MMAP
April 6 ~103 words ~200 mangoes
She opened her backpack, pulling out her beloved pencil case, but the feeling of awe didn’t last long. Just two seconds later, the bully in her class whizzed by, grabbing the pencil case out of her hand, leaving her defenseless, with no writing utensils. She ran after him, trying and trying to catch up and snag the pencil case back, and finally, when the bully tripped over a desk, she spotted her chance. Sprinting over, she picked up her pencil case, thankfully closed. After some thought, she decided to help the bully up, and smiling, she offered her hand, and he took it.

MMAP
April 8 ~ 526 words ~ 700 points
The Girl With a Heart on Her Sleeve
It was a new dawn, a new day, and as Lily was waking, ready to play. Adorning a wrist she noticed a heart, she thought, what a great way for my day to start. It was a small emblem, the size of a nail, but in its squished details it told a whole tale. It looked like any other tattoo, but she knew its real meaning, through and through. Her real-life heart organ, pulsing up and down, it was so beautiful, she didn’t dare frown. She sighed, wondering if it would ever go away, and then she began to dress for the day. A quiet tune filled her head, and a single tear fell, that her eye had shed.
The girl donning a heart on her sleeve,
Is not quite what people perceive.
Her mindset and imprint are oh-so bold,
She will speak up, whenever told.
Easy to trust, caring and fair,
Of her emotions, she is so aware.
But be warned, she speaks no lies,
And you will see, she is quite wise.
Every dusk, Lily’s mother used to sing her this rhyme, explaining that one day would come a time. She would sprout a heart on her wrist, with her skin warm and sunkissed. Many boys would fall for her, but each one, an amateur. Only one of the many would be so true, she knew this story through and through.
When her heart finally appeared, Lily feared something was going on, something so weird. She already had a boyfriend, and their love, she was sure, would not come to an end.
As Lily went about her day, the tune replayed in her mind, but its true meaning, of which she was blind. Finally, when the day came to an end, her boyfriend was waiting just around the bend. They walked for a while, hand in hand, and suddenly their feet hit the sand.
The girl remained oblivious to the truth, that her heart and boyfriend in water would discard her youth. Into the ocean, she went with her boy, and as they went deeper, down went her joy. As she started to age, so did her heart, tearing all her emotions widely apart. No longer a child, no longer could love, she started to pass on, heading above.
She realized how innocent she had been to love, not realizing the consequences of. As her body aged, and so did her soul, she tried to bring back love back to make herself whole. Her hate for herself and her boyfriend, showed on her heart, her life now a dead end.
As her soul flew upward, her body dead at last, it was clear that she had been an outcast. Her emotions had always been clear, and to her, she held them dear. To others, though, they took her for granted, and she left them enchanted. They all never imagined she would die, but with her gone, they didn’t cry. The only one in terror and with hardships was her boyfriend, on whom she would always depend. He wept and wept for days to come, but at last he moved on, her death, he overcome.

WUC
April 8 ~ 153 words ~ 300 points
Many people think that dreams are amazing and majestic scenes, but in reality, they can be anything, ranging from normal, everyday experiences to those magical moments. Dreams are often overlooked or perceived as having not much meaning, but they are so much more than that. Dreams are images, feelings, or thoughts playing a movie in your mind while you sleep. People often dream in first person, though third person is common as well, and they see dreams in both black and white and in color. The reason people have dreams is not completely clear to scientists, and there are a lot of possible theories including dreams representing wishes, dreams helping to process emotions, and dreams analyzing memories. Everyone, including every animal that has a brain dreams to help with those three reasons and more. Dreams are not as basic as they seem, even if the reason they exist is not completely clear yet.

MMAP
April 16 ~ 378 words ~ 500 points
Thistle paused, catching her breath, almost there, she thought, the voice in her head barely louder than a whisper because of how tired she was. Her legs were sore and numb from pain, her back was weighed down with crates of food and water, her forehead was thick with sweat, tempting to fall into her eyes and sting. But soon, this food will go to a good cause, and I’ll no longer be breaking my back carrying it. Thistle continued to hike, one step forward at a time.
The next time she paused, she could see the top, another motivating factor in her climb. All around Thistle were trees, but there was a small gap between them, and from her spot, she could make out the view. Cliffs jutting out, over the sea. And miles offshore of this island was her homeland. Thistle knew it was there, although she couldn’t see it. How she longed to be home with her sisters, but sadly she had been sent away, deemed a menace to the royal family.
Thistle sighed, wishing those thoughts away, as she began again, knowing the next time she stopped, she would be at the top of this huge mountain, admiring the view of the sea, the miles and miles of untouched calmness, with rays dancing all over the surface, creating a thousand shades of blue both for humans admiring the sea from above and creatures watching from below.
But the rest of Thistle’s journey wasn’t as easy as she thought. Just a minute or two after departing again, a few small rocks came tumbling down. Nothing near an avalanche, but enough for Thistle to trip over, scraping her knees and palms. Hoisting herself up, she steadied her body, grabbing onto a tree branch. However, it suddenly snapped, sending Thistle down again, and this time, she slid. Thistle started sliding down the hill that she had just climbed up and couldn’t stop. She struggled to reorient herself with her feet underneath, so she could shove them into the gravel and dirt. Eventually, she slowed and reached for a tree to stop herself. When she finally stopped moving, her breathing irregular and raged, she pulled herself up, even more carefully this time, and continued the never-ending journey upward.

WUC
April 19 ~ 196 words ~ 150 points
I have a lot of hobbies, including reading, writing, journaling, drawing, baking, and track and field. I also love musicals as well as belting out the lyrics to those songs, and I love memorizing random references from movies and shows to use in conversations with my friends. I normally do not have enough time in the day for my hobbies, but I try to write a bit or journal each day, read at least a chapter of a book, and sketch out a quick reference to complete later when I find more time. I also try to bake once a week and run as often as I can, though usually only once or twice a week. I’m also very invested in my school’s play, and I would call being obsessed with it a hobby because I’ve devoted so much time to it and it’s fun. I’ve memorized almost the whole play, and acted out every scene, so I could basically perform it as a one-man show, and I do! Thank you for this daily for giving me the privilege to ramble about my weird hobbies. I have weirder ones as well that I just didn’t include.

WUC
Thank You Notes
These are not in any order by the way. They are completely random. Also, sorry these are really rushed.

Avika: I never really to know you since this month was busy and I did not have much time to chat. I wish I got to talk to you more, but sadly that just didn’t happen. I’m glad that you were in my cabin because your presence was especially motivating with all the words you added. Thank you for existing basically. : )

Bookforest: Like Avika, I never got to know you as well as I wanted to, or as well as I could have. However, thank you for being in Mercury and for being inspiring, even if you didn’t realize it. I appreciate you a lot! <3

Sophia and Chocolate: Thank you for being amazing hosts! This camp helped me take my mind off a few stressful things so thank you for running it! It was also really fun, and I wish that I had been more active to further enjoy it. Once again, thank you for being great hosts.

Chocolate: Thank you for being Mercury cabin leader. You gave me a really fun experience (when I was active) and I’m glad that you appreciate me appreciating you. (That sounds really confusing, but basically, when I reply ‘thank you’ to your ‘added’ comments, I’m trying to say that I appreciate you doing hard work, and after reading the thank you that you wrote me, it makes me happy that I make you happy.) I hope what I wrote makes some sense and thank you for being a great cabin leader and host

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