SO-Hanna+R.

**Introduction:**
Hello, my name is Hannah and I am 12 years old and I love to hang out with my friends. My favorite colors are lime green and light blue. When I grow up I would love to be a Primary Care Physician, Photographer, or a Pastry Chef. I love traveling with my family. When I get older I would love to travel around the world. I love summer time and swimming with my friends. My favorite subjects in school are math and reading. My pets are two dogs, Thunder and Plato, and I also have two bunnies their names are Snowball and Oreo. Some of my favorite tv shows are The Office, Chuck, and Heroes. I have two sisters and one brother. Thats all for now I hope you like my story please comment.

** Remembering Life ** When walking home on the rainy sidewalk, one day Jula was thinking about her life all the good and the hate in it. She took as much time as possible to get home, for she was dreading going home. Her parents had been working all day and they often wanted to eat and then sit around. For Jula this was the most annoying thing because when her parents were sitting around and her little brother wanted to do something it was she, who had to do it with him. One day her brother decided he wanted to go to the local park. As they were walking Jula tripped on a rock and hit her head on the stop sign. Charles, Jula’s little brother ran to the closest home which happened to be the Martens’ home. Since the Martens were close friends Charles and Mr. Marten took Jula to the local emergency room. While Mrs. Marten and the Martens’ daughter, Regina, went to get Jula’s family the Jacobs. When the Jacobs heard what happened they went straight to the emergency room. When they arrived they found out that Jula had suffered a serious fall and is in a //coma!// They went to see her in the hospital room (where they would be spending a lot of time through out the next year). Jula was hooked up to many machines. Her head was wrapped in gauss and the rest of her was just sitting there, even though there were many people there for her and by her bedside she looked alone. What many people in that room didn’t know was that her mind was still wide awake and working to the tenth degree. She was recalling everything that had happened throughout her life. She remembered her fifth birthday party when times were simpler because she was left out of the adult world and was able to be herself in her childhood world. Her first day of middle school was remembered too. She remembered herself feeling scared and alone. She thought she was trapped in a different world. Where things were harder and people were bigger and more intimidating. She stayed to herself all those years of middle school. She is now wondering why, she was just as big as the others, just as capable. Wasn’t she? The next flash was of when she was a little three-year-old. It was the most faded memory but one she cherished. It was of when her family had traveled to Arizona to see her great grandmother who passed away soon after their visit. Later in her life she found herself wishing that her parents and her had taken time out of their life to make a “real” relationship with her. But never the less she had considered that the greatest trip of her life because it was the first time she felt like her family was actually doing things together and finding out more about her family and how her parents grew up. This is the “flash” that her mind “stayed” in the longest. Even though it was the longest ago she remembered every detail. The dress she wore was a pale purple and she wore a purple headband with it. Her new crisp, white shoes were so shiny she couldn’t take her eyes off of them. Her grandmother sat in a dark brown chair and admired her, made her feel like she was the only person in the world. She marveled over all her grandmothers old stories and the way the old records would sit and spin round and round (her grandmother had not modernized in a while). She emotionally had started to cry when she had thought of her great grandmother. Her grandma lived in Australia and she didn’t get to see her often so it pained her to think that she couldn’t and wouldn’t make time for someone who lived only a couple states away? Maybe one reason she felt close to her great grandma is because she had fallen in the winter and no one had found her till it was to late and the to much blood had escaped. Jula had always thought of this as a horrible way to die but really was it? She didn’t know. Maybe it was a good way to die unaware didn’t have to worry about making it through the night like when you’re hooked up to many machines in the last moments of the night. The doctors had told the Jacobs that she had died fast and suffered little pain. Jula was sad when she had heard about the death but in a way relived (a little) when she had heard about the no pain. Her mind raced back to when she felt that rush of adrenalin go through her body as she hit the sign it all happened so fast. She was trying to tell her brother something (she couldn’t remember what). But her brother must have gotten the murmurs she had got out, because she was here