Endings That Form Beginnings
by: Samantha Yap
Dog Zombie
After many days of mourning and nights of crying,
This is a story about a young girl named Adamafia who lost her ability to chill. One day, Adamafia came home to a pleasant surprise. As she unlocked her front door, a large lab jumped on her lap and licked her like crazy. Her father comes out of the kitchen smiling, asking her how her day
was at school and with a little exclamation added “Oh, and we adopted a dog today, her name is Marley.” Adamafia and Marley soon form an unbreakable bond. They grow up together, making many memories from when Adamafia was a little 4th grader to Adamafia’s sophomore year. They’d have usual routines where after school, Marley would welcome Adamafia home by jumping on her until she fell to the ground, like she did the first day they met. Adamafia’s relationship with her dog made life seem wonderful. Until one day, everything goes from 0100 on so many levels. One night, when Adamafia arrives home a little later than usual after hanging out with friends, Marley spots her outside, jumping out of the doggie hole of the front door and running across the street to Adamafia until a white truck comes out of nowhere and collides right onto the body of Adamafia’s dog. After the incident, it was almost as if Adamafia’s life had turned upside down. She’d tap the bottom of her bed for Marley to jump on, but would soon flood in her tears as she remembers that Marley was longer with her or her family.
one night, she decides to take a little walk to try to take her mind off things. But, everything around her seemed to remind her of Marley. As she continues to hopelessly walk around, she spots one of the neighborhood dogs. Tears started flowing, her mind started racing with memories of Marley, and without thinking, she races towards the dog and feeds on it, having her teeth crash into the dogs’ flesh, her hands grasping its tiny body. She cries even more as she realizes what she has done, but continues to eat the dog, with more satisfaction to what she was doing than shame. As she finishes her meal, her hunger only grows. Creeping through the neighborhood, she proceeds her hunting, feasting on every dog she can find. Realizing her parents may get worried, she cleans herself up at a park fountain and decides to air dry herself along the walk home. As she comes home, Adamafia finds her parents watching the news with reports of various amounts of dead dogs in the neighborhood she resided in. Without hesitation, she tells her parents about her all night experience. They soon take her to a mental hospital, where she was to fix herself and her actions. Adamafia is now known as the ‘dog zombie.’
Starting From the Streets My name is Michael. I was homeless once. Days of feeling hopeless and nights of hunger. But recently, I’ve made it big. Here’s my story. One day, I found a guitar in a dumpster I was clearing out for some food. I then thought of an idea that may result in dinner,
The next day, I received the same love, something I haven’t had for awhile at the singing various songs along the beat of my used guitar. I felt alive and loved. time. I decide to have some sleep and People would come and drop a couple coins or even stay and watch, it was start the next day. The next morning I amazing. Some people even recorded wake up, stomach growling. I take out my me. The day afterwards, I continued to do my thing. This became a routine. Except guitar and whip out a song. I was unlike any other day, record label, Island surprised by all of the attention I received Def Jams Records approached me. The same label that signed Justin Bieber! that day, but was more surprised by all They invited me over to their studio to the money I received. I had enough cash test out some tunes, recording acoustic sounds which was my style. That to take myself out to a restaurant in experience was what got me into thinking celebration. that this was what I wanted to do for a living. Make music and make people happy. And that’s when they made it official, signing me to their label and offering me a $5 million dollar contract. I couldn’t believe it. Today is the day of my show at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Hearing all my fans and taking a peek at them from behind the curtains made me realize how fast things can change, and how great life can be. And that is my story of how I started from the street.
Thanks To the Waitress I was serving tables until a delivery man enters the diner hollering for mail for Ally Martin, aka me. I take the mail from the man, confused. I go to the storage room to open the mail. As I open the mail, a smile soon stretches across my face. It was an invitation to a wedding for the Kydds. Memories soon cross my mind, as I become nostalgic. The invitation read “This is all thanks to you, waitress.” I date back to a day in the diner, 20 years ago. Snow
outside, fireplace on, it all seemed so cozy. Everyone was enjoying their coffee and scones and I felt nothing but content with the happiness of those I was serving. But as I look around the diner, I spot a man who appeared to be stressed out. I walk over to the man. “Rough day?” I ask him. “Yes ma’am. Can I please have a strawberry sherbert?” he replies. “Sure thing.” I say as I walked away. He stopped me, adding “Try to make it look as sweet as that lady over there eh?” Across the diner from the man, I spot a woman who was alone, gazing out the window. I automatically brightened up with an idea. An idea to bring the two together. I soon make a cup of coffee the way the girl asked for it earlier that night, attaching a note with it that read “for you, from table 8” which happened to be the table the stressed out guy was sitting at. I give her the coffee with the note, give her a smile, and walk away.
