The moment Caitlin Courtney made the left-hand turn from the two-lane, country road, onto her driveway, all of the morning's anxiety began to melt away. Thoughts of her friend Sally, who had died the previous week from a heart condition, thoughts of school without Sally, thoughts of graduating in May without Sally by her side, dissapated. Home, home. A few more minutes, and she would be home.
She drove on in auto-pilot. Her silver Infiniti QX4 hugged every every twist, bend, and curve, seeming almost instinctive. Courtney had learned to drive on the driveway that wound its way through the rolling fields. She could shut her brain off. Keep it from thinking about Sally.
The bare trees and brown grass, characteristic of a Kentucky January, whisked by as she sped, at 40 mphs, toward home. Yes, she was probably going a little fast, but it was her driveway. It wasn't dangerous.
Courtney turned the wheel to ease the car around the driveway's final bend, and it happened. The capable SUV had hit a patch of black ice. The car careened, this way and that, all traction gone.
Except for her sinking stomach, Courtney was as frozen in her seat as the patch of ice was on the road. This wasn't supposed to happen. She had already turned off her brain. She couldn't think of what to do.
So, she acted. Instinct made her slam her foot down on the break. She hoped it was the right thing to do.
Wrong. Her instinct sent the car spinning across the driveway, still going 40 mphs.
Crash. The car finally stopped when it hit a tree. Metal crunched and glass splintered. Courtney's father and farm workers came running. Courtney sat in her seat, unable to move from the shock.
When she was finally climbed out of the car, her body was convulsing, but her stare was blank. She had no energy, no drive. She was just so tired. But, at least she was home now.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Pushed: The Lizzie Cothran Story
By Cathy Caudill
Lizzie is sitting in her battered car on a grassy shoulder off the I-40 exit. She is feeling calmer now, but the astonishment has yet to wear off. The sensation is still there: that overwhelming feeling of absolute helplessness as her little white Mazda 626 was pushed across the road moments before. A do-gooder stops to see if she’s alright—she's fine—and she sends him on his way.
* * *
Cruising at 70 mph. Forty minutes down, 170 to go. A sigh of discontentment: she doesn’t want the weekend to be over—to leave her friends in Winston-Salem as she returns to UNC Wilmington. Class tomorrow.
A sound: metal clanging against metal. A force: her car is being pushed to the right; a line of white dashes flashes beneath the carriage as she is carried out of the middle lane into the right one. A hot bolt of fear streaks through her as she turns to discover that a massive semi-truck is pressed cheek-to-cheek with her teeny-tiny compact sedan. And...release! The semi-truck that had netted her in its drift across the road corrects its path and surges east at 70 mph, as if nothing has happened. Still in a daze, Lizzie finds her way to a nearby exit and parks.
She calls her parents. She calls the police. She calls her boyfriend, who was, fortunately, only 30 minutes behind on the same road, bound with his Marine brother for the base in Le Jeune. She can only speculate on what illegal traffic maneuvers they performed before they reached her, but their 30-minute traveling-time was miraculously reduced to 10; even the cops have not yet reached the scene.
Which is worse: the fact that she had been hit, or the fact that the truck didn’t stop afterward? He didn’t stop to exchange information; he didn’t stop to see if she was okay; he didn’t even stop to apologize. Here is what is worst: that the truck driver is probably entirely unaware that he had hit her. Lizzie is taken aback as the responding police officer explains that truck drivers occasionally nod-off after many hours behind the wheel and sometimes never realize that they have nudged cars on the road.
And the truck driver is unlikely to ever find out (unless his passenger-door bears some tell-tale damage): Lizzie has no idea who he is. As she was focused on regaining control over her car, Lizzie never bothered to memorize his license number or check the side-panels of the trailer for an easy-to-identify advertisement. As much a blind-spot in memory as it was on the road, Lizzie cannot remember what the truck even remotely looks like.
Shaken Up
By: Lizzie Cothran
Abby Wood had quite a trip to China. Not only did she participate in the typical site-seeing, tour-taking, cultural-learning ways of a visitor, but while Abby was there, she experienced her first earthquake. But the earthquake wasn’t the last thing that was going to shake up her summer.
The sun is beaming through the window, and begins to make Abby doze off in the backseat of the gold Honda. Her eventful vacation to China and the long flight home wore her out more than she expected. The car is headed south from Charlotte, N.C., where the plane landed, to her bed she longs for in Atlanta, Ga.
Allison, Abby’s friend, who traveled with her to China, is driving the car. The busy highway is filled with speeding, reckless drivers, but Allison is sure to be especially careful because one of her parents sat in the passenger seat and the other beside Abby in the back.
Abby sits and is lulled by the sounds of catching up dancing between the family members. She listens to her friend tell tales of their trip together in the foreign country and her parents, “Ooooh,” “Ahhhh,” and ask never-ending questions in return.
As the car sails along the fast lane of the highway, Allison describes the earthquake to her parents. Abby hears the click, click, click of the turn signal.
Allison tries to get over in the middle lane to let a driver by, but doesn’t notice the Subaru SUV swerving in and out through traffic to her right.
The whole car feels a jerk so strong that Abby thinks she’s back in China’s earthquake.
Allison overcorrects and the car is no longer under her control.
The Honda flies back into the fast lane. Spins completely around. Flips. Tumbles over the interstate. And lands upside-down in the soft grass on the opposite side of the three lanes where the whole adventure began.
Somehow, during the accident, Abby braces herself, preparing her body for a possible thrashing.
When the car came crashing into the unforgiving ground, the window by Abby’s seat shatters. She manages to wiggle through, crawls to the grass, and cries.
“Oh my God, I’m alive. Oh my God, I’m alive,” Abby whimpers.
Quiet. Everything is still.
Through her tears, she can make out that Allison and her parents have both made it out of the car ok and are sitting to her left beside the crumpled car. As she looks around, she is amazed not to see any other vehicles hit, and no one hurt.
Abby can’t push the thoughts away in her mind, contemplating, “What could have happened? I could have died right then.”
As sirens blared in the distance, and people began to crowd, Abby found herself thinking that there was possibly a higher meaning in this. She survived an earthquake a few days ago, and now she had just lived through a possible bone-crushing accident.
