Short Stories and Discussions for All Young People to Participate In

By Geoff Daniel

As an author, I feel this book has a fair amount of potential and sincerely hope that you, too, think along the same lines. This book is for you to read and mull over within your team, and ultimately I would like for it to be published and distributed for all young people to view and read.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you very soon with your thoughts on this project.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Oct 31, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543404753

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Geoff Daniel.

Library of Congress Control Number:     2017916477

ISBN:                  Hardcover                978-1-5434-0477-7

                            Softcover                   978-1-5434-0476-0

                            eBook                        978-1-5434-0475-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/27/2017

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

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CONTENTS

SONGS

INTRODUCTION

1: THE LACK OF TOLERANCE

2: THE TEENAGE DRUG ISSUE

3: AN INSPIRATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT

4: SEIZING AN OPPORTUNITY

5: THE DOWNHILL SPIRAL

6: AN IMAGE BEYOND PERFECT

7: CONFIDENCE DOES HAVE ITS LIMITATIONS

8: THE CHANGING OF OUR LANGUAGE

9: A SECOND TIME AROUND

10: RETAINING OUR FISH STOCKS

11: FIGHTING SPIRIT/S

12: A FLIP-SIDED DILEMMA

13: THE RETAINING OF IMPORTANT PRIMATE SPECIES

14: THE CHANGING OF ENERGIES

DISCUSSION EXERCISE

CONCLUSION

SONGS

Confidence Does Have Its Limitations (Short Story Number 7)

1. ‘Fireworks’ by Katie Perry

2. ‘Hummingbird’ by Katie Perry

3. ‘Say My Name’ by Florence and the Machine

4. ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Florence and the Machine

The Changing of Energies (Short Story Number 14)

1. ‘The Invisible Man’ by Queen

2. ‘Under Pressure’ by Queen

3. ‘One Vision’ by Queen

4. ‘Headlong’ by Queen

5. ‘Radio Ga Ga’ by Queen

INTRODUCTION

The following second series of short stories are predominantly based upon various social issues that all young people are currently experiencing on almost a daily basis in today’s world.

All readers should find them very interesting to read and fairly similar to the last series to varying degrees.

The stories all contain a strong hidden meaning, which will in turn generate a lot of thought and discussion amongst young people due to them being affected either now or sometime in the near future.

Along with this too, the answering of the various questions verbally that follow each story/issue is highly encouraged.

Therefore, the particular concept being the most important objective here in this overall series will be that all these short stories written are designed to encourage a great deal of open debate and discussion regarding the many important social issues experienced by you and your peers.

Here the first seven (7) important issues raised are actually/could well be specific to you as an individual, while the second seven (7) issues relate to far wider-ranging problems (i.e. worldwide issues), which can and will no doubt affect all of us in some form or at some particular time in our lives.

The big question you may ask here, though, is, why encourage all this discussion?

The answer is quite simple, and that is, in order to improve as a person, it is very important to once again step out well beyond your present comfort zone.

So participating and expressing your ideas/opinions on various issues and also being prepared to learn from others in a group atmosphere are ways of accomplishing this.

Ultimately, this will in turn not only build your self-confidence levels considerably but also improve your overall knowledge on various subjects.

This will obviously be of great advantage and will have huge benefits to yourself in the long run.

Unfortunately though, because of the nature of some of the topics discussed here, there could be a tendency for the debate to get a little heated at times simply because of the differing opinions being expressed.

In the event of this happening, however, it is advised that before beginning any talks, one particular person should be chosen to act as a kind of mediator within the group to keep things controlled and in an organised fashion for all to fully enjoy.

Once the story has been fully read by everyone and also while in a group situation:

1. Firstly, begin by discussing each particular issue and decide as to whether you consider it to be an important and relevant issue within society.

2. Secondly, decide what could be done to address it or, in turn, hopefully improve the situation for the specific person or thing that is actually being affected here.

