Rejection

Rejection in love
Rejection in society
Rejection in friendship
Rejection in the family

Filling up with emotion
Like a buffet at the carvery
Cuts too deep to mend
A long time it feels to recovery

A cold heart to the bitter end
And a fake smile till they call me a friend
No matter how close you once were
The distance is now forever in their favour

Falling in love
Ends in rejection or death
You've either found the one
Or you're left in a mess

Rejection in love
Rejection in society
Rejection in friendship
Rejection in the family

REJECTION

9 year old boy arrested for murder; a crime that shocked the nation

James Houston. Age 19. I moved to Croydon when I was 15, after my parents had a rocky break up, my Mum decided it would be best start a new life. ‘Where did you live before?’ Oh, you probably wouldn’t have heard of it, it’s a small village in the middle of nowhere. ‘I recognise you from somewhere’ Yeah people always say that to me, I’ve just got one of them faces. ‘why are you acting so weird?’ Why all the questions?

I’ve learnt every trick in the book now. It’s all about being vague, but not too vague, and then you sort of change the subject. Or if in doubt just deflect the questions… Why are you asking? Living under a false name has become pretty easy; my life depends on people believing I’m James Houston. James Houston has friends, people who care about him, who don’t judge him…  But I don’t.

It was a mistake; I was too young to understand the consequences of my actions. He bullied me for years, it never stopped… I thought I was the only person who could stop it. I was a scared and angry child but not an evil one. Before I knew it was all other the papers, people were threatening me, they would write horrible things and put them through my door. Really horrible things. I was hated by society. Rejected. Outcast. Even my own family despised me.

I wanted people to understand why I did it, what drove me to it. But before I knew it I was front page news; ‘murderer’… ‘Murderer’… ‘Murderer’… I was too young to be arrested; I was put into a secure unit for ‘children like me’. The threats got worse and worse. It was not only me who faced rejection, my mother lost her job, her friends; she would receive hate mail, and abuse everyday. They blamed her for raising a criminal.

So I left my ‘life’ behind and became James Houston.

What I don’t understand is, society accepts James Houston; they accept the way he looks, the way he speaks, the choices he makes. I look just like James Houston, I speak the same as him, act the same, make the same choices as him, but I will never be accepted. One day of my past will always define how people see me. One mistake I’ve made. A terrible one. But take away that one day, that one hour of my life and James Houston is me.

Rejection.

JASMIN EVE

rejection by Rakulan Sivalingam

Rejection

The forgotten clench of his mothers warm embrace, lost him into a puzzle of thought.

A presence of isolation, A feeling he had once fought.

 Standing alone in a crowded room; so loud, yet so quiet.

A quest to search for his beloved, conquering through the riot.

Putrid stenches getting rid of the aroma, the wintry shivers tearing through his under- developed spine.

The brittle glare of the man in white startled the young soul. It was 12:09.

The man in white gripped the sharp knife, exuding his vile mannerisms.

The young soul stepped backwards, falling into a stack of prisms.

He fell into a state of shock, petrified of this loneliness.

Like a small pawn, in this huge game of chess.

Numerous people were rushing around, pushing the youth.

Lights illuminating through the pitch black darkness in the booth.

‘’Tom, are you here?. Can you come to the counter?’’

Tom raced to the counter in a desperate search of hope. He found her.

Tom had lost his mother in Asda;

He had finally found his ma.

B - A Story about Rejection

The school playground, full of sweaty faces, stressed teachers and swearing teens. With this, it holds many different sections. Let me list them for you: 

-          The cool section

-          The geeky section

-          The sporty section

-          The poncy section

And then there is Alex’s section. Alex didn’t really fit into any of the sections above. He was turned down by every single group in one way or another. 

First of all, he tried to enter the lowest of the low, the ‘geeky’ group. Alex tucked in his discoloured shirt and tried to iron out the creases with his hands. He also let his hair fall flat and didn’t touch it in the morning. He walked over to the corner of the playground, just behind the goal posts; this is where they stayed, as to distance themselves from any ‘predators’. He took a deep breath and crept into the hustle of people, I say hustle, but it only consisted of five, they were just on the larger side and took up a fair amount of room. Alex started off with a simple, ‘Alright?’ The main ‘leader’ replied fairly friendly, ‘Oh, hi; Alex right?’ Alex gave a slight nod, and asked what they were doing. One of the other boys bluntly said, ‘Don’t worry, you won’t get it.’ ‘Try me.’ Alex quickly replied. The boy swung his ruck-sack around, unzipped it, and retrieved Plato’s book, The Republic, this was after rummaging through banana skins and ten year old comics. Alex had heard of the book, but only briefly in a few religious lessons. Alex didn’t care much for religion, he thought how people could think there is a man in the sky who looks at us, knows what we think, and has a list of ten things what we can and can’t do. So therefore, what he had heard of The Republic he liked. However, he had never read the book and sort of wished he had now. Out of stupidity he confidently said, ‘It’s a great book ain’t it? I read it a year or two ago.’ The group could see right through his lies, but due to their own entertainment carried on talking about the subject matter in hand. Alex tried desperately to keep up, but to no avail. He returned home at 4:00 p.m, dropped his bag on the floor next to his cluttered desk, and collapsed on his bed and let out a faint moan. 

