The Best Gift Ever

THE BEST GIFT EVER

It was a sunny day when two great friends played at the park. One was named Nick. He is twelve years old and his friend is Amanda. She is eleven years old. No one could describe their friendship. They sat next to each other on the bus. They let each other eat their lunch if one forgot theirs. They'd stick up for each other. Amanda and Nick were the best of friends on earth. On the playground, they were playing tag. After awhile, they both got tired. Nick went and got their packed sandwiches from a bench and met Amanda under the slide.
"Hey, Nick?" she said.
"What?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yea, anything," Nick said.
"Do you..." she stuttered. "Do you want to know who Jesus is?"
"Oh, not this again! I already know who he is. He's the fairy tale who died on the cross to pay for my sins so I can go to heaven; whoopty doo!"
"He's no fairy tale Nick," she said calmly. "He's real."
"Not anymore! He died on the cross if you remember," Nick said irritated.
"No, remember he rose again three days later."
"Yea, whatever," Nick said. "Just... let's change the topic."
Both friends sat there quietly eating their food. Amanda finished her sandwich and waited for Nick to finish. As soon as he finished his last bite, Amanda touched him and said, "tag your it!" Nick chased after Amanda trying to catch her. Nick started to catch up and then Amanda stopped. She fell on her knees and started to cough.
"Amanda!" Nick said running over. "Are you okay?" She continued to cough and cough.
"Someone help me!" Nick yelled. A man ran over to where he was and called 911.
"Amanda! Hang in there," Nick said. Amanda tried to say something but she kept on coughing. Now she started to lay down and curl up.
"Just relax," Nick said. "Take deep breaths." She tried to relax but the coughing was just too much. Every time she breathed in, she coughed out. Next, she started to stop coughing, and started to close her eyes.
"Amanda, don't go on me, please," Nick said trying to hold back the tears. The ambulance arrived but it was too late. She was gone.
"Amanda! NO!!"
Two days later, Amanda's funeral took place. The preacher kept on talking about how she is in heaven, and that she is happy. Nick didn't want to hear one more second about God and Jesus. He was mad at Him, he said that God let Amanda die. The next morning was a Thursday. Nick sat in the same bus seat he and Amanda always had. He wouldn't let anyone touch her specific spot though. Not even a flea. The sun was on the side of his seat shining in his window. The sun shined on something that reflected into his eyes. He noticed the reflection came from the floor. He leaned forward and saw a necklace on top of a yellow, small paper. He put the necklace beside him and read the note.
Dear Nick,
I've been sick for a while now. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer. Right now I am happy; I am in Heaven. If you ever want to see me again, trust in God. He's the only way you will get to Heaven. In case you forgot what I told you, I wrote down a little prayer for you to say. You can say this in your head, but you have to mean it with all of your heart. Here it is:
Nick stopped before he read the prayer. That day at school was rough. He got in two fights because two kids made fun of Amanda. He couldn't concentrate during any of his subjects. Especially math, that was the only class he and Amanda were in together. They were both in the middle of the front row. He kept on looking over at Amanda's desk, trying to picture her sitting there, and then down at his papers. The next time he looked over, he saw a man with a beard and long brown hair holding Amanda in his arms.
"Trust in me," He said.
"Please," Amanda begged in the man's arms. Nick thought the man was Jesus so he rubbed his eyes and the picture was gone. Just an empty seat.
That night, Nick had a dream of Amanda and him running in Heaven; then a big word that said "trust" smacked him in the head and he fell out of Heaven and into his bed. He then woke up.
During lunch at school, Nick reached in his back pocket to give the lady his wallet. He opened it up and reached in to grab money. Without looking, he accidentally handed the lady the note that Amanda wrote.
"This ain't money, Nick," she said sternly.
"I'm sorry Ma'am," he put the note back in his wallet embarrassed. He gave the lady money and sat down by himself. A kid named Charles sat down right next to him.
"Are you sitting by yourself because you don't have your girlfriend here," he mocked.
"She's not my girlfriend," Nick said crunching his teeth together.
"Then why do you always hang out with her?"
"Because she's my FRIEND! Not GIRLFRIEND!"
"Yo, yo... relax," Charles said. Nick's face turned cherry red.
"I think I want to eat your face right now, it looks like an apple!" Charles said laughing. Smack! Nick picked up his tray and smacked his mashed potatoes in his face. Charles wiped the potatoes off of his face and punched at Nick. Nick swooped out of the way and poured his juice down Charles's shirt. Nick ran out of the lunch room and out the school door. He fell on his face in the parking lot grass and started to cry. He heard Amanda's voice in his head. It got louder, and louder, and louder.
"Trust In God!" He reached in his back pocket, grabbed his wallet, opened it up, and grabbed the note. He skipped down to the prayer. He repeated it in his head meaning it from his heart:
Dear God, I know I'm a sinner, and I know that since I have sinned, I can't go to Heaven. But you sent your only Son to die on the cross. He then was buried and rose again three days later. God, I believe that you did that, and I want to thank you for doing that. Please come into my life and save me. I accept your free gift, Jesus Christ. Please forgive me of my sins; in Jesus name, Amen.
Nick really meant that prayer and he was certain that he would go to Heaven when he died.

