Fiction

An

Adventure

Awaits

Charlotte was just fifteen years old at the time. She was as tall and graceful as a giraffe, with curly blonde hair as think as a lion’s mane and eyes as blue as the great big ocean. She was giddy with excitement and full of butterflies at the adventure that was before her.

It was time to depart for the European adventure. It was there in the airport, which was hustling and bustling around them, that the goodbyes would be said. Charlotte, her mother and her brother waited patiently for the patriarch of the family to return. Charlotte’s father, Will, was checking them in for the flight and getting the tickets. It was during this time

as she watched him that Charlotte let her mind wander to the things people said about how much she looked like her father. He was tall with thick wavy blonde hair too. However, she had the personality of her mother. Kind, gentle spirited, loving, gracious. She was truly the best mix of both of her parents.

Finally the dreaded time had come. It was as Charlotte embraced her mother in a hug when the first tear fell. This would be the last warm, motherly embrace she would feel for almost three weeks. She reveled in the embrace, trying to remember every detail of what it felt like. It was hard to let go. Next was Flynn, Charlotte's younger brother. While she looked at him

she took in his presence. His red eyes, the tear stains rolling down his cheeks until the tears themselves disappeared underneath his chin. She wiped away some tears, wrapped her arms around him in such a way to try and comfort him, meanwhile truly trying to comfort herself. The tears continued to fall down Charlotte’s cheeks. With a little nudge from her father, it was time to leave. They were off on their big adventure.

Charlotte and her father stepped over the yellow line and waited their turn to go through security. Charlotte placed her backpack on the sliding table. The carry on suitcase went next. Then she placed her shoes, jewelry,

and other small items into a container to go on the sliding table too. Charlotte waited her turn to walk through the metal detector. She was motioned forward. Once on the other side, a woman with dark brown hair, green eyes, and a scowl came up to Charlotte and asked her to step aside. She looked back at her father, who hadn’t come through the metal detector yet, with a questioning face. He gave her a look that calmed the crashing waves inside within an instant.

            “Arms up” the lady, Betty according to her name tag, said with a stern tone. Charlotte did as she said. Betty used a security wand to scan over Charlotte to

make sure there wasn’t anything hidden. After she

was done, Charlotte was able to rejoin her father. On went the jewelry. On went the shoes. On went the backpack. She pulled the handle up on the carry on suitcase and was ready to find the gate for their first flight.     

Once they found where they needed to sit to wait for the boarding call, all that was left for Charlotte and Will to do was wait. The area around the gate was full of people. Everyone was traveling somewhere. Charlotte watched in wonder. Were they leaving home like her? Or were they returning? Was the man in the business suit flying somewhere for a meeting? What about the

lady typing away at her computer... Was she perhaps a reporter trying to finish her piece before she boarded the plane? Charlotte, being the avid observer she was, took out her notebook and started writing the observations down.

There was something in the distance that caught her attention, and with that Charlotte glanced out the window. Her eyes found the plane. It was the biggest plane she had ever seen. Her stomach began its regular routine of tossing and turning.  

“Group #3 may now board. Group #3 may now board.” Will and Charlotte merged into line as their boarding group was called. *Beep* went the ticket as

it was scanned. “Thank you and enjoy your flight" a cheery attendant spoke with a smile towards Charlotte. She walked behind her father down the little corridor and onto the massive plane.

“Ladies and gentleman, due to a coffee pot malfunction we are trying to get repaired before take off, we will be delayed for about 30 minutes.” The message repeated. Will was already perusing the magazines in the seatbacks trying to find the next best thing he just had to purchase. Charlotte was rereading one of her Harry Potter books. Thirty minutes quickly turned into an hour. An hour turned into two. And then somehow two hours turned into four. Charlotte

already wished she had a backup book for the backup book. At this rate she’d read through everything she had. And for her, that would be considered a disaster.

“Well aren’t we lucky” Charlotte thought as she observed a singing group congregating on the plane. During the 4-hour delay the group started to sing. A whole group of 20 of them. Oh how wonderful. Not! Their singing greatly interfered with Charlotte’s concentration on Harry, Ron, and Hermione!

