Young Writers Society

3/1/15

A Crazy Day in the Life of Jake Wells

One summer day, in the tropical city of Honolulu, 16 year old Jake Wells ate his oatmeal in the silence of his own boredom. As Jake prepared for a day in front of the T.V., Mrs. Wells, unsatisfied with her lazy son and his lack of physical activity, ordered him to spend some time out in the sunshine. Just before he got comfortable and sat down for his morning cartoons, Mrs. Wells took the remote and switched the T.V. off. "What was that for?" Jake asked. "When I was your age, we didn't have T.V. We had to go outside to watch stuff and eat our oatmeal. Now go have some fun in the sun!" Grudgingly, Jake walked out the door, with bowl of oatmeal in hand, and headed towards the nearest park.

Just as he finished his oatmeal, Jake spotted a once abandoned building full of commotion and people. Curious, he crept into the building to see what the groups of people were so excited about. Thinking he had walked into a business meeting, he recognized that everyone there was dressed up as Barack Obama. Jake thought to himself This has to be the annual Obama convention that was on the news last night -- the three day long celebration of Obama's birthplace. Dodging through crazed Obamas, Jake finally pushed through the crowd hoping to find a restroom on the other side. As he wrestled his way through the crowd, he slammed into another look alike.

“Whoa! Sorry, I didn’t see you coming!” Jake said.

“No pro-blama!” the man said.

“Wow you look just like the real Obama. That’s a great costume and amazing makeup!” Jake replied.

“Actually, I am the real Obama! Here, let me give you my autograph,” he offered. Pulling a sharpie out of his pocket, he waited for Jake to take out a piece of paper. Jake frantically looked around for something to write on but could not find anything. He checked his pants and jacket pockets but only found a couple of coins and an empty pack of gum. Reluctantly, Jake offered Obama his empty bowl to sign. “ This is all I have left, Mr. Obama,” Jake said as he shamefully handed it over. “No pro-blama, young lad!” said the President as he scribbled a quick To my favorite oatmeal-eating citizen! on the bowl’s side.

Jake marveled at his precious bowl and looked up at the president. “Thanks Mr. Obama! You really brightened up my day. Everytime I use this bowl for oatmeal, I’ll be thinking about you, sir,” Jake added.

“That won’t be necessary, but we do live in a free country, so feel free to think about me if you’d like!” Obama replied.

The two then exchanged goodbyes and went on their separate ways. Jake, however, was still on his mission to find a restroom. He looked around for another ten minutes, but could not find one anywhere. Luckily, though, he spotted a blue sign pointing down a flight of stairs for the men’s restroom. “Finally!” he exclaimed, as he rushed down to the next floor. “Wow! This building feels like a maze...”

After taking care of his business, Jake walked into the hallway and heard faint noises coming from a nearby ajar door. There was a dim glow coming from the small opening and Jake was curious enough to walk in. Surprised, Jake was then hit with bright, blinding lights as he strolled through the doorway and was met with the voice of an announcer. “Well, well, well. We already have our very first volunteer!” shouted the voice. Finally, coming back to his senses, Jake realized that he was on some sort of stage. There was an audience and many colorful, bright lights. Looking around, he saw a formally-dressed man with a microphone and numerous rows of people staring back at him. “Is this your first time on Wheel of Luck?” the announcer asked Jake. “Y-yes,” Jake muttered, still bewildered about what he was doing there. Although Jake thought about running back through the door, he saw two large security guards preventing that from occurring. “Well, then. The rules are simple. All you have to do is spin this large wheel,” the announcer said, pointing at the colorful dial, “and answer a question in the category that it lands on. If you get it right, you get a prize. But, if you answer incorrectly, you will have to face the disgusting obstacle course that we have organized. Now, let’s spin! That! Wheel!”

As Jake was nervously pushed towards the wheel, he took one last look at the audience to make sure it wasn’t just a big hoax. Then, with a big sigh, he pulled down on the wheel and hoped for the best. Jake held his breath as the wheel spun and spun, before slowly stopping at a bright blue card. “Congratulations! You have landed on the category, ‘Brrrr-illiant Animals,” said the announcer, “Today’s question is about the arctic Narwhal Whale! Narwhals are a unique species of whale because of the large horn that they have which protrudes from their upper lip. Your question is: What is the average length of a narwhal’s tusk?” Taking a moment, Jake tried to remember the Arctic Animals documentary he had watched in his second period science class. He visualized the arctic, white background and the snowflakes falling onto the the ground as the narrator talked about the animals. Suddenly, Jake remembered what the narrator said about the horns of the narwhals. “The average length of a narwhal’s tusk is... 2.25 meters!” The crowd cheered as the announcer responded, “Wow! That is the correct answer! Congratulations, you have won a trip to the North Pole! You can go and confirm your prize at the top floor. See you next time on, wheel! Of! Luck!” Excited, Jake thanked the announcer and the audience before running off stage. He was still wondering if that whole experience had been real, but out of his child curiosity, he slowly walked up the stairs that led to the top floor.

