Darwin the IKEA Monkey

Darwin the IKEA Monkey

On December 9, 2012, IKEA shoppers were surprised to find a monkey dressed up with a diaper, wandering around. When the Animal control took over, Yasmin Nakhuda claimed that the monkey (Darwin) was hers. The government would not let Nakhuda keep her monkey because it’s against the law to own a monkey. Nakhuda would do anything to get her monkey back.

Some people think that Nakhuda should be able to keep Darwin. If taking the monkey to an animal shelter is supposed to help him, then it’s not working. Darwin was screaming and crying when he was being taken away. Why? That’s because Darwin has already bonded with his owner, Nakhuda. Now, Darwin is probably locked away in a foreign place, all lonely. Instead of helping him, they ruined the monkey’s life. Imagine being a monkey that lived with a human for years. Suddenly, a cage drops down and darkness fills the air. How would it feel to be separated from a loved one? However, there is a law. “No Non-Human Primates (Such as Gorillas and Monkeys)” The law also states “No Canids, except the domestic dog” If a domestic dog is so much different than a normal/wild dog, then a domestic money is no monkey. What does the word ‘domestic’ mean?

Merriam-Webster: any of various animals (as the horse or sheep) domesticated so as to live and breed in a tame condition.

Cambridge Dictionary: an animal that is not wild and kept as a pet or to produce food.

The Free Dictionary: any of various animals that have been tamed and made fit for a human environment.

Longman: 5. A domestic animal lives on a farm or in someone's home.

In most of those dictionaries, the word ‘tamed’, ‘not wild’, and ‘home’ pops out a lot. Darwin is a tamed animal and made fit for humans. He doesn’t attack and lives with Nakhuda peacefully. Yasmin Nakhuda is like his mother and a child should not be separated from its mother.

However, others are against Yasmin, and think that she shouldn’t keep Darwin. It is illegal to do so, making Nakhuda against the law. The law states that in order to own a monkey, there must be a license (as a vet, animal control, etc.) Yasmin Nakhuda does not have a license of any sort. Also, scientists said that monkeys are high social animals, and they need to stay with their kind. Nakhuda was separating the poor monkey from his own kind. In order for Nakhuda to keep Darwin, the government will have to change the law completely. If that happens, everyone would go buying monkeys, pandas, gorillas, etc, that will eventually create disorder in communities. Parks would turn into zoos and monkeys will replace dogs. Then, they will show up in shelters—hundreds of them being put to sleep each day. There will be backyard breeders breeding monkeys, until monkeys aren’t monkeys anymore. All this comes from one act: letting Nakhuda keep her monkey.

Yasmin Nakhuda should be able to keep Darwin. He is domesticated and he probably misses his owner a lot. Maybe that’s why animals—like monkeys—have an instinct to fear humans. Humans are so unpredictable and sudden, how can animals trust humans? Animals have a mind and soul. Letting Nakhuda keep Darwin is not just Nakhuda’s benefit, but also Darwin’s. If monkeys need to be with their kind, Darwin thinks that Nakhuda is his kind. Right now, he is being tormented silently, without anyone to reassure him. Is this what shelters do? Lock poor animals away in a cage and then keep them away from freedom? No. Things need to change. They need to change in a good way, where everyone’s happy. If nothing happens, the government is stressed, Nakhuda is heart-broken, and Darwin must be terrified! Nakhuda is leaving Canada, to a place where she’s permitted to own a monkey. If the government intends to make everyone in Canada leave to own a monkey, then leave everything as it is. Nakhuda should get a license to keep Darwin, and the whole case would be dropped.

Poaching

Ce video est apropos du le braconnage. Mon professeur m'a introduit à Prezi, un Powerpoint online. Voici le video du mon Prezi.

Running Away

Running Away

                                                                                                                        

There once was a 9-year-old girl named Becky. She had big blue eyes and always keeps her hair in a frizzy braid. You can tell that she’s a girl who doesn’t like problems. Her best friend Rosella was one of the plain girls, who aren’t afraid of anything. When there is a problem, Becky would run to her bedroom and cry on her bed. When there is an event at school, which she dislikes, she ditches that day. When there is a big storm in winter, she also stays home and bawls. Sometimes, when she has to wash the nasty, horrible dishes, she’d fly straight to her trusty room. Rosella keeps telling her to face problems head on. She once made Becky understand– once.

She was quite pleased with her work. However, when Becky cried because her mom wouldn’t buy her a pussycat, Rosella gave up. After a while, Becky thought, Hey! Always running away works! So when she had to rake leaves, she cried. “Time for bed?” “No!!” When she couldn’t fix her hair one day, she cried for hours.

After years, it became a habit. At school, some time in spring, Rosella said, “Becky, stop! Running away won’t solve anything! You have to just face-it! Don’t be the scaredy-cat that you are!” Becky, after hearing that, scrunched up her face, and had a meltdown. Rosella sighed then left.

