ICE Writers Camp Blog

There is nothing in us today but the echoes of yesterday,

There is nothing for us to say but anything we so desire.

There is nothing in our way, we are heartstring marionettes,

But the thunder in our minds, turning into a blazing fire.

There is nothing in our world, but money stacked up into piles,

So command the business leaders from their luxury glossy desks,

There is something left untold in an eager man’s wiles,

There is nothing we can’t behold that’s hidden in secret smiles.

Everything is folding into a singularity,

Or is it just expanding to fit our personalities,

Is this reality before me, what is this place I see?

Is the mirror image tapping the glass, is it him that stares at me?

The only thing we know for certain, is that things are never clear,

There are no clear things we know; are things really ever real?

There is nothing in a shadow but the hopes we left abandoned,

There is nothing for us to hope for but the dreams we have imagined,

Is it monsters that we fear? Or just more people drawing near?

Monsters are only ourselves, with frightening costumes that we’ve fashioned.

Is this reality before me, have I done this all before?

Why should I have to wait to have to see what life has in store?

Where did all the innocence fly to, what if I want more?

Am I on the outside looking in? Have I been asked to come in?

There is everything to lose, if only we let it all go,

If just to step in the waters, if just to go with the flow,

There is nothing of interest in us, but the construction underway,

There is nothing on the horizon but day unfolding the Sun’s rays.

There is nothing to fear at all, at least nothing overall,

But the aching pains of scars left from relationship waterfalls.

There is nothing left around here, except for life as we know it,

We all have a superpower, but haven’t had the need to show it.

What if I want a chance? What if I need some time?

I swear I’ll give this all a try, if you just give me a glance.

There is nothing in between, but bridges of violin strings,

What is, is what sings.

Does it make sense? Is there meaning? Is it a mess unseen?

Will my worries gain wings, attack my skin, and start to sting.

I’m tired of the questions, I want a sure- fire truth,

I want to jump into a time machine and escape into my youth.

I want a lot of things, but there is one thing I have,

These poems, which hopefully, will help stitch me a path. 

My Room -Sarah Dietrich

My room is way to girly for me with those lavender walls and lime green bedspreads with flowers on them. I have to share it with my eight-year old sister Abby. We have bunk beds  but, we totally want then unbunked. I have so many examples why we should get our beds unbunked. Like people tell me if you get your beds unbunked and you push the two beds together to make one whole bed it makes the room look bigger. My friend and her sister did it. I also have a lime green fuzzy chair me and my sister saved up for. 36 dollars at Justice. My brother always comes in our room every night and ends up going to sleep in the green chair. Then in the morning he tells us me and abby are sooooo lucky because, we share a room and he has his own room. If I where him I wouldn’t hold my breath! He is four, by the way. When I walk on the floor in my room my toes feel the fuzzy pink carpet. There are 2 medium size carpets that my mom taped together to make it look like it was one big rug. But, it didn’t really work that great. At least it covers up some of the nail polish spills that are under the carpet. I also have a dresser with a tall long mirror on it. Abby always complains that I am on “ her side” of the mirror but I don’t really care. On the dresser there is a little mini locker where I keep my jewelry and hair accessories. I have a desk filled with junk and a CD player. I really want to redo our room maybe paint it blue or pink or green. That would be cool. If it was less girly that would be great!!

I’m Sarah Dietrich, that’s spelled like diet rich that’s how my friends remember how to spell my last name. Let me tell you a little bit about myself… I’m always hyper and have lots of. According to your cousin Katie i found out we have a lot in common. Like for instant we both LOVE golden retirees. I love how they are medium size dogs and the perfect family dog. Katie also told me that you enjoy shopping at justice. I totally agree! There clothes there are the bomb!!! I love music especially pop! Katie told me you like pop to!! Seems to me that we like the same things. please write back and let me know if Katie was fibbing!!:) lol;0 I’m not sure if you like pizza but, I’m guessing you do, because who does not! I like cheese pizza. Pepperoni is not my favorite but, I will definitely eat it!! I’ll eat any pizza!!! I have to wrap my letter up now so please write back!!!!

From: Sarah Dietrich

Ian’s Cockroach
By: Cory Sharpe
Narrator: It was a normal day in Ms. Terry’s class. Until 1 day. Cory had just came back from the bathroom. She was walking by the Listening Center when, she saw a cockroach.

Cory: There is a cockroach!

Ian: But it is dead. It can’t hurt you.

Narrator: Announced Ian. But Ian seemed fascinated by the hearing of  the roach. Cory ran to the white board with Ms. Terry. Ian got a paper towel. He carefully started to grab it. But then it started to move.

Ian: It’s alive! It’s alive!

Ms. Terry: Get it away! Kill it!