“Bad coincidence, good fortune,” She tells herself.
The ambulance screeches to a halt beside the pile of rubble that was once a car. An EMT informs the group they’ll be transported to the hospital to be checked for injuries.
As Abby is lying in the ambulance, tears streaming down her face, she holds Allison’s hand. She’s apologizing over and over, and Abby whispers, “Its ok, accidents happen.”
Abby Wood had quite a trip to China. Not only did she participate in the typical site-seeing, tour-taking, cultural-learning ways of a visitor, but while Abby was there, she experienced her first earthquake. But the earthquake wasn’t the last thing that was going to shake up her summer.
The sun is beaming through the window, and begins to make Abby doze off in the backseat of the gold Honda. Her eventful vacation to China and the long flight home wore her out more than she expected. The car is headed south from Charlotte, N.C., where the plane landed, to her bed she longs for in Atlanta, Ga.
Allison, Abby’s friend, who traveled with her to China, is driving the car. The busy highway is filled with speeding, reckless drivers, but Allison is sure to be especially careful because one of her parents sat in the passenger seat and the other beside Abby in the back.
Abby sits and is lulled by the sounds of catching up dancing between the family members. She listens to her friend tell tales of their trip together in the foreign country and her parents, “Ooooh,” “Ahhhh,” and ask never-ending questions in return.
As the car sails along the fast lane of the highway, Allison describes the earthquake to her parents. Abby hears the click, click, click of the turn signal.
Allison tries to get over in the middle lane to let a driver by, but doesn’t notice the Subaru SUV swerving in and out through traffic to her right.
The whole car feels a jerk so strong that Abby thinks she’s back in China’s earthquake.
Allison overcorrects and the car is no longer under her control.
The Honda flies back into the fast lane. Spins completely around. Flips. Tumbles over the interstate. And lands upside-down in the soft grass on the opposite side of the three lanes where the whole adventure began.
Somehow, during the accident, Abby braces herself, preparing her body for a possible thrashing.
When the car came crashing into the unforgiving ground, the window by Abby’s seat shatters. She manages to wiggle through, crawls to the grass, and cries.
“Oh my God, I’m alive. Oh my God, I’m alive,” Abby whimpers.
Quiet. Everything is still.
Through her tears, she can make out that Allison and her parents have both made it out of the car ok and are sitting to her left beside the crumpled car. As she looks around, she is amazed not to see any other vehicles hit, and no one hurt.
Abby can’t push the thoughts away in her mind, contemplating, “What could have happened? I could have died right then.”
As sirens blared in the distance, and people began to crowd, Abby found herself thinking that there was possibly a higher meaning in this. She survived an earthquake a few days ago, and now she had just lived through a possible bone-crushing accident.
“Bad coincidence, good fortune,” She tells herself.
The ambulance screeches to a halt beside the pile of rubble that was once a car. An EMT informs the group they’ll be transported to the hospital to be checked for injuries.
As Abby is lying in the ambulance, tears streaming down her face, she holds Allison’s hand. She’s apologizing over and over, and Abby whispers, “Its ok, accidents happen.”
The Pharmacy
By Lyndsay Rowley
Time stood still in the windowless dungeon like pharmacy like a calm sea right before a treacherous storm hits.
On a seemingly normal day, Liz stood in her blue K-Mart jacket behind the pharmacy counter waiting for a customer she could lend her services to.
A thin pale man wearing a blue jacket and baseball cap approached the counter and looked down at Liz with his deep blues eyes. "Can I have some needles?"
Liz happily asked the man if he had a prescription, but the man was shaking and unable to clearly speak. His unwashed face oozed with disdain.
A look of anger began to grow on the stranger's face. "I don't have to tell you why! Give them to me!" The man's voice was like thunder coming down on helpless Liz.
"I had never been cussed at before," Liz said as she looked down at her hands.
Liz quickly got a pharmacist to help her take care of the monster at the front counter.
Moments later a familiar sound got louder and louder. Two policemen breezed through the front of K-Mart to save Liz from the jittery unidentified man.
Liz discovered that man was a heroine addict that needed the needles to feed his ugly addiction.
Liz took a deep breath of relief as the seas began to settle again after the storm.
Taylor Smithson's Worst Date Ever
Miles Mosher. Even just uttering the name sent shivers down the girl’s spines. “He was everyone’s dream guy”, Taylor says as she gazes into empty space dreaming of the boy she almost had.
Taylor was only a freshman, but when she walked through the doors of Sacred Heart High, not only did she walk into school, but also she walked into the beginning of her love affair with Miles.
It was the second day of school when she first spotted him. She was listening to her ipod by the cafeteria when Miles Mosher walked by in his Coldplay t-shirt and jeans. She looked up slowly and caught a glimpse of his sparkling hazel eyes and chestnut brown hair. She had to have him.
As the weeks went on at Sacred Heart High, Taylor began to do the unthinkable. She found out Miles’ class schedule and purposely took the longer way to classes just so they’d run into each other. After days of catching each other’s eye, Taylor finally made the big gesture. She said hi. And he said hi back.
THIS WAS HUGE! Taylor pulled her razor scooter out of her locker and raced home as fast as she could. She couldn’t wait to tell her mom about her encounter with her dream guy. Taylor thought her week couldn’t get any better. However, that night Taylor signed on AIM just like every night. This night, however, Taylor got an instant message from a screen name she hadn’t recognized. It was Miles.
As the two started talking they realized they had a lot in common. Miles played ice hockey and Taylor played field hockey. Miles had read every Shakespeare play he could get his hands on, and Taylor had seen most the plays. They hit it off. At the end of the conversation, the unthinkable happened…Miles asked Taylor if she’d like to go sledding on Friday. The emotions that ran through her were shock, fear, love, excitement, happiness…she never could have imagined this.
Friday night came along and Taylor spent hours getting ready to go sledding. “Looking back on it it’s kind of dumb to get ready to sled since you’re in snow gear, but I wanted to win his heart over, even if I had to look like a giant marshmallow”, recalls Taylor.
The doorbell rang promptly at 8 o’clock and Taylor was on her way. The ride to the sledding hill seemed awkwardly quiet. Taylor remembers thinking that hiding behind her computer made it much easier to talk to such a dreamy guy as Miles Mosher. On the sledding hill, things started to get better. It was their first trip down the hill and he wanted to ride on the same sled.
