Party Pooper Lagoni

There was once three sisters, Georgia, Coralie and Isabelle who lived together. The three sisters loved throwing parties on Friday or Saturday nights for their friends. The only problem was their elderly neighbour, Mrs. Iris Lagoni. She didn't fancy the types of parties Georgia, Isabelle and Coralie Eddlestone liked to throw. She prefered the types of parties that were quiet and had few people like high teas and a nice little garden party.

That created a slight problem for the Eddlestone sisters though. Whenever they threw one of their hit parties, barely an hour would pass before Iris would come bustling up to the front door. The sisters would turns in answering the door and when they did, Iris would always say the same thing. "You and your sisters need to learn to be considerate. Some people in this street are trying to sleep and no one can with this awful racket. Now will you turn it down?" The sisters would always reply, "Yes Mrs Lagoni but its only early, we'll turn it down soon. You have a good night now Mrs Lagoni." Then they'd stand in the doorway and wave while Iris totted back down the driveway and off to her house.

The following weekend, when the Eddlestone sisters were having another party, there was another knock at the door. Assuming it was Iris from next door, Isabelle answered the door. But when she opened the door, who she'd originally expected the unwelcome visitor to be was not the person behind the door. Instead, standing in front of her was a tall man dressed in a police officer's uniform. "Miss Eddlestone?" He asked. His voice was low, gruff and harsh sounding. "Yes?" Isabelle asked nervously. "I've had a complaint from a nearby resident." He inforned her. Isabelle immediately rolled her eyes. "May I ask who the complaint was made by?" She asked. "I'm afraid I'm not authorised to disclose that information ma'am." He apologised. "But I have been advised to request that you turn your music down or off. I have also been advised by the citizen that made the complaint that they will not hesitate to take further action against you. Now this is just a warning, but if the problem persists, further action will be taken." zhe warned.

To Be Continued.........

Sour Mr Cox

Once, there was a very sour old man who lived next door to Kate. She made sure never to bother him because if she did, she was scared of what he'd do. There were rumours circulating around the street of what he'd done to people who annoyed him in the past. There was one rumour that he'd cooked someone, another that he'd enslaved a little girl who accidentally kicked a ball over his fence.

But Kate was the kind of person who, if faced with a problem, wouldn't run away but instead try to solve it. So she sat in her house thinking for days of what she could do. Maybe she could try and befriend the man, Mr. Cox they called him.

Kate was a school teacher and so one Wednesday afternoon after work, she made some muffins. Once they'd finished cooking, she put them all into a basket and went on over to Mr Cox's house next door. "I don't think thats a good idea Kate!" Called Mrs Lucas from next door to Kate on the other side. "He's not a very nice man. I wouldn't do that if I were you. He's not a very nice man!" Kate gulped down her fears and nerves and knocked on the door.

A moment later, Mr Cox opened the door. "What do you want?" He asked, his voice gruffly. "Good afternoon Mr Cox. I made you some muffins." Kate offered him the basket. He took it from her and for a second, Kate let herself think that things were finally getting better instead of worse. "I don't want none of your stinkin' muffins!" He screamed, pelting the muffins back at Kate's face. "Now got off my property!" Kate stood her ground, but not for long. "Go on! Get!"

Well Kate's attempt had failed and she decided that Mrs Lucas had been right. It hadn't been a very good idea at all. Kate heaved a sigh of frustration and realised that Mr Cox would always be grumpy. All she could do was be nice to him and hope that eventually, he might change his ways, if he did at all. But there was one last trick left in Kate's book that she wanted to try.

That weekend, Kate made more muffins and then put them in another little basket, leaving a note on top which read 'You've been nasty to everyone on the street. As they say, what goes around comes around. If you dish out bad to people bad will come back to you. So now its time for you to endure the bad karma you deserve.' Kate took the basket over to Mr Cox's house and left on the front porch,racing back to her house and hiding behind the fence seperating her and Mr Cox's properties. She peered over the top and watched the scene unfold.

Mr Cox came out and found the basket. He picked it up and took one of the muffins, biting hungrily into it. Kate clapped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing so hard that Mr Cox would notice and continued watching. The minute her finished reading the note, he dropped the basket which fell with a loud thumping sound as it hit the ground. Then he spat the muffin he had in his mouth right out and started screaming. Kate watched as one by one, her neighbours all came racing out of their houses to see what on earth had possesed Mr Cox to scream so loud.

Suddenly, Mr Cox noticed Kate peering over the fence. "You!" He screamed, pointing his finger at Kate. "Me? What about me. I was just tening to my hedges. When I heard your scream, I just peered over the fence to see what was wrong. I didn't do anything." Kate lied, smiling at Mr Cox as he stared accusingly at her, still pointing his finger at her and growling at her like a dog does when they spot another dog on their territory.

For Kate, that scream had been one of triumph and of sweet revenge. The minute, Mr Cox disappeared inside his house, all of her neighbours put both their thumbs up at Kate and did a little cheer, celebrating with her on her revenge of Mr Cox. "Told you it would work." Kate smiled at Mrs Lucas from next door.

Autumn vs. Spring

Amber loved autumn. It was her favourite time of year. It had been since she was just three years old. She was now seventeen. Of course Amber was still in school but she often spent her weekends blogging about autumn. She called her blog, 'Autumn Adventures'. She put all sorts of things on there. Recipes, songs, poems, short stories, photos and sometimesm, on very rare occassions a video. But whatever the case, Amber always made sure to post at least once a week. She liked to keep her readers interested and she couldn't let them stray their attention from her blog.

When autumn came round, on the blessed day that it did, Amber loved playing in the fallen leaves with her dog Patches. The fallen, multicoloured leaves were one of Amber's favourite parts of autumn, along with the beautiful weather it brought along with it.

But, her sister Laura was happiest in spring, and jusdt like Amber, she kept a blog all about spring. Poems, pictures, stories, recipes even. She called her blog 'Spring Stories'. Laura was a year younger than her sister at 16, so she still went to school. But in her spare time, she'd go on her blog, making sure to post at least once a week, sometimes it was once a day on weekends or school holidays.

One thing Laura loved about spring was the flowers and the little garden she grew out in the back yard. All year round, Laura, her kanine companion Flora by her side would tend to her garden in preperation for spring and blooming season. Just for fun, Laura had a sale once every Spring holidays selling all things spring. Flower bouquets, recipe books, poems and stories, even some of her pictures were sold.

Amber and Laura were always, constantly fighting to see which season was better. It was one of their parents who broke it up, telling both girls, "Both Spring and Autumn are as good as each other. Neither season is better than the other. They are both of equal standing and both lovely seasons." Both girls dreamed of their futures, and just like any ordinary girl would, their weddings. Amber dreamed of walking down the aisle on a carpetr of fallen leaves, surrounded by autumn trees. Laura on the other hand dreant of walking on a carpet of flower petals and being surrounded by flowers.

It was an ongoing fight between Amber and Laura. But both sisters loved one another despite their differences and knew deep down that neither season was better but that instead they preferred that season as apposed to the season their sister liked best. We all have our differences. We all like different things. Ultimately, in life, its about finding the people with whom we have common interests and grasping on to the relationships we have with those people in both hands, as not to let them slip away.

Bliss Gardens

Abigail worked at the local gardens. It was a beautiful place that had flora of all kinds. Everything and anything you could imagine. She was a tour guide in the gardens. A normal day for Abbie involved showing social groups of seniors around or a class full of uninterested school kids for whom she had to stop often so that their teacher could calm them down and they'd resume listening to her.