He gave up attempting to mingle with the ‘geeks’ due to numerous embarrassments. He left it a couple of weeks before he approached a different group. During his time of ‘relaxation’ at school (lunch times) he used to sit by himself on the stairs leading up to the library, with his headphones plunked on his head. What he listened to was not what the ordinary boy would listen to at his age. It was mostly jazz and what people around him would call ‘old music’. Alex was also interested in a wide range of films as well. His favorites were Chinatown, Sunset Boulevard and 2001: A Space Odyssey. He hated blending into the crowd especially regarding arts, he wanted to be different. He thought very lowly of the people around him, he thought they were tasteless, uninteresting and most of all, seeking for the most attention possible. Alex’s dream was to be able to find someone, preferably a girl, that shared the same interests that he had, was this so much to ask? Well, yes, at the age he’s at, it’s very hard to find someone with a mature taste. Alex believed he was like this because he was an only child and only raised by those who were 45 and above. 

On the week of the 20^th of October he tried to take on another challenge, to get into the ‘cool’ social group. This was not an easy feat. To prepare himself he bought gel, lots of it, and did some sit ups, he wasn’t much good at these. He noticed that the guys that were in this group tried to be different, but by doing so, changed into everybody else. He strolled over to the group, trying to look sleek, with not a care in the world… to cut a long story short, he ended up with a black eye at the end of the week. Not only did he accidently insult every one of the participants, but he took the piss out the way they talk, walk and dress. He didn’t even mean it! It was safe to say he wouldn’t be joining that group. 

Weeks passed and in that time period he strived to join at least one group, but the poncy and sporty group denied him access. To be fair he was rubbish at sport, his legs were so thin you thought they were going to snap if he kicked a football. And yes, although he liked arts, the poncy group tried desperately to be somebody they weren’t, but this could be said for most groups. 

Since that he was now on holiday and had time to think things over. He came to the conclusion whilst lying on his bed listening to Joy Division that he should just give up and be totally off the wall. His first step was to go to the hairdressers; his hair was the most average hair any one did ever see. It was a dark blonde, slightly gelled up and just overall, very bland. He went just to get a trim and spike it up a lot more, so it looked extreme. But whilst he was sitting on the soft leather chair waiting to be seen, he noticed hair dye on a shelf behind him. He whizzed over all of the colours and saw the most outrageous one… ginger. He left the hairdressers looking… different, that’s all that could be said. He went home, opened up his laptop, and directed himself straight to a clothing website. Now, that he was entering six form he had to by a suit. And what was his instinct? To buy a yellow suit of course, along with a fedora. He was all set for school; he only needed to wait five days until he could see the results. 

The first day of school he arrived and Alex rolled up with his yellow suit, fedora, smoking a cigarette, whilst listening to David Bowie. He sure got some weird old looks on the way, but he just kept his head down, dragging on his cig. Weeks passed and he sat on the same step listening to his music at break and lunch times. 

One Tuesday afternoon, a girl came up to him, she had brunette hair, dark eyebrows, beautifully applied eye liner and wore dark lipstick. She asked Alex if he wanted a smoke. Alex nodded his head and gave a slight smile to her. They sneaked outside; the teachers always leave the back gates open so they could have their own drag. They strolled out; they turned the corner and saw an English teacher enjoying a cigarette. So they jumped back around and legged it in the opposite direction. They finally came to a stand still, panting and looking around. They still hadn’t spoken a word to each other apart from her question a few minutes ago; they looked at each other and smiled again. Alex reached into his inside pocket and retrieved a box of smokes. He placed one is his mouth and placed another in hers. She then followed up, lit his and then hers. They smiled again. After taking a few drags, Alex finally said, ‘So what’s your name?’ She said softly, ‘B’. She blew her smoke away from his face and said ‘What about you?’ Alex said, ‘A’. She smiled and threw her fag on the floor, put the sole of her foot on it and twisted. She bounced back to the school gates. Alex stayed there for a few minutes, shook his head and left. 

The two outcasts met liked this for a few weeks, only finding out little things about each other at a time, and only knew themselves as A and B. Alex discovered she liked film, music and books, especially To Kill a Mockingbird. This was going well for him. Apart from one thing… he didn’t really enjoy smoking. One rainy afternoon in their usual meeting spot, Alex picked up enough courage to ask her to go to the cinema. She nodded and asked when. He had a think, he pretended like he was recalling what he was doing this week, but the fact was that his life was very mundane and boring. But finally he said, ‘Saturday? I’ll meet you at the cinema.’ She nodded and said goodbye. They went to the cinema a couple of times that month and really enjoyed the art of acting. 

A year passed and they attended acting clubs and plays, they really appreciated them. The downside was that they weren’t really enjoying each other’s company; they bickered about the littlest of things. It was inevitable they were going to split, and Alex was devastated. His position in school had sky rocketed, he was seen as a rebel even though he didn’t do anything, it was just the fact that he kept his outside life secret and didn’t blabber about what he did at the weekend. Funny enough though, he didn’t care about any of that since he was with B. But that was all going to come crumbling down. When they finally sat down to talk and make the deed final, they just looked at each other, knew what they were both going to say, smiled and gave one last hug. They both went their separate ways. 

Ten years later Alex was eating lunch with a friend, he had met him just after B left. Alex’s acting career had picked up; he had been in a few crap TV dramas and was in quite a lot of plays, it was all looking good. His phone rang, he pulled it out of his tight jean pocket and had just enough time to look at the caller ID, and it was his agent. ‘Do you mind?’ Alex asked his mate, the friend shook his head. Alex dispersed from the table and went outside. He returned to the table a few minutes later with quite a shock on his face. ‘And?’ the friend questioned. ‘I’ve just been offered a role in a film, sounds big budget.’ ‘Who’s in it?’ the friend asked.

