The story of Penny Casspi

May 14th, 1944

The images were still crystal clear in my head as i sprinted, the voice of her screaming and pleading.. Nothing in this world could ever erase the sight of her tortured, motionless body in a pool of blood and the agony of her voice in my head. No other tragedies could be worse than witnessing the one person who'd brought me into this world getting shot in the head right in front of your very own eyes. The only person I had in my eighteen years of life was stripped away from me, leaving me completely shaken and devastated. It took what seemed like ages for the realization to finally sink in that she's in fact, gone forever in my life, taken away solely by force from me. I am totally on my own now, clueless of what further sufferings I will have to encounter tomorrow. I can only hope to live through another day and pray to God to protect my soul.

May 15th, 1944

My sleep was interrupted by the screams of a girl, only to find that the owner of the distressed wailing was no one but me. She's gone. I have to accept the painful fact that I no longer have anyone I ever loved on earth. The images and glimpses of her torturing continued to haunt me through the day, and it only gets worse by night. I had no where to go but to only move forward, and to fulfill the one thing she wanted for me, which was preserving my life. All I can do now is to leave, for this place is no longer secured, and find a safer location to survive. I gathered the essential things and found a slip of paper on the table. It was from her. I guessed she saw it coming and had already planned ahead for my escape. I kept it safe in my pocket and took off without looking back at the place where was once called home. Now it's just an empty, a total wrecked of a building filled with nothing but sorrows and broken dreams. Without sparing a minute longer, I took off into the woods.

May 16th, 1944

Clothes tattered from the thorns in the woods, Lungs burning from the lack of oxygen, Legs hurting from the uneven surface, blood slipping through the openings of the wounds on my body.. Panting from all the miles I had ran from the pursuers.. And finally collapsing on bare ground, breathless.. My mind drifted to the day when i last saw her before they took her life away like how they are determined to take mine too. I remembered she mouthed something at me when she took her last breath: 'run and hide'. Those were her last sentence before they blew head off. Her words were the only reason which was holding me together and pressing me to live on for the days to come. I can't fail her. If i were to just turn myself in to them now, all the effort she'd put in to save my life would all go to waste. I have to stay alive, that's the least I can do for her since she's dead now. Throat blistering from the thirst, I manage to drag myself through the dirt despite every cell in my body was groaning with objection. My mind was shutting down and energy was sipping away every second and I knew it would be a matter of minutes before I completely black-out if I don't find a stream of water soon. Just as I was about to give up, I felt soft, wet mud in contact with my hand. I gathered my remaining energy to lift my head up, and was rewarded with relief and satisfaction to find a river-stream just a few feet away. I hauled my weak body towards the river, threw myself in without a second thought and drank gulp after gulp of cool, refreshing water. This was the first near-death experience I've ever had, an encounter I'd rather not speak about or remember.

May 17th, 1944

The days which I have managed to stay alive somehow was a miracle, considering a young, helpless girl like me who's indeed needless to say, incapable of fighting or equipping a weapon for self-defense. Thank heavens I did manage to learn a little amount of hunting skills from my father before he was buried alive buy those cruel mortals. Today was the first time I've fed on raw meat, pretty sure it won't be the last time seeing that I've ran out of food and water supply. It was disgusting and tasted bloody but it was too dangerous and risky to set up a fire to roast it in case they noticed the smoke. By night I crawled back to my tent which was just enough to shelter me from the weather, and stayed awake the whole night in spite of the fatigue I bore to avoid the horrifying nightmare of her death which kept persistently repeating the moment I shut my eyes.   