Narrator: Ms. Terry called out to the class. Ian immediately covered the roach with paper towel. He stepped on it with all of his might. Before you knew it, everyone heard a crunch. “Crack!” Ian lifted the paper towel up, you could see black guts and the roach’s crunched body.

Cory & Ms. Terry: Eww!

Narrator: Cory and Ms. Terry said simultaneously. Ian picked up the roach with the paper towel and hurried to the trash. Finally the relief was out of everyone ‘s mind.

New Owner
By: Cory Sharpe

I have always wanted a dog. This year. I finally was able to beg my parents to let me have a dog. This year my parents agreed to let me earn a dog by showing respect to my parents. But I have a dog-sitting business so I could prove that I was capable of having a dog. I was able to accomplish that goal because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have this annoying, playful booger (my dog).
One delightful morning my mom asked me to come look at some dogs in a local shelter posted online. The only options were the poodles, Lhasa Apso, Shih Tzu, Portuguese water dog and more prissy, poofy dogs. My mom had a strict dog choice. It had to be small or medium, had to be hypoallergenic, even though I am allergic to dogs I can have a dog. Plus my allergy is worse with plants than animals. Hypoallergenic means that the animal has less dander and fur that sheds. No dog can truly be hypoallergenic.
Back to the point, I was shown a cute  4 year old female Miniature Schnauzer. Her name was Cloe. That is how the shelter spelled it. But we made sure we spelled it correctly. By the way my mom also says she wants a dog aged over 1 years old. My mom told me we could visit her at the local shelter. When we arrived at the shelter, I couldn’t wait to see her in her own fur. We put an application or a hold on her as soon as possible. We wanted to adopt to help a needy dog. We wanted to save a life so we adopted from a shelter that euthanizes animals. The term “euthanize” means the animal is given a medicine to comfortably stop the heart.
We were able to meet her. But she was a little skittish because she got in 2 days before. They said she would be available on the 20th. That day it was like the 10th of August. In that bit of time her owner could try to get her. She was a lost pet from Manatee county with a dog tag  and microchip. A microchip is a small piece of metal filled with the animal’s owner’s  information inserted under the animals skin. We went back home to let dad know about the great news. Even though my birthday is September 2nd, having an early present is great. Dad was thrilled, he couldn’t believe already I found a dog. It was about 4 days later and we took dad to the shelter to meet Chloe. She was a lot friendlier and was a lot more energetic.  Me or dad didn’t react to her.
On the 20th my parents agreed to take me to pick her up . When we got there she was in surgery getting spayed. They said she would be ready the next day. We went home to wait for a phone call confirming that she was ours.
Sure enough, there was a missed call from the shelter when we arrived home. I was thrilled. The mentioned that she has symptoms of an upper-respiratory (ress-pi-tor-i) infection (puppy cold). We scheduled a visit to a veterinarian right away.
In the morning we got ready and went supplies shopping. We needed stuff for her cold and to help her heal from her surgery. We bought a medium- sized crate. But it was too small, as we found out. She was thrilled to have a home and be out of that shelter.

Where am I?
By: Cory Sharpe

It was a typical day. I was riding the bus with my two dogs, Delgado and Hannah. Delgado is a German Shepherd. Hannah is a Weimaraner (whym – mar- awner). I had fallen asleep and I missed my stop. I ended up in Michigan. When I woke up I was on the bus and I got off. I looked around myself to see where I was. “ I don’t know where we are, but I think we are in the middle of nowhere, ”I said to Delgado and Hannah. I decided to walk over to the forest that was there. “Maybe we can go there to try to survive,” I said to Delgado and Hannah as I was thinking hard about what I had just said.

When we were finally there I walked inside very cautiously, with Delgado and Hannah close to my side protecting me from danger. As we kept walking we heard a rustle in the bushes. It was………………………a raccoon! “ A raccoon, oh no it might attack us,” I said with a quiet frightened tone of voice but just as I was going to make a run for it Delgado and Hannah began to chase it off. “Thanks guys, that was a close one. That was a brave thing for you two to do,” I cried, as I gave them a pat on the head. So we kept walking.

We arrived at a cool, peaceful and quiet brook. There we met the raccoon. She was getting a drink of water at the brook. Just then, Delgado and Hannah began to growl. “Shhhh, you are going to scare her away,” I whispered to them. Delgado and Hannah stopped and looked at me looking confused. She began to approach us. She began to write on the sand:

My name is Roxy. I am the
alpha animal in the forest
here. Don’t worry I am
friendly and I speak English.
Come with me if you want
To live.

