The Little Black Book

My name is Penelope Holmes and I live with my Mother and Father in Upper North West, Washington, DC. We live in a nice big house with a backyard for me to play in. This quirky story takes place when I was 10 years old just about to enter Middle School. I know, I know, focus people, I was a teeny tiny bit advanced for my age. What I didn't know is this would be the start of all my middle school-aged problems. My Mother worked at the school that Diddy went to and supports every chance he gets and my father worked at a Restaurant in DC as a Head Chef.

Oh I am so sorry, what was my talent you ask, I was good with numbers but no one knew I had a secret talent - my imagination. Hold up, wait a minute, wait until you read the whole story before you say having an imagination isn't a real talent.

My first day of school comes and of course I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (I mean literally). My Mother put two pig-tails in my hair with bows (the bows were my idea) but I digress. Looking back on it, it was a set-up for being younger than everyone else entering Middle, the pinnacle of my human existence. Moving on. My first day was horrible, why oh why have I been forsaken, these kids are meanies and picking on me. This is not how I thought that this was going to go. It was supposed to be new school, new friends, new adventures but noooooooo. They picked in my my hair (big no-no according my my Mother and my Nana) and they made fun of how I dressed which to that I was shocked and appalled because I thought I was a pretty fly mamajama. Although I am only ten my parents are very "old school", and still use words like dope, fly, ill and bad mamajma etc. My father came to pick me up at the end of the school day and asked me how my day was and I told him that it was terrific, outstanding even. I know, I know it's not nice to lie but my parents were Superheroes individually and collectively, I knew I could not tell them this or there would be double trouble. I decided to handle this on my own (knowing what I know now, kids should never do this).

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to handle this so I decided to get a snack my father prepared for me and I went outside in the backyard to gather my thoughts while sitting under my favorite tree. I knew soon that there be colorful leaves everywhere. I was finished with my lunch and went back inside and that is where I saw it, a little black notebook. My eyes widened as bright as they did last Christmas morning and a lightbulb went off, on my nose of course - bright red. I asked my father could I have it for school and of course he obliged. I could start a bully journal (yes I know, I know again, I made that up, but that's what I called it).

I ran upstairs to my room and thought of what I wanted to say and I just starting writing. I wrote down all the names of the bullies and how they made me feel. Unfortunately, I would have a lot to say in this journal because the bullying went on for a few months and my grades like my self-esteem and worth dropped. Nothing I did was good enough. It didn't matter how smart I was or how fly I was or even how kind I was I was, everything just seemed hopeless. Had my parents been deceiving me my whole 10 years of life. They said I was awesome and special and that I could be and do anything I wanted to do. All is know is, something big had to happen and happen fast.

After school, like clockwork my father was there to pick me up and just like clock-work a mid-day snack, really it was a different one every day. I went outside and sat under my favorite tree and the leaves were so beautiful, and eureka, I had an idea. This is where my imagination comes into play. I used my imagination to get all the leaves off the tree, they all swirled in the air all around me, it so magical. My imagination was in rare form as I was to make the greatest invisibility cloak that there ever was. Okay, I know but you have to blame this one on Harry Potter, not me.

The invisibility cloak fit me perfectly and had a snazzy hood, all made of the fall eaves in my back yard. This is what I would use on those bullies at school. If I was invisible then they could not bully me. This was soooooo perfect and sooooooooooo gonna work. See I told you, imagination was a talent. I got up excited and ready for school. I am always greeted by at least one bully in the school yard before I actually walk into school and I was ready. The bully approached and I was ready and so was my imagination. Now of curse you know I have to have a code word to call the invisibility cloak so I decided on Moleskine (this was actually our lunch lady's last name, she was so nice to me). Here goes nothing, I screamed Moleskine and I said it pride and confidence. Wouldn't you know it--the skies opened up and the leaves started swirling in a wave and voila! my Invisibility Cloak was traveling through the skies like nobody's business and I felt empowered and I was invisible. It worked, it worked, the bully ran away and I used my code word only two more times that day. I guess word got around because nobody ever bothered me again. My prayers had been answered, thank goodness.

The next day, my teacher told us about a writing contest and the winner gets to go to Disneyland and bring six friends, I think it was worth about $20,000 and I decided to enter because less you forget, I never stopped writing in my little back book. Guess what, I won the trip, they thought my triumph over being bullied was heroic and brave (but I think I got a few kids in a lot of trouble). My school made a lot of changes because of my story but they were implemented all without me because I was in Disneyland with my parents, and the lunch lady, it turns out she had a daughter my age and we all went and had a blast.

THE END!