Her best friend, Melisa worked in the gift shop, an equally borimg position in Abby's mind. Both Abby and Mel were at uni and longing to get out of their part time jobs at the gardens. There were two things each of them thought when they got sick and tired of working there, they thought of two things. Firstly, at least they had each other to help them through and secondly, they were getting cash for wasting their time there.

Outside of work, Abbie and Mel lived together. Mel was studying to be a lawyer, and Abbie, a doctor. When they weren't working or studying, they were either out shopping, at dinner or lunch or at a movie or at home, hanging out, lazing around and just plain spending time together.

Abbie went on holidays with her sisters one weekend and she came home to Mel who smiling gleefully announced that she'd met someone while Abbie was away. A male someone. But, she wasn't exactly dating him. It had just been a one night stand.

Abbie and Mel had had their jobs at Bliss Gardens eversince they were 15 and in year 9 back in high school. That had been where they'd met and the rest had been, as many say, history. Abbie and Mel had been best friends eversince.

In some ways, both women lacked something. Many things in their lives. But in another way, they had other things not many people had. Although they'd missed out on some things in their lives, they'd gained other things that without each other they wouldn't have. Mel and Abbie would be lost without eachother and now, they realised, they only had the place they both hated most in the world to thank for it.Bliss Gardens.

Chelsea: Hidden Love

There was the one guy at Chelsea's work at the local newspaper that she had had her eye on for ages. The only problem was, every single other woman in the office was also after him. Well every available woman anyhow. Little did Chelsea know, despite all his loving, adoring fans, Chelsea was the one who Mitchell wanted more than anyone else.

Chelsea's best friend and work mate Jennifer was the only one who knew of Chelsea's little crush and her longing to be with the man she'd loved for so long. Every time she saw him, Chelsea gazed at him and the long trail of girls running after him, desperately wishing that she was the girl who had her arms linked with Mitchell's. The source of all the other women's jealousy.

At the work christmas party, Mitchell finally admitted to Chelsea his true love. For her. Under the missel toe in the very middle of the room ,they kissed and then they leftm seperately of course. To keep their newly ignited relationship a secret. At least for now.

Over the annual christmas and new year break, Chelsea and Mitchell continued seeing each other. He took her to the movies and to dinner and shopping. During the last week, they both met each other's families. First, Chelsea met the Johnsons and then a few days later, Mitchell met the Hariss's.

Chelsea returned to work the next week with a big, gold ring on her finger with a diamond on it. Jennifer was ecstatic when she heard Chelsea's news and all the other girls were as jealous an anything when they learnt that Chelsea and Mitchell were an item. Many of them gave Chelsea dirty looks and others threatened her on the way out of the meeting. But Chelsea just shrugged it off, knowing that she had the msn she loved ,ost in the world by her side, his arm round her shoulders and with his other hand, he held Chelsea's. When everyone had left the room, He pulled Chelsea round and kissed her. Chelsea had achieved the fantasy shhe'd always wanted and to her, that kiss felt like triumph.

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This is the 8th in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! Magazine

Lydia: Finding Purpose

In highschool, Lydia had a circle full of many friends. As time went by and they all grew older, Lydia's friends all slowly figured out what it was they wanted to do with life after education. Dylan was going to go on radio, Sarah was going to be a model, Jada was going to go live in the US and try and make big bucks. But as her friends around her all figured out their next moves, Lydia still had no idea what she wanted to do.

The idea came to her in year 11 when she fell in love with weddings after being a bridesmaid at her aunts wedding and then again at her sister's later on that year. It was then that she decided that she wanted to be a wedding planner.

She told Jada at lunch. "Jada!" She beamed as she walked toward her. "I've finally decided what I want to do after school!" "Lydia!" Jada smiled. "That's great! What is it you want to do exactly?" Jada asked. "I've decided to be a wedding planner."

After Lydia and Jada finished their HSC's the following years, they made plans to find a cheap apartment over in Beverly Hills and agreed to rent an apartment together, acquiring another roomate when they were settled over there.

Two years on and Lydia is a sucessful wedding planner living with Jada and their new found American roomate, Bree a stylist in a small apartment in Beverly Hills. Jada was starting to make good money as an agent and Bree made a load whenever she got a new job modelling for a magazine or book cover or calender or whatever the shoot was for. Lydia realised she was the happiest she'd ever been, living her dreams in Beverly Hills.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is the 7th in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! Magazine.

Dianna: In the Spotlight

Dianna had never really popular when she was young. Her best friend, her only friend was her pet dog, Lilly. No one at school liked her, they all teased her and every day whenshe came home, she'd tell Lilly all about it. Dianna was a nerd at school and very much a goody two shoes in all sense of the word. Dianna distracted herself from all the teasing by studying hard each and every day.

After she graduated from university, she moved out to Beverly Hills, taking Lilly with her of course and made it big as a stylist. She styled all the big name stars like Jennifer Lopez and Julie Andrews. She even styled Abigail Breslin once when she was a little girl. Now, Dianna realised, it was her turn to be in the spotlight and one day at an awards night for fashion over in Hollywood, Dianna won best stylist for the maternity outfit she'd designed for Angellina Jolie to wear at an awards night.

Dianna got up on that stage with every one clapping and cheering and she took the microphone to make her acceptance speech. She firstly thanked all the people who had helped her and then said something she'd been wanting to say for years. "When I was younger, I used to get bullied. Many people don't think that celebraties and big stars get bullied, but they do, just like everyone else. And you know what? Their the losers after high school, they get the bad lives, and us, the losers in high school. We become the winners and we make it big. The amount of awards given tonight just shows that. So, to all the people who bullied me, I feel really sorry for you now, what ever has happened to you, I don't know and to be completely honest, I don't really care. But what I do know is, I feel sorry for you because if whats happening to you is half of what happened to me, you've got some really bad times ahead. Because now, your the losers and I'm the winner, karma has turned. I was nice all throughout highschool and nothing but filth came from any of you. So now, its your turn to get the bad karma and finally my turn to get what I deserrve. Good karma."

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This is the 6th in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! Magazine

Gina: Making A Difference

Gina had had a brother with cerebral palsy. All her life, Gina had watched him struggle to do simple everyday tasks Gina did without even thinking about it. She took for granted things that her brother would cry over finding ways to do. Whenever she watched him struggle, she felt guilty that she had two hands when he only had one.

When she graduated from high school, many years later, she became a carer. Gina was determind to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities through helping them do what they couldn't. When Gina was caring for these people, she felt a sense of purpose and at the end of the day, she felt fulfilled and satisfyed at the work she was and continues to do.

Gina believed that everyone has a purpose in life, something that they were meant to do and it was for this reason that the part Gina loved most about her job was when she helped her younger clients set goals for the future and decide what it is they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. When Gina did that at work, it was those days that she came home the happiest at the end of the day.

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This is the 5th in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! magazine

Strangest Man Alive

Renae had thought that men were strange. That was until she met Curtis. When she met him, Renae realised that Curtis was in fact, the meaning of the word strange itself. Curtis was strange because of the way he got girlfriends.

First, if Curtis liked the look of a girl, he would befriend her. Now, that seemed to be a suprisingly easy task for Curtis to reach. Second, once he and the girl were close enough, he'd kiss her, on the cheek. Here's the weird bit. If the girl liked it, they'd go out, take it further and become boyfriend and girlfriend. If she doesn't, they remain friends.

Renae was the latest in a long line of girls Curtis had scored by way of his strange method. She liked the kiss and so they went out. They had been together when a thought sparked in Renae's mind and together, they discovered that Curtis was actually gay. Although she got hurt in the process, Renae was pleased that no other girl did.

