The Angry Place

By J.D. Clark


My name is Conner. I'm eight. When I grow up, I secretly want to be just like my brother. His name is Jude. He's eleven.


But I used to think he didn't even want a brother.


Jude used to get very angry and was very mean to me. So I was very angry and very mean back.
But I am smaller so I always lost whenever we fought. One time it was a tooth. Another time we fought so hard that I busted my head open and had to get stitches.


I hate it when Jude gets angry. I never know when it's going to happen. And when it's going to stop. Like thunder in a bad storm.


One day, Mom had enough of us fighting so she took us for a drive.


"Where are we going?" I asked.


But she didn't answer.


Then she dropped us off at this humongous building where there were a whole bunch of kids whose moms had enough of them too, I guess.


"Way to go!"said my brother,"Mom got rid of us because you're such an idiot!" Then he put me in a head lock and gave me a noogie.


"I hate you!" I said when I finally broke free.


Then a man with a top hat and cane said,


"To every angry frowny face-
Welcome to The Angry Place!"


Then he took us into a big gymnasium and had us sit on some bleachers. The whole room was filled with windows, and dishes, and other nice, breakable things. But there were also baseball bats, boxing gloves, rocks, and other stuff.


"I guess you want us to be careful," said the boy on the front row.


The man winked and said,


"When the whistle blows, you may do as you wish,
You may break every window and door and dish,
'til all is completely destroyed. And then,
I will blow the whistle once again,
and you must sit, while the clean up crew,
sets it all back up for you."


The he blew the whistle and my brother and I went nuts. I never had so much fun bustin' things and letting out all of my anger!


"THIS IS YOU!" shouted my brother, beating a door into splinters with a bat.


"OH YEAH-THIS IS YOU!" I said throwing a rock thru a window.


There were people there to keep us safe. But it didn't take long for the whole place to look like a tornado hit it.


Then, the man blew the whistle again and we all sat back down while the cleaning crew came out.


Three of them were handicapped. There was a man someone was pushing in a wheelchair. A woman looked liked she had burns all over her face and arms. And another man was missing an arm.


It took them a long time to clean up our mess. But after they did, the three people who were handicapped came over to us.


"What happened to you?"asked a boy to the man in the wheelchair.


I was wondering the same thing.


The man looked at all of us for a minute. Then he said, "I got in a fight with my brother when I was your age,"he said,"he got so mad at me that he pushed me out of a window. I got some bad cuts on my legs. But the window was two-stories high. And now I am paralyzed. I can't feel anything in my legs, so they don't hurt at all."


Then he started to sob as he put his hands on the hands of the man pushing his wheelchair and said,"But my brother's heart...still aches a lot."


Then, the woman who had burns all over her said she used to be an actress on TV. Her face was hard to look at when she spoke. Like it was melted. She passed around a picture of herself before she got burned. She was beautiful then.


"Oh my gosh!" said one boy,"My mom watched you all the time!"


"And my dad!"said a girl.


Everyone laughed.


"The funny thing is, I wasn't very good at acting at all,"said the woman,"but I always got the lead roles."


Then, she told us a cameraman where they made the TV shows was fired. He got so angry that he set the whole building on fire. "I was one of the lucky ones who survived,"she said,"But I've never been on TV since."


Those two stories made me very sad. But the last one made me the saddest of all.


It was the story that the black man who had an arm missing told us.


But he didn't speak.


Instead, he held up signs, one at a time. They read:


"When I was young, I joined a gang."


"They told me they were my brothers."


"But they did very bad things."


"When I tried to leave, they got angry."


"They cut off my tongue"


"so I couldn't speak"


"and my left arm, too."


Then the man closed his eyes like he was trying to stop the tears from coming out.


But he couldn't.


The next signs read:


"But if I could shout to the world"


"to never hurt anyone"


"I would give my right arm, also."


"Because they were right about one thing:"


"We are all brothers and sisters."


When they were all done it was very quiet in the room. You could only hear sniffling noses.


Many of the kids had tears on their faces. My brother put his head between his knees so I didn't see his face.


I was sad, too. Sad for the people who got hurt. Sad that my brother didn't want me. Sad that I told him I hated him.


I closed my eyes like the man. 

But I couldn't stop the tears , either.

Then the man with the top hat and cane blew the whistle again. 

But nobody moved.

Then the man said,

"I hope that time does not erase,
your memory of The Angry Place,
and when you feel your anger grow,
I hope you find a place to go,
to let all of your anger out,
far from the ones you care about.
Don't hurt the ones you love the best,
and make them clean up your own mess."


Then, Mom came and picked us up.


In the car, I thought my brother was going to put me in another head lock. But instead he just put his arm around me and said,"I'm sorry."


I said,"I'm sorry, too."


Then I wasn't sad anymore. I felt happy.


Mom talked to us about what happened at The Angry Place. Then she said,"Now that we're all warm inside, wanna cool off with some ice cream?"


We both said yes. We both love ice cream. So we went to the ice cream shop.


"This is you," I said eating a spoonful of double fudge sundae.


"And this is you," said Jude, licking a mint chocolate chip cone.


I love my brother, Jude. Someday, I'll be just like him.


We still get angry sometimes. But we don't fight as much anymore. Instead, we try and find a place to go.


An angry place.


The End.

The Red Ball

By J.D. Clark


Once, a young boy, about to turn ten,
stood at a store window wishing, as in
rushed other boys, all with cash in hand,
to buy the coolest game known to man.


'Twas a video game that while playing, you see,
a kid could actually fly!–well, virtually.
But the boy lived with his poor granddad,
who worked very hard for what little they had.


Still, the boy wished very hard anyway,
that he'd unwrap that game on his tenth birthday.
And on that next day, his granddad said,"Boy,
I have, just for you, a very special toy."


And he brought out a big box wrapped in blue,
and said,"This present was meant for you."
Excited, the boy ripped the box open wide,
but the game he had wished for was not inside.


No there wasn't a game, just a big red ball,
and the boy's little heart began to fall.
Yet "Thank you," he said, for the boy was polite,
and he loved his granddad with all of his might.


But he wanted that game, and he wanted to cry,
for he wanted so badly to play it and fly.

For it was a game that while playing, you see,

a kid could actually fly!–well, virtually.

"This is what we played with when I was a boy,"
said his granddad,"A ball is a wonderful toy.
Now take it outside and give it a try
I think you'll be amazed when you see why."


So being polite, the boy took it outside,
and when he was alone he threw it and cried,
"What a stupid ball! A stupid red ball!
There's nothing fun about a ball at all!"


Then the boy looked down and there at his feet,
was the ball which had somehow rolled back up the street.
Then he bounced it as hard as he could on the ground,
and it took quite a awhile, but it finally came down.


So the boy kicked it hard with all of his might,
'til it rolled all the way out of sight. But that night...
Thru the boy's bedroom window, the ball bounced in,
and woke up the ten year old boy. And then...


The boy clung to the ball in pajamas and socks,
and flew out the window, up past the rooftops.
They flew up into the moonlit night,
'Til the entire town was small twinkly sight,


They flew over buildings and bridges and trees,
They flew over mountains, and oceans, and seas,
Clear over the Grand Canyon, both of them flew,
And over the pyramids of Egypt, too,


And over the Eiffel tower in France,
And over the Great Wall of China they danced.
And then they returned as the sunlight came on,
Passing the game store where the lines were quite long.


"Hey look!"said a boy,"Is that a red ball?"
Then everyone looked up in wonder and awe.
For the boy and his ball were flying, you see,
they were actually flying-not virtually! 


Then back to his bedroom landed again,
the ten year old boy with a very wide grin.
He told his granddad,"You were right–this ball,
is the most amazing toy of all! 


I can bounce it way up into the sky,
and if I hold onto it, I can fly!"
But what the boy loved most about his red ball,
more than bouncing or flying or anything at all,


Was kicking it back and forth with his granddad,
who worked very hard for what little they had.


The End.