twilight279

The Safe House

I shouldn’t be surprised by this. It was bound to happen. But who was I supposed to blame? My whole family had suffered from things like this, so why was I being so whiny? To be honest, I think I have the worst case of them all.

Agoraphobia

The word sent a chill down my spine. A coward is what I am! I was afraid to go outside! What a wimp! I was the only one in my family that had this phobia. It was kind of embarrassing to look at my family as a whole. I wasn’t the only one that had troubles, I was surrounded by crazy people. Ironically enough, my mother had lockiophobia - fear of child birth, but she kind of had to get over that one after having three kids. My 17 year old sister Sandra has Ataxophobia - Fear of disorder and untidiness. My 10 year old cousin Allie had Cathisophobia - fear of sitting. My 4 year old cousin Ben had Astraphpobia - fear of lightening and thunder. And My best friend Jamie had Heliophobia - Fear of the sun.

There were still normal people in my life, like my brother, Sandra’s twin Adam and my dad, but that only went so far when you lived with a bunch of crazy people. We lived in a quiet neighborhood in West Hartford Connecticut. My Cousins lived next door to us, so we were pretty close with each other.

Since there were 5 kids with phobias, we made the phobia clubhouse. It was a place where everything we feared was gone, and we were allowed to rant with each other. It was perfectly equipped for all of us. It was in our loft for me since I wouldn’t, couldn’t go outside. It was an open space. There was one window that took up a whole wall with giant curtains to block out all of the weather for Jamie and Ben. The walls and carpet were a perfect white, nothing on them the way my sister liked it. A book shelf filled with hundreds of books stood in the corner of the room for Allie when she got bored of just standing. 4 bean bags laid in the center of the room, with pillows scattered around.

My life at home wasn’t bad. My family tried to make sure that someone was always home with me, so that I wouldn’t feel lonely. I spent most of my time in the clubhouse. I felt bad about what my family sacrificed for me. We hadn’t been on a vacation since I was 4, before We knew what was wrong with me. 10 years of no vacations. 10 years of staying home. On good days that farthest out I could go was the edge of my front yard. That was pushing it.

………………………………………….

It was a rainy day. The weather channel had said to expect a storm. Anna, Allie, and I stayed in the clubhouse trying to soothe Ben. After 30 minutes, he finally stopped hyperventilating. He was the hardest to calm, because he was the youngest. He sat in my lap and I could feel him shaking. His lower lip puffed out into a permanent pout.

“Wwwwwwhere is Jjjammme?” Ben managed to choke out from under his sobs.

“He’s outside.” I told him

“Why?! It raining and he cccccould die! He gonna DIEEEE! No more Jamie! Anna save him!” He screamed at me, working himself into more sobs. It was going to take an hour to calm him down.

“Don’t worry, Jamie is safe. He just likes to go outside when it rains” I said reassuringly

“Why?” he asked, bewildered by the fact.

“Because he can’t go out in the sun” I responded

“Why?” he repeated

“Because he’s afraid.” I answered, not quite sure if I could explain the many complicated details that went along with Jamie’s condition to a 4 year old.

“Why?”

I sighed in frustration, not in the mood to play the why? game. Allie picked up on my mood and quickly put her book down and took ben from my lap. She went to the corner of the room and rocked him in her arms, mumbling to him until he was quiet and fell asleep. She placed him back on the bean bag, then returned to her book.

It was quiet for a moment. Sandra was running her hands through the carpet, deep in thought. A scowl on her face. I didn’t want to be nosy, but she seemed upset.

“What’s up?” I finally asked

Sandra shrugged, debating whether or not she wanted to go on. She looked up at me.

“I went for my license today” she said, a frown pulled down at the corners of her mouth.

“You didn’t get it?” I asked, though she seemed awfully upset for something that simple.

“Nope” she said.

“That’s too bad, but you can always retake the test, right?” I said, trying to cheer her up.

She bit her lip, her cheeks turning crimson red.

“Not to sure ‘bout that…” she said, her eyes quickly darted to my face then back to the ground.

“What. Did. You. Do?! Run over your instructor?” I asked sarcastically

She giggled, then took a deep breath. Her words came out in a rush

“Ok, so after going through this horrible test, and passing for my permit” - she smiled, obviously proud - “I get called for the driving portion of the test. So I meet my instructor, Genine, this mean middle aged women that looks like an absolute reck, and the smell of her!” - she flinched - “I mean seriously. Its called soap, lady! And toothpaste, and laundry detergent, and air fresheners…Ugh. Anyway, so I’m driving, ready to jump out the window of the car from being with this women, when all of a sudden!” She drummed her hands on her thighs “I almost run over an old man crossing the street! I slam the brakes and her papers fly everywhere! So she’s yelling at me and I am freaking! Not only is she frightening me enough, but now everything is a mess and I start hyperventilating. Then BAM!” Her hands flew up in the air theatrically “I hit a car! Not just any car, oh no! Genine’s 1990 volvo station wagon! So no I did not get my drivers license. No, I don’t think I am getting my drivers license any time soon. And no, Genine and I aren’t gonna be hangin’ out anytime soon!” She took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Wow” I said, not sure if I could contain my laughter much longer

“Uh-huh” she said

Jamie walked into the door then, soaking wet. He shook his hair out on us. Ben’s eyes flashed open, excited that jamie was here.

