Independent Reading - In Class Writing Response

Choice 1 -
My magical powers sparkle and shimmer around me as I feel myself disintegrating into the ink of the book.

I awake to the sound of waves crashing onto the rocky shoreline. I open my eyes and am blinded by the brilliant blue sky above me. Standing up, I look around and find myself on a sandy spit of beach. A sheer cliff hung with moss towers above and I can make out the top of a lighthouse. A set of rickety wooden steps hangs onto the side of the cliff. Finding no where else to go, I carefully start making my up those steps. At the top I find myself on a rocky path leading to the old, white-washed lighthouse. Soft green green grass surrounds the tower and as I walk along the path I begin to recognize my surroundings. I realize that I am actually in my book, Elsewhere. I race my way to the tower and rush into the elevator. It seems like hours until I get to the top, and I burst out of the elevator, racing past Esther and to Binoculars #15. Sitting on the metal stool I see a girl with short blond hair wearing stained and dirty white PJs. "Liz!" I call. The girl does not look up from the binoculars in front of her. I race to her and shake her shoulders. She looks up at me. Her eyes are sunk into her skull and seem empty. "Who are you?" she asks, but her voice seems uninterested. "Liz", I say, "You can't be at the ODs anymore. Do you know how much you could be doing with your life?" She glares at me. "But this is death. There is no point of living if it is death". "No Liz, you don't understand! You can't be wasting away your time at the ODs! I know you want to go down to the Well, but you don't understand that if you do, you are no worse than the cabbie!!!" "How do you know what I am going to do?!" I pause. "Well, if I were to say I were from the future, I would be lying, and it would sound cheezy. But I do know you are going to do, and I have to get you to stop!" She stares at me with empty eyes. "I actually believe you. What do I have to do?" I smile. "First of all, come with me back to Betty's house."

As we walk back to her grandmother's house, I tell Liz where I had came from. "You see", I said, "I have magical sparkly powers which can transport me into a book. You are in a book, and I really good one, actually." "That's so wierd. I can't believe it, but I do. If that makes any sense." "It doesn't", I say, smiling. Then my face become serious. "But you have to do what I say." She looks at me with understanding, nodding. "First, no more ODs. I know a lot have people have told you to stop, and as I said before, they don't do any good. Next, buy some clothes. Those old PJs are yucky." She frowns, and I give an apologetic smile. Then, you should really get that Avocation. You know how much you like dogs, and you will really enjoy it. Trust me, I know", I say, thinking about what I had read. "You should really let people in too. Thandi, Betty, Curtis. They all want to help you and be your friend, but you don't let them." She nods, then nods again. I can tell that she will do what I had said, even if she doesn't know why. "Promise me you will", I say, just to make sure. "I promise." There is bittersweet feeling, and I am sad to leave. "I have to go now", I say, "but if you do even one of these things I know you will feel better."I wave goodbye as the air around me shimmers again. The last thing I see is Liz waving back at me. "Oh ya!", I shout, "One last thing. Remember your dad's sweater, and don't shout!!!" I know she will not know what I am talking about right now but when she comes to the time she will.

I appear on my bed, the book lying open besides me. I watch the black text slowly switch and I smile to myself.