If you have a positive mind even when you fall down, you are more of a hero than superman. You don’t have to have powers to be ready for round two to break your resilience. You get stronger each time. While Ulysses was not being a hero when his mind was drifting, Joanne Magee is determined to get through the jungle of life. He couldn’t keep his head from giving up, but Joanne had a positive mind all the way through her journey. Even though Ulysses made it home over 20 years, Joanne made it through a tough two years of two heart breaking events that changed her life.
Ulysses might have made it through hard life struggles, but he is the exact opposite of a hero. He kept falling back down and didn’t get back up that fast, but most of all had a negative mind bringing him down and pulling him off the his goal. In the book “The Adventures of Ulysses” by Bernard Evslin, Ulysses was heartbroken and yelled at his men (on page 40). He didn’t think they might have feelings too about being in view of Ithaca. Ulysses wasn’t thinking about his men and that’s not a heroic trait. His sadness was quickly turned to anger and anger is not good. Now lets stop talking about Ulysses and his non heroic traits and start talking about a real hero. I have a modern day hero in mind and this one is very close to me indeed. This amazing woman is Joanne Magee.
My modern day hero is Joanne Magee. She is a hero because she made it through a tough two years with not one, but two terrifying events. She had a surgery that changed her physically and a loss of her father that changed her mentally. Joanne persevered through these events and came out the other side with a positive mind. She was determined to get through the rest of her life. She was selfless. After three weeks of recovering from her surgery Joanne was back on her spinning bike and after five weeks she was full on running again. Seven weeks later she was back in work like nothing happened. That really shows how much she bounced right back just so the people around her were happy again. You can’t say that that is not heroic of her. She is definitely more of a hero than superman.
Another hero that you should already know of is Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is a hero because he is determined to tell our generation about life and the world we live in. He wants to tell and warn us about the solar system and the universe. Neil is just like us, he has a wife and kids. He wakes up in the morning, goes to work and then comes back home. The only difference is that he is try to make the world a better place everyday by teaching more and more people about our history and our future. Neil has devoted time and effort into learning and teaching about life and he is not giving up on the world. If you don’t think he is a hero than I don’t know who is.
Are there heroes in New York? YES. There are heroes all around us, just no one notices them. You probably see 20 heroes each day. You can’t see a persevering, positive, determined and selfless person just by looking at them. Those traits are invisible. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover goes for humans too. If we didn’t have those heroes humans would always be sad and angry. We take them for granted. There are some people in life that don’t notice these people, but there are heroes are all around them. They just didn’t look up. If I didn’t have joanne magee I wouldn’t be able to make it through life. When I was little she picked me up when I fell down and now she has taught me to have a positive mind just like her. I would probably turn into a corrupt person without her.
We wrote the essay to show other people that there are heroes everywhere. They are not superheroes, they are our heroes. They are better.
Chapter 1: The Impostor!
There once was a girl named Tatalina Sincero. She had hickory colored hair and alabaster skin. Her eyes were a admiral blue with little tiny canary colored flecks. She was tall and skinny. She lived in a big kingdom called Jaboro. Her father and mother ruled over Argentina. Tatalina was never allowed to leave the kingdom because all the villagers depended on her presence and her beautiful long dark brown hair. Her only company was her little puppy, Potente which means powerful in Spanish. The thing was, she wanted to see her friend, Scarlet Foster, back in New York so she had to sneak out. She hired a doppelganger to take her place. Her name was Lucy. She looked so much like Tatalina you couldn’t tell the differences. She had such an amazing time in New York. She went to Times Square and the Barclay’s Center. She had hamburgers and hot dogs. It was so sad when she had to leave, but when she tried to get her private jet to come pick her up it didn’t come. So she bought a first class ticket and went home. When she arrived back in Argentina she was asked for her ID and they said, “You’re an imposter!” At this time she didn’t know what was going on, but she thought fast.
“Uhh, I mean Tina Since is my name.” The guard bought it and let her pass. Tatalina started to wonder what was going on. The jet didn’t come, the guard thought she was an imposter. It was like they forgot her. She opened the door to the castle and she was just about to walk in when she heard someone.
