[BC] Search in the Dark

One night, I was sleeping in a very deep trance. My body would feel numb from head to toe because I didn't toss or turn my body that night. I didn't even feel my blanket or the pillow I was sleeping on. I could hear nothing but the silent night except for my heart beat which slowly decreased. But the sleep ended at midnight because I was thirsty. My throat felt itchy and dry. Every time I tried to swallow, I would feel a sharp pain in my throat as if I was swallowing needles when my throat muscles expand and contract. I needed water.

I opened my eyes but all I could see was the black color of darkness. I sat up and pushed aside my soft blanket. I stuck out my feet to the right side of my bed and felt the icy temperature of the air in my room which sent chills throughout my body, making me wide awake. I put my feet down on the somewhat cold and fluffy carpet. I stood up and reached out my hands and touched something hard, smooth and a little dusty. It was my drawer which I couldn't see since the room was too dark. I dislike the dark when I am awake because it reminds me of ghosts. So I was a bit scared. My heart started to beat fast and I broke into a cold sweat causing me to have goosebumps and my hair to stand on its end. I needed to turn on the lights first before I can get some water to drink.

After I slowly walked to the left of the drawer, there was nothing to hold on to and guide me to the light switch. I felt a bit worried which made my heart beat even faster, because I didn't want to bump into anything. My heart was beating so loudly that I could hear it clearly ringing in my head in the silent night. After a few more slow and careful steps, I could feel my bookshelf which calmed me down causing my heart to beat a bit slower because there was something to guide me to the light switch again. It was cold, hard, and smooth like my drawer. As I kept walking, I felt the dust that was on the shelf underneath my fingertips. I could feel the dusty covers of the books on the shelf. They were smooth and cold and some of the covers were either soft or hard. As I was sliding my fingers on the books, I accidentally cut my finger on the sharp edge of a soft and thin book cover. "F***!" I whispered to myself, breaking the silence. It stung a little but I wasn't sure if it was bleeding or not, so I just sucked on it which tasted a little bitter. I kept on walking slowly to the light switch while trying to ignore the stinging pain.

When I reached the edge of the bookshelf, I started to put my hand out in front of me again to feel for the wall that has the light switch. While I was reaching out, I accidentally bumped the back of my left hand softly on the wall, making a thumping noise. It didn't really hurt so I continued to walk forward to the wall while keeping my left hand on it. The wall felt really cold, hard and rough. After a minute or two, I felt the cold, smooth light switch with my right hand and a surge of happiness was flowing through me. My body felt lighter as if something heavy just came off and my heart started to beat at a normal pace. Then I pushed up the light switch to turn on the lights. It made a 'click' sound. But the lights wouldn't turn on. I froze for a second, wondering why it didn't work while tipping my head to the right a little. I tried turning it 'off' and then 'on' again which made more clicking sounds, but it still wouldn't work.

I suddenly felt really tired and gave a huge sigh because I knew that it was a power shortage. I rolled my eyes thinking "Oh...wow...great..." I didn't want to get the flashlight because I didn't know where it was, so I felt my way back to my bed in the dark. But this time more confidently with longer and quicker steps since I can just retrace my way and not bump into anything. After reaching my bed, I climbed into it. The spot that I was sleeping on was still a little warm. I lied down on the same spot and covered myself with my soft blanket and went back to sleep feeling disappointed and irritated by the fact that I didn't get a freakin' sip of water but got a paper cut instead which stung only when I touched it. What a crappy night that was!

[RE] Response to "School is Cool"

This is a quote from Nick Sarmiento's blog:

"Some say that school, is the most boring and worst thing ever. I believe that school is actually somewhat "Cool", the way you act and picture school is what makes a person think that school is stupid or time wasting."

I agree that school is "cool" too. I think that school provides us the opportunity to discover new things about the world. And once we have that knowledge, we can use it for a lot of purposes such as from helping the environment to changing an individual's life. I picture school as a place where you can improve the power of your knowledge, make friends, and learn a lot more about where you stand in the world. So basically, I think that school is an amazing place.

I know a few people that actually say that school is boring and annoying, or troublesome and stressful. They probably have their own problems, such as family and health problems. Other times, it is just that person's personality that makes them too lazy to do the activities given by their school. I think the problem is that people are mostly viewing school based on their own situations instead of viewing it as a part of a big society.

