Two Eighteen Year Olds Play Coy

Only two weeks ago and idea, a small otherwise insignificant thought came across *Hein’s mind. Hein is an eighteen year old with an extremely perverted sense of humour he is known for his outrageous behaviour and shocking antics. But there are many layers to this teen who is now discovered to be a hopeless romantic. Fourteen days ago today Hein planted a small seed inside of Hilda’s mind and Hilda’s the minds of her friends “You know *Hilda, you and *Drew would be a really cute couple.” This random suggestion would soon blossom into a full blown matchmaking experiment.

Hilda, a newly turned eighteen year old has gorgeous long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Hil (as many of her friends call her) is a hilarious, intelligent, sensitive, anxious, and generous, person. Drew could be described with the exact same words, minus the long hair, his is considerably shorter then Hil’s.

Upon hearing of Heins proposal, Hilda’s best friend *Jenn decided Hein was ingenious and the two joined forces to get their friends united. Jenn asked Hilda if she found Drew attractive and with his blonde locks and blue eyes Hilda could not deny his good looks. After much questioning and research Hein and Jenn subsequently began their plan to hook up the blondes. Hein had this to say about the hook-up “When you think about it, the two seem to be destined to be together, there’s not one person in East York who could suit either of the two more perfectly.”

Drew and Hilda had expressed much interest in each other to the Matchmakers, and with that knowledge they began to plan the first outing. Pool. It was a relaxed setting in a social environment with ample opportunity to connect, or escape. Jenn persuaded Hilda while Hein worked on his friend Drew. All four members of this pairing including Hilda, Drew, Jenn and Hein were spotted with a group of seven teenagers last Friday at a local Pool Hall on the Danforth. Hilda and Drew were said to have gotten “comfortable and familiar with each other” while partnering up for a match.

After much effort on all sides, it seems to be going smoothly for Hilda and Drew who have plans to hang out this upcoming weekend. Will the two end up together despite the strain from their friends, or will the pressure enable their relationship into something far greater than expected. Only time and patience will tell.

* Names Changed and Or altered to prevent harrasment.

Audience : Love enthusiasts everywhere 15 - 20 year olds.
Purpose : To express my amazing matchmaking talents, and or my newspaper writing.

Girl age 17 Wakes to Unwelcomed Guest.

Anne. J* woke up Wednesday March 10th to find her sister close beside her with her cat Smokey on her left. Sandwiched between the two she found herself incredibly uncomfortable, and looking to her window the grey sky and fierce wind thrashing the trees around didn’t help. Her sister was all of nine years old and had stolen the blankets and pillows away from Anne. J leaving her cold and restless.
Anne. J had been complaining about a bad back and sore neck all day and blames her sister for the injuries. A source says Anne. J had been planning on buying a lock for her door to prevent said occurrences. “She had severe discomfort throughout the day and had promised to ‘get back’ at her sister Bailey*”

Anne had even complained about her kitty taking up her queen size bed all too often, the cat had taken up residence in the billowy surface. Anne had been overheard stating that “He is too cute to wake up, he purs and he lays there like a furry ball of love and I can’t bear to move him. I fall victim to his sweet appearance and wake up to a crooked neck for it.” Anne was determined to stop the intrusions, she would fall victim to her cute and cuddly cat but she would not stand for her sister’s invasion.

Apparently Bailey had turned nine years old a couple months ago but still she had trouble sleeping on her own when asked Bailey suggest she has no plans to stop lurking into her older sisters room “I had a bad dream last night, it’s not a big deal, Anne should get over it because her bed is three times bigger than mine and I am a little girl.” Bailey falls victim to night terrors and sleepwalking on occasion she also believes she owns everything and anything her family does thus giving her a superiority complex.
All in all Anne. J is expected to get over the injuries shortly, but the pain and frustration her sister causes her will need some help from more than one professional.

* Names altered to provide safety for those involved.

Audience : 9 - 20 year olds
Purpose : To learn Boundaries and warn those who enter a personal oasis while not being invited.

Besides Himself.

He had flawless posture, the man oozed excellence in every aspect of his life. His shirt was always wrinkle-free; his pants always pressed just right and his hair always perfectly messy. Carter had always prided himself on being a put together man. His entire life he strived for the seamless existence. He never lost his cool, drank too much or indulged in the pitfalls of society. Gossip about who slept with whom and who smoked way too much on the weekend never interested him. He was merely above that and refused to revel in the typical banter of his peers.