“JAMIE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!!!!!!” Ben said, hopping up from the bean bag, and running to hug Jamie’s leg.

“I stay with him and comfort him all day, and he flicks boogers at me. Jamie walks through a door and he’s a king!” Allie mumbled to herself

“GET OUT!!!!!” Sandra screamed, trying to throw pillows at his face but missing by several feet.

“It’s nice to see you to Sandra, it really has been to long” he said with a smile on his face.

“WET! MESSY! STUPID! BOY!” Sandra continued to scream

He laughed and turned around hobbling away with ben on his leg.

“SUN FREAK!” she yelled after him

He paused, and turned around glaring at her.

“Hey Sandra, hit any good old people lately?” he winked then left the room

She glared after him.

“How did he know!”

………………………………………….

It was Christmas Eve. Outside was a winter wonderland, snow everywhere you looked. It was snowing and everyone was outside playing. I sat on the floor, watching them through the screen door. Jamie came over to the porch with his hands bundled together. His face was distant, deep in thought like he was deciding something. He opened the screen slightly, and stuck his hand out opening the fist. A snowball rested in his palm. I took it into my hands, not caring about how cold it felt.

“It’s really nice outside” he said after a moment

“It seems like it” I said, not sure where he was going with this

“Nice enough for you to even maybe go outside?” he asked quietly.

His face turned hopeless as he watched me flinch. I played with the snowball in my hands, wishing that I could be less of a buzz kill and go outside.

“Well, what if you just took a step, one step outside. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” he tried again, trying not to be to pushy.

“No thanks”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive”

Frustration showed on his face now. I tried to think of a way to explain myself to him without him feeling bad.

“I’ll step outside when you go out in the sun”

I had never seen Jamie go outside when it was sunny before, he just stayed in a dark room. His pale skin made him look like a corpse from being so sun deprived. He stared at me for a second

“I went outside on the last day of summer.”

“For a second.”

“That’s all I ask from you.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Why not!?” he asked, starting to loose his temper.

“Because it’s, it’s….my troubles are a lot more complicated then yours.” I responded

He scoffed

“How so? I mean honestly! Your always mopping about how horrible life is, but you’re not even trying to go out anymore! You’ve given up on life! You are a zombie. A homebody, a hermit. Sometimes I can’t even be around you, it’s so depressing!”

I stared up at him, shocked. What was he saying? Why was he so angry? Why was he doing this? Have I really been that depressing? A million questions spilt into my head. I tried to recover so I could say something to him.

“What is going on with you?” I asked, choking up a bit “Where is this coming from?”

“It has rained, snowed, and been cloudy for a month straight. Every time I’ve been outside its by myself. Otherwise I’m indoors, with you and your family. I want to have some normal friends. Ones that will come sledding down the hill with me on a snow day. I need someone that won’t take away the times that I am free of my fear. I’ve known you since pre-school, and I have been a loyal friend. But I’ve run out of patients.” He said this all slowly, letting his words sink in.

An icy tear ran down my face. I tried to talk. I wanted to talk, to convince him that he was wrong. To tell him I would try. To tell him how sorry I was, but I was frozen.

“I gotta go” he said after a minute of silence. He turned around and quickly walked away before I could object.

I looked down in my hands, only a puddle of water dripped through the cracks of my fingers.

………………………………………….

I tried to perk up at dinner time, making an effort not to ruin everyones fun. My mom had worked hard on a nice dinner for the whole family, christmas jingles playing in the background. But my attempts were useless. I couldn’t keep myself in the conversation, and eventually everyone gave up on trying to chat with me. I didn’t touch my food.

“May I be excused?” I finally asked, I didn’t know how much more I could take.

“Of course Anna” my mom said, keeping her curiosity about my mood to herself.

I washed my dish then went to my room, hoping to distract myself. The light in my room wasn’t turning on, but I didn’t want to bother my dad so I lit candles around my room. I picked up a random book off the shelf, and started to read. After a minute of reading, I was fighting to keep my eye lids open. This day had worn on me immensely. I finally gave in, letting myself go unconscious.

My eyes flashed open as I herd the scream, but I couldn’t see anything. Smoke filled the room. It took a second for things to click in my mind.

“She’s still in there!” The screams continued.

