Shades

Sienna Blythe seemed to be just as normal as everyone else. She had four limbs, two eyes, two ears, one nose and one mouth just like everyone else. Underneath the surface however, lay something more. Sienna in fact had aspergers, a genetic condition that meant she had a little more trouble socially then others normally would.

Thankfully, Sienna had been diagnosed at a young age and her parents were therfore able to start teaching her the things she wouldn't learn on her own from a young age. That meant now, at age 15, Sienna seemed no different to any other person her age.

Aspergers was called a 'disability'. It was labelled as such. It wasn't really a disability though. More a different way of thinking. A different way of looking at the world and in some cases, a different way of doing things. You could say it was like everyone was one shade of a colour, lets say blue, and Sienna was a slightly different shade, so slight that you could hardly tell that Sienna's shade was even different at all.

Although Aspergers had disadvantages, it also had plenty of advantages. For instance, people who had aspergers were often very smart, often in a select few fields with which they were obsessesed and they also often went on to become rather sucesful in their chosen careers and in life.

Sienna wanted to become a phsycologist after finishing high school in the hopes that she could help other people just like her and not that she liked to admit it, but she was well on her way to getting there.

New vs. Old

As Jarna had grown up, her life had been a mix of pen and paper and the computer. Now however, technology was advancing and almost everything was starting to be taken over by it. Although Jarna was young, she quite prefered the old fashioned ways of pen to paper and face to face interaction as apposed to the ways of communication modern technology offered. Jarna thought it was a lot better to see someone or write to them rather than use technology. Because, it seemed, technological communication was much easier to misinterpret.

One day, Jarna decided to see what others thought. For quite a time now, she'd had a youtube under a nickname that friends had called her with one deliberate spelling mistake so that her name had a certain ring to it- Kreative Kitten. She'd also added 2302 onto it to make it a little special. That was her birthday, the 23rd of February. This made her username KreativeKitten2302.

Jarna uploaded a video explaining what she'd been thinking about and at the end, asking the question that had been on her mind for days, even weeks now. Her video got an overwhelming response from viewers and had an overflow of opinions. After looking at each one, Jarna discovered that the answers she'd received were in fact 50/50, half of them supported paper and pen and the other half were supportive of technology. Yet, Jarna couldn't decide which she liked best. She liked them both equally. Both methods had their pros and their cons.

So, the question still remains, which method of communication is best? Jarna decided that they were both equal, but she still liked hearing the public's opinion. What do you think? Which is better? Old or new?

Wealthy Proposal

Alicia and Brian has been seeing each other, dating for 3 years now. Coming from a poor family, Alicia marvelled at all the money Brian had sitting at his disposal. The money which he took for granted. See unlike Alicia, Brian had grown up in a wealthy family and for him, money had never been an issue because there was never a shortage of it.

Since meeting Alicia however, Brian had changed. Early on, Alicia had taken him to visit the poor villiage where she had grown up and many of the dates consisted of volunteering in homeless shelters and soup kitchens, where almost nobody had any money at all. After seeing all these things, Brian realised that money was in a way, a privellage. Well, the quantity of it you posessed was a privellage. With this new found knowledge, Brian changed his ways, giving much of his wealth to those in need, to those who could put it, in his words, "to much better use then he ever could have".

So two years later, on their fifth anniversary, Alicia came home to the apartment where she and Brian lived together only to find it empty. She turned on a light and sitting there in the middle of the spacious living area were the words 'marry me Alicia?' spelled out of not rose petals, but money. Alicia giggled and at that moment, Brian appeared, walking toward her. "Well Alicia," He asked, dropping to one knee in front of her. "Will you marry me?" "You spelt it in money!" Alicia gasped in reply. "Huh?" Brian asked, stunned. "Oh, yes. A tribute to the person I was before I met the most wonderful girl in the world and she changed me for the better." He explained. "The moment this is over, all this is going to the homeless shelter downtown." He added hastily, gesturing at the cash. "Yes." Alicia said after a long moment's silence. "Yes?" Again, Brian was confused. "Yes I'll marry you silly!" She said happily, excited. He slipped the golden ring on her finger before Alicia spoke again. "Mr Money Man." She added playfully, slapping the back of his leg.

China

"I'm not due for another 3 weeks!" Gracie complained when her labour began. "I know, but the baby doesn't does it?" Hee husband asked, helping Gracie off the couch. "Come on, we've got to get you to the hospital." Gracie's husband Barney ran frantically around their house, stuffing items into a rather large green bag before hurrying out the door, Gracie on his arm.

Hours later, Gracie had a little girl. But she'd hardly even got a glimpse of her little girl before she was whisked away. "Barney, what happened to her?" Gracie sobed. "I didn't even get to see her!" "It's ok, Gracie. I'll fix it." Barney soothed, stroking her hand. He stood up and approached a nurse. "Excuse me" he said, only a slight hint of anger in his tone. "What happened to our daughter? We haven't seen her." "I'll find out right now for you Sir, if you'd just like to stay with your wife, we'll come and let you know." She promised, busting away.

As it turned out, Gracie and Barney's daughter had had complications and they'd had to give her immediate treatment. Late that night, she was at last placed gently in Gracie's eagerly waiting arms. "China." She said. "China?" "For her name." Gracie explained. "Fragile, and precious." "China." Barney repeated, looking lovingly down at the little baby Gracie held in her arms.

All We Have

Ingrid and Malcom Emery were young and had been married a considerable ten years. So you wouldn't have expected what they'd both been through at all. They lived a quiet life in a small cottage, content with each other's company and happy with their simple quiet lifestyle. When they'd been married in their mid twenties, both Malcom and Ingrid's parents were alive but now, all were gone along with Ingrids three brothers and Malcom's two sisters. They were alone now, with each other.

One evening, Ingrid sat at their small dining table contemplating their deaths of both their families. Malcom came in and seeing his wife was upset approached her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. Ingrid looked up at him. He saw the same beauty he'd seen when he'd first met her fifteen years earlier. The only difference between that Ingrid then and the Ingrid he saw looking up at him now was that this Ingrid was slightly red round the eyes. Ingrid had sandy blonde hair, part of which was held by a clip at the back of her head. Her pale green eyes glittered with the aftermath of her tears and her soft pink lips smiled up at Malcom. "What's the matter Ingrid?" Malcom asked, concerned. "You never cry. Ever." "I know, I'm sorry." Ingrid smiled at him. "Don't apologise Love. Just tell me what's wriong." "Well, I was just looking at our old family albums now, the ones that our parents left us." She began, gesturing toward two large books spread out on the dining table. "But then I realise it's just us now. We're all each other has. This is it. All we have." Ingrid said slowly, hastily wiping away the tears that were falling down her cheeks. "That's ok." Malcom soothed, massaging Ingrid's shoulders. "At least we've got each other. We may be all we have but, we're in it together. Right till the end."

This had a hint of truth in it, for many many years later after having a few kids and a long happy life and marriage, Ingrid and Malcom were not a centimetre away from one another when the time came for them to die. They were truly in it together, right through till the end.