The grove lingered on the edge of the forgotten town like an empty sentinel, its trees bent in silence. It wore its shadows as if it was an old cover, with secrets, almost as if it was whispering through its leaves. Each branch twisted, pleading, pointing, or perhaps mocking—it looked as if it was dancing in its dusk. Heavy and damp air, with a sense of many unsolved questions. 

This place was not ordinary at all. It seemed alive,at the same time looked as if there was nothing, but had some sort of presence. The feeling as if the grove was breathing and the sound of its heartbeat. It had its own mood, shifting time to time. At that moment it was peaceful.

Anyone who stands near could feel its heavy gaze. But it seemed like it was minding its own, not letting anything bother its surroundings. It also understood the person that was there at the moment, it understood their vibe, body language, confusion and more. They know what a heartbreak was for a human, and it gave a company of sadness within. 

But the grove didn’t support the person, rather it seemed like a provocator whose sympathy was not kind at all. The sound of the groves leaves a message that irritates the person, as if it was a remnant of the things that went wrong and how the person that they had feelings for had left them hanging without any sign of love. Curl and heartless, asking the question, that they can get the answers just by looking. What went wrong? 

The grove didn’t show no pity, rather it felt like it was holding them down with its roots to make them feel as sorry as possible that they can be. And as it was getting closer and closer, it felt like flames under the person’s foot, the flame of their grief and loss. The grove was holding that person accountable for their actions, that they couldn’t control.

The grove becomes a little soft, as the night gets deeper and deeper. It seemed like the grove almost grew taller and less wide as it was letting go of the person. A sudden smell of honey and cinnamon, and the sound of a soft lullaby. It felt like the tree got soft and started to care about the heartbroken person and try to comfort them. As the moon light came out and a sound of a wolf, but not scary, rather a peaceful atmosphere that helped that person forget their grief and loss. 

At the end the grove was not kind, but it did show feelings. It almost holds them accountable for their acts and shows them the untamed truth within the action. But the grove settled them free and showed them that there is still a way to get redemption. In the end it still left a small wound in his heart and showed him as long as he’s alive he will never forget that day.

A 3:00 am phone call

It was 3:00 am at night, Frank’s phone rang as loud as it could. He woke up from his sleep, feeling dizzy and trembling all over the bed to find his phone. He picks up the phone trying to sound as normal as he can.

Frank (still a little dizzy):

Hello.

Samantha (caller):

Hey, Frank it me Samantha 

Frank (heavy breath and relief):

Oh, hey

Frank was wondering why she called so late at night. But at the same time he knew she was at the hospital for her mother who was having an operation. 

Frank: 

Is everything okay?

Samantha: 

Yea, the operation went well, sorry to call you this late at night, But I was hoping we could meet. 

Frank felt better knowing everything went well, but a little surprised and wondering why she would want to meet in the middle of the night. 

Frank (without being hesitant)

Sure, I will come to the hospital.

Frank got up from this bed, had his pajama on and put a jack on. He gets his key and opens the door of his apartment. He gets into the escalator and gets to the parking lot. He drives by Samantha’s house which was pretty close to his place, and sees the light on at her place. He wonders why. 4 min left to the destination (hospital), he gets another call from Samantha.

Samantha:

Hey, are you almost here?

Frank:

Yea just in a few minutes.

Frank gets there, See Samantha waiting outside for him.

Frank (sees Samantha crying):

Hey, Hey. What’s wrong?

Samantha drops to her knees as she starts bursting into tears, Franks tries to get her up and wonders why she is being like this.

Samantha (crying):

I was scared.

Frank shows a sign of relief and smiles at Samantha.

Frank: 

Sam, I know it’s been tough. But the evening went well. Come on get up and let’s go see your mom, how’s she doing?

Frank gets Samantha up and walks down to the hallway of the hospital.

3 things I wanted to show about Frank was that he was selfless, curious and supporting.

Selfless: On this part I wanted to show how he picked up his phone despite being so late at night. And without any hesitation he went out of his way to help in any way.

Curious: He was at times curious such as why she called so late at night and why her place had the light on this late at night. 

Supporting: They way he went out his way thinking that Samantha might need help, was something that shows that he was caring. Also where Samantha didn’t say much, but he said that he was scared. He could have acted differently, but chose to support her during the difficult time. 

Dreams like the nature

By Kazi Hoque

Under the sky, many rises

Many stays in the bottom

With a purpose of hope 

But, still standing strong

The Sun rises everyday

The Oceans waves everyday 

The trees stand strong with pride

The mountains stand strong with pride

Nature rises and stays strong EVERYDAY.

