It was a dark and stormy night in Perry, Ohio. The wind was howling and leaves were falling wildly to the ground. The night was still and quiet. Not a creature was stirring in the night.
Bethany and Spela were sitting quietly in Bethany’s basement, watching a scary Halloween movie. Everything was quiet when they started to hear scratches against the basement door.
“Bethany, do you here that?” questioned Spela with a hint of fear in her voice.
“Hear what?” retorted Bethany.
“That scratching noise, it sounds like it’s coming from the door upstairs!” stated Spela.
“Oh, I hear it now. I wonder what it could be. Let’s go check it out!” suggested Bethany. As the two girls walked up the steps, the scratching sound became louder and more frightening. When Bethany and Spela opened the basement door to see what was making the noise, nothing was there.
“I swear I heard a noise up here!” exclaimed Spela, confused.
“I believe you, I heard it too. I'm starting to get a little freaked out though so let’s stay up here." Bethany suggested with a panicked tone.

Bethany and Spela went to sit on the living room couch, too scared to go anywhere else. The two girls were just about to turn on the TV when the mysterious scratching noise started up again. This time, coming from the same door only on the other side. Petrified, Bethany and Spela just stared at each other, eyes wide with fear.

“Okay Bethany, which one of your sisters is pranking us? It’s not funny anymore, their really freaking me out.” said Spela.

“Um, sorry to break it to you but, we’re the only ones home. It can’t be my sisters.” confessed Bethany, now even more frightened at the thought that they were the only ones home.

“Oh, well I have no idea what it could be. I’m getting really terrified so I’m going to check it out again.” Spela had fear written all over her words of bravery.

This time, Spela was the only one to go check it out. Bethany was too panicked to go along with her. Bethany heard Spela open the door, getting more anxious every second. Bethany thought that she would just hear the scratching noise stop like last time, but instead, she heard a violent scream and then a bang. Petrified, Bethany ran to the basement door to see what had happened. But the scratching noise had stopped, and Spela was nowhere to be found.

favorite fall activity

There are many fun activities to do in fall. One of my favorite activities is raking leaves. Usually, in the middle of October, the leaves start to fall off of the trees in my backyard. When I see this happening, I immediately go outside, get a rake out of my shed, and start raking. I try to get all of the leaves in my front yard, backyard, and the ditch and put them into one big pile. This makes jumping into them a lot more enjoyable. Every year, I try to make my leaf pile bigger than the one I made the previous year. Last year, I made a leaf pile taller than me so it might be a little tricky to make an even bigger pile this year.
Raking leaves benefits me in many ways. One, I am outside being active, two I am having fun, and three, I am getting paid. My dad pays me between five and fifteen dollars to rake all of the leaves in my yard. If I have a friend helping me, my dad will probably pay each of us five dollars. Having fun is probably my favorite part of raking leaves. I love to be outside, especially in the fall because it is not too hot and not too cold. The number one reason that raking leaves is fun is because once I am done, I get to jump into a humungous pile! It is so much fun. I normally jump in so hard that all of the leaves fly up and land on top of me! To make this activity even more fun, I invite my sisters outside to jump into the pile with me. With all three of us jumping in, the leaves all fly up really high and it feels like it is raining leaves. To get a good memory of this event, my mom always attempts to get us jumping in mid-air. It doesn't work out all of the time but it is always fun to retake the shots. Raking leaves is a very enjoyable activity and it gives my family a lot of fun memories.

Sameness and Difference

There are many good and bad things about sameness. One good thing about a life with sameness is that nothing is a popularity contest. Nobody can judge you on your clothes or how you look because everybody looks the same. Also, people cannot judge you on what you live in, how you live, and your personality. With sameness, everybody would share the same characteristics. There are also many bad things about sameness. Nobody has choices or decisions in life. Everything is already set out for you and you don't get to put a say in everything. For example, in the morning some people might want to choose what they wear to school that day, but they can't because everybody has to where the same exact thing. Another bad thing about sameness is that you don't get to experience any new things. It is the same routine every single day of your life. If you could make choices, your life would be a lot more exciting and eventful.
There are also many good and bad things about difference. I think the number one good thing about difference is that you have choices. This could mean choosing your school, your spouse, your clothes, your job, your food, and your house. In The Giver, the people don't have any of these chances. In the real world, people are very lucky. There are also some bad things about difference. With difference, people judge you every single day. They judge you by the way you look, what you wear, how rich or poor you are, and who you hang out with (family or friends). Bully's are constantly making people feel bad and ashamed of their lifestyles. This should not happen. No matter how you live your life, I think that each person should be treated the same.