WR

In the United States one of the most dangerous places to work is in fact a nursing home. According to the US Labor Department it is the fourth most dangerous place to work. 16.2 out of 100 workers report a job related injury or illness. The only industries that rank that are meat packing in first with 21.5 workers per 100, motor vehicle manufacturing in second with 19.2 per 100 workers, and air transport in third with 17.7 workers per 100. 16.2 might not seem like a lot out of 100 but if you say that there are 100,000 workers in nursing homes in the US, in a year that means that 16200 people will report a work related illness or injury.
As nurses, aides and nursing assistants you are responsible for the well being of the residents in the nursing home. However increases in occupational hazards, particularly strained muscles, tendons, and ligaments any of which could be severe and potently crippling, are due to nursing homes are increasing in popularity as people transfer patients from hospitals to less expensive nursing homes. As a result the residents in nursing homes are becoming frailer and require more assistance. In addition, in an attempt to cut costs results in fewer nursing assistants being hired per nursing home. As nursing assistants try to pick up, move, or support the residents repeatedly, or even once or twice, on there own the chance for occupational hazards increase.
The most common injuries are a back strain or a wrist strain. These injuries are usually caused by attempting to lift or move residents and objects that are too heavy. There are other ways to get injured, heavy equipment can crush and bruise fingers and toes and other parts of your body. Nursing assistants also work closely with needles and other sharp objects. Accidental cuts and pricks could occur. This also has the potential to raise the chance of a blood borne pathogen being spread. But nurses or nursing assistants aren’t the only people who are at risk, other workers, such as janitors have other hazards, such as chemicals which can burn. Anyone who works in the kitchen has the risk for burns and cuts as well.
However despite all of these hazards and statistics, I’m not encouraging you to get up in arms and try and petition and strike for better working conditions. You can do that when the number of workers injured in nursing homes passes the number of injuries in meat packing. I am simply warning you about potential hazards in your jobs so that you can watch out for them and avoid situations in which you might be injured. Be careful and enjoy the rest of your day.

Wr 7-1

As nurses, aides and nursing assistants you are responsible for the well being of the residents in the nursing home. However nursing homes are increasing in popularity as people transfer patients from hospitals to less expensive nursing homes. As a result the residents in nursing homes are becoming frailer and require more assistance. In addition, in an attempt to cut costs results in fewer nursing assistants being hired per nursing home.
What does this mean to you? Increases in occupational hazards, particularly strained muscles, tendons, and ligaments any of which could be severe and potently crippling. As nursing assistants try to pick up, move, or support the residents repeatedly, or even once or twice, on there own the chance for occupational hazards increase. The most common injuries are a back strain or a wrist strain. These injuries are usually caused by attempting to lift or move residents and objects that are too heavy. There are other ways to get injured, heavy equipment can crush and bruise fingers and toes and other parts of your body. Nursing assistants also work closely with needles and other sharp objects. Accidental cuts and pricks could occur. This also has the potential to raise the chance of a blood borne pathogen being spread. Other workers, such as janitors have other hazards, such as chemicals which can burn. Anyone who works in the kitchen has the risk for burns and cuts as well.
In the United States one of the most dangerous places to work is in fact a nursing home. According to the US Labor Department it is the fourth most dangerous place to work. 16.2 out of 100 workers report a job related injury or illness. The only industries that rank that are meat packing in first with 21.5 workers per 100, motor vehicle manufacturing in second with 19.2 per 100 workers, and air transport in third with 17.7 workers per 100. 16.2 might not seem like a lot out of 100 but if you say that there are 100,000 workers in nursing homes in the US, in a year that means that 16200 people will report a work related illness or injury.
However despite all of these hazards and statistics, I’m not encouraging you to get up in arms and try and petition and strike for better working conditions. You can do that when the number of workers injured in nursing homes passes the number of injuries in meat packing. I am simply warning you about potential hazards in your jobs so that you can watch out for them and avoid situations in which you might be injured. Be careful and enjoy the rest of your day.