Taylor sat in front, Miles sat behind her, holding her tightly so the cold winter winds wouldn’t freeze her to death. Then, it happened. Then hit a bump, Taylor’s head flew back and hit Miles square in the nose. Blood went everywhere. They rushed to the hospital after realizing both of Miles’ eyes were swelling up. She had done it…she had ruined the date. She had broken his nose. She never heard from him after that night. “I think he deleted me from his buddy list”, says Taylor.
Taylor was only a freshman, but when she walked through the doors of Sacred Heart High, not only did she walk into school, but also she walked into the beginning of her love affair with Miles.
It was the second day of school when she first spotted him. She was listening to her ipod by the cafeteria when Miles Mosher walked by in his Coldplay t-shirt and jeans. She looked up slowly and caught a glimpse of his sparkling hazel eyes and chestnut brown hair. She had to have him.
As the weeks went on at Sacred Heart High, Taylor began to do the unthinkable. She found out Miles’ class schedule and purposely took the longer way to classes just so they’d run into each other. After days of catching each other’s eye, Taylor finally made the big gesture. She said hi. And he said hi back.
THIS WAS HUGE! Taylor pulled her razor scooter out of her locker and raced home as fast as she could. She couldn’t wait to tell her mom about her encounter with her dream guy. Taylor thought her week couldn’t get any better. However, that night Taylor signed on AIM just like every night. This night, however, Taylor got an instant message from a screen name she hadn’t recognized. It was Miles.
As the two started talking they realized they had a lot in common. Miles played ice hockey and Taylor played field hockey. Miles had read every Shakespeare play he could get his hands on, and Taylor had seen most the plays. They hit it off. At the end of the conversation, the unthinkable happened…Miles asked Taylor if she’d like to go sledding on Friday. The emotions that ran through her were shock, fear, love, excitement, happiness…she never could have imagined this.
Friday night came along and Taylor spent hours getting ready to go sledding. “Looking back on it it’s kind of dumb to get ready to sled since you’re in snow gear, but I wanted to win his heart over, even if I had to look like a giant marshmallow”, recalls Taylor.
The doorbell rang promptly at 8 o’clock and Taylor was on her way. The ride to the sledding hill seemed awkwardly quiet. Taylor remembers thinking that hiding behind her computer made it much easier to talk to such a dreamy guy as Miles Mosher. On the sledding hill, things started to get better. It was their first trip down the hill and he wanted to ride on the same sled.
Taylor sat in front, Miles sat behind her, holding her tightly so the cold winter winds wouldn’t freeze her to death. Then, it happened. Then hit a bump, Taylor’s head flew back and hit Miles square in the nose. Blood went everywhere. They rushed to the hospital after realizing both of Miles’ eyes were swelling up. She had done it…she had ruined the date. She had broken his nose. She never heard from him after that night. “I think he deleted me from his buddy list”, says Taylor.
The First Date
By: Caitlin Courtney
It was just like any other first date. Camara McLaughlin, then 16, brought her newly declared boyfriend, Jason to a friend’s birthday dinner at Applebee’s. McLaughlin was excited to have her boyfriend with her. The date had gone smoothly right up until the end.
The group said their goodbyes and slowly made their way out of the restaurant.
The crisp December air wisped past as McLaughlin stood nervously with Jason by his forest green Cavalier in the parking lot of the Peterstown Family Dollar. It was finally the end of their first date.
Everyone from the dinner group had dispersed throughout the parking lot to their respective cars. McLaughlin and Jason were all alone except for some shoppers exiting the nearby store. She looked at her boyfriend and leaned in to give him a peck on the lips and a little hug before backing away gracefully.
She was being uncharacteristically suave; until she backed straight into the side view mirror of Jason’s car with so much force she knocked it askew. Embarrassed; she scampered away without another word.
“My awkwardness manifested in a clumsy move,” McLaughlin said. “I hope it was endearing, I guess it was, we’re still together!”
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Steph's Worst Date
"First of all, he had braces." Steph Duhaime was in her junior year of high school. The boy, Cameron Nichols, sported a red bowl cut hair style and a sweater vest. His sneakers squeaked as he walked up and down the halls. His complexion was less than perfect and his lisp was more than noticeable. He popped the question on a Wednesday, by the lockers. Edina High School was having their annual locker clean-out in preparation for summer vacation.
Steph had her head in her locker when she heard someone clear their throat. She peeked out and saw a nervous Cameron, rocking back and forth on his heels. She knew this look and began to panic. "Hey, Steph," Cameron leaked out with nerves in his voice and shakey hands, "Do you maybe wanna walk home together this afternoon and then hang out tonight? It's our last night of school so I thought it would be fun," Cameron said. She looked up and down the halls for reinforcements; no luck. Steph and Cameron went to school together since freshman year but never hung out much. They had a couple classes together but that was the extent of their conversations. "Sure, Cameron, um that would be fun," Steph responded.
When the final school bell rang, Cameron leaped to Steph's side in the hallway and opened the door for her. They began their walk home. They both lived in the same neighborhood and it was only about five minutes away from school. Steph could see how her evening was going to play out the minute they were out of sight from school. Cameron's clammy fingers grazed Steph's hand as she giggled nervously and put her hands in her pockets. This was going to be rough.
A few minutes later, they reached Cameron's house. His dog, named Tree, ran out the doggy door and made a beeline for Steph, knocking her down to the ground and attacking her with kisses. Cameron pulled his giant Boxer off of Steph and she stood up, brushed herself off, and looked down. Her bright, white Abercrombie mini skirt was covered in mud and grass stains. Fantastic.
They walked up Cameron's crackled white steps and into his house. The odor she always feared hit her like a ton of bricks: onions. Steph, allergic to onions, knew this was a bad sign. Cameron had texted his mother from school and told her they were having company tonight. He wanted things to be special and asked her to make a big dinner. "Hey kids! I made homemade onion rings to go with your burgers for dinner! Hope that's okay," Cameron's mom said after being introduced to "The" Steph. They sat down on the red plastic dining chairs, all of the furniture in Cameron's house resembled something out of a malt shop. Steph got through dinner; feeding the onion rings to Tree and kicking away Cameron's many attempts at footsy.