“Well aren’t we lucky” Charlotte thought as she observed a singing group congregating on the plane. During the 4-hour delay the group started to sing. A whole group of 20 of them. Oh how wonderful. Not!

Their singing greatly interfered with Charlotte’s concentration on Harry, Ron, and Hermione!

“Ladies and gentleman, we will be taking off shortly. Flight attendants, please prepare for take off.” Charlotte started to feel a little movement shortly after. They were pushing away from the gate!

Twenty minutes later and they were waiting in the line for take-off. The pilots positioned the plane on the runway. The engines roared like lions. The rumbles grew louder and louder. Charlotte, who occasionally gets motion sick, made sure that the air vent was on and blowing on her to keep her nice and cool. Will handed her a piece of gum. "Chew this. It'll help. You feeling

okay?" he asked Charlotte. She took the gum and nodded.

The plane started moving. Charlotte’s entire body tensed up. Her hands squeezed the armrests as hard as they could. As the plane picked up speed, everything inside was rattling. The overhead compartments. The seats. To Charlotte it felt like her brain was rattling too.

She clinched her eyes, chewing the gum feverishly. Slowly the front wheels lifted into the air. Next the back wheels. They were climbing up towards the sky. Pressure was building in Charlotte’s chest. Her ears started getting stuffy. Will squeezed her hand to provide a sense of comfort. But it wasn’t working. She was too focused

on all of the pressure as the safety of the ground was replaced by the unknown of the sky.

           As they climbed higher and higher, Charlotte finally escaped the pressure. “Hey, maybe this isn’t too bad” she thought to herself. As the whirring of the plane lulled her to sleep she wondered what this trip would have in store for her and her father. Surely a grand European adventure awaited them. Of course, it had already begun!

THE END!

Non-Fiction

Traditional Ukrainian Borsch Recipe

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to travel to the beautiful country of Ukraine, where I spent 2 weeks. I ate lots of food, but one of the more traditional Ukrainian dishes was Borsch. I am not usually a fan of beets, but this dish is delish! You should try it too! This recipe comes from Natasha, a Ukrainian whose family moved from Ukraine when she was 4 as refugees, who is the creator of NatashasKitchen.com.

Borsch has been around for many years. Although it is uncertain as to exactly how long, the mention of it dates back to the 1600s during the time of the Cossacks. There was a time when they needed to feed four hundred people, so the Cossacks gathered vegetables that were fit for human consumption and combined it with a meat broth (Proud of Ukraine, “Traditional Ukrainian Borsch”). The name borsch in Russian actually means “Cow parsnip”, which is what the original base, which provides it with the bright red color, was made of (Food Reference, “Borscht, Borsch, etc.”).

In addition to how delicious and popular this particular dish is, there are also some added health benefits to those that decide to eat it. One website was discussing how borsch contains antioxidants, vitamins B and C, as well as how it aids in blood pressure reduction and provides liver, heart, and stomach protection (Whitman, “Health Benefits of Borsch”). According to Whitman betaine, which is found in beets, works to protect the liver, reduce levels of homocysteine that are found in the body, and increase stomach acid levels (Whitman, “Health Benefits of Borsch”).    

A study completed by the Department of Medicine at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary which looked at liver protecting effects of table beets during ischemia-reperfusion (which is “the free restoration of blood flow to an area that had previously deficient blood flow. Oxidative stresses associated with this situation may cause damage to the affected tissues or organs.” [Jonas: Mosby's Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine]). This study resulted in the discovery that eating beets might actually help protect the liver.    

For this dish you will need:

·      2 large, or 3 medium beets, that are thoroughly washed

·      2 large, or 3 medium, potatoes that are cut up into bite sized pieces

·      4 tablespoons of cooking oil

·      1 medium onion that is finely chopped

·      2 carrots that are grated

·      ½ a head of cabbage that is thinly chopped

·      1 can of kidney beans and their juice

·      2 bay leaves

·      10 cups of water

·      6 cups of chicken broth