Simi Sunny's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing-exercise"

"What does my boss want from me?" I thought when I walked through the halls, passing every cubicle office.

My boss, Mr. Steiner, told me to come to his office immediately when I’m done talking to the customer on the phone. When he first said that, my heart was pacing so fast that I was dizzy. I wasn’t able to concentrate on my call with the customer. Though, I managed to do a good job and hung up the phone before leaving the office.

As I entered the room, everything was empty. Even the paperwork and folders were gone. Was Mr. Steiner missing? He did tell me to meet him in his office before I finish dealing with a customer. I kept telling myself that he must’ve stopped by someone and had to run for a few minutes. It would be no problem.

So to keep me distracted, I looked through his office window. The view was fantastic yet petrifying. I might have been fifty feet from my workplace to that concrete sidewalk. At least I was safe inside Mr. Steiner’s corner office. I dreamed of having my own office like Mr. Steiner’s. Fern trees backed against each corner, a painting of a park bench, street lights, trees in different colors that is hanging by the white, bright wall, dark brown, wooden desk, and a black swivel chair. Of course, I had my own desk and swivel chair, but I had cubicle office like everyone else. It was not as big as Mr. Steiner’s, so it was hard for me to get around when I’m cramped with many paperwork and folders.

If only I had my own office, I wouldn't have to deal with less space or the cold air that gave my bare ankles goosebumps. After all, I was wearing a black suit, white dress shirt, black skirt that is down to my knees, and black heels.

I’ve waited for Mr. Steiner for forty-five minutes, yet he was still not here. Where could he have gone? So without any hesitation, I scanned around his office to find any clues.

Then, I noticed something red on the calendar. "My first clue," I guessed and approached it.

As I got closer, the red ink is circled on today’s date. There was no little note on it. Is this how Mr. Steiner remembered important meetings and social gatherings?

I moved on to my boss’ desk and searched through his belongings. God forbid me, if Mr. Steiner walked through his door and saw me going through his stuff, he would kill me. The door creaked open but, when I looked up, I saw that it was my co-worker/friend, Kate. She stepped back quickly before I could see what she was holding. “Kate, don’t scare me,” I gasped.

“I’m sorry, Erin. I didn’t mean to do that.” My co-worker looked around the office before she asked, “Is Mr. Steiner still not back?”

“No. Do you know where he is?”

“Uh.” Kate was hesitant while looking nervous. I arched my eyebrow, curious by my friend’s behavior. “Nope, not a clue,” she only answered.

I wasn’t buying it because of Kate’s big, nervous grin on her face. I knew that Kate was hiding something and, whenever she hides a secret, she gets nervous. She must’ve known where Mr. Steiner was, and she was holding my next clue that I needed to unveil.

I was going to walk over to where Kate was standing until she closed the door behind her, hearing the sound of Kate’s heavy breathing and footsteps. I cursed under my breath and started run after her.

Everyone was giving me odd glances at me and my friend, but I tried to ignore. I knew that my high heels were not meant for chasing down my friend, but what other choice did I have? At least I was catching up to her.

And I managed to catch her before I caught sight of balloons, flowers, and a banner that says “Happy Promotion and Retirement.”

“Surprise,” everyone yelled in excitement.

I took in what’s around me; my jaw dropped and remained agape, as I couldn’t express what I felt until a few moments later. “What is going on?!”

“It’s your party,” Kate exclaimed.

“And mine,” Mr. Steiner’s voice had cut through, as he walked in front of the crowd.

“I don’t understand, sir. Why is it our party?”

“Because I’m retiring, and I found the perfect person to run this company.” Mr. Steiner walked a few paces toward me and patted me on the shoulder. “I believe can do it, Erin, since you have worked with me for ten years. And now that my time is up, it’s time to pass on the baton to you.”

Mr. Steiner’s words have melted my heart that I could not utter a word. I didn’t expect to get a big promotion from him. It would be an honor that I would run this company as he did. I thought I was going to be fired from him, even though I had been working with Mr. Steiner for so long. But I shouldn’t have thought that before I came to his office.

This was the best surprise that I’d ever had, and it was a good thing that I unveiled a double mystery.

#MysteryWeek

I remembered that important lesson in my life, and I
could never forget it. I was at school one day, and I saw my best friend hanging around with people that he used to hate. He was wearing a shirt that has a picture of Biggie Smalls, baggy jeans that look loose, and a hat that has black and white designs.

My friend, Jose, never liked the guys who were irresponsible and roam around in the halls. Now Jose hung around with them. Lately, Jose had been ditching his classes and has stopped talking to me, ever since we were done with sophomore year in high school.

When we were in junior year, and things were different.

