Vanessa Gonzalez
Vanessa Gonzalez is currently a senior at Aragon High School. From a young age she has had a connection with writing, deeply influenced by her passion for reading. Throughout her years in school, many of her teachers told her she had potential as a writer, but she never saw writing as more than a school assignment that she didn’t mind completing and was pretty good at--that was until high school, when the creative writing class was recommended to her by her English teacher. In this class, she has developed so much as a writer. She has learned to really paint a picture of the story and make the reader visualize the story. Vanessa usually writes realistic fiction. She uses her imagination and scenes she sees in her daily life to write her stories. Writing has now become such an important part of her life that she hopes to pursue it as her career.
Little One
Little one, you have so much to learn
So much to see, so much to experience,
So much to live through
Little one, you will live through many beautiful things, and some not so beautiful
You will experience the feelings of loss, sadness, and betrayal
But, it's okay, you need to live through those
They will help shape who you are
Remember: After a storm always comes a rainbow
The sun always comes out
That’s just how life is
Little one, you will feel discouraged by the world
You will feel like the world is against you
As if, you aren't pretty enough
As if, you aren't smart enough
You are a gem
You can be whomever, and whatever you want
Believe whatever you want
Love whatever you want
Little one, you will be happy, it takes time, but you will
I am happy
I have lost friends through the years but
I have made new and great ones
I have doubted myself, I sank into a hole
But I found a way out,
I lost family, but that’s just the way of life
You will realize that
Little one, love yourself, love your quirks, know it's okay to be different
I took a very long time to learn to love myself
We will be okay
We will be happy
Little one, just simply be yourself no matter what
Don’t change
The Sky Cries Too
The bell rings to go to fourth period and everyone has to get to their class before the second bell rings. I walk, looking straight ahead of me. Other students are a blur as they walk past me. To my left and right there are girls and boys trying to get to their class on time. Their voices sound like mumbles as they converse with their friends. The laughter of a girl stands out from the rest of the muttering; her loud, happy sound fills the air and I turn to look. She’s smiling and laughing with her friends as they walk the opposite way I’m walking. I stare and then look back to where I was headed. The air is cold as I exhale. I can see my breath transform to a white cloud of fog that slowly breaks down and returns to its normal state of invisibility.
A gust of wind blows my hoodie off the top of my head. I feel the cold breeze graze my now exposed head and send a shiver of goosebumps down my spine. I pay no mind to it and continue walking. The wind is blowing my hair in all directions. It gets caught on my earrings so I try to pull it back, but it doesn’t really work. I just let it be. Suddenly I hear the second bell ring and I’m only halfway to my class. The campus is empty. Students are inside the classrooms and have started learning, except for me. I continue my normal pace with no rush to get to class, my feet softly dragging across the floor. The wind is growing much stronger now; it has gone from a slight breeze to a gale wind. The leaves swish all over Center Court and the tree branches are dominated by the commanding wind. I look up and see the sky, grey and dull. The clouds are shifting, moving. I continue on my way.
“Heather, the bell has rung. Why are you not in class?” a school administrator yells behind me. I get startled and freeze where I stand.
“I’m heading there right now, I was in the bathroom,” I say, looking back at him.
He gives me a nod and goes on his way.
A crosswind gets me and tries knocking me down, yet my feet are still frozen to the ground beneath me. The weather seems like it ought to rain soon. As I think this to myself the first droplet of rain grazes my cheek. I jinxed it. I look up again at the sky and see the rain starting to fall. I begin walking to my class but at a much slowly pace. It’s as if the floor is pulling my feet down to keep still, but I fight the force pulling on me and continue. I open the hallway door and it’s dead silent. The warmth of the hallway heater seems so foreign to me. I feel my body begin to warm up. It seems like the warmth of the hallway has improved my blood circulation. The lights are dimmer than usual. All that I can hear is the wind fighting its way into the air vents and the pitter patter of the rain hitting the floor. There isn’t a soul in sight; it's like the world has come to an end and the population has dwindled to one. I walk towards my class and peek in the classroom window. Students avidly take notes as the teacher stands in front of the class, talking. The teacher gestures to the board as he speaks. In the midst of the class, I see a group of girls chatting and laughing as they take their notes.
My hand slips away from the door handle. I head toward the back doors of the hallway. I reach for the cold door handle and open it. A gust of cold wind greets me when I step outside, familiar and welcome. It nips at my cheeks and I let out a breath, which turns into a frosty cloud of fog. The rain has started to fall more vigorously. The air is filled with the swishing of leaves, the creaking of swaying of branches, and the thud of rain droplets hitting the ground. I pull up my hoodie and tighten the string, causing the material to hug my face like a warm blanket. I stand there for a moment, comforted.
I head towards the street, walking under a row of huge pine trees that protects me from the cold cries of the sky. I hear thunder. Its softness suggests that a larger storm is far from me, but approaching. The school disappears behind me as I reach the road. I see my dark grey car not too far away as I wait for the stop light to turn red so I can cross. I take a look back, but now all I see is the row of pine trees that protected me from the rain. The light turns red, and I walk towards my port in the storm.