“Stop! What do you think you are doing?” shouted the guard.
“I uhh, I am the new cleaning lady”, she thought up fast.
“But the cleaning ladies only come in the afternoon.”
“Well, they said for me to come and clean Tatalina’s room.”
“Hmmm, okay you can go.”
She walked slowly into the castle afraid that someone might stop her again. When she heard voices up the stairs, she followed.
“Darling, you look wonderful today. Well, you always look amazing.”said mother.
“Aww, thank you mama.” said the voice. Those are my compliments, she thought. Tatalina peeked over the banister and froze. It was lucy, the girl she hired!
Chapter 2: Scarlet?
Tatalina couldn’t believe her eyes. It was her. That girl had taken over her life. Tatalina started to think about what she would do. How would she get rid of her? Who would teach her how to be a spy and all that? How was she going to get her life back? Suddenly she remembered that she was on the stairs, in front of her doppelganger, with guards there. She ran. She didn’t know where she was running, but she ran anyway. She thought that she should ask for help around the town. The villages would do anything for the princess. Oh, wait a second, she thought. I’m not the princess, well at least the that’s what they think. She had to go somewhere else. To the airport! Tatalina bought first class tickets, obviously. She arrived in New York City! She went to Scarlet Foster’s mansion, It is huge. Tatalina arrived at her mansion and knocked.
“Hello, is anyone home?” yelled Tatalina.
“Who is it?” a girl called from inside of the mansion.
“Who’s askin’” Tatalina respond.
“Scarlet. Who is this?”
“Oh Scarlet, it is you!” Tatalina shouted with glee.
“Tat?” Scarlet guessed
“Yeah! I need your help. Can I come in?”
“Of course, come in come.” Scarlet opened the door hugged her and led her inside. When Scarlet and Tatalina were little they would always grab the ball and hold it over their heads when they played with Tatalina’s dog. Scarlet used to come to Argentina all the time. Tatalina told Scarlet the whole story. Hiring her, flying away, identity taken, the whole shebang.
“Well, we can’t do much right now so why don’t we go have some fun while you’re here!”
“Sure, but we are going to get back to the problem right?”
“Of course we are.”
“Good.”
Chapter 3: New York, New York
Tatalina and Scarlet set out into the city. They went to The Rockettes and the Nutcracker Ballet. Scarlet pulled Tatalina into her private movie theater. They watched Birdman on a massive screen. At the end Tatalina was asking so many questions like; could she see her father at the end? Was it in his imagination? Was it in her imagination? Did they mix at some point? At that moment Scarlet just broke out laughing and then so did Tatalina. They got ice cream and put extra sprinkles on top.
“New York is amazing.” said Tatalina as they sat on the roof of the mansion.
“Yeah, it is. The sky at night is not normally like this though. The stars are twinkling as bright as your eyes. It must just be for you.”
“Why for me?” Tatalina asked.
“Because you bring good luck to me whenever you are near.”
“Thank you.” Tatalina and Scarlet hugged each other and lay down on their sleeping bags.
“What will happen to me? Lucy is in the power zone. I can’t stop her.”
“Does she know you are here?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Are there any events coming up?”
“Yeah, there is a party coming up.”
“Then you can do it. You will come up with a plan and you will sneak into your room and kidnap her. Then you will take your place back. Mega happy ending!”
“Sneak, kidnap, by myself! No way.” Tatalina didn’t want to do it by herself. Tatalina’s nerves kicked in. She was scared. She let out a huge wail and waterfalls came running down her cheeks.
“No, no, no. Don’t cry. I will help you. I am sorry you thought I wouldn’t do it with you.” Then Scarlet wiped away the tears and held her hand. Then they fell into a deep dreamy state together.
Chapter 4: The Plan
Tatalina woke up to the sound of the kettle boiling. The smell of tea filled the room. “Ah, English breakfast tea. It is the best the world.”
“You are finally awake, I see.” said Scarlet
“Well, how could I stay asleep when you are making tea.”
“I know it is your favorite.”
