As I continued to explore this strange place, I noticed there was a door. I was curious about what was on the other side but had no courage to enter the door. Anything could be behind that door, so I knew that it wasn't a smart idea to open it. I watched the door for some time, and nothing had happened so I made a decision. I walked towards the door as quiet as an ant, I turned the handle as the door creaked very loudly. To my surprise there wasn't just one door on the other side there were so many doors, too many to even count.
The first door that caught my eye was spooky. It had steam rising from the cracks of the door, liquids dripping down the door. A disgusting smell evaporated in the air, but the scariest thing was, there was no handle. I bent over to look through the hole and a dark red large pupil appeared, the door kicked open. I ran as fast as I've ever run to one of the closest doors that looked the safest. When I entered this door, I locked It and slowly turned around, there was everything a teenage boy could dream of. There were gaming consoles, Junk food, Arcade games, a full gym, this room had it all and it was the size of a house. Didn't want to leave anytime soon, but I know that thing outside is waiting for me and a lock won't hold off for too long. I wandered around, this room was full of fun and surprises. I sat down and played with the games and ate everything I could fit in
my stomach. I started to hear yelling, I think it was time for me to go so I grabbed this ball and sneakily opened the door as quietly as I could and ran. As I was looking back, I ran right into something. I looked up, and it was all my friends and family.Introduction
In the text “Games of cards” by Witi Ihimaera, In this Whanau, their Kuia is not very well and is slowly dying. A Kuia is someone who is very important to the family, in other words, someone who runs the family or someone they look up to. In this story, their Kuias name is Nani Miro. Nani Miro looks after her mokopuna, plays cards with her Whanau, and loves to have a little laugh with everyone. One character I relate to is Nani Miro as she always surrounds herself with her whanau, is very competitive and has good humor and really just enjoys herself.
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The first reason why I like to compare myself with Nani Miro is that I also like being around my family. I enjoy being around people my age like my cousins, friends, or even randoms I may meet at the park, Other than older people. As I realize I can relate and have fun with these people easier than I would with my elders. But in “Games of Cards” Nani Miro always liked being with everyone, I feel as when you are older you like to catch and have a chat with anyone. She was always around family. Her Mokopunas would come over often when their Parents were too broke to take care of them, or when they just needed a break. As she said in the story “it wouldn't take very long for her to need a break from them”. When she had enough of them she would call her kids/ her Mokopunas parents saying, “ When are you picking up your Hoeha Kids they're wrecking the place”. Everyone enjoyed going to Nani Miros with all their cousins, but they always looked forward to Saturday because all the women would take the day off to go play cards at Nani Miros.
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When it came to Cards Nani didn’t muck around, she always had to win whether she had to cheat or not. She was really competitive, Competitivity is something I see in myself and Nani also shows she is really competitive. She’d cheat and argue but sometimes she got caught. Nani Miro was always at the top table, this table was always reserved for the best players, Nani and Mrs. Heta the unrivaled champions, the relationship between Nani Miro and Mrs. Heta was heated when they competed against each other. “You ready to be taken down, the cards are really speaking to me today”? This is how the conversation would start, and don’t think it'd end very well for the loser.
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The last reason why I compare myself with the individual “Nani Miro '' is because she's always having a good time and a laugh with everyone. It shows her goofy and cheeky side when she plays cards, as she argues with Mrs. Heta, Nani would wind Mr. Heta up as she said something smart like “You think you can see make tiko bum” this was Nani’s response and Mrs. Heta tried to have a sneak peek at Nani’s cards, these two would never stop squabbling fighting I don’t know how they were still friends after all. But Mrs. Heta wasn’t the only one who was winded up or got given cheeky remarks, everyone would get it. “Who would want you,” she said to her Grandson the “Narrator” after he lied about having a pretty girl that he’s talking to. Although Nani was basically bold to everyone they all knew she didn’t really mean what she said as if she was only joking which I guess made Nani such a cool person to talk to.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this story has shown me to not take your time with whanau and friends for granted, take all the opportunities with your family and friends as they might be gone as you may have never had a chance to say goodbye, and also appreciate what you have and who you have. Enjoy and cherish all the laughs and giggles you have with everyone.