One day at noon, Becky’s mom came to pick Becky up. Everything was a rush and a minute later, she was at the hospital. “Father!” she gasped, seeing her dad’s dead body. “He died from a stroke!” wailed her mom. Becky didn’t – couldn’t believe her beady, swollen eyes. She ran all the way home, locked herself in her room, and began weeping. Once in a while, she would call for her dad, still not believing herself. On the fifth night, she stopped. Yes, it was a sad event, her dad just passed away. But the fact was that he was dead. No way around that. She cleared her tear-stained face, went downstairs and lived like usual with her mom. From then on, she never ran to her bedroom to cry again.

THE END

Le Dialogue

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Le Dialogue
(Script)

Kaitlyn : Notre sketch est appelle le montre.

Sabrina : Qui est le voleur ?

Ensemble : Dum da da !! / Dum da da !! / Duhh …

Kaitlyn + Shirley : Dans la scène du crime…

Sabrina : Le tapis est le zone de camera. Et ça c’est le même chose.

(Sabrina est le frère de Kaitlyn et elle regarder les objets)

Sabrina : Hm … Est-ce que je veux ça, ou ça ?

(Apres quelques seconds, Sabrina aller au Kaitlyn)

Sabrina : Oh, Marie ! Quel coïncidant ! Est-ce que tu te souviens ma fête—

Kaitlyn: Uh, je besoin aller au toilettes ! (Cours)

(Silencieux)

Sabrina : Il y a les toilettes ici ? Hm !

(Fin de la scène)

(Dans la télé)

Kaitlyn : Bonjour ! Bienvenue à la nouvelle de Canada !

Sabrina : Est-ce que vous avez entendu le vol au centre d’Eaton ?

Shirley : Oui, j’ai entendu.

Kaitlyn : Est-ce que vous avez entendu le meurtre aussi ?

Sabrina : Oui. C’est vraiment grave.

Shirley : Nous allons retourner après le commercial.

(Commercial)

Kaitlyn : Est-ce que vous êtes allés au McDonald ?

Shirley : Oui, nous sommes allées au McDonald pour…

LES GRANDS CHEESEBURGERS !!

(Nous mangeons)

Sabrina : Bah da bah bah ba ! Ca c’est que j’aime !

(Fin de commercial)

Kaitlyn : Je retourner et maintenant, il y a une entrevue. Je vais demander a détective Hiver pour entrer.

Sabrina : Bonjour ! Je suis détective Hiver !

Kaitlyn : Est-ce que vous êtes prêtes ?

Sabrina : Oui.

Kaitlyn : Rose Hemmington, entrer !

(Shirley entrer avec les sécurités)

Sabrina : Bonjour !

Shirley : Saluuut …

Sabrina : OK … Alors. Pourquoi vous êtes allées au magasin, hier ?

Shirley : Je suis allée au magasin pour acheter une monte pour la fête de mon chef.

(Sabrins écrire)

Sabrina : Est-ce vous avez acheté … ou vole ?

Shirley : Je n’ai pas vole !

Sabrina : Est-ce que vous êtes sure ?

Shirley : Oui, je suis sure ! Je n’ai pas VOLÉ !!

Sabrina : Vous pouvez retourner à ta maison—

Shirley : JE N’AI PAS FAIT !!!!!!!!!!!

Sabrina : Hm … Vous pouvez faire ca plus facilement pour vous … ou vous pouvez faire la façon difficile.

(Sabrina fait un geste, Shirley sortie avec les sécurités)

Kaitlyn : Nous allons retourner après le commercial.

(Fin de la scène)

Shirley : Je suis allé au Tommy Hilfiger, pour acheter ce chandail.

(Kaitlyn entrée)

Kaitlyn + Shirley : Yo, man !

Kaitlyn : J’aime ton chandail ! Ou est-ce que tu as acheté ?

Shirley : Tommy Hilfiger !

(Shirley et Kaitlyn sorti le stage)

Sabrina : Tommy Hilfiger ! Acheter maintenant !

(Fin de commercial)

Shirley : Bonjour! Maintenant, nous avons une autre entrevue. Marie Steinberg, entrer!

(Kaitlyn entre avec les sécurités)

Sabrina : Bonjour !

Kaitlyn : Salut !

(Sabrina noté)

Sabrina : Pourquoi vous êtes allées au magasin ?

Kaitlyn : Oh, c’est la fête de mon frère, et il aime les montres. Alors, j’ai acheté.

Sabrina : Pourquoi vous avez acheté celle-ci, et pas un autre ?

Kaitlyn : Parce que c’est populaire.

(Sabrina noté)

Sabrina : Est-ce que vous avez acheter … ou volé ?

Kaitlyn : Oh non ! Non, non ! J’ai acheté !

Sabrina : Vous pouvez aller maintenant.

Kaitlyn : Au revoir !