She was about to grab her coat to leave when Cameron invited Steph to the basement for a movie. She felt too bad to decline, especially after all the trouble his mother went through for dinner. She let out a quiet sigh and followed Cameron downstairs to his "finished basement." She took a seat on the musty couch and rolled her eyes as the credits began to scroll up on the small television screen. Star Wars. Steph was never a fan of Star Wars but it was evident that Cameron was. Once the movie began, he began saying all of the dialogue and peeking over at Steph now and then to see if she was impressed. She just sat back and waited for it to be over. "Can I kiss you," Cameron asked in a whispered voice. Steph told him that she had a boyfriend but was having a great time. He accepted this answer but slid closer and put his arm around her. He smelled like cheese and laundry and continued to talk like Yoda.
Once the movie was over, Steph got up to leave and Cameron told her he would walk her home. At her front step, smooth Cameron attempted his final move. He leaned in quickly to sneak in a quick peck and sneezed in Steph's face, smashing his head into hers. Steph, embarrassed and grossed out, gave a half smile and said goodnight to Cameron, leaving him on the front lawn.
(I posted this yesterday but I went back to look and it wasn't there so I had to re-type it again! Sorry!)
The Pharmacy
Things were quiet in the stark-white, hospital-like pharmacy. Few people roamed about in this florescent, white-walled dungeon as Liz waited patiently behind the counter.
“Can I have some needles?” asked a pale, thin man in a baseball cap—his hands shaking.
“Do you have a prescription?” asked 17-year-old Liz, wearing her blue jacket with a red embroidered “K-mart.”
The man grew angry and defensive, hurling a slew of expletives at a frightened Liz, who describes herself at the age of 17 as naïve. “I’d never been cussed at before,” she says.
At this point, Liz, who was a pharmacist technician, decided to get a pharmacist to intervene. Eventually, however, the cops had to come. Even with their help, however, Liz was still shaken up. After the incident, she says, “I ran to my car like a maniac.”
On another occasion, Liz was stocking shelves. She was minding her own business, placing item after item in its proper place, when she was interrupted by a tall, thin, African-American male in his forties. He wanted some Viagra samples.
Liz, knowing that samples of such things were not usually given out, asked “Why?” To which the man responded, “Because I want to try them out on you.”
There is a reason why Liz describes this as the worst job experience she’s ever had.
“Can I have some needles?” asked a pale, thin man in a baseball cap—his hands shaking.
“Do you have a prescription?” asked 17-year-old Liz, wearing her blue jacket with a red embroidered “K-mart.”
The man grew angry and defensive, hurling a slew of expletives at a frightened Liz, who describes herself at the age of 17 as naïve. “I’d never been cussed at before,” she says.
At this point, Liz, who was a pharmacist technician, decided to get a pharmacist to intervene. Eventually, however, the cops had to come. Even with their help, however, Liz was still shaken up. After the incident, she says, “I ran to my car like a maniac.”
On another occasion, Liz was stocking shelves. She was minding her own business, placing item after item in its proper place, when she was interrupted by a tall, thin, African-American male in his forties. He wanted some Viagra samples.
Liz, knowing that samples of such things were not usually given out, asked “Why?” To which the man responded, “Because I want to try them out on you.”
There is a reason why Liz describes this as the worst job experience she’s ever had.
It's a surprisingly sunny day in Avon, Ct. The birds are chirping and Lizzie Buckthorpe walks out of her red brick house, through the wet dew grass, and into her pepper white Mini Cooper.
She made a right up her street and turned onto the very busy Avon Road. Buckthorpe is driving along the street, thinking about her day. She plans out her babysitting schedule and is happy because she realizes that she can go to the gym.
She stops at a red light, looks down at her red nail polish, it's chipping. She decides that she will get a manicure tomorrow.
The stop light turns green. Buckthorpe continues driving four more miles on Avon Road.
"It's extremely crowded today," she thinks to herself.
She puts her left turn signal on and waits for a pause in traffic so she can squeeze onto Cedar Brooke Drive.
Tick, Tick, Tick, her turn signal steadily clicks as she patiently waits to turn left.
She glances in her rear view mirror and sees a black SAAB storming towards her. A small shriek comes out of Buckthorpe as she clenches the steering wheel.
The SAAB crunches into the back of Buckthorpe's pepper white car which is now scratched and stained black.
Buckthorpe slowly steps out of her car, with her hands shaking, she is extremely pale and looks as though she has seen a ghost.
She made a right up her street and turned onto the very busy Avon Road. Buckthorpe is driving along the street, thinking about her day. She plans out her babysitting schedule and is happy because she realizes that she can go to the gym.
She stops at a red light, looks down at her red nail polish, it's chipping. She decides that she will get a manicure tomorrow.
The stop light turns green. Buckthorpe continues driving four more miles on Avon Road.
"It's extremely crowded today," she thinks to herself.
She puts her left turn signal on and waits for a pause in traffic so she can squeeze onto Cedar Brooke Drive.
Tick, Tick, Tick, her turn signal steadily clicks as she patiently waits to turn left.
She glances in her rear view mirror and sees a black SAAB storming towards her. A small shriek comes out of Buckthorpe as she clenches the steering wheel.
The SAAB crunches into the back of Buckthorpe's pepper white car which is now scratched and stained black.
Buckthorpe slowly steps out of her car, with her hands shaking, she is extremely pale and looks as though she has seen a ghost.
It was planned to be typical Pittsburgh Thanksgiving for the Cable family, but three weeks before the holiday events turned and it soon became a Thanksgiving Jourdan wishes to forget.
Pap Cox, Jourdan's grandfather, pulls into his long gravel driveway and throws his bright red pickup truck into park. He proceeds to get out of the drivers side and walk around the front to help his young grandson out of the passenger side. However when he reaches the other side he sees that young boy has traveled over to the drivers side to get out the same door as his Grandpa. Upon the boys scrambling he bumps into the gear shift, causing the truck to switch into reverse.
