The Life of a Can of Coke

We’re made in a manufacturing company in the States then we’re packed up and shipped off to stores across the globe. My rough and rickety trip in a truck was all but pleasant, these people are never quick to be gentle when they toss our shipping containers into the store’s storage like yesterday’s garbage. After out battered and bruised journey we finally end up on the luxurious….shelf. The only place I would rather be than on a metal shelf in a grocery store would be…let me think…anywhere! Sitting there, unable to move, with no elbow room next to seven other aluminum cans, as every minute feels as though it were an hour. This is my life I guess, just another can of soda, day after day many walk by but no one even glimpses at the poor aluminum can.

Then hope happens, as the eight of us are lifted up by an enormous pale, non metallic being stares with great big eyes. He takes us to the machines and runs us through a red light; we’re then thrown into a car and put in a seat right next to him. Perhaps there could be something more for a small can, the man takes me out of the plastic holder and squeezes me all over. My tab is pulled off and like a zombie he’s starts slurping my brains (or the soda inside me). After that he crushes me as though I were in the pressure of space, it still feels like this could be my home. But just when I think things could be changing for me, just when I think I could be happy, do you want to know what he does? He tosses me out the window so I land in a puddle of mud and sludge…just like yesterday’s garbage.             

 

Themes in “The Lottery”

Author’s Note: This is a short piece that discusses and explains one of themes of the short story The Lottery.

            In the story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, It tells the tale of a simple town set in the late nineteen forty’s. Everyone in town knows one another and gathers in the town square for the annual lottery. However, this specific lottery has no intent for gambling purposes; it is a dark and evil game, for in the game if you win, in the long run you will lose. The theme of The Lottery consists of an evil tradition in the town; it is where if you win this “lottery” the rest of the town kills you on the spot.

             Tradition is a powerful theme to the story because it can change a community, a country, or a world. It changes the way people live and act, it can be both good and bad, however in this story it is horribly wrong. The Lottery ties in with the same type of tradition as the famous book Hunger Games. The tradition of choosing a select few people to fight to the death for the enjoyment with others. They are the same in senseless slaughter of others, tradition is a powerful and evil theme in this story.

           

Viruses: The Micro Horror

Author’s Note: This is an essay the harmful effects of a virus, plus their functions, how many there are and what they do.

            Viruses are perhaps, the deadliest microscopic organisms known to man since they were actually discovered in the late 1800’s. It is recorded that millions upon millions of lives have died from virus out breaks throughout the millennium, and even more each year. This infectious microscopic horror has brought the most deadly diseases the world has ever known.

To begin with, a virus is a small infectious organism that can reproduce inside the cells of living hosts, like an evil copy machine. This organism can infect animal cells, plant cells, bacteria, and archaea which are a group of single-celled microorganisms with no nucleus and no membrane bound organelles. According to news-medical.net, the Latin word “virus” refers to poison and other toxic substances. When a living thing is infected by a virus, the host’s cell is forced to produce thousands of exact copies of the original virus. This causes whatever disease the virus to spread throughout the entire body.

            In addition, the virus was discovered in 1892, when Russian biologist Dmitry Ivanovsky used a Chamber land filter to study bacteria and accidentally stumbled upon something infecting the bacteria. The very same virus is now today known as tobacco mosaic virus. When a virus is found outside of a cell, it is just a protein coat or shell of a virus particle known as a capsid, sometimes enclosed with a membrane. This makes the virus virtually harmless, until it is found inside a cell. The capsid has the viruses DNA or RNA, which contains all of its elements, the capsid acts as a transportation device to safely the infectious disease to an unsuspecting cell or bacteria.    

            Continuing, there are thousands of viruses around the globe and spreading outbreaks of sicknesses even further. Another reference from news-medical.net is that there are roughly 2,083 species of virus and over 3,000 still unclassified. Some of the deadliest diseases that viruses spread are Trachea, Bronchus, and Lung Cancers, Malaria which is a fatal disease brought by mosquitoes, Tuberculosis which involves the lungs and other organs. Also, Lower Respiratory Infections which is trouble with breathing, Cerebrovascular Disease which is a fancy way of saying stroke, and perhaps the deadliest if the Ebola virus.