Birthday Longing

Luke and Bianca were more excited then they'd ever been. It was Friday Night, and the next day, Saturday, was their birthday. They were twins and they loved their birthday more than any other day of the year. More than valentines day, more than mothers or fathers day. Even more than easter and christmas. Ok. Maybe just as much as christmas.

That night, when their mother told them to go to bed. She also told them that the sooner they went to sleep, the sooner their birthday would come. The only problem was, Bianca and Luke were too xcited to sleep. All they could think about was the next days coming events. The cake. The food. The party. But most importantly, the presents. That, like most other kids, was what Luke and Bianca loved most about birthdays.

As the night dragged on, the whole house slowly fell asleep. Everyone but Luke and Bianca. They just tossed and turned. They thought they'd never fall asleep. They talked to each other, long into the night. But eventually, the two grew tired. Their eyes drooped and before they knew what had happened, they had both fallen asleep.

When they woke up, just as their mother had promised, their birthday had arrived.

Sealed with a Kiss

Fiona was a quiet young lady. Not many people knew her and she had a tight, close circle of friends. Four other girls. Cassidy, Willow, Margot and Sirena. But there was one thing Fiona loed more than anything else. Frangapanis. Her house was covered in them and she loved them.

When she finally moved out of home, she moved into a little cottage in the woods. It was a beautiful property with a long driveway lined either side with tall, green trees. At the beginning of the drive was a little white gate. The cottage was beautiful with yellow- pink bricks and a pale pink- white roof. To the left was a little front yard. A perfectly mowed green lawn and a white table with chairs as well as a beautiful pink frangapani tree centering the yard, right in front of the front, living room window. That was why Fiona became a florist. She owned a little flower shop in town, 'Frangapani Flowers'. Fiona's life may seem like a fairytale. It only lacked one thing, love.

That all changed when a very handsome man walked in to her flower shop. He immediately came to the counter. "Hi." Fiona greeted him. "Welcone to Frangapani Flowers. What can I do for you?" "Ah. Well, I wanted a boquet of flowers. For my girlfriend." The man replied. "I wasn't really sure what to get her and my mates said this is the best florist in town, so I thought I'd ask here." "Ah." Fiona sighed. "Thanks. It's wonderful to hear that people like my shop." "Now. Is there anything in particular your girlfriend likes?" "Gardenia." The man realised. "She loves gardenias." "Ah. I do like those." Fiona agreed, going toward the left of her store. "We've got some right over here." The man followed her close behind. "How about these?" Fiona asked, turning to face the man with a bunch of gardenias tied together with a beautiful pale pink ribbon. "Is there a special occasion?" Fiona asked. "I'm planning to propose." The man admitted. "Sorry." Fiona apologised. "I didn't catch your name before." "Ben." He answered. "Fiona."

"Well. If you're proposing." Fiona continued. "It should be something more romantic." She grabbed a bunch of untied gardenias and headed back toward the counter. Ben again, followed close behind her like a puppy following its owner. She wrapeed the gardenias tightly in a sheet of pale pink tissue paper then in a sheet of hot pink wrapping paper. Finally, she tied the whole thing together with a thin, pale pink ribbon and tied it into a neat bow. Then she grabbed a pair of scissors and made the ends of the ribbon all curly. Fiona handed the bouquet to Ben. "These are Beautiful. She'll love them. Thank you." Ben thanked. "Now, how much do I owe you?" Fiona got out her calculator, and quickly calculated the costs. "$19.90" Fiona said after a moment. "Here you are." Ben said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two notes. A 20 and a 10. He handed them to Fiona. She swas just about to get his change when he put up his hand. "Keep the change." He said and walked out. "Thanks." She called after him. "Good luck." But it was too late. By the time the words had made their way out of her mouth. The door had closed and he had disappeared from sight, away down the street.

The next week, a pretty looking woman walked into her Fiona's shop and walked right up to the counter. "Hi." She greeted Fiona. "Are you Fiona." "Last time I checked." Fiona joked. The woman let out a little giggle. Fiona looked her up and down. She wore a gorgeous turquoise blue summer dress and white shoes with small heels. Her hair was blonde and in a bob cut. "I'm Denise, Ben's fiance." She explained. "You accepted!" Fiona realised. "Yes I did. I just wanted to thank you for helping him with the flowers. They were gorgeous."

Months later, Fiona had long forgotten aboout Ben and Denise when a wedding invite came in the mail. 'Benjamin Turner and Denis Keller request the pleasure of the company of Fiona at their wedding on Saturday, March 19th at 2pm.'

Soon, the wedding day came, and Denise was walking up the aisle. But she stopped when Ben took her hands. A hush fell over the guests. "Ben, I'm sorry. But I can't marry you, I'd be making a huge mistake if I did. See, I don't love you, not really." Denise admitted. "Well that's good. In a way." Ben agreed. "See I do love you Denise." He said, kissing her cheek. "But there's someone else I love more." Ben walked slowly toward Fiona. Lucky she was on the end of the aisle. She got up as she saw him approach. "Ben, what are you..." Fiona didn't get a chance to finish her sentence. Ben kissed her long, hard and passionately on the lips. Fiona hadn't realised it before, but she knew better then ever now that she loved him too and so she kissed him back.

Two years later, Fiona and Ben went down the aisle. But this time, they went all the way and a few moments later, they were pronounced man and wife. They sealed the deal with a kiss. And then was Fiona's fairytale a gift. To make it even better, Fiona had her little frangapani flower shop to thank for it all.

Animal Therapy

The bell rang and I looked at my timetable. I had a drama class with year ten. It was their assesment day today. They had to do monolouges. I'm sure they were nervous, but I felt more nervous than I'd ever felt, and I wasn't even doing it!

Suprisingly, Grace volunteered to go first. Grace was a quiet girl with cerebral palsy, I suddenly realised. "Alright Grace." I said, patting her on the back as she passed. "Good luck." "Thanks." Grace whispered, continuing to head toward the stage at the front of the room.

There was silence for a moment. Grace took a breath and began:

"Many people think that physical therapy and medical treatments are the best ways to overcome a disability. But I believe in something else. See, I believe in the power of animals. Animal therapy. I've had three animals in my lifetime and all three have helped me in some way, shape or form.

The first was Champ. He was kind of like a guard dog. And a friend. He used to love it when I threw a ball for him and he loved being patted. But most importantly, he loved protecting his family. I can remember this one time, when I was really small, me and my Mum were outside when all of a sudden, a storm came. Thunnder crashed and lightning flashed. Champ sensed my anxiety and started racing around the yard, in search of what he thought was harming me.

The next dog I had was named Petal. She was quite old when we got her. Whenever I sat on the couch, a minute later I'd find her. She would have crawled into my lap. When I start stroking her, she starts licking in retuen. I could tell her anything. She was a great listener. That was the best thing about her.

The latest dog I had, my favourite, was Lucy. She was a mix of Petal and Champ with a little extra thrown in. Like Champ, she enjoyed protecting her family, and like Petal, she liked sitting in your lap. The extra bit was that she loved to play. She was like a bit of this and a bit of that with more added in. Well, all I can say is that in my opinion, animals are the best medicine for anyone with a disability." Grace finally finished.

What she didn't tell me or her classmates was that she made the whole monolouge up and that it was in fact, a true story.

Spring Has Sprung

Julia loved spring. She always had. It was her favourite time of year. She loved it because everything bloomed in spring. They skies were always clear blue with fluffy white clouds dotting it here and there. There were cool breezes and the air always smelt sweet, a combination of lots of different flowers. Consequently, Julia's last name was Bloom. She was Julia Bloom. And because Julia loved spring so much, she had a shop in town, 'Spring has Sprung'. The shop sold flowers as well as candles and different home decors.