Screaming starts to erupt from the young boy as he realizes the car is moving and his Grandpa is on the other side of the door. Pap Cox knows that the car has to be stopped or it will roll all the way into the busy street with his Grandson inside. He throws his body against the door and places his leg under the wheel. The car slows down and eventually stops but not before Pap Cox's leg has been burned from the tire. The skin from his knee all the way down to his ankle has been burned away, leaving a severe third-degree burn.
Three weeks later it is Thanksgiving and Jourdan's Grandfather is still in the hospital recovering. He receives skin grafts to heal the burn on this leg.
The holiday is celebrated at the Cable house this year, and the dining room is set for the occasion. The long wooden table is decorated with green place mats and leaf themed center pieces. The yellow walls make the room feel warm and seasonal. However, there is something missing for this family, Pap Cox.
The air is filled with tension so high that you can cut it with a knife. Suddenly the tension snaps as Jourdan's grandmother, Pap Cox's, wife bursts into tears. This acts as a trigger system as now her Mom is crying, and so is her Dad.
The family decides that eating is no longer the top priority since a family member is missing. They all proceed to leave the table as it is and not clean up which is, "So weird and out of character", according to Jourdan.
They all jump into the Cable family car, a topee Jeep Grand Cherokee and proceed to drive to the hospital.
Upon entering the hospital Jourdan is hit with the smell of disinfectant and medicine. This adds to the uneasy feeling growing inside her. Finally after traveling around the maze of hospital rooms they come to the room of Pap Cox.
They all shuffle into together, apprehensive on what they are going to see.
Pap Cox greets them with a smile, his leg propped up in front of him in a sling. Jourdan fights to hold back the tears, but looses the battle and the tears begin to flow.
After a while the family decides that their missing family member needs his rest and they still have a meal of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce waiting for them at home.
Thanksgiving was nothing like it had ever been for the Cable family, but the support of each other got them through the tough time.
Pap Cox, Jourdan's grandfather, pulls into his long gravel driveway and throws his bright red pickup truck into park. He proceeds to get out of the drivers side and walk around the front to help his young grandson out of the passenger side. However when he reaches the other side he sees that young boy has traveled over to the drivers side to get out the same door as his Grandpa. Upon the boys scrambling he bumps into the gear shift, causing the truck to switch into reverse.
Screaming starts to erupt from the young boy as he realizes the car is moving and his Grandpa is on the other side of the door. Pap Cox knows that the car has to be stopped or it will roll all the way into the busy street with his Grandson inside. He throws his body against the door and places his leg under the wheel. The car slows down and eventually stops but not before Pap Cox's leg has been burned from the tire. The skin from his knee all the way down to his ankle has been burned away, leaving a severe third-degree burn.
Three weeks later it is Thanksgiving and Jourdan's Grandfather is still in the hospital recovering. He receives skin grafts to heal the burn on this leg.
The holiday is celebrated at the Cable house this year, and the dining room is set for the occasion. The long wooden table is decorated with green place mats and leaf themed center pieces. The yellow walls make the room feel warm and seasonal. However, there is something missing for this family, Pap Cox.
The air is filled with tension so high that you can cut it with a knife. Suddenly the tension snaps as Jourdan's grandmother, Pap Cox's, wife bursts into tears. This acts as a trigger system as now her Mom is crying, and so is her Dad.
The family decides that eating is no longer the top priority since a family member is missing. They all proceed to leave the table as it is and not clean up which is, "So weird and out of character", according to Jourdan.
They all jump into the Cable family car, a topee Jeep Grand Cherokee and proceed to drive to the hospital.
Upon entering the hospital Jourdan is hit with the smell of disinfectant and medicine. This adds to the uneasy feeling growing inside her. Finally after traveling around the maze of hospital rooms they come to the room of Pap Cox.
They all shuffle into together, apprehensive on what they are going to see.
Pap Cox greets them with a smile, his leg propped up in front of him in a sling. Jourdan fights to hold back the tears, but looses the battle and the tears begin to flow.
After a while the family decides that their missing family member needs his rest and they still have a meal of turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce waiting for them at home.
Thanksgiving was nothing like it had ever been for the Cable family, but the support of each other got them through the tough time.
From The Memory-Box
By Cathy Caudill
Since I've come home for the weekend, I've been able to retrieve the article that I've been wanting to analyze since the class started: a feature story that was written about my family as we went on trips to the library.
It was published on September 24, 1995 (I was in the second grade). The bolded headline reads "A real page-turner: Old-fashioned trip to the library still excites this family" on the now-yellowed front page of the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail's Life section, written by Bob Schwarz.
He came across our story while chatting with the local library's desk workers, who informed him that there was a mother who came every few weeks with her four children and a box, which they fill to the top with library books to check out.
The article is so ancient I won't be able to post an online-link (back in 1995 the news was still almost exclusively restricted to paper and television), so I will provide the lead myself:
"Gloriann Caudill's husband is an ophthalmologist, an eye surgeon who performs modern miracles in the way of vision repair. The family lives up on Fox Chase (error: spelled Foxchase), not in the biggest house in this neighborhood of big houses, but in one which commands the best overlook of Charleston.
She can give her children anything she wants.
Instead, she gives them a trip to the library."
For the most part I like the lead, but the tone strikes me as odd. It sounds as if we are millionaires, which is far from true. Had we been given "anything she [wanted]," my parents would either be in massive debt, or have doomed all four of us to an in-state university later in life.
The writer had ridden around with us in our van that afternoon. I don't recall him asking us any questions (the feature itself was centered to my mother and her quotes), but he did seem to quietly observe us. He noticed that at first we would have a mini-quarrel about once every ten minutes, but after the library we were well-behaved as we read in the back seat. I had a stack of animal fact-books on my knees, and the pulitzer-worthy quote he caught from me was, "Oh, look at the gibbon!"
Overall, though, the article is good. It does not dwell simply on the fact that my mother encouraged reading, but also accurately illustrated my family's values. For example, TV and video-games weren't forbidden, but they were limited. We didn't have televisions in our bedrooms, but we were allowed to read as late as we liked, and as a result much of our evenings were committed to reading. He also observed that while our parents didn't pressure us to achieve all A's in school, they fostered a love for learning within us. "Stress will come later," he quoted my mother. This love of learning might be most apparent at the library, as my mother was the only person in the town who would bring in "an oversized supermarket box made to hold 30 dozen eggs" and leave us to fill it up with books from the children's section.
