This Journal Belongs to Ratchet Read Online Free Page A

shut.
    Dad told reporters he’d found out that the guy who originally owned Moss Tree Park was Herman Moss. When Mr. Moss died and left the park land to the county, he supposedly had one condition — the land could never be developed.
    Dad said he’d read about it in an old newspaper article he found at the library, but for all I know, the Good Lord told him about it in a dream.
    Of course, no one can find the paperwork to prove what Dad says is true, but Dad told the newspaper he plans to somehow find it.
    Mayor Prindle said, “It’s too bad Mr. Vance can’t channel all that passion he feels toward parks into something that will really benefit this town: and that’s progress. I like parks as much as the next guy, but money doesn’t grow on trees, Mr. Vance, and our town stands to gain a lot of revenue from this new strip mall.”
    I knew this was something Eddie J. had told him to say. Dad always said Mayor Prindle never spoke to reporters without talking to Pretty Boy Eddie first. He was good at knowing what to say when the cameras were rolling, but when they weren’t, Pretty Boy and the mayor were much meaner. Dad told me the mayor once called him, right to his face, “a raving lunatic with a warped view of reality.” I guess Dad sort of deserved it with all the things he said at the meetings. He had called the city council members much worse things, but at least Dad wasn’t two-faced. Pretty Boy Eddie always acted like such a nice guy in public, but the minute he wasn’t on record, he turned into pretty much a jerk. Dad and Eddie J. had been at war with each other for years about everything, and Moss Tree Park was just one more battle.
    I’m sure Dad had stolen the tractor keys, hoping his stunt would give him more time to do some investigating, and he was right. The article ended with, “No doubt the mayor and the city council should do some of their own investigating before moving forward with the Moss Tree Park project.”
    Dad loved fighting for places like Moss Tree Park, and he never gave up. Especially when it had to do with the environment. And if it wasn’t this park or these trees, it would be something else.
    That’s why I know this is only ONE of my most embarrassing moments.

WRITING EXERCISE: Write a letter of complaint.
    Writing Format —LETTER OF COMPLAINT: A type of business letter that states a problem.
    Dear God,
    Dad’s supposedly doing work for you, and usually that ends up being only slightly annoying and somewhat embarrassing, but now I’m getting caught in the middle. Dad’s arrest earned him one hundred hours of community service, but it’s turning into my punishment.
    They’ve assigned Dad a class at the rec center. Every year there’s a go-cart contest in Moss Tree Park. So the rec center has a “Build Your Own Go-Cart” class. They need a new teacher since they got rid of the last guy because he didn’t know a flathead from a Phillips. They thought Dad would be perfect for the job, and Dad thinks I’ll be perfect for the job of his assistant.
    What this all means is that I’ll be helping Dad with the go-cart class — which Hunter and Evan will be taking, and the class meets right across the hall from the “Get Charmed” class THE SAME DAY AND TIME!
    It’s bad enough I’m not “getting charmed,” and now this.
    I would appreciate any attention you could give this matter.
    Sincerely,
    Ratchet

WRITING EXERCISE : Respond personally to a famous quote.
    Pablo Picasso:
    â€œWhen I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk, you’ll end up as pope. Instead I became a painter, and I wound up Picasso.’”
    Ratchet:
    I don’t know what my mom said I could be, so how will I know what I am supposed to become?

WRITING EXERCISE: Poetry
    Writing Format —CONCRETE POETRY: