Things I've Done That I Can Think Of Right Now At 9:39PM

 In Music And Theater:

• Participated in a Cabaret as assistant stage manager and actor
• Directed and acted a large role in a scene/song in the cabaret
• Acted and sang in lots of scenes, dances, and songs in the cabaret
• Posted three videos of myself singing and playing guitar on youtube
• Learned a lot about racial representation in theater and stuff like that
• Hosted auditions for, prepared, wrote, and directed a bit of a play
• Working on a musical now with the high school group to be performed in January
• Wrote songs for a movie I am writing

In Social Studies:

• Learned lots about racial representation in the arts, racism, and other stuff like that
• Learned some more stuff about Chinese mythology
• prepared a musical that is set in China and includes a LOT of Chinese mythology

Writing:

• Began writing (and still am working on) a script for a movie with music
• Wrote a short story (see further down on the blog
• Began writing four scripts
• Edited a full length play to better fit cast
• Began writing a novel (I should finish my projects!!! (:   )

Math:

• Did some of a math workbook
• Thought about, designed, and redesigned a plan for a tiny house I want to build, including lots of measurements and one time an estimate of the cost.

Science:

• Sit in on grade 10 science class every couple weeks
• Has a brother named Tali who is always boiling my brain with science concepts that I only sort of understand
• I feel like I did more than this, but I can't remember it all

Second Language:

• Learned some more Dutch to prepare for my trip to Europe this spring

Ashtabs Full Story

    Willow Nertstorm wasn’t the type of person who likes dances. Willow’s parents, however, were.They brought her to just about every dance in town, and told her she had to go to school dances, which were her least favourite type of dance, and the type she happened to be at on November 18th, 2016. But that’s not really what the story is about, so let’s start at the beginning.

    Willow went to a school ten blocks away from her home, it was called Macile High and had about three hundred students. Willow’s class had nineteen kids in it, a few of which were her friends. Then there was Oliver.

    Oliver Gregory Simons, a grade 8 who doesn’t sit with anyone, doesn’t talk if he can avoid it, doesn’t participate in anything he can get out of, and has a severe peanut allergy. If you were to walk by Oliver at school and introduce yourself, he would probably say very quickly and quietly “Hi,” before going back to reading his superhero comics or drawing very intricate superhero suits. If you were to then go further and ask him for his name, he would probably say “Oliver,” in the same quick and nervous voice. Willow had never gotten past the “Hi,” and “Oliver,” stage, so she really didn’t know much about him, that was until October 3rd, when Oliver suddenly levitated off the playground around 3:30, and flew away.

    Since Oliver never talked to anybody, no one ever found out how Oliver could fly, until that day I was talking about earlier, November 18th, 2016. It was the Welcoming Winter Annual School Dance at Macile High. Willow had to go, of course. Shortly after her parents dropped her off, Willow slipped out the front doors and into the nighttime streets. She shivered in the icy cold air. Then she saw Oliver leaning against the side of the building staring at his phone. Willow decided she would join him, since there was nothing else to do. She slipped down beside him, “Hey Oliver,”

    “Hi,” He said, still looking at his phone.

    Willow decided to attempt at a conversation, “So you don’t like dances either?”

    “Huh?”

    She’d gotten another word out of him! “Well, you’re sitting out here instead of dancing,”

    “Oh, yeah,”

    “Too much expectation to dance well, which I could never do,” Willow stated “And nobody ever wants to dance with me,” she added

    “Yeah,” replied Oliver. He put down his phone. It looked like he was about to say something more, but he stayed silent.

    “I wish there was another option for things to do. I mean right now the options are to dance or sit outside in the cold,”

    “Or pretend you’re really hungry and hover around the food table for the entire dance,”

    Willow was shocked for a second and Oliver probably wondered why she wasn’t talking. Oliver had said a sentence! Willow gathered herself, “I tried that once,”

    “I wish I could just fly away,”

    “I thought you could fly, you flew home from school a few times. It’s amazing!”

    “I can’t right now,”

    “Why not? How do you fly?”

    “Can’t tell,” said Oliver shortly, and with that he returned to his phone and started concentrating very hard on closing all the apps that were open. That seemed to be the end of their conversation.

    Willow entered the decorated school gym and slipped over to the food table while trying to be invisible. She grabbed a handful of chips and stood in the corner eating them as quietly as possible. She ate a few more things before she decided she didn’t want to be the type of person who just comes to parties for the food and she walked towards the door. She ate her last chip and was about to open the door when she paused. She heard hushed voices, one of which was Oliver’s. “This should last you awhile,” the one who wasn’t Oliver said

    “Thank you so much,” said oliver “I’ve been needing some of these,”. Willow quietly slipped out onto the doorstep. It was hard to see in the dark, but she could tell that the other person was at least a couple years older than Oliver. Willow watched as Oliver pulled two hundred dollar bills out of his pocket and exchanged it with the boy for a small ziplock bag filled with something grey, maybe multiple very small grey things.

    “There’s ten in there, I’ll see you again next year,” said the older boy

    “Bye!,” replied Oliver. The other boy slipped away into the darkness.

    Willow stepped up to Oliver. “Who was that?”

    Oliver looked very startled and quickly slipped the bag into his pocket. “My friend,” He replied nervously.

    “What did he give you?”

    “Nothing,” stated Oliver, in a voice that made it clear he knew no one would believe him.

    “What’s in the bag? I won’t get you in trouble, I just wanna know what it is!,”

    “It’s Ashtabs,” Oliver said quickly and quietly. He looking around.

    “Is that some type of drug? I’ve never heard of it,”

    “I guess. They’re not very dangerous though,”

    “What do they do?” Asked Willow, half worried and half interested.

    Oliver looked around quickly to make sure no one was watching. “They make me fly,” he whispered.

    “So you just eat one and it makes you fly? Do they have any side effects?”

    “Yeah, they have a couple side effects. But they’re totally worth it. I’ll sell you one for twenty five dollars,”

    “Wait, I won’t try it unless I know what the side effects are,”

    “If you eat more than ten per year you’re pretty much guaranteed to have cancer within ten years of starting using them, that’s why my friend will only sell me ten per year,”

    “What are they made out of?”

    “Ash from bird bones,”

    “I don’t want one,” decided Willow

    “They’re amazing, just try one, I’ll give it to you for twenty,”

    “Alright I’ll try one,” and Willow dug in her pockets and came up with a twenty dollar bill. She handed it to Oliver and he handed her a tablet. He took one out for himself. She counted down. “Three, two, one,” and they put the tablets in their mouths.

    “You dissolve it under your tongue,” informed Oliver, so Willow did that. It was probably the worst flavor she had ever tasted, but she managed to dissolve the entire tablet and swallow. “Now we just wait about twenty minutes,”.

    Willow and Oliver waited together beside the building. They talked for a while until Oliver suddenly said “OK, let’s try flying,”

    “How do I do it?”

    “Just jump,” Oliver demonstrated. He jumped up, and instead of coming down, he hovered as if he were standing on an invisible surface.

    “Here I go!” Annabelle exclaimed. She jumped as high as she could, and she stayed in mid-air.

    “We’ve only got about ten minutes before they run out, but check this out,”. Oliver started running and in about one second he was on the other end of the street. “Follow me!” he shouted. Willow ran towards him, she realized that the tablets must make you be able to run very quickly as well.

    Together Oliver and Willow ran around above their town for about ten minutes, getting higher all the time until the could barely see the dogs in people’s yards. Eventually they started walking back towards the school. Soon they found themselves floating gently back to the ground. Their feet touched the pavement just outside the school, you would never know anything had happened. “That was fun, but I don’t really want to do it again, too risky with the cancer,”

    “I guess you’re right, it is pretty dangerous,”

    “Would you rather be able to fly for fifteen years, or be able to live for about eighty or ninety,”

    “I don’t know, I mean, I like to live in the moment,”

    “But how could you just kill yourself like that?”

    “It wouldn’t make too much of a difference in the world if I died,”

    “I’d miss you, and not because you can fly, because you’re a nice person,”

    Oliver stared at Willow for what seemed like a full minute. He looked shocked. Oliver tugged the bag of Ashtabs out of his pocket and shoved them deep into the bottom of the trashcan by the entrance to the school. He looked like he wasn’t quite sure how he felt.

    Willow decided to change the subject “Wanna dance?”

***

    Willow will never forget the day she first flew, she had been so thrilled to fly, but at least half the reason she would never forget that day was because it was the first day she danced with Oliver.

Link to Where the Mountain meets the Moon Full Script

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qK0mC4BVAn-VpqNLah6FLX7V7dy0q8MUpDaHCJ8DDEE/edit

Bombs on Monday unfinished movie script



BOMBS ON MONDAY    1

Scene 1: Alone    1

(Roan, Evelyn, Brendan, Leif, Holden, Summer, Selma, Fig, Willow, Tila, Leo)    1

Song: I Can’t Remember    3

(Leif, Roan, Summer, Willow)    3

Scene 2: Roan, Leif, and Summer Meet/Willow Docks    4

(Leif, Roan, Summer, Fig, Willow, Tila, Leo, Young Willow)    4

Song: Memories    7

(Willow, Young Willow, Tila, Leo)    7

BOMBS ON MONDAY

Scene 1: Alone

(Roan, Evelyn, Brendan, Leif, Holden, Summer, Selma, Fig, Willow, Tila, Leo)

(Roan, is sitting with Evelyn, Brendan, and her little brother, Leif around a nice warm fire inside their cave. The cave looks kind of messy, people are living in it. Leif’s head is on Evelyn’s lap. Roan puts a piece of wood on the fire from the little pile of wood in the corner.)

