Black Magic

           by 

Pavithra Nair, Grade 9

Black was always my favorite color

Like the ink that filled my pen

Like the night spangled with a million stars

Like the blank thoughts that I dared not speak

Black was the color that I always chose

To draw attention in a crowd

To cover the splinters of my character

To pave the way for me to walk,

I was always attracted to black,

But when I followed it blindly,

It led to the path of my demise.

(If you like Pavithra's writing, please share it and leave an encouraging comment.)

 

Over the Moon, Literally

by 

Archit Aggarwal, Grade 7

Have you ever done something as extraordinary as stepping on the moon? Well, I have, and it was a moment of immense pride. 

Taking off from Earth was not easy. We were sitting in a gigantic spaceship, wearing hefty spacesuits, and a heavy helmet with Anti-Ultraviolet Rays glass. The spaceship was pure white. It had three parts, the top part, the middle part and the bottom part. The launching pad was mostly reddish pink, with a speck of orange. 

Soon, the launching time arrived, and everyone in the spaceship started tapping their foot and muttering that they will miss Earth. The spaceship started emitting smoke from the rocket engines. 10 seconds later, a blazing fire poured out of the engines, and the rocket started going vertically towards the fluffy clouds above us. From far, I could see people rejoicing our launch, and a few were jumping with joy. 

Once the rocket reached mid atmosphere, the sun started blinding us and we had to put our helmets on. We could not hear anything, and our noses could not track anything that was going on. Soon the main engine fell off and we were left with only the rocket. 

Suddenly, all of us felt a very tingling sensation, and we started flying here and there, bumping into each other. Everyone in the spaceship started rejoicing! The people on Earth radioed into our spaceship and congratulated us on escaping Earth’s gravitational force. Our spaceship was now roaming in permanent darkness.

Few minutes after we left Earth, the big, heavy bottom part of the spaceship fell out. And then the middle part fell out too. This part of the journey to moon was the most relaxing part. We had to sail in complete darkness for two more months.

Whenever I woke up to my most-annoying alarm, which was scheduled to wake me up at 6, I felt as if it was still 2 in the morning. Food was not that great due to the absence of Gravity. 

One month later, we finally were able to see the moon from close. It looked like an enormous, white golf ball. My colleague said that it looked like a huge slice of provolone, which kind of made sense. No one else said a beep and they looked as red as tomatoes; they were so excited and nervous. 

The next month, the most difficult part of the journey was about to happen. We would have to capture the gravity of the moon and land on it without being flattened like a pancake. 

After the whole procedure, we finally landed on the huge golf ball. It had so many craters, more that anyone was able to count that it looked like someone had continuously smashed rocks into it. We got off the spaceship, and I was the first to set my foot on the moon. I felt very proud and my chest puffed up so much that I looked like the spaceship itself. 

I could jump almost a mile when I was on the moon. Wherever I walked, I left a footprint, which was permanent. We walked on the moon, and from far we could see Earth, half light and half dark. It looked pretty, like a hot ball of white and blue paint. I was too proud for words!

The return to Earth was the same as it was when we lifted up. We landed smoothly on Earth, and all the citizens of our country came to visit and congratulate us. I could not believe that I had finally accomplished my dream and I became famous after that!

(If you like Archit's story, please share and leave a comment for him.)

My Bravest Moment

Lakshmisree Raju

That night I was lying in my bed, squeezing my teddy bear, wrapped up in my princess blanket. But I tossed and turned, my teeth were constantly ripping the nails off of my fingers, my heart raced in the thought of having to speak in front of many people the next day.

‘’We should, umm.. eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and..umm.. and exercise everyday… to keep our body fit.‘’ I anxiously recalled the lines that I had to speak the next day for my first school assembly ever. Just the thought of it had butterflies flapping in my tummy. 

That’s when my mom came to check on me. ‘’Haven’t you slept yet? Tomorrow is a special day right? Are you excited?’’ she asked. 

‘’Yeah… but what if I make a mistake Amma?’’ I stuttered, furrowing my eyebrows. 

‘’Why do you think that way? You have learnt your lines very well and I’m sure you will do awesome. Now close your eyes and sleep.’’ She smiled and tucked me into bed. 

The next morning, I stayed in bed, half asleep with the awful thought in my head. ‘’I don’t want to go to school today..’’ I moaned to myself. 

