Missing

     The protagonist in the fictional novel "The Shack" by William P. Young is a father known as Mack. Married to a nurse and father to five, Mack and his family live in the American Northwest. Mack has perseveres through his rough childhood past to become a great husband and father. He is a christian at heart as he regularly attends church, though he does not have the intimacy that his wife has with God.

     Winter has breezed through and spring has come. Mack has decided to take the family to a routine camping trip. Not much happened until the last day where three different families including Mack's meet. Two of Mack's children, Kate and Josh, decided to borrow the canoe of their camping neighbor. While the two older children were canoeing, Missy, the youngest of the five sat at the picnic table beside Mack. She was coloring her book as she waited for the time of departure. As one of the two canoers decided to wave back at Mack, the canoe had tipped over sending both children underwater. The daughter "was up first, sputtering and crying, but there was no sign of Josh"(23). Instinctively, Mack headed for the water without hesitation due to his teenage lifeguard skills. Mack realized that josh's "straps on his life vest had gotten tangled in the canoe webbing"(23) Mack was able to push the canoe back upright before anything bad happened to his two children. When they get back to the picnic table, Missy is found missing.

     Mack learns how to face this conflict with his daughter constantly in the back of his mind. Missy and his family is his true motivation and is what keeps him going.

Kisses

                               S              

                   S    E  

                 I          S

  K

You

Have always

Been there for me

From through thick and thin

For poorer or worse. I know that

where ever I will go, you will be there.

I know that sometimes it seems to me, that

things get in the way from us seeing eye to eye.

But despite our occasional so called spaz attacks,

I guess, loving you isn't all that hard to do. Even if you 

are rarely by my side, I still do miss you so. You are like the

Missing piece, of my weird unsolved and mysterious puzzle. A

puzzle that no one knows what it will turn out to be. Love, hate and

happiness, these are the things that make our relationship. People can argue

that what we have isn't really perfect. But I guess perfection can never be acquired,

And those imperfections that we have together, is what makes us special from all others

I know it seems like I don't care anymore, but deep down I do. Through our magnificent past,

I have found that the saying is true, "like father like son" because you are the best father in the world. 

Even if we are half way around the world, you still manage to make me happy, day after day, year after year. Thanks Dad

(I'm sorry if the shape is a bit undefined, but it is supposed to be chocolate kisses!)

Downing in my thoughts

     It was back in grade two in the Philippines when I first encountered my fear of swimming.  I was one of the smaller kids in the class, and I still needed a life vest to swim.  How pitiful can that be? Not only did I realize that swimming was harder than it seemed, I also had an epiphany.  I learned that sometimes in life, the greatest challenges we face is with ourselves. I remember this incident like it was just yesterday.
     I anxiously opened the envelope when I saw the letter addressed to "Kyle".
     "I never got a letter before" I thought, as shards of paper went flying across the room. As the letter continues, my eyes started to dilate, and my heart started to pump.  I realized I was invited to my first party.
     My dad was on a business trip when I first received my invitation. I decided to talk to my mom instead. I rushed downstairs with footsteps of a Sasquatch but as tall as mini-me.
     "Mom! Mom!" I yelled. "I', invited to my friend Red's party!"
     "Who is Red?" my mom asked "And what kind of a name is Red anyways?"
     "He's my friend, mom. It's a swimming party at his house." I said as I looked over at the steaming pot to see what it was. My mom and I debated the terms in which I had to follow to be able to attend the party. No bringing my PlayStation. No horse playing. My nanny had to come along and I had to wear my life vest at all times, since I couldn't swim. I was ecstatic. Friday could not come any slower.
     Friday finally arrived and I was heading over to my friend's house. I arrived at his house only to find out that I was the first one to arrive. Once the door opened, I rushed into his house. I did not have a care in the world of what people thought of me.
     As I walked into the living room, the fresh aroma of chips and pop rushed into my nasal cavity. A giant flat screen T.V. to the left, marbled floors, counter tops, and state of the art fridges. --life I would care about high end fridges.-- The scent of chlorine wafted over me as I went outside. Complete with a a swimming pool, a slide and the fresh scent of pine trees to compliment it, Red's house seemed to be paradise. I waited for my friend Red before I plunged into the pool, life vest and all. An hour passed and I was still in the pool. Wrinkled fingertips and toes, it was obvious that I was in the pool for too long. Like a rubber ducky atop a big orange floating device, I was floating atop the chlorine filled pool. As I examined my surroundings like a new born baby chick, I realized that I was the only one who couldn't swim. It gave me something to think about.
      "What would happen if I took my life vest away?" I pondered. The possibilities were narrowed down to two. I would either go inside Red's house and watch T.V. with the others who were afraid to swim, or try and be bold. I decided to go with the latter.
     "If most of my friends could swim why not me?" I thought. I started to take my life best off and went to atop the big blue slide. I took a big breath and pushed myself forward. It felt great. For the first two seconds wind blow past my face and water gushed under my feet. It was like I was on cloud nine. It was incredible, until I hit the pool. I went underwater and panicked. I tried paddling, kicking, and grabbing on to other people's legs. After struggling for what seemed like eternity, my life flashed before me. I ran out of breath and fainted.
     I woke up at the back of an ambulance. I was bloated. Full of water, a bit of chlorine and possibly a hint of urine, I felt horrible. I vomited into a bucket, as my nanny explained that my friend's dad was a doctor. He performed CPR to save my life. He was my knight in shining armour. I went back to sleep.
     I woke up at the hospital and attached to a variety of medical apparatuses. My mom and dad walked into the room and hugged me. It was like I was in a drama movie where I was the star. My dad didn't know anything the party or me drowning. He only found out when he got off the plane from his business trip. It was a harsh day for me and it was lucky that Red's father was able save me. I found out that my nanny was fired right after this little incident for being slightly inattentive.
     As for me, I was hoping that my friends would visit me but they never showed up. I guess they were too busy with school or having fun at Red's house.
     Up to this day, I never told my parents the truth about this little incident. It has scared me for life but I will always keep it to myself that it was my fault for drowning because of my lack of reasoning. Yet because of this unfortunate incident, I have learned that the we face multiple challenges in life, but the decisions we make when we face challenges with ourselves might end up biting you in the behind.