Michael+Podbury

=**THE FOOLISH REVOLUTIONARY**= I ran down the steep, asperous hill at breakneck speed. Neglecting all danger and fearing nothing, euphoria charged through my veins pushing me on one stalwart stride at a time. I feel the warm, lavish wind of summer rush through my abundant hair, whispering like the tress flying past me. How could I ever forget this moment? Oh, how beautiful God made the world. My name is Mark **Le Mat***. I’m of no significant importance to the world, but yet I am because I’m a part of it. And how could someone be of any more importance than another, given that God made us all equal in the first place. I have pondered this gnarly question for ages, and have tried to answer it myself. Are people judged to be of more importance, simply because of what they have accomplished in their short period of existence called life? But how could we as humans judge each other when we ourselves are not perfect? Shouldn’t God do the judging? So what is the point of life then? Is it to study vigorously hard to get into medicine and then studying all the more intensely after that to become a qualified specialist like a neurosurgeon? Is it then creating a family, giving them the best you can and pushing your children like you’ve been pushed by your parents to be the very best? Is it always hoping that you’ve done enough for your family and that you’re children will be just as successful as you, if not more? So this would mean the whole point of life is competition - to be better than everyone else. It is to make sure you sustain the best possible future for you to then pass on to future generations. So then your children can make you proud by working just as hard to create a healthy future for themselves and finally for their own children too. Is this what life is? A never ending cycle of hard, vigorous work to please one another and not for one bit you? Because this would mean you have to please the ones who made you by working hard to achieve a good lifestyle, which you will then use to work just as hard for your family to support them the best you can. You will then be giving the same opportunities to your children so they can make you proud and sequentially doing the same for their families as well. Or can life be what I’m living now: running down this incredibly steep hill, just barely holding onto the brink of life, testing my abilities, and living life to the fullest? Life may not have to be as reckless as this, but it could be a lot happier. I’m contented with the man, who collects garbage for a living but comes home every afternoon eager to play with his children till dusk. He shows no loss of temper, no show of fatigue or stress from working long hours, he is basically //happy//. Well, why shouldn’t he be? Isn’t that what every parent //should// want? To see their children everyday enjoying themselves, always wanting to be around their parents, forever with a smile on their face. It may not be a grand life, but it’s certainly a life of joy. However, to work extremely hard to please your parents and your family is undoubtedly not a selfish thing to do; it is more or less a very good thing I suppose if you think about it. But to live life and actually enjoy it – which you may call selfish in some ways– is not entirely selfish, for you’ll find that the ones around you will enjoy life a whole lot more than they ever did before. Look, you may think of me as a fool, but I like to think of myself as more of a revolutionary. Let’s say a foolish revolutionary. I’m the fool who lives in the moment, the fool who trusts his heart’s desire, the fool who expands his horizons, and the fool who strikes out on a new path. Yes, I’m a fool. But a fool, who dreams of a new world where everyone is truly equal and that life, is an adventure. The old man Footsteps clapping down the hall, I walk with my school books bound tightly across my chest. I exit the library doors and stop to look out the beautiful stained glass windows of my school. Pink and violet filled the sky in the last remaining minutes of daylight. I’m tired and stressed – can’t wait to go home. I have an English test tomorrow and I have to write about an interesting person – but I know no one who is interesting, nothing interested me. Parents divorced, on scholarship, loner, depressed: that pretty much sums up my life. The staircase creaks under my feet reminding me of the pain I’ve caused my parents. It’s was all my fault. My toe clips on one of the steps causing me to topple over, books fall to the ground in a heap making a loud clattering noise. An old man’s face peeps through the doorway at the end of the stairway to investigate the mishap. He walks up the stairs in amazingly strong and graceful long strides to see if I’m okay. Helping me up, I quickly examine his face – //God he’s old,// I mean how old can you get. His hair - at least the hair he has left - looked like spider's silk, and the skin, wrinkling away into more and more wrinkles. A little hunched over as he was from years of gravity pushing down on his spine, he was still remarkably tall and strong looking for his age. Looking at his uniform I instantly work out that he is one of the janitors of my school. “Heh…heh…hellooo young boy,” he managed to say through his croaky voice. Sour breath stung my nose and made my head jerk back. I saw pain in his old wise eyes and I immediately regretted my reflexes even though I have no conscious control over them. “I’m sorry,” he said, “Tha…that’s what age does to you boy." “You know, if I was as clumsy as you back in the day, I probably would not be here right now. And sometimes I wish I was that clumsy for I wouldn’t be as lonely as I am today. War does terrible things to you son.” “You were in a war!” I exclaim astonished by what I just heard. “Ye…ye…yes son. **Kokoda**.” And I was interested.
 * Le Mat - The Fool is titled //Le Mat// in the Tarot of Marseilles**

You have captured my interest. I want to read more. Excellent use of contrast, imagery and stream of consciousness. I corrected a few minor errors. 9/10

12 Word Story

I was before and I will be after you. I am time. Feedback: Excellent!

50 Word Story without the Letter E

I am of 29200 days, but on no account did I subsist. Now I lay on this lush patch of grass thinking why didn't I play, laugh or cry.

A sparrow sprang upon my arm, and said "Follow". At that instant, I was floating on air, and I was conscious. Feedback: Unusual tale with an effective use of sibilance.**

Taekwondo - What it felt like to win the nationals.

The fight lasts for moments ** Really enjoyed the message and your resounding voice! I am not keen on ryme but it works here. 9/10 **
 * though the training has taken years. **
 * It wasn't the winning alone that **
 * was worth the work and tears. **
 * The applause will be forgotten **
 * and the prize will be misplaced. **
 * But the long hard hours of training **
 * will never be a waste. **
 * For in trying to win **
 * you build a skill; **
 * you learn that winning **
 * depends on will. **
 * You never grow by how much you win, **
 * you only grow by how much you put in. **
 * So for any new challenge **
 * you've just begun, **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">put forth your best **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">and you've already won.