‘’Lachu, wake up! It's seven o clock,’’ my mom called from the kitchen. 

‘’Five minutes…’’ I groaned.

‘’Wake up’’ she screamed.

I slowly got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, my back slouched, and frowning. I took the toothbrush, but it fell off my hand. I tried to squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube, but I was too weak to. My whole body shivered in fright. 

On the way to school, a million scary scenes flashed in my mind. I pictured myself messing up in front of everyone. I could see people laughing at me when I spoke. 

I took a deep breath. ‘’Daddy, I am scared to speak in the assembly.’’

‘’It will be fine,’’ Daddy said confidently. ‘’Trust me, you will be the best among the group."

I shrugged and got out of the car and shakily waved goodbye to him.

I then quickly entered the assembly hall and stood in a line in which all the speakers were standing. And that’s when the real panic started. I saw many parents and students of other classes enter. I saw my parents stand in the midst of the crowd, showing me thumbs up with a big grin on their faces. I gave them back a smile. 

My legs trembled. I kept fidgeting with my hands. I couldn’t stand still.

Everyone was seated and the room was silent. It meant that the assembly had started. The first speaker went in front and started speaking.

‘’Oh my God, I’m next ," my brain screamed.

My stomach churned. My palms got all sweaty. I was panting. The first speaker finished his part and it was my turn! I took a deep breath and went forward. My legs felt wobbly like jelly as I walked. I could feel sweat dripping down my forehead. There was pin drop silence in the room for me to speak. I hesitantly started saying my lines. I could hear my heart go lub-dub as I was speaking. 

In a few seconds I suddenly realized that it was over. I had done my part! My brain was jumped for joy. I proudly went back with a big smile on my face. I grinned so much that day that my cheeks started hurting. 

After the assembly got over, my parents came up to me and gave me hugs and  high fives.

‘’See, there was nothing to worry about. You did so good. I am so proud of you’’ my mother said and kissed me on the forehead. I chuckled.

Oh, What a Year It Has Been!

by Kavya Saravanan

Grade 9

A lot has changed over the past year. Our lifestyle, norms, everything. Do you think 2020 was a year filled with obstacles or opportunities to make one grow into a better human being? Is this a period of growth or a swamp to pull us down?

For people small or big, Corona has been a learning experience, especially for students around the world. We have been able to get down a big weight off our shoulders. We have learnt lessons not only based on our syllabus but also life and things in general.

We have learnt to expect the unexpected. We have been able to adapt so quickly to a situation that it has helped us become more independent and stronger. A child who didn’t know how to make calls on the phone has begun to write program codes for an app that makes calls with voice commands.

Students are now more interested in learning new skills on their own. The boredom of lockdowns has made these boring skills very intriguing to us. Kids are teaching themselves how to play the piano, coding, video editing and much more. 

For instance, a couch potato has learnt how to make potato curry and rice. Students who hate biology have started to pick up their books and research on various topics.
During an online class, suddenly when the connection is lost, the students easily fix the problems by themselves and continue with their work like nothing happened.

Some children have had to experience total lockdown at home due to a covid-positive member in the house. This has helped in increasing their empathy towards their elders and acknowledging how hard they work so that their children can play and study. They have learnt to be patient, calm and their presence of mind has increased. Hats off to all these people who have braved through this situation!

This period has made students more responsible and independent in what they do.. There is no teacher to check their work and no student/friend to copy from. These are the times when we have got our hands dirty and learned to clean it too. Virtual learning has a lot of benefits, like, being our own boss at  our classwork, learning a lot of personal skills, and sometimes even a little leisure to do mischief.

A student that I know was really poor in his grades earlier and didn’t care about it, but he got terrified of all the sudden independence and started working hard to get better grades. He has been able to gain so much confidence in himself that he decided to learn two musical instruments on his own.

These instances are just a tip of the iceberg. There are many more incidents that testify the change that has come over people for the better. These small learnings will be really effective and useful to us, maybe not now, but in the future when one must go out in the world alone. When times became difficult to manage, our young change makers made their way to the light from the dark.

This year has been a learning experience for all students about how the world will be left for us to carry forward. There will be many challenges ahead. It is up to us to decide if we want to dance in it beautifully or escape from it cowardly.