Snow

Snow floats down to the ground
Falling softly and without a sound
The grass is covered with white
Snow is such a delight
It makes everything pure and new
Making the world seem honest and true
The ground is a blank canvas for art
let your imagination come from your heart
Build a snow-man, make a snow-angel, live, laugh, and enjoy life

The Look-Alikes Part IV

Veronica came back soon after and allowed me to go to the bathroom, for everyone was out at the time. I looked in the mirror as I washed my hands I looked awful. I ran a brush through my hair and a toothbrush over my teeth before Veronica knocked on the door.
"Hurry up!" She shouted. I opened the door and she held the gun up again. I tied my legs once I got to the closet, and she tied the rest, and once again I was in darkness. I sat there for who knows how long. I passed the time with softly singing songs, or humming since the rag was in my mouth again, or just thinking about life. I had no idea how I would get out of this mess. Maybe if there was an opportunity I could tie Veronica up, but I had no idea when that would happen. I preferred not to dwell on that for it depressed me. I took naps, but was frequently woken up by my growling stomach. Veronica came in at one time and gave me a granola bar, but it did nothing to appease my hunger. I thought about school, about the people in my school. Matt especially. Why was he speaking to Veronica? And Tim? Why did he suddenly ask Veronica, who he thought was me, all of a sudden? He had never even spoken to me at school. It was no doubt her revealing clothes that she somehow made it past my parents in. That was another thing, how could none of my family notice the change in personality in "me"? I bet they passed it off as hormones. Wonderful.
Days passed. I was sure I would go mad in this closet. I was living off granola bars that Veronica brought. Occasionally I would be aloud a swig of water. I spent my majority of the time in darkness, listening the the silence or my family talking, when they were home. I got to listen to my brother's guitar playing, something I never knew he did, I heard my mom singing opera, and my dad playing the piano, things they all did when they thought no one was at home. I was really starting to appreciate them more, and I missed seeing them. I also had to listen to Veronica talking lovey-dovey talk with Tim. I could just barf, but didn't want to seeing as these were my clothes all around me. I hated this. I smelled, I hadn't taken a shower in days, and were still in the clothes I had worn the day Veronica had first put me in here. Why wasn't anyone coming for me? Did no one recognize the change? Kimmy had to, we never fought, but she was probably too ticked to notice or care. Kimmy had an Irish temper to go with her red hair, but I still loved her for it. I missed Kimmy, my parents, and even my annoying brother. My heart ached for them. Every night I cried myself to sleep thinking I would never see them again.
I had been in the closet for three days when one night while Veronica was on another date with Tim, I was awake in my closet, singing a New Found Glory in my head, when I heard the doorbell. I wondered who it was. I couldn't hear much until minutes later I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and the door to my room opened.
"I don't know about this," Danny said.
"Danny," when I heard Kimmy's voice I smiled. She had noticed something was amiss! "You have to have seen something is a little off with Janie."
"Ok, so she's been a little weird, but that doesn't mean you can search her room for clues."
"We're worried about her," a new voice said. It was familiar, but I couldn't place it. It suddenly came to me, Matt. What was he doing here?
"Ok, but make it quick, and I'm staying." I heard my bed creak as Danny sat down. I heard rummaging. "Hey, that's her diary!" Danny objected.
"I know, maybe it'll bring some clues," Kimmy said, I heard pages being flipped. "Her handwriting changed the day we had our first and only fight, and she started wearing that weird getup."
"That's weird," Danny admitted. I heard a drawer being closed and more rummaging.
"I can't find anything else," Matt said after a couple minutes.
"Me either. Maybe there's a clue somewhere else in the house," Danny suggested. They were leaving! No! I screamed, I banged to the best of my ability, I stomped, I did everything I could think of. I even tried to squirm over to the closet door, but I was weak. I crawled, and eventually made it. I knocked my head against the door.
"Did you just hear something?" Matt asked. I hit my head again.
"Yeah, it's coming from the closet." Yes! Minutes later the door opened. Blessed light! All three gasped at the sight of me.
"Janie!" Danny exclaimed, taking the rag from my mouth. "I thought you were on a date with Tim."
"That wasn't me,"I explained everything that had happened. Danny called the police as Kimmy and Matt untied me. "You don't know how glad I am to see you both," I said smiling. Kimmy gave me a hug.
"I knew something was off when you dressed like that," she said. "And when I confronted you about it, and you blew up in my face, I knew it wasn't you. I hoped it wasn't you especially after you went out with Tim," she made a disgusted face.
"I would never go out with Tim," I said disgusted at thought. "So how come it took you so long to come and get me?"
"Well at first I thought you were just having a crappy day, but when you were still acting the same the next day, I knew something bad was going on. I just didn't know what to do about it. Matt came up to me the second day asking if I knew what was up with you, and together we formed a plan, which was come here while you-or Veronica rather-was out," Kimmy explained. I turned to Matt.
"How did you know something was wrong with me, and why did you even care?" Matt finished untying me as I said this, and Kimmy was suddenly interested in seeing what Danny was up to.
"I knew something was up, because I like you. I knew Veronica wasn't you because she wasn't sweet, or kind," Matt said looking at me. I was shocked. Danny burst in just then saying the police had arrived.
When Veronica returned from her date she was in for quite a shock. Policemen handcuffed her, and that was the moment my parents arrived home. At first they were shocked and outraged at their daughter being arrested but when they saw me standing there, and were explained the situation they were calling for Veronica to be locked away forever. As it turns out, due to fingerprinting, Veronica had escaped from a mental hospital, and that's where she returned. My parents hugged me tight as Veronica was put in the cop-car. They had thought my behavior had been weird, but had no idea what to do about it.Tim was quiet surprised to find that the real me was nothing like the one he had been dating for the past few days. When he saw me, he stared at me for a minute, then turned away in disgust. Danny and Matt both offered to punch him, and if looks could kill Kimmy would have murdered him. I was just glad to have that straightened out. When the car pulled away Veronica yelled out the window.
"This is not over Janie!" But it was. It was over.
My life slipped back to normal, but with a few changes. Matt and I started dating, and Kimmy soon joined us on double dates with her new boyfriend Logan. Danny also started giving me guitar lessons, which I absolutely love. Every time Tim passes me in the hallway, he looks as though he doesn't know whether to smile and kiss me or be disgusted at the sight of me. I almost feel sorry for him, almost. I have never seen Veronica again, thank goodness. She seems to be gone for good. My look-alike is gone, but yours might not be. Beware of the look-alikes, you never know when one might take over your life until it's too late.