Julia's daughters were all named after flowers. She had Iris, Lilly, Poppy, Daisy and Rose. Iris loved craft and so had a card business. Julia sold some of Iris's cards in her shop. Lilly was a kindy teacher at the local school, Poppy who had graduated from high school a year ago went to TAFE three times a week. Three other days she helped Julia in the shop and the one remaining was her relaxation day. Daisy loved animals and although still in year ten at high school, she was studying really hard to become a vet. Rose on the other hand was 9 and in year 3. She loved nature and the beach, and like her sister craft. But she liked art best rather than making things like cards.

Julia loved her life She found it perfect. Having her shop open for business every day but Sunday was great and living where she did felt like a picturesque paradise. To Julia, in her shop it always felt like spring. beautiful flowers everywhere you turned, sweet aromatic smells and the wonderful essence of spring that Julia couldn't resist.

Life Changing

As a child, Naomi had always been quiet and shy. You could say she was the perfect child. She had friends just like her, her grades were all excellent. But that all changed when Naomi went to high school. The summer before she was due to go, Naomi's mother discovered that her father was having an affair with another woman. They divorced, and that was when Naomi began acting out. She began to rebel against everything her mother asked of her.

At school, she began rejecting all the friends she'd made in primary school. Then, she began befriending all the rebels. They formed a big gang and did all sorts of crazy things. For starters, they never ever did any work in class, they never did their homework, they always got detention and never went. That was Naomi's favourite word nowadays, 'never'. That and 'no'.

Naomi's world dramatically changed again when she was on the verge of expellsion. They called her mother up to the school and they had a huge argument. Naomi's mother was desperate. First she tried screaming, then pleading then pleading on her knees. Then she turned on the waterworks. Usually it worked, but not this time. Nothing did until Naomi finally realised the severity of it and she started balling her out and begging on her knees. The principal agreed Naomi could stay on one condition. That Naomi's work would be checked for every subject once every week. If she fell behind at all, she would get a detention, three detntions and it would score her a suspension, three of those and they'd consider expellsion again.

It was then that Naomi really had to grasp her inner nerd. The nerd that had been dominant throughout all of her primary school years. When they arrived home, Naomi's mother made her take a vow. Now Naomi's life would change. And it would change for the better. Naomi had come down to the end of the road and was now going down a different. A life changing path that would change her life for the better, forever.

Guardian

Old Mrs. Jane Campbell had adopted Greg two years before. One night, when Jane was coming home from bingo at the RSL, she was attacked from behind. Greg found out when he got a call from the hospital.

He was there within 5 minutes. "Jane. Jane are you all right?" Greg asked, bursting into the room. "Yes. I'm alright dear. There's no need to worry yourself. There's just a few cuts and bruises. That's all." Jane assured him.

For the three days Jane stayed at the hospital, Greg sat by her bed the whole time, moving only when he absolutely had to. When Jane was allowed home, Greg was exactly the same. He set up a chair outside her bedrrom door, guarding her every moment and getting her whatever she needed and protecting her. Jane kept on insisting that she was alright but still Greg remained seated in the chair outside her bedroom door. Not moving a muscle. Just like an invisible guardian angel would've done.

Bush Paradise.

There was once a young girl named Megan. Now Megan got bored very easily. And when Megan got bored, she would start to wander and explore. She and her mother lived in a suburb surrounded by bush. There was so much bush that there was even some bushland behind her backyard that belonged to Megan and her family.

One day, on a late Saturday afternoon, Megan was at home alone and she got bored. So she put some shoes on and headed out back to explore the bushland behind her house. It wasn't long before Megan had completely lost track of time and was enthrawled in the world of the bush behind her house. She started collecting different bits and pieces she'd found on the ground, then she got more supplies from her house like glue and string and began building a little shelter. A while later, she'd made a bed from sticks and palm fronds, placed it in her little shelter and was lost in a book.

After she'd finished the book, she went back into the bush and found tiny little purple flowers dotted all over different parts of the bushland. She proceeded to pick a few and take them back to her shelter. There she got a nice leaf and arranged the flowers so they sat nicely atop the leaf. Then she found more sticks and made a table on which she layed the leaf vase with flowers inside.

When her mother arrived home, she found Megan in the bushland in her shelter, on the bed again, lost in her book. Looking from the kitchen, Megan's mother realised that that little shelter Megan had made, along with everything in it was her bush paradise.

Wonderful Magic

It was late at night, and Nora was desperate for her daughter, Laura to fall asleep. So, in the hopes that it would put her right to sleep, Nora began telling her a story. Laura was intrigued by it and listened closely to every word.

"Once, long ago, there was a magician. A magician that could do all sorts of wonderful things. He could make himself disappear and then appear again, he could turn fire into a girl. But no one ever really knew of him until he entered a talent quest. The prize was $250, 000. Well, this magician, he went all the way through and eventually, he won the whole thing, hands down. The world loved him. When he performed, he left them breathless and astounded, wondering how on earth he did what he just had done. The faces of the talent quest judges were priceless. Mouths agape, staring at him in wonder and in awe. They told him over and over that if he worked hard enough, he would be world famous. So he did just that, and within 3 years, the whole world knew of him. He went down in history as a magician of wonderful magic"

Nora stopped there and looked down at Laura. Sure enough, Nora's story had put her to sleep. So she tiptoed out of the room, closing the door behind her.

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Inspired by Australia's Got Talent contestant, Cosentino. Truly breathtaking and definitely world class. You are inspirational and a true Aussie gem.

Broken Dreams

All her life, Isabelle had had a left hemiegha plegia. A disability in which the whole left side of her body was partially paralyzed. The generalised term, and what most people said Isabelle had, was cerebrtal palsy. Isabelle was 16 years old, and before now, Isabelle hadn't let her cerebral palsy get in the way of anything she wanted to do.

Eversince she was a little girl, most of Isabelle's dreams involved driving a car. Isabelle wanted to get a little pale blue car and drive around town in it, driving her friends around, going for rides with her dog, Rosa. She even wanted to use the car to drive her little sister, Vanessa to her year six farewell.

So when Isabelle was told by her doctor that she would never be allowed to get her liscence, she was shattered. At that very moment, Isabelle felt as if her life and her dreams had been snatched away from her. For weeks, afterwoods, Isabelle couldn't talk about it without breaking into tears. All her friends would get their drivers liscences, and Isabelle felt like she would be the only one in the world who wouldn't. But that wasn't true, because Isabelle was not the only one who couldn't get her liscence. There were many, many people who were medically barred from driving.

As the months passed, and Isabelle got used to the idea of not being able to drive, she slowly found new dreams she could work towards. Then Isabelle became determind to make driving the only thing that her cerebral palsy stopped her from doing. So, when she graduated from school, Isabelle decided that she wanted to be a phychologist for disabled people, because Isabelle knew that she could help make a difference in their lives and that her cerebrral palsy would not stop her from doing anything else.

Jessica: A Fateful Night

Like he always did on a Friday night after work, Jessica Tucker's boyfriend, Alex went down to the pub with his mates for a few drinks after work. As usual, Jessica thught nothing of it. After all, Alex always went to the pub and had drinks with his mates and he always came home late.

That was, Jessica thought nothing of it until she got a call from the local hospital at around 9:30, 10 that night. "Miss Tucker?" Asked a voice. "Yes." Jessica said nervously. "I'm a nurse in the emergency ward. Your boyfriend has just come in. He's asking for you." Explained who Jessica assumed must be a nurse. "I'll be right there." Jessica promised, slamming down the phone and racing frantically around her little apartment, gathering her things.