Without even thinking for a second, I decided to go over to my --now acquaintance --and get answers from him. I grabbed him by the shoulder and asked, "Jose, what's wrong with you?"

"Ay! It's Niki, everybody," Jose exclaimed in a cocky way. His friends were laughing because either they were laughing at a girl, who wore tomboyish clothes, or Jose's new buddies were laughing behind his back. "How's it going, girl? We never talked to each other much."

"That's because you never did," I said, gritting through my teeth and gave an edge of irritation. My cheeks were burning because of the way my friend was acting. "Now what the fuck is your problem?!"

"Nothing, geez!" Jose raised his arms in defense, after I blew a fuse. "Don't be hatin' on me. I've been doing a lot of changes over the summer and look at me now."

Jose turned to his friend and gave them a slap on the hand while laughing. Then, he turned to me. "Besides, I got my new fam, and they'll be lookin' out for me."

"For you," I echoed. "For you?! Are you insane? You're better than this, Jose. That is not like you at all."

"Chill, Niki." He puts his hand in front of me, as if he was trying to calm our conversation down. Though, that was blatantly rude. "You don't know what it's like to be me."

"I already know what you've been through," I yelled at Jose. I remembered during freshmen and sophomore year, Jose had been dealing with a lot of drama. Jose's girlfriend, Timber, had cheated on him, whenever he's not with her.

Then, two of his friends transferred into
different schools, because one of them thought our school was racist. And believe me, he was too high alert about racism and he would get angry at an instant. Jose's other friend had a deal with another school that has the best football team. Both Jose and his friend play football in our high school's team. When his friend got discovered by the greatest football team from another school, he decided to transfer there, leaving Jose in the pit.

What made it even worse was when Jose and his ex girlfriend were trying to be friends as possible. Though, things didn't go so well, because Jose's ex girlfriend was clingy to him. Worst of all, they've been getting fights, as if they're already a married couple. Finally, they stopped talking each other when Timber
dropped the bomb on him. One day, Jose was just talking to his friends, how Timber was so clingy to him. Apparently, she heard Jose's conversation and started spreading rumors around school by twisting and turning Jose's words around. Jose would tell me everything before he changed.

So here I was, standing there and stared straight at Jose, feeling angered by his attitude. "I've already seen your pain, Jose," I reiterrated. "You know that I stuck up for you and helped you a lot. Now you just don't wanna be mister nice guy and get rid of your old friends for new ones?"

Jose licked his own lips, trying to get rid of that dry feeling of pain and guilt. “Listen,” he began. "High school has changed me a lot, and I can no longer deal with my past. The past is long gone, and it’s time for me to move on.”

With innocent eyes, I approached to Jose. “Does that mean you wanna get rid of the friends, who have been sticking up to you for the longest?”

Jose was hesitant now. It looked like he has nothing to say. Instead, Jose murmured, “Look, I gotta go.”

And just like that, Jose walked a bit faster to get away from me. His friends followed
him behind while snickering passed me.

So looking back now, I realized that high school could
change a lot of people in different ways. It’s either for the better or for the worse. But most of the time, high school changed for the worse. It even splits friendship in the blink of an eye. It didn't matter to me anymore. All I knew is that I had to stick up for my for myself
and that’s that. More importantly, I had to keep my heart shielded from negative influences, so I wouldn’t end up like my once best friend. All I gotta do is walk away...

Zach was just a peppy seven year old boy, who always has an optimistic view of the world. Everybody loved his spunk and was friendly, especially if it’s someone who was grumpy. Nothing could stop the young boy from ever feeling sad, except that one fateful day.

As Zach was coming home with his big sister, Lana, his parents were sitting at the couch in the living room, watching TV. When Zach saw them, he ran happily to them and gave his parents a hug. “Mommy, Daddy, guess what?” Zach exclaimed happily.

“What is it, sweetie?” his mother asked with a warm, gentle smile on her face.

“I get to draw a portrait of my family and write a few sentences about them.”

“That’s great, sweetie.” His dad laughed and ruffled Zach’s hair.

“But something’s not right, though.”

Zach’s parents arched their eyebrows, and glanced at Zach quizzically. “What’s that, Zach?” his dad spoke.

With innocent eyes, Zach asked, “How come all of you look different from me? You all have black hair when I have brown. And you all have brown eyes when I have blue.”

His parents looked at each other, and then turned their heads to their little Zach. His mother sighed and exclaimed, “Sweetie, I know it’s hard, but everybody looks different in their own way. And, how do I put this…”

“What your mother is trying to say is,” his father interrupted. “children can be adopted.”

“What does 'adopted' mean?” Zach asked, looking curious.