Lastly, the Ebola virus spreads a disease with the same name; it is extremely deadly and rare at the same time. According to medterms.com, the disease kills 90% of whoever has caught it; it causes high fever followed by massive internal bleeding. The disgusting part of it is that it alters your cells just like any virus but causes your veins to leak, some of the leaking blood ends up coming out of your skin, eyes, and mouth! Fortunately, this disease is only found in the country of Africa and has not been sighted anywhere in the United States.

In conclusion, the virus is probably the deadliest organism of the microscopic world. It infects a host’s cell and copies the virus; it has killed millions of people. The virus maybe even one of the most dangerous organism known to mankind.         

Bibliography

Introduction to the Viruses. 2007. 17 April 2012 <http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu>.

Steenhuysen, Sharon Begley and Julie. "How secure are labs handling world's deadliest pathogens? ." 15 February 2012. MSNBC.com. MSN. 19 April 2012.

"Virus Clasification." 2012. http://www.news-medical.net. 18 April 2012 <http://www.news-medical.net/health/Virus-Classification.aspx>.

What is a Virus? 2012. 17 April 2012 <http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-a-Virus.aspx>.

A Bullet to the Knee

    Author’s note: This is a cause and effect essay describing a turn for the worst in the exiting novel Payback this book is also the sequel to Traitor.
    Desperately attempting to find any evidence of Fergus Watt’s innocence, Danny and his grandfather traveled to a golf course in London to the only living witness to the Columbian drug bust injustice. The witness happens to be an old army buddy and best friend of Fergus, Kev Newman. Unfortunately, as soon as they can talk to Kev, the three are ambushed by men working for George Fincham and the unthinkable happens. Kev Newman is gunned down that afternoon as well as old Fergus Watts is shot through the thigh, permanently immobilizing the old man.
    Likewise this bloodshed is by far the climax of the tale, the last person who witnessed and was still a friend had been killed. Who are they to trust now? Who can help them now? It has been one step forward and two steps back. Even worse was now that Fergus was shot, moving from place to place quickly was not an option anymore. Fergus Watts had been injured in the same leg before and has walked with a limp since, but now there will be no way for him to walk, they are running out of options, out of time, and almost no escape.
    In conclusion the ambush that caused the definite climax of the novel Payback has without a doubt been the point of no return. What seems to be their only chance of proving Fergus’s good name had vanished. Even worse is the fact that the old man might as well have no leg at all as the ambush closes in to seal their doom.

Chapter 4: Waking to a Nightmare

      Author’s note: this is chapter four in my story The Dog Tags of John Parker, it is meant for the writing rubric.
    
       “…OW! What in the?...AH!...What’s…happening?” When I first open my eyes everything is blurry, my eyes come into focus every few seconds. I can’t get up, there’s a searing pain in my left knee and I can’t even feel my right leg, I tried to look at my hands. When my eyes come into focus, I see that my hands are cut up, scratched, and bruised everywhere. I felt like I was hit by ten busses while going through a washing machine, I couldn’t get up all I could do was tilt my head. I looked around the roof where I was and there were small patches of fire everywhere. I look behind me to see if anyone in the battle was still alive and my vision was blocked by the crashed Black Hawk. It was just five feet behind me facing parallel, the very bottom of the helicopter was in the building. The top of it was on fire with thick black smoke spewing from the tail and engine into the sky. Its side doors were opened and I could see inside the chopper, I could also peer into the cockpit. Both the pilot and co-pilot weren’t moving, the windshield was all cracked and there were patches of blood on the inside. My vision became blurry more frequently now; I knew it was only a matter of time before I passed out.
        
        I attempted to turn over as painfully as possible; when I finally do I saw that McKinley was just about four feet in front. He was lying on his side facing opposite of me, I didn’t know if he was alive or not so I hopped for the best. I didn’t see where Corporal Holland or Private Hull were, I couldn’t see them. “Did they escape? Did they call for help? Were they killed?” These thoughts flew through my head. James wasn’t moving at all and I was scared out of my mind, I didn’t know what to do every nerve of my body hurt like heck. “I can’t move, I have no food or water, I’m going to pass out any minute, what am I supposed to do!? Oh god I’m going to die out here!” I was screaming in my head! But what was I to do? For all I know everyone is dead “or are they? Is James dead? God please no! Is the sergeant dead? Killed? God dang it!” I didn’t know what was going to happen, whether I would live or die, the waiting was driving me crazy. Waiting for death, waiting for rescue, as I was falling in and out of consciousness I spent the terrifying time waiting….watching….wondering….hoping….dying. Before I knew it I was out, but to what awakening? So I just went out…waiting.                                               ........
          