The Look-Alikes Part III

It was days later that I started noticing things were getting weird. People started seeing me, or Veronica rather, in places I wasn't. People saw me at the mall when I was at home. Then it started getting bad. Veronica had whole conversations with people posing to be me. Then it happened. I came home one day from Kimmy's house, and when I entered the doorDanny came up.
"How did you get outside?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you mean, what do I mean. You went upstairs and now you're entering the house from outside," without another word to Danny I rushed upstairs. Veronica was sitting on my bed flipping through my diary. She looked up and seeing me, smiled evilly.
"Hello Janie," she said setting the diary down. "So have you changed your mind, are you willing to switch places?"
"No, absolutely not!" I said.
"I see, listen Janie," Veronica said standing and walking over to me. "I can do this the hard way or the easy way. You can go to my house, it's not as nice as yours and the 'rents aren't nearly as nice as yours, as well as you might get pushed around and get a few bumps and bruises. But that's ol' dad for ya. Your other choice is me taking over your wonderful life by force."
"Or a third choice, you leaving and never coming back," I said, hands on hips.
"Janie, Janie, Janie," Veronica said shaking her head sadly. "I don't think you understand who is running the shots here," with that she took out a pistol from the purse next to her on my bed. She aimed it at me. Go over the the closet, inside you'll find rope. Tie up your legs together, and don't try any funny business or else." I did as I was told. When she had finished tying her legs together. I turned to Veronica, who was behind me now, when suddenly everything went black.
I woke tied up. I couldn't move a muscle. I was still in my closet, and who knows how long I would stay there. I didn't hear any voices so I assumed everyone was out. I sighed, and tried to move over to the door, but failed. I then started to cry. I was going to die in this closet!
Who knows how many hours had passed when I heard voices.
"I'll be in my room, mom!" I heard Veronica, calling my mom mom! The nerve! I heard the door to my room open and close. Then the closet door opened. I squinted at the sudden light. Veronica was there wearing something I would never wear to school. A mini-skirt, leggings, and a tube top. I hoped somebody noticed this slip-up and wondered about the real me. "So Janie, how was your nap?"
"You!" I shouted before she stuffed a rag into my mouth.
"Not so loud," she laughed. "Well I guess I'll tell you about my day. Tim asked me out, and I accepted, we have a date tonight." Tim was the star baseball player in my school, and was very cute, though he was a total jerk, him and Veronica made a perfect couple. "Kimmy and I got in a fight, so we're ex-friends now," my anger burned at that. Kimmy and I never got in fights, we had been friends practically since we were in diapers. "Oh and Matt came up to me and asked what the heck was wrong with me. 'What the heck is wrong with you' I replied. He's a pretty weird kid, if you ask me." Veronica said flipping her hair. Matt was a boy who was in my history class. He was really quiet, but sorta cute. He had never talked to me before, and now he was talking to Veronica. Weird. "So that was my day. Tell me about yours. Oh wait you can't, beside you have nothing to report do you?" Veronica laughed evilly. "Well if you promise to be a good girl, I'll bring you some food later on. Toodles," with that she closed the door once again leaving me in complete darkness.