“I was thinking we could start working on the plan today. Maybe, just because you are going back to school soon so.” Tatalina said a little worried.
“We can do whatever you would like. I want to make sure you are happy, but school has started. I have to go in tomorrow. I am so sorry. I promise that I will help you get the plan ready today, no delays.”
“Thanks,” Tatalina responded as she thought it back in her head. Tatalina didn’t know if she could do it all by herself. I guess I have to, she thought. Tears started to well up, but she held them back. This would not hold her back. She would do it, she would get her family back.
“How much sugar?” Scarlet asked
“Two cubes please.”
“Actually make it one, to match my life which tastes so bitter.”
“Ok, here you go.” She passed the mug to Tatalina. Tatalina put her hands around it, and that broke her.
“I can’t (sob, sob)do this (sob, sob)by myself,” she wailed.
“Everything is fine. You will be ok. I will help you through it all.”
“But you’re (sob, sob) going to school.”she managed out over the tears.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t help you. It just means that I have things that I have to do. I can call you every night and tell you the plan. You have a phone right?”
“Yeah,” Tatalina squeezed out.
“Good because every fifteen year old girl like you and me should have a phone by now. So yeah, I will just call you.”
“Ok.”
“I gave you two sugars because you deserve some sweetness and I know it.”
“What would I do without you?”
Chapter 5: Going In
Tatalina packed her stuff and Scarlet led her to the airport. When Tatalina tried to pay, something happened. Her credit card didn’t work. Tatalina tried talking to the flight attendants, but she said that her cards were invalid. Tatalina didn’t understand why her credit cards weren’t working. She was broke. Tatalina had just lost all her money, well she hadn’t really lost it, it just wasn’t hers any more. So Scarlet ended up paying for it, but there was a slight problem. Scarlet didn’t have enough money to pay for first class or even business class. Tatalina had to sit in the economy section. Well, it can’t be that bad right, she thought. It was that bad. She was squashed and uncomfortable. It was the longest ride home, yet still the same exact time. When the plane landed she felt like she had been through it all. Her phone rang.
“Hello this is Tatali… I mean Tina Since, How can I help you?”
“Tat, you ready for the plan yet?”
“Oh, I am so happy to hear your voice and, yes I am.”
“Ok, so go to kingdom and tell me when you get there, k?”
“K,” Tatalina ran to the kingdom.
“Ok, I am there.”
“Great, go in and say you are the cleaning lady. Then get the broom on the side of the wall and sweep all the way up the stairs. At this time she shouldn’t be in her, well your room. But hurry you don’t have that much time, she will be back soon. Go!”
Tatalina put her phone up her sleeve so no one would spot it and followed out her instructions. When she got up she saw Lucy coming through the hallway. She didn’t have time to think. She took out her dog’s ball from her pocket and throw it down the hall as a distraction. It worked, Lucy went to see what the matter was. That gave Tatalina just enough time to get in her room. It has been a long time away from this bed, Tatalina thought.
“Ok, now what?”
“Go behind the door and leave it open. Then when she comes in to change into her dress for the party shut the door and lock it. Then you take out the rope from your pocket and try to tie it around her arms and legs. If she fights back do the pressure point I taught you. Go!”
Tatalina did what she was told. Lucy walked in right on time. She followed the plan.
“Ah, get off.” Lucy yelled as she pushed Tatalina to the floor. “Oh, it’s you. So I see you have come to visit. You will never get your place back in the kingdom. It now belongs to me.”
“Never, I will get it back. Ahhhhhh!” Tatalina charged. They tossed and tumbled then Lucy was out cold.
“Tat, Tat are you there?”
“I did it, I did it.” Tatalina finally said in shock.
“Did what?”
“The pressure point worked. It actually worked.”
“OMG, you did it! Uoho, uoho. Ya you did it, ya ya you did it…”Scarlet sang enjoy. “GTG, sup sorry. Bye” Scarlet hung up. Tatalina got dressed in her party dress.
“All back to normal, I guess.” Tatalina walked outside in her regained kingdom and breathed in the fresh air.
“I’m back.”