‘B’. 

D. R. HAYES

Rejection - Black Snow

Anas Essop

Black Snow

It was everywhere. It drifted through the air, clogging the air with darkness. It covered buildings, trees, carts. It hid dead bodies, it covered homeless people. The ash was always there, always falling. It never failed, it never stopped. It never changed, it never stayed. It covered a city…no, no, a world, of destruction. Of tyranny. Of  darkness. Of Gods.

The year was 2880. The world had just suffered a war. It’s the first war, between the “neo” humans. The humans of the new age. The previous had been exterminated. Wiped out. No one knows what happened. Some say, the world collapsed within itself, crushing the humans as the ground was breaking, the sky blackening. They say that a new “Earth”, was formed. Some say they all killed each other, in the grips of a “nuclear war”. Whatever that is. The truth is, no one knows. No “human” survived to tell. No books of knowledge were left. All that was left was one person. He is said to have stopped the war, to have killed all leaders. He is said to be a God. History, or rather, the Neo-Human history, tells the story of a man who built civilisation, crafted countries, societies. He is meant to hold immense power. The king of the new world, a living God. A living death machine. The reason for famine, for corruption, for slavery. He’s murdered babies, hundreds. On purpose. With purpose. At birth, children are tested for “radiation”. If this “radiation” is present within the baby, it is taken away to Lord Adem. Who knows, what happens next. Apparently radiation was a technology that existed before the neo-humans, in the time of the previous human race. Apparently the Lord Ruler himself, has “radiation”. They check for radiation constantly, checks all around the city, the world, by the “Adem Watch”. They use machines that no one has ever seen before. Radiation checkers that are of the world before. Alien to us, to our technology, to our knowledge.

And then there’s me. Someone who has radiation. My parents, hid me after the machine’s “beep” confirmed my radiation. My father, he attacked the doctors, protected me, died for me. My mother, she ran with me in her arms, hid for years, until she was kidnapped, tortured and killed by the Adem Watch when she was out getting supplies for us. They never found me though, my mum sacrificed herself. I was taken in by a man named Kolfer. A fellow “Radeite”. He nurtured me. He looked after me. Taught me the powers that I have been gifted with, Radiation. He taught me how to use it, the strength, the speed, the teleporting, or “blinking”. From place to place, guard to guard, dead body to dead body, he crafted me into the perfect assassin. Kolfer’s power was moving things without touching them. Telekinesis. However, he could not move whatever he wished, only that of which his strength could muster, which was still an incredible amount. He introduced me to his band of thieves, of criminals. We caused havoc under the tyranny of Adem. We robbed the bank, we killed the politicians, the Adem Watch. We rejected their ideas, the rules that were forced unto us. The rules that caused death. We fought back. Several years of my life, spent creating mayhem. Until, Kolfer came home, last year, with a plan to kill the Lord Adem.

v   

“What?” we all seemed to shout in unison. Me, Carla, Nhey, Poot, Donnik and Kolfer were sitting in kitchen of our hideout. A pub, ironically named the “Adem Tap”. “How?” I asked afterwards, more intrigued than outraged now. How could Kolfer possibly think we could kill Lord Adem? He is never seen in public, and whenever he climbs out of his castle his heavily guarded with 1^st rank Adem Watchers. Plus we can’t get anywhere near him due to the constant radiation checking done by guards. “You guys are more useless” teased Kolfer. He was an enigmatic man, of power and courage, and an uncanny ability to persuade us to do anything he wants. He led us. Donnik seemed more sceptical than the rest. “Sorry, I won’t be a part of this one. You guys do it. And what’s the cut? How would anyone get any money from this?”

“Have you forgotten our cause?” questioned Carla. Anger seemed to rise in her voice.

“Okay, Okay everyone calm down, let me talk you through the plan, you will be amazed. Then, Don, you may reconsider your objection. It’s time. We need to take our profession seriously. All we’re doing is becoming enemies of the Adem. We need to destroy him. That is why we exist. Years have gone where all we’ve done is danced around the edge of danger, or actually helping people, or actually committing to our goal. We need to kill him. We need to achieve our goal. I have been away for six months, preparing this plan in the north. If I can’t trust you guys for the job, I will seek refuge in another crew. It is your choice. Bear in mind however, we may not be alive at the end of it”.

“How does that make it any different? We always risk our lives in a job. Look at Peter. The odds didn’t play well for him”

“This….This job is more….dangerous. It is the end. It’s now or never. After this, if we succeed or not, there will be no more us. No more thieving. This is the last job for our crew. The last deed if you may. And with it, will, most certainly, come death.” And with that, Kolfer began to explain

v   

I will not bore you with the story of the plan. I will not bore you with the preparation that lasted an entire year. Instead, we will skip to the assassination. To the present. Today, at Three draft Severen, me and the crew will rise.

v   

The Lord Adem was in a cart, being held and pulled by several 5^th Rank Adem Watchers. Around 50 or so more 1^st Rank Adem Watchers surrounded him. They were in the town square, in the heart of the town. A huge crowd, almost everyone in the city, were at the event. The Lord was expected to give a speech today, and then give a “live” execution of bandits who attempted to steal from the World Bank two span ago. I was on the roof of a building over-looking the event. On the balcony below me was Poot. He was on watch. Keeping an eye on the scene. On the balcony on the building opposite were Carla and Donnik. They were to take out the guards on the left hand side. My building, which was on the right, overlooked the guards on the right. They were my job. Nhey and kolfer were on the ground, mixed in the crown. Their job was to take out the front guards as well as the Lord Adem. Nhey was also a Radeite. He was able to see in to the future by three seconds. This was extremely useful when it came to sparring. It almost seemed as if he would predict and react smoothly to any jab I threw at him. Unless of course, if I just teleported behind him and punched him in the back. The Lord Adem began to leave his cart. Mist followed him, circled him. The ash fell harder. The entire crowd fell into silence. You could hear the deep breaths of The Lord. You could hear the ash softly hit the ground. And then the guards began to shout.

“HALT! HALT! RADIATION!” The crowd burst into panic. A fire started, caused by Kolfer as a “havoc creator”. The crowds of people began to leave, but the Watch told them to stop. It was history unfolding. Halfway through staring did I realised Carla and Don killing guards across the square. I had missed my queue. I blinked. My glass dagger was in the neck of the guard. I saw his eyes, the colour drain from them. I saw the confusion amongst the guards. I blinked. I stabbed. Blink, dead, blink, dead. The guards began to catch on and started spreading out, on their toes, ready for me. Foolish. I blinked to the roof again, sprinted off and jumped. The guards were looking around, trying to find out where I had gone, puzzled, confused. I was falling through the air, measuring the angle of my fall. I landed on top of one of them, my dagger piercing his skull. Guard after guard were falling. On the opposite side, the swords of Carla and Don left behind carpets of dead soldiers. Kolfer was killing the guards who attempted to save the Lord. The Lord simply sat still, in his cart, emotionless. Nhey was taking out the guards behind Kolfer who were trying to get to him. Kolfer pushed from afar using his power against the cart. The cart fell to the ground, and The Lord Adem jumped out as it was falling. I saw my opportunity. He was naked of defence, in free fall, feet off the ground. I could could blink with my dagger in him before he even knew it. This is t, my chance. I blinked. The dagger stabbed air. A warm, liquid feeling surrounded my stomach. I looked down to see a sword that had gone straight through my stomach. The Lord pulled his sword back out of me, from behind. I fell. Kolfer screamed, but got cut halfway. Every single guard fell to the ground, as if they all fell unconscious. They all dropped to the floor in unison, like a rehearsed dance. All that were left was Kolfer, Carla, Don and Nhey, floating in mid air, gripping their throats, as if someone were strangling them with an invisible hand. The Lord Adem stood, watching them. “You will never rise. You can’t defeat God.” He walked to Nhey, or Carla. I couldn’t tell, darkness was clouding my vision. I tried desperately to get up, to save them. He looked Nhey in the eye, and he burst like a bubble of blood. All of them did. An explosion of red, of death. Then he walked over to me. “The last one standing. The young maestro, I presume. Why, must you reject my wisdom, my help. What I do for this world, what I have saved it from, the world before, and this is how you thank me?”

“You kill children and torture innocent lives” I spat. He turned around to leave me to die. Weeping. Everyone I knew had died. All my friends. I was about to die. All for nothing. I blinked. I had my dagger in his neck. I felt it, inside of him. I knew I had got him, yet when I looked him in the eyes, he was laughing. I knew then, that we were defeated, that I was going to die. How is he not dead? I had stabbed him in the neck. “Foolish girl, are you even stupid enough to believe me mortal?”

He pushed his sword through my heart.

I fell.

The black snow continued to fall, covering what will be forgotten.

Rejection

Rejection

Living in a world full of strangers, with no parents, no siblings, nobody to turn to. Yes, this is my life at the age of 15. With my mother being a raging alcoholic as a result from my father’s death when I was 8 due to a car accident; there was nothing ever on her mind other than where she will get the money for her next can of beer. As a child, I assumed this behaviour was just her grieving and she will in time be back to normal however, this I realised was not the case when I came home from school one day to find the police at my door step.

“Excuse me officer, is there a reason for why you are outside my house? Did someone break in? Is my mum okay?!” I said to man in the uniform worriedly. 

“No son, you must be Jack, there has been no burglary, however I will need you to come with me” said the police man calmly.

It was a long ride to the station and I had reached the building to find my mother in a prison cell. I still have the image of her mischievous smirk on her face when I walked in. It seemed almost as if she was relieved to not have to look after me anymore as she watched my expression when I was told she had been locked up for murder of an innocent old lady as she went to steal money off her. This crime had been shown on the news and I was humiliated but the worst of all was the reaction I had received when I walked into my new care home which I didn’t want to go to. The looks of disgust on the kids faces as if I was a piece of trash.

Weeks went on and I hated the place until finally someone pushed my final button.                                                                   

“Hey, new kid, I bet you’re glad your alcoholic of a mother is locked up. That’s where she belongs” said Lucy with a huge grin on her face.

That was it. I couldn’t deal with it.

How can people be so cruel?

I stormed to my bedroom, packed up my essentials and I was off. I didn’t care if I had to live on the streets, I just couldn’t cope.

And from then on, no one had ever heard or seen me again.

Hanisha D

Rejection

Cambridge University

Dear John Smith

We greatly appreciate you taking interest in our university, but unfortunately we cannot accept you into our university to do your chosen subjects.

You do not meet requirements and also your personal statement is quite frankly poor. Your personal information will stay with us for another 2 years for legal purposes. Your out of school activities were poor and your references were not great either. I suggest that the next university you apply for you be on time for your interview and fix your personal statement up otherwise you will be rejected again.

Be ten minutes early before the interview, be prepared for questions dress smartly, these are the things you need to do to impress other university's. If you done that for us, you would of had a great chance of getting in to our university. 

Your personal information will stay with us for another 2 years for legal purposes.

