An enormous arcade, the most colossal laser tag arena you will ever visit, prizes, candy… No, it isn’t heaven. It’s the Austin Laser Tag Arena, a place you won’t ever forget the experience of.

Laser tag has a lot for you to have fun with, and their arcade is more entertaining than any other. They have ski-ball, coin roulette, and anything anyone could want. With each game you play you’ll earn some tickets, some more than others. If you have enough tickets, you can go to the prize exchange. There you can get all kinds of fun stuff, candy for a small sum of tickets, stuffed animals, swords, and if you happen to be insanely good at their arcade games and have thousands of tickets, even lava lamps and scooters. I personally am pretty mediocre at the arcade games, so I’ve gotten some cool stuff. But if you’re like one of my friends, the prize exchange is practically the best deal on Earth. I’ll never find a more entertaining arcade in the city of Austin, and I still haven’t found one anywhere else.

But what did you come to this place for? Laser tag. Running around a vast, dark arena with towering floors above trying to defend your team. Get shot and you move down in ranks, shoot the other team and you move up a rank. It’s a fun, intense experience that gets your heart pumping. Some of the best times I’ve had with my friends have been in the laser tag arena, shooting it out.

Laser tag has been one of my favorite things to do for a long time, and my absolute favorite on a rainy day with nowhere to go outside. There may be a lot of laser tag places out there, but Austin’s is one of a kind.

 

The Phantom led Christine down the twisting flight of stairs, no light illuminating the floor beneath them. As they reached the bottom of the flight, the Phantom took Christine’s hand, stabilizing her as she reached the final stair. Christine followed the silent Phantom as he stepped nearer and nearer to a massive black lake, where a canoe stood, lonely, a single oar at its dock. They climbed into the canoe, the Phantom taking an oar and pushing off into the water.

Several candles radiated an orange-yellow glow, revealing rocks jutting out of the cold water. Christine’s imagination went wild, wondering what might possibly dwell beneath the surface… she shook the thoughts away. The Phantom stared straight ahead, unmoving and unblinking. “Where are we g-” Christine started, but she was hushed by the Phantom. The ceiling was wet and dripping; Every once in a while a drop would hit the lake, barely breaking the silence.

The canoe reached the dark land that lay before them. Christine could not imagine what she would soon see, but she held her breath and followed the Phantom into the shadows…

Photo Credit: Riccardo Romano via Compfight

The World has many different cultures and countries, and the only thing that forms a barrier between them and separates them are languages. So if you know a new language, you unlock an entire dimension of things you didn’t know before! Languages are truly the ultimate link between worlds. Languages are very helpful and very interesting.

Say you want to travel to a new country, like Paris or Germany. Everything is great when you get there, except one thing, you can’t talk with nearly everybody there. But if you learn the language of that country or city, you can really have the best experience, talking with guides and making new friends… It’s almost like turning a light on in a pitch black room. So for traveling, Languages are truly the key to being successful.

And then if you want to learn a language just to understand your own better, it isn’t any less useful. I take Latin, and though it isn’t spoken anywhere, it truly is the best language for understanding English, and even other languages like Spanish or German. I now hear words that I would never understand otherwise, and just by using my knowledge from taking Latin I can make out what the word means! Did you know that every part of the heart is named directly from Latin? That is the kind of wealth a new foreign language can bring.

So whether you’re traveling to a new country, or just want to learn more about English, a language can be just the thing for you. If you are in Middle School and aren’t taking a language, I definitely recommend you do, because they’re very helpful and some of the most interesting subjects in education.

I sat, staring out my window in my lit room while the sky drenched the Earth with massive storms, darkening the world. Thunder shook the air and woke everyone from their deep sleep. Lightning followed, but even its ferocity couldn’t faze the darkness. Early morning. My mind was blank, barely noticing when another roll of thunder made a noise that made dynamite sound like bells.
Rain.

Off the beaten path
Through the thin, frigid air
Into the weeds
Over the mountain
Across the dark lake
Up into nothing
Against the night
Onto adventure