Abigail+L.

= Abby L.'s Portfolio = toc

"Pieces of a Poem" poem
The Descent Drifting softly through the air, an ocean of yellow and red. Because of the Autumns ghostly wind , from the branches they've fled. Twirling and twisting, swirling and swishing, kissing the broken trees, there is no prettier scene than when the Autumn frees the leaves.

The red lines are the compound-complex sentence and the ending independent clause. The yellow line is the noun clause and a dependent clause. The blue lines are the dependent clauses. The green line is the other independent clause.

"﻿Preposition Poem"
In December, beside my brother, on the boardwalk, within a blanket, above the ice, past the town, at twelve o' clock, I watched the fireworks glow.

"﻿Hint Fiction"
Her tears streamed fast onto his chest, a shock of heat against a cold body, confirming deaths firm grasp on him.

" ﻿ Blitscussion Revision"
I recently finished "The Thing About Jane Spring" by Sharon Krum. My father ﻿ dad bought me this book and I wasn't reading anything, so I thought 'why not ﻿give it a shot ?' When I started reading it, I dove right into the main character Jane' s life. Jane is a lawyer in modern day New York city. Currently in her middle thirties, what Jane wants is to find a man who will stay with her. Sure, men will date her, she gets plenty of offers but they never go make it past the first date. Why? Because Jane is a fierce woman who only dresses in pants suits, eats her meat nearly raw, and is blatantly honest to the point of being rude. After countless men dump her, Jane decides to the only way to get her man is to ﻿ change her image to get her man. And when she is snowed in at home with nothing to do but watch television, she realizes who to model herself off of: Doris Day. It This book made me think about how you treat ing﻿ people affects how what they think about you. This hilarious book was fantastic and super fun to read, and I would recommend this to girls about thirteen and older.

Blue is edits and revisions.

"Extended Metaphor"
The fire is a wolf, ribs poking from his sides, eyes wide and suspicious, always on the lookout, he snarls at the man who tries to tame him, teasing him, tricking him into feeding him, comforting him with warmth, but he is always ready to bite, to devour and kill, he is calm only in his death, when he curls up and lets himself go out.

"﻿Tone Analysis"
In﻿ the article "Be Sparing with the Broad Stripes and Bright Stars", the author Frank Deford clearly states his dislike of sports and how they have affected some of our nations sacred rituals. For example, the 'Star Spangled Banner' has been sung at so many sporting events that is has become simply a song and not a symbol of our countries struggles. The authors opinion is made even clearer by his use of sarcasm throughout the piece. "Seeing that whiz-bang Chevrolet No. 39 with U.S. Army splashed all over it, whippin' around the oval, chasin' Jimmie Johnson, may well indeed entice some young fans to enlist." This line tells us that the author thinks of NASCAR as a sport for idiots and hillbillies. He changes his "ing" ending words to "in'" ending words, which gives him an obviously sarcastic tone. "Besides, of all sports, I suspect the Army is closest to the automotive. If you like cars, there are an awful lot of what the military people always call vee-HICK-ills to monkey around with in the Army." In this line, the author is also completely sarcastic. When he says vee-HICK-ills, it emphasises the way that Southern people talk and makes them sound like idiots. And when he slaps the 'of all sports' in, it emphasises that it is NASCAR, not baseball or football. Throughout the article, the authors blatant interjecctions and sarcastic sentences gave me an obvious taste of the authors opinion.

"Blackout Poem"
Community Calamity Pondering fate, the weeds of community ripped out of the ground, a toxic tornado drilling into the air and water, on the heels of a funnel of debris. What have we caused?

[[image:Incomprehensible_photo.jpg width="514" height="338"]]
Incomprehensible: (adjective) impossible to understand or comprehend; unintelligible. The first thing I thought of when I heard the word incomprehensible was ‘crazy colors and patterns.’ So I went online and found an image of a lake that was laced with colors that you hardly ever see in the natural world. This scene was so unreal, I put it as the background for my digital vocabulary. After that, I started thinking of things that would add to the absurdity of the picture. I thought of bubbles because they are very colorful, fun, and slightly unreal. I decided I needed some animals too, so I thought of animals that wouldn’t make sense in the scene. Camels and jellyfish were in my mind, so I added them. With the butterflies, there really was no question. I like butterflies, and they’re so bright and colorful that I had to add them. I combined them all in a way that was completely-well, incomprehensible!