15 minutes later, she was sitting beside Alex in his hospital bed. He'd been sleeping ever since the accident, when suddenly he woke up. "Jess?" He said weakly. "Alex. I'm here." Jessica replied, reaching for his hand and squeezing it tight. "Jess. I love you." Alex whispered softly. "I love you too." Jessica agreed.

Hours later, Alex had regained enough strength to tell Jessica what had happened. "As you know, me and Jake and Seth and Wayne, we were all at the pub." Alex began. "We all agreed that Jake would be the designtaed driver. But as the night went on, we all jad drink after drink, and pretty soon, we were all drunk, even Jake." Alex went on. "And Seth decided that seeing as he was the least drunk of all of us, he'd drive. So he got behind the wheel, although still drunk." "Before we knew what was going on, there was a bright flash of light, Seth swerved the car round, there was a huge bang and then I'm waking up here next to you." Alex finished.

Suddenly, Jessica heard a loud beeping noise. She looked over to see that it was Alex's heart monitor. His heart was beating really fast. "Nurse!" She yelled urgently. Almost immediately, a nurse came flying out of nowhere, pushing her out of the way, and out of the room.

Jessica watched in horror from the window as a team of nurses and doctors tried and failed to revive Alex from his sudden coma. Then she saw one of the doctors peering down at his wrist. But it didn't occur to Jessica that he was calling time of death. In the rush, and her panic, Jessica thought he was timing how long it took the rest of the team to treat Alex. That was until a nurse came out of the room, a sympathetic look on her face and told Jessica of the news. Jessica sat down and shook her head in her hands, beginning to sob.

The next thing that Jessica knew, someone was sitting next to her, their arm around her shoulders. Jessica looked up to see Garry, Alex's older brother. "I know Jess. The hospital called and told me what happened." Jessica leaned into Garry, still unable to stop crying.

Months later, Garry and Jessica began dating, and eventually fell in love and got married.

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This is the 4th in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! Magazine

Lindsay: A Day at The Beach

Lindsay Phillips was described by her friends as being 'the luckiest woman in the world'. She had a great home life with a wonderful family, great friends and a fantastic job at the local Seaweed and Sand Homewares store.

On this particular Saturday afternoon, Lindsay and her family had gone to the beach for an afternoon. Lindsay was relaxing in her banana chair, watching her family. Her husband, Ross was swimming in the ocean, her son Heath was out with Ross, her daughter Ellie was playing in the waters shallows and her youngest daughter, Genevive was close to Lindsay, making a huge soundcastle and decorating it with the shells she'd collected. All was calm and peaceful, until Lindsay spotted something in the water.

Lindsay got up and walked down toward where Ellie was playing annd peered out for a closer look. "Ross!" Lindsay called urgently. But it was too late. It all happened in a flash. Heath was swept out to sea, toward what Lindsay discovered was a fin. Lindsay clasped her hands over her mouth and watched in horror as Heath was sweopt closer and closer to the fin. Then, the head of the creature popped up and out of the water, revealing itself to be a dolphin. "Heath!" Lindsay heard Ross call. "Grab on to it's fin, it'll swim you back to shore!" So Heath grabbed the dolphin's fin, and sure enough, it swam him back to safety. Lindsay sighed with relief.

Ross sudenly noticed Lindsay, peering out at them from the water's edge. He gave her a thumbs up and yelled. "It's all good Lindsay. Heath's here. Safe and sound!" Lindsay could only nod. She was still in shock, still trying to process all that had just happened. It had happened so fast. Too fast for anything to make sense.

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This is the third in a series of stories based on the faces of That's Life! magazine

Anna: Determind To Succeed

Anna George was 23 years old. She had just graduated from uni with a journalism degree. Now, she was out in the real world and Anna was determind. She was determind to suceed in journalism, and more importantly, she was determind not to fail. In fact, she didn't even say that. What she said was, 'I will not fail.'

Anna tried everywhere to get a job. Every tine, there would be a polite rejection letter awaiting her in the mail a few weeks later. That was until she tried Sunrise. There, they welcomed her with open arms into their company. Their executive producer had just left see and now Anna was Sunrise's executive producer. She was a darn good one at that too. After a few months with Sunrise, Anna really did have it all. A great job, wonderful family and friends and a great boyfriend who she now lived with. The thing is, they were both journalists. He at That's Life! magazine and she at Sunrise. Now Anna was living the dream and was the happiest she'd ever been.

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This is the second in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! Magazine

Jodie: Perfect With One Thing Missing

Jodie Forster was a beautiful woman. The only problem was, she was nearing her thirties and desperate for a partner, but she just couldn't seem to find one. At that point in time, her life revolved around exercise and her office job as a receptionist. Yes, Jodie was an aunt, but she wanted to be a wife, a mother. She wanted a family.

All her dreams came true when she met Richard, a sucessful lawyer in the city. He also loved exercise. Jodie met him at the gym. He was new in town and didn't know many people yet. Richard and Jodie dated for 3 years before Richard finally proposed.

They had a simple, small wedding on the outskirts of Melbourne. 3 months later, Jodie fell pregnant. It was then that Jodie realised that all her wildest dreams had come true.

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This is the first in a series of short stories based on the faces of That's Life! Magazine.

Richest Man On The Planet.

Oliver hadn't seen Jake since high school, so when they ran into each other for coffee, Oliver just couldn't resist making his life sound 100 times better then it actual was.

"So it's Sunday night, right. And I'm just sitting having a good soak in the tub with my glass of wine. But it's not just any bath. See, I wasn't lying in a tub full of water. Oh no my friend, my tub. My tub was full of money. Cold hard cash. It was great. Lying in a tub full of cash. I had the fan going, so it was raining money too." Oliver smiled to himself at the cleverness of his lie. "Wow man." Jake sighed. "You must be the richest guy on the planet." Oliver knew he'd won him over. Now, the two had switched roles. Jake was now the loser and Oliver the winner. "That wine. It was the most expensive money could buy." Oliver couldn't help adding. "You know, my kids favourite game is making different objects out of all the piles of cash." He smiled, satisfyed at Jake's response. A small hint of a smile turning to a frown, the dropping of his head and the slouching of his shoulders as he exited the cafe.

Then, Oliver realised, he had never felt better.

Shelly

Many years ago, there was a young couple, Logan and Skye. Logan and Skye's favourite place in the whole world was the beach. One day, when the two were in their early twenties, Logan, like he always did on a Saturday, took Skye to the beach. Here he made her close her eyes and turn away whilst he burried a ring box in the sand. He then told her to dig. And that she did until she came to something hard. She pulled it out and he proposed. She said yes.

A year from that moment, they were married at that same beach. When they had been married for 3 months, Skye discovered she was pregnant. She had a little girl 9 months later. Logan and Skye named her Shelly.

When little Shelly was 3 months old, Skye was involved in a car accident on her way home from work. A shift a Seaweed and Sand. The minute Logan heard the terrible news, he called Skye's sister, Sandra over to take care of Shelly and raced to the hospital, just in time to hear them calling Skye's time of death.

Logan himself joined Skye in heaven when Shelly turned 13. He passed away after he fell off his horse while going on a ride across the beach with Shelly. He had burried something there that morning, a package for Shelly. Things of Skye's and a few of his as well as a small gift for her. Luckily he had told Shelly's Aunt Sandy of his plans.