Even though I'm reading this article 14 years later, I can see he had observed the most important things my parents did that significantly impacted my upbringing (which I'm almost astonished that a man who spent a single afternoon with us was able to achieve): while there was always an emphasis on learning and Christian-ethics, there was always a time to play. I've never had a sense that they were over-bearing; education wasn't forced down my throat; rather, I was immersed in it, so I was able to chew it over and learn to love it on my own.
If anyone finds themselves at a smaller local newspaper, finding a story about a local family might be an interesting angle to pursue. After all, nothing gets a subscriber more excited than flipping open the paper to a familiar face and having that hey-I-know-them! moment. I remember when I arrived at class the following Monday, half of the students and the teacher had a clipping of the feature in hand, that doubtlessly their mothers tore out.
Just make sure you have your facts written down properly. My five-year-old sister Diana could barely spell her name at that time, but she was mortified when she saw that she was printed as "Dianna."
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Rollerblading Crash
The grass was green, and the sun was out when Cathy Caudill decided to go rollerblading when her dad and sister were walking their dog.
It was a beautiful day, and what better way to enjoy it than to go rollerblading? Cathy thought.
The neighborhood itself has curvy and hilly roads, Cathy reflected, even when some of the roads didn’t look steep to the eye, they actually were.
Once the deceptively steep incline was visible, Cathy decided it’d be best to go back to the house.
“It doesn’t look steep at first glance, but when you climb it, it’s a very steep incline,” Cathy said.
She was going at a relatively steady speed after turning around when the hill began to slope downward.
Gaining speed, Cathy began to bring her body closer together in an attempt to control the speed since she had no brakes.
Accelerating at a faster speed, a car was approaching from behind in the lane next to her.
Now, like a snow-skier on a black diamond run, with one car behind, and another coming from the opposite direction, little choice was available in order to stop the speed.
“All I thought was, I’ve got to stop myself. How am I going to stop myself?” Cathy said.
The initial decision that came to mind: the patch of grass on the left beside the mailbox.
“I was aiming for the grass, but I didn’t think I could make it with one car coming from behind me, and the other coming in the opposite direction toward me,” said Cathy.
The brick mailbox was another option, but not likely a pleasant outcome.
So, there was but one thing left to do in order to avoid a hit from the oncoming cars – fall in place on the pavement.
A gash cut into the flesh of her left knee, scrapes and burns inflicted the hands and arms, and the cars came to an abrupt stop for the people to scramble out to see if she was alright.
Four stitches, a couple of band aids, and some love and support from the family, Cathy was happy that the outcome wasn’t a serious injury from the deliberate fall.
It was a beautiful day, and what better way to enjoy it than to go rollerblading? Cathy thought.
The neighborhood itself has curvy and hilly roads, Cathy reflected, even when some of the roads didn’t look steep to the eye, they actually were.
Once the deceptively steep incline was visible, Cathy decided it’d be best to go back to the house.
“It doesn’t look steep at first glance, but when you climb it, it’s a very steep incline,” Cathy said.
She was going at a relatively steady speed after turning around when the hill began to slope downward.
Gaining speed, Cathy began to bring her body closer together in an attempt to control the speed since she had no brakes.
Accelerating at a faster speed, a car was approaching from behind in the lane next to her.
Now, like a snow-skier on a black diamond run, with one car behind, and another coming from the opposite direction, little choice was available in order to stop the speed.
“All I thought was, I’ve got to stop myself. How am I going to stop myself?” Cathy said.
The initial decision that came to mind: the patch of grass on the left beside the mailbox.
“I was aiming for the grass, but I didn’t think I could make it with one car coming from behind me, and the other coming in the opposite direction toward me,” said Cathy.
The brick mailbox was another option, but not likely a pleasant outcome.
So, there was but one thing left to do in order to avoid a hit from the oncoming cars – fall in place on the pavement.
A gash cut into the flesh of her left knee, scrapes and burns inflicted the hands and arms, and the cars came to an abrupt stop for the people to scramble out to see if she was alright.
Four stitches, a couple of band aids, and some love and support from the family, Cathy was happy that the outcome wasn’t a serious injury from the deliberate fall.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Pink Shoes
Lurching forward, and then back, crouching down, then standing up again, the small dark-haired boy searches in every direction. He peers through the shadowy crack that divides two fruit crates—could it have swallowed them up? “Where are they?” he wonders. “Where are the shoes?”
Some might think that the object of his search is not worth his time. Why go to all that trouble for a dusty pair of patched-up shoes? But, the boy is unrelenting. He moves the large, overflowing crates to see if the shoes have fallen behind or in between them. Certainly, they must be somewhere around there. That’s where he left them, anyway.
The boy wiggles his way between two obese crates, overflowing with fruit…timber! A blur of freshly-ripe fruits and vegetables go tumbling to the ground. The angry store-owner storms out angrily—broom in hand, and the boy runs away.
He runs quickly through the tan dirt streets he knows so well, down one narrow ally-way, then another, until he reaches his own familiar stairway. After a passing exchange with his mother, cleaning carpets on the street, he goes into the house.
His sister sits inside, eagerly anticipating his arrival. “Did you get my shoes?” She wants to know.
Worry and anxiety plague every muscle of his face as he ponders how to confront her. He tells her the bad news. She asks how she will go to school with no shoes—the worn pink shoes are her only pair. Tears well up in her brother’s eyes as he assures her he will find them.
Some might think that the object of his search is not worth his time. Why go to all that trouble for a dusty pair of patched-up shoes? But, the boy is unrelenting. He moves the large, overflowing crates to see if the shoes have fallen behind or in between them. Certainly, they must be somewhere around there. That’s where he left them, anyway.
The boy wiggles his way between two obese crates, overflowing with fruit…timber! A blur of freshly-ripe fruits and vegetables go tumbling to the ground. The angry store-owner storms out angrily—broom in hand, and the boy runs away.
He runs quickly through the tan dirt streets he knows so well, down one narrow ally-way, then another, until he reaches his own familiar stairway. After a passing exchange with his mother, cleaning carpets on the street, he goes into the house.