(Kaitlyn sorti avec les sécurités)

Shirley : Nous allons retourner.

(Fin de la scène)

Shirley : Pendant 2020, préparer pour …

Kaitlyn + Shirley : Les deux fille au pique-nique !

(Fin de commercial)

Kaitlyn + Shirley : Sur la rue …

Sabrina : Nous avons une entrevue avec TOI !

Shirley : Qui est-ce que tu penses est le criminel ?

Kaitlyn : Et pourquoi ?

(Kaitlyn demande à Araz, Shirley demande à Erin, Sabrina demande à Mme Sasaki)

Shirley : OK … Alors, la majorité choisir ______________.

Sabrina : Est-ce que ils sont corrects ?

Kaitlyn : Hier, un de ces personnes as montré sa réception.

Shirley : Nous savons qui est le voleur et meurtrier.

Sabrina : C’est …

Kaitlyn : Nous allons retourner.

(Shirley entrée et parler. Après, Kaitlyn entrée)

Kaitlyn : Allo ?

Shirley : Ah ah ah !

(Sabrina entrée avec Shirley + Kaitlyn derrière elle)

Kaitlyn + Shirley : Doo doo doo DO !

Sabrina : Maintenant, dans Wind, tu peux acheter le acheter le neveu MOTEROLA !

Kaitlyn + Shirley : Niew, niew, niew.

Sabrina : Ça c’est le pouvoir de Wind !

(Fin de commercial)

Sabrina : C’est …

Toute la monde : Rose Hemmington !

Kaitlyn : Maintenant, elle est dans la prison.

(Fin)

(Sabrina entrée)

Sabrina : Et ça c’est la fin de cet histoire.

Sustainability Reflection

Sustainability Reflection 

How can we keep our world sustainable? Firstly, what is sustainable or sustainability? Both of the words come from the word sustain. So what does sustain mean? Sustain is to maintain meaning to preserve a something in good condition. And we must sustain Earth the way it is so future generations can still live in this planet that we are ruining. But we can still maintain this world the way it is.

Electricity today is a very important thing that we, humans need every day, for our lights and stoves. We have become so dependent on electricity that some of us can’t even imagine what is like to not have electricity and some of us have become inconsiderate of our environment. I have not been very careful of my electricity usage. I have forgotten countless times to turn off the lights when I go out of the room, I have always kept my phone charger in the outlet and my power bar stays on the entire night. I should write sticky notes around the house to remind me to turn off the lights when I am out of the room. That way, when I am walking in the hallway and see the note, I will remember that I did not turn off the lights.

In the article I read, it talked about how Canadians usage of water and electricity is one of the largest in the world! This is because our water and electricity is the cheapest in the world. Because our water and electricity is so cheap, Canadians don’t care how much electricity or water they use and this can cause our “green action” to be less effective. The water and electricity needs to be more expensive so people will be more aware of their electricity use. Canadians should think more clearly before they do things that might not be good for the environment.

Paper. We write on it and make shapes out on the thin white rectangle. But do we think about where it comes from? We all know that paper comes from trees but we are still wasteful of paper. I usually don’t use 2 sides of my paper and I throw it out. I should recycle more and use the other side of my paper as scrap paper.

In the book The Lorax by Dr. Suess the Once-ler was cutting down as many Truffla Trees as he wanted to for his Thneeds. Well, we don’t make Thneeds but we make paper out of trees and many trees get cut down because of our paper need. In our minds, when we cut don a tree, we will think “If I just cut down 1 tree, it won’t make a difference” like what the young Once-ler thought when he cut all the Truffla Trees. Now imagine every person thought that and cut down a tree. We won’t have any trees anymore. We do not realize that many of the trees are homes to many organisms and by cutting down the trees, we are taking away homes of these animals or organisms. When there isn’t enough food for the animals or organisms to eat, they move away or become extinct which can disrupt the food chain and food web. We should stop cutting down so much trees or we can plant more trees to help the environment.

In the documentary, The Inconvenient Truth, it talked about how the carbon emissions rose by a lot in the last few years. This can have drastic effect on the world. Global warming is one of the effects of higher carbon emissions and it can be disastrous. Global warming is beginning to melt the ice caps which will result in flooding and many animals will lose their homes. 40% of the people get their drinking water from the melted rivers and lakes on the glacier. When the glaciers melt, many people will face a big problem. Many people think that because the earth is so big, humans cannot have a lasting effect on the earth, which is wrong. We need to help stop global warming by carpooling so fewer cars are used and less carbon is in the atmosphere. Or we can plant more plants because plants absorb carbon and thus less carbon will be in the atmosphere.