I got up and mapped out a quick escape plan, only to realize that the flames were dominating the room so that any paths to the door, or every window was unaccessible to me. I started to panic, things were starting to go fuzzy from the lack of oxygen. Thats when I saw my escape. I climbed onto my desk, which was just high enough to let me jump over the flames and get to the door.

Without much thought I leaped into the air, over calculating the distance of the jump. I slammed into the wall. I held my hands out, hoping to lessen the impact. My hands and face hit first. I was numb for a second, and then a flow of pain shot through my bones. I had to have broken at least my wrists. The right side of my face throbbed. I ignored all of this though, and threw the door open. Thats when I saw how much damage I had done. I was frozen in place, as I saw my home engulfed in flames.

Tears weld up in my eyes fogging my vision. I forced myself to continue on, my death wasn’t going to help anything. I was running out of time, out of oxygen. Thats when I saw the broken window. The window I used to sit by and watch the outside world. The window, that at this point, could save my life. I ran to it now only 5 feet away. I could see the fireman restraining my mother from running into the house. Across the street I could see Jamie.

No one realized me but Jamie. His eyes widened in horror. He was yelling something to me, but I couldn’t understand. All I heard were the flames burning away my home, my one and only safe place. A voice in the back of my head screamed at me. GET OUT OF THERE! YOU HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO LIVE FOR! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! I couldn’t move. I just started crying again.

My head started to spin and I knew I only had a couple seconds. I had let my fear rule my life, and now it was about to take it away. I took one last look around what was left of my house, when my sight started to blur even more. The last thing I saw was the door being kicked down before my body hit the ground. I could still hear the christmas music in my head.

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock

………………………………………….

I woke up staring at a white ceiling. Was I dead? All of my sense’s were dulled. I looked around. It was in a small unfamiliar room. I panicked, my breathing became panting and my heart rate shot up. An annoying beeping sound came from the background. I looked down and I realized what happened; the polka dot paper gown, the needles stuck in my arm, the rapping of my body, the annoying beeping. I was in a hospital. I started to scream.

A nurse ran through the door. She looked awful. Her face was tired, panic in her eyes. She mumbled something to herself. It sounded like “not again”. This had happened before? What happened to me!?

“Shhhhh hun, you need to calm down. Shh your safe, but people are trying to sleep. Please darling, stop screaming.” she begged

I fell silent, still shaking. I chocked out the next words, I had to find out what had happened.

“…..What….happened?” - my throat burned from every word I spoke, maybe from the screaming - “….Where is family….need doctor…need help…” I finally started to feel the rest of my pain. My muscles ached. My right arm and leg were in casts. Bandages wrapped around my head and ribs. I rubbed the right side of my face, and I could feel a giant bruise that started at my hair line and went down to my cheekbone.

“Let me explain hun” The nurse said, relief clear in her voice “Hello, my name is Natalie. Your doctor is Doctor Fink. You were in a fire one week ago. You’ve broken your leg, arm, and 2 ribs, plus a possible concussion from the fall that you took after you passed out. You also suffered from respiratory failure, but that shouldn’t affect you horribly. Your family is sleeping in the lobby, because you’ve had a few false alarms. You see, you’ve woken up six times and we’ve had to sedate you each time because of you’re panicking. I think you’re okay now though. Would you like to see them?”

I nodded not able to speak. The nurse turned around and walked out the room.

A minute later, my mother burst through the door, tears pouring down her eyes, and threw her arms around me. My dad and siblings joined in.

………………………………………….

Two weeks later and I left the hospital with a walking cast and cast on my arm. Our house had been completely destroyed thanks to the candles I had lit. We were staying with my cousins. Things were going to be okay despite the fact. My parents made good money at there jobs, and we would be able to buy a new house in a few months. My family would not let me say sorry or let me make it up to them. I felt so horrible about it.

I hadn’t seen Jamie since the fire, because I was allowed no visitors outside of my family for some psychological reason. I didn’t know what I was going to say to him when I saw him again, if I saw him again. I paced in my temporary bedroom, thinking about what to do. The sun’s light came through the windows, and then all of a sudden something inside of me just sparked. I grabbed my coat and started toward the front door without hesitation. I hobbled my way down the street to his house. I hadn’t been there in a long time. I boldly walked up the path to his house and rang the doorbell. A million different emotions flooded inside me. The door opened slightly and Jamie’s face popped out the crack.

He saw me and the door immediately swung all the way open. He stared for a few seconds, amazed at what he was seeing. It took him a minute to even realize my injuries. Tears welled at the corner of his eyes and a huge smile spread across his face.

“How?” he asked breathlessly

I couldn’t help but smile back. I shrugged, all of a sudden feeling extremely uncomfortable that I was outside. I reached my good hand out toward him. With a confused expression on his face he took my hand. I dragged him out the door frame and then let go. He hid in the shadow of his porch.