Wr6-2

Under the front page picture a small sentence under the caption read; photography contest see pg 2A for more details. I flipped to the page. A box of text surrounded by a black line with the title Contest was halfway down the page. HELP! Our staff photographer is leaving for a post with National Geographic magazine. If you’re interested please send a few photographs involving the tow along with a resume to… I stopped reading, thinking about it. I had always wanted to be a photographer. I glanced back down at the newspaper. Jhontson, Emerson, and Clarkson a local legal firm is going out of business. They have been offered positions in three major corporations and are considering the offers. I winced, well that was also why I could get a job. The place where I had a part time job was going out of business. I am Sam Cooper, assistant and part time secretary to Jhontson, Emerson and Clarkson. They may have jobs all lined up but I certainly didn’t. I sighed and headed to work.

After five hours of condensing fifty filing cabinets into about ten boxes of records, mostly clients, I headed home. Since I got off at two, I decided that I would take a walk after work. I was wandering around a part of the city that was a little more run down taking pictures of everything from people to cats when I saw another photographer, standing by a old cement cylinder taking a picture of some graffiti. I was just about to take a picture when I heard a voice behind me.

“Hey what are you doing?” I turned to see a group of men walking towards us. They looked very angry.

I gulped, “Just taking pictures of this place.”

“I don’t know if we like that.” The guy who was talking to me took a step forward and the others started to move forward making a big ring around me. The other photographer took off running. Now I was all alone facing some very unfriendly people. “Now well let you go if you hand over that camera.” I should’ve brought a disposable camera not my nice digital one. I can’t give this one up it also has all my pictures. As I was contemplating my choices, there were shouts coming from around the corner. Another guy came running around the corner.

“That other guy got the cops!” He shouted as he came sprinting up. The group shot looks at each other and then ran. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. A bunch of cops came running around the corner. Two stopped by me and the rest kept running.

“Are you okay?” The first one asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You came just in time, if you had been a little later I would’ve lost my camera.” I looked at the other cop who seemed to want to leave. He was standing in front of some graffiti that read Freedom in big looping letters. “Can I take your picture?” I asked. I hoped he wouldn’t say no.

“Sure.” The police man nodded. I snapped a quick picture before he moved too much. After they asked some more questions they dropped me off at my apartment. That night I sent off my pictures with my resume.

A few weeks later the winner was announced in the paper. The picture posted was a local police man standing in front of red white and blue graffiti that read freedom. I hadn’t won the contest, truthfully I had no experience. But it was nice to see my picture in the paper with an honorable mention.

Wr 6-1

Under the front page picture a small sentence under the caption read; photography contest see pg 2A for more details. I flipped to the page. A box of text surrounded by a black line with the title Contest was halfway down the page. HELP! Our staff photographer is leaving for a post with National Geographic magazine. If you’re interested please send a few photographs involving the town along with a resume to… I stopped reading, thinking about it. I had always wanted to be a photographer. I glanced back down at the newspaper. Jhontson, Emerson, and Clarkson a local legal firm is going out of business. They have been offered positions in three major corporations and are considering the offers. I winced, well that was also why I could get a job. The place where I was working in a part time job was going out of business. I am Sam Cooper, assistant and part time secretary to Jhontson, Emerson and Clarkson. They may have jobs all lined up but I certainly didn’t. I sighed and headed to work.
After five hours of condensing fifty filing cabinets into about ten boxes of records, mostly clients, I headed home. Since I would got off at two, I decided that I would take a walk after work. I was wandering around a part of the city that was a little more run down taking pictures of everything from people to cats to graffiti when I saw another photographer, standing by a old cement cylinder taking a picture of some graffiti. I was just about to take a picture when I heard a voice behind me.
“Hey what are you doing?” I turned to see a group of men walking towards us. They looked very angry. I gulped, “Just taking pictures of this place.”
“I don’t know if we like that.” The guy who was talking to me took a step forward and the others started to move forward making a big ring around me. The other photographer took off running. Now I was all alone facing some very unfriendly people. “Now well let you go if you hand over that camera.” Shoot, I should’ve just brought a disposable camera not my nice digital one. I can’t give this one up. As I was contemplating my choices, there were shouts coming from around the corner. Another guy came running around the corner.
“That other guy got the cops!” He shouted as he came sprinting up. The group shot looks at each other and then ran. I heaved a huge sigh of relief. A bunch of cops came running around the corner. Two stopped by me and the rest kept running.
“Are you okay?” The first one asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You came just in time, if you had been a little later I would’ve lost my camera.” I looked at the other cop who seemed to want to leave. He was standing in front of some graffiti that read Freedom in big looping letters. “Can I take your picture?” I asked. I hoped he wouldn’t say no.
“Sure.” I snapped a quick picture before he moved too much. After they asked some more questions they dropped me off at my apartment. That night I sent off my pictures with my resume.
A few weeks later the winner was announced in the paper. The picture posted was a local police man standing in front of red white and blue graffiti that read Freedom. I hadn’t won the contest due to the fact I had no experience, but I had gotten honorable mention due to my picture.

