Memoir Collection

Riding a Bike

By Amy M.

I swiftly leaped off of the green bike just a heartbeat before it crashed over onto the rocky, hard path. “That was close!” I thought, my heart racing like a wild animal trying to escape from my chest. The bike was a heavy weight as I lifted it upright. 

“Maybe going faster would help you balance better,” said my dad.

  “What if I crash or fall, though?” I thought fearfully as I hopped onto the bike. “I don’t even have a helmet yet!” Doubts whirled around inside my mind as I placed my feet on the ground, getting ready to start pedaling. The trees around me glared at me, waiting for me to crash into them, and my bike shivered nervously. I tried to fight off the fear grasping at me and the butterflies in my stomach. Then, taking a deep breath, I started pedaling, and the bike wobbled its way around the path like a toddler learning how to walk as I slowly added more speed. 

In the blink of an eye, the bike was going as fast as a horse, zooming around the curves of the path and through the moist grass. All of the trees around me were a blur of green and brown. 

“Yay! I finally did it!” I shouted happily as I thought, “This is so fun, now that I’m getting the hang of it! Now that I look back into the past, I remember how much hard work and dedication this took.” 

Suddenly, I realized that the bike was plummeting right towards a tall, thick, menacing tree! The bike screamed frantically as I skidded to a stop one millimeter away from the scary obstacle. 

“Why do I keep almost crashing into things?” I wondered. “It’s almost like they’re targeting me!” Faster than a speeding bullet, I had already rode around the road(get it? Rode, road) a thousand times. Soon, my legs started protesting and I heard myself panting. 

“Can we go home and rest?” I asked. “I’m so tired.” 

“Sure,” said my dad. Rocks crunched under my feet, and a soft breeze blew past. Then, I got home, and I took a cold shower, quickly wolfed down my lunch, and collapsed onto the soft, cool bed. “I feel so happy! I’ve improved so much…” I thought as I slid into a deep sleep. That day I decided I absolutely loved riding bikes, and my fear of falling or crashing slowly faded away.

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A Day at my Cousins' House

By Gauri S.

I shifted a bit in my seat to adjust to the sunlight coming through the car window as it shone off my iPad into my eyes. The blurry scenery of trees beside the road felt a bit nostalgic.The loud sound of our car on the highway, speeding at 120 kilometers per hour on an expressway overpowering the light clacking of my apple pencil on the screen. Songs on high volume, clear highway, and a cool morning. Just how we like it. I was sitting in the backseat of the car, drawing peacefully on my iPad as Mumma and Papa played a game of guessing songs before the lyrics started, as always. 

A few hours had passed and we had reached Janakpuri, Delhi. This is where my cousins’ house was. We used to live there with them, Uncle and Aunt, and Grandpa before we shifted to Greater Noida. I looked up from my screen when the car went up the small ramp to go into our small parking lot outside the house. 

I packed my things and went straight up the stairs to meet my cousins - Pragun, Pakhi, and Adam - our dog. I could hear Uncle giving directions to my dad as he parked our car. Mumma came up behind me with her bag. Aunt gave us refreshments as I met everyone. Adam came up and sniffed us. That labrador was older than me and was pretty big too so I was a bit scared. 

We settled in after some time and Aunt was getting dinner ready. Pragun, Pakhi and I were told to help pick the mint leaves for the chutney. We sat down on the floor with a bowl of mint and began picking the leaves from the stems. “I'm so hungry I could eat four rotis (indian bread),” Pakhi said. 

“Me too,” I replied. 

“Mom’s making chicken curry so it’s worth the wait!” Pragun added as we all separated the leaves from the stems. 

Meanwhile, Addu (Adam) was sleeping on the floor, completely covered by his square blanket that was just the right size for him. “Aunt’s mint chutney is my favouri- ,” I was cut off by Addu running to the door WITH the blanket still on him as he barked at a sound he probably heard. We burst into laughter, our hunger forgotten for that moment. Just as we were about to stop after a long time, Addu came in AGAIN, and we could not help but laugh. We were sitting there, clutching our stomachs. “I ca- can’t stop laugh- ing and my stomach- hurts” I managed to say between giggles. Addu just settled into his bed, the blanket was still on him. 

Once we finished plucking the mint leaves, we handed them to my Aunt in the kitchen so she could use it for my favorite mint chutney. Since Pragun and Pakhi were bored and hungry, I suggested that we play Hide and Seek so we all get a bit distracted from our hunger. There had not been a single time that we met and did not play hide and seek. “Rock, paper, scissor, shoot!” we exclaimed in unison. 

“Pragun you're it!” I giggled as I ran to one of the rooms. 

“Count till ten and don’t peek! You always peek,” Pakhi told him as she ran after me. I came out of the room I previously went in, silently hoping my trick would work. Pragun had seen us go into that room so he would go to check over there. “3.. 4.. 5..” I could faintly hear him counting.  I went and hid in the dark corner behind the rolled up yoga mat. “6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. 10! Ready or not! Here I come!” He warned us. 

After a few seconds, I heard the curtains in the other room followed by Pakhi and Pragun’s giggles. “Looks like he found her” I thought to myself. They both came into the room I was in and looked for me. I could hear my stomach grumbling in the pin drop silence. “Augh I’m so hungry. How much more longer,” I mumbled under my breath.

“Do you know where Gauri Didi is?” Pragun asked Pakhi as they looked under the bed and behind the curtains. Pragun looked straight in the direction of me but didn't notice me there. I was just about to giggle by mistake but the grinder started off in the kitchen. “My Aunt must be making the mint chutney hehe,” I thought to myself.

After a few minutes, I decided to come out of my hiding spot as I heard the whistle of the pressure cooker. The hunger overpowered my annoyance towards the screaming. The pressure cooker went ‘shhhhhhhhh’ as the three of us ran to the kitchen to see if the food was finally ready. “How much more time until we can eat?” I asked Aunt.

 “Just a few more minutes, you can set up the plates till then,” she answered as she handed us the cutlery. 

“Foooooooooooood- ugh,” the three of us were pretty disappointed but took the plates and spoons and organized them on the dining table. As we sat in our seats, my Aunt called the adults for dinner. Mumma, Papa and Grandpa sat as Uncle got the curry and rice from the kitchen. They both came and sat at the table with us. I wanted a second serving but the chicken curry was already taken by the others. I was still happy because the food was really good. Plus my day had gone well and everything was fun so I was content.

We finished eating and helped take the used cutlery to the kitchen sink for washing. My cousins and I read a book after playing a little and went to sleep, still talking about our day. “Addu looked like a superhero when he ran to the door before,” I said, thinking about what happened previously. 

“The blanket looked like his cape hehe,” Pakhi added. We continued talking and didn’t even realize when we slept.