My Ideal World

By: Jake

My ideal world is probably different from yours in many ways. My ideal world is not anything you know, my ideal world is self-sufficient from any other planet, galaxy, or solar system. My ideal world has a name, meet Abstract Astronomy. Abstract Astronomy has 500 days in a year, 25 hours a day. School starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m. Any child must attend school until after college. AA’s school system is fabulous. All schools are free for any child. At age 19 everyone must have a stable job and be self-sufficient unless they physically or mentally can’t. At age 60 any citizen can stop working and retire. All children until age 18 must be enrolled in a physical sport as well as an organization working towards a cause, both are run through the school system. 

In AA all animals are unable to go extinct because no hunting is allowed without a permit. Transportation is all electric and there are no accidents because everything is on tracks. There are flying cars but they are only used for emergency purposes. The military can go wherever but anyone else can only go 150 feet above the ground. All buildings can only be 300 feet at the most.  In the case of a war the military will put a draft into effect for 25 percent of all able citizens.      

A big part of AA is the fact that everything is free, to some extent. In AA all non essentials are needed to be paid for. All essentials are free though. For example, the government will assign you to a house but if you want a nicer house then you must pay extra. Everyone gets paid very little because essentials are free. The governments will give registered businesses a set amount of money to pay the employees. 

In AA the justice system is very essential in life. The system is built on checks and balances. There are three branches of government: law makers, (Legislative) the people who carry out laws, (Executive) the people who evaluate laws and take away laws, (Judicial). Any buffoons or criminals are innocent until proven guilty. When a disruption to society is proven guilty they are fined, put in a correctional facility, or put to death.  If it is a minor fine then they are just fined for example speeding in a car or not paying for something that is a want. For major crimes, for example murdering or severely hurting a human, you are put to death when proven guilty. The person that committed the crime only goes to court if the police are going to put him in a correctional facility or put them to death. 

In Abstract Astronomy the physical appearance is a little funky. Sixty percent of all surfaces is land, therefore forty percent is water. Even though 40 percent of the surface is water that is not enough so AA also has water 600 feet under the surface that can be pumped up straight into living accommodations. In AA the power lines are underground so that you don’t have to see some funky lines in the air. So in conclusion, after all has been said and done Abstract Astronomy is very creative and unorthodox to you but to me it’s fair and well balanced.  





 



My Covid Story

The Day I Got My Dog

March 15, 2020

Sitting in a room in rural North Carolina, the world is shutting down. Me wanting to get a dog, my dad saying no, the world is shutting down. Dogs peeing, the world is shutting down. ACC tournament canceled, restaurants closing down, my family cloroxing down our vegetables, global shortage of masks. My only question was, why? Months later, my family went on a hike talking about the crazy things we were doing right now. For me, this lock down time was pretty awesome, I had my designated bubble of friends and family. Hanging out in the neighborhood hood for the whole day. Going on family walks to Franklin Street. Hanging out with our family friends every Saturday. 

Back To In Person School

6 feet!

Trinity School, sitting 8 feet apart, all windows open, using two rooms so that we can fit everyone. Special air ducts, why? Not ever seeing anyone’s face because of masks we had to wear, why? Me having a hint of hope that the virus is almost over, why? Me in the car coming home from the last day of school crying because it was the last time I was to be on that campus, my mom telling me school will be back to “normal” next year at my new school. And the hint of hope was just getting bigger! 

Almost Done, Not 

First day of school, Durham Academy! I was so excited to be at a new school that had more than one building! Hope getting bigger. Couple months later, why? Mom is getting stage 3 lung cancer. New type of Covid, really, you have to be here. Hope fades away, why? Rules get stricter. Like getting up and being pushed right back down. Of course, a couple months later masks go off for good, so we thought. Masks went back on then right back off. Bane  of my existence, not knowing what’s going on.  Why is all of this blowing back up again, I think we have had our fair share of you.

Resilience 

Keep on going, keep on going

What do I want for now? Well, to be honest, I really don’t know. Of course, I do not want to have to wear a mask just because of my mom. Of course, I don’t want to. Having to think if it’s stupid to go somewhere that I might get sick. But, to be honest I’ve accepted the fact that this might be the new normal. That it might just be safer to wear a mask in a place with lots of people. Of course it sucks, not saying anything against that but if something keeps me safe I’m doing it.