{"id":2251,"date":"2017-05-06T18:11:53","date_gmt":"2017-05-07T02:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/?p=2251"},"modified":"2018-08-29T18:13:43","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T02:13:43","slug":"betty-award-entry-2015-bokei-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/betty-award-entry-2015-bokei-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Betty Award Entry 2015 -Bokei"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOST<\/span><\/h2>\n

By Bokei Thompson
\nAge 10<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRivers flow,
\nsteady blow,
\ntreacherous peaks stretching far below.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAbandoned here,
\nsuddenly in fear,
\nthe terrors of this place.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Rocks suddenly look sharp,
\nI can\u2019t hear thy lark,
\nit is thy mark of terror.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThy willow blowing,
\nby far knowing,
\ndoes it know our destiny?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWill we find our way back?
\nwe can\u2019t cut our slack;
\ndeath is reaching for us even now.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThy water like glass,
\nhow long will we last?
\nfor shadows cast,
\nin front of us darkness.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

We\u2019re alone now \u2013 abandoned. But do you know what we also are?
\nFree.<\/p>\n

\u201cPack up,\u201d Bree shouted. We were moving. A bear couple had moved in not too far from our little camp, and apparently was stealing our food. These bears were brutal and large; we couldn\u2019t just fight it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we ready?\u201d Bree called out. There was a chorus of six \u2018yeses\u2019 and nods. Bree nodded, and zipped up her backpack.
\n\u201cCome on.\u201d She said, and we moved out.<\/p>\n

We were too far up to stop.<\/p>\n

We hadn\u2019t noticed we were climbing a mountain until we were half-way to the top, and it was beginning to be steep. The sun was sinking below the horizon. I ran ahead, and started to walk beside Breanna.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should stop for the night,\u201d Breanna commented flatly. Secretly, I agreed. But I payed no mind, and look at her with a concerned expression.
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d I asked, ignoring the question altogether.
\n\u201cUm, nothing.\u201d She said. I started to get worried; this was\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0the hyperactive Bree I knew. I decided not to sound like a concerned mother and leave it, but as I was about to turn away, Bree rested her hand on my shoulder. I turned to meet her gaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the poem,\u201d she said softly. \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

I paused, and looked down at my feet.
\n\u201cMe too,\u201d I said quietly. Bree looked faintly surprised.
\n\u201cReally?\u201d she asked, but her heart wasn\u2019t into it. I nodded.
\n\u201cYou should tell the others. We may be stuck with each other until we die, you know.\u201d
\nBree lowered her head, and then touched her palm to her forehead as if she were having a serious debate in her mind, which she probably was.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d she said after a few moments of silence. \u201cAfter we set up a makeshift camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everything was set up now. Breanna hoisted herself up onto a rock, and stood, while the rest of us viewed our progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cUm, guys,\u201d she started.\u00a0Ha. Intelligent.<\/i>\u00a0I thought sarcastically, but didn\u2019t show anything. We all looked up at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cEr, Bokei, would you like to tell them?\u201d she gave me a pleading look. I bit my lip, but complied anyway.<\/p>\n

Now I was facing four expectant people, and I got a little jittery.\u00a0Hey dummy, what did ya say to her again? Oh yhea, spendin\u2019 the rest o\u2019 your days with these folks.\u00a0<\/i>Said a little voice in my head. I inwardly grounded, but didn\u2019t argue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d I started, \u201cBreanna and I have been hearing the poem again.\u201d I gestured for Breanna to speak, even though I felt a little guilty for doing that to her when she specifically asked for me to do it for that very reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been seeing it in the words of our books. I see the real words for part of it, and then around two times in the page, I see the poem. The places where the poem is also changes as I flip the page or sometimes when I blink.\u201d She said.<\/p>\n

They nodded. Michelle was the first to speak up, followed soon by Izzy, then Mimi, and Finally Ella.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been hearing things, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSame here.\u201d
\n\u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if I was just thinking about it too much or I was crazy.\u201d
\n\u201cThat about sums it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

They all agreed, and it was clear they too had been seeing and hearing things.
\n\u201cSo it\u2019s agreed,\u201d Breanna stated, and motioned that I could step down now. I let out a breath I didn\u2019t even know I was harboring, and hopped down.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s get some rest.\u201d She said, and proceeded to one of the two tents we had set up.<\/p>\n

It was then next day, probably around two P.M. and we had reached the summit of the mountain.
\n\u201cI think this is Mount Wilhelm.\u201d I stated quietly. Izzy shoved me with a small laugh.
\n\u201cYhea. I guess you\u2019re the only one who actually did your research about this place before we left.\u201d I ignored her, and stared at the scenery.<\/p>\n

The poem was true.<\/p>\n

The river was flowing, the wind was steadily blowing, and the peaks was treacherous below us.<\/p>\n

We were abandoned here. Suddenly, the forest seemed unfriendly.<\/p>\n

The smoothest stone looks like it\u2019s dangerous. I had noticed before how loud the larks were singing, but now I realized it had died out. The peak was silent.<\/p>\n

A willow was blowing in the wind beside a lake. I could see its ancient branches, like they knew of anything and everything. But the question rang in my mind before I could even comprehend it; does it know our destiny?<\/p>\n

Will we make it? There is only wilderness for as far as I can see; and a line on the horizon \u2013 the sea. I saw many, many dangerous peaks and fast-flowing rivers. We wouldn\u2019t survive if we kept traveling and we got hurt. We have no herbs to heal; we\u2019d surely die.<\/p>\n

And finally, my eyes settled upon a lake. It was completely consumed in the shadow of the mountain, but the water was as clear as glass. There, instead of sandy ground, I could tell the grass was soft just by looking at it. The willow was nestled right at the lake\u2019s edge, and many other trees surrounded it.<\/p>\n

Breanna cleared her throat.
\n\u201cI vote we stay at the lake.\u201d
\nIt was our fate.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOST By Bokei Thompson Age 10 \u201cRivers flow, steady blow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bokei"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p71Zsd-Aj","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2253,"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2251\/revisions\/2253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jc-t.com\/junsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}