Carter was eighteen years old today. He had never had a big party with hundreds of people, or a small gathering of intimate friends, he just had dinner with his family and quietly celebrated his birth. Everyone at school thought he was pretentious, Carter was too cool to partake in the immature high school behaviour and that made him different from everyone else. His superiority out casted him at an early age and he had never showed any signs of distress because of this. More often than not he was fine with it, and in fact preferred it that way. This all change at 2:45 this afternoon.

“What is wrong with me? How could she not want me?” Those were the only thoughts that were running through his head at the moment. She was classy, elegant and sophisticated she was also entirely hilarious and sweet at the same time. She had the greatest qualities and everything he wanted in someone, all but one of course; she didn’t want him.

“I think you are a great guy Carter but you’re too serious all the time. I mean, you need to let go and just have fun once and a while, enjoy being young before it leaves you behind, heck my father hangs out with his high school buddies more than you do. My father is fifty two.”
That was her response to his profession of love and he had the sneaking suspicion he’d ever forget those words. They were now tattooed in his brain and he would have to do something about it if he wanted to move on and forget them.

Carter used to pity those people crying on benches, looking to the forest, the lake, or a strangers help, he was now one of them. However on this particular day Carter wasn’t content with being alone, essentially this is why he was sitting on the bench staring off into the trees for the past two hours. He bore a painful expression on his face and anyone passing by could surely see he was a distraught man.

Besides himself Carter found himself experiencing the most typical of high school emotions; heartbreak.

Sand Castles and Slides.

“George!” She shouted out to him, motioning for him to go over to the picnic bench.

He rolled his eyes ignoring his mother and continued to build up the best castle in the whole playground. Looking around he realizes his is the only castle in the playground, in fact George finds himself to be the only one playing in the sand at all. Everyone has crowded the swings and the slides leaving the box vacant. This may seem like a dream come true, in a way it was, all this sand, all this space to roam but what was the fun when you had no one to marvel at your miraculous talent? It was a known fact at Kingston Park; George was the greatest castle builder out of all the four year olds. He could mold the most precise detail into the moat, and the windows with his petite hands. But for the last couple of weeks he found a fewer amount of spectators each day. His once loyal followers have moved on to bigger and better things leaving him behind.

George stood up slowly and delicately making sure he didn’t knock the tower over. He began wiping off his jean overalls and the striped red shirt underneath that was coated in sand. He then looked toward the tallest slide in the park, and he glanced at his mother. She was occupied with a fellow parent and surely wouldn’t notice if he made his way over to the “one”. Looking up at the tall feat he had decided to grow up. Move on from the buckets and shovels and experience the thrill and the excitement everyone else was addicted to. He dashed over to the bottom step and looked up counting 15 stairs. Shouldn’t be too hard he thought to himself. But the steps were so high that his small legs could barely reach over to the next without struggle. By the seventh step he found himself exhausted and wondering what the fuss was about. He carried on nevertheless.

After much work and anticipation he reached the top, and looked around. To his knowledge this was the highest he had ever been, in his life. It terrified him. It frightened him so much so that he was paralyzed with the fear. He grasped the two poles and stuck his head in between his knees and quietly decided this was going to be the death of him. At that moment he heard his name “George! George!”

It took all he had to lift his head up, to a crowd of people below. “What are you doing mister?! You come down from there RIGHT NOW!” His mother yelled, causing him the worst emotion of all; humiliation. He then came to and faced a life decision, face the slide, or bow out with his tail between his legs in his mommy’s arms. Should he grow up, become a man, face his death in the eye and laugh? Or do what he so desperately wanted to do and walk back down those stairs? He looked over to his castle, and at that very moment Lucy’s father stepped on it on his way to the slide, crushing Georges work of art. Just like that he realized that sand castles leave, something he devoted so much time on, something he prided himself in, could be demolished with a strong breeze or rain. He grabbed the sides of the slide, the crowd below gasped as he flung his body down as fast as his small arms could push.

As he slid down the silver his stomach flipped and his fear was forgotten. George had beaten the slide, and was now in utter love with the thrill it offered. As he reached the bottom he felt like he was on top, of the world that is.

Two o' clock.

