The Trees

By Bethany Hooper

The trees stand tall in the bright morning sun, but their beauty is washed out with the ugly trash on the ground below. The grass has small patches of trash people have littered there. The sun glistens on the dew lying on the grass below. The grass is bright with water drops as the rain falls down on everything on the ground. I smell the fresh crisp air. The wind feels cold on my hands. The wind is strong and it will blow anything that is in its path. I walk down the sidewalk, and I see clouds floating by, but I wish the rain wouldn’t come falling down as often. Even though the rain is helpful to the drought, I wish there would be more sunshine with not a sign of dark clouds in the sky. The nature I see is gorgeous and shows the glory of God everywhere I look.

Nature

By Emily Lawes

The cold brushed off my face as I watched the the birds fly above my head and the season of summer and spring fall like the leaves of the trees. The lush green trees were towering over the ground watching the people and animals like guardians, waiting for the bitter cold to be done with. Below the trees laid garbage from people. Perhaps, people had not realized what the living creatures did, by breathing in harmony with the earth and standing tall and strong for the birds who lived upon the branches, that spread so long and perfect. Many dreams of mine and others have led most to clean and protect nature.

The Hill

By Benji Kurokawa

The sun is shining down radiantly upon the awoken city, full of happiness and energy. It is living. The city is bustling, rushing, and living. The people in the city are doing their things: working, playing, and living. The squirrels and birds in the city are finding food, drinking water, and living. The entire nearby area is alive. But something is hindering it.

The air in the sky is tinted brown and orange, places where it reeks of exhaust fumes and pollution. The city is like a beautiful, wilting flower: it’s still pretty, but there are things to fix, lest it descend into a slum-like state. But the hill is free. The hill is home to students and wild creatures alike. It is peaceful: a place of harmony.

But the students here are not the kind to stay put. They are out and about, rushing back and forth. Some decide to pursue education with vigor and make breakthrough studies and experiments; others reach out to the city and work on improving the lives of those in it, by cleaning the area and helping the poor. The birds fly through the air, witnesses to an ever-changing environment.

Dublin may be a stationary city, but the community and general atmosphere are ever changing, both literally and metaphorically. The city is never the same as it was the day before – this may be the one thing that is always the same. One never has the same experience as another, but anyone can make the experience better for others.

Skiing

By Elise Beiser

I feel the freezing cold breeze brush against my face. The air is no longer invisible. Instead, it is filled with white. I look around and see the silhouettes of adventurers hidden by the snow. I hear the voices of my companions debating about which path to take. The objects under my feet are pulling me down; keeping me from walking like a normal human being. I look up to see dark shadows departing overhead. The air is returning to its original state of invisibility. I start to see the blue of a ginormous lake painting the landscape. I see the surrounding mountains who keep me from escape. I push the poles in my frozen hands into the ground, and I ski away from the beautiful landscape and into the hidden world under the trees.

Peaceful

By Lily Baker

The air smells fresh and plain, since I am outside, in the warm, bright sun. There is a tree that is solemn, peaceful and brown. It matches the water in the gutters which is also a dull, muddy brown. Dozens of wild, energetic children screech loudly in the distance, like the brazen sirens of a speeding police car. There is some bright green grass that is as green as the leaves on the trees surrounding the steep hill that leads down to the peaceful brown tree. The gutters are silent and almost dry, like a valley in a desert where it hasn’t rained for a long time. Apart from the children, and an occasional song from a bird flying overhead, all is silent. Suddenly, a plane soars across the sky, leaving a bright, white trail of fluffy smoke drawn across the quiet, cloudless, light blue sky. It’s engine makes a soft, droning buzz, far away from the earth. It only looks like a small, unimportant dot far away in the sky. There is no movement except for the slow, constant flying of the little white plane high in the sky. Everything here is peaceful, calm, quiet, dull.

The Lawnmower

By Valerie Klein

A disassembled lawnmower by the edge of the preschool. It is all rusty and its parts are spread out all along the hill. The hill is covered in dead grass and weeds which hides the lawnmower. Rain falls, and on the grass, the lawnmower sits, rusting away. The motor is gone, so it is just the base and the handles that are left. The tall grass hides it, but if someone can get close enough, they can see it. The base of the lawnmower is red, and the handle bars are a mix of silver and the brown colored rust. The wind blows harshly on the grass revealing the lawnmower. Rain drops trickle on the side of its base rolling down the side. The lawnmower will sit there until, eventually, it is all rusted away.

What Is Soccer?

By Daniel Kopti

You arrive to the game and there are thousands of butterflies in your stomach from the nervousness you have. You get your position or man and you get onto the field. The loud and obnoxious whistle blows and you start. You feel the urge to do something but it is about patience. Then you get the ball and you are running as fast as a cheetah attacking its prey on the breakaway. Soccer is a magnificent sport and there is a reason why it is the most famous sport in the world. Your coach is yelling at you and all of you teammates, teammates are yelling around the field. Winning or losing you will know one thing for sure that you felt the real tension of playing soccer. To some people soccer may seem overrated, but if you try it out you will recognize the true meaning or soccer.

The City

By Michael Temprano

As I gaze over the city from the hill I stand on I begin to notice pain, happiness, work, and traffic.  The city is like a painting with many and cars that control the people of Earth. It is as though I am on top of the world.  The city reminds me of a mosaic of earthly life scrambling among the streets of  thousands of cars.  It is like I can almost see all and know all.  The city is full of busy people who have anything on their mind but God.  Why does this have to be a standard that the human race lives by?  Everyday these people wake up thinking about their next paycheck or their next problem rather than acknowledging why they are there.  The world controls these mindless souls like pawns on a chess board.  People are beautiful yet ugly.  However these words do not describe the phenotype of these creatures.  They describe their dark and oppressive souls that are constantly straying from God.  However, they can also be beautiful.  This city is a place where people can practice their intricate and beautiful culture of Christ.

Pittsburgh, PA 2015

By Garret Hill

It felt like yesterday. My dad and I visited Pittsburgh to see our favorite football team the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was two years ago when I visited the beautiful stadium, Heinz Field. In September of 2015, I saw sights and I heard sounds that amazed me. That stadium was the most beautiful stadium I’ve ever been in. After we gave the ticket checkers our ticket, it was time to walk in. It was my first time being there and I did not know what to expect. We then walked to our seats and looked at the field. We saw Antonio Brown and the rest of the Steelers. They were warming up as usual. If only they knew their biggest fan was in the crowd. My dad and I cheered them on the whole game, and they performed very well. It was the Steelers vs. the 49ers. Since I have a strong dislike in my heart for the 49ers, my passion for the Steelers to win was even bigger. The Steelers won 43-17 and it was a great memory that I had with my dad. I will never forgot the sights and sounds of Pittsburgh.

The Rain

By Olivia Brown

The rain is a beautiful, calming, and wonderful thing to look at and to watch. The way it fall from the sky is calming to hear and see. The elegant and glorious calming sound from the pitter patter of the rain falling on the ground it something to calm me down. It puts me in a settled mind set. The stormy winds blows the rain around and against the window. The little water droplets rest and fall upon the cold and glossy glass window. While it is quiet outside I can hear the dripping water I am lying down in my bed listening to the calming waters. Rain is a wonderful thing because it gives me energy and something to look forward to each day.