Wr4-3

Mr. Obama My name is Meaghan Folger; I am a tenth grade student in Charlottesville, Va. These are my personal opinions on your greatest priorities for you first year of office. I cannot tell you how to do your job, nor do I have the experience necessary to do that.
I feel the biggest problem for America currently is the war in Iraq. The continuation of this war is consuming, and has consumed a massive amount of recourses and money, not just from America either. The money going into this war is contributing to the economic crisis, which is contributing to unemployment, as well as funding issues for schools and other public works.
I agree that we should pull out of Iraq as soon as possible. The Iraqi police, militia, and defense are improving drastically and performing admirably. However, the void created by a sudden withdrawal might result in a collapse of security. The Iraqi police and militia would be unable to handle the sudden depletion in assistance. Failing to finish what we started in the middle east could result in a remobilization of troops and though we wouldn’t go back to square one a great deal of progress could possibly be lost. Sponsoring peace conferences would help as well although at this stage the conflicts will not be solved only using diplomacy.
This situation will not be resolved quickly yet is a huge problem; the majority of your efforts should be focused towards the war. A controversial issue that you have the ability to solve in less time is Gay rights; it would be nice to see this particular problem resolved quickly so that other issues can be focused on. It is understandable if not acceptable that people would be unwilling to have current legislature dealing with gay rights changed. Changing it to give gays more rights such as marriage would go against many people’s religions and people simply do not wish to see change occur. However discriminating against people for any reason is unacceptable in all situations you should always enter an issue with an open mind willing to see the conflict from any point of view instead of simple plowing over either view. If legislature was created that could give more rights to gays in terms of a legal marriage the most you could do was hope that religions would relax and get used to the ides so if gays wished they could have a religious marriage. I hope that you will resolve this issue quickly with the utmost tact.
Other issues will such as the economic crisis will take work as well but if you take care of the problems in the Middle East first, you will have more time to take care of other problems such as the economic crisis and without the war fund, you will have more money to help the economy. Having our soldiers back will help moral which is part of why the economic crisis is so bad.
I wish you the best of luck in your next four years of presidency.
Meaghan

WR4-2

Mr. Obama
I feel the biggest problem for America currently is the war in Iraq. The continuation of this war is consuming, and has consumed a massive amount of recourses and money, not just from America either. The money going into this war is contributing to the economic crisis, which is contributing to other problems with employment, as well as funding problems for schools and other public works.
I agree that we should pull out of Iraq as soon as possible. However, although the Iraqi citizens, police, and government are improving drastically in terms of security the void created by a sudden withdrawal might result in a collapse of security. The Iraqi police and militia are performing admirably but still would be unable to handle the sudden depletion in assistance. Failing to finish what we started in the Middle East could result in a remobilization of troops. As well as the possibility that a great deal of progress could possibly be lost. Sponsoring peace conferences would help as well although at this stage the problems will not be solved only using diplomacy.
This situation will not be resolved quickly yet is a huge problem; the majority of your efforts should be focused towards this problem. A problem that you have the ability to solve quickly is Gay rights and gay marriage; it would be nice to see this particular problem resolved quickly so that other more important issues can be focused on. It is understandable if not acceptable that people would be unwilling to have current legislature dealing with gay rights changed. Changing it to give gays more rights such as marriage would go against many people’s religions and people simply do not wish to see change occur. However discriminating against people for any reason is unacceptable in all situations you should always enter an issue with an open mind willing to see the conflict from any point of view instead of simple plowing over either view. If legislature was created that could give more rights to gays in terms of a legal marriage the most you could do was hope that religions would relax and get used to the ides so if gays wished they could have a religious marriage it would not be useful to force this aspect of gay marriage. I hope that you will resolve this issue quickly with the utmost tact.
Other issues will such as the economic crisis will take work as well but if you take care of the problems in the Middle East first you’ll have more time to take care of other problems such as the economic crisis and without the war fund you will have more money to help the economy. Having our soldiers back will help moral which is part of why the economic crisis is so bad.
I wish you the best of luck in your next four years of presidency.