“We’ll come,“ I told Roxy. “Okay, as long as your dogs don’t eat or attack me,” replied Roxy. She lead us through the forest. She stopped on a stump. “I will set up a ceremony, so the other animals get to know you,” Roxy said with a grin. “But first, tell me your names, will you?” Roxy asked in a very interested and polite tone of voice. “This is Delgado the German Shepherd and this is Hannah the Weimaraner,” I said as I was pointing to them. “We were wondering, how can you help us get back home?” I asked. “Well why have you come?” she asked. “It is a long story. I had fallen asleep on the bus home and I slept through my stop so I missed my stop. I woke up in Lansing, Michigan. But I live in Detroit, Michigan. I am tired and I don’t know what to do,” I said worriedly. “Ok I will help you,” Roxy promised.

She blew a horn and all the forest animals crowded the stump. They listened to Roxy so they can hear what she has to say. “These are our visitors. We are going to be kind, helpful and calm to them. We will hold a welcoming ceremony. We need to help them survive and get back home, ok?” Roxy announced. There were deer, raccoon, opossum, snakes — all of the animals you could imagine were at our welcoming ceremony.

The ceremony began and there were balloons, streamers, cards, certificates, even gifts for me, Delgado and Hannah. There was a dance floor with music. There was a DJ playing the music, it was a wolf. We even had a podium to introduce ourselves. “I’m Corinne,” I told the crowd. “Woof! Woof!” Delgado said introducing himself. “Woof! Woof! Grrr!” Hannah said introducing herself too, but trying to be dominant. At the end of the ceremony Roxy showed us to our bed. It was a beautiful moss bed with leaves, grass and other soft plants to make it soft.

We were in bed, tired. We quickly fell asleep right away.

Before I knew it, it was morning. ”Good morning. How was your sleep?” Roxy asked. She was standing on the floor waiting for us to wake up. I finally woke up after Delgado licked me on the face a few times and I was annoyed by his licking for a few minutes. I was well rested I had lots of energy just like Delgado and Hannah. I was ready to try to find my way home. “Let’s see if we can get you guys home. But don’t worry, I have a great sense of direction and I even have a map,” Roxy said. I thought to myself she really wants to help us. “I’ll go fetch my map”, announced Roxy.

She went to fetch her map. She came back 5 minutes later. “Here we are. A map of Michigan,” Roxy said as she was panting quite hard. She couldn’t even keep her tongue completely in her mouth. All of the sudden she plopped to the ground, feeling so hot and thirsty. “Do you want some water Roxy?” I asked her as I was looking at her I had a very concerned expression on my face. “No, no. I’m fine. I just ran as fast as I could and I’m tired,” Roxy said panting more than she was before. “Um, Roxy, I think you should have some water,” I insisted to Roxy. “Ok,” she said almost passing out. “But the brook is too far and I can’t walk. I am too tired,” Roxy complained. “It’s not too far,  but we can carry you,” I said. I picked her up and put her on Delgado’s back. We walked to the brook.

We were there, finally, and I picked up Roxy and lay her by the brook. She started to drink. “I feel better now,” she said.

“Now back to the map. Let’s see………hmm………oh, okay if you take this bus and get off here you can get transferred to this one which will take you home,” Roxy said. “Okay, thanks Roxy. Well thank you so much for all of your help,” I said, thanking Roxy. ”You’re welcome,” she said. “How can we ever repay you?” I asked her. “No time now, you have a bus to catch,” she replied. “Bye. Have a safe trip home,” Roxy said. “Thanks, bye,” I replied back to her. “Ruff!” said Hannah. “Woof!” said Delgado.

So we walked down to the bus stop to catch the bus. We caught the bus. We got transferred and got on another bus. It brought us home. Finally, we were home at last. ”Ahh. Home sweet home,” I said to Delgado and Hannah. Well, tonight we will sleep well.

My Trip to the zoo
By: Cory Sharpe
One day, I went to Busch Gardens with my mom and dad. As we were driving to Busch Gardens I said to my parents, “I wonder what animals I will see today?”. “Well Cory, you never know what a day might bring”, dad replied. “ I’ll see animals, ride rides or I might even see birds. I love birds!”, I said. “Well let’s go find out”, mom said. “Huh?” I asked in such a confused way. “ Cory we are here. Now we let dad park and we can take the tram so we can get inside the park”, mom said excitedly. “Well, okay let’s go!” I said.

Once we got in I said, ”Well come on?”. “Oh, Cory  we have to get a map first”, mom and dad said to me. “I know my way around here we don’t need a map”, I said. “ Well we do”, said mom and dad they said like they had a direction sense as if they were born yesterday. They grabbed a map anyways, I felt if it were that they didn’t trust me.

As we were walking to an animal’s habitat I said, “I know I will see ducks.” I always remember that in most of the exhibits they have ducks. I’ll see the Nene (neigh neigh) Geese. I think they like me because every time I stick my finger in they bite it as if it were food. I will see Tufts. Tufts is the name of an African Ground Horn Bill. He is so cute with his black silky feathers and his blue eyes with eyelashes. I’ll see Guinea fowl, Lorikeets and Swans.

