Once upon a life time.

My words say it all...

 Once upon a not too distant time was a girl. She wasnt that much to look at with chubby, tanned skin, brown eyes with thick rimmed glasses, buck teeth, curly dark brown hair and tall for her age. This girl was also what you call a dreamer. Sitting in a boring english class she would transport herself to the windy hills of the country side in the matter of minutes. She would imagine so many wonderful things, no wonder she was always happy.
This girl had the imagination author's wished for, creativity illustrationist would die for and a mind, every person lived for. She had the dreams, throughts and visions not many people had her age. But that was when everything changed...
She became conscious of what people thought of her, she became aware that not many people think as freely as she does, she tried to be more like them. Just to fit in. But what she never realized was that, the harder she tried, the more people began to push her away. Eventually, she became lonely, lost and partially confused. Being outcasted she did the only thing she could have- find company in books. Thick, thin, adventure, fantasy, she read every book she would like. Spending lunchtime, recess, free periods and after school hours in the library. Then with her imagination bursting with the things she read, she began to write.
She would write about dragons and fairies, castles and witches. The good and the bad. The holy and the evil. She processed all her preciously stored musings in this book she made, called 'the book of wonders'.
To her, books and books, thats all that mattered. Having close and best friends were a dream. But she never cared. She was happy with her own company.
Now this girls family had to move. She didnt mind. She had nothing to miss anyway, no friends to say goodbye to or no tears to wipe. Then she entered this new school. It wasnt like her old school one bit. It was old and noisy and dusty. People use to push and shove, and cry and yell. She didnt like it when she first saw it. She had already made up her mind to switch schools. But she hadnt even been to her first class yet! With 'ewhs' and 'awhs' she attented her first class. 
She stepped in a room and as soon as she did, 40 pairs of eyes looked at her. Nervously, she looked down and went to the seat she was assigned to. When first class was over... her classmates scattered up and flocked around her table. They asked her millions of questions, interested in everything she had to say. Soon, they copied what she did, walked and talked. She became popular. And with all that, she forgot herself. How she was, her own personality. Everything.
Her popularity was short lived, but that did not humble her down. It just made matters worse. She became loud spoken, bossy, attention seeking and just another wannabe. 
For the most part, she had postive ends to her new self, she could make people listen to her, she was a good leader. And as for the bad side, she lost herself entirely. Her personality, character... Everything.
This went on for a few years. Some friend stuck with her, those people recognizing the real her and didnt mind her regualr outbursts. Some liked her at first, then began parting away. And as for the girl? She didnt mind the rest, she had two friends that knew the real her even though she didnt know it herself. But a part of her always wanted everyone to like her. She never knew why.
She wasnt that good in the boy's department. As every life of teenage girls go, she had crushes, she thought that guy was cute in a way. But when it came to being friends with them? They were scared of her. Haha. 
She graduated from that school, with a few friends but yet no tears. Old friendships left broken, new relationships left weak- she didnt know where her life would take her next. She still... wasnt the girl she use to be.
Then she entered junior college. With the prospect of new classmates, a new school, she thought she could begin all over again. Make friends of the type she wanted to have. Lead the social life she always wanted. Then terror struck, this girl meant well in a few events but she could never say that throught. She acted without thinking, said thinking she didnt mean, did things she shouldnt have. The result? The class she thought would love her.. ended up hating her. ALOT. She was miserable, yes, but in that time she realized something...
She realized the reason this was happening was because she lost herself. She vanished her entire personality a long time ago... being a completely different person. It scared her to degrees she never knew. It made her think that what if she continued being this fake person... would she lose the friends she had too? Realizing this, she tried to bring her old self back. To turn back to the fun person she use to be, alive, carefree and most importantly... happy.
Her discovery was no where near in winning the battle against herself. In all that time being this unknown person she was... she had gotten so use to it that... she forgot how to be her old self again. She tried and did everything she could to prove to people that she was changing... being the person she once was. Some recognized it... some failed to see. She didnt know how to be herself again.
Now this girl is still trying... hard. To find herself again. Being a new person and yet going back to the fun-loving girl she once was. Some see the new her and be friends with her, but still the distance remains. The others love her more than ever before. 
Some friends helped in so many ways. One girl stuck with her ever since the 6th grade, knowing her true self rather than how she acted towards people. One girl realized this girl was as fun as she was. They got along well. The three were close... but when it came to graduation, they parted... yet still remained friends. 
Other people that helped her was this boy, almost 2 years younger, told her simple yet wise words that meant so much to her. More that he can imagine. Then came this other girl who's logical sense of thinking told her words that comforted her when the class hated her. This other girl who thought so much like this girl, helped her too. She told her that past mistakes are commited so that we learn from them. 
More friends came, more friends left. Some like her, some still hate her. But this girl knows that slowly... in due time... she will be the girl that she once was. Everyone might not like her, she had learned to live with that fact, but a part of her always wishes that she could be the girl to capture everyones heart. She could make so many friends that maybe in one friend.. she could find the best friend she always dreamed of. 
The story of this girl never ends. Its still in writing and will continue to be. I for one, have learned alot from her. I dont know how far she will go in making her dreams come true.. but i know, that this girl will be her old self again. Maybe not tomorrow or next year but she will be. Then, and finally then, will she find her happily ever after.
=)