Bless the Lord

Church. It usually makes me think. Usually I'm thinking about whatever it is during the sermon, hence I don't normally learn a whole bunch during the sermon. It's during Sunday school that I learn something, sometimes. Well today I got thinking about life. Today, I'm talking to you. Yes, you. The one sitting there reading this post. Did you go to church today? If you did, did you have to drag yourself out of bed to do so? Did you complain about doing so? Well think of it this way. At least you can go to church. There are people in other countries who can't go to church, or if they do they risk torture or death. Did you drive to church today? Did you see other nice cars, and wish you had one? Did you despair over the price of gas? Think of this, some people can't afford a car or gad. Some people have to walk everywhere, and some people do walk miles to get to church. Did you pass by nicer, bigger houses than your own and wish you lived in one of them? Think of this, some people live in shacks, sheds, or even cars. Did you have dinner tonight? Are you full? 923 million people are hungry right now, and one child every five seconds dies from hunger. Kinda eye-opening right?
Everyday we all find faults with things in our life. School sucks, work sucks, my car doesn't work, we're in an economic recession, gas is expensive, we're in a war, people are dieing everyday, etc. etc. As humans we always pick the faults out in everything. The media does it, we do it, everyone does it, including myself. Wouldn't life be so much better if we find the good in everything? When you have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning, guess what, you're awake aren't you? You didn't die in your sleep. When you have a ton of homework, guess what you're getting an education. Some people can't even read. It gets hard when you hit the big problems. When you're diagnosed with cancer and have only a couple years to live, count everyday as a blessing. When you have that unplanned pregnancy, think about all the people who are trying and trying to have a baby, but remain childless. When you get in a car accident and lose all feeling in your legs, and can't walk, guess what you're alive. You get to see another day, you get to see the sun shine, you get to smell the flowers, you get to listen to music, you get to laugh, you get to kiss and be kissed, you get to hug and be hugged, you get to love and be loved. Life may throw you lemons, but pick up those lemons, make lemonade, and offer some to life and say "You can't bring me down."
I would love to end on that note, but there's a deeper message going on here. God loves us. He created us when He didn't have to. He sent His son to save us so we can have eternal life, when He didn't have to. So if God loves us, why do people get cancer, why do people die, why are babies born with down syndrome? Why? I honestly don't know. Maybe it's to bring us closer to him. Remember the blind man in John 9. He was blind from birth, and when asked why this was so, Jesus replied so that work of the Lord may be displayed. Jesus healed him by spitting and making mud, and putting it on his eyes, and he saw. When bad things happen, God will be able to shine through us. He never gives us any obstacle we cannot handle. He doesn't let Satan tempt us with anything to us that we cannot overcome if we have the willpower. Look at Job. God knew he would be able to handle everything: the death of his children, loss of his fortune, and physical harm to himself. He allowed it to happen, and Job was still a godly man when it was done. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord."
I think that's a better ending than my lemon analogy-thing.
Remember bless the Lord everyday in every way for everything.

The Look-Alikes Part II

Later that day, as Kimmy and I were leaving, I saw the girl again. She was in the bathroom at the same time I was, we were washing our hands at the same time. She noticed me before I noticed her. She turned to me and gasped.
"You look exactly like me!" She said.
"You look exactly like me!" I echoed.
"How old are you?"
"Sixteen."
"Me too, when is your birthday?"
"April 19th. You?"
"January 7th." So we weren't twins separated at birth, just looked exactly like each other. "Do you want to switch lives?" She asked.
"No thanks, I like my life the way it is," I replied.
"Come on it'll be fun," she said.
"No, I don't want to," the girl got this weird look on her face and I practically ran out of there. I didn't tell Kimmy about it as we pulled away from the mall. I could barely believe it myself.
It was days later that the girl appeared again. This time she came to my house. My parents were out and my older brother, Danny, was upstairs. I opened the door to see my look-alike.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm giving you one last chance to willingly switch places or else Janie."
"Who are you?" How did she know my name?
"My name is Veronica, and if you won't switch places, I'll switch places by force."
"Yeah right!" I scoffed. "Get off my property," I said before slamming the front door in her face.

The Look-Alikes

Has this ever happened to you? You're walking down the street, or you're in the store and you see someone who looks EXACTLY like that friend you had lost touch with a couple years ago, or your aunt Lucy. So you go up to them and greet them, but they reply with "Do I know you?" Then you realize it's only a look-alike. The world's filled with them. Everyone has a look alike. Someone who looks exactly like you. Usually these look-alikes are on opposite sides of the country, or at least not in the same town, but what if two look-alikes met. What if it didn't turn out like it does in the movies where the two switch places but realize they love their lives the way it is. What if it ended horribly? That's what happened to me.
I live a good life. I have loving parents and an annoying older brother. I'm not popular, but I have a couple close, great friends. No one really teases me at school, and I kinda just float though life. I live a fairly boring life, or did until I met Veronica. I was at the mall with my best friend Kimmy. We were in American Eagle when I saw a girl by the hoodies who looked like she could be my twin. She had long black hair, like I did, and dark brown eyes, like mine. Her nose and mouth were like mine too. She wasn't too thin, or too fat average-like me- and on the shorter side -I'm five foot. I couldn't believe how much we looked alike. I pointed her out to Kimmy, but by the time Kimmy looked up from the shirts she was looking at, the girl was gone.