“Just one step. That’s all I ask from you” I said mockingly.

He starred at me for a second and then nodded. Silently we both took a step out from the shade and into this new sunny outside world that neither of us had enjoyed for so long.

………………………………………….

∞ 1 day ago

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Fin de Semana Pasado

E sábado mi amiga vino por mi casa y nosotros concinamos. También, yo decoré mi casa para Navidad.

El domingo yo limpie mi cuarto. Yo leí un libro, y terminé mi tarea de ciencia. Yo también caminé los perros.

∞ 4 days ago

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Middle Ages Reflection

For our Middle ages project we studied epidemics, and made models and essays for each major epidemic. I believe that I used an appropriate variety of sources for my research. For each source I made sure that the site wasn’t like wikipedia, but I could have run more of a background check on the websites. I made sure that all my sources were credited in the bibliography.

Through out the project, even when our group was stressed out about something that went wrong, we worked well together. I think we all put in our best efforts, even when the project crossed some peoples comfort zones. Everyone helped with each task. I didn’t think there was a leader in our group.

For this particular project, our goals weren’t completely set in stone at any time because we hadn’t realized how many school breaks we would have through out this project. Also, a few absences, including my own made communicating difficult. In the end though, I think we were all pleased with what had been accomplished. I did enjoy this topic a lot more than I thought I would have. I discovered all different sorts of interesting things about not only diseases in the middle ages, but I even got to learn about beliefs, lifestyles, politics, and so many other things.

The one thing I did not like about this project was that we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked, so some parts of the project had to be abandoned half way through the process of making them, which was a little disapointing. If I were to do another project like this, I would definetly consider more realistic ideas for the amount of time that we are given. I would definetly be up for doing another project like what we did with ours.

∞ 4 days ago

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Lista de Quehaceres

1. Limpiar mi cuarto

2. Doblar la Ropa

3. Lavar los Platos

4. Poner la mesa

5. Barrer

∞ 1 week ago

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Measles Essay

Measles

By Tatiana Aarons Bains

The disease Measles killed thousands of people in the middle ages. It caused major declines in civilizations, and is thought to have something to do with the fall of the Roman Empire. Treatments in medieval times were extreme, and were often based off of religious beliefs. It is not as much of a concern today as it was in medieval times.

Measles are a highly contagious disease. It can causes runny nose, cough, fever, sensitive eyes, and a full body rash. There are two types of Measles. The mildest case is the Rubella virus, otherwise known as the German Measles or three-day measles can cause birth defects and congenital rubella syndrome if a pregnant woman were to pass her disease to her unborn child. The Rubeola virus otherwise known as red measles, hard measles or just measles is a more serious infection that lasts longer. Rubeola can lead to rare symptoms such as; diarrhea, ear problems, pneumonia, and swelling of the brain.

Measles are thought to have evolved from the animal disease Distemper. It is guessed that the disease evolved to attacking people when cities first began, and large groups of people started living with animals. The earliest case of measles was debatably in 430BC, in Athens known as the plague of Athens. Other outbreaks of measles also include The plague of the Roman Empire in 165AD. The worst plague of measles was the European traders and explorers, due to the fact that neither of the America’s had been exposed to measles or smallpox. The two combined gradually killed every nine out of ten people that caught either disease.

In the middle ages, doctors were usually only available for the wealthy. Those who lived in villages rarely received medical care, due to the fact that doctors mainly practiced in cities and courts. Often treatments included herbs, therapeutic substances, nature, and surgery. The most popular surgery was called bloodletting. Bloodletting meant making an incision in the arm, leg, or neck with a fine knife called a lancet. The intention was to bleed out the unneeded blood and body fluids. It wasn’t until the 1900’s that this method was questioned, and eventually ended.

Though there aren’t many cures recorded for measles in medieval times, some methods included wolfs skin , roasted mouse, and bat blood. Rubbing wolf’s skin on a rash was thought to stop the itch. Eating roast mouse was considered the cure for measles, a cold, and fever. Washing warm bat blood on your face was thought to clear your vision. Since disease was thought to be a result of your sins, there were also religious treatments that included praying or hanging animal carcasses around your house to scare away the unholy spirits.

After the MMR vaccine was developed in 1963 for measles, it has become less of a hazard to people. In the United states, two or three people, out of every thousand cases of measles die. Every year there are 150-200 thousand deaths globally from measles.

Epidemics like measles changed the course of history dramatically, sometimes even wiping out civilizations completely. Even though the virus comes across as harmless, it can cause more serious problems. Looking back on treatments of the middle ages, scientists realize that more often treatments were more likely to kill then they were to heal. Luckily vaccines have been developed, which have successfully reduced the number of related deaths from measles.

∞ 1 week ago

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