Reviews

[Beregond]

Very nicely done! A read anyone can connect with who's ever felt the pressures of adolescence.This story has quite the (auto)biographical ring to it...just a feeling. It gives the reader a lot of information, a lot to take in all at once, without much detail. This leaves lots to the imagination, which can be fun! But I think there is lots more for YOU, the storyteller, to say. You might try expanding this piece, or choosing one part of the girl's story and really focusing on it. The intrigue is there, you just need more of the goods!

[Aditya Unni]

u. :)

[Liverpoolfan]

But... all in all... a good piece of writing. I did mention that, didn't I? :P

[Liverpoolfan]

:|
From reading the very first sentence I was annoyed. Then I went on to read the first paragraph... and I became even more irritated.

Once upon a not too distant time was a girl. She wasnt that much to look at with chubby, tanned skin, brown eyes with thick rimmed glasses, buck teeth, curly dark brown hair and tall for her age. This girl was also what you call a dreamer. Sitting in a boring english class she would transport herself to the windy hills of the country side in the matter of minutes. She would imagine so many wonderful things, no wonder she was always happy.

There are several things that are wrong here. I have no clue why you decided to start off a story with "Once upon a..." and the, as we continue, I would like to say... DESCRIPTION! Simply telling us exactly what the girl looks like is a bore. What the girl looks like must be relieved to the reader through her actions. I had hoped that you would improve upon your description... but from this I am, quite frankly, disappointed.
Your writing style is unique to you. It is really intriguing. I doubt that the stories you come up with will ever stop amazing me.
This becomes evidence throughout the rest of the story. It turns into a really good read. Which, of course, I knew that it would, seeing as it was written by you. But, I must remind you, that I would not have continued reading further than the first few paragraphs if it had been written by someone else. The beginning of this piece of writing can be distractly improved upon.
Indeed, I suppose that the story as a whole can be expanded upon. Perhaps if you went into more depth, the reader would understand the perspective of the girl a little better. For example, you need to delve into what is going on inside the girls mind, as she surveys the world.

[Salvatore Buttaci]

Congratulations for winning the life-stories contest!

[Princess]

Wow. Wow to the depth and thoughtfulness of the peice.
I hate to say this though, (it could just be that I have a hard time reading third person for some reason O.o don't worry about that though- you pulled it off surprisingly well :]) but there's something aboutt his peice that seems to be missing. Maybe more descriptions? I noticed that you do a lot of speaking about this girl, but I'd like to know more about what goes on internally for her rather than externally. More adjectives and adverbs wouldn't hurt either :]
And also, there were some tense problems in this one too but not much to worry about =] For example:

Now this girls family had to move. She didnt mind.

I think you can figure it out. it justtakes away from the flow slightly.
Overall though, I thought this was a very interesting peice. It definitely wasn't cliche and was in ways very relateable- and with a few tweaks here and there I think this has potential to become something much more fantastic!

-Princess

[ShaneBerry]

any teen would love this story! i do lol! it seems like an auto-biography lol, lets me understand alot, and i makes me think. keep up the awsometastical work!


awsometasical- the incredible combination of awesome-fantastic-incredible! in one giant complemental sandwich, lol!

I think you could really do a good job if you wrote this as a novel, or just wrote a small aspect of it as a short story. The idea is there so all you have to do is pad it out and show the incidents you described as if they were happening. At the moment, this reads like more of a synopsis than a story because you are telling everything, but that should not be hard to fix. Just keep in mind that you have to capitalise the word "I" and remember your apostraphes in words like "don't". Keep writing!