While these two main factors are also being discussed, include important personal opinions, such as:

i. I agree with the story in some way.

ii. I disagree with it for whatever reason.

iii. I did/can relate well to this issue in a particular way.

iv. I know absolutely nothing about it but find it quite interesting and in turn would like to know more.

v. The topic has little to no interest to me whatsoever.

(Writing down important key points at the same time will be beneficial for you also while these issues are being discussed in the group/groups.)

Remember though, even if you answer v here, it is still advised that you listen to the other members’ differing ideas/opinions and so therefore try to stay involved in some way or another.

The main reason is simply that there is a very good chance that you will learn something worthwhile from the overall discussions that will take place.

Having a closed mind in regard to these discussions strongly defeats the purpose of this exercise, so try to avoid answering v on most occasions if possible so as to keep things interesting and in a forward-flowing manner.

It is extremely likely that each group has answered with something completely different due to their varying personal interests and opinions.

The important thing to remember here is not to get too bogged down on any particular issue, because after all this isn’t a winner–loser type of scenario but very much a participation-and-vocal-involvement one

Therefore, because of the interest shown by the readers, there will definitely be a dramatic improvement seen by the people who are willing to participate in the discussions.

As you can see, this second series of short stories will be a little more advanced this time around simply because of it having a twofold effect for the reader.

So if this is read and discussed thoroughly by you, a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction can be had by all.

There will be no doubt that somewhere along the line, one, if not probably many, topics here will surely take your interest in some form or another.

In this exercise, remember not to hold back in any way, because your personal opinion is just as important and worthwhile as anybody else’s within the group.

Therefore, the four key factors being emphasised in this second series are:

a. participation

b. vocal involvement

c. self-confidence

d. knowledge.

Participation and vocal involvement will ultimately lead to higher self-confidence and greater knowledge once the discussion exercises have been completed.

1

THE LACK OF TOLERANCE

In the Peterson household, the day had begun poorly due to the normal but serious intolerance shown by James’s two children.

Sixteen-year-old Melissa had always had great disrespect towards her father’s new Indian girlfriend, Julie, and her young son, Peter.

While Mark, fourteen, wasn’t as obvious in his disapproval, there was always a cool barrier shown towards both by him.

However, he normally got along fairly well with Peter the majority of the time.

The early warning signs were quite apparent, with the heat and excessive humidity making things very uncomfortable for them all.

As the day progressed, the bickering between both the children and adults began to climb rapidly.

There was a strong feeling that just below the fragile surface, an intense volcano was quickly building and that, given a few more hours, a pressure relief valve would suddenly burst open, causing it to explode.

By three o’clock that afternoon, the hostility between them all was at breaking point, with Julie telling James that something was needed to be done or World War III would definitely take place.

Little did they know that the following verbal battle that was about to take place was going to make Germany’s onslaught on Britain in World War II look like a walk in the park.

Close to the end of playing the board game Battleship, Peter, who had only one ship remaining, was to have a direct hit, so he subtly moved it slightly farther away, hoping not to be seen.

Unfortunately for him, it didn’t go unnoticed due to Mark seeing this devious manoeuvre, and he quite rudely pulled him up.

Melissa, never missing an opportunity to cut loose on the younger boy, began shouting vicious comments like a sharpened knife slicing through fruit on a cutting board.

From an outsider’s point of view, the comments seemed totally uncalled for, to say the least.

Julie then came flying in from the other room and quickly defended her son from the bombardment of fire.

She raised her voice to the other two children, who instantly repelled nasty accusations back towards both her and Peter.

The shouting continued for another few minutes or so before James was able to successfully intervene.

Sadly, before that occurred, Julie’s temper got the better of her, and because of the intense last three months she had endured, she consequently lashed out and slapped Melissa hard across the face for her cutting unwelcome comments.

This then caused an avalanche of total hysteria between both females, with the two boys seen quickly running for cover.

James briskly pulled them apart and started lecturing both in disgust, with the girls instantly realising that their behaviour was completely over the top.

Total shock consumed both of them, and neither could believe how things