Wr4-1

Mr. Obama
The biggest problem for America currently is the war in Iraq. The continuation of this war is consuming and has consumed a massive amount of recourses and money, not just from America either. The money going into this war is contributing to the economic crisis which is contributing to other problems with employment, funding problems schools and other public works.
I agree that we should pull out of Iraq as soon as possible. But, although the Iraqi citizens, police, and government are improving drastically in terms of security the void created by a sudden withdrawal might result in a collapse of security. The Iraqi police and militia are performing admirably but still would be unable to handle the sudden depletion in assistance. Failing to finish what we started in the middle east could result in a remobilization of troops and though we wouldn’t go back to square one a great deal of progress could possibly be lost. Sponsoring peace conferences would help as well although at this stage the problems will not be solved only using diplomacy.
This situation will not be resolved quickly yet is a huge problem; the majority of your efforts should be focused towards this problem. A problem that you have the ability to solve fairly quickly is Gay rights; it would be nice to see this particular problem resolved quickly so that other more important issues can be focused on. It is understandable if not acceptable that people would be unwilling to have current legislature dealing with gay rights changed. Changing it to give gays more rights such as marriage would go against many people’s religions and people simply don’t wish to see change occur. However discriminating against people for any reason is unacceptable in all situations you should always enter an issue with an open mind willing to see the conflict from any point of view instead of simple plowing over either view. If legislature was created that could give more rights to gays in terms of a legal marriage the most you could do was hope that religions would relax and get used to the ides so if gays wished they could have a religious marriage. Hopefully you will resolve this issue quickly with the utmost tact.
Other issues will such as the economic crisis will take work as well but if you take care of the problems in the Middle East first you’ll have more time to take care of other problems such as the economic crisis and without the war fund you will have more money to help the economy. Having our soldiers back will help moral which is part of why the economic crisis is so bad.
I wish you the best of luck in your next four years of presidency.

To Stephanie Meyer,
You were the first author that came to mind when I was asked to write a letter to an author for a school assignment. It helped that one of your books was on the desk next to me at the time.
Your books have amazing plots. The use of first person allows your characters to seem real, as if you’re writing what actually happened. It helps me get into the plot if it feels like I’m watching life through their eyes.The Host is my favorite of your books. It addresses so many problems and moral issues. The main character Wanderer has to decide what bad actually is when a band of humans captures her. You manage even the smallest storylines so that they come in and out of Wanderer’s life briefly but as realistically as strangers and temporary acquaintances do in our own lives. I can identify with the characters; they all have their quirks and oddities. Even the characters that seem bad, like the Seeker, have a reason for making life for Wanderer and the people she cares about hard. The bad guys are not just faceless, flat bad guys.Another thing that I enjoy about your books is that the writing has just enough descriptors to assist a mental picture of the character and the settings but not so much that you get bogged down in the descriptions. “His laugh cleared a section of mist, and I saw the room for the first time. Two rivers flowed through the dank, high-domed space. This was the chatter that filled my ears – the water gushing over and under the purple volcanic rock. Jeb spoke as if we were alone because we were.” This style allows the stories to flow naturally and has always been the style I prefer for writing. Your writing is an excellent example of this style. All of this makes for some of the most inspirational and amazing stories I read and I hope you will continue to publish books.

Meaghan
Charlottesville, VA

WR3-2

To Stephanie Meyer,
Your books have amazing plots. The use of first person allows your characters to seem real, as if you’re writing what actually happened. It helps me get into the plot if it feels like I’m watching life through their eyes.
The Host is my favorite of your books. It addresses so many problems and moral issues. The main character Wanderer has to decide what bad actually is when she gets captured by a band of humans. You manage even the smallest storylines so that they come in and out of Wanderer’s life briefly but as realistically as strangers and temporary acquaintances do in our own lives. I can identify with the characters; they all have their quirks and oddities. Even the characters that seem bad, like the Seeker, have a reason for making life for Wanderer and the people she cares about hard. The bad guys are not just faceless, flat bad guys.
Another thing that I enjoy about your books is that the writing has just enough descriptors to assist a mental picture of the character but not so much that you get bogged down in the descriptions. “His laugh cleared a section of mist, and I saw the room for the first time. Two rivers flowed through the dank, high-domed space. This was the chatter that filled my ears – the water gushing over and under the purple volcanic rock. Jeb spoke as if we were alone because we were.” This style allows the stories to flow naturally and has always been the style I prefer for writing. Your writing is an excellent example of this style. All of this makes for some of the most inspirational and amazing stories I read and I hope you will continue to publish books.