School is in fact a little hard at times but there are good reasons for it. Such as having a lot of homework that you need to do. But having a lot of homework makes you review what you have learned in class and be able to memorize and apply it to real life someday. By thinking that school is "cool," you can make a big difference in your life because it gives you some power in your words and your actions.

[FREE] Throw Out the Toys!!

My house needs to be cleaned. I have so much junk in my house that my stepdad keeps calling it a "rat's nest". A long time ago, I threw out a lot of my toys away, but I still have a lot left. I never play with them anymore since I have other things to do like homework. Whenever I have free time, I usually read books or play on my guitar so I don't play with my toys at all. I wonder if I should throw it all away or donate them. I always try to throw away some things but then my mom would be like "Why are you throwing toys that are not broken yet? Do you know how much I had spent on these for you?" Then I would remind her that the toys that I am throwing out are mostly toys that she brought back for me, not bought for me, which were already broken... *cough* chipped... and was of no use to me.

I would get really irritated sometimes when my mom would refuse to throw out something that was useless to any of us. For example, I was trying to throw out this three to four pieces of a road for a toy train to go on because, firstly, I didn't have the train to begin with, and secondly, the other parts of the road were missing. It was totally useless, but my mom insisted that I keep it. I became irritated because I wanted to throw it out, but I had to listen to my mom, so I kept it... and I STILL have it.

I put it in a box with the rest of my toys that I had wanted to throw away, but can't, because I couldn't find a reason to tell my mom to throw it out except that I don't play or need it anymore which my mom would obviously say "no" to that reason. Now, whenever I would look at the direction of where my mirror is, I would be reminded that I really want to throw away that three to four pieces of train road because the box is RIGHT BESIDE MY MIRROR. During the next break I have, which is the Thanksgiving holiday break, I am going to try to throw it out again and hopefully she will allow it.

[BC] A Bit About Myself

Hi! My name is Sarina Ngo. As you can guess from my last name, I am Vietnamese since both of my parents are born in Vietnam. Although I am mostly Vietnamese, I'm also American and Chinese because I was born in California on the 24th of February, 1996 and my mom's grandparents were Chinese. I guess you can say that I am trilingual. My dad died from cancer when I was three years old because he was smoking and drinking all the time, so I really dislike smoking, drinking, and drugs. Ever since then my mom and I faced a lot of troubles.

My mom was sometimes overworked to earn money to pay for living expenses and a lot of debts. Since my mom was working, she couldn't take care of me so she had to hire a babysitter. I had to transfer schools every time my babysitter changed because most of the babysitters couldn't take care of me anymore or they just lived too far away, which I had to be in a school that was close to their place so that they could pick me up. So far I transferred five times (not counting middle and high school):
1. Washington Elementary (Alameda) for kindergarten and first grade
2. Haight Elementary (Alameda) for a few months in second grade
3. Lorenzo Elementary (San Lorenzo) for a few months in second grade as well
4. Cabello Elementary (Union City) for the rest of second and third grade
5. Whittier Elementary (Oakland) for fourth and fifth grade
I experienced many things. I had to say goodbye to my old friends but I also got to make new ones so it was alright.

For middle school, I went to Wood for a full three years, and now I am going to go to Alameda High for a full four years (that will be my first time staying at one school for four years). I forgot to mention that when I was going to Cabello, my sort-of-step dad moved in, and some of the load of earning money for living expenses was split until he became unemployed and is somewhat helping around the house. So that was mostly how my past was like. Now, on to what I like.

I like to watch anime and read manga A LOT, but any book is fine as long as it is interesting to me. I guess you can say that reading is one of my hobbies. Another hobby of mine is playing the guitar because I love music and it's really fun to play/make music. I like math and science (although I used to not like science). I'm NOT athletic at all causing me to suck at sports, but I still like to play badminton and tennis sometimes.

To me writing is something that I like to do, especially when I can free write on anything that I want. This is actually my first time writing a blog EVER, I hope that I am doing an okay job of it. My writing goals for the year are probably to build up on my vocabulary, to be able to respond to prompts more flowingly, and to write better essays because I sort of suck at that too. So I've pretty much summed up a bit about myself in this blog.