Another article details of the Creative Writing Class and the amazing teacher, Mrs. Sobota. I also interviewed students after having them write whatever they could come up with in about five minutes after seeing this picture, drawn by Ari Balsamo. Here’s what some of them had to say, and some of the pieces that they wrote:

When asked what she was most excited to try, Reilly Bisoski, sophomore, said “Definitely poetry. I’ve always sucked at poetry and I want to try new things.”

I asked Valora Miller, sophomore, if she thought that creative writing would be useful later in life and she responded with, “Yes because I want to be an author and if I could make a living off of that that’d be really nice.” 

Lastly, I asked John Osmond, sophomore, how he would explain Creative Writing and why more students should take it. He said: “I would say that creative writing really brings out a lot about yourself you get to find out more of your likes. It’s a good experience that’s almost therapeutic, which is odd for a class. It’s a form of art. You get to just express yourself in a very unique way.” 

Here are some pieces written by students in the class based off of the image:

“I don’t like the mirror in my room. It’s all cracked up. In it lives a man. He tries to take over my mind. He tries to get me to enter the mirror. He’s not there all the time, but I know he comes in when the mirror fills with water on the other side. I think he drowned on the other side. I think he wants me to drown. Everyday he tries to get me to come inside. I always denied. My sister went inside once. A fisherman found her body at the bottom of a lake. One day I’ll join her. The man slowly reaches out of the mirror, to grab me.” -Aurela Berisha, Senior

“Everyone is fighting their own battle inside their heads. Their thoughts always spiraling. Some may choose to stay quiet, others may choose to speak it. Others are trapped, unable to say what they’re thinking. Their world consists of endless thoughts, keeping them awake at night. Sometimes all they can do is just sit there, as their world spirals out of control, until they break and they can’t take it anymore. They can’t bear the thoughts that are constantly bumping around. Constantly haunting them. And no one ever knows.” -Reilly Bisoski, Sophomore

“My life shattered, as the foundation of my life shifted under my feet. The world i thought i knew had become unknown. Mysterious. Scary. It was if my eyes were playing a cruel trick on my brain. A cruel, cruel trick. I wanted to tear them out of my eye socket. To go blind. To not see the world in this new way. To keep my vision of the world the same. My memories unwillingly tainted, as for I kept my eyes open. As my heart teared in a puddle of tears.” -Katelyn Guzynski, Junior

“The thoughts in my brain are swirling around like crazy. It’s starting to affect my vision, creating a kaleidoscope of colors, but they’re all different shades of darkness. The thoughts are starting to become less recognizable, it feels as though they could never be traced back to me. It’s like I’m not even here anymore, I am in a beautifully painful world of my own. Pure happiness. Insanity.” -Abbey Kaiser, Senior

“Hypnotized

my face drained of color

my mouth dry

my head was filled with horror

I could not comprehend what had happened

blood dripping

the scene in front of me caused me to stop

I couldn’t breath

I was hypnotized

Horrified

but I couldn’t look away

my reality slipped away

thoughts spiraling out of control

and I couldn’t see

For I wasn’t myself

I was stuck in a body that couldn’t move

waiting to be next

for I could not move my feet

I had been hypnotized”

-Valora Miller, Sophomore

“Sharp then smooth. Pointed then flat. Silver and black. Lack of color. Maybe it’s the world if it was truly flat. Post-apocalypse. The spikes protecting what’s left. They said climate change wasn’t real. Singed grass. The world was on fire. Who put it out?” -Zsyia Neferkari, sophomore

“The whirlpool of water down the drain. It’s spinning vortex leads into the rusting industrial pipes of the city then finally into the sewers. Rats. Garbage. Human waste. Sometimes humans. That’s whats under all of us, the city. It’s built on filth. I back away from the sink, it’s covered in a yellow florescent light like a terrible comedian on the world’s stage. Alone. In a city of millions. I look up and see the ceiling, a sea of flat, gray with some moist spots from water leaks. Leaking. The ceiling fan is spinning. Methodically. Teasing me. I got to get out of the prisms, the skyscrapers. Long fingers that reach and scrape the sky like a chalkboard. Scraping. A taxi screeches outside scrapping, now clawing the inside of my head. I gotta get out of this city. But I’m stuck in my own spiral.” -John Osmond, Sophomore

“Imagination

That horrible thing

It keeps me awake at night

And haunts me everyday

My brain is an endless spiral

of thoughts that are out to get me

They call me names and ridicule me

My life is a waste

And I’m a disgrace

That’s what the voices tell me

Sticks and stones may break my bones

But these thoughts will be my end”

-Aiden Wiscombe, Sophomore