As I spy on her from a distance, I watch her as she glances around the diner, searching for table 8. As I watched her, she raised her eyebrows towards the direction of the stressed man, indicating she had spotted him. Continuing to wait tables, I look around the diner, spotting the stressed out man and the woman I set up together, laughing. The diner was approaching closing hours, and they were still laughing and talking, I assume getting to know each other talking about the most random things, anything that would make the other person smile. I had to kick them out because it was getting so late. I went to bed with a smile on my face that night. Weeks after the set up pass by and I receive a letter from the delivery man, as he calls for Ally Martin in the diner. I go into the storage room for some privacy, and there’s a letter from Louis Kydd. It read “Thank you for setting me up with this woman. I’ve been nothing but happy these past few weeks getting to know her more and more. We’re just having a great time right now, so thank you. You have a good one.” I set down the wedding invitation on the nearest table. Grabbing my money and my keys, I take off my apron. I tell my boss I have to have an early release for the day. Walking out of the diner, I look up on my phone “bridesmaid dresses.”
The Shadow I wake up to the sound of a door shutting from downstairs. I awaken my husband from his slumber to go check on the noise. My husband goes downstairs clearing out all the rooms and checking the lock of the front and back doors. He returns from downstairs, announcing that he came downstairs to our asleep kitty and no sign of an
But, when my husband spots a shadow w
intruder. We both reluctantly return to our sleep.
approaching the front door, he sneezes, causing
The next night, the same thing happens, as I
the shadow to disappear. We both sat, drowning in
awaken to a noise that sounded like a door
thoughts of the many possibilities of what that
shutting. My husband goes to check again and
shadow might’ve been. But considering my
finds nothing. This begins to occur every night for
concern, I decided to make things equal by offering
weeks. So I ordered him to pull an allnighter and
to stay on watch all night the following night. That
stay in watch. I felt bad that’s for sure, but my
night, I stay in watch with my eyes feeling like dry
curiosity and lack of sleep was getting really
play doh and my body aching to sleep. But just like
annoying to deal with for the both of us. So it was
my husband described, I spot a slim shadow
set. I explained to him my solution that morning
approaching the front door. As I looked closer, the
during breakfast. The next morning, I find my
shadow entered the doggy hole of the front door. It
husband knocked out on the kitchen floor. I wake
was a cat! I sat in shock, not knowing what to do.
him up and decide to make the both of us breakfast
But from behind a wall, Bernard, my cat, appears,
to discuss what he saw. When we finished our
snuggling against the cat. In more shock, I spot 4
coffee and pancakes, he explains that he noticed
little kitties following through the doggy hole after
our cat, Bernard, awake as well with alert eyes
the intruding cat. None of the cats had a collar on
towards the front door.
their neck. I quietly poured some cat food in a bowl, and waited for them to smell the scent of it. The next morning, I told my husband what happened. I stayed up all night petting the little kitties, Bernard, and the other cat that seemed to be a female. We were accompanied with 5 more cats from that day forward. No questions asked, we adopted them right away. It was a quick surprise that still
remained a mystery to how they stumbled upon our home, but soon became additions to the family.
Chasing Tails I was still getting used to my new home. My adoptive owners were very nice. They let me cuddle with them whenever I wanted to, gave me high class cat food from Petco , and provided me with the warmth of their home. I even had a little play structure all to myself. I was one happy cat, but for some reason, I also felt a little bit of loneliness. I was just about to fall into slumber when I heard a noise from the front porch. I cautiously watched the front door, not making one movement. Before I know it, another cat hops through the doggy hole of the front door. My eyes widen as the cat who seemed to be female is followed by 4 smaller cats. I slowly approach them, asking why they were in my home. “We’re hungry.” The mother said. I led them towards my cat bowl introducing myself as they devoured the food like they haven’t eaten in weeks. They returned the favor, introducing themselves. I found myself feeling attracted to Bella, the mother. Until suddenly, we heard footsteps. “Hurry, out!” I said. The 5 cats quickly exited my house through the doggy hole they entered from as I quickly returned to my structure. My owner, who I named Bob since I didn’t know what else to call him, came from the upstairs, observing all the rooms of the downstairs, checking if the front and back doors were securely locked. After the shock, I slowly fell asleep. The cats returned for a meal every night. From that, we learned many
things about each other. Leslie, the oldest kitty, would help her mother take care of the children. Angie, the second youngest, hated baths more than anything. Sam was the craziest. He would always get into trouble. The youngest, Cornelia, was the sweetest. She always seemed to spread nothing but positivity. Lastly, the mother, Bella. She was a charmer. She cared for her kids dearly, and always put their priorities before hers. Before I knew it, I fell for her. From that moment, I decided I was going to tell her on the next visit. The next night, I sat in my structure and waited for her shadow to appear, signaling her arrival. As I squinted, there it was. Just as she was about to enter, “ACHOO!” Someone sneezes from afar. I jump from my structure in shock, and turn to look at the door but became disappointed, as I see the shadow had disappeared.