| Work by Codi Ann Moberg Inevitably It’s too late You can’t catch up now. You’ll try at first. Everyone does. But it only takes a short while before you give up. Everyone does. Divorce An 8 year old boy sits in the corner of the bus station. His name is Bobby. He is waiting for his mom to purchase a pair of tickets from the nice man Behind the window Bobby doesn’t know why he and his mom are leaving on a bus. All he knows is that his mommy and daddy were fighting. Daddy said, “I don’t want to try anymore.” Then his mother brought him to the bus station. Bobby likes the bus station. After all, he has ridden on buses before. He rode a bus to visit great Aunt Grace dozens of times. He hoped they were going to visit great Aunt Grace. She bakes the best chocolate cookies in the whole world. “Come here now, Bobby.” said his mother softly Jerking Bobby out of his delightful day dream. “We’re going to go on a little vacation, okay.” “Are we going to see Aunt Grace?” asked Bobby. “No. Not right now.” Now Bobby is a little confused. His mom and dad always fought, but why is his mommy so sad this time? He gets on the bus and sits quietly next to his mom. He can tell she is trying not cry. He sits politely and uses his manners when An old man squeezes past to get to his seat. He doesn’t want to upset mommy. As the night sky twinkles slowly as the bus flashes down the curvy highway Bobby wonders where he is going. Instructions to Writing Flash Fiction When you’re writing a flash fiction story, the words just pour out of your pen onto the snow white page in front of you. They come almost faster then you can think about what you’re going to say next. The story unfolds in only a few sentences, yet the characters take on a life of their own. The plot is full of emotion, but not words. There’s no time to express every component that makes the characters’ world revolve. Flash fiction is not exposition, its action. No time for description in 250 words. It’s reading between the lines. It’s like poetry in prose. Snowshoes Sodden misery Angry recluse Face being trampled by Continuous fireworks Turnpike for the weary with humdrum steps Homonym for catastrophe Great white sheet destroyed by Exorbitance Significant momentum Silver nymph Fleeting
Somewhere at the bottom of the indoor pool on the campus at North Dakota State University, there is a ring. Forever separated from the finger it was always worn. During an evening swim, it just slipped off, slowly tumbling to rest in the shadowy depths of chlorinated water. The owner of this ring was particularly ignorant. Her mother would call her irresponsible. She didn’t even realize the shimmering jewel was absent until that night when she washed her delicate hands before laying down to sleep that night. Her mind races back throughout the whole day. Where did she loose it? Will she ever get it back? She remembers. The pool. It has to be there. She hasn’t forgotten…..
Governor’s School So there I was, suddenly stuck on the campus of North Dakota State University with just over 40 other high school students in a six program for “smart” kids. We were in Fargo and the program was Governor’s School. There were Science geeks, math nerds, business gurus, drama queens, oh and a macho king! After only the first five minutes, I realized that would be stranded for a major chunk of my summer with a bunch of other teens that actually sort of like school and homework. This was going to be awesome!! We were divided into teams, Calvinball, Twister, Lawndarts, Go Fish, Word Find, Scrabble, and Ultimate. We were issued our dork bags, complete with identification system, and convenient pouches to store lunch cards, library cards, dorm keys, money, and I would later discover, the instructions to the Rubik’s cube. Ah, the Rubik’s cube, one life’s great mysteries. Well, not for half the Governor’s School. If you got nothing out of the experience, you probably now know how to solve the Rubik’s cube on your own. Or least with some help from one of the more experienced cubers. For future reference, if a pro-cuber asks “can I lube your cube” it is not to be taken offensively. For those of us who still can’t untwist the complexities of the little multicolored cube, I hope we all have a “pro-cubers” phone number. And all you “pro-cubers” can take your two by two’s and five by five’s and shove them up your Rubik’s Cube. Believe it or not, there is life after the Rubik’s cube, at Governor’s School. Every morning after a long night of no sleep, typing reports, homework, memorizing lines, and staring at the Rubik’s cube, there is Life and Leadership. If you managed to stay awake, the wonderful Sue Zurn taught us that eating healthy is cool, all highly effective teens have 7 habits, and the reason we are the way we are can all be explained by a color. If you are a green personality, your sarcasm is excused. No one will be annoyed by your over-organization if they know you are gold. Every knows that a blue personality can cheer you up when your down, and an orange is always ready to get going and have fun! After L and L every morning, the disciplines went their separate ways. The math kids went to classes to learn about complex theories and about the guy who invented dihedral groups. The drama group was sent their way to be taught the art of set building and costume sewing. The business students interned with big shots at big businesses and learned that working for a corporation is more than stapling papers and licking stamps. The science kids labored over PCR’s and microscopes hoping the results came out right the first time. Each Tuesday and Thursday evening was a time to let out our inner artist. Whether it was drawing, sculpting, writing creatively, or compiling a yearbook. Some of us discovered an artsy side we never knew we had. Because everyone was working so hard all day, supper was a welcome meal. It was a great time for all of us to catch up on the day’s events, over ice cream and sprinkles. Floor meetings, at least in the girl’s dorm, were also a time just to hang out and swap gossip. Even though some of us complained about the length of the meetings, I know we will secretly wish we still had them at home. Don’t think I missed the staff at Governor’s School! How could I write a story about governor’s school without even mentioning Sam (who kept everyone laughing), Nathan (the mean counselor), Liz (who could keep a straight face through anything except the truth), Shannon (master of all puzzles and brain teasers), Megan (who never seemed to be around), Lance (best tour guide and song writer ever), and Joel (the crazy one with face paint and roller blades)? They were our guidance, role models (some of the time), and chauffeurs. They organized activities, like trips to the mall and Project Gordon, which cannot speak of any further under severe penalty of death. When we did something wrong, they “sentenced” us to some severe punishment. It was unfair sometimes, but we all completed all 62 sentences exactly as the original was written. I think I speak for everyone when I say they will be missed very much. Basically, the counselors would’ve never been able to do their job without Mr. Hass. He was the one that kept everyone on the same page. He used his authority to make sure no of us broke the rules. If you did break the rules, you told him, right? Even though I didn’t meet all of the mentors, I know each discipline enjoyed all of their company and leadership. Kim McVicar, and all the science mentors; Paul Brown, business; Laurie Horvik, drama; Mr. Taylor and the other math teachers, were excellent people to work with. Also thank you to Mr. Taylor for his wonderful cooking on the weekends! I’ve spent so much time talking about everything else; there isn’t much time to talk about the trips we took: Buffalo River, Minneapolis, and Canoeing. Pick you’re favorite one, reminisce for one minute…… Yeah, that was a blast man. Word. If I missed ant other funny times or inside jokes, take this time to enjoy them before I continue on. Chic-KEN…..good! I know we all will miss Governor’s School and all the people here so much. I hope we can all stay in touch, and maybe get together and hang out sometime. As we go back to our own schools, let’s not forget the awesome time we had here. Have great rest of the summer! |