We arrived at Jambo Junction, that is where Tufts lives. He is just a year old. He was born in 2009. Jambo Junction is where Busch Gardens keeps their juvenile animals, of all sorts of species of animals. As we were walking around we also saw flamingos, Eastern Diamondback rattle snakes and a lot more. We kept on walking, so we could get to Tufts’ home. We finally got to his home. “Hi Tufts. You’re very beautiful today,” I said as I was looking at him. He was playing around his cage. When I leave his home or the park I always make sure I can say bye to him. He is my baby. I love him.

We headed over to Timbuktu, that is where most of the rides are. Once we were finally done walking and we were there I went on Scorpion, one of the roller coasters there at Busch Gardens. After we were done riding Scorpion I went to the Phoenix ride. My parents say that if you want to go, go by yourself because my mom says it is uncomfortable. My dad says he is afraid of heights. So I went, by myself. My mom is always so nervous when I ride it, her motherly instinct kicks in. That means she has the urge to save me, yet I’m fine. Last we were walking back and we made our final ride to be Rhino Rally. So we rode it and got off. We walked to Jambo Junction so I could say bye to Tufts. When we were done we walked all the way to the entrance and out the exit.

We took the tram back to the parking lot. As we were riding I asked to my parents, ”That was a fun and exciding day today wasn’t it?” “Yeah,  that was fun”, mom and dad said together with an agreeing tone of voice. I was satisfied because I’ve got to do everything I wanted to do that day. I also felt happy because I had fun. But I was also very tired too. I had played hard. That was a pleasant experience at Busch Gardens, one of my favorite zoos I know.

‘

iCarly  Rocks
By: Corinne Sharpe

My favorite television show is iCarly. This program is on the nickelodeon.  I enjoy watching iCarly because it is funny. It is funny because the actors fall and tease each other and other people and that is funny to me. It is also because the actors act weird. Like, they do really crazy things like yell all the time. I love sarcasm! The actors use A LOT  of sarcasm. Almost all of their lines have sarcasm.
iCarly  is about three friends, two females and a male. They do a web show on the internet. They always do one web show a week. Their stage names are: Carly Shay, Sam Puckett, Freddie Benson.
Freddie is just his stage nickname because his real stage name is Fredward, even though no one calls him that. Freddie has a very pathetic mother. She is  Mrs. Benson, her real name is Marisa, but no one calls her that. She makes Freddie put on anti-tick lotion, makes him take tick baths, sign a double shampoo agreement form, he is not allowed to have scissors in the house and tons more. She is very over-protective and strict.
Sam’s real stage name is Samantha, yet no one calls her that either. Sam has violent behavior. She always tortures kids like Freddie and a classmate named Gibby. She loves food and she is always hungry. She is also  rude too. Sam never stays home. She is either eating somewhere or hanging around at Carly’s apartment.
Carly is just a good girl with good grades. Carly also has a crazy older brother named Spencer. Spencer has juvenile behavior. He is also Carly’s guardian. But he isn’t so dumb that he can’t take care of Carly.

They live in Seattle, Washington. Carly and Freddie live in Bushwell Plaza, it is an apartment complex. Carly and Freddie are neighbors. Their apartments are next to each other. But Sam lives in a ratty, dirty falling apart, stinky, terrible and ugly house. They all also go to a cool school. It  even has cool school projects.
I believe iCarly is funny because I also love all of their personalities, even Sam. But Sam is violent and doesn’t have good grades. I also love the activities they do. Like on their web show they show things like a guy’s armpit. I love telling you about my favorite T.V. show. So iCarly is my favorite television show.

Fire!!
By: Cory Sharpe

Being disturbed by smoke I woke up. I began to cough. “Hack! A fire!” I exclaimed.  I slowly crept towards the door to feel if it was warm. But I was not lucky. It was warm. I tried to open the window, but it wouldn’t open. “What can I do to break the glass? Hmm. Oh mom always told me if you need to get out, throw your radio at the window. That’s it!” I cried. So I unplugged my radio and tossed it out the window. But the radio fell on my cat! “Mrrowww!” she yelped.
“Sorry Kitty- Kitty,“ I apologized. I moved it off her and picked her up I ran to the end of the street to be safe.

I put Kitty down on the dirt. “Meow?” she said as if she were saying I am scared. My parents were running down the street amazed that I was responsible enough to get everything important outside. My dad called the police and the fire department for help. As we waited we glanced over and watched our house burn down and fall apart.

They both arrived at about the same time. “ That’s our house right there. Put it out please,” my dad ordered. The firemen scurried quickly to our house to put out the fire. They took out their giant hose and sprayed the house with tons of WATER! The fire quickly got put out.

Hurray! The fire was out! My parents immediately thanked them. My parents tried to get our house fixed. But until then we spent our time in a beautiful hotel called Hampton Inn & Suites.