It was an old knife. It wasn’t shiny, and it certainly didn’t look sharp. I took the worn-out knife out of the drawer and held it in my six-year-old hands. Its wood-grained handle enveloped the end of the long old blade, which was discolored. Its edge was smooth and dull.
Poke. Poke. Poke! “Stop…hitting me!” I impatiently requested of my wide-eyed 7-year-old brother. I squeezed my shoulders in tighter to avoid contact with my other brother’s car seat. The vehicle was cramped enough without having a small child trying their best to find the open spaces between your ribs. In an effort to take my mind off of the activity going on beside me, I turned as far to the left as my seat belt would allow. The tip of my nose found its resting place on a cold, hard window and my breath made a circular spot right underneath. I stared for a moment. Raindrops had started sliding down the glass. Since it seemed that there was nothing better to do, I watched them make their peculiar paths.
Have you noticed how slowly time creeps by when you’re dreading something or when things aren’t going well for you? When you’re having fun, or doing something you enjoy, time seems to pass much faster. Our attitude can determine how quickly time flies when we’re enjoying something, and how painfully slowly it drags on when we’re not.
I stood stiff and still as I watched the ball roll all the way around the rim and fall away from the hoop. The goal seemed to rise a foot for each wayward shot. Basketball was making a real midget of me. My intense love of a game I’d consistently proven horrible at was wearing dangerously thin. But it wasn’t so much that I was beginning to hate basketball as I was starting to balk at the idea that I could ever play it well. Free throws. I couldn’t even sink a free throw. Try as hard as I might...
Read MoreWhat kind of clothes do you wear on a regular basis? Your appearance is always being observed by someone. Here are a few reasons why you should choose the right kind of clothing. First, you always want to make a good impression on people you meet. Your clothes show what kind of person you are. Think about what your clothes say about you: are you clean and neat? Your clothes can make you look mature and intelligent, or the opposite. Second, the clothes you wear reflect your attitude. Normally when going out for dinner, you may try to dress your best, showing...
Read MoreI was in my dad’s office, searching through old issues of the Philadelphia News. One of my favorite parts is where they announce births, baptisms, and marriages. I normally glance through the obituaries too, though normally I have never met the people. This time was different. As I saw an old man’s name, I felt sad because an opportunity had died with him. I had met this man at the Feast when I was 12. My parents had taught me to talk to older people and people in wheelchairs. I did what they said without...
Read MoreI slaved away at the dress, the needle going in and out, pulling the material behind it. Every now and then, I would glance at the clock, frantically calculating how much time I had left to make the dress before it was to be picked up. There are three lessons I learned in the process of making a formal dress. When my workmate asked if I could make her a formal dress, I jumped at the opportunity. I love sewing, and it was a new pattern, a new challenge. But I had failed to realize three things. The deadline for...
Read MoreWhen I was much younger, perhaps 5 or so, I was out grocery shopping with my mother. A fair distance away I could see a boy about my age and his mother in the aisle having an argument. The boy obviously wanted something that his mother firmly refused to give him, so he whined and cried, and in desperate frustration the boy's mother tried in vain to haul her child toward the doors. The boy broke free of her grasp screaming, “You jerk!” My mouth gaped open at such a display of disrespect, and I distinctly remember looking at...
Read MoreI rushed to our classroom. As usual, my classmates greeted me good morning and asked me if I was done with our math assignment. As usual, I answered, “No.” I pulled out my math notebook and ran to my classmates, who are good at mathematics. Running out of breath, I told them to please hurry and kindly help me with the assignment; math was the first subject of the day. They just smiled and gave me their notebooks. Looking through the problem, I saw that both of them had arrived at the same conclusion, but one had a longer...
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