Sky Metalwala Missing: Washington Boy’s Dad Says Mom’s Story Doesn’t Add Up

Missing 2-year-old Sky Metalwala

Sky Metalwala is a 2-year-old boy who went missing in Washington state. As the story goes, Sky’s mother was driving down the highway with Sky and older 4-year-old sibling in the car, when the car then died. Sky’s mother took the oldest child and left Sky in the car while the two left to walk a mile to go get gas. When Julia Biryukova, Sky’s mother, returned an hour later, Sky was no longer in the care. Julia had left the car unlocked with her child in it.

This is not the first time Julia has left her children in the car like this. There have been multiple police reports and court cases surrounding similar events including both parents, who have been separated for two years. The parents have had an unstable relationship for years, including verbal and physical abuse. Each case surrounding the children ends up being a custody fight for the children.

Sky is still missing, and why a mother would leave her child in a car, unlocked, for an hour on a state highway is appalling to me. Why has Child Protective Services not stepped in on a mother who has repeatedly been confronted for similar events multiple times? Biryukova has been admitted in and out of psychiatric institutes, yet still is able to have her children when it seems evident that she is not capable of raising her children with her current mind-state. No one wants a family to be separated, but when the child’s health and well-being is at stake, something needs to be done.

The search for Sky continues. The Washington police reports, “‘We’re looking at it from all angles, at this point,’ said Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson. ‘Missing person, abduction, foul play has not been ruled out.’”

We can only hope this innocent 2-year-old will be found in good health and be able to continue his life with normalcy and a healthy home-life.

How to Tie a Hook

Fishing is one of my favorite leisure activities. Tying a knot was the hardest thing for me to learn, so I will teach you how!

In this, I try to make it as simple as possible. The “eye” of the hook is the little hole at the top of the hook, opposite of the pointed end. The line is obviously the fishing line, the neck of the hook is the area between the eyelet and the pointed tip, and I just refer to the hook as the pointed end of the hook

1.   Insert one end of the line through the hook’s eye.
2.  Insert the other end of the line through the eye in the opposite direction pointing toward the neck and pointed end of the hook.
3.  Hold the hook and line ends between your thumb and pointer-finger.  The line will hang below the hook in a large loop.

(steps 1-3)

4.   Take the part of the large lower loop that is closest to the eye and wrap it over the neck of the hook and both ends of the line toward the pointed end of the hook.

Step 4

5.   Wrap around for 7 or 8 turns and hold the wraps. I usually do this by just twisting the hook. DO NOT let go or you will lose the wraps and you will have to start over.

6.   Hold the end of the line that is through the eye with your right hand and pull it slowly.  Hold the turns with your left hand or the knot WILL unravel (and you will have to start over).

7. Pull tightly and clip the excess line at the end of the knot

Steps 5-7

Now you are all professionals!

Something to get me Through…

There was a time in my life where things just didn’t seem to be going well for me. I felt as if it were me against the world, and coping with this weight on my shoulders was never and easy thing for me. I would try everything to get my mind off it, like being more social. When that didn’t work I tried isolating myself. Then reading, watching funny movies, and then I looked deeper into music and quotes. Someone told me to make a list of quotes to help me become more optimistic. So thats exactly what I did… and it suprisingly helped.

“Every dark cloud has a silver lining.”

This quote hits home with me. I didn’t completely understand it when I first heard it, but now it is the quote I repeat in my head whenever something is going wrong. Even though it brings me back to this time in my life that I associate with this quote, but it always gives me hope.

For me, I take this lyric as no matter what is happening in your life, no matter how bad it may seem, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. There is always a silver lining.

I live by this quote, and many others. But this one I believe is the most effective. And the most true. No matter what bad is happening in life, something good is always going to follow. Whether it is an internal agreement with yourself, or simply a situation working out. Something good always comes out of a situation. It may be very abstract, and you may have to search for what good came out of a situation, but I feel as though you always learn something based off every situation you go through in your life.

No matter what happens, there is always a silver lining.

House Rules

I have always been a true fan of Jodi Picoult and her writings. Her books are easy-reads but I always seem to have her book grasped in my hand. For me, her books are the kind that keep me up late at night reading, or are the reason I procrastinate doing my homework.

I bought her new book House Rules this summer for a good beach book. I saw this one on the shelf with the best sellers and took a look. I looked at the cover and had no idea what to expect. I saw that Stephen King wrote a good review about it, so it had to be a good one.

This book is longer than most, but it was just as interesting. At times, I felt the plot dragged on. This book was about a boy, Jacob, with Aspergers getting charged with murder. The book shows the points of views of the five main people included in the story line, which is interesting because the reader is able to see the points of view all around.

Before reading this book, I wasn’t fully aware of what Aspergers Syndrome was. Now, I feel as though I am an expert. Its also interesting to see the thoughts of the person with the Aspergers, along with the people who are affected by it. The jumping between the thoughts of the characters does a great job at showing this.

One major downfall to the book was the fact it was easy to predict how the murder happened, because throughout the 500 page book, Picoult gave enough hints to know exactly what happened before the truth was actually told towards the end of the book. Also, the ending was a disappointment. I felt like I was waiting in suspense to find out the verdict of the case, which took up majority of the book, to then only be left hanging at the end, still not knowing set in stone what happened to Jacob.

Overal, it was intriguing. The plot was kept you hanging on, for the most part. And I felt as though I was connected to the family while I was reading. This was not one of the best Jodi Picoult books I have read, but she continues to never let me down.