While regretting that we were not able to respond positively to your interest in Oxford, I want to wish you every success in your educational pursuits. Experience suggests that regardless of our decisions, most of our candidates will be welcomed by other outstanding universities. I extend my best wishes for the coming year.

Omar Khan 

Head of admissions 

Rejection (poverty)

It’s the 21st century
The media displays it day and night, 
Poverty.
Poverty across the globe lies
Poverty cries out from the belly of little boys
Little girls, parents too
Desperately searching for food, 
Shelter, clothing, for love, 
Companion, for attention
Those with plenty, refuse
To amend, a world haunted by 
Poverty.
Its like the rich get richer 
and the poor dont get a f***ing thing
I mean they got money for wars
but they can't feed the poor.
Is poverty affecting the rich? 
Are their poverty the same?
Or are they just looking for excuses to reject us
It's the 21st Century 

Daniel Sher.
.

New Jack City

New Jack City is an American crime film about the Ruthless gangster Nino Brown (wesley Snipes) and his crew (The Cash Money Brothers) who make their way to the top by supplying Crack Cocaine to the streets of New York (Harlem). They spread throughout the streets of  New York like germs literally (Harlem, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens bridge), and end up making millions of dollars a week. They end up converting the real life complex (graham court) which is known in the film as Carter, into their crack house. As they are making money by baking coke and supplying coke, a cop Scotty Appletion (Ice-T) has his eyes on them and is determined to bring the whole gang down especially Nino Brown.     

Scotty has a deal with a stick up kid Pookie who is also a drug user. The police let him go under one condition which is to help them bring down Nino Brown alongside with his Cash Money Brothers. Scotty recruits pookie to go undercover and work for the CMB brothers to gather information. Unable to resist all the crack cocaine surrounding him, pookie ends up relapsing, high and acting erratically. G money who is Nino Browns right hand man finds out that Pookie is wired. The CMB brothers end up burning the whole complex and destroy any evidence of their criminal activites. 

After Scotty's failed attempt of bringing them down, Scotty decides to go undercover himself and gathers enough information to bring them down. The film ends with Scotty brutally beating up Nino Brown in public and is then sentenced for 25 years.

                                                     Daniel Sher.

Owen Hargreaves - Rejection

The summer of 2006 in July was a big turning point in my life. It's the date at which Manchester United had signed me from German giants Bayern Munich. As illustrious and successful Bayern Munich was, signing up for Manchester United was a new challenge for me in many senses, I was an England international and it was great to get a chance to play in England for club level also as well as internationally. However, the move to Manchester was the biggest turning point of my career to date, my highs consequently turned into my lows.

I enjoyed great years at Bayern Munich, winning trophies with no problems and being a consistent england international at all levels. I was s star in the eyes of Munich and English fans, as well as the England national team manager. I won player of the year awards at Munich in consecutive seasons. I had every reason and much optimism to be joining Manchester United in the summer of 2006. I settled in well at United, playing well, I helped United become champions of europe and champions of england in the same season, both at Chelsea's expense. However, after that season, the whole landscape of my career had changed. I injured my knee heavily and would leave me out of action for a long time. I kept positive and tried to recover as soon as possible. I was close to recovery, then I was told my the England manager that he wont be picking me until I was back to 100%, which was understandable. As I was closing in on my return, I done my knee again heavily which kept me out longer. It was two years now, me sitting on the sidelines watching my team win as I was getting payed for being injured. I returned in my first game after two years in Old Trafford. I was pumped up to reignite my career, but five minutes in, I tore my calf muscle in two places. 'It's my first game in two years, I've had a standing ovation and I've now got 70,000 people looking at me - millions more on TV - and all I can think is, "Try not to limp". I look like a joker.''

After that, Manchester United were done with me and I don't blame them. The released me in the summer of 2011, the manager was getting impatient and I felt he lacked trust in me again. Manchester City came for me and I signed for them. That's when I opened up about my experience with the medical staff at United. They used many procedures to mend me, but many didn't work, I felt like a dummy as I thought they were testing there medical cures on me. Manchester City only played me twice, that''s when I realised they only signed me to annoy Manchester United who were their biggest rivals. They released me for free in just a few months, no professional team came in for me. I was a gifted player at the peak of his powers just 3 years ago and clubs would scramble over me. Now I was rejected by football clubs and by my country as I never will get a chance to play for England again. Not every career ends in a fairytale, I learnt that the hard way.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2030501/Owen-Hargreaves-fights-The-moving-story-gifted-footballers-refusal-up.html

Moscow 2008

Chucking down, this wasn't any usual rainy day that we get in England. Saturday, 21st May 2008 was the best experience I ever endured as a Manchester United fan. Having been born in Manchester and living there for the first six years of my life, it was special going to Russia to watch my team play in the Uefa Champions League final. It was the first match I'd ever gone to watch of Manchester United's, so it was a very big deal for me. The opposition was Chelsea, and losing to a team from the same country as you in the biggest stage of club football isn't a situation you want to be in as a player or a supporter. So there were a few nerves jangling around in the stadium from both sets of fans. All I could think about was watching the likes of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo play for Manchester United, and of course, seeing the main man, Sir Alex Ferguson. As the whistle for kick off was approaching, I couldn't help but chew my gum faster and faster and glance at my watch every few seconds. I know understood why Fergie did it so much, even with all that experience, big games like this always got to him, but he was an artist at staying calm and composed as long as a decision didn't go against him. 