WR3-1

To Stephanie Meyer,
Your books are amazing stories. Your characters seem real, as if you’re writing stories that actually happened. You can get into their stories and it seems that you’re standing there with them watching them live life. "The Host" is my favorite of your books. It addresses so many problems and moral issues that are occurring today, using a captivating cast of characters. You feel as if you can identify with the characters, they all have their quirks and oddities that make them real. Even the characters that seem bad have a reason for making life for Wanderer and the people she cares about hard. They’re not just faceless, flat bad guys. You manage even the smallest storylines so that they come in and out of Wanderer’s life briefly but as realistically as strangers and temporary acquaintances do in our own lives. Another thing that I enjoy about your books is that the writing has just enough descriptors to assist a mental picture of the character but not so much that you get bogged down in the descriptions and allows the stories to flow naturally. This style of writing has always been the style I prefer for writing and yours is an excellent example of this style. All of this makes for some of the most inspirational and amazing stories I read and I hope you will continue to publish books.

WR2-3

Dai sat on a section of the crumbling garden wall under one of the huge oaks that dominated the grounds of the Greggerson Academy for Gifted Students. It was one of the few shady spots that day. He slipped out of the scratchy wool jacket required by the school. The day was so hot! This was not November weather. It was perfectly clear with the sun beating down of the grass. Sun filtering through the branches created a lace picnic blanket under each tree. A tiny ballerina spiraled out of the branches over him and danced its way through the air, its sharp edges outlined against the sun until it touched earth and became a leaf again. Laughter from a clump of students erupted. Dai wondered absently what the joke had been. He could not hear very well, they were too far away.He turned his attention to another group as he reached into his bag for another apple slice. A girl waved her hand at someone emerging from the shadowy entrance of the school. Break was more animated today; the babble of the students rose and fell. It was the first day back after the nine weeks break, although it was Dai’s first day at the school. He was the new student Dai Walker, year 2, primary subject: English.
“Hey! Kid on the wall! Wake up!” Dai nearly fell of the wall when a voice near his knee shouted. He looked down and fell off the wall when a hand waving in his face nearly took his nose off.
“Opps! Sorry ‘bout that. You looked like you were about to fall off anyway staring out into space like you were asleep or something. I’m Branwell Archer by the way.” Dai looked up to find the owner of the chattering voice peering over the wall his messy white hair hanging into his blue eyes.
“Do ya need a hand?” Branwell reached a hand over the tall wall awkwardly. Then with a look of shock, his face disappeared. Dai jumped up and looked over the wall to see Branwell lying in the dirt under the tree rubbing his back. His face had such a look of comic surprise that Dai burst out laughing. Branwell had lost his grip on the wall.
“Hey! Don’t stand there in convulsions climb over and help me out!” Branwell's look of surprise turned to indignation. Still laughing Dai obliged using the spaces in the crumbling mortar as foot holds.
“I’m Dai Walker. Nice to meet you Branwell.” Dai extended a hand.
“Call me Bran, I hate Branwell.” Bran made a face, “Unfortunately I had no say in my naming.” He leaned in closer, “my Mum named me after her old dog. Can you believe it?” His expression switched from conspiratorial to pleading. “Don’t tell anyone this is our secret.”
“Okay, but you’re so quiet I can barely hear you,” Dai whispered back. Then louder, “Is drama your primary?”
“Yep what’s yours?”
“English.”
“So, you’re going to be the next Shakespeare! Cool. Would you write me a play? Please?”
“Yo, Snow White! Who’s your friend? He’s too big to be one of the seven dwarves.” They were walking up the lawn towards the school when a huge boy stood up and shouted at Bran. He kept walking past the boy. The bigger boy stepped around his friends and walked next to Bran. “I said who’s you’re friend Whitey?” Dai looked back and forth as he considered saying something. When Bran did not answer, the boy stepped in front of him and punched him in the face. Dai caught him as he fell back. He put him down on the ground as the boy addressed him “So who are ya kid?”
“I don’t feel like sharing seeing as you just punched my friend. So you can answer first.” Dai knew what would happen next. Sure enough, the boy growled wordlessly and went to punch him.Dai managed to side step the first few punches and got a few in himself. His third punch broke the boy’s nose with a sickening crunch. Unfortunately, this caused his equally huge friends to join the fight. The last thing Dai heard was adults shouting and then a sharp pain in his temple.
He woke to the buzzing of a ceiling fan and the rough weave of sheets on a bed. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he could only see out of one eye and the light from the window next to the bed seemed brighter than usual, at least the overhead lights weren’t on. When his eye adjusted to the light, he saw the plain white ceiling, curtains around his bed, and someone sitting in the chair next to the bed. He went to sit up gasped as the world spun and he fainted back onto the sheets.