Sandra took Shelly to the beach on her 15th birthday, and told her to dig in the spot Logan had told her the things were hidden two years ago. Shelly dug and dug until she found a lovely white box. She pulled it out. In beautiful curvy coral pink writing across the top was 'Shelly'. Shelly opened up the box. On one side were things of her father's. Surfing trophies, a picture of his horse and him when he was a child and a ring as well as a note. 'Happy Birthday, Shelly. I love you always. Dad.' On the other were things of her mothers. Various shells she'd collected, a picture of Logan with Skye and Shelly herself as a young baby. As well as those was a locket in the shape of a shell and a note. 'My lovely Shelly, if you are reading this, it means that I have passed away. I'm sorry I couldn't be there now. But take my locket, and I will always be with you. I love you Shelly. Love, Mum.' In the midde of the box was a box. Inside was a beautiful sky blue cup with hibiscuses all over it. On one side, whitten in beautiful cursive, white letters was Shelly's name.

Eversince that day, Shelly has always worn her mother's locket and her father's ring. Shelly swears that the breeze is her mother's voice, and the waves are her father's. She believes that that is how they watch over her.

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For my Mum. I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a Mum like you. Happy Belated Birthday.

The Dream Queen

Elle was famous in her neighbourhood for something rather strange. Her dreams. Yes, Elle was famous for the dreams she had. She was 19 years old and wasn't doing TAFE or uni, and had a permrnant night shift position, which meant she had pretty much the whole day to herself. It also meant that she was exhausted when she got home and fast asleep the minute her head touched the pillow.

Little did Elle know, she would soon be famous nationwide. Elle was discovered through her blog, Dream Queen. Every morning, as she drank her hot chocolate and ate her cinamin toast and fruit, she wrote about the previous nights dream. 365 posts a year, 30 per month.

It all started with a call from That's Life! Magazine who wanted to do an interview about one of Elle's dreams. Elle saw her story three weeks later. "Dream Queen's Dream Revealed!" Read the headline. It then went on to tell about one of Elle's dreams.

In this particular one, she was walking down a corridor. At the end of the corridor was a T intersection. There was two signs. One pointing left read 'hell' and the other, pointing right read 'heaven'. Elle explored both halls to find that down the whole length were a series of doors on either side. Elle opened one from each hall. In the one she opened from the hall named 'hell' was, lying in a basket, one of the things she hated the most- spiders. Behind the door she opened in the hall named 'heaven' was one of the things she loved the most at least 5 blocks of pure white chocolate. But just as Elle reached for them, something grabbed her hand, it grew dark and with that she woke up.

Then came a call from Sunrise, who also wanted to do an interview with Elle, two weeks after the debut of her That's Life! article. They did a story on another of Elle's extraordinary dreams.

In this one, Elle went to some sort of secret garden. Waiting for her there was all sorts of magic. There was a beautiful, crystal clear lake with mermaids, a cloud garden with fairies and a beautiful, flowery grotto with unicorns. Elle was a little girl again. She watched as the fairies put on a magic show for her, flew on a unicorn and swam with the mermaids. The last thing she remembered was spinning around and flew up and into the clouds.

After these two interviews, Elle landed a position as a regular columnist for That's Life! writing once a week about her dreams and also as an 'Angel' on Sunrise, coming in once a week to talk about different issues.

Elle is now married with two beautiful daughters, Skye and Tiarna.

Disturbed Peace

Old Mrs. Saunders loved it where she lived. In a long, peaceful street where it was always suny with a clear blue sky, only a few white clouds dotting the horizon. And there was always a nice cool breeze whispering through the trees that lined the street. Mrs. Saunders had always thought of it as her calm, tranquil haven that was her serene heaven. And she had lived there as long as she could remember. She and her husband had moved in there when they were first married. They had raised their three children, Skye Logan and Ava there and they had lived ther when her husband had passed 3 years ago. Now it was just Mrs Saunders and her little dog, Ella. Her three kids had all finished school and had moved out.

The street was just as it always had been until one day, a family with two rowdy, loud teenage boys moved in next door. They completely disturbed Mrs. Saunders' peace. They made it harder for she and Ella to go to sleep at night and they also made it hard for her to enjoy her Sundays. Ehere she would start by going and doing the groceries and getting the paper and her copy of the latest 'That's Life!' magazine. Then'd she'd sit on her front porch in her favourite chair and read the paper and magazine and then do the puzzles.

So one day, when Mrs. Saunders just couldn't take it anymore, she marched over to the house next door to have a chat with their mother, to find that she was heavily pregnant. "Eversince you and your family have moved in here, I've had awful troubles getting to sleep and my Sundays have been destroyed by that awful racket your sons make." The woman stood there, shocked, a baffled look on her face. It soon turned into a fight. They only found a solution when the woman's husband came in and sat down with the two women for a mediation. It was there that they reached a compromise. The boys had to stay quiet after 8 each evening and after 3 on Saturdays and all day Sundays. The rest of the time they could make all the noise they wanted.

From that day on, everything was once again peaceful, and eventually, Mrs. Saunders and the woman, Olivia grew to become quite good friends. Olivia went on to have two more daughters and Mrs Saunders stayed living in the street until the day she died.

Get 'Em Girls

"Grandma tell me a story?" Georgia begged. "Oh alright. And I think I know the best one." Rachel said thoiughtfully. "And this one's a tale of my own."

"I'd always been the odd one out. I had plenty of freckles, braces and aawful bright red hair. Then one year, I decided I wanted to change. So over the christmas break, I had my hair died blonde, I got contacts so as not to have to wear glasses. My freckles were taken care of with moisturise and plenty of cream. I had my friends and famiuly all start to call me Elle." Rachel was interrupted by Georgia. "Rachel E. Mathers." She realised. "Yes." Rachel agreed.

"When I returned to school the following summer, no one recognised me. So I lied, telling them I'd just moved to the Coast from Melbourne. In an isntant, I was the most popular girl in school. Everyone liked me. Before I knew it, schoolwork no longer mattered. I was out on the town with my two best friends every single Friday and Saturday night. Out partying, shopping, seeing a movie. Whatever it was I was out. A bit after all that, I got my first boyfriend. Nic."

"I regret it now though." Rachel sighed. "All of it. The thing is Georggia, never fall for the pretty girls dear. They'll turn you into someone so different you won't even recognise who you are anymore." "Will you promise me that darling?" Rachel looked down at her grandaughter, a slightly worried look in the corner of her eye. "I promise Grandma." Georgia promised. "I'll stay true to myself for as long as I live."

A Sense of Belonging

Janie had been in forster care eversince she was little. She'd never really had a mother. When her mother had died when Janie was 2, Janie became an orphan. That however, had been 6 years ago. To this day, Janie remembers nothing of her mother. So when the couple who were giving her forster care decided to adopt her, Janie was overjoyed. She would finally belong to someone!

After three weeks of living with her new, adoptive parents. Janie learned how much having a mother was a privellage. Not every one had one and Janie felt very lucky to finally have one she could call her own. Mothers are priceless beings. People whom, at times seem more valuable then life itself Janie realised. Janie was overjoyed to belong to parents who loved her. She at last felt like she belonged. Just like this was another, huge piece in the puzzle that was her life.

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Dedicated to my Mum. The best mother any girl could have. Thanks for being there for me whenever I've needed you. Happy Mother's Day.
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And to all the mothers out there. Your job is very hard and I congratulate you on having made it another year. Happy mother's day.

