Mystery Person

1
Mystery Person

• He looks nervous, misplaced, like hed rather be
  out on a baseball field, throwing ball after ball
  after ball to his best friends or like hed give
  anything to be in science dissecting a frog or
  passing his girlfriend notes when Mr. Brown is
  not looking. But here he is - - smackdab in the
  middle of Englishtwisting his silver-banded Time
  watch, his hand over his mouth, legs crossed at
  the ankles, thinking, If only I could go
  outside, if only

2
Student Samples

• Her golden hair draping over her shoulders is
  made of silk. She writes like the wind, with her
  arm on the dictionary, wondering if her paragraph
  is the best, or wondering if it is still raining,
  or she may even be wondering about the homework
  she has. There she goes again writing, writing
  just like the wind.

3

• He sits, legs apart, feet planted firmly on the
  floor. I can already tellthis first daythat
  hes a mans man. Football, huge plates of
  spaghetti and meatballs and yes, girlsthats
  what he likes. In another day and time he would
  have been a warrior, rescuing whole towns and
  beautiful damsels in distress. But for now, hes
  too concerned about school. His last years
  language arts teacher, Mrs. Woods has drilled
  writing into his head so he leans back in his
  chair, pen dashing from line to line. Hell have
  to save the world another day. For now, he has
  writing to do.

4

• She sits in the circle with rest of us, a part of
  us, yet not really. Her hair is a wild mass of
  untamed curls trying to break free, maybe like
  her thoughts. She rests her head on her hand, as
  if she is weary from her day or as the weight of
  her ideas need to be supported, held up, so
  powerful are her thoughts. She writes slowly
  yet in that considered effort lies her genius.
  Her words pour from her brain yet her poets
  mind censors each and every one of them.