Grateful.

 I would say that I am grateful for my life, many people would kill to live how I do. I was always sheltered when I was young, always had food, and loved. My mother would always show me videos of people in Vietnam and their living situations, children having to go to work to support their families, people with no roofs, and people who were suffering. She always said “to be grateful”, and I am. I am going to use my family’s bathroom and room as an example, we always shared one. For a family of six including me, we shared one bathroom & bedroom for a long time. I loved it though, it brought us together, even if you don’t have privacy, have to hold in your poop, or are unable to sleep. Not having much is not bad, I feel like less is good. This is why I find that I am similar and different from Esperanza, she wants a bigger home, or more friends, although she still finds happiness in her family. She is as grateful as I am due to these experiences that both led us to grow. We both look back and are able to tell stories about them. 

The Tale of the Recipe (fictional story)

This recipe has been passed down from generation to generation. as I am becoming 16 this month, my father and mother will pass down the secret brownie recipe they have had for two centuries. I have been working as my father’s right-hand man or child, but I have been studying how my father does it. I am so excited finally become one with the brownie. Since we are a world-famous old-school brownie bakery, everyone is trying to know our secret recipe. I didn’t know anyone was after our recipe, except robbers as bad as a rotten apple. The day I became 16 was the happiest day of my life, everything was going so well, and my father and mother baked me a birthday brownie that tasted like warm cocoa next to a campfire. I was just about to receive the secret recipe when we heard banging on the roof, as we looked up someone broke the roof and fell down from the bakery straight onto a table. Dust particles were the only thing I saw until the smoke disappeared. I just realized the recipe was in the hands of the robber, as soon as I noticed I jumped, my father and mother didn’t move. I couldn’t reach him until I realise my parents were smiling. The scroll was blank, the robber was speechless, then my father spoke out saying how the recipe was love. I was also speechless, my father brought out some brownies to the robber, then we sat around the broken table and ate together. The robber said, “my boss hired me to take this brownie recipe since our pancake place is not going so well.” By sharing and caring, we all became understanding of the robber, we even forgave him. My 16th birthday is a day I will never forget.

The Tale lonely frog (Fiction)

There was once a rabbit and a frog. Chirps of crickets, dragonflies, and tall weeds were the heart of this pond. Sitting on a lily as still as a rock, was a frog this frog was a pretty quiet person. The frog loved being peaceful, peaceful, sleep, doesn’t matter – the frog loved it. His name shall be peace, there was peace ever since this rabbit came. Peace was sitting on a lily, eyes staring into his prey buzzing around, once the fly landed on a tall leaf, there was a chance. Stomp! Stomp! The bunny was jumping around near the pond, and the bunny was thrilled to find a pond to drink from. Just like that, the fly flew away, peace was angry, and he told the rabbit that he was too bothersome. The rabbit just stared and ran off, 30 minutes later the frog was sleeping, and peace was hungry. The rabbit came running back to cause more mayhem, and just like that, peace started jumping around and became mad at the rabbit. The rabbit ran, chasing the rabbit was peace, – they ran til they were in a forest. Peace was tired, there was no way he could chase the rabbit- not with his hunger. Peace looked around, the rabbit had brought him to a place filled with insects, ants, crickets, and flies, and it was a moist rainforest for his skin. The rabbit had stopped, peace and the rabbit had become friends, all the rabbit was looking for was a friend.

The Tale of Yuki (fictional story)

The cabin was silent, the only thing you could hear was the rain hitting the roof. Yuki, my sled dog was sitting on the couch with me, we usually don’t have showers like this. It always snows, wouldn’t have it any other way. It was raining on the day I found Yuki, he was a pup back then. He was lost. So was I. I was on a mission to live my life as a dog sledder, after saying goodbye to my family I left my home. Dog sledding is a legacy in my hometown, my brothers & sisters all became legends. I looked up at all of them. I was the only one lost, just like how I was marching all alone in this bare winter. I was freezing, and I had enough food and supplies to keep me going for another month. I hid in a cave for warmth, and that’s when I saw the most beautiful dog laying on the ground. As white as snow. Fur damp with rain. He was cold & hardly breathing, he was left behind just like me. I gave him a blanket and I made a fire, and he started to breathe again. When he finally woke up, he jumped, startled. I didn’t move, he and I had nothing to be scared off. He stopped showing his sharp teeth and sat down next to me, after feeding him I decided to bring him along on my journey. As my first sled dog, he would be the front, yuki was very skinny. It’s funny how his name is “Yuki”, when it means snow, although it was raining. I took him along on my journey and built this warm cabin, he and I are going to create the best team there is.

The Tale of The Old man’s Tree (fictional story)

Nature, beautiful green hues, oranges, yellows, and colors of flowers. This old man loved it, he thought it was something he should’ve paid attention to. He regrets not following his path, and instead doing things that he thought were fun. He had a lot of regrets. He was once a young kid who was a rebel, after growing up he matured. He thought that sitting down on his rocking chair and looking at his regrets wasn’t going to solve anything. He was going to make a change and move forward, he was going to leave something behind. His village was very bare, it had very dry land. Kids played with dirt and cans. The old man knew that he had to change something, and that’s when an idea struck, he was going to create a rice farm for his village. There already was one, which took a lot of water. Although he heard of this story when has was young, growing rice would bring luck to the village, although it was only done once by his neighbors. He was going to try it, he didn’t have much to lose anyway. That day he went into his village’s market and bought 1 seed. He decided to plant this seed right outside his house, he waited, waited, and waited. He watered the plant every day and talked to it, and it started to sprout. The old man was in joy, he rocked in his chair back and forth. A couple of years later he realizes his plant has turned into a giant tree, he thought, he was going to get rice. Although he got something better. He started tearing up, kids were playing, people hanging out in the shade, and he decided to move his rocking chair near the tree he created with his hard work and patience. He has gotten a lot of love from the village, and he was proud. He looked back on his regrets and didn’t have that feeling anymore. He was proud to have put the work in and received the same back. A few years later he died happily, the people of his village decided to name the tree after him, and they built houses around the tree. The tree had brought fruits, and water to the village with its roots. They decided to keep on his legacy living in this tree.