As the referee blew this whistle, the crowds erupted with noise, as if the English were here to take over Moscow. We started brilliantly with passing precision and a touch of class by the golden oldies Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs. World player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo set us off on a flyer with the opening goal of the game with a sublime header. After that, it was edge of the seat stuff, we certainly won the first half of the game, however the second half belonged to Chelsea. They equalised through Chelsea legend Frank Lampard to make it all square and everything to play for. A concession of chances game for both teams in the remainder of the game, including extra time. Then, the final whistle went, and it was time for the lottery. Penalty shootouts are never a nice way to lose any match, especially the CL final, but it had to be done, and one team was going home being just second best.  

I still remember it like it was just yesterday, my pulse was moving so fast I couldn't bare to watch. First stepped us Carlos Tevez, he scored. Then Ballack for Chelsea, he scored. The big penalty was the third one, all eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo, every camera, millions of eyes on him at once. The best player in the world up against the best keeper in the world at the time. CR7 stepped up, and he missed. He covered his face with his hands almost as if to hide himself from everyone around him. It was a big miss, and a miss that was inches away from handing the CL to Chelsea. Literally, inches. Captain fantastic John terry stepped up or Chelsea to win the CL, if he scored, it would of been done and dusted, and Chelsea would be champions of Europe. I'd never felt so bad in my life, I got a text from my friend in London who supports Chelsea that very second saying, ''Moscow's blue tonight.'' He stepped up, and everything felt slow motion and agonising. As soon as John Terry stuck it, I saw Van Der Sar dive the opposite way from the ball and my heart sank. A split second later, the red half of the  stadium went absolutely ballistic, raving over John Terry's penalty miss. He struck the post, as soon as he missed I remember immediately searching for Ronaldo, and the expression on his face told the story, pure relief. On the shootout went, Ryan Giggs did score the winning penalty for United that nighty. But at that time, no one knew yet. Giggs scored then it was Anelka's turn, he looked scared from the moment it was his turn to take a penalty. Anelka hesitantly shot, and Edwin Van Der Sar pushed it clear for a Manchester United win. That was it, the players all ran towards Edwin Van Der Sar to celebrate. My dad who's a real hard nut when it comes to showing emotions grabbed me and hugged me. He hadn't hugged me since I was probably 6  or 7. That's how I knew this was the big time. We roamed the streets of Moscow painting the city red. I replied to my friend's text message saying, ''Looks pretty red to me.'' Manchester United were the Kings of Europe for the 3rd time. 

 WATCH.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-999C-eMAA

Rejection (Fear) Poem

Rejection
Is it something I face because your ideas I don't accept them?
But I reject myself if I let them make me conform, if I let them
Why does everyone believe we must be the same,
Follow this and that, forget ideas of individuality
Originality is not something we should forsake
We can all learn something if we adopt each other's mentality,
Can't let it hold you down, fear is the gravity.
Things we don't know, its just natural to abandon it.
But like I learnt from Gravity no such thing as fear
So I levitate above the hate, get knowledge that
holds weight, rejection is never something that will bar
my way.

AYO

I blame the underground

3 REASONS WHY I AM BLAME THE UNDERGROUND...

To begin with, I am no snob towards public transport, I do not ride around everywhere in a black taxi or fly to school in a private jet- in fact I seem to spend at least a third of my life sitting/standing on train’s… (So I think I am entitled to have a little moan.)           

1.     Firstly, the main culprits for making me late to school everyday... PEOPLE WHO TAKE HOURS TO PUT MONEY ON THEIR BLOODY OYSTER. It’s quite simple really, you press ‘next customer here’, scan your oyster card and top it up; three simple steps that should take a person of minimal intellect no longer than 30 seconds… So I'm running late for school and see the last possible train to make it in tie comes in a minute. It would be possible, if I didn't have the constant misfortune of queuing behind an absolute invalid who doesn't have a clue what day it is let alone how to top up their oyster.  Then after making me a good 2/3 minutes behind schedule have the absolute cheek to double check the money has gone on... OF COURSE IT HAS YOU IDIOT!!! 

2.      Please, please, PLEASE, do not walk in front of me on the underground unless your name is USAIN BOLT. There’s only a matter of seconds before my train arrives, I'm prepared to make an embarrassing sprint through the station to catch it…I am then stopped in my tracks by a sweet, little, old and (very deaf) old lady, clutching on to a walking frame, walking no faster than a mph.Whom, (to be perfectly honest) looks in no fit state to leave her sofa let alone be travelling on the underground. ‘Excuse me please… ‘Excuse me’… ‘EXCUSE ME PLEASE’… ‘EXCUSEEEEEE MEEEEEEE’...  It is then I lose all hope of catching my train. 

3.  This may make me sound like a cold and heartless individual; but, there is nothing that frustrates more than people who jump in front of trains. Now, I am not passing judgement on suicide or anyone who wishes to commit it, I am simply saying that jumping in front of a train is an incredibly selfish way for one to kill there selves, not only is it traumatising and emotionally damaging to the train driver and anybody else that has to witness it; but it also a massive inconvenience for those who wish to use that tube line and ARE IN A HURRY!!! Put yourself in my shoes.. You've already been made very, very late for sixth form because of the idiot in the queue for the ticket machine and the sweet (but very annoying) old lady limping in front of you through the station. You finally make it the platform, and too your bloody luck see the train line has been closed! Then after a good ten minutes of ranting and blaming TFL for being so useless are told it's because 'someone has died'... I am then left standing at the platform looking like an unsympathetic bitch, who is very, very LATE FOR SCHOOL.

J. Lennie

Murder to Excellence.