The End
England is my home. I feel like it is the best place in the world. Everything seems better there. The people there are like angels. You can walk alone without being afraid to be robbed, kidnapped or hit by a car. It’s so peaceful. It is a perfect place for a baby to grow up. You can feed the town cat. You will find bunnies and foxes all the time. The neighborhood my grandma lives in doesn’t have any tall glass buildings for miles. I have all my relatives there. I only get to see them once a year so it makes it so special when I do see them. It’s different than other people’s relatives because you might be able to go say “ Hey, I am going to my grandma’s this weekend. Want to come.” Well, my grandma is 3,000 miles away! My grandma’s house is giant compared to mine. It has 11 rooms including the attic. I can do whatever I want to do. I can run and jump, I can play hide and seek and I can have me time, alone. It’s nice to have a break on my New York life and just be peaceful in my English life
I was waiting for the first person to walk in. I hope it is Atticus. I have never seen him before. I hear the doorbell ring, I rush to it. It’s Susan with John! Soon everyone comes in. Seeing their faces filled me with joy, especially Atticus’s. Just to clarify I have a lot of relatives. I have a lot of aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas, cousins from 0 to 31, cousins once removed, cousins twice removed and distant relatives. I’ve got them all. I have many different relatives. My 25 year old cousin’s wife is Chinese. I have about 16 relatives in Australia and about 30 relatives in Argentina. Then I have about 17 in Maryland. And I have sooo much more relatives that are in England. Atticus lives in England for example.
I still have to wait for everyone to come in. Pamela and her kids haven’t even arrived yet. It takes along time for everyone to arrive. Around an hour, again I have a big family and not even half could make it. Finally the Bradley’s arrive. (If you have no idea what these names are, they are just groups of family). As soon as they arrived we left to go to the park. Since Atticus can’t walk my grandma had to carry him. The good thing is that the park is only a block away from Grandma’s house. I was leading the trail of family. As soon as we all got into the park I notice how many people were in the park. And they were all related to me! There are a lot of cute babies in my family. This year there is a new baby named Atticus.( That’s the baby I keep on talking about.) Atticus is the cutest baby ever. This year was the first time I had ever met him. I was on a picnic blanket outside when we were waiting for everyone to come and Charlotte (Atticus’s mom) walks over to me with Atticus in her arms. As soon as I saw his eyes make contact with mine I felt like the world stopped and it was just me and him smiling at each other. Perfect blue eyes just staring up at me. All I could think was how amazed I was that this adorable baby was related to me. Atticus has that baby laugh that just makes you laugh. Then Simon came (Atticus’s dad). Even though that moment was only like 1 minute it meant a lot to me. It was the first time I met Atticus. I meet new relatives every year, but this was different. I felt like the world stop in its tracks and it felt like it lasted for 30 minutes. I know when Atticus is older he will not remember that, but I will.
Last year there was two babies about to be born. Now these one of these babies are born. The one that is born is a younger brother to Jessie which is a two` year old baby and his parents are the 25 year cousin of mine with his wife. And the other baby is a little sister to Atticus.
When we were all at the house waiting for everyone to come I didn’t see everyone at once. I only saw the people in the back garden, like Atticus. I didn’t see the people in the living room, the bedrooms, the kitchen, The bathrooms or the airlock. I didn’t even get to say hi to all of them. Now we are all at the park and I can say hi to all of them. We started to take selfies to remember each other. I took a selfie with Atticus and his parents. We all hugged and it was awesome. Then we had to say goodbye. I didn’t want to say goodbye to Atticus and his family. If I lived there I would be soooo different. I would see Atticus when ever I wanted and I would probably babysit him. I would probably look different too. You might not even know it was me. The schools are the only thing that is worse there than here. The teachers hurt you, and the only way you learn is tests. You never do anything fun for school. No projects, no treats and definitely no special pens. Summer break is only five weeks long. I would definitely live there rather than here if I didn’t have to go to school. It would make me nicer if I lived there because I would be so much more free. I would be happy to live there. I started to think of the next time I will see them. About seeing the two new faces.(Atticus’s little sister and Jessie’s little brother.) I want to hug all of them again. I can wait till next time!
