April Submissions

The April submissions are up.  Please read and leave your comments.  There are three write ups this month.  Your comments are due next Wednesday, April 30th.  Enjoy your reading this month :)

Ocean

Quadraplegic...that's me.Trapped...that's how I feel. Alone...thats where I am in my life. Unable ...is my job description. I can't dance, I can't walk, run, jump. I can't sweep anybody off of their feet. I can't get down on one knee to propose to my future wife. I can't feed myself, or even wipe my own butt; I am incapable of taking care of myself ...so why bother living? I can think of one reason. Her.
    I watch her from my chair in the corner of the room. She is so good with kids, thay just flock to her. It pains me to know that I could never give her any. She smiles at me and I feel alive. She hugs me and  the feeling in my body is restored. For a split second I feel able and then I remember I'm not. "Hey!"she says casually. Her brown eyes full of warmth. "Hillo." I reply. Wow I can't even say hello. "I'll see you for Bible study later right", she says. "Of course", I say.We part ways.And that's it, that's all it takes to get me through the next day.
    We used to play together when were kids you know, before the accident. We would play tag, hide-and-go-seek, capture the flag, football, soccer, you name it. Our moms would joke about us getting married and growing old together. I always thought that after we graduated we would do just that. I never thought to cherish the moments we had together, playing tag and all. Now I am twenty five, she is twenty three and I can't even give her a hug or say hello apparently. Try getting a date when you can't do anything. Oh hey Julia would you like to take me on a date where you have to push me around in a wheel chair? feed me? and don't get me started on bathroom trips! God please, I need your strength, help me to find someone who I can love and be loved by.Help me to lean on your understanding.
                                                             Julia
    Unworthy...that's me. Lonely...that's how I feel. He has one of the biggest hearts and the cutest dimples. I sneak a peak at him during the church service, his little niece with her pigtails sitting in his lap. He is so good with kids. It pains me to think that I could never give him any. I found out early on that I couldn't bare children, I just never truly thought about it until now. I can't imagine anybody would want to marry a barren woman, especially a man with as much love to offer as Roman. God please send me someone to love and care for me liked Roman.
                                                             Roman.  
   It's so bright outside today. The summer breeze caresses my skin as I gaze at the most beautiful kindhearted woman in the world. My heart skips a beat as she comes towards me. She waves at me and smiles, I wave back beaming...And then she stops and her jaw drops and she begins to tear up ."What's wrong?", I say concerned yearning to walk over to her and comfort her. I lean forward and that's when I realize what I just did. Julia stutters, "Did you just wave? Your hand and... you leaned forward...but you can't ...but ????"And right then I knew she was the one God sent for me.

Reyhan

Beginner’s Guide to Swing Dancing

So not too long ago I met my incredibly awesome girlfriend, Sarah, who is an avid dancer. She practices all kinds of styles of dance, but there is one particular style that presented itself to me, swing dancing. Swing stood out to me because of the Swing Club at our school, where Sarah is the vice president and I regularly visit. She has wanted me to participate in the club and learn swing so I can dance with her, but I had a small secret that really wasn’t a secret at all. I can’t dance. Not at all. I have absolutely zero dancing skills. But about a month ago, with the Swing Club’s Sock Hop Dance around the corner, I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot. Surprisingly, I actually learned a bit. So, here’s my Beginner’s Guide to Swing Dancing, told by a beginner.

So the basic step of swing dancing is called, well, a “basic”. Not very creative but I went with it. The best way I can describe it is you stomp each foot and then lean backwards in a rocking motion with what’s called a “rock-step”, also not a very creative name. It sounds simple enough, and actually probably is, but I had incredible trouble with it. It was and still is pretty tough for me to lean backwards and then jump forward again quickly to do the stomp things, especially during faster songs. This basic is the step in between all the fancy stuff. You want to do a cool spin? Well first you do a basic, then spin the girl while doing a basic, and then continue into more basics. So basically, these basics are a very basic part of swing dancing.

So after the basics, we have the fun stuff. There are all sorts of moves such as the outside and inside turns, the pretzel, the barrel roll, and sweetheart hold that make swing dancing actually a lot of fun. The problem I encountered here was that, as the male, it is my job to lead the female into doing these moves. To lead, you have to be able to clearly indicate with various subtle gestures the move you want to attempt next. Personally, I suck at this as they’re a bit too complicated for my simplistic male brain to comprehend. These gestures include giving a slight push away to the left with your right hand on their left hand to indicate an outside turn, or a slight pull backwards and to the right with your right hand on their left hand for a sweetheart hold. Conceivably, I usually don’t lead when dancing with Sarah.

So I leave you guys with my take on the two key components of swing, the basic and indications. I know my comments on how terrible I am at these moves might make them seem a bit daunting, but it all stems from the fact that I am just a terrible dancer. It really is an easy to pick up and fun style of dancing that I recommend to all, even those who can’t dance. Cause heck, if I could do it and have fun, any one of you can.

Andrew

Dreamland

            As I lay down in my bed, I began to think about the things that happened during the day. I realized the repetitiveness of my mundane life has begun to unfold. As I thought of the constants beeping of an alarm clock and the siren of the school bell, I closed my eyes for only a second. As I opened my eyes I felt a slight change in scenery. The darkness that was my room now turned into an open field; I thought to myself if I had woken from a dream, but I let it slide. I was walking through the field, not a care in the world. But as I look down at the ground, the once green grass turned into the chrome floor of a spaceship. I thought again to myself if this was a dream, but I still haven’t done anything about it. As I wandered through the ship, barefoot, I found an empty observation room. I walked towards the oval window with great curiosity; just to see what was on the other side. The other side of the oval window revealed the vast emptiness of space. The quietness and serene scenery gave me a sudden chill, as a shooting star past my eyes. I felt like I was alone in a world I created. As another star past my eyes, a meteor began to come towards me. The sounds of alarms and sirens began to fill the spaceship. I tried to do something about it, but I can’t. It was as if I had become paralyzed and I was watching the destruction come towards me. I panicked. I felt the walls closing in on me. All I could do is watch. As the meteor closed in on my position, I closed my eyes as to not see what will happen. I felt a sudden jolt in my body. The chrome floor disappeared from under my feet. I was in the field again. I felt my heart return to its regular beating pattern. I then proceeded to walk through the field again. As sudden breeze of wind began to flow through the field; the wind felt nice as it flew through by hair. The wind then started to become more and more violent. I looked around to see what was making it faster. The field then fell apart between my feet. Before I ever noticed, I was falling. I tried to grab a hold on something, but I couldn’t. As I fell I saw the nothingness of space. I thought to breath, but I was not able to. Every breath I attempted resulted in frequent gasps and constant panic attacks. As my descent came to a close, I landed on something soft; I closed my eyes in an attempt to shut out this world. I opened my eyes a few seconds later to the pleasant sight of my bedroom. The alarm clock was beeping as usual. As usual, I then started my day.