Essay+24

 Mouths are meant to be closed at times by Alahna  “ Hey, you know that your shirt looks like a strawberry?” Taura asked as we walked around school. I wore a red T-shirt with a “Go Texas!” logo on it. I had blue jeans on also in the cold air. Taura just kept on talking about how terrible Texas was, even though she's never been there. I was trying to read in the nipping air of winter. 20 more days till Christmas, 20 more days till winter break. My Christmas wish is for people to close their mouths if it'll only help them.  If people kept their mouths shut, others can do their work. A girl at my table ( I'm not going to state her name) talks when I'm doing my work, and it's hard to do it. She tapped my desk and whispered my name. She does what ever it takes to get my attention and then talks.  “Alahna!” the whisper barely hits me. “Alahna!” she who must not be named here hisses again. I look up from whatever I'm doing and stare at her.  “Alahna! Hey, guess what? I blah blah blah. Blah blah, blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah!” she went on and I went back to my work. Tap, tap, tap! I look up again and glare at her and then patiently wait, again. She started to laugh and talked about what she was talking about 5 seconds ago. I look down at my work once again. Thud, thud, thud! I look up at her, glaring harder this time.  “What? I'm trying to do my work!” I hissed at her. She just looked at me and did her work instead of talking to me. Happy and relived, I went back to my work, too.  When people keep their mouths closed, kids could get their recess. Kids love recess, and when they don't get it, it's basically someone's fault. People, of course, talk all the time and sometimes they ruin time for recess. Last year, my whole class talked and no one really cared. The whole room was filled with talking and we barely ever got recess. Five people hissed my name at the same time during class. I'd look around to see who was talking to me and usually it was Charlotte. She sat next to me most of the year. She'd tell me something or ask me what an answer was, but I would look down and do me work. She'd tap and hiss at me until I finally talked to her. But, whenever she talked, we got a minute off of recess and didn't care. I would stop talking to her, but she would just keep on tapping, hissing, and whining. Soon enough, we would lose recess and everyone would look at me. I knew it was partly my fault, but I still glared at Charlotte who pretended nothing happened.  If people kept their mouths closed, others won't be hurt mentally. Like when my mom told me Santa wasn't real. On Christmas eve, I asked my mom, “Mom, am I going to get coal?” “No, honey, your going to get candy and little presents from Santa!” she exclaimed. I hugged her in the cold as we walked to the Navy Blue Ford. I ran up the stairs the minute we got back from Star Bucks and scurried into my room. I set my hot chocolate down and got my Christmas dress on. It was just a dress, but I always wore it on Christmas. I looked out the window and saw all the busy cars coming and going, lights filling all the dark spots on life. My mom called my name, and as if on cue, me and my brother burst out our doors at the same time with our hot chocolate in our hands. We raced down the stairs, and he won, but I wasn't the one with hot chocolate on me. My grandmother (AKA Mimi) walked through the door with my dad and they carried tons of presents. I ran over to Mimi and helped her with the presents.  After presents, hugs, dinner, desert, and video games, Mimi left and we went to bed. It was almost sad to see the glimmer of the tree turn off, with empty stockings waiting to be filled. AT about 1:00 A.M. I crept out of my room and walked to the railing. The railing was attached to a platform which held me and my brother's rooms. I looked over the railing and whispered, “//Santa came”.// A gleaming white air hockey table lay with a huge red bow on the top. Red, white and gold presents surrounded the tree.  “Alahna! Go to bed!” my dad yelled at me. He looked tired, and the light was on in the kitchen now. My dog, Bailey, sat at the bottom of the stairs. Slowly, and carefully, I walked back to my room. My clock said 2:18 and I fell asleep.  I woke up with the clock saying 3:24. I tiptoed out of my room and to the railing. When I looked down, everything was gone! I started losing my breath, gasping for air. My mind played a trick on me, coal in the stockings, lumpy presents. I blinked and the coal went away, but no presents appeared. My throat swelled and it was hard to breath. //Santa isn't real. Santa isn't real! But mom said he was!// I thought.  The next morning, everything was there. Every present and movie.  “Alahna, I need to tell you something.” my mom said, loud and clear. I looked up from Tory, my new doll, and stared at my mother.  “Alahna, Santa isn't real. He's a spirit. The spirit of happiness, joy, and Christmas.” she said, Hot tears came to my eyes and I knew it, people should keep their mouths closed.  People should keep their mouths closed if it'll only help them. Now, when you are older and have kids and it's time to tell them, let it out slowly. Kids (or friends, since you might be my age), if your friend is talking to you and you are on the verge of not having recess, tell them that you need your work done and you want recess. Parents, kids, coworkers, etc., tell someone to be quiet (in a nice way) so you can do your work. And please, don't be any of these people I mentioned today. Even though I'm close friends with them, they're annoying at times. Thanks for reading.  -Alahna