As he arrived at the final steps of the stairway, he saw the long hallway with its red carpet and old wallpaper. Jake slowly crept passed the doors, reading the plaques set on the wall above their wooden frames. At last, he reached the final door, labeled “Guest Services”. He hesitantly knocked before a short, brown haired woman, dressed in a tuxedo, whipped open the door. With a friendly smile, she greeted him, “ Hi there, are you lost?” “Actually,” Jake replied, “ I came here to redeem my prize for a trip to the North Pole.” “Wonderful. You can take a seat right over there and I’ll get back to you in a second,” the lady said, pointing at the long row of seats to her left. Jake steadily walked into the room and looked around before taking a seat. After about fifteen minutes, of what Jake thought was painful boredom, the woman reappeared with a pair of tickets in her hand. “What’s the second ticket for?” Jake asked. “Oh, there’s a magic show on the roof in ten minutes if you want to go. I’ll be there too!” she replied. “Sure, that sounds cool!” Jake said. “Splendid! Here’s a brochure about the magic show! I’ll see you up there!” she told him as she walked towards the door with a cheery smile on her face. But before she left, Jake noticed the tattoo of bunny above her right ankle. “Oh wow! I love bunnies,” thought Jake. “But she must love them a lot if she got a tattoo of one ... ”

Taking a moment to look through the brochure, Jake read about the “#1 Rated Magic Show in Hawaii!” Hmmm..., he thought to himself, How come I’ve never heard about this show if it’s rated #1? Is this just a joke? I gotta go see this for myself. After reading the rest of the brochure, Jake made his way up the last flight of stairs to the roof of the building. There were several rows of Barack Obama impersonators all happily sitting in velvet-padded chairs. They eagerly watched the huge, red curtains that stretched over the large stage, waiting for the show to start. He walked down the pathway in between all of the people, making his way to the front row, hoping there was still a good seat. To his surprise, one of the empty seats was labeled “North Pole Prize Winner”. Oh that’s probably for me!Jake thought as he gleefully scurried over to the chair in between two Obamas. The curtains opened up to the audience just as Jake sat down.

A voice boomed over the speakers above the stage announcing,“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, what a nice, fine crowd we have gathered here tonight. Welcome to Honolulu’s very own ‘Miraculous Magic Show’ starring Merrissa Maple!” As the announcer finished, Merrissa appeared in a poof of multi-colored smoke as dozens of doves began to fly out from the fog and disappear into the night sky. Wow, Jake thought, that magician looks just like the lady from the office. I had no idea she was a magician! With her arms wide open she lively exclaimed, “Greetings everybody! For my first act, I will harness the power of the animal kingdom to call back all my lovely doves to the stage!” Then, she hopped about, murmuring random chants of “hurah hurah ha! Abraca-dove-ra!” Suddenly, one by one, the doves came back to the stage and watched as Merrissa continued chanting. After a few minutes or so, the incoming waves of birds ceased, and the audience cheered in excitement and awe. “Thank you, thank you! And now for the next part of my act, I will need a volunteer... preferably, a person named Jake!” Merrissa announced to the crowd. Oh, she must mean me! Jake thought as he excitedly raised his hand, I’ve never been apart of a magic show before! This is great! Almost instantly, Merrissa called out, “Yes sir, you in the front row with the weird oatmeal bowl. Come right up on stage!” and Jake quickly ran up the stairs towards Merrissa.

“Hi there Jake!” Merrissa said, swiftly shaking his hand, “Are you ready to help me out today?” “Yeah, of course!” Jake replied. “Alright, all I need you to do is... YOUR LAUNDRY!” Merrissa exclaimed. “What? My laundry?” Jake asked as he slowly backed away from Merrissa. “You heard what I said. Get up and do your laundry!” she screamed at him. Suddenly, the whole building began to rumble as Jake awoke to his dad shaking him in bed. “You’re finally awake! Now get up, eat some oatmeal, and do your laundry,” Jake’s father told him. Well, that was one heck of a dream.