before. All she could see was white, scaring her even more than the black had done the last time.

That was the moment she felt a click in her head and she was gone.

The unknown had taken over, possessing her body just like it had before. In one way, she was used to having something else inside her body while she was just floating in the air. She was like a shadow of herself, waiting to be left alone so she could go back into her body.

She could see herself walking towards the light that now, even from this distance, made her eyes squint. She waited a few seconds to let her eyes adjust to the brightness, they couldn't. It was too much, she couldn't get used to it. The longer she kept watching her body do things that were not controlled by her, the more pain she felt.

Not being able to see what was going on in front of her body, she was not able to see what she was walking towards. All she could see was what was happening to her body itself and what was happening to the other side of it, the opposite side of the light. She saw herself reaching out, trying to touch the object. Her hands, or better still the body's hands, reached into the light and she could no longer see them, they were taken in by the light.

All she could do was trying to concentrate on watching the movements the arms made. She hoped it would help her figure out what was there. The body stepped back and then forward again, as if it had to make room for something. The shoulder pulling back, as if it had to pull something towards itself, as if it was opening something.

She couldn't see the drawers but she had lived there all her life, she knew what was in them. The body opened the drawer, while she kept trying to remember what was in there. Then she saw the body turn around, turning its back to the light. In her right hand was a butcher knife, with a blade so sharp she could just imagine it cutting through her skin effortlessly.

The arm brought the knife up to the face, and without any hesitation the hand turned the blade towards the cheek of the girls' lifeless body and pushed it against the skin. Anne saw how blood started dripping down the blade in flows of redness, the streams going faster as the cut became deeper.

The body turned back around to face the light which was as bright as she imagined the sun to be. The hand whipped the blood, that was still covering the blade, off onto the cheek it had just cut into. Only to smudge it even more than it already was. She saw her body moving towards the light again. She could see what her body was doing, what she was doing. She lowered the knife and it grew even brighter.

The poster

The Poster

This poster is big
with many different colors
for example blue
but also colors like green
white brown beige black and stone shapes

I think this poster is okay. I don't really like it and I don't really not like it. It's just that I don't mind it being there. I wouldn't buy it in the store, I wouldn't put it up somewhere in my house but I just don't really care for it.

It has a cool effect and it makes me feel like it is winter and it is freezing.

It makes me think of our holiday house we have back home, an hour and a half away from where I actually live. It has cool decorations, it is often cold there and it won't really heat up that easily but it still feels warm and cosy. I used to come there as a kid and play outside for hours and hours, climbing in trees, collecting pinecones and swimming in the pool. I'd always have scratched knees, something I can't imagine having anymore now. I would always be running around, playing with my brother or other kids I met there. I'd fall and trip all the time, not even having time to put any bandages on my wounds until 'late' in the evening when someone would drag me inside, put me in the bathtub and take care of what damage I had done to myself that day. I've become really careful with what I do and I don't like getting dirty unless I plan on it. I am that girl that walks around with hand sanitizer and a tide-to-go stick. When it comes down to it I don't mind getting dirty at all but, like I said, I'd have to plan on it and be able to go home and shower right away.

Pillow

The pillow

The pillow made me think of several things but in no way, shape or form about sleeping.

Actually it reminds me of pyramids, Cleopatra and mummy's. You often see how mummy's are wrapped in sheets of canvas or something alike and the pillow looked just like that to me. It's rather disturbing.

I imagine the smell to be disgusting, like death has been sitting in it for thousands of years. Who would want to lay their head on that? Nobody, let alone actually falling asleep on it.

I like how someone mentioned that it looked like it had something to do with an chicken, a dragon egg, a ship and what not because honestly, I can not say anything else about the pillow than I already did.

I don't want to fall asleep with my head on something that mummy's have been wrapped in and smells like death.


Haiku:

Pyramids make me
think Cleopatra was old
wrinkled and dusty.

What will your future be like?

I liked the video that the lady showed us with all the things that meant happiness to the student. I think she did a really good job, I liked the angles she used and I loved the music. The speaker asked that if the music would have been Miley Cyrus it would have made us just as happy as this song had. I was the only one, of course, who said "YES" really loud because everybody knows I love Miley even though I don't agree with her decisions. I liked the assignment the teacher gave the students because it really makes them think of what does make them happy. And how they could show that to others.
I think the commercial with the girl, the mother and the bag of chips was really inappropriate. Society complains how young kids and teeagers have no respect and don't have any manners. Well, no wonder they don't if commercials like this one are shown on television. I'd say either say watch what you show them or suck it up and stop complaining.

According to the paper she handed out there's several schools throughout the United States but the schools all have different classes / majors / courses / whatever you call them but how do they decide which of those are they going to teach there?

I would like to be an event planner
 

I am supposed to go back home once this schoolyear is over so I'll be going to school there but as the website is in Dutch I figured that linking that would not make any sense. If I would be going to a college in America I would really have liked to go to FIDM. I don't know if that is realistic at all but a girl can dream, right?