Sky Ice Beauty as the Ice Easter Bunny

Samantha was in an ice skating squad. She attended religiously every week, without fail. Easter was coming up, so Sam decided to play easter bunny. She arrived at the rink early, armed with a container filled to the brim with eggs. Before every one arrived, she warmed herself up. When she heard the other squad members beginning to arrive, she quickly went off and hid. She appeared moments later when everyone was on the rink, warming up, she glided around, dropping eggs on the side bar in front of them. When she was done, Sam twirled around. Everyone looked around at her. "Thanks Sam!" They all said at once. Sam gave a curtsy, looking low. Later on, as Sam was finishing up in the middle of the rink, she heard someone else start on the ice. She looked on the ice to see her boyfriend, Ben, gliding closer to her. She watrched as he circled her. The girls on the squad were still stretching. They turned to look at Ben and Sam. They were all jealous of Sam. Ben was pretty good looking. He popped an unwrapped egg in Sam's mouth and kissed her tenderly as she closed it. "Happy easter my Sky Ice Beauty." He whispered. The girls all stared at the happy couple as they skated off the rink, hand in hand. Sam took a quick glance back to see the girls all staring at Ben, their mouths agape and just about drooling. Sam stared at them cold and hard. 'He's mine.' She mouthed firmly, and looked back forward. Ben tightened his grip around her waist. Ben held Sam's hand as she twirled off the rink. Not only did Sam have the man all the girls in her squad wanted, but the man. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Happy easter all

Protest for Hair

Cassidy's hair was getting longer than her shoulders. Her mother believed in short hair. Cassidy didn't. "I think it's time you got a hair cut Cass." Her mother said one day. "No!" Cassidy screamed. "Why ever not Cassidy?" Cassidy's mother, Shirley was stunned. This was the first time her daughter had objected to anything. She must feel pretty strongly about if she objected. After all, Cassidy was ussually scared stiff of her mother.

"Because." Cassidy said simply. "I like my hair long." "Cassidy. Will you ever let someone cut it?" Shirley asked, baffled by her daughter's words. It felt as if she were losing control of her daughter. "Yes. When I feel it is growing too long." Cassidy answered. "After all Mother. It is my hair. I'm the one who has to live with it. Not you." She pointed out. "Yes Cassidy. But you're under 18. Legally, I can say what goes and what stays with you." Shirley argued. "And I say the hair goes." "Well legally, Mother I could easily move out of home." Cassidy retorted. "Cassidy. You wouldn't!" Shirley gasped. "Watch me." Cassidy said, heading off to her room and packed a huge suitcase full of things she wanted to take.

Shirley watched in horror as Cassidy walked out the front door, pulling a suitcase behind her, a duffle bag swung over her shoulder. Shirley ran to Cassidy's room. Many things were gone. At least 5 pairs of shoes, about 20 outfits, a sleeping bag and pillow. Cassidy had even gone as far as to ssteal her mother's credit card. Cassidy knew the pin number. She could easily use it. Shirley could have cancelled it. But she didn't. She didn't have the heart to. Her daughter was basically homeless now. Shirley figured the least she could do was put $30 on a week, allowing her daughter some money to live on.

Since that day, Cassidy has been living out on the streets. All due to a protest about keeping her long hair.

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A tribute to hit musical Hair.

Autumn Adventure Video

Hey guys, there are a few select stories I've made into short stop motions. This one turned out the best and was the first story ever to be published on this blog. Enjoy!
To see more videos, visit my youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/MelodyCSwanPages

Beautiful as a Butterfly

I used to be huge. I'm not afraid of saying it, because at the time, it was the truth. The complete honest truth. When I was 19, I started getting overweight. At the young age of 23, I decided it was time to change. Time to win my life back. Time to regain my life for good. So, I applied for the biggest loser, and got in. This is my story: The first day was really hard. I learnt my weight to be a huge, disgusting 180 kilos. I was put on Shannon Ponton's team. Blue. I was happy with that. Blue was my favourite colour. It always had been. The first week, I lost 5.9 kilos, making my new weight 174.1 kilos. Next week was 6.7, then 8.3, 7.4 and finally 5.8. But unfortunately, that was my last in my 5 weeks of huge numbers. After that, I was down to 145.9 kilos. The next week, having lost only 1.8 kilos, I was sent home. By finale, I had lost 72.4, making my weight now 107.6. I still had a while to go, but based on how far, it seemed worth it. My goal weight is 73 kilos, meaning I've still got to lose about 34.6 kilos. Though I've still got weight to loose, I feel I am emerging from the cocoon in which I've been hiding for so long. I am now a beautiful butterfly, flying out to explore this new world given to me all through a fresh start.

Wrong Wedding!

We pulled up to the park and I waited for the driver to open my door so I could get out and begin my huge life changing walk down that all fateful, all life changing aisle. I was all phsched up as the driver opened the door and helped me out of the long, white strech limo. I began walking toward the aisle.

When I got there, I met who I thought was my father and he walked me down the aisle. I didn't realise the error until I reached the arch where me and my partner Paul were to be married.

The astonished groom let go of my hands as quick as a snap. "You're not Emma." He gasped, almost in a whisper. "You're not Paul." I looked closely at the man in front of me, realising he was not Paul. Quickly, I picked up the sides of my dress and sprinted as much as I could back down the aisle.

The driver had waited at the end of the aisle and quickly sprung to attention when he realised I was charging toward him. "This is the wrong wedding!" I hissed at him. "I'd like you to take me to my own wedding now thank you." With that, I charged up the steps and waited for the driver at the limo.

Finally, I was standing with Paul under the arch at the right wedding. My wedding. Everyone clapped and cheered as we sealed our vows with a kiss. "It was a long road, but we finally got here." Paul whispered in my ear.

Secret Valentines

Nancy and Alex were in the same year 5 class, 5T. To celebrate Valentines Day, their teacher, Miss Thompson said they had to give Valentines to each other. But the catch was, they wouldn't be allowed to pick who. Instead, their names would all be placed inside a hat and they would all draw out a name. The person they picked would be their, what Miss Thompson called 'secret valentine'.

Nancy was the first to draw a name from the hat. 'Alex' her paper read. So she returned to her desk and began working on her card. Alex was the last, and what name did he happen to draw out? Nancy's. So he, like Nancy had done, returned to his desk and started to work on his card.

After lunch, the students slipped their cards onto their secret valentine's desk. A few minutes later, the students eagerly opened their cards and read them. Nancy opened and read her's first. 'Nancy, I've loved you my whole life. I always will. Love, your secret admirer'. Then Alex read his. It had the exact same message. 'Alex, I've loved you my whole life. I always will. Love, your secret admirer'.

Several years later, the same Alex and Nancy had been married and were now expecting their first child, a girl. One day, close to Nancy's due date, she was going through old things, photos, school reports and the like, when she found two cards. The cards from Secret Valentines on that fateful day, all those years ago in year 5.

When Alex arrived home later that night, Nancy decided to play mysterious. "What is it?" Alex asked playfully. Nancy couldn't hold it in any longer and began jumping up and down with glee. She pulled the cards from behind her back. "Oh my god." Alex sighed. "Oh my god!" "I know." Nancy said, hugging him tight. "I don't believe it!" Alex gasped. They celebrated their finding that night with a nice romantic dinner out.

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Happy Valentines day everyone!

Dear Warren

Warren worked for the army. But one, fateful summer, he took leave and returned home to visit with his mother. That summer was the summer that would change Warren's life forever. That summer he met Taylor Thomas. A beautiful, local girl who lived near the beach.

As the summer went on, Taylor and Warren grew closer and before they knew it was time for Warren to leave and return to the army. But even though they were physically a long way apart, they were closer than ever in their minds, and every night, with out fail, they would appear in each other's dreams.