Transported (Comic)

Magie (French)

La fille qui n'a pas une voix

              La fille qui n’a pas une voix

Il était une fois, dans la maison de Monsieur et Madame Johnson, il y avait une petite fille qui est née. Mais c’est bizarre parce-que elle ni pleur, ni cri. Monsieur et Madame Johnson était très nerveuse. Ils n’ont pas assez d’argent pour aller au docteur. Plus bizarre, est que la fille ne mort pas. Dans sa vie, elle ne parle pas. Quand elle est un an, elle est reste silencieux. Elle s’appelle « Maisung » qui représente « pas de la voix ». Ensuite, quand elle est trois, elle commence l’école. Maisung est très belle, et quand elle rit, sa visage était illuminait. Puis, elle fait une organisation qui s’appelle « Jai une Voix ! » (Parce que personne ne t’elle écoute pas). Elle écrire les essaies et Evandae (la plus bonne amie de Maisung)  lire la page. Tout le monde n’écoute pas. Ils pence que elle est stupide. Mais Maisung (elle rester neuf) elle travaille très fort et l’année prochain, elle est sur la télé. « Bonjour! Bienvenue au le national journal de France ! » Dit l’hôte. « Nous avons les invités très spécial ! Maisung et Evandae ! Entrée ! » Maisung commencer à parler. Sa bouche bouge et Evandae fait de transduction. « Pour toute ma vie, je ne parle pas. Je n’a pas une voix. Dans l’école, personne n’écoute moi. Ni l’enseignant ! Mais je peux parler. J’ai trop de dire ! Si te plait, aide-moi !!! » Toute le monde rit et personne écoute. Finalement, un jour, Maisung mort. Les docteurs a dit que, parce que Maisung ne parle pas, sa cou est brisé. Apres ca, tout le monde pleur, cars ce courageux fille est mort. Evandae dit que Maisung n’a pas une voix, mais a beaucoup de dire.

Confucius Quotes

• Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
• Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall

Confucius

Remodeling

                               Remodeling 

People of all sorts, whether it’s Chinese, Canadian, Japanese, American or French, live by each day in houses that are very familiar. They live past every month and year without “looking” at the house. It is true that the people can see the house and they know where every room is (bedroom, basement, kitchen or washroom). Some can even walk from room to room with blindfolds on. When turning on the television, who would inspect the wall paint? Does it peel or stick? If taking a shower, will any eyes wander off to look at the tiles on the ground, or the sink? When plugging in an iPhone in an outlet (to charge) will the trim be noticed?

For some time, my family lived in our home happily, until we decided that our house was in bad condition and we needed ... remodeling.

Most people will search through advertisements, trying to find the perfect remodeler. Then they pay them loads of money for one room. Our family didn’t want to go to such expense so we did it ourselves. My dad jumped to the job himself. He started on the doors and finished in no time. He thought, Wow! This is easy! After that he continued on one of the bedrooms. He thought that remodeling the bedroom would be just as easy as the doors. After two days of working in the room, making little to no progress, he was gasping and extremely relieved, whenever he was out the room. The room was a disaster after he took off the carpet. There was sawdust everywhere. Time passed and he removed closet doors and the base trim’s shoe. It seemed to get worse and worse each day.

Strangely after some more weeks passed, things began to look better. The wall paint was off, the hard floor was smoother and the base trim’s shoe was gone. It was coming towards the end of the preparation and everyone was happy. Only the finishing touches to the “stripping down” stage were needed. The floor needed to be sanded a few more times, so did the wall and ceiling. Seeing this, we were all satisfied with all we’ve got so far.

Suddenly, as quick as the transformation, the progress began to slow a whole lot. Not a lot of painting was getting done, unless painting the newly bought closet door counted. The cheap light, light switch and outlet remained. The only difference was that the hard floor was completely smooth. All that was being done was going shopping for paint, base trim’s shoe, light and other accessories. Also newspapers were being stuck on windowsills, door trims, etc., getting ready for paint. These times were dark and gloomy.

Finally, after one month, it was done. The hard floor was painted and so was the wall. The closet was brand new and the trim was in place, beautifully.  We changed the light and the room was illuminated in warmness. We referred to the previous room and were amazed by the result. As they always say, HARD WORK PAYS OFF!!

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 4

Today was the real deal. Hopefully, last practice was real and not just in my head.

“Hey! You know what today is?” Noor asked me excitedly.

“Yeah! I was just thinking about it,” I said while rolling my eyes.

“Well let’s just hope that we would sing like last week,” she pointed out.

Good. It means that it wasn’t all in my head. When the bell rang, signifying the start of the day, all of a sudden, time started flying. We went through French, Math, Science and all sorts of units in a flash. When we all assembled in the library after school, it seemed as if only minutes ago I was still outside talking with Noor. Our music teacher suggested we practiced the anthems again so we can be sure. Our note was still beautiful as before and she smiled. When we finished, she told us that we were 100% ready. We waited patiently for the bus and the seconds ticked away.

“The bus is here!” Noor exclaimed.

As we barded the bus, we all giggled and laughed. Every one was chatting about the time to come. Just seconds later, we were all prepared and ready on the field. This was when time finally slowed down as the announcer introduced us to the whole crowd.