Original image: ' [|July][|7 2009][|Extravaganza][|-][|Prediction][|=][|True] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/37717290@N00/3661466756 by: Original image: ' [|Do] [|you] [|want] [|to] [|sit] [|on] [|my] [|Back][|?] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/68008857@N00/1667984027 by: Ferdi Original image: ' [|I] [|spy] [|another] [|Butterfly] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/68008857@N00/525735562 by: Ferdi Original image: ' [|Double] [|Bubbles] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/95118988@N00/47268534 by: Jeff Kubina Original image: ' [|plasma] [|jellyfish] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/12142259@N00/3414193310 by: Beat Küng

"Cloud Dance"
The guard was bored. He had been standing on duty for the better part of the day, and he was sweltering in the August sun. He wiped his brow with his hand, and it was instantly damp with sweat. If only he could take off his armor, he thought. But no, armor was to be worn at all times in case of an attack. The commander patrolled the wall as well, just in case any soldier broke down and removed his armor. The guard was sure that if he removed it for a second, the commander would come and he would be out of the job. So he kept on the boiling armor, sweating fiercely and praying for his shift to end. He turned around on the wall, doing a routine check of the ground and skies. Nothing, nothing, nothing-wait. He squinted his eyes. A dark splotch in the sky was moving steadily closer until the guard made out the giant wings, long neck, and spiky tail of a-

“Dragon!” the guard shouted, frantically ringing the alarm bell. Soon, a chorus of wailing bells bounced around the castle. Below him, in the courtyard, a chaotic rush of people disturbed the usual calm. The guard ran for the stairs. He was almost there....

Wham! The dragon landed with a giant crash. Never in his life had the guard seen such a beautiful and terrifying creature. She was strong, with powerful legs and a spiked tail that swung viciously around, smashing trees with every swing. Her scales glimmered blue, purple, and green. She had sharp talons that dug through the stone floor as easily as his own fingers in water. Her neck was long and thin, and at the end of it, the most frightening head the guard had ever seen. The head had two large, black eyes that seeped into ones head and drove him mad. Her teeth were razor sharp bone crushers, and when she opened her mouth they glinted like diamonds. The dragon threw back her head and roared. Her great mouth opened wide, and from it a barrage of fire spewed. It swirled through the air in a torrent of colors, as beautiful and magnificent as the dragon herself. The guard was terrified. He stood on the wall, paralyzed with fear, staring at the beast. He saw her tail swinging up towards him, and although his brain was screaming at him to run, he could only stand there and stare, terrified, as the great tail hit him and threw him off the wall. He heard the magnificent crack of all the bones in his body splintering, and his whole world turned black.

The dragon, of course, felt nothing, only a slight sensation equivalent to the feeling a human gets when a butterfly lands on them. The sensation was minuscule, and she ignored it, for there were more pressing matters at hand. She swiped at the top of the castle, removing the top floors with a single hit. She got to the last floor and found what she was looking for. The princess was staring up at the dragon. Her expression was not afraid as the dragon had expected, simply annoyed and resigned. The dragon was puzzled, but that did not stop her from picking up the princess in her claw and launching herself from the courtyard. Her wings beat in powerful strokes, flattening the trees below her. She flew up, just high enough that the princess would not die of the cold or lack of oxygen, and flew towards her cave.

After a short time, they landed at the mouth of a giant cave. The dragon gently set her passenger down and curled up in front of the mouth of the cave. She looked at the princess. She had long, brown hair that ran to her waist. Her face was surely pretty, but it was scrunched up in anger. She had on a dark green dress with big sleeves that was slightly torn from the journey. She had small cuts on her face from the debris, but that was it. An uncomfortable silence filled the air. The dragon stood in front of the doorway. “Don’t even bother trying to escape,” she snarled. “This is the only exit to the cave, and I won’t let you through.”

The princess looked angry. “I hate you!” she shouted. “I hate you so much!”

The dragon narrowed her coal black eyes. “Oh, really? And why? I’m doing you a favor! You’ll be rescued by a handsome prince and the two of you will live happily ever after! Isn’t that what all princesses want?”

