Choices
What is a hero? What is it like to be a hero? It depends on what you call a hero. It is what you think is a hero. Are you a hero if you have special abilities or gifts? Or can you be a villain? A villain could be a hero, but only if you make that choice. What's a hero is up to you, but whether it's a good or bad choice, that is up to you. Only you can make yourself choose the right path. It's your choice.
Remembering
Nicholas Collins was bouncing a basket ball. It bounced as if there was no wind and no sound. It bounced as if the ball was the only thing with motion. "Why me?" he thought, "Why do I have to be different?" He picked up the ball as the wind blew across his cheek. This reminded him of something. He thought for a slight second as the breeze brushed through his hair. "It all started then," he thought, "at Louvingville Elementary." He was remembering.
"I never have anybody to play with," Nickolas thought, "why do I have to be different than everyone else?" He bounced a basket ball in the leaves on the ground, forcing them to blow away in the wind. "I wish I just had a friend," he said in his mind. Nickolas looked up at the sky. He could see the leaves blowing around the trees. Nickolas looked down just as the ball fell on his foot, rolling past the leaves, and with a sudden stop, it hit something. Wait. Not something, but someone. Nickolas felt a tickle in his stomach and he grew red.
"Umm… Can I please have that ball back?" Nicholas asked the kid with the ball, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"This?" the kid said in a sarcastic tone.
"Yes, please," Nickolas said sounding happier than before.
"Actually, I've got a better idea," the sarcastic kid announced.
"Umm… okay," Nickolas said, sounding unsure.
"Okay, then… You come take it from me!"
The kid starting laughing and soon, his friends joined in. Nickolas was red all over. Soon, he started sweating.
"What a loser!" one kid shouted.
Nickolas became angry, embarrassed, and he couldn't handle it.
"Freak!" a girl, who didn't move her lips said.
"She didn't say anything," Nickolas thought, "If she…" he didn't know what to do. He heard her thoughts and, eventually, started hearing more.
"What's happening… to me?" he yelled as he kneeled to his knees.
"Freak!" another kid thought.
"Is he okay?"
"What's wrong with him?"
As he calmed down, the voices faded. He wiped tears off his face and suddenly, the only thing he heard was laughter. Wind brushed against his face as he slowly stood up. The last thing he heard before entering the school was, "Guys! What is wrong with you? He just wanted his ball and you go and make him cry! Poor guy." Nickolas turned to see who stood up for him and soon, he found out that it was the very same girl who wondered if he was okay. It was the same girl who was worrying about him. Her name was Elizabeth Sloathings.
Nickolas paused. "School," he thought, "Almost over. In the summer I'll hang with Jacob."