“Lets all welcome Dunlace P.S.! Please stand up for the national anthem.”

We opened our mouths and …

“Oh … “

The fist word flew out of our mouths and reached the audience. We kept singing and singing. We opened and closed our mouths in sync even as the song ended. We moved on to the American anthem and the same angelic voice still rang out. When we finished, the stadium roared with applause. Everyone shone with pride even as we excited. Every staff member at the game who passed us said or whispered:

“Good job guys!” or “Nice singing!”

I looked at Noor and we were thinking the same things. One, we’ve really outdone ourselves. Two, everyone liked it. And three, it was way better than last year’s singing.

“You know, I really think that we sang way better than the ones that sang last year,” Noor said, just to clarify herself.

We both smiled and scurried to our parents to enjoy the rest of the game.





National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 1
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 2
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 3

THE HORRIFYING RECITAL (b)

THE HORRIFYING RECITAL

The seat was cool and my stampede suddenly eased giving me a feeling of calm and peace. I managed a little smile as I placed my now dry and steady hands on the black and white keys. Take a deep breath, I told myself, remember what you teacher told you. I pressed down the first key and a note that was sharp and clear rang and the audience became attentive. I proceeded in playing the second note with a little more confidence. It too, was sharp and clear like a glittering crystal. My back eased as I let out a breath and began playing. Suddenly, something happened that shattered my entire piece.

 An ugly note escaped my fingers and it made sure everyone heard it. I made a mistake, I thought with absolute certainty. My nightmare came true. However, my breathing was still slow and steady and my heart didn’t get louder of faster. The butterflies that were supposed to swarm my stomach were taking a rest. My forehead and fingers were dry instead of sticky with sweat. How do I fix this mistake? I wondered in my head aware that the audience hadn’t taken their eyes off of me. I knew they knew I made a mistake. But the show must go on, I thought. I couldn’t keep the audience staring at me. In a spilt second, I did what the only thing that came in my mind. I began from the beginning, searching for the culprit that wrecked my piece. Again the criminal note sounded and again the audience heard. Which hand had it been in? I wondered. Quietly I played with my right hand. There was no mistake. It’s in my left hand, I realized while already beginning to play with my left hand. Finally I found the awful note. However, what was the REAL note. My mind formed a huge question mark. I started from the beginning again and what seemed like a year, I finally recalled the real note.

When the correct note sounded I immediately fell in a world with only the piano and me. There was no more beautiful notes of ugly notes but only music. I danced in my mind merging as one with music. My fingers were obeying the music as they danced around the keys like my mind. I smiled in the sweat world. Slowly I emerged out of the world of music and found myself in reality as the world thundered back and I took a bow.

My father patted me on the back when I came to sit by him on the bench. An old woman came up to us and patted my sister and I on our heads. “Great job,” she said, “I only hope that my grandson can play as well as you two did.” She looked back at a young boy who was talking with another child. After a few minutes of chatting with us the woman walked to her grandson and left. Just then, my piano teacher came over as she finally finished talking to anther parent. “I am so proud of you two,” she said while smiling. Her eyes looked distant as she told us a story. “When I was young, I also dreaded recitals and never wanted to go.  In one recital, I played my first note and I made a mistake. I was so scared that my mind went completely blank and I had no idea what I was suppose to play!” my teacher said while laughing. She turned to me and told me that I did a great job handling my mistake.

When we arrived home, my father told me that it was a good thing that I kept playing my piece because if I didn’t, they would wonder what was happening and perhaps some people didn’t know I made a mistake at all and the piece was suppose to be that way. My mother came out from the kitchen and told me that she was about to ask my sister to hand me my piano book. We all laughed as we went to the kitchen to have lunch.

The End

Epilogue

She practiced the accordion everyday, perfecting her fingers and her form. She was the best in her class and she would get the most applause in recitals. On day, after her father came home from work, he told her that he would be watching her play in her next recital. Her father never had time to watch her and she wanted to make everything perfect. She practiced harder and each night would hum the piece before she slept and she would also have nightmares about forgetting her piece.The day of the recital arrived and the accordionist's father drove her to the stage where she would be performing, all the while whistling a cheerful tune. The accordionist was still practicing, getting more nervous with each passing minute. Finally, they arrived at their destination and her father wished he luck. When it was the girl's turn, she reluctantly walked onstage. She took a deep breath and caught her father's gaze. Her mind became blank. No notes came out correctly as if she did not spend time on her piece at all. On the way home, her father did not look at her or talk to her and after that day, he never went and watched her daughter play in fear of scaring her.       

THE HORRIFYING RECITAL (a)

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 3

Today was the day of the third meeting. The last two practices were a disaster. Everyone was mumbling and muttering. They all sounded as if they all regretted joining. Imagine us singing like that at the games! Today, I’ll have to endure another session of moaning. The classes all passed by real quick, as I dreaded the end of school.