His sister sits inside, eagerly anticipating his arrival. “Did you get my shoes?” She wants to know.
Worry and anxiety plague every muscle of his face as he ponders how to confront her. He tells her the bad news. She asks how she will go to school with no shoes—the worn pink shoes are her only pair. Tears well up in her brother’s eyes as he assures her he will find them.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
blog this week: Birthday Boy
Outside the New Albany, Ohio weather was brisk breezy 45 degree weather. The neon sign that not-to-subtly reads “Gibby’s Bar & grille”, flashes into the night, enticing patrons passing by to enter for a good time. Inside, the bar is dimly-lit and at the perfect temperature for fun with family and friends. Lindsay had put on her plain v-neck black t-shirt and jeans, knowing that tonight held a promise of good tips in her pocket. After all, it was a Friday night. Weekend nights always were a predictor of big tips- given out by crowds of heavy drinkers. Lindsay could practically hear the paper money crinkling in her pockets as she double knotted her black waist apron.
Lindsay only gets paid a measly small $3.50 an hour plus tips. But when she stepped into the haven that was Gibby’s she knew that her prediction of a Friday night boom had been correct. She was assigned to the table of 8 people in the back of the grille, opposite the swinging doors of the kitchen. This spot was a prime spot if you wanted to have a good time without feeling cramped by the surrounding patrons.
“Welcome to Gibby’s what can I get you?” Lindsay asked the group of mostly portly men and only two women.
“Well just got in from a day of golfing and it’s my fortieth birthday,” the large man on the right had stated.
It was 8 p.m.
They had a round of drinks, then another, and another. It became an assembly line of beverages to the table and after every delivery; Lindsay wouldn’t see the salt on the rim of their round glasses- but little green dollar signs floating right above the rims. When the costumers would take a sip of their liquid courage, they would also swallow these little dollar signs as well.
Delivery after delivery, the portly birthday boy would say his thank you’s and drink his money right down.
It was 10 p.m.
Two hours later and the table of 8 were still there. Only this time, everyone in the grille could hear their conversation. What once had been an intimate back table setting had become a loud stage for their drunkenness. The birthday boy seemed to get louder with each ticking of the Miller Lite beer clock that hung over the bar. Tick Tock. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” ~ belch Tick Tock. ~ Belch “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tick Tock. This cycle kept repeating.
The table had been served with 2 appetizers but that did not seem to be soaking up any of the alcohol or the loudness that they were producing. Their mouths would even be loud when food was in them- there was no reprieve.
It was 10:30 p.m.
“Check Please,” said the birthday boy’s booming voice.
Birthday Boy had given Lindsay the shiny rectangle that proclaimed richness: the dark plastic of a black American Express card.
Lindsay knew that this was going to be good: a $250 bill with a rich patron would most definitely mean a rich tip.
While Lindsay walked on air to the corner to ring up the meal, she noticed that her manager was now talking to the rich birthday boy. “I saw him talking to my manager and I thought it was a compliment that he was giving about me. I had no idea. No idea.”
With a quick step and a huge smile, Lindsay walked back towards the rich and drunk table. Her manager met her half way. She didn’t smile. “That guy just tore into you. He said that you didn’t clear his table fast enough and that you did not give them appetizer plates.”
A feeling of dread washed over Lindsay. She now walked with a hesitate gait towards the back of the restaurant. She opened the leather flap of the booklet. Her tip? Her tip for a $250 bill was one dollar. A dollar. “I would rather receive nothing than just a dollar. It was an insult,” Lindsay accuses.
Away from patrons in the back, she slams down the booklet, frustrated at her job. As she reluctantly goes to clear the now empty table, she notices an extra stack of appetizer dishes she had given them sitting at the head of the table- just in case the patrons needed more. They lay unused.
Lindsay only gets paid a measly small $3.50 an hour plus tips. But when she stepped into the haven that was Gibby’s she knew that her prediction of a Friday night boom had been correct. She was assigned to the table of 8 people in the back of the grille, opposite the swinging doors of the kitchen. This spot was a prime spot if you wanted to have a good time without feeling cramped by the surrounding patrons.
“Welcome to Gibby’s what can I get you?” Lindsay asked the group of mostly portly men and only two women.
“Well just got in from a day of golfing and it’s my fortieth birthday,” the large man on the right had stated.
It was 8 p.m.
They had a round of drinks, then another, and another. It became an assembly line of beverages to the table and after every delivery; Lindsay wouldn’t see the salt on the rim of their round glasses- but little green dollar signs floating right above the rims. When the costumers would take a sip of their liquid courage, they would also swallow these little dollar signs as well.
Delivery after delivery, the portly birthday boy would say his thank you’s and drink his money right down.
It was 10 p.m.
Two hours later and the table of 8 were still there. Only this time, everyone in the grille could hear their conversation. What once had been an intimate back table setting had become a loud stage for their drunkenness. The birthday boy seemed to get louder with each ticking of the Miller Lite beer clock that hung over the bar. Tick Tock. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” ~ belch Tick Tock. ~ Belch “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tick Tock. This cycle kept repeating.
The table had been served with 2 appetizers but that did not seem to be soaking up any of the alcohol or the loudness that they were producing. Their mouths would even be loud when food was in them- there was no reprieve.
It was 10:30 p.m.
“Check Please,” said the birthday boy’s booming voice.
Birthday Boy had given Lindsay the shiny rectangle that proclaimed richness: the dark plastic of a black American Express card.
Lindsay knew that this was going to be good: a $250 bill with a rich patron would most definitely mean a rich tip.
While Lindsay walked on air to the corner to ring up the meal, she noticed that her manager was now talking to the rich birthday boy. “I saw him talking to my manager and I thought it was a compliment that he was giving about me. I had no idea. No idea.”
With a quick step and a huge smile, Lindsay walked back towards the rich and drunk table. Her manager met her half way. She didn’t smile. “That guy just tore into you. He said that you didn’t clear his table fast enough and that you did not give them appetizer plates.”
A feeling of dread washed over Lindsay. She now walked with a hesitate gait towards the back of the restaurant. She opened the leather flap of the booklet. Her tip? Her tip for a $250 bill was one dollar. A dollar. “I would rather receive nothing than just a dollar. It was an insult,” Lindsay accuses.