WR2-2

Dai sat under one of the huge oaks that dominated the grounds of the Greggerson Academy for Gifted Students on a section of the crumbling garden wall. It was one of the few shady spots that day. He slipped out of his Letter jacket. The day was so hot! This was not November weather. It was perfectly clear with the sun beating down of the grass. Sun filtering through the branches created a lace picnic blanket under each tree. A tiny ballerina spiraled out of the branches over him and danced its way through the air, its sharp edges outlined against the sun until it touched earth and became a leaf again. Laughter from a clump of students erupted. Dai wondered absently what the joke had been. He could not hear very well, they were too far away.He turned his attention to another group as he reached into his bag for another apple slice. A girl waved her hand at someone emerging from the shadowy entrance of the school. Break was more animated today because it was the first day back after the nine weeks break. It was Dai’s first day at the school. He was a new student and was now Dai Walker, year 2, primary subject: English.
“Hey! Kid on the wall! Wake up!” Dai nearly fell of the wall when a voice near his knee shouted. He looked down and fell off the wall as he nearly got his nose taken off by a hand waving in his face.
“Opps! Sorry ‘bout that. You looked like you were about to fall off anyway staring out into space like you were asleep or something. I’m Branwell Archer by the way.” Dai looked up to find the owner of the chattering voice peering over the wall his messy white hair hanging into his blue eyes.
“Do ya need a hand?” Branwell extended a hand over the wall awkwardly. Then with a look of shock, his face disappeared. Dai jumped up and looked over the wall to see Branwell lying on the dirt under the tree rubbing his back. His face had such a look of exaggerated surprise that Dai burst out laughing. Branwell had lost his grip on the wall.
“Hey! Don’t stand there in convulsions climb over and help me out!” Branwell's look of surprise turned to indignation. Still laughing Dai obliged using the spaces in the crumbling mortar as foot holds.
“I’m Dai Walker. Nice to meet you Branwell.” Dai extended a hand.
“Call me Bran, I hate Branwell.” Bran made a face, “Unfortunately I had no say in my naming.” He leaned in closer, “my Mum named me after her old dog. Can you believe it?” His expression switched from conspiratorial to pleading. “Don’t tell anyone this is our secret.”
“Okay, but you’re so quiet I can barely hear you,” Dai whispered back. Then louder, “Is drama your primary?”
“Yep what’s yours?”
“English”
“So, you’re going to be the next Shakespeare! Cool. Would you write me a play? Please?”
“Yo, Snow White! Who’s your friend? He’s too big to be one of the seven dwarves.” They were walking up the lawn towards the school when a huge boy stood up and shouted at Bran. He kept walking past the boy. The bigger boy stepped around his friends and walked next to Bran. “I said who’s you’re friend Whitey?” Dai looked back and forth as he considered saying something. When Bran did not answer, the boy stepped in front of him and punched him in the face. Dai caught him as he fell back. He put him down on the ground as the boy addressed him “So who are ya kid?”
“I don’t feel like sharing seeing as you just punched my friend. So you can answer first.” Dai knew what would happen next. Sure enough, the boy growled wordlessly and went to punch him.Dai managed to side step the first few punches and got a few in himself. His third punch broke the boy’s nose with a sickening crunch. Unfortunately, this caused his equally huge friends to join the fight. The last thing Dai heard was adults shouting and then a sharp pain in his temple.
He woke to the buzzing of a ceiling fan and the rough weave of sheets on a bed. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he could only see out of one eye and the light from the window next to the bed was brighter than usual. When his eye adjusted to the light, he saw the plain white ceiling, curtains around his bed, and someone sitting in the chair next to the bed. He went to sit up gasped as the world spun and he fainted back onto the sheets