“Hey! We got practice remember?” I called to Noor, as she was about to leave.

“Oh yeah … sigh … that,” she groaned.

“Yeah that, now lets get over it,” I said.

As we were trudging in the sea of people to the library everyone’s eyes sparkled strangely with a new king of power. Their chests were puffed up and eyes set with raw concentration. I nudged Noor to see if she noticed the change and she nodded her head, still regarding the kids with interest. They were all marching and their feet made a rhythm kind of like:

“We can do it, we can do it!”

Seeing that we stepped into the library as one and determined, our music teacher’s face turned from boredom to shock and surprise. When everybody calmed down she eyed us with suspicion. All the children’s eyes were glued on Ms. Tai and our ears pointed, waiting for her next order. I was half expecting the room to start madly talking, whispering, laughing and giggling. The uproar never came. I glanced at Noor but she just shrugged. Mrs. Tai cleared her throat.

“Well, lets begin with the Canadian anthem.”

She blew into her pitch pipe to give us the starting note. The second she motioned us to start, the first word came ringing out, loudly and clearly. Mrs. Tai took a step back as the sound came blasting in her face. Her mute face turned happier as the straight line from her lips slowly turned upwards into the smallest smile. The smile grew bigger and bigger and she began to nod her head. Everyone else began to smile too, not because she liked it, but because we were truly powerful and we knew it. Noor’s mouth was opened as she was singing. Alexa’s chest heaved as she made the words alive. Erin’s cheeks were rosy and puffed; her eyes shining. Our principle walked by the door with her clipboard, and she dropped it as she heard the music. Not one person was distracted by the clatter. As the song ended, our eyes darted over to a few unnoticed teachers as the clapped.

“Wow! That. Was. Amazing!” the principle said.

“Yeah! That was exactly what I wanted!” Mrs. Tai exclaimed. “It was as if a god just came down and crawled inside you!” she continued.

A few of the girls in the back giggled.

“If you sing like that,” a teacher motioned with her hands, “the Blue Jays would invite you next year definitely!”

Mrs. Tai clapped her hands together to regain the attention.

“Great! Now let’s see if you can ace the American anthem too,” she winked.

As she motioned for us to sing again, we said the “oh” with no hesitation. As the song neared the end, our words were bouncing off walls and filling the room with music. We all noticed how the teachers didn’t leave.

“And the home, of the brave!”

As we ended in triumph, the teachers clapped and cheered. Mrs. Tai beamed and clapped as she said:

“I personally think that you are ready. Let’s go rock that crowd tomorrow night!

Everyone cheered. When we were exiting, Noor came over and gave me a high five.

“OMG!!! I can’t wait for tomorrow night!” she squealed.

“Yeah, me too,” another of my friends, Kaitlyn, said. “But you gotta get rid of that squeal!” she teased, rubbing her ears.

We may have understood today, but will it be this good on the field?

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 1
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 2 
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 4

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 2

I finally decided to call Noor to see what she would do. 

"Hi, what's up?" Noor chirped.

"Nothing really," I said with a sigh. "If you were part Canadian and part American, what would you do if you had to support only one team?"

There was a pause on the line and I wondered if she hung up.

"In Canada, I'll support the Canadian team and vice versa. However, deep down, I'm also rooting for the other team as well," she said finally.

"Yes, I see ... " I replied.

However, that would mean that only one team will know that I'm supporting them and the other team wouldn't know. It still didn't feel right to just ignore the other team.

"Well Noor, thank you for the idea but I don’t know ... Well, see you later, then ..." 

We hung up, and I stared at the phone blankly. Noor was no help at all. Suppose I did what she said. So the Canadian team scored a home run. Yaaay! Now the American team also scored one. Booooo! However, I can't boo on them. It's not right. Perhaps I could just sit quietly during the whole game, doing nothing and saying nothing. however, if I did that, it would seem as if I don't care about the game. I didn't dare tell or ask my parents. They would laugh at me and call me a failure. I was in the middle of deciding wether to tell them or not when my mom walked in with a smirk on her face. No way was I going to tell her my problem and make that face even more smirky.  

"How was school today?" my mother asked. 

"Uhh ... Fine!" I smiled hard, spinning my chair.

My mom gave me a quizzical look, but she shrugged and walked away. But actually I'm not fine and school is not okay. I guess for now, I'll just practice both with pride, happiness and perfection. Suddenly, the phone started ringing. I waited for my parents to pick it up so I could continue practising, but the phone just kept on ringing and ringing. I dragged my feet over groggily and picked up the phone. 

"Hello? Who's calling?" I said, trying to sound annoyed. 

"Hey, what's up?" 

Before she said her name, I knew it was Noor. Oops. 

