The Ghost of the Mountain

Disclaimer and Advisory: Ages 9 and up. 

A great story for sleepovers. Show this picture as either an online background or just a beginning pic. Scary music provided. 

High up the mountain, down, past the butcher's cabin, lies a grave. Marked with just numbers. It is said that every year September 2nd (the end of World War II) the grave awakens. A terrible fate awaits the person who sees the ghost. The ghost's heart is set on revenge. Revenge against the Nazis and their descendants.  

Everyone on that mountain knows this poem:

Slowly, swiftly that ghost glides,

On a dark night with cloudy skies,

High in the mountains,

through the winding path,

Get ready to face thy waiting wrath,

No moon to guide thee,

Now, the ghost is free. 

This is the story of a foolish girl named Anne.

It was a particularly rainy day on Mt. Breton. Ann was vacationing at her grandparents' house.  The mountain was named after her great-grandfather, so Anne was respected in the mountain. Little did she know that this mountain was haunted. As the rain started pouring, Anne raced to her grandparent's house.  As she went to the window. Anne saw a figure outside. The rain stopped. The droplets came together. Anne watched in astonishment as the droplets formed the shape of the face. It had no eye sockets, it was deformed. The thing opened its mouth. 

Anne was frozen she couldn't scream! 

Then the thing spoke. Its voice was raspy. It spoke like a rusty nail scraping against metal. " It's coming tonight, beware." Just as it came, the thing vanished. The rain pounded on.

Anne couldn't get the words out of her head. "It's coming tonight". She made a mental note to stick close to her parents that night. Curiosity won the fight against fear. Anne started walking toward the mountain. She trudged up the gloomy mountain. On the way, Anne found a cemetery. So she creaked open the gate and went inside. Suddenly, her watch beeped. It was sundown. Whatever it was it is coming tonight. Anne ran toward the cemetery entrance. But it was too late. The gate had locked. 

Grave started was moving. The ground rumbled. Anne hears a bloodcurdling scream from inside the grave. The ground parted. Anne had expected there to be a corpse. But instead, there were multiple bodies. One looked like it was buried recently. It was a girl about her age. With a stunned expression on her face. She looked like she was screaming. The main coffin rose into the air, right in front of Anne. 

"Open me," a raspy voice said from nowhere in particular. 

"OPEN ME".

 Anne reached out trembling hand and opened the coffin.

 The ghost was unleashed !!

This Morning

Hello loyal readers! Sorry about the long break. This is a new poem. It is based on a true story of what I heard in the morning of Feb 19th 2021. Hope you like it. 

 This Morning

This morning I woke up at three am

To the pounding rain and thunder

The lightning flashed in the sky,

The covers, I went under,

The rain started coming in waves,

And its ominous shadows skidded my dark room,

It didn’t stop it just coming,

I thought it was the beginning of my doom,

But then I thought of the burnt-sienna-grass,

Shriveled from winter cold,

I don’t like to see the grass this way, 

Its sad and thirsty, brown and gold

The grass slurps the rain up and swallows it joyfully,

Regardless of its salty taste,

It takes each sip with a sigh of relief

Nice and happy-faced.

Book vs. movie review: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

 The Harry Potter series consists of seven books, all are written by the author J.K. Rowling. Click on the link below to learn more about her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling

The world of Harry Potter is a magical world. Harry James Potter starts out as a young boy living under the staircase in his abusive aunt and uncle's house. His parents were killed by an evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, who was taking over the Muggle (non- wizard) and Wizarding world. Voldemort tried to kill baby Harry but fails. Harry was the first person to survive the killing curse. The curse left nothing but a cursed scar on Harry's forehead. His aunt and uncle (who hated Harry's parents) convinced him that his parents were killed in a car crash. On his eleventh birthday, a stranger comes into the house that the Dursleys and Harry were temporarily living in. The stranger, named Rubeus Hagrid, claimed to be the groundskeeper at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He said that Harry was a wizard and that Harry had been chosen to go to Hogwarts to learn magic. For the first time, Harry felt like he was home. He made friends and foes. He played the most famous Wizarding sport: Quidditch. But, unexpectedly, Harry stumbles on something top secret. He and his best friends, Hermione Jean Granger and Ronald Bilius Weasley, find themselves in a forbidden room with a giant dog with three heads. It seemed as if the dog was guarding something. But what? After many days at the library, they soon find the answer. It was a stone. A stone of immortality referred to as the Sorcerer's Stone. Could the Sorcerer's Stone be in danger? Harry soon finds himself in a life or death situation? Can he survive? Will he be able to save the stone? In this epic fantasy novel, J.K. Rowling takes the reader into land of magic and friendship. Bravery and courage. But all in all, she takes us into a land of magic and wizardry.

Of course, the movie was a famous too. The first Harry Potter book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was made into a movie and released on November 14th, 2001. The movie starred Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger (one of Harry's best friends), and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley (one of Harry's best friends). The movie, directed by Chris Columbus, became a hit soon after it released. The movie crew had lots of help from the Harry Potter series writer: J.K. Rowling. 

In my opinion, I like the movie in some parts and the book in the others. The movie left out some parts, as movies does(as it is difficult to comprehend such a lengthy book in 2 hr 30 minutes movie), but overall it provided a  good visual aspect of the book. There are some scenes where movies did the justice to the fantastic story while in other part book was more detail.  For example, I think that the movie exaggerated Hermione's bossiness which is not very visible in the book. Also, the movie had more humor than the book. The book definitely made more sense than the movie because it was more descriptive. 