May 18th, 1944

The sound of gunshots awoke me from my usual nightmare, and as i was recovering from the drowsiness, I witnessed a troop of men heading towards my direction. They were dangerously near and time did not permit any chances of running, so I was left with the only option I had to survive: disguise myself. I quickly gathered fallen leaves on the ground and dip myself in a pool of mud which I had fortunately found near my tent. And there I laid, waiting for the troops.The wait was nerve-racking and i was close to losing my mind in that instance. The sound of footsteps were terrifying as they were nearing me. While they were barely a step away from me, one of them stopped. My heart was pounding so madly against my chest and the sound of it was so deafening I could swear anyone who's within a mile's radius could hear it clearly. As i stayed silently facing the earth covered in mud, I gave God a silent prayer to spare me just this once. I heard one of them shouted an order, and the rest hurried away in another direction. After a long tormenting minute, I assumed they were gone.Turned out I was wrong. Suddenly, I felt something being jabbed hard on my back. I was fighting every nerve in my body to hold back my scream and it took me seconds for me to realize what was happening. I was being stepped on. The weight of the soldier squeezed every breath of air out of me and I was trying hard to not move a muscle. Eventually, the weight was lifted and the pain subsided. I waited for any sound or signs of movement but  the woods were dead silent except for the rustling of the trees. I scurried back immediately to my hiding place and thanked the heavens. Sometimes I questioned God, why did He bring this on us Jews? Aren't we the chosen ones? Aren't we the ones he favored upon? What have we done wrong to deserve all these punishments? I knew I had to act fast and leave before the soldiers come back, but ultimately I gave in to exhaustion and went into a trance. 

May 19th,1944

I knew the odds of surviving will never be in my favor again when I encountered them for the second time. It all happened so fast and I was still in a daze when they caught me. The next thing I knew I was kneeling on concrete ground, vision blurring, hands bound by ropes, mouth gagged by a cloth coated with gasoline, and a throbbing pain filling my head. The sun was just rising above the horizon and the air was fresh and filled with the scent of flowers. I tilted my head to see a couple of my own people being captured as well. I could hear footsteps and voices behind me mumbling in a foreign language, which was no surprise for me for it was the same language used by the people who killed my parents. My view of the beautiful scenery was obscured by the silhouette of a man. I looked up and saw the most horrid and hostile face I've ever seen in my entire life. He gave me a sinister laugh and bent to get a closer look at me. 'What's your name little girl?', he spat. I snorted. That really ticked him off. He grabbed me and stuck a blade in my mouth. 'WHAT IS YOUR NAME GIRL?' 'Penny.. Penny Casspi.' I slurred. 'I guess you really do worth nothing more than just a penny.' he scoffed. Then he gestured to the men behind us,and I knew this was the end. I have not much time left.. I guess I failed her after all. I couldn't manage to get to the address written on the slip where my mother desperately wanted me to be. But a part of me was secretly glad. I no longer have to suffer and bear the load of fear everyday. And the uncertainty of surviving every hour kills me inside. To me it was sort of a blessing in disguise. The thought of reuniting with my parents brought a smile to my face. I wasn't afraid anymore. A teenage boy who was kneeling beside me stared at me with panic and sheer fear in his eyes when the soldier behind him aimed the gun at his head. The echo of the ear-splitting gunshot carried on for a good minute and I watched in horror as his figure fell beside me, brain blasted out of his head. I was next. As the man took his aim, I prayed to God one last time and asked Him to make them pay for everything that they've done to the innocent. Particularly Adolf Hitler. He will be damned and punished painfully in hell.. 

                                             

DREAM DREAM DREAM

 Having dreams while in slumber is not uncommon among people of normal mental health. The types of dreams however differ in terms of its effects and significance to those who experienced them. Some dreams, (considered as feelings in the mind of a sleeping person) are incredibly pleasant - hence the well-wishers' cliche 'sweet dreams', give a lingering sense of well-being upon awakening. On the extreme end of course is the dreadful nightmare.  

     While most dreams come off and fade away quickly, there are those on record that assumed abject reality upon interpretation of its meaning. A case in point was the biblical story of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Joseph had the anointed ability to interpret dreams with great accuracy. While serving a jail sentence fraudulently framed upon him, Joseph correctly explained the dreams of two of his fellow prisoners. One ended in being executed while the other gained acceptance to work for the royalty.

     Having said this, another interesting aspect of dream is without question, related to achieving an ambition. For those who dare dream of taking up a challenge towards a seemingly impossible task, there are no inhibitions. To these ambitious over-comers, the sky is the limit. The ultimate success would even surprise the achiever himself.

     Without dreams for out of the ordinary, there will be no Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.

A HEARTY MEAL for the BRAINS

There is definitely something intriguing and magnetic about this 5½ x 8¼ inches petite shaped MAG. It has been following my family for a couple of generations and this magazine was introduced to me when I started to be literate at a young age. My dad especially, who has quite a fair amount of general knowledge in him encourages and urges me still to read and absorb as much information as i could process and save in my brain. Reading this magazine needs time to slowly Digest and Comprehend the context in it, which is why the founders, DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace decided to name the Magazine READER'S DIGEST.