"It's me, Noor. I was just wondering if ... "

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 1
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 3
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 4

The Fairy Doll Ballet (4)

Chapter 12: A Long Break

Soon we were in the intermission or break. At first, we talked about the ballet and our favorite parts. However, after five minutes, we were thoroughly bored. The intermission was twenty minutes long so we went out to use the bathroom and take a stretch hoping that when we came back, the intermission would be over. Unfortunately, our plan didn’t work and we were out for only two minutes. We sighed. Clearly, the world didn’t like us at the moment. We went back to our seats once again and waited. We began to bounce in our chair, hum, tap our feet, strum our fingers along the armrest and look here and there. Every minute, I would check my watch to see if the intermission was over and each time, I was disappointed. Luckily, just before we were about to blow, the stage lit up and the curtains rose.

Chapter 13: Hey, It’s Her Again

In Act Two, the Fairy Doll woke up all the dolls with her magic and at once, the dolls began to laugh and dance. The dolls were all in harmony when they danced. First, the Bunnies danced then the Dolls and Soldiers, the Dolls with Balloons and the Japanese Dolls. Soon the Chinese Doll dance was up and once again, we saw Erin. It wasn’t quite as big as a shock but when she danced, everyone was blown away. The audience stared at Erin the entire time and had to use a lot of will and force to wrench their eyes away from Erin and to the other dancers who tried to attract attention by putting on their most pleasing smiles. In many occasions, the audience would applaud and cheer. The lighting turned on Erin, which made her stand out even more. She always did moves that no one thought was possible for her age. When she spun everyone gasped and when she leaped, everyone oohed and aahed. Erin was the spotlight. We waved and did a thumb us showing her that she was doing an amazing job. She smiled even wider as if she saw us and thanked us for complementing her. The audience stared in amazement until the dance ended. The audience still stared at Erin when she gracefully bowed and pranced of the stage.

Chapter 14: Pas Du Trois

After, the Spanish Dolls, Polish Dolls and The Russian Dolls danced and laughed until the Fairy Doll came out once again with two male mimes trailing after her. It was the Pas Du Trois dance or Not Three dance. The Fairy Doll was minding her own business when one of the mimes asked her to dance. They spun around and hugged each other. The Fairy Doll looked as if she was having a great time. The second mime was jealous and grabbed the Fairy Doll from the other mime who was about to spin again. He then danced with her. The two mimes kept fighting back and forth and they tried to attract the Fairy Doll’s attention. They started to pull her closer and pushed each other away. The Fairy Doll began to wobble and she tried to get away from the mimes’ grasps but they kept pulling and pushing. Annoyed, the Fairy Doll shook her hands free and left. The mimes stared after her and then met each other’s eyes and their brows knit together.

The first mime began to jump and do splits in midair. He spun 20 circles and ended in the spits. Everyone gasped and applauded but the other mime just yawned and pointed at himself. I can do better that meant. He also jumped and did the splits in the air 5 times more than the other mime did. After, he did a handstand and ended in a bridge. The audience cheered even louder this time but the first mime laughed and did moves even more complicated. The two mimes kept going back and forth doing moves better and more complicated than the other. Each time they became angrier and the stage grew tenser.  Soon they were arguing. One of the mimes pointed to the other mime and pointed to the door, which the Fairy Doll had left. The mime meant: It’s your fault that the Fairy Doll left. The other mime shook his head and did the same gesture. After a few minutes, they began to fight. They pushed and kicked each other and right before the fight would become out of control, the Fairy Doll came out once again.

At once, the mimes composed themselves and smiled at the Fairy Doll. One of the mimes outstretched his arms and invited the Fairy Doll to a dance. The Fairy Doll accepted leaving the other mime heartbroken. The mime dancing with the Fairy Doll pointed to his cheeks. Kiss me he meant. The Fairy Doll flicked her hand in disgust and walked to the other mime. The mime looked away ashamed and the second one began laughing and pointing to the first mime. He quickly composed himself when the Fairy Doll turned to him. She smiled and walked closer. The mime gloated and stretched out his arms. The Fairy Doll walked closer on her toes and just before she reached the hands on the mimes, she shook her head. The Fairy Doll turned and walked to the other mime who was trying to hold his laughter.  She smiled warmly before shaking her head again. Sorry, I’m not interested in you she told the two mimes. She stood in between the mimes before placing her fingers to her cheeks. The Fairy Doll asked Farewell kiss? The two men ran to her and just before they reached her, she stepped back leaving the two men crashing into each other. Just then, the assistant woke up to see all the dolls dancing and he too, began to dance. The audience clapped for the last time before the curtains fell.   

Chapter 15: Back At Home

We finally arrived home after the exhausting day. We began to discuss our favorite parts when my mother came in.

“I told you that ballet would be fun," my mother said triumphantly while trying not to put on her I won the bet and you didn’t face.

We reluctantly nodded our heads while scowling at my mother. She gave another of her triumph laugh before going to the washroom and wiping off all her makeup. My father also came in avoiding my mother who would probably ask him if he liked the ballet. He told us to go to bed before turning on the computer again. Some things just never change. When we were finally under the covers, we fell in a deep sleep while dreaming about dancing dolls.