         “Ahh, it’s so bright!” I am awake, well at least I think so, my eyes are still closed, there light seeping through my eye lids. “Am I awake? Is it morning?” The last thing that I remember was passing out and then dreaming. I hadn’t dreamed since my first day at boot camp, after that…time was too rough to dream. The death of friends in combat is too much to bear to have my imagination run free while I sleep.
           
         The more time I spend awake I think, “Where am I? Was I captured? Are any other marines here with me?” The mere thought of being captured sent shivers down my spine. If I was captured I would no doubt be beaten and tortured. I notice my body is in a different position and I am not lying on that concrete roof anymore. There are faint voices not so far around me; I can’t make out what they’re saying and curiosity takes over. I finally open my eyes but no one is there, my vision is blurry for four seconds before regaining focus. Unlike before I can move, well…sort of, the pain is searing. I finally realize that I’m not lying on the ground at all but on a stretcher? I’ve been bandaged where my cuts and bruises were and my right leg has been put in a white cast. I still don’t know if I’ve been captured or not, so I give out a “Hello?” After a few seconds I hear someone running, the sound is getting louder and louder closer and closer. “Oh shoot! What if it’s a terrorist!? He’ll probably execute me! No god please no!” I thought in my head, by now I was almost sure I was captured I was sweating bullets waiting for death. My eyes still a little blurry, a silhouette appeared over me and I thought this was it, this is the end. But the silhouette seems somehow familiar, like someone I know; when my eyes come back I am relieved that it’s not a terrorist at all. What I see is the best thing that’s happened to me since boot camp; James McKinley was smiling over me. I’ve never been so happy to see his face, all the worried feelings I had have been washed away like a sand castle on the beach. “Morning sleepy head.”

Traitors and Second Chances

    

Author’s Note: From the novel Traitor, this conflict resolution piece explains the effects Fergus Watt’s title as  ”Traitor” had on his grandson Danny, and how it was resolved to bring them closer.

Devastated, Danny Watts learning the horrible truth about his former Special Forces grandfather and has no choice but to chase him down and bring him to justice. Due to a Columbian drug bust, Fergus Watts is now pictured as a “traitor” in everyone’s eye. Searching for days on end, Danny finds his grandfather near a café in London and is furious for ruining their family name. The main conflict of the tale is trust, the trust in someone is easy to lose and hard to gain. Fergus attempts to tell Danny what really happened, but the pain that the name “traitor” has caused has now almost made it impossible to trust Danny’s grandfather again. Is Fergus really a traitor? Can Danny trust his own grandfather? Is it all a lie?

To begin with, being an expert in hand to hand combat old Fergus Watts knew he wasn’t in any real trouble when his seventeen year old grandson arrived. Fergus tried to tell the raging bull Danny that the drug bust was not his fault. Time and time again Danny didn’t believe him, he hadn’t ever met his grandfather before, how was he to believe him? Though Danny’s grandfather told the tale with such detail, it started to make some sense, however Fergus was still part stranger to Danny. Fergus told his grandson that he was framed by a Britain government agent George Fincham. He began to think that it was the truth but one question still remained, why? Why was his grandfather framed? He told Danny that the British were killing not just drug dealers but also civilians and Fergus knew that it was not right.  

However in the book, Fincham knew that Fergus would try to tell the press that they were killing civilians so he had to take him out of the picture. When the grandfather and grandson had been attacked by only Fincham, Danny had no choice but to picture his grandfather’s story as the truth. Suddenly it began to make sense to the 17 year old boy, pictures, the attacks, and Fincham all proved that Fergus was the victim. Danny’s confused hatred now turned much less at Fergus and more at the tyrant Fincham for keeping him apart from his granddad.

   Likewise, the story was forever changed by this turn of events from Fergus being a traitor to revelations of the past. The tale of a 17 year old military graduate searching for his grandfather who betrayed his own country many years ago has now changed. Two friends searching for a way to let the truth be known about an evil man and a Colombian drug bust.

In conclusion, most eyes of England will always see the former Special Forces Fergus Watts as a betrayer of their country, but only Danny Watts will now know what really happened. The terribly long hunt for justice will have formed a new companionship between a kid and his grandfather.