Leif: Mama, why are we living here?

Roan: You know that already, Leif.

Evelyn: It’s too dangerous above ground, we have to stay down here to keep safe.

Leif: But what about when we run out of food and we need to get more?

Brendan: (Leans over Leif) Then your Mama and I will do it, you don’t need to worry about that.

(Fades to Summer in her house with Selma and Holden. Her parents are leaving out the front door, Summer is hugging them goodbye.)

Summer: When will you come back?

Holden: We don’t know, but we’ll be as quick as we can.

Summer: But why do you have to go?

Holden: You know we can’t tell you that, we will be fine.

(Her parents give her a last goodbye and head out the door.  She runs to the couch and cries.)

Summer: (Sobbing to herself) No, no, I won’t live here alone!

(Summer grabs her coat and shoes. Fig, thier dog runs up to her.)

Summer: (Petting Fig) Oh, Fig. I’m going to leave, come on.

(Summer runs out the door with Fig close behind her. Fades to Willow sitting on the floor of the boat with Tila and Leo eating their dinner. There is a mattress on either side of the boat, one bigger than the other. There is a little stove in the corner.)

Willow: How long will you be away for?

Tila: I don’t know, honey. Maybe a couple of weeks?

Willow: It’s too dangerous.

Leo: (Puts his hand on Willow.) Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.

Willow: You don’t know that.

(Tila sighs. There is some speechless silence.)

Willow: Why can’t I come?

Tila: We need you to stay here.

Willow: Because it’s dangerous, so you shouldn’t go either. I knew it was dangerous.

Leo: We need supplies.

Tila: We’ll be fine.

(Willow gets up and walks out of the cabin onto the deck. Leo and Tila look at each other sadly. Scene fades to Roan and Leif watching their parents leave the cave. The two of them are standing at the exit and hugging Brendan and Evelyn goodbye. Evelyn and Brendan walk away, leaving Roan and Leif staring at where their parents had gone, as if they thought they would come back. Roan takes Leif’s hand and guides him into the cave. Scene fades to summer and Fig. Summer is lying in her cabin with Fig by her side, she looks empty. Scene fades to Willow. She is watching her parents paddling away in their little dinghy, she then turns her head and goes inside. Screen says “7 Months Later”. Scene fades to Leif sitting in the corner of the cave by himself.)

Song: I Can’t Remember

(Leif, Roan, Summer, Willow)

 Sheet Music: https://flat.io/score/5a01199b79c6061caad6134a

Leif: I can’t remember

A time without them

I can’t recall

Feeling so lonely



(Switches to Roan. She is sitting alone in a different corner of the cave.)

Roan: I can’t recall

Being all alone

I think i’ve become

A single mother

I’d found my way

Until now

Then all at once

I’m on my own

(Switches to Summer singing to Fig.)

Summer: I am all alone

Except for a dog

I’d loved my life

Until now

But now I wish

I’d disappear

(Fades to Willow staring off the boat from the deck.)

Willow: I am all alone

Out on the ocean

I’ve been so brave

Until now

But I’m so scared

It’s like drowning

(Goes to Roan, Summer, then Willow while they sing.)

Roan, Summer, Willow: I’ll be fine.

(Switches to Leif.)

Leif: I’ll be fine.

(Leif lies down and falls asleep.)

Scene 2: Roan, Leif, and Summer Meet/Willow Docks

(Leif, Roan, Summer, Fig, Willow, Tila, Leo, Young Willow)

(Willow appears in her bed. She is huddled up in the covers, as if trying to keep warm. She sits up and looks out the window.)

Willow: (to herself) I have to find them, they’re not safe.

(Switches to Roan and Leif. Leif is standing in the cave, leaning against the wall. Roan is standing in front of him.)

Leif: But I want to go out, I’m cold.

Roan: No, Leif! It’s not safe! Do you know what happened to Mama and Papa?

Leif: No.

Roan: They’re probably dead, and do you know why?

Leif: (scared) No.

Roan: They went above ground.

(Leif runs away out of the cave.)

Roan: No, Leif! Stay!

(Roan sits and cries. Scene fades to Summer running with Fig in the meadow beside her house. She throws a stick for Fig. Fig runs after it.)

Summer: (patting her knees) Come on Fig! Come on!

(Fig runs up to Summer. She sits down and Fig pushes her onto her back. Summer laughs as her hat falls off.)

Summer: (exiting with Fig) Come on, Fig. Let’s go home. (She leaves the hat there)

(Shows Summer walking home with Fig. She looks sad.)