The End

The Fairy Doll Ballet (1)

The Fairy Doll Ballet (2)

The Fairy Doll Ballet (3)

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 1

It was just a normal day in the school. Nobody's birthday, no one leaving.  I was waiting for the bus when it happened.

"Hey! Are you going?" Noor, my BFF, asked.

Going where? There's a field trip? Or a party? Am I invited? Noor must've seen the look of confusion in my face. 

She sighed.

"Haven't you heard? The Blue Jays invited the entire junior classes to sing the national anthems for the teams playing," Then she got even more excited. "We're going to be on the field! And on the jumbo tron!"

Does that mean we will be seen by thousands of people?

"Cool! Where's the permission form?! I just must go!" I asked hoping, by any chance, she got me one.

She handed me one.

Yes! Thank you Noor! I thought happily.

"I got this for you when you missed the meeting. I knew you would want to go. You owe me now!"

Whatever. This will be totally EPIC! Just like last year.

Last year, only the 5/6 French immersions sang at the game and the rest of us only watched with envy. We all wanted to be seen too! They got to stand on the field and be on the jumbo tron. Luckily this year, we get to be there as well! Watching was cool, seeing people you know on the field, however, this year would be amazing to do it like them!

This task sounded easy, singing only 2 songs on the field. Yes that's perfect-except that we're singing the national anthem. The national anthem is a very solemn and serious matter. We are representing both countries!

"This will be easy peasy for me," one student bragged.

We'll see about that... Maybe the singing will be easy, but the meaning from the heart won't be. You have to mean what you’re saying. 

A meeting was called. Everyone wondered why exactly we would need to meet for such an "easy" event. We all sang one round with ease.

"This is our first meeting," muttered Noor. "Soon this will be our last."

I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm. Hold it. The music teacher is about to say something. Everyone was shocked and surprised when our music teacher's face wrinkled in disgust when we all were expecting praise and shock at how 'beautiful' our singing was.

"What is this? You're singing it like as if it were a joke!" Her brows furrowed as she continued. "Stand up straight. This is the national anthem. It's no joke!"

Every one grunted as they stood straight and gained posture. Our music teacher was still furious.

"Get serious about this. We're not just representing the countries, but our school too! You think anyone would want to send their kids here, seeing how messy we are?"

Few of the kids managed to mutter a "no". The rest, with their heads hung low, staring at their shoes, only shuffled their feet. This was not as easy as they think.

"Get together and try again," our music teacher, Ms. Tai, said, still very disappointed.

The next round was worse. Everyone was singing as if they wanted to get it over with. A few of us didn't even sing at all! If this were the real thing on the field, the whole stadium would be buzzing with alarm as they see us muttering a few words. I mean-national anthems are supposed to be powerful, stating how successful that country is. Our singing sounded as if at any second, Canada or America will fall to the hands of another country. The words won't match our dull tone. 'True patriot love...' Our singing isn't very patriotic.

"Stop, stop!" Our music teacher yelled waving her hands frantically, trying to stop this horrible noise. "You are all singing as if you don't care for these two countries," Pause...

She's doing that teacher thing, waiting to let her words sink in. Well hooray, because it's working. Everyone was feeling uncomfortable.

"We're Canadian. We should be proud of that."

"Yeah, proud of what?" someone muttered.

Unfortunately, our music teacher overheard.

"Excuse me?" She glared. "Of course we should be proud! Canadians invented baseball! You all should be proud! Besides, you all live in Canada. Their providing you a home. And you're sill not proud? Or at least happy about it? Next week, I better hear some decent singing or at least some decent music," she said, sternly, as her eyes bore into ours.

"Yes, Ms.Tai..." A couple of us mumbled.

As we were exiting, (finally after what seemed like eternity) Noor trotted up to me.

"Wow, she's mean," she said.

"She's not mean, she's evil!" I retorted. "Seriously! We are just kids!"

Noor sighed.

"Well, hope we'll have better luck next time," Then she muttered under her breath, "If we are even alive by then."

So that's how the day ended, with everyone worrying about 'next time'

Now that I'm home, I should be practicing. Except, what should I practice? Singing the Canadian anthem with pride and the American anthem with disgust? However, I'm from the United States. It would be wrong to show disgust to them. So I should sing both of them with pride? Well that wasn't right either. 'No man can serve two masters.' Oh, who cares? I'll just sing both with pride. After I practiced both, one after the other, with pride, it still didn't sound right. Why does it have to be so difficult to be American and Canadian? Now that both the anthems are sung with pride, it feels as if I'm not proud for either of them. It's like gold. Since gold is rare, having one brick would be valuable. On the other hand, if gold were common, a brick or even 10 wouldn't be valuable.

"What am I going to do?" I moaned.

National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 2
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 3
National Anthem at the Blue Jays Game 4