There were so much further knowledge gained when i started subscribing and reading it. Below are the few examples of information which i would never have known if it wasn't for this magazine. 

BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS*

People usually think brain damaging is all caused by mental illness or the radiation in technologies nowadays. But honestly, bad daily life habits are the ones which actually cause brain damaging to us.

 Example:

1. *Without Breakfast
*People who do not eat breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar

level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain
causing brain degeneration.

2. *Overeating
*It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental
power.

3. *Smoking
*It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. *High Sugar consumption
*Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients

causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. *Air Pollution
*The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our 20 body. Inhaling polluted

air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, causing brain cells to die or be damaged.

WHEN TO EAT FRUITS FOR OPTIMUM EFFECT

We all think eating fruits meant by just buying a fruit, cutting it up and popping it into our mouths and let our stomach and intestine do the rest of the job for us. It's not that easy. It's important to know how and when to eat fruits. 

The correct way of eating fruits is when you should consume fruits with an empty stomach. Why say so? Eating fruits plays a major role in detoxifying your system, supplying you with a great deal of energy for weight loss, and to provide roughage for a good bowel movement. Eating fruits after a meal however, the food you've had in your stomach will start to ferment and by adding fruits in it will not only disturb the digestion of the meal but eventually clogs and rots the whole mass of food in your tummy.  Fruit mixes with other putrefying food produces gas. Hence, you feel gassy in your stomach and get bloated up!

Eating a whole fruit is way better than drinking just the juice. If you have to drink the juice, drink it mouthful by mouthful slowly, because you must let it mix with your saliva before swallowing it. You can go on a 3-day fruit-fast to cleanse your body. Eat fruits and drink fruit juices for just 3 days, and you will be surprised when your friends say how radiant you look! 

For all teenagers who love cold beverages out there!! Drinking Cold water after a meal = Cancer!

Can u believe this? For those who can't live a day without icy cold water, this applies to you. Yeah, I know, It feels so good to have a nice soothing cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify and coagulate all the lipids that you've just consumed, which slows down digestion eventually. Once this 'sludge' reacts with the acid in our stomach, it will be broken down and absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will then begin to line the intestine walls and very soon, this will all turn into fats, which will lead to colon cancer.. So, It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a good hearty meal. 

SuShi EATS You UP!!

Jap Food Lover? A Sushi fanatic? Anyone? Well i Have some shocking News for you sushi addicts. Ever heard of the rumors saying that eating sushi will cause worms in your brains? Poof, just pure nonsense right? Think again.. Can they really get into our Brains? Well, Its horrifying to admit it, but yes unfortunately, IT IS TRUE.. I was utterly disgusted and terrified by the awful truth as it slowly sinks in that parasites can actually grow and infest in our very own brains!! Too absurd to believe it still? Well then, let me enlighten you with this article I've recently came across with. What I'm about to share with you guys have never ever truly been more real than any other news I've encountered.

Mr. Shota Fujiwara, a Japanese who constantly have been complaining about a persistent headache he had for a couple of years. He, of course like all Japanese, loves his sashimi and sushi very much to the extent of trying to get them as 'alive and fresh' as can be for his insatiable appetite. He developed a severe headache, but for the past three years had put it off as migraine and stress from work. It was only when he started losing his psycho-motor skills that he finally sought medical help. A brain scan and x-ray revealed little however. But upon closer inspection by a specialist on his scalp, the Doctor noticed small movements beneath his skin. It was then that the Doctor did a local anesthetic to his scalp and discovered the cause! Tiny little tapeworms actually crawled out of scalp! Major surgery was thus immediately called for and the extent of the infestation was nauseating!

       Remember : tapeworms, roundworms and their eggs which abound in all fish fresh or saltwater, can only be killed by thorough cooking and/or freezing 

the fish to between -4 degree Celsius to 0 degree Celsius.

Tapeworms infested in Mr. Shota's Brain

Revolting? Sickening? It completely ruin my appetite for the day at the sight of this image. So, think TWICE before eating sashimi and other raw uncooked food, you may possibly be the very next worm-infested brain victim. HAVE A NICE DAY!