As promised, here is the english paper that I wrote. I think that it is one of my better creative writing projects (because of the ending) but I want some other critques. Also note that some of this is made up, but a lot of it is true.

Strella

The world is spinning as fast as it can, and everything is optimized to be faster than everything else. Our society pushes its children to be as efficient as possible, as early as elementary school when they have assignments to do and a schedule to keep. Anyone who has too much fun is looked down upon, and considered childish. It is rare to find someone who doesn’t conform to society’s rules; someone who stops to smell the roses on a daily basis; someone who lived life to the fullest and never complained about missing opportunities

However, I was blessed enough to have someone like this in my life, and her name was Strella. I first met her when I moved to Idaho, and she was the only friend that I had. I lived in Texas prior to moving, so I was dealing with a huge culture change, and I had no friends on the same side of the country as me. As a kid, I was very quiet so I did not make friends quickly, but she took me in and made me feel loved.

There were many days that we would sit on the lawn and just talk. In elementary school, she was the quiet ear that listened to me talk about my new school. She didn’t judge me when I told her about the girls that I chased around the playground, and how I got in trouble on a daily basis for doing it. My friends from Boy Scouts turned their backs on me on many occasions, but she was always there for me. Strella was also the thing that helped me transition from elementary school into middle school.

Middle school was hard for me. I was struggling to fit in at school, and I was trying to be independent at home. My battle for independence caused a lot of fights between me and my mom, especially when she would tell me to do something that I didn’t like. One time when things got especially heated up, my mom smacked me for talking back to her. I was so mad at her, that I hit her back and then ran outside. My mom was yelling at me the whole way out so I knew that I had to go somewhere, so I went to Strella. I was crying my eyes out because I immediately regretted doing what I had done, but I was still mad at my mom. It was comforting to just be around Strella, and it helped me to deal with my emotions.

Later during my middle school years, I started to turn into a computer geek. The problem was that I would stay on the computer for hours on end without getting any exercise, so Strella took it upon herself to make me go for a walk with her almost everyday. Sometimes we would just go around the block, but other times we took long walks through the foothills behind my house. There were many afternoons that I spent walking through those hills with Strella, going nowhere in particular.

High school was a life changing experience for me. It was the first time that I actually had a social life, and it was the first time that I had a significant homework load. My friends took up more of my time, so I didn’t spend as much time with Strella, but she never said anything about it. She was just as loving and compassionate as ever when I did spend time with her. On the days when I had to study for finals, or write a paper that was, she would sit with me as I worked on my homework. Looking back, I can tell that she missed the days when we spent time doing things together, but her unconditional love was there the whole time.

During my senior year in high school, my attention turned to graduating and working at my part time job, and I really didn’t notice how her health was deteriorating. She was still the same loving Strella that had been around me since elementary school, but she just wasn’t as energetic as she had been before. When we went for walks, we never went into the foothills anymore because she asked that we stay on the roads. There were more and more days where she told me that she didn’t want to go on a walk at all because she wasn’t feeling very well. When we finally did make her go to the doctor’s office, we had to almost drag her in because she had never been to a doctor before. The doctor fixed her up and made her feel better, but it was only temporary as we could see the signs of age starting to take its toll. She never did give up, even when she struggled to stand up because of her bad hips, she would still go on walks with me on a very consistent basis.

I could see the sadness in her eyes as I packed up for college. I was pretty sure that I would see her again, but I never could tell. She was getting very old. However, now that I am in college and I look back on her influence on my life, I am really astonished at how much she has done for me. She never bought me lots of things or spoiled me, but she has had a profound impact on my life. When she does die, I won’t cry for her death, but instead, celebrate her life. I know that she will be with me all the time and she will forever be the shoulder that I can cry on. So I want to thank you for everything that you have done for me. This is for you; my dog Strella.