WR2-1

Dai sat on a section of the crumbling garden wall under one of the huge oaks that dominated the grounds of the Greggerson Academy for Gifted Students. It was one of the few shady spots on the accessible part of the grounds. He slipped out of his school jacket. The day was so hot! This was not November weather. It was perfectly clear with the sun beating down of the grass and clumps of students it felt like it was about eighty degrees out. Sun filtering through the trees created a lace picnic blanket under the branches of each tree. A tiny ballerina spiraled out of the branches over him and despite the lack of breeze and danced its way through the air its sharp edges outlined against the sun until it touched earth and became a leaf again. Laughter from a clump of students erupted. A boy told the joke again explaining it for the girl who sat next to him who was quite clearly un-amused. Dai wondered absently what the joke had been. He could not hear very well, they were too far away.
He turned his attention to another group as he reached into his bag for another apple slice. A girl waved her hand at another girl who was emerging from the shadowy entrance of the school. Break was more animated today because it was the first day back after the nine weeks break. It was Dai’s first day at the school. He was a new student and was now Dai Walker, year 2, primary subject: English.
“OY! Kid on the wall! Somthin’ Walker! Wake up!” Dai nearly fell of the wall when a voice near his knee shouted. He looked down and nearly got his nose taken off by a hand waving in his face. This time he did fall off the wall.
“Opps! Sorry ‘bout that. You looked like you were about to fall off anyway staring out into space like you were asleep or something. I’m Branwell Archer by the way.” Dai looked up to find the owner of the chattering voice peering over the wall his messy white hair hanging into his eyes.
“Do ya need a hand?” Branwell extended a hand over the wall awkwardly. Then with a look of shock, his face disappeared. Dai jumped up and looked over the wall to see Branwell lying on the ground rubbing his back. his face had such a look of exaggerated surprise on his face that Dai burst out laughing. Branwell had sliped.
“Hey! Don’t stand there in convulsions climb over and help me out!” Branwell's look of surprise turned to indignation. Still laughing Dai obliged.
“I’m Dai Walker. Nice to meet you Branwell.” Dai extended a hand.
“Bran actually. Call me Bran, I hate Branwell.” Bran made a face, “Unfortunately I had no say in my naming.” He leaned in closer, “My Mum named me after her old dog. Can you believe it?” His expression switched from conspiratorial to pleading. “Don’t tell anyone this is our secret.”
“Okay, but you’re so quiet I can barely hear you,” Dai whispered back. Then louder, “Is drama your primary?”
“Yep what’s yours?”
“English”
“So, you’re going to be the next Shakespeare! Cool. Would you write me a play in which I am the hero? Please?”

“Yo, Snow White! Who’s your friend? He’s too big to be one of the seven dwarves.” They were walking up the lawn towards the school when a huge boy stood up and shouted at Bran. He kept walking past the boy. The bigger boy stepped around his friends and walked next to Bran. “I said who’s you’re friend Whitey?” Dai looked back and forth considering saying something. When Bran did not answer, the boy stepped in front of him and punched him in the face. Dai caught him as he fell back. His hair really did feel like a girl’s is was so soft and fine. He laid him down on the ground as the boy addressed him “So who are ya kid?”
“I don’t feel like sharing seeing as you just punched my friend. So you can answer first.” Dai knew what would happen next so he steeled himself to jump. Sure enough, the boy growled wordlessly and went to punch him.
Dai managed to side step the first few punches and even got a few in himself. His third punch broke the boy’s nose with a sickening crunch. Unfortunetly, this caused his equally huge friends to join the fight. The last thing Dai heard was adults shouting and then a sharp pain in his temple.

He woke to the buzzing of a ceiling fan and the rough weave of sheets on a bed. When he opened his eyes, he discovered he could only see out of one eye and the light from the window next to the bed was brighter than usual. When his eye adjusted to the light, he saw the plain white ceiling, curtains around his bed, and a girl sitting in the chair next to the bed. He went to sit up gasped as the world spun and he fainted back onto the sheets.