“It means children don’t have a mommy and daddy, so other nice people will take them to look after them.”

Zach’s little eyes were swelled up with tears, and one fell on his cheek. “S-so you’re not my real mommy and daddy?

“Sweetie, don’t say that.” Zach’s mom lifted him up and set him down on her lap. She rubbed Zach’s back and continued, “We love you very much. It doesn’t matter if you have real parents or not. What matters is that you have a family, who would care for you and love for you very much.”

Zach sniffed and wiped his eyes with his small hands. “Y-you think so?"

“I know so,” his dad replied with a comforting grin.

Zach smiled back and hugged his parents. “I love you, mommy and daddy.”

“We love you too, sweetie,” they both said in unison.

(This was one of my old writing exercises. I had to spruce it up before posting it. Hope this story warms your heart. Oh, and if you guys can come up with a title for my short story, that would be great! I'm stumped :p)

I could never forget the day that I went to the beach. Relaxing, yes. But the experience that I had at the beach was something that I’d never expected.

On a hot summer Tuesday morning, I would’ve been grumpy, but no. I was on a summer vacation with me, myself, and I. To make it simple for you, I was alone in paradise which was great.

Anyway, I was enjoying the summer breeze, my brown hair with blonde highlights flow through it, while mocha brown skin exposed to the sun’s rays. To make it even more relaxing, I walked towards the low tides, where the sand was moist; it felt cold under my feet. Then, I gasped when the tide came, collided with my ankles and feet. I shivered from the cold water, but I slowly relaxed when I got used to it. The salt water soaked the hem of my blue dress with bohemian designs which didn’t bother me.

I was too distracted by my surroundings, until something hard-- not too hard-- hit my ankle. I glanced down at my feet to see a bottle was there. As the tides recede, I picked up the bottle and inspected it. Through the clear blue, glass container, a piece of paper was rolled into a scroll to fit inside the two liter bottle.

I removed the cork from the bottle and shook the message of it which landed on the palm of my hand. The paper was yellowish orange, and it felt crisp when I touched it with my fingers. Looking at the corner of the paper, I read, "August 8, 1969." No wonder why it appeared to be old and a little frail. So I read further, and it said:

Dear Reader,
I was lost before, but not anymore. I have officially found my peace in the world. So what is the point of writing this letter to you when I don’t don’t want to be rescued? Well, I thought maybe one day, this message would pass on. My name is Harry Spiegel (yes, my last name is funny) and I was a fisherman. I was fishing with a few men in my crew, whom I don’t even know and don’t get along until we had to face a terrible storm. Luckily, I have survived, but not my men. At first, I panicked. I was stranded in the icy sea, not knowing what to do. But then, I found a group of family who has come to my rescue and took me in. They taught me hunting and how to survive in the cold. Plus, they showed me the beauty of their native home, Alaska. And because I've enjoyed my stay in Alaska, I’ve forgotten my old home.But, you know, I didn't gain anything from my old home. I was never happy and felt distant from my society. Now I am since I've decided to stay with the family in Alaska. The best part is that I got to marry the love of my life, whose related to the family that I’m living with. I guess what I’m trying to say is that life can give you unexpected situations. For me, it happened in a good way. And another thing that I’ve learned is that when you found your happy place, you have to appreciate what’s around you. So I’m glad that I’ve come to Alaska in the first place. I wouldn’t be happy, spending time on materialistic stuff and not be free from society. Hopefully, you, the reader, has managed to get a hold of this letter and understand it. Now it’s time for me to get with my family.

Sincerely,
Harry Spiegel

After reading the message, I’ve come back to reality where I was still surrounded by water, sand, and hot air. This letter was intriguing. And just like Harry, I tried to appreciate the beauty that’s around me.

Placing the message back inside the bottle, I put in my pale pink purse that is strapped around my shoulder before I walked through the sandy beach to enjoy this moment.

(My old writing teacher and fellow author gave me this interesting writing exercise. Since she did it for her writing class, my teacher suggested that I should try it as well. Hope you guys have enjoyed it).

She dances in the rain
With her trusty cat.
Both were in vain
But happiness is what they're good at.

Raindrops falling from the sky,
Bringing them joy in their hearts.
Positive enegy oh-so high,
Nothing could could tear them apart.

Everything the cat and girl do is for love,
Because they have each other.
Their joy is from the world above
That it inspires one another.

So do some good
And be out of the black cold.
From childhood to adulthood
You never feel so old.

(Just doing some writing exercise. I haven't done some rhyme schemes for a long time. I've always been writing free style in poems. If it doesn't sound so good, I apologize. Be sure to check out my book which is available on Amazon).