Summer: I wonder where they are. (throwing a stick angrily) Why didn’t they tell me where they went?!

(Willow is seen rowing on the ocean in a little dinghy. Switches to Leif running out of the cave entrance, he hides behind a tree. Leif pokes his head out from behind the tree to watch. You see Roan exit the cave, she looks around.)

Roan: Leif?

(Leif quickly slips back behind the tree. Roan hears the movement and walks up to the tree. Roan looks the other direction, Leif throws a rock and it lands by a different tree with a crack. Roan turns to look where the sound came from. Leif quickly runs a little deeper into the woods. Roan quickly turns back to where Leif had been.)

Roan: Leif?

(Leif starts to run further into the forest and Roan sees him.)

Roan: Leif!

(Roan runs after him. There are lots of shots of them running. Roan is catching up. Switches to Summer and Fig in the meadow. They are walking towards Summer’s hat that is lying in the middle of the meadow. Suddenly Leif bursts into the meadow with Roan close behind him. He stops when he sees Summer. Summer runs into the forest behind the meadow and hides. She watches from behind a tree as Roan catches Leif.)

Roan: Got you!

Leif: There was a girl there, (pointing at Fig) that’s her dog.

(Roan walks up to Fig.)

Roan: Where did she go?

Leif: She ran into the forest over there. (points)

(Roan walks up to Summer. Summer tries to run farther, but Roan sees her. Leif catches up to Roan.)

Roan: Hey!

(Summer stops, she looks terrified. She turns around to face Roan.)

Roan: Who are you?

Summer:  Summer.

(Summer tries to run, Leif grabs Summer’s arm.)

Leif: Do you think I’m scary?

Summer: (trying to look strong) No.

Leif: Then stay here.

(Leif lets go and Summer is forced to stay to show that she is strong.)

Summer: (superiorly) (to Roan) What is your name?

Roan: I’m Roan. (gesturing to Leif) That’s my… ‘little brother, Leif’

Leif: I’m Leif. How old are you?

Summer: I am twelve, how old are you?

Leif: Five and a half.

Summer: (looking up at Roan) How old are you?

Roan: I’m nine.

Summer: Where are your parents?

Roan: I don’t know.

Leif: They didn’t come back yet.

Roan: They won’t come back, Leif.

Leif: They will.

Summer: My parents left, too. I ran away after they left.

Roan: Where did you go?

Summer: I went into the forest and built a little house. Where do you live.

Leif: We live in a cave!

Roan: We’ve lived there for seven years.

Summer: Cool, can I see your cave?

Leif: Sure! Follow me.

(Leif leads the girls out and into the woods. They are seen wandering through bushes and trees. Fades to Willow casting a little inflatable dinghy off the side of her boat. She gets in and begins to row towards the shore. Switches to Leif, Roan, Summer, and Fig wandering through bushes.)

Roan: Leif, where are we?

Leif: We’re just on the other side of the hill, if we just keep walking we’ll get there.

Roan: But the hill should be on the other side of us.

(Leif stops and looks around.)

Leif: You’re right. Let’s go around to the other side.

Summer: Do you want to just come back to my house?

Leif: Yeah!

Roan: (looks around) OK.

Summer: Follow me.

(Summer leads the others out of the scene. Switches to Willow docking her dinghy. She gets out of the dinghy and stands on the shore looking around.)

Song: Memories

(Willow, Young Willow, Tila, Leo)

 Sheet Music: https://flat.io/score/59de6d2d99faa313e7f363a8

Willow: Oh, oh oh

Oh, oh oh

I’ve been here before

But not alone

(Switches to Young Willow sitting around a fire on the beach with Tila and Leo.)

Young Willow: Mommy, why do we have to live out here?

Tila: There are people fighting. We have to stay here to keep safe.

Young Willow: Why are they fighting?

Tila: They all want more food, more land, more everything, but there isn’t enough for them all to have more.

Young Willow: Why don’t they share? Then they could all have everything.

Tila: I don’t know, honey. (puts her arm around Young Willow)

Young Willow: If they shared, they would have so much more fun, and then they would be happy.

(Young Willow yawns and falls asleep on Leo’s lap. Leo and Tila smile at each other.)

Young Willow: I’m glad I have you guys to share this fire with.

(Fades back to Willow on the beach.)

Willow: I have no one to share with

I have no warm fire

There’s a spark somewhere in me

But it’s deep down inside

(Fades to Young Willow throwing leaves in the air and watching them fall around her she laughs. Fades back to Willow on the beach.)

Willow: My memories are bright

(Fades back to Young Willow lying on Leo’s lap beside Tila in front of a campfire on the beach.)

Young Willow: My life is warm and right

I love this joyful night

(Back to Willow on the beach.)

Willow: My memories

My memories

My memories

I’ll fly

I’ll fly

To find a life I loved