Over the months the two were apart, they wrote letters to one another as if it were a religion. Before they knew it, they were together at last, and happy than ever.

Tim's Talent

Tim loved to draw. Drawing was his way of expressing himself. Just like some people's ways might be to write or draw or garden. But Tim's way of expression was to draw. He draw everything from portraits to landscapes, cartoons.

One day, on Tim's birthday, some one very important, very special came to his party. The owner of an art gallery. He saw Tim's work, in frames all over the house and decided to speak to Tim about having some of it put up at his gallery. A special exhibit. It would have Tim's story and Tim's works, and the story's of the artworks.

So the gallery owner set off around the house in search of Tim. He found him, mingling in the loungeroom. "Tim?" He tapped at Tim's arm. "Can I have a word?" "Yeah. Sure." Said Tim turning around. "Excuse me a moment." He said to the people he'd been mingling with and followed the gallery owner out into the hall. "My name is Howard Bennet. I'm the owner of the Brookedale Gallery downtown." Howard began. Tim took a deep breath, nervous at what was to come. "I've seen some of your work. I'd like to show it in an exhibition at my gallery." It took a little while for Tim to process exactly what it was Howard was saying. "Oh. Oh Wow!" Tim said slowly, realising what was happening. "Yes! Of course!" Tim agreed.

Two weeks later, the exhibition in Howard's art gallery was opened as Tim's Talent. Hundreds of people went to the grand opening and thousands of people went to see the exhibition itself.

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To my good friend William. Happy 16th.

An Alternative Guide to Family

Erin's first marriage had lasted three months. Eversince then, Erin had wanted one thing. A baby. Eversince Erin was little, all she had wanted was a family. 'Well.' She figured. 'I can't have a husband, but that doesn't mean I can't have a kid.'

So, after 2 years of waiting to see whether it would happen naturally, Erin decided to employ her other option. So, she made an appointment with the local obsterician, and three weeks later, she was inseminated, despite the majority of her family and friends telling her it wasn't a good idea to do it. "You won't look as hot afterwoods." Said one. "Have you seen whst child birth does to your body." Said another one. "Have you seen child birth? It's a darned pain. You go through hell." Her sister told her. But Erin didn't believe a single one of them, nor did she care.

So, a few weeks after she was insaminated, Erin found out the results via a take home pregnancy test. She had been succesful and she was now pregnant. It felt great.

A couple of days later, she met a guy. Derek. He flirted with her, and that night they went out on a date and he ended up spending the night at her place.

As the months passed, Erin grew bigger and bigger. Suprisingly, Derek stayed by her side the whole way through. No matter what, he stuck by Erin the whole time.

Chasing Boys

Isabella was just an ordinary 15 year old. She had a mother, father, a little sister and a pet cat named Ollie. Isabella also had a group of close friends she hung out with at school and out. Emma, Olivia and Sophia. Isabella, or Issie as her friends called her was a normal girl just like any other. Her friends were her world, as was Ollie the cat. Her parents' public displays of affection were annoying, her sister was a bother and being out in public with her parents was plain embarassing.

One Tuesday at noon, Issie and her friends were all sitting down in their usual spot having lunch when who appeared but two boys. Two good looking boys. "Look over there Girls!" Issie whispered, pointing in the direction of the boys. "Ooh!" Emma agreed, following Issie's gaze. "They are cute!" Olivia marveled. "Oh Wow!" Soph druled. "Girls. We have some boy chasing to do!" I announced.

Issie and her friends tried every flirt they knew, every pick up line, every trick. It was only when Issie supposedly lost her cat that she and the younger boy, Jacob. But the only problem is that Jacob is already going out with the mean girl, Ava.

By Issie's birthday, bot Issie and Emma had a boy each as their boyfriend and all was well.

Trapped

Emily was on holidays to Canberra from home, back in the U.K. On this particular day, a fairly miserable, wet day, Emily was visiting Old Parliament. It was around 2 in the afternoon when Emily arrived. She had a keen interest in past politics, parliament and different government methods and such. Emily was 18 and had just left high school and when she finished in Canberra, she would return home and begin studying to be a lawyer.

Emily lingered in each little section of each room, taking in the information, lingering to stare at the pictures and scenes that surrounded her. She was in the Prime Ministers of Australia gallery when it hit five o'clock. Closing time. She was too busy ingesting the information given on Edmond Barton to notice the warning signs and announcments. She had set herself a project. A huge project on the prime ministers of Australia. All the way from Edmond Barton to the current prime minister, Julia Gillard.

By the time Emily thought to check her watch, it was 7:30. She had spent two and a half hours in that galllery alone. She began thinking about where she would go next when it hit her. Old Parliament House had closed for the day.

Emily raced at lighgtning speed down the stairs and to the front doors of the museum. She shook them so hard they rattled and jolted. But they stayed firmly shut. No luck. She was locked in. "Well then." Emily dusted her hands off. Rattling and shaking that door had been hard work. It was definently heavy. "I'll just have to make the most of this." She sighed. "The whole museum to myself and all the time in the world to explore what it holds within it's walls." She cheered up a little and skipped back to the Proime Ministers of Australia gallery.

A while later, Emily was creeping backward through the corridor. It was growing dark now, and Emily was growing scared. The initial excitement of having the museum to herself had long gone and now all poor Emily wanted was to go home. Just as she took another step, further into the deep, dark corridor, she felt something, or rather someone bump against her back. "Argh!" She screamed as she whirled around to face the thing that had hit her. It was screaming too. They both turned to face each other. "I thought I was..." Emily trailed off. "Alone." She and the stranger said, at exactly the same time. The sytranger stepped into the light in the center of the room. It, he was a man. Maybe around her age even. "Hi." He offered, sounding connfused. "Hi." Emily's voice had come out shakier then she had intended. "I'm Bruce." The man offered his hand out to Emily. "Emily." Emily shook Bruce's hand. "Come on." Bruce said. "WE've got to find somewhere to set up camp." "Good idea." Said Emily. Together, the two bounded up the stairs.

A half hour later, Emily and Bruce had set up camp in the chambers of the senate. "So tell me about yourself Emily." Bruce and Emily were lying in sleeping bag arrangments on the floor. They were both lying on their sides to face eachother. "Ok." Said Emily. "Well. I come from London in England, I'm 18 and I'm going to law school next year. My Dad died when I was 6, so now it's just my Mum and 4 sisters. I'm the youngest. The others are Abigail, Belinda, Caroline and Deborah." Emily finished. "Wow. That's quite a past isn't it then." Bruce's mouth, Emily spotted was gaping open. "Now allow me to tell you a little about myself." "Im 19, I live right here in Canberra and I'm studying to be a doctor. Hopefully a personal one for the Prime Minister, opposition leader and their families. You know important people like that?" Emily nodded. Bruce went on. "My Mum lives in Broken Hill, running a farm with my little brother Scott's help. She and Dad are divorced. Dad lives over in Sydney. I visit hinm a bit. Usually go up on weekends." Bruce and Emily talked like this until they fell asleep.

In the morning, at around 9:30, 10 someone came tob open the door. Hearing it, Emily and Bruce ran excitedly toward the door. The elderly lady who had opened the door was shocked at the sight of two people racing toward her like that. "My my!" The lady exclaimed. "We were uh.." Emily trailed off, panting hard. "Locked." Bruce finished for her, panting just as much as Emily was. "Oh dear. Well, I'm terribly sorry about that Dears. Now you can go if you'd like. Or you could stay a while longer." The woman offered. "No." Emily puffed. "Thank you." "We'll just collect our things and go."