THE END

Epilogue: He ended up dying at seventy-nine years old and he and Amanda played tag in Heaven...for a long time!

Out of the Galaxy: Part 2 of Walking on the Moon

Out of the Galaxy
Part 2 of Walking on the Moon

After dinner at his mom’s house, Willie went home… an astronaut!
Willie woke up the next morning with an idea. An idea so great, it would put him and all the other astronauts to shame! He wrote his idea down on a blueprint and headed off to NASA. The man who helped Willie with the rocket, Jerry Parker, approached him.
“Why, if it isn’t Moon Walking Willie,” he said. “Weren’t you just here yesterday in your spaceship?” he joked. “Why are you back?” Willie handed Jerry the blueprint of his idea.
“You want to go out of the galaxy!?” Jerry asked surprised.
“Yes, sir, I do.”
“Well, the design of the rocket looks pretty good,” he grinned at Willie. “You know Willie? You’re pretty smart; none of our guys here at NASA could design something like this. Come back in three months and we should have the money and supplies you need.”
Willie couldn’t believe that NASA would already start on a project only three months after he walked on the moon. Willie’s goal is to go into outer space twice in one year; so he told NASA that they need to build his rocket fast.
Again, Willie was at his Mom’s house. Ding-Dong! His mom opened the door.
“Holy cow, Willie!” his mom screamed in surprise. “You have not been at my house this consistently in years!”
“Mom, I’m going out of our Galaxy.”
“What! You can’t! I won’t let you.”
“What! Why?”
“People have had trouble just by going into space,” she paused, “Including you. Now you want to leave our galaxy!”
“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll be fine.” Then he left.
Finally, the long three months passed. Willie and Jerry met near the large pile of supplies. The date is, September 1, 2000. NASA and Willie would have to build a super advanced rocket that goes out of the Milky Way in a little less than four months to complete Willie’s goal -- to go to space two times in one year.
Time passed and they were now in November. Luckily, the rocket was almost done. Right now they are working on putting a camera onto a pole attached to the ship. It could not create too much weight. Willie was on a fifty foot ladder that went to the top of his ship. He was attaching the pole onto the rocket.
“Jerry!” Willie yelled. “Could you hand me the screwdriver?”
“You’re going to have to come down and get it yourself, I’m busy.” Willie sighed and started to climb down the ladder. As he approached the first step under him, he tripped. He had forgotten that he had tied his shoelaces to the ladder so he wouldn’t fall. He swung forward and smacked his head on the step of the ladder.
“Willie!” Jerry screamed. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have a huge headache.” Willie pulled himself up straight and untied the shoelace from the ladder. He started to walk down again. Slip! Willie forgot to tie his shoes and he slipped on his lace. Down, down, down, down, he went and onto the hard concrete floor. Jerry ran over to where Willie was.
“There’s no way he survived a fifty foot drop.” After he said that, Willie opened his eyes.
“Willie, how did you survive?” Jerry asked.
“I’m flying this mission,” Willie demanded. He got up limping and started to climb up the ladder.
“Willie,” Jerry stopped him. “I know you want to reach your goal but it’s not safe to be injured in space.”
“I’m not injured!”
After building and building, it was time. December 14, 2000, and Willie was inside his spaceship. The name of Willie’s ship was written on the side of it: “Super Hydro Monster.” Willie did not know what it meant; he just thought it sounded like a science name. The camera was set, the engines were hot, (all sixteen of them), and the citizens of America had their televisions on. Finally, NASA started the countdown; 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1… Lift Off! The rocket was shaking, Willie was scared, and the ship… reached space.
