Felicia Neuhof

And Then… She Was There

By Felicia Neuhof
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

It was getting late, time to wash the residue of the long day at summer camp off of my face.
I hobbled on one good foot and one casted foot into the bathroom, shut the door, turned on the hot water… and let it run.
Searching for the washcloth through my bag of toiletries, I picked it out and set it on the edge of the sink.
I ran my hand through the streaming water from the faucet to feel if it was warm yet….
It was still cold.
I looked up into the mirror…
A face stared back at me,
Cheeks and nose red and rosy from being kissed by the sun’s rays bouncing off the lake all day,
But then I stared closer into the deep brown eyes and…
FLASH!
I was blinded by an invisible light and had no choice but to shut my eyes in anguish.
The instant my eyelids met, I was swooped up and transported through time, back…

VERMONT WINTER SNOWSTORM MAGIC

Millions of tiny flakes float down, waiting to find the one place they belong
They are like a mother tucking her child into bed, and pulling a fluffy white sheet over her now still and slumbering child.
It covers every surface, casting its thick white spell that muffles surrounding sounds and cries, and mesmerizes every eye that invades its soundless mission.
Falling, falling, falling, every single flake coming together, rounding and smoothing every sharp, crude outline, and turning it into a beautiful, magical, and delicate wonderland, just waiting for someone to scuff its immaculate surface.
Now the flakes intensity starts to slow, transforming from a flaky sheet, yet turning into powdered sugar and sprinkling on the finishing touches of the long, restless storm.

FACEBOOK

By Felicia Neuhof
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

A way to connect with people everywhere
A way to stay in touch
A way to show people your life through pictures
A way to show people your videos of achievements
A way to send a private message
A way to send a public message
A way to have a quick chat
A way to draw something on someone’s page
A way to contact and form large groups of friends
A way to join a cause and make a difference
A way to get a giggle out of a funny saying or picture
A way to take quizzes that you can find nowhere else
A way to see what is going on in everyone else's lives
A way to get to know someone through their listed interests
A way to create
A way to voice an opinion
A way to nominate friends for their special attributes
A way to know upcoming events
A way to know everyone’s status in their life
A way to show your current status
A way to never lose a friend
A way to have fun

One Invention

By Felicia Neuhof
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

In this world of anger, destruction, greed and lack of love and sympathy, there lies an imperative invention whose formula is yet to be discovered. This invention would end fighting in the world. It is not a tangible invention, but an intangible one. It doesn’t come from the formulas and research of one person or a group of individuals, it comes from within the souls of all of humanity. If the message could only be conveyed to the world that violence is not the answer and peace is, then the invention might be possible. It takes courage and the voices of people to change this world of hate that we have created. The end of violence is the most important invention of them all and is the one that has not been invented. Peace is the real name of this invention and is the secret key to unlock our planet Earth and find its true heart.

The Most Important Reflection

Queen Elizabeth I

Like a compass ever spinning towards north,
Elizabeth’s thoughts always turned towards her conscience.
Each opinion of others she took to heart,
And used each piece of knowledge she learned,
To relate to all troubles she encountered.
Humorous, yet serious
Loving, yet cruel
She stood for what she knew was right
And could not be fooled,
Like a boulder on a beach
Waves ever crashing against,
Elizabeth was an unmovable spirit,
No matter who or what tried to break her.

Queen Elizabeth I

Like a compass ever spinning towards north,
Elizabeth’s thoughts always turned towards her conscience.
Each opinion of others she took to heart,
And used each piece of knowledge she learned,
To relate to all troubles she encountered.
Humorous, yet serious
Loving, yet cruel
She stood for what she knew was right
And could not be fooled,
Like a boulder on a beach
Waves ever crashing against,
Elizabeth was an unmovable spirit,
No matter who or what tried to break her.

In A Round

Pacing footsteps in a pattern,
Tied to an axis in chains of consent
Spreading…
Right turns into left
Up turns to down,
And yet shifted in composition
Its path stays fixed
It is a secret pacing through a sea of people
But bound to its source
Its path is traced, over and over…
In a round
The original source is lost
In the insanity of infinity

With Wings
~By Felicia Neuhof

Feeling myself gradually start to elevate off the ground from the flap, flap, flap of my working wings, feeling the wind in my face start to howl in applause;
Smelling the pungent odors of a clear and crisp fall morning;
the aroma of dead leaves fallen to the ground creating a blanket over the Earth,
the apples from the trees whose kiss from the honeybee has blossomed them into fruits;
Seeing the dew on the grass in its web, woven by the worker of night herself in disguise under her black veil, start to warm, in the heat of the sun
And evaporate and create a mist over the sleepy Earth below.
Flying over hill, over dale, through flood, through fire;
Over park, over pale, through bush through brier,
I would fly almost everywhere
Over the oceans of the deep, through the puffy and mellow clouds of the sky
I could speed up, slow down, dart up, dart down, without any rules or regulations

An Affair with a fair

By Felicia Neuhof
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

It’s in the official voice of the traffic director,
In the sink of the car tires making their way through the worn out path,
In the “click,” “click,” “click” as my friends and I get out of the car and shut the doors,
It’s in the excitement of the long walk through the field rife with cars,
In the faint hazy buzz of the jumble of musical and crowd-filled noises ahead,
In the sour smells of animals, stomach churning smells of exhaust, repulsive smells of cigarette smoke, yet pleasant smells of wood fires, and sweet and salty smells of food,
It’s in the purchasing of tickets and waiting in lines
In the rush of the increased and overpowering noises,
In the almost impossible sailing through the sea of people,
In the endless and almost impossible task of keeping track of your family, friends and money,
It’s in the adrenaline rush of the rides and the flashing lights,