Audience : Anyone willing. ( teenager - senior )
Purpose : Who do you turn to when all you lived for has parished and you have nothing to do but pass the time .

He walked to the same park, sat on the same bench, and took out the same brand of bread. He began to tear the loaf into pieces small enough for a bird and tossed them a foot away from him. Hector had been wearing the same hat and coat for twenty five years, his late wife bought them and insisted he wear them. The fedora suggested a sense of eloquence and his shined shoes made him resemble a gentleman. The birds all flocked around him and for a split second Hector smiled. As suddenly as it appeared it left, leaving a sad withered look on his once strong face. Every day in this park he could be found at precisely two o’clock in the afternoon.

On his 75th birthday he was forced to retire from his job at the local butcher shop. He was overjoyed at the prospect of staying at home with his beloved wife all day long but shortly after their Fifty fifth anniversary Hectors wife Anne passed away. All that was left for the poor old man was his slowly fading memory and the slowly deteriorating house. Anne and Hector had never had children, and he was left with no family so he began to visit the park everyday and feed the wildlife. He often remembered back on the times he and his friends would chase the pigeons and seagulls as little boys and how he cursed them while picnicking on the beach and how he would try and hit one or two with a rock now and then as a teenager. He regrets this behaviour, for these are the very beings that would come to keep him alive.

It sounds drastic but Hector relied on the bird’s everyday to give him a purpose, they provided him with a meaning. If he were to not show up one day he was aware of the fact they would find another source of food to eat and not be phased by his absence, but when he did come he was able to make their lives a little easier. All he wanted was to occupy time until he would one day join his wife, until then the birds would keep him company.

Leave the heartache at the door ( collage.)

Audience: 14 - 30
Purpose: To express how one person’s expression can show their story.

She steps out of the cab and onto the pavement, where she looks at the new changes in astonishment. On her travels the number of high heel shoes increased and the amount of tired ponytails slowly faded away. With her backpack on and her duffel bag by her side she reeked of outsider. She wore a hat to keep the sun out of her eyes and quickly realized that in the city people rarely wear baseball hats unless they are from a specialized “hat store” in which you do not remove the tags and are by law required to wear your pants below your butt cheeks. She caught her reflection in the mirror; Acid washed jeans and a fleece sweater that had Canada written across the chest maybe once she got settled in she would do some shopping.

Sam once had the face that screamed of a youthful innocence but looking at herself now she sees the face of a tired soul and the eyes of a heartbroken girl. She left behind the man she once believed to be her soul mate and made a decision solely based on her needs this time, and she felt completely at ease. The moment the life left her eyes five months ago she knew this day would come.

She would forget about the man she left behind and her former self and become a better version of the girl she once was. She thought about her friend in the city and how he had changed his entire life for his job, thinking of him put an extra spring in her step and she found herself half heartedly skipping down the busy sidewalk. She always envied him and now she was on the same path. No literally, she was on his pathway and she proceeded to take the first step, then the second, and then she stood face to face with the door to happiness. She turns the handle and pushes it open.
“I’m home!” She yells into the house and steps into her old world, leaving her heartache at the door.

Antiques with heart

Today I sit in the same position I have sat in for the past seven years. Precisely every hour 13 blue birds , 4 robins, and a family of blonde Swedish children pop out of their cuckoo clocks and let me know that another sixty minutes had passed and still no one has showed the slightest interest in me. My life isn’t all lacklustre, when the old man closes the shop up, the flamingo; every figurine, the seventy year old gold plated lamp, and the chandelier family all meet up around my father the grand table. Approximately three years ago four of my brothers had been chosen for use and now all that remains of my family is my father, my sister and I. My father is a very round man, he had other children before but over the years they have gotten lost, he is over fifty years old and he is as sturdy and strong as the day he was created. He tells us about his life, his previous owners, and his escapades. For every scratch on his surface lies a miraculous tale of significance. When I ask him about my mother he tells me that tables don’t necessarily have mothers. They have creators, builders and my siblings and I were made to accompany him through his travels. From the moment my brothers were taken my father said our chance of being desired has decreased immensely, we were built as a set and when a part of that set is missing there isn’t much use for it anymore. While I sit during the daylight I often hope my father is wrong , I hope people can look beyond what is absent and witness what is present ; a great collection of antiques with heart.