right now. I didn’t matter she knew her family, they would be by her side when this all ended. Back in the real world her family talked to all the doctors, paid extra to get her in a good room, and ran extra test to see how long she would be like “this”. But what they found out would change their lives drastically for the next year. They found that she would have only faint and blurry memories of her life when she came out, if she came out. She would take extra to learn and maybe even have to be home schooled because her “learning speed” would be different after she was out of the coma. The family didn’t leave the hospital much, someone was always there. Mrs. Jacobs quit her full time job and took only a couple hours at the pharmacy she worked for. Mr. Jacobs continued to work but every night would stay at the hospital with Jula. Charles was going through a “rough patch” physically, he was in tip top condition, emotionally not so much. He also was looking back on his life and all he done to his sister. He started being nicer to people because if ever he were to lose them he wanted it to end on a good note. He went to the hospital every night and brought bouquets of flowers in every week so his sister would have something pretty to look at when she was okay again. Days went by but the days eventually turned into weeks and those into months. The Jacobs loved their daughter but were starting to pay less attention, figuring that the hospital would call if anything really happened. Visits turned into short weekly visits. Charles had returned to his old self and started playing pranks on his friends and getting into occasional fights with them. Jula had some flashbacks but most were just for a minute or two and they didn’t have much detail. It was almost as if her soul had left and only her body remained. The Jacobs were growing restless and wanted their daughter badly. But they had begun to accept life with only one child. It would be a year in this up coming month… Jula had been in the hospital for almost a year. They Jacobs were starting to get tight on money and Mrs. Jacobs had gone back to working long, stressful hours. She would sometimes think back to when she would sit all day and hope and pray. She liked it better than being at work that is for sure. One night they got news that Jula might never come out of her coma. They made the hardest decision of their life… they decided to give Jula one week more and then they would pull the plug and Jula would be dead. It had been a week and Jula hadn’t woken. It was decided that the next day she would be taken off all of the medication. It was Sunday morning and the doctor was ready, Mrs. Jacobs was saying a couple last words … then a miracle happened. There was a murmur coming from Jula’s bed. The doctors raced in, they started pumping more air into her. There were some clear words coming from her mouth. Then a sentence came, I love you. Those were Jula’s first words after coming out of her coma. Tears of joy ran down every ones faces. They were thrilled. Charles went downstairs to the gift shop to get Jula a fresh bouquet of flowers. Mr. Jacobs went to sign Jula out of the hospital. //Jula was free.// When the Jacobs reached home Jula could remember only the important things that had happened during her life. She didn’t remember hating anyone or ever getting mad. She only looked on the bright side of things. Today the Jacobs live a happier life. They all learned something about themselves in the last year. One of the most important things that everyone learned is that family matters the most and to always love your family cause they will be with you to the end. With Jula only remembering the good they learned that the good you do is what is remembered and that the hate and lies you have said will be forgiven in the end. Readers: //Focus and remember the good in your life, and you will live a happier one.//
 * By: Hannah Ritsch **

**Questions for Peer Reviewers**
(Think in terms of questions you would like to ask the author.)

1. Think of plot—is it original? (If an adaptation, is it creative or interesting to you?) What suggestions do you have for the author(s)? I think that your story is very original and i like it. 2. Think about problems that the characters face. Are there complications that add enough suspense, tension, or interest? Is there a climax that satisfies you? Is the resolution satisfying? What could be added or changed? interest and satisfyng beacuse the family stay happy at the end 3. Think of characterization—are the characters life-like? Are characters likable and enjoyable? Do we get a good sense of character from many of these: description, dialogue, narrator's opinion, discussion from other characters, the character’s own actions? there is no a descrption of the characters... 4. Think of imagery and details. Do they help you //see// and //hear// and //experience// the story? What details would you like to see in the next revision of the story? yes it helps me to imagine more the story 5. What areas of the story need the most improvement? What suggestions do you have for the author? for me all is ok...