“No!” the princess shrieked. Her voice softened to hardly a whisper. “I don’t want to be rescued by a prince. I don’t want to get married. I want to see the world, go places that no one has ever gone.” Tears ran tracks down her face. She wiped them away quickly.

The dragon was silent. She wanted to comfort the girl, but she didn’t know what to say. “There’s food and water at the back of the cave,” she said gruffly. “You can have whatever you like.” Then the dragon turned around and looked out at the world. She heard the princess trudge to the back, sniffling occasionally. The dragon’s heart ached. She wanted the princess to be happy in the cave. After all, she would probably be staying a while. She turned to apologize to the girl, but she was already fast asleep. ….....................................  Over the next few days, the dragon and the princess began to warm up to each other. They sat next to each other and talked about everything imaginable. The princess told the dragon about life in the palace, where she was always followed by guards protecting her, princes courting her, and ladies admiring her. ”Sometimes I wish I was not born a princess,” she said sadly. “I could go see the world. You know, this is the first time I’ve ever been out of the palace. I guess I have you to thank for that.”

The dragon told the princess stories of her children. “I used to have two lovely girls and a handsome young boy. They were strong dragons, and they reminded me of their father. He died long before they had hatched. I loved my children so much.” The dragon fell silent for a long time, until the princess crawled over to her and put her hand on the dragon’s tail. She continued, her voice thick with tears. “Then, a few hundred years ago, while I was out hunting, a brave night named Gladimar came in and slayed them. When I got back, my babies lay dead on the floor of the cave. I was furious. I swore that I would kill the man who took my children's lives. I did too. I found him after many years. He was old and frail. I looked at him, and I did not see a drop of evil in him. I was not going to kill him. Then, he saw me, and I gave him such a fright that he keeled over and stopped breathing. I was so sorry, and so lonely.

“That’s why I took you, you know. I wanted a companion so badly that I took you from your home and brought you here. I don’t feel good about it at all. I like having you around, but if you want to leave, go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

The dragon moved away from the entrance. She looked at the princess sadly for a moment, then turned her head and looked the other way. The princess stared at the entrance for a while. She could see a beautiful forest, a crystal stream, and way in the distance, she could just make out a splotch that was the palace wall. She imagined seeing her parents again, hugging them and staying forever. She imagined walking through the courtyard, followed by guards, princes, and admiring ladies. She didn’t want that. She turned to the dragon. “I want to stay here, if that’s all right.” she said quietly.

The dragon looked up in shock. “But why would you ever want to stay with me? Don’t you want to go back to your family?”

The princess shook her head. “In this cave, with you, I feel free. I can do whatever I want. Nobody is deciding how I’m going to live my life. I love it. I’m not going anywhere, dragon.” ….........................  The next few weeks were happy. The dragon and the princess were getting closer by the minute. When the dragon went hunting, the princess went into the woods and gathered food. The first few times she did this, the dragon was worried that she wouldn’t return. But she always did, and the dragon eventually stopped worrying. The two of them spent long nights telling each other stories and cleaning the cave. On one of her raids, the dragon found an empty carriage filled with beautiful clothes. She brought it to the princess, and then their nights were filled with modeling the silky dresses. One night, as the princess was twirling around in a lovely pink and orange dress that looked like the sunset, the princess remarked “I have always wanted to go up to the top of the mountains and leave my mark on them.”

“Why don’t we?” The dragon said, a wild gleam in her eyes. Before the princess could respond, she was scooped up onto the dragon's head and they zoomed out of the cave. Cold wind rushed through the princess’s hair, blowing it fiercely back. At first, the princess was frightened, but when she looked down, all of the fear raced out of her. She could see everything for miles. There were patches of green where the forests lay, splashes of blue for the water, and even the occasional brown that showed a village. She laughed and threw her arms in the air, relishing in the freedom that flying brought her.

All too soon, they landed on the mountain top. Since it was the middle of summer, there was only a slight chill to the air. The princess hopped off the dragon and ran around on the ground laughing gleefully. She jumped and spun, and ran headlong into the dragon's leg. “Careful,” the dragon laughed. “Now, don’t you want to leave your mark?”