MURDER TO EXCELLENCE 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yn5qj1pCj4 Listen. 

For those of you who don't know, The Throne is a collaborative hip-hop duo which consists of Jay-Z and Kanye West. Although they had been making music together years in the past it was only until 2011 they decided to team up and create what would be one of the most renowned albums of the year. One of the tracks which inspired this post was one called 'Murder to Excellence' which dwells on the highs and lows of African-Americans. 

The song's title has a double meaning: The phrase 'Murder to Excellence' can be described as a transition from the evil of murder to benefits of success and it can also be used as a metaphor for people 'killing' their own successes. The song and whole album are centred around America's corporations and capitalism and how racism and materialism are murdering blacks. The first part of the song is the 'murder'. 

This part of the song is about the frequent black-on-black violence that occurs in America. These murders are often rooted to gang association and other problems of living in deprived areas. Jay-Z, Kanye and I'm pretty sure everyone else will agree that black-on-black violence is not the way. Being black in America and for a fact anywhere else can be proven to be quite a struggle especially with the recurring stereotypes of us being violent, loud, materialistic and obnoxious. Instead of African-Americans and other blacks all over the world supporting each other, we have allowed material things, money, government, society and our current situations to box us in and turn us against each other. It such a shame that people like Malcolm X have died trying to make a name for blacks however in today's world we undo all their work when we kill each other. Why should people like Malcolm X and Martin L. King have wasted their energy trying to defend us when we're progressing backwards in society and not trying to make a better perception of blacks. If you ask most people the first things they associate with 'black' are the things mentioned before such as crime, notoriety and so on. One of the reasons I feel black-on-black crime became frequent is because young blacks in particular have been deceived for years about what power is. The roots of many of these things can go as far as slavery. Most of the black-on-black crime happens in the deprived suburbs in America and even here in the UK. Money has become a necessity to live and therefore a symbol of power, meaning people will do what they have to do to get it even if that means killing your own people. It is a dangerous illusion and more people, especially the blacks need to realise power is the ability to control people or things. Power is self-control! The truth is we are stronger together than when we divide ourselves according to where we are from, money and race but unfortunately there are too many big egos which blind people to this truth. The murders in the city of Chicago which have mostly been blacks are more than those that are killed in Iraq. Am I the only one that find these statistics appalling? The social-economic situation of most African-Americans in America has also lead to the fact that black people only live an average of twenty-one years before death. Let's hope all of us get to celebrate our post-demise. One of the phrases from this part of the songs from Jay-Z goes: 'If you put crabs in the barrel to ensure your survival you gon' end up pulling down n****s that look just like you'. This particular phrase has a significant meaning; Blacks (crabs) being placed in the projects (barrel) causes us to turn against each other trying to get out.  The second part of Murder to Excellence is now the excellence which is seen throughout the black community and how we need more of it.

In this part of the song The Throne go on to praise what is known as Black Excellence. Despite all the negativity surrounding African-Americans there has been successes. It is impossible to forget one of the most powerful men in the world is the president of the United States - Barack Obama and its already known that he is black. Ben Carson was the first black neurosurgeon coming from a deprived background. These people should serve as a reminder not to let your skin colour bar you from reaching your goals. Black people doing well is actually something common however the media showing all the violence over shadows this. There are many black people in the U.S and U.K that have made something of themselves. Examples of this can be musicians and actors: Ashley Walters, Jme, Malcolm Kamulete, John Boyega and the list goes on.  The only thing we need now is some Black Excellence to over take the murder. Excellence is something that I believe comes in all shapes, colours and ages but if we had more of it, the world would be a better place. Not just for blacks but for everyone.

  

One Direction

One Direction were formed in 2010 on the UK version of the X Factor. The group consists of 5 boys, Niall Horan (20), Louis Tomlinson (21), Harry Styles (19), Zayn Malik (20), and Liam Payne (20).
They all auditioned for the x factor as solo acts in 2010. They were all successful in the audition, but it all turned around at bootcamp. They were told that they wouldnt make it to the next round of the show. After leaving the stage, obviously very upset, they were then called back on, as Simon Cowell had decided that they would work better as a group, and decided to put them through. This is when one direction were formed. They only had 3 weeks to get to know each other before flying out to the judges houses. They were put into Simon's category. They were successful and simon put them through to the live shows. Here they performed every week, giving it their all to receive votes from the public. They managed to get all the way to the final. They ended up coming a well deserved 3rd place. They then promised the fans that they weren't going to split, by saying 'Dont worry, this isnt the end of one direction.'
Although it was made clear that only the winner could get a recording contract, Simon signed one direction up with Sony. This led them to release their first single, 'what makes you beautiful' in the september of 2011.
This song proved to be extremely popular, going straight to number 1. The fans then started to name themselves 'directioners.' There were the core fans- the small group that followed them around since x factor. They took to social networks to make the rest of the UK fans, who joined them on social networks and got the rest of Europe involved. This quickly spread to America. And they very quickly became the biggest boy band in the world.
Their first tour, 'up all night', which is also the name of their first album, sold out within minutes. It was a UK theatre tour, only in fairly small venues.
A year after, their album 'take me home' was released. By this point, 'one direction infection' had gone global, so this was their first worldwide arena tour. These tickets also sold out in a matter of minutes, so on major demand, had to put up lots more dates. By this point, they had won many awards and had loads of number 1 singles, broken records and became the biggest boy band in the world.
29th of August 2013 - following the groups success of the two tours and countless awards, 'This Is Us', the groups movie was released into cinemas. This went to number 1 on the movie charts.
Next year, they are due to have another world wide tour, but this time its a stadium tour, which includes playing at Wembley.