“Hello stars, I’m back,” he said. To get up to space, he only used three engines, now he turned on the other thirteen. Willie’s thermometer said he was going four hundred miles per hour. His speed and his altitude kept on increasing! One thousand miles per hour!
“WooHoo! I’m going fast!” Willie screamed. Willie just thought of something.
“What’s going to happen when I leave the galaxy? Will my ship heat up with fire like when it leaves the Earth’s atmosphere?” Suddenly, Willie got really scared of what was about to happen. After a couple of hours, the ship started to jerk. At one thousand miles per hour, the ship started to shake like a bucking bull.
“Come on!” Willie screamed. “Is that all you got?!” Next, the jerking stopped. Willie thought that he had made it so he turned off all of his engines. Willie turned the Super Hydro Monster into auto pilot. He floated to the back window and saw something that dazzled his eyes. He saw… the Milky Way Galaxy. Willie fainted. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He heard some bangs on the roof of his ship. Willie got a rope, tied it to himself, opened the latch above him, and tied the other end of the rope to a little handle he put on his ship for this reason. Willie started to float up until the rope was all the way stretched out. He did not see anything on top of his roof. He decided to stay up just in case. Out of the corner of his eye, Willie saw something green. He whirled around… but saw nothing. Willie stared and stared in the same spot. The green thing was back in sight. He could only see a little of it though. The thought of an alien came to Willie’s mind. Willie’s mother always told him that aliens weren’t real. Expecting to see a huge, giant, hideous alien… a little green blob appeared on the roof. Willie could now see the entire green thing now. The blob was about as round as a soccer ball, but flat. He was all gooey like snot. The blob slid over to Willie and started to sniff his foot. The blob then squealed a hideous loud sound that hurt Willie’s ears; then it jumped off of the ship and floated off into the distance.
“Whatever,” Willie thought. As Willie was looking around, he saw a giant rock the size of a large in-ground swimming pool coming at him.
“Whoa!” Willie screamed. He got himself inside of his ship and turned off auto cruise.
There were no satellites near his camera so no one could see what was going on. He also didn’t have contact with NASA.
“That’s enough sightseeing for me!” Willie yelled. He swerved his ship to the left but the rock hit the side of it. The ship started to spin like a tornado. Luckily, Willie was able to get back into control of the ship. Willie blasted his engines and entered the Milky Way Galaxy going one thousand miles per hour. After a while, he saw Earth. He entered the atmosphere going way too fast, for he turned off his engines too late. Now, he was out of the atmosphere and entered the Earth’s sky. Willie yanked back on his steering stick but it wasn’t pulling the ship up. Straight, straight, down he went with no control at all. The point of his ship dug straight down into the Earth’s hard rock. Half of Willie’s ship was in the ground, and half was sticking up. Willie climbed up the spaceship as best as he could. He opened the back latch, looked up, and yelled excitedly when he saw that he luckily landed at NASA. After a bunch of pats on his back and cheering, Jerry came up to him not happy at all.
“Willie,” he said. “You passed your goal. You took off in 2000, but you landed in 2004.”
“I was up there for four years! Time really flew. Why are you so upset?”
“Your mother was very worried and had a heart attack. She didn’t make it.” Willie stood there very shocked. He just walked to his car and drove home. Willie had quite a journey. He decided to retire from being an astronaut. Also, he retired from his job. He earned one billion dollars for doing two missions. It was sad that his mother died, but at least he made her proud.
“If you have the motivation to do it son, I’m sure you’ll be walking on the moon just like old Neil.”

