A new game of "Picture Stories" has been played. Are you ready to meet: Annie, David, Mitch, Jaina, Lynne, and Lindy? Well, be ready! They're wonderful people. Stories by Grace "Gracie" Thomas and Thias. Enjoy~
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Name: Jaina Cleveland
Thias' Story:
Jaina
is fierce! And, she's very kind. She's the sort of girl that everyone
in town knows in some way or another. When she was twelve she bungee
jumped from the town bridge. When she was fourteen she wrote a novel
– all one-hundred copies were sold and are considered a sort of
town relic. The novel was about a girl who was really a dragon; the
girl-dragon wanted some way of showing her town what she really was,
but every time she tried something would go wrong. Until one day a
little boy, whom everyone affectionately called “Bubby,” got
stuck in a frozen lake. Then the girl, as nervous as she was, rose to
the occasion, breather her fire, and saved little Bubby. Then the
whole town celebrated, the new school mascot was a dragon, and she
was able to walk around the way she was meant to! Jaina doesn't
breathe fire and she isn't a dragon. But she definitely stands out.
Recently she's come into the habit of telling tourists and people new
to town that she was raised in a circus. The funny thing is, no one
doubts her for a moment. Her heart is as big as she is silly. Every
Tuesday and Friday she reads books at an elderly-home, and on
Wednesdays she teaches elementary schoolkids to juggle! Jaina's
fierce! But, she's mostly kind.
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Name: Annie Robinson
Gracie's story:
Annie
has always known she was different. Maybe it was the way words came
alive for her. She loved to watch the way they clinked and snaked and
tumbled out of peoples mouths, snaking through the air like colorful
ribbons. She could stand and watch them for hours, getting completely
lost in conversations. Maybe it was something about the way they hung
in the air...
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Name: Lynne Young
Thias' Story:
“Lynne-Lynne! Come on! We're going to miss it.” A young woman shouted over the moan of cold, sea wind.
“Lynne-Lynne! Come on! We're going to miss it.” A young woman shouted over the moan of cold, sea wind.
“I am! Just a moment!” The girl, Lynne,
called back with a smile. She turned to me, “I'm sorry! She's crazy
sometimes. She thinks we're going to miss the ship-launching
ceremony. It doesn't start for another hour!” I didn't know what to
say, so I just nodded and smiled. “What were you asking before she
interrupted? A photo?” Yes, I had asked if I could take her photo.
I had thought she hadn't heard and, a little relieved, I was going to
let it blow over. I had seen Lynne at a coffee shop in my small
coastal town. She had been playing the piano and it was so...
altering.
“Yes! A photo. I'm a local photographer. I love to take
photos of tourists. When I was younger I-...” she didn't want to
hear about that. Or, so I had thought. She smiled.
“You what?”
“Well... I didn't understand why all the tourists would come, would
smile so much; would breathe in fresh air, run, whoop and holler –
and then just leave.” My eyes dropped to my shoes as I twisted them
into the sand. I felt a drip forming at the tip of my cold, red nose
and sniffed, cleared my throat, and continued. “Um. - I asked my
grandfather about it and he told me that it was a good thing. That
they were people who had lived a whole different life, very unlike
ours, and that they dreamed of sunsets over the ocean – to see one
was beyond words! I mean, you should see some of the people I take
photos of. They're--”
“Lynne! Seriously! We're meeting people!”
Her friend said. I thought I saw her stamp her foot even. Girls are
so silly.
“Be quiet! I'm talking to this man!” Man! I was only
17. I blushed a little, for no good reason. “Please continue Mr.
Photographer.”
“David.”
“Yes, Mr. David.” She smiled again and I couldn't help but smile as well.
“Hmm, but anyways. The people. I
asked him why they didn't stay longer and he said, 'Because, they
don't know that they can.' And – well, I don't know. I tried
talking to a few of them, I was seven, and told them they could
stay.” I stopped, thinking about how the various tourists had been
kind, smiled even – but not taken me seriously. I shook my head to
think how funny it must've been to have an over-sized, awkward,
sea-salt crusted little boy asking them to stay. “Of course,” I
continued “the people weren't so easily convinced. I
think I got so frustrated I cried even!” I made a weird “ha”
sound at that. I was definitely conscious of my strange laughs. “But,
when my grandfather came and found me he told me 'There's another
way, you know, Davie?' And he handed me a camera -- this one, actually -- and taught me how to use it. He said 'When you take a picture of a
person, especially when they're smiling, you capture a little piece
of them. And they can stay here forever.' I mean, of course, it isn't
real... but, you know... it was nice. It gave me a way to wrap my
mind around living here. Pretty weird, huh?”
Lynne giggled, like
girls always do. “No! It's wonderful. I love it.” I definitely
blushed this time.
“But, yes. May I take a picture of you?”
“Please do! I'd love to stay here! I can't, I have school, but if
you keep the picture I'll know I always have a place here.” I think
I stared at her for a moment, she made an odd “So, what now?”
sort of face. But I was able to smile too.
“Thank you! Stand just
there.” I snapped the picture, captured her smile – and was just
pulling the camera from my face when she was right there.
She kissed
me on the cheek, “Thank you David! I've got to run now! I'll see
you later I hope!”
“Bye! Enjoy the boats.” The dingle-ling of
the song she had played at the coffee shop was playing through my
head – she'd kissed me on the cheek! I've never seen her since
then, but I've kept her picture. And I still remember that song.
__________________________________________________________
Name: Mitch Becker
Gracie's Story: Mitch
grew up the youngest of 5 boys, so of course as a boy in an
all-American family filled with boys, his days were filled football
and hockey and spending lots of time outdoors. He grew up fighting to
live up to the reputations earned by his all-star older siblings, and
he mostly succeeded.
...
Later
on, he will have a huge midlife crisis, in which he will renovate his
loft apartment into an art studio, and paint in happiness for the
rest of his life.
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Name: Lindy Carmichael
Thias' Story:
Close
your eyes and think very intensely on one thing that is lovely! Do
it. If you're still reading and you haven't, you're missing out!
Because, you see, this is a story about a young woman – a young
woman named Lindy Carmichael. And closing her eyes and thinking
intently on something wonderful, well, that's one of her most
favorite things to do. Actually, it'd be safe to say she loves most
anything to do with imagining things – and closing her eyes. She
has the longest standing record for falling asleep in Mr. Engle's
class. He's more amused than he lets on, I think. Lindy aspires to be
all things. Which, isn't farfetched if you get to know her. Oh! And,
she's rather short! Very, actually. It's a running joke for her
taller friends to “lose” her in plain sight. They only do it
because they adore her though. It's hard not to, seeing her stare off
into the distance at some other beautiful world. She's a treasure
trove of magic, but she's funny about keeping it all locked up in her
head. She does share stories with her very closest friends though.
They're often mesmerized, and the rest of the time they think she's
very silly. She doesn't mind though. The worlds in her mind, even an
ounce of them, are worth sharing with the people she loves.
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Name: David Fischer
Gracie's Story:
Everybody
that knows David loves his huge genuine smile, which he gives
willingly and without thought to everybody he meets. He is the lead
singer in an indie-rock band, but he prefers more intimate settings
for his music then on stage in front of huge crowds. David loves to
take his guitar and sing in coffee shops, on street corners, or
anywhere people will let him. He loves the people he meets, the
smiling faces on passers-by when they hear a familiar tune, the
random people who linger for a moment before walking on. His future
wife will be one of the few people who stop to drop a dollar into his
hat, and they will live happily together for the rest of their lives.
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