Open-ended prompt

      It was Christmas Eve. Fog stuck to the tarmac at Lindbergh field. My family and I were waiting at the terminal for our flight to arrive, so we could board. We were going to go visit my brother in California at his rehab center. My brother Matt has been a heroin addict for 13 years and my sister and I’s present for Christmas this year was being able to visit him after several years of not being able to see him. Seeing my brother and the smile on his face was heartwarming. It was obvious he had gotten much better over the years. We were going to take him to a nice lunch on the beach front as a surprise, but soon realized he couldn’t be trusted. Matt told my family he didn’t feel comfortable leaving the rehab center. My little sister was so happy to see him she stayed behind with him while my mom, dad, and I went out to lunch. There was no doubt in our minds anything bad was going to happen. We went to a restaurant on the boardwalk and watched the waves. I got a hamburger and it was delicious! It was getting late so we decided to head back to the rehab center and get ready for bed at the visiting hotel next door. As we approached my brother’s room we heard a lot of crying and commotion going on. My dad knocked down the door to find my brother crying in the corner and my sister lying on the floor not moving with syringes surrounding her. We called an ambulance and went to the hospital to find that it was too late and my sister had passed because of an overdose from heroin. My brother had injected heroin into my 9 year old sister’s arm against her will. Witnesses had said they heard screaming and yelling coming from the room. “Don’t do this to me stop, stop, stop.” Apparently my brother had connections to get him heroin even while he was in rehab. Many emotions streamed through me. I didn’t understand how someone of the same blood can turn so evil. I wiped my tears and walked off the testifying stand. Replaying the story back in my head only to tell a whole group of people in court made me more upset. The judge pronounced my brother with the death penalty for first degree murder. The last time I saw him was July 27, 2014.

The Plot Sickens Reflection

      After reading the story by Fanny Howe I would be considered one of the many students that would write about a violent crime. "All the others concluded with extraordinary violence." The author stated that many of the students wrote bout violent crimes against the protagonist or other characters rather then about heroes or happy endings. Also, that the young writers just jump into the plot of the story without developing it. She says the reason for violent writings are because of the economy. "The Economy permeates these stories as an absence of courage, mercy, or even interest." In my opinion it is easier to write about the violent acts because you can have range of stories that are sickening and wouldn't hear them often, so you can be original. However, you can also have a range of stories including happy endings and heroes, but I feel as though those can become to cliché and unoriginal. Everyone has heard of the classics "he saved me" in some sort of way.