Fire Starters 9-7 FS:  Snooping              When I opened the drawer, I found something I didn’t want to believe. I was young at the time.  Christmas morning I opened and read my letter from Santa like I did every year.  It was great; I got what I always wanted.  Later that afternoon I was playing the computer and was looking for a game in the desk drawer.  Only my mom was allowed to get the game out for me because I was young.  She wasn’t around so I decided to do it myself.  When I looking in the drawer I saw papers and decided to look through them.  I found a rough draft of what was the letter I received that morning from Santa.  I was so upset and I felt let down. 9-8 FS:  I was craving…              Today as soon as I woke up, I was craving skittles.  After I started to wake up a little more, I realized I really wasn’t craving anything.  When I got to school I really wanted lasagna.  Ever since I got to school all I could smell was it baking, in an oven, the cheese melting.  I could see it when I blinked, the golden brown color on the top.  I was almost able to taste it.  The meat, sauce, noodles, and chees blended together to make a delicious meal.  I also tasted the garlic bread alongside the lasagna. 9-9 FS:  No If’s, And’s, or Don’ts              We arrived in the Arctic at noon and immediately ventured out into the 30 feet of blinding white mounds.  It was -40° and my toes were frost bitten.  I started to build myself an igloo to keep the wind away.  My friend told me that would never work to keep me warm.  I just asked her to trust me and to help me out.  She did and when we finally finished our temporary home she still wasn’t convinced.  We went inside and she was proved wrong with the lack of wind. 9-20 FS:  It’s not the men you’re attracted to.  It’s the men you attract.              I’m not sure if I necessarily believe this, or really understand what it is even saying, but here is what I think.  The men you are attracted to, and the men you attract can be two totally different people.  You may be attracted to the most handsome guy you know, but some guy who isn’t as good looking might come along and change your mind.  They could be the biggest jerk and you’re attracted, or are the sweetest guy who is in love with you.  You never know. 10-5 FS:  Freshman-itis              It hasn’t been the best day, but it certainly hasn’t been the worst one.  I remember when I was in 8th grade, I thought I was the top dog.  When I started back at the bottom of the pool, I felt nervous with all of the people who were taller than me.  I wanted to swim to the top as fast as I could.  Now that I’m back on top again, I was to go back.  I don’t want to be done yet.  I had fun trying to get to the top and now I have succeeded. 10-24 FS:  Halloween 7, Eerie Noise              The noise I hate the most is when you take a postcard that changes images when you turn it and you scratch your nails on it.  I don’t like the feeling of it first of all, and the sound of it makes me cringe.  I turn around immediately and see one of those postcards lying on the ground next to my coffee table.  The wind must have blown it off.  The next time I hear it and turn around, I see my cat standing there with the guiltiest face.  She had been scratching on the postcard. 10-26 FS:  Ghost              “Grandpa! Why did you do that?!”  I ask.  When I was moving into my new house, my grandpa, who had passed away several years ago, decided to play a joke on me.  As I was unpacking my boxes in my room, I forgot something I needed downstairs.  When I left my room, all of my boxes were wide open, waiting to be unpacked.  When I returned to my room, all of my boxes had been closed.  I knew it was my grandpa messing with me because he was a prankster and no one else was in the house. 11-8 FS:  Hate to Love             The Eskimos hate the cold.  They begin to wonder why they are even eskimos.  Their heart rate goes down whenever they go out.  They get bundled up because it is the new rave when you live in the snow.  The Eskimos lived in a cave in the olden days, but they now call them coves, because they live in the cold.  They may hate the snow, but they definitely love the idea of fire. 11-17 FS:  Thank You Notes             Thank you basketball for being the most competitive, non-contact, contact sport that I play. And thank you for leaving me sore when I walk the next day.              Yours truly,                         Kirstin 12-13 FS:  Fairies/Fireflies             Believing the floating lights in his backyard to be fireflies, a young boy accidentally traps a fairy in a mason jar.  Now this isn’t just any ordinary young boy; it was Johnny, the neighborhood bully.  He would push down kids younger than him, and spit in the faces of the adults.  Most adults were afraid of Johnny.                         When Johnny had realized what he caught, the terrorizing became worse.  Johnny made little kids believe in everything he said.  He also had adults answering to his every whim. Reflection             At the beginning of each class period, they class would take five minutes to write a short blurb on a topic that was given.  I really enjoyed doing these fire starters because they gave me some ideas for other assignments in the class.  Whenever I was doing the fire starters, I always got into it right away and took the whole time to develop my ideas.