By Amy

Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction- Film Review 

Pulp Fiction, a film starring two of the most well known actors around the world, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. A film of action, blood and witty comedy, which could only be directed by Quentin Tarantino, an Oscar award winning writer and director. This gangster film has made itself unique by going back and forth in time throughout the film, revealing stories that interconnect to each other and the characters link to one another. It may sound confusing, but you won’t be lost for long watching this laugh out loud sinful film. The film was released in 1994 and till this day it is still a refreshingly different film to all the rest that have come out ever since. Some scenes are astonishingly mad, explicit and crude however they're entertaining as they are acted so precise and well that the craziness is seen as reality to the viewers. 

The film begins in an american diner, a couple try to spontaneously rob a cafe, with guns and a crazy look on their face however they still manage to come across harmless when compared to the two hit men in the following scene, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. Although the two characters are driving along talking about burgers, they portray a menacing feel to the scene, they are able to intimidate the audience which shows how spot on their characterisation of the characters were. 

The film also stars a well known actor who goes by the name of Bruce Willis, in the film he plays a dodgy boxer and a woman's lover, he's also part of one of the most provocative scenes in the film. As you might be able to tell, this film is original in so many ways and not afraid to show the exaggerated reality of drugs, sex and murderers. Everyone should get the chance to see this film, whether they love it or hate it, it is going down in cinema history. Too good to be ignored. 

Frances Knight

It Takes a Dream to Create a Village

It Takes a Dream to Create a Village

The summer of 2012, the year of the London Olympics introduced the new Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Velodrome and BMX Circuit but beyond this there was a whole new astonishing development in London’s prime location, this was called the Athletes village. Many of you would have already been aware of this site but how many of you actually what happened to this post the Olympic Games?

Stratford’s neglected, contaminated, derelict brown field site was transformed into exemplary living accommodation for up to 17000 competitors during the e the village at the same high standard of living as the sports competitors. For this reason there is being a conversion of the Olympic village to a new residential district called the East Village.

East Village's legacy will endure for decades, if not longer, through provision of approximately 3000 new homes and regeneration of an abandoned corner of East London. Not only accommodating many thousands of residents, it will also promote the vicinity and improve the appearance of Stratford City with its remarkable infrastructure. Courtyards and lakes are being incorporated in East Village to enable families to enjoy the scenery and have amazing outings with their children in this new, refreshing, picturesque environment. 

Towering flats and spacious balconies give residents a breath taking view of London’s finest sceneries at night of famous landmarks including Big Ben( only 6 miles away) and London Eye. This gives residents a real experience of London life which they are bound to love. This is on top of easy access to travel with a newly built international station and Westfield shopping Centre which is on the perimeter of the village.

What is there not to love?

Being a resident in East London myself, never would I have imagined in my wildest dreams that such a conspicuous district would have been constructed in my area. It is completely mind-blowing, the amount of work that has been put into this project of East Village with at its peak 6000 workers walking into the village per day to make this work and the level of performance is outstanding. This project employed around 40000 workers and at a time of crisis in the economy. There is no evidence for me to say this was a waste of money and I am immensely proud to say I live in an area with such a huge attraction to the public’s eye.

Brownfield marshland to Olympic accommodation to residential living… now that is what you call a real sustainable development!

H.D

Somers Town: Film review

Somers Town: Film review

Two teenagers, both newcomers to London. Marek who just moved to London with his Dad, and Tomo who is a runaway from Nottingham, who has nothing back there and is looking to forge a life out in London, but unfortunate events happen to him the first night he stays there and ends up meeting Marek, and form a unlikely friendship and chase and fight over a girl, Maria.

Shane Meadows who was hired to make a short film to promote the new euro star terminal in st. Pancreas.  One of the key themes in this short film is contrast; Tomo is very much an opposite version of Marek. Tomo is short and lazy and also cheeky, whilst Marek is tall, hardworking and very shy. Another theme is growing up, when  Marek met Tomo, he slowly changed, some bad things but some positive things, a example of a this is that he was coming out of his shell, and had a friend and he was having fun, but Tomo had a bad influence on him, when they stole laundry from the local launderette. Both of them were growing up over this period, they both loved the same girl, but they made sure it didn't get between them, saying that they both were still very childish, lying to impress a girl, and Tomo hiding under Marek’s  bed from Marek’s dad.

I personally had mixed feelings about this film, I thought it was cleverly made, for example ever time you met a new character; it would be a colored scene, but any other scene would be in black and white, (Spoiler) but when they went to France it was in color. Meadows themes and ideas were very interesting, I liked that the 2 main characters were contrasted, it added to the humor, to see how both of them got to know each other.

On the other hand, the pace of the movie, for me was way too quick, (spoiler) when they decide to go to France they skip the whole trip to there, which I thought that they could of got a bit more personal and find out why Tomo ran away from home and what happened with Marek’s mother. I found it a bit cliche and very cheesy, they decided they would go to France, and they somehow found Maria. I think Shane Meadows rushed the film a bit, and he could have done more with it.

Shane Meadow actually created this to make a short film for a new euro star terminal in st. Pancreas, his aim was to show what love can do to you, no matter how blind it is, and the fact that Marek and Tomo traveled to France not knowing anything but her name shows that.

I would recommend this film, but it will be annoying towards the end with the short ending and the unanswered questions.

I am going to give this film a 6/10, it was a great story and the comedy was great, but they could have done so much more.                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                 
O.K