those old files can haunt you...

It's interesting what you find in old files. I just reread my final creative fiction story for a high school english class. I was very surprised by what I read. I just look at the words and think, "I wrote that? That's really descriptive." It's odd. I don't remember events in high school with any real clarity, but more with a detached home movie sense as clips of scenes fill my mind. It was so long ago. An old high school friend once told me that I'd become a completely different person after a few years in college. I'd hope so! I was a doormat in high school. *ponders*

Anyhoo, I ran across a Creative Writing notebook in which I apparently wrote a LOT of snippets of stories. I also discovered cartoons we drew making fun of our english teacher, or rather, making fun of her inability to cope with high school students. (She was always screaming empty threats at the class. Tips for new teachers: ALWAYS follow through on your threats. You'll get respect that way.) One of my favorite items in that file was a dialogue written by a group of us that made us all laugh. We were always goofing off when we could get away with it. "Hark! Mother, what ails you so? Was it a sneeze? Just a sneeze? Or was it a sneeze from the bowels of hell?" ahhhh, the memories....

I dug the last file out of the group only to open it up and discover stories I'd written in the sixth grade as part of our learn-at-your-own-pace exercises. There is even a piece of paper taped to the inside of the file listing the exercises I completed. I had to shake my head. I've had this file for nearly 20 years! I'm amazed it's even holding together. Maybe it's time to clean out the filing cabinet, you think?