“Oh, yes!” The princess picked up a long branch from the ground. She stuck it in the ground and ripped off a piece of her skirt. She tied it to the branch. “There!” She said with a grin. “All finished! Now let’s fly!” They soared around the valley for hours. The princess had never felt so free. She was so happy. “Thank you,” she murmured into the dragons neck. The dragon smiled and flew home. ….......................................  When the princess woke up the next morning, she could feel that something was wrong. She looked up at the dragon- and saw a man standing over her with a sword. “No!” she screamed. The dragon woke up, but the man plunged the sword into her belly again and again. Blood rushed out of her body in a crimson waterfall. The dragon shrieked in pain. She swiped the man away. He hit the wall with a thud and slid to the floor, unmoving. The princess raced to the dragon. The dragon stood weakly, and blood ran in pools onto the ground. She stepped forward towards the girl, and stumbled to the ground. The princess curled up next to the dragon, sobbing heavily. “You can’t die, you hear me? You’re not going to die.”

The dragon took in a ragged breath. “I can see... them. My beautiful... children. I’ll miss you, little princess.”

The dragon's head hit the floor. The princess's sobs became wails. She buried her head in the dragons neck, crying into the cold, rainbow scales. She did not stop crying for a long time. Eventually, the man groaned in pain. He saw the still form of the dragon and chuckled. “I saved you, princess. That wretched beast will not hurt you anymore. You’re free.” She whipped around and glared at him. “I was free here,” she hissed. “That dragon was my friend. She let me be who I am. She didn’t see me as a weak little princess. She saw me as a friend, and a powerful woman. And if you think that I am going to let you whisk me back to the castle, you’re wrong. I will never go anywhere with you. I refuse to be with someone who killed my only friend.” Then she ran out of the cave.

Tears blurred her vision. She stumbled down the side of the hill, desperately trying to get to the forest. She knew that she could hide under its cool, leafy protection. She heard the beat of hooves behind her. The man was chasing her with his horse! She hiked her skirt up to her knees and sprinted to the forest. The hoof beats drew closer and closer...

She scrambled into the dark underbrush of the woods. Under her feet, roots and ferns grabbed at her ankles, pulling her closer to a fate that she didn’t want. She ripped her feet out furiously. She knew that if she made it just a little farther, the woods would get too thick for the horse to run and she would be free. She was almost there....

Her foot caught on a large root and she fell onto the ground hard. Her ankle caught and twisted back with a small snap. She moaned in pain, unhooked her foot, and tried to crawl on, but it was hopeless. The horse was standing over her, and its rider stared furiously down at her. Tears flooded down her face. She would never be free now. She would be back at the castle, married to this wretched man and stuck, trapped, in a place with no hope. She could not, would not, let herself have that fate.

On the ground, she saw a small clump of berries. They were small, crimson spheres that looked like drops of blood. The princess thought they were beautiful. She remembered the day when she'd gathered a basket full of them and brought it to the dragon. She had recoiled in fear. “Those are poisonous!” She had hissed. “A single berry could kill a dragon in minutes! To a human, it would be an instantaneous death.” The princess lifted a handful of the berries to her mouth. She bit through the skin. Her mouth filled with a sickeningly sweet taste. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to spit them out, but she held them down. Her vision started to fade into nothing. She could barely see the man staring at her with an expression of shock. She smiled. “Thank you, dragon.” she murmured. Then, everything turned completely black. ….................................  The man went back to the palace and told the King and Queen what had happened. The kingdom was devastated. Their beautiful princess was gone from the world. The kingdom mourned her death for months, crying for their lost princess and for the poor King and Queen. On the day of her death the next year, a young girl of about seven years old was walking out by the woods. A bouquet of soft, perfect daises was clutched firmly in her right hand. She wanted to find the spot where the princess had died to give them to her. She searched for hours, but there was no trace of anything. The girl began to walk home discouragedly. She looked up at the sky to catch her bearings, and stared. A wispy dragon with a small woman on her back was riding through the clouds. At first, the girl passed it off as imagination, but she heard the happy laughter of dragon and princess, reunited once again. The girl ran to tell the Queen, but she looked up, saw the utter contentment of the pair, and decided against it. But every year, she came back to that very spot and watched the pair in their blissful cloud dance. THE END