The Good and Bad Eye

The Good and Bad Eye

My name is Henry Jones. People always laugh at me as I walk by. Want to know why? One of my eye is green, while the other is brown. People don't know yet, but my green eye sees truth, while my brown eye sees much, much, more. The first day I ever actually used my gifted eyes was last month. A kid named Erwin goes to my school. His style, well, he had tight pants that he pulled up to his belly button. His teeth were covered with braces, he had red hair, he had huge glasses, and his face was spotted with freckles. Like usual, the two bully, popular kids went up to Erwin and slammed his books out of his hands. I saw the whole thing. One kid lifted Erwin up by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the locker!
"Hey, Erwin," the kid said in a mocking voice.
"Yeah, hey, Erwin," the other kid echoed. "We need your lunch money."
"I don't have any," Erwin said.
I watched as the two kids urged Erwin for his money. I covered my brown eye while watching out of my green eye. What I saw was, me going up to those two kids and stopping them dead in their tracks. The kids started to make fun of me and started to call me a suck-up. I didn't like that picture, so I uncovered my brown eye, and covered my green eye, watching through my brown eye. In that picture, I walked up and grabbed Erwin out of the bullies' hands.
"Erwin," I said. "Give them the money now!" He just stared at me very scared. I turned him around, grabbed the back of his neck, and gave him a pressure point.
"Do it!" I screamed. He started to cry and scream. Erwin then gave me the money, I gave the bullies the money, and they wanted me to be their friend. Before I answered, I quickly uncovered my green eye for I did not like that picture either. When I started to look through both eyes again, I just saw what was actually happening. The two bullies were still holding Erwin up against the locker demanding his money. Then I thought, "Those kids are the most popular kids in school. If I do what my brown eye showed me, they'll love me, and I'll be popular too." I loved the thought of that. So you probably know what I did next. I walked up to Erwin, and gave him that pressure point. Soon, every day, I was hanging out with those two bullies more than ever. Man I wish I never did that. Now, I find myself getting suspended from school, failing classes, and, worst of all, losing my parents' trust. Yeah, it was cool to be popular, but I did not feel good. I felt sick inside.
Right now, I am waiting for my two friends by the principal's office. I don't why I am going to do what I'm about to do right now. Finally, I spotted my friends. One's name is Tristan, the other's name is Joseph.
"Do you guys got the silly string?" I asked.
"You bet we do," Tristan said. "Joseph," he handed him the bottle. "Henry," he handed me the bottle. "And me." I haven't been looking through my green eye every time something bad was about to happen, just my brown eye. So I looked through my truthful green eye and saw only me. It was a picture of me looking through my green eye; that's all. Then I looked through my naughty brown eye, it was a picture of me looking through my brown eye.
"I wish it gave me a picture of what is going to happen in the office," I thought. Suddenly, I noticed my friends staring at me confused as I was covering my eyes.
"You guys ready?" I said fast.
"Yeah," they replied at the same time. We ran in there while the principal was studying some papers. We lifted our silly string cans and started to spray. As Tristan and Joseph were distracted spraying, I dropped my can and covered my brown eye. I saw me taking the cans away from my so called friends and giving them to my principal. I apologized for what I did just then and all the other things I did in the past. I uncovered my brown eye and started to cover my green eye. Before I saw anything, I stopped. Forcefully, I pulled my hand away from my green eye, walked up to those kids, snatched the cans from them, gave them to the principal, and apologized.
"Henry, I forgive you now, and for all the other times," he said. "Since you stopped what you were doing, and stopped these two, you will not be suspended. As for you guys -- I have not thought of what I am going to do to you. Henry you may leave. Tristan, Joseph, you can stay here while I have a little chat on the phone with both of your parents." As I left the room I felt good. Even as a watched the tongue of Tristan sticking out at me. I got home and happily told my parents what I did today. At that moment, I decided to never cover my green eye again!