WR-3

Riding a bike has never been a big thing for me. I was coordinated for a little kid when I was younger, but the thought of riding and balancing on two thin tubes of rubber scared the heck out of me so bike riding was never high on my list. Because of this, I was nine when I finally took my training wheels off. I had been putting it off for years because I was sure that as soon as the extra wheels were taken off I would suffer a horrible accident. In fact, I hadn't even crashed before. I was too cautious and did not go fast. Eventually I got sick of watching my younger sister and friend ride faster than me and asked my dad to take off my training wheels. I pushed off with my dad holding on to the seat. When he let go I did not fall, crash, or die.After a couple months of riding around an empty lot behind a church, I was comfortable on my two-wheeler and stopped worrying so much. I had not crashed badly yet, just a few scrapes when I lost my balance. My sister, my friend, Alex, and his sister, Clare decided to race down a hill near my house, this time I decided to join them. At first we took turns going down the hill as fast as we could then we started trying to beat each other two people at a time. Eventually we ended up all going down together. The third time we did this Clare and I were out in front and it was exhilarating! It felt like I was flying we were going so fast. We both leaned over the handlebars to go faster so neither of us noticed when we started veering toward each other. We both noticed when we hit though. In a second, I was on the ground with two bikes and a person on top of me. My first thought was one of bewilderment, I had no idea what had just happened. Then as I realized what was going on and where I was, I burst into tears. After Alex and my sister pulled both bikes off me, I had to walk my bike back up the hill to my house. I turned out I was not even that badly injured the inside of my leg was scraped but I hadn't broken anything, nor did I need stitches. I don’t even have scars now, but it still took me many hours going up and down our street to regain confidence on a bike

WA-1

Riding a bike has never been a big thing for me. I was fairly coordinated when I was younger but the thought of riding and balancing on two thin tubes of rubber scared the heck out of me so bike riding was never high on my list. Because of this I was nine when I finally took my training wheels off. I had been putting it off because I was sure that as soon as the extra wheels were taken off I would suffer a horrible accident. Eventually I got sick of watching my younger sister and friend ride faster than me and ask my dad to take off my training wheels. I pushed off and, miracle of all miracles, I didn’t fall, crash, or die.
After a couple months I was comfortable on my two wheeler and stopped worrying. I hadn’t crashed badly yet and one day I decided to race my sister, my friend, and his sister. At first we took turns going down the hill as fast as we could then we started trying to beat each other. Eventually we ended up all going down together. The third time we did this I and my friends sister were out in front It was amazing going as fast as we were. I felt like I was flying I didn’t notice I was veering toward the sister or that she was veering towards me. I did notice when we hi though. Suddenly I was on the ground with two bikes and a person on top of me. My first thought was one of bewilderment I had no idea what had just happened. Then as I realized what had happened I burst into tears. After both bikes had been pulled off me I had to walk my bike back up the hill to my house. I turned out I wasn’t even that badly injured but it still took me a while to regain confidence on a bike.

WA-2

Riding a bike has never been a big thing for me. I was fairly coordinated when I was younger but the thought of riding and balancing on two thin tubes of rubber scared the heck out of me so bike riding was never high on my list. Because of this I was nine when I finally took my training wheels off. I had been putting it off for years because I was sure that as soon as the extra wheels were taken off I would suffer a horrible accident. In fact I hadn't even crashed before. I was too cautious and did not go fast. Eventually I got sick of watching my younger sister and friend ride faster than me and asked my dad to take off my training wheels. I pushed off with my dad holding on to the seat and when he let go I didn’t fall, crash, or die.
After a couple months of riding around an empty lot I was comfortable on my two wheeler and stopped worrying so much. I hadn’t crashed badly yet and one day my sister, my friend, Alex, and his sister, Clare decided to race down a hill near my house. At first we took turns going down the hill as fast as we could then we started trying to beat each other two people at a time. Eventually we ended up all going down together. The third time we did this Clare and I were out in front and it was amazing! I felt like I was flying we were going so fast. We both leaned over the handle bars to go faster so neither of us noticed when we started veering toward each other. We both noticed when we hit though. In a second I was on the ground with two bikes and a person on top of me.

My first thought was one of bewilderment as I had no idea what had just happened. Then as I realized what was going on and where I was I burst into tears. After Alex and my sister pulled both bikes off me I had to walk my bike back up the hill to my house. I turned out I wasn’t even that badly injured the inside of my leg was scraped but I hadn't broken anything nor did I need stitches. I don't even have scars now, but it still took me many hours going up and down our street to regain confidence on a bike.