Dreams are meant to be unrealistic 

Work are supposed to be not liked

Process are supposed to be long

Time is meant to be spent. 

Dream like the nature

That is moving on its own. 

Cover letter: 

Through this letter I want to express my poem “Dreams like nature” in more depth. 

My Inspiration behind the poem was to show how earth nature and human psychology plays a role with each other. I often find myself very unmotivated to do day to day tasks like studying, work and many more. But seeing how nature works around me keeps me motivated to do those tasks. Like the Sun without any complaints rising up to make the days bright and tree with all the weight they have in their shoulder, keeps standing on their roots and provides necessities like oxygen. These things in nature show us how we as humans should also carry out our purposes and strive to reach the utmost of them. For me the meaning in this poem was very emotional because there are things in this world that I want to achieve that seem very much impossible. Now it can be said like dreams, like most of us think about that most of the time seems fictional and impossible to solve. Nature is something that does things that seem impossible within our eyes. Like rain falling to harvest more food and bring more water, Ground for us to stand, walk and transport and many other things that nature provides for us. Now I’m not saying we have to do these impossible tasks that nature does for us, but to take it as an example to keep our minds  positive and keep us motivated to do our task whether it’s liked or not, because there is always a purpose behind it. 

The central message that I wanted to put out is that no matter how hard something might seem, you should always

Explanation: 

I wanted my poem to be very easily understood by the readers, so I choose words and forms that are easy to understand. I wanted to portray things that can be imagined while reading, so put a pleasing feeling in my poem. The poem gives a sense of motivation and how nature reflects on everyone’s daily life. The title shows what’s the meaning behind the poem in a smaller way but as they read to the end they can understand why the title is named “Dreams like nature”. I didn’t face any challenges because I talked about something that I could relate to even if my actions may speak that, and that helped me write this poem the way I wanted to be. And I wanted the readers to get a sense of motivation through my words and kept it quite simple with the words for anyone to understand. I used rhyme to make my poem flow better while reading, and symbolism to give imagery to the reader. I would say I could have done better with my message in this poem, because reading it still feels a little likely if people are gonna get the message or not.

The place where it starts

The starting point:

Robert opens the door, meets a lovely employee that helps him get started with his membership. As he walks in, the smell of steel and iron from the weights and the scent of sweat hits him in the face. As he gets done with all the process of signing up, he hopes into a treadmill that was right in front of him. He struggles a bit as it’s been a while on the treadmill, but in a few minutes he got a hang on it. It wasn’t his first time at the gym, he had skipped the gym for such a long time that he was a bit scared of how his first day was gonna fo. There were many people around him, all positive and welcoming. But still there was a guilt inside him, which made him feel like he was accountable for something wrong. 

Robert back then was the guy that would always cheer up everyone at the gym, and would always motivate to keep going on. But due to him losing his job, leading him to thinking that his future is ruined. It caused a lot of mental stress on him, so he stopped going to the gym. Now, he’s someone who questions himself, whether he’s the one that belongs here or not. 

He goes up to the empty bench, and puts a 25lb on each side of the bar. He’s PR was 205lb once, him thinking about that makes him a little sad on how he went down so much. But he takes a heavy breath, lays down and says:

“Here goes nothing”

Rising part:

His first few workouts felt like hell, as it’s been a while and also he had an ego on how he used to pick up many heavy weights and now he struggles with it. As he finishes his cardio, he feels tired and weak, wanting to get out. But he pushes himself no matter what. As he looks around, he sees people in better shape like lean, muscular, and intense. He gets nervous with those thoughts. After his chest workout he leaves for the day.

The next day, Robert was doing back, he all of a sudden felt very bad, since he was pushing himself quite a lot. As he was struggling, someone holded his bar with him to help him finish his set. 

That person was the trainer at that gym, he goes’

“Hey man, are you alright?”

Roberts gets nervous and says

“Yea, I’m fine. Thank you for helping me”

The trainer smiles and say

“Of course man, By the way I have to say you had a really good form man, keep up the work.”

Robert smiles and say

“Thank you, I really appreciate that. I was just a tired”

Trainer looks at him with care and says

“Listen man, don’t push yourself too hard. I think you did pretty good for today. You should leave for today. Also I’m always at the gym, let me know if you ever need any help with anything. Oh and what’s your name?”

Robert says

“I appreciate that a lot man, yea my name is Robert”

Trainer shakes his hand and says

“Alright Robert, I will see you next time man.”

Robert leaves the gym. 

Unstoppable momentum:

Few months in, Robert gets a lot more comfortable and his workouts no longer make him feel bad, rather make him feel safe and give him a sense of achievement. He’s a whole new man, not only physically but also mentally. 