Both the book and the movie are amazing to watch and read. But what I would suggest the young readers to read the book first and then watch the movie. This will help all to understand the characters and story better. 

 

POEM: Spark

In the depths of a great, deep hole, a boulder rolls down,

crushing us but not our souls.

We have ridden the tides of the sea,

sometimes struggling, sometimes free.

Because, like a phoenix, we shall rise from our ashes,

and fly like a bird that never crashes.

But now when we are tormented and messed,

tired and suppressed.

There is still a spark, that will always be there,

a lingering seed which we will never forswear.

The spark turns to a dancing flame,

Beautiful and bright, wild and untamed.

However bad things might get,

remember that flicker, that seed, that spark.

That light that will lead you, no matter how dark.

"House Poems" Part 2 of Chapter 1: Tick the Clock and Tock the Clock

Tick the Clock

What a wonderful ticking clock am I!

My gracefulness will make the other clocks cry,

Polished oak and working hands,

I'm the best clock you'll find in all the lands,

The worst thing you'll see is my brother Tock,

He is not fit to be a proper clock,

The walls say we argue, the curtains say we fight,

To be honest, they are both right,

What a wonderful ticking clock am I,

My gracefulness will make the other clocks cry.

House Poems, Part one of Chapter one by Kaayana Sharma: The Walls and The Curtains,

The Walls

I am the beautiful walls of your home,

I may be either straight or dome,

I cannot walk, I cannot roam,

I protect you with my snug embrace,

You can only break me with a spiked mace,

I am quite sturdy, try pounding on me,

You'll just break a finger, while I'm laughing with glee,

I do all these things for free,

I am nocturnal, I'm awake at night,

So are the clocks, I can hear them fight,

I am the beautiful walls of your home,

I may be either straight or dome.

---

The Curtains

    We come in cotton, velvet, or silk,

We can be as black as night or as white as milk,

Open and close me as you will,

I work for you and never get ill,

When you are asleep, I am awake,

I chat with the walls but no noise I make,

The other curtains have beautiful designs,

Leaves and flowers along their delicate lines,

I myself am a yellow plain,

The color of golden lion's mane,

The walls are nice and quite polite,

The clocks are arrogant and they fight,

About who looks better in the spotlight,

I am a pretty yellow plain,

The color of a golden lion's mane.

How I got my Betta Fish (a how-to guide on getting a pet)

It was a cloudy Sunday morning. I was leaning against the window. I was not in the best mood that morning. I had just been refused a dog. Each time I asked for a dog, the answer was a stubborn 'no'. The exact dog breed I really wanted was a golden retriever. Maybe a poodle even. First of all, my dad is against dogs and then our house was carpeted in all of the rooms. And there was a chance the dog might pee on the carpet. Secondly, our house is small, so the dog would not have much play-space in the house. We could fence our backyard but that's costly. Finally, we travel a lot, and having a dog would be difficult to manage during the trips. So the expenses for a dog are too high. In fact, the dog itself is about $4,000 to $5,000, if we buy it from a breeder. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

I was devastated when I learned the costs and maintenance of a puppy. So, soon after, I reluctantly stopped talking about it. For a brief period of time, after that, I then entertained the subject of a hamster. But, then I learned that there was not a small hamster that is good for beginners available at my local pet store. Also, we did not have a good place to put a hamster villa. And I did not want a hamster to live in a small space like a small cage. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

After about a week, even that subject was dropped. So, I was sulking on a cloudy Sunday morning. Then I decided to just get on my computer and look up some random cool facts. That always made me feel better. I looked through a list of twenty facts. The last one was this: "betta fish can breathe on land." First of all, at that time, I did not know what a betta fish was. I wanted to research a little deeper into the subject. After lots of research, I found a perfect website for information about betta fish. There were many helpful discussions on betta fish care. There was even a section where you can ask any questions about the fish care. Click on the link below if you want to visit the website: 

https://bettafish.org/

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

As I found out more and more about betta fish, I started to portray them as cool pets. If I can't have a dog or a hamster, why not a fish? What I did first to get the attention of my parents was this: I would drop random facts about bettas at random times. Though, I would not recommend you do this because it will seem that everything you ever talk about is a betta fish. 

Soon, my parents got the hint that I really wanted a betta fish. One night, I was asking my friend how she convinced her parents to get a dog. There was one simple explanation: She made a slideshow. The slideshow had to include these three simple things: the cost, what are the benefits to your family, and why do you want a fish (pet). This slideshow trick works for all. In my case, I made a separate slide for each of my parents. Here are a few things one should include in the pet slideshow:

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

1. The cost for everything (including the pet itself.) For example, if you want a dog, include the cost dog too.

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

2. You must include why you want a pet. For me, I said that I get lonely at times. If you are not a single child does not use this excuse. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

3. Include benefits of getting the pet. I included both health and emotional benefits for me and my parents.

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

Here is my slide show to convince my parents:

Click on the link below if you want to visit the website I learned everything from: 

https://bettafish.org/

Those were the things you must include in your slideshow. If you do not want to do a slideshow then you can write an essay or speech. What my family did, is take a video of my presentation and post it on my personal youtube channel. We sent it to all our family members. If they thought the slide show was convincing enough, they could vote 'yes'. If 95% of the people we share video with, said yes, then I would get a betta fish. So, I got 95% approval within 30 minutes of sharing the video. 

Well, loyal readers, this is how I got a betta fish on Oct 25th, 2020.  I am also attaching a picture of my betta fish named Luv (nicknamed LuLu.) 

You can recommend this idea to your family members. 

 I am also attaching a video showing some other ways to get a pet. 

🐶 →🐹 →🐟

Love Kaayana.