Robert notices someone just like him, seemed a little scared and confused. Awkwardly standing with a dumble not sure what to do. Roberts sense the self doubt in him as well, he goes toward him and asks nicely

“Hey man, first time in the gym?”

The boys looks at him with shyness and say

“Yes, sorry if I bothered you.”

Robert smiles and says

“Nah man, you’re absolutely fine. Listen man, I’ve been there before too, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

He smiles at Robert

“Thank you, I really appreciate that”

To Robert, the gym was no longer a place where just get a workout in, but a place where it brought a sense of achievement and made people good for who they are. 

At the end of his workout he realizes that, we don’t have to wait for motivation to start something, it’s something we can bring ourselves. 

Reflection Questions:

What inspired your story, and why did you choose this idea to expand upon (or create anew)?

My story relates to me a lot, as for someone who workout, there is always a starting point for all of us. My main idea for us was that we are all scared when we start something, or when we do a thing that we haven’t done in a while.

What choices did you make to develop the characters, and how do those choices shape the reader’s understanding of them?

I chose 2 characters to help him develop his character setting. Like in the middle part I chose the trainer as someone who gives him hope on what he’s trying to achieve and in the last part I used the other guys as a reminder for Robert to reflect on himself and see a new version of himself. 

What aspects of your story are you most proud of, and why?

The part I am proud of is the part where the story gives us a reality check and tells us how we should slow down our pace when things feel heavy for us.

What message, feeling, or experience do you hope your audience takes away from reading your story?

My message wasn’t about telling people to work but, but to put out a message that in our like more or less likely we are going to be scared to start something and it okay to be scared. But we all should take small steps to achieve the thing that we want. 

If you had more time to revise, what changes would you make, and why?

I would add more to the ending. To me, I’m not completely convinced with the ending. And maybe add more points to the message that I’m trying to put out.

A place where you probably wouldn’t see yourself falling in love or being dumped. In an Olive garden, the smell of butter from the bread, crying noise from the kid next table and his mother yelling at him. The waiter arrived and took our order. I ordered the Chicken Alfredo and she had the Minestrone. Our food arrived, but here I was just poking at the food and thinking sluggish. 

Oh I forgot, my one and only Sheila, Trust me when I say this she was one in a million. She was a beauty, one of the smartest, stylish and elegant. On the other hand, here I was sluggish and always wore some bum sweats. I never meant for us to go wrong anywhere. 

The last thing she said was, “I think we need a break for a while, you need to start understanding things and moments better.” and she left. But still not 100% sure if she did or not. By the way, that was after dinner and it was 45$ with tip. 

So there I was, lost and punching the air in my mind. But all of a sudden I meet someone else and I knew. Not Sheila, But her name was Sheila as well. By the way, that wasn’t intentional of me choosing a partner with the same name. But for the sake of you guys not getting confused lets just call her Sheila 2. 

I still will never forget the day I met her. I was shaking like a bitch, thinking that If not today, I would probably never pass my economics test. I was studying for my exam. In a crowded library, she sat right in front of me. I saw the same book with her that I had. I asked her without any hesitation.

Kevin: Hey, are you going to take the econ test today?

She looked into my eyes, and there I was messing up big time asking a question like that to a beauty like her. 

Sheila: Yea. By the way, are we in the same class?

Oh no, I have never seen her before in my whole life, and somehow she has seen me in that 400 hundred people lecture hall class. Are you kidding me!

Kevin (calm): I think so, I’m in L2.

Sheila: Oh, me too. Ohh sorry I’m Sheila.

Kevin: Hi, I’m Kevin.

We later took that test, I passed the test with a 74, felt like I passed that test like how liverpool won the ucl in 2005. I didn’t see her for a while after. But she was running through my head. 

Onto my next semester, I was the biggest procrastinator. Delaying all my assignments. But all of a sudden one day, there she was in front of my eyes. She comes towards me and says, “Kevin, right?”. My heart dropped, she still remembered my name, but I acted cool like nothing happened. 

Kevin: Hey, Sheila is it.

Sheila: Yea, how’s your class going?

Kevin (nervous this time); Good, how’s yours?

Sheila (smirks): Good.

That was our last conversation, but I still remembered her after all this year. And surprisingly she did as well.

Sheila: Kevin, is that you?

Kevin (smiling): Hey Sheila, yea it me.

Sheila (smiles back): It’s good to see you.

Kevin: Yea you too. 

I once again in my life realized that, if not today, then I will never. So I finally did it,

Kevin: Hey, I was just wondering if you would like to get a coffee with me right now.

Sheila: Yea sure, I would love that.

We both smile at each other.