Away from patrons in the back, she slams down the booklet, frustrated at her job. As she reluctantly goes to clear the now empty table, she notices an extra stack of appetizer dishes she had given them sitting at the head of the table- just in case the patrons needed more. They lay unused.
Children of Heaven
Rough, brown hands grasped the delicate pink slipper, pining a silver needle through the severed black hole, as a little boy watched with wide eyes. The hole was about an inch in diameter, but the man had dealt with sewing longer holes than this. Once the man tied a knot to the string to complete his repair, the boy thanked him, and paid him with the change he had left in his pocket.
After an unfortunate incident at the grocer's store, the shoes were gone. The boy bowed his head in shame when the man yelled at him to get out for the mess he created. His sister, waiting at home in her pink and flowered gown, was not going to get her shoes to walk to school.
Children of Heaven
In the first scene, the movie begins with a man mending a pair of old pink tennis shoes. The work looks meticulous. As the camera zooms out, you notice a child on the left waiting patiently for the ragged shoes to be mended. It is obvious that shoe mending is a rare profession because when the child leaves the mending shop the audience notices a small village square. The cobblestone ground covers the village.
In the next scene the child enters a produce stand and sets down his shoes near the front. He is quickly told by the owner to choose the potatoes on the back corner of the floor, as though he is not worthy of the other potatoes. As the child picks through discarded potatoes the trash man comes by in rugged clothes and picks up the mended shoes with the trash. As the child is leaving the store, he goes into a panic when realizing the shoes are taken.
In the next scene the child enters a produce stand and sets down his shoes near the front. He is quickly told by the owner to choose the potatoes on the back corner of the floor, as though he is not worthy of the other potatoes. As the child picks through discarded potatoes the trash man comes by in rugged clothes and picks up the mended shoes with the trash. As the child is leaving the store, he goes into a panic when realizing the shoes are taken.
Children of Heaven Description
The shoemaker holds a small shoe in his weathered hands. The shoe, pale pink in a color made paler from constant use through the dust and dirt of the city, is broken. The sole has come away from the bow-topped upper. The shoemaker picks up his curved silver needle and begins to sew. In and out, in and out through the hard, stiff sole and up into the delicate satin. He is bringing the shoe back to life, one stitch at a time.
A small boy looks on at the shoemaker, his eyes fixed on the shoe with the pert bow. His face has a look of concentration upon it, a tiny furrow creases his brow. His whole life seems to hang in the balance of the tiny shoe which, for now, is nestled safely in the capable hands of the shoemaker.
A small boy looks on at the shoemaker, his eyes fixed on the shoe with the pert bow. His face has a look of concentration upon it, a tiny furrow creases his brow. His whole life seems to hang in the balance of the tiny shoe which, for now, is nestled safely in the capable hands of the shoemaker.
Children of Heaven
By Cathy Caudill
It is a little girl’s shoe, made of pink satin with a bow that rests just above the toes. It is tattered, faded and scuffed--the girl has worn these for a long time. The dirty rubber sole has separated from the dirty pink satin where the arch of the foot would be. It gapes open like a wound--a casualty of poverty.
The hands are creased with dirt. They are smooth and tanned--almost youthful--but the nails, the edges blackened and worn, are nodding toward advanced years. They thread two large needles--they are nearly as long as the hands, and arced like a silver bows. The needles are set aside.
The hands brush a tar-like substance into the wound, and press it closed. They hammer it for a moment, encouraging an even adhesion between the flaps, then press it again. The needles return to the stage; working as a team now, one hand holds the shoe as the other thrusts one blunt rod through the stubborn rubber sole. Through the rubber then the cloth, the needles begin to repair the shoe one stitch at a time.
The hands move like pistons, pumping the needles back and fourth with such rapidity it is a wonder that one hand does not accidentally stab the other. The needles flash as they are pushed in and out and in again.
Not thirty seconds, and the wound is repaired. The insole is hammered once more, the the shoes are passed back to the customer--the little girl’s brother. The repair cost 30 Tomans; the child pays and leaves.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Children of Heaven
Jourdan Cable
Ali's almond brown eyes swelled up double the size. He apprehensively opened the dark and tattered wooden front door. He threw the loaves of bread onto the dirty and dusty broken chair. Ali saw his younger sister holding their baby sibling on the floor. As she delicately placed it on the ragged clothes Ali avoided eye contact.
"Where are my shoes?" she asked inquisitively.
"Not here," replied a visibly nervous Ali.
It was clear that panic was rising in him and he was not sure what to do with himself. His hands twisted nervously at his front and his eyes shifted from side to side.
The look on his sisters face turned from puzzlement to sadness. Her eyes got wide and bright blue tears appeared around the rims.
"I will find them!" Ali frantically exclaimed. Determination came across his tiny face. He turned from the room and rushed back outside through the dark wooden door.
Ali's almond brown eyes swelled up double the size. He apprehensively opened the dark and tattered wooden front door. He threw the loaves of bread onto the dirty and dusty broken chair. Ali saw his younger sister holding their baby sibling on the floor. As she delicately placed it on the ragged clothes Ali avoided eye contact.
"Where are my shoes?" she asked inquisitively.
"Not here," replied a visibly nervous Ali.
It was clear that panic was rising in him and he was not sure what to do with himself. His hands twisted nervously at his front and his eyes shifted from side to side.
The look on his sisters face turned from puzzlement to sadness. Her eyes got wide and bright blue tears appeared around the rims.
"I will find them!" Ali frantically exclaimed. Determination came across his tiny face. He turned from the room and rushed back outside through the dark wooden door.
Children of Heaven
Scene 1:
An elderly man takes his time as he mends the large hole that protrudes from the side of a young girl’s pink sandal. It takes effort to push the long needle through the thick fabric. His hands are rough and worn like someone who has worked long and hard their entire life. It’s not long before the small shoe is as good as new.
Scene 2:
The young boy scurried from the room, swung open the front door and galloped down the large stone steps. Ignoring his mother’s requests, the boy whipped down the narrow alleys, determined to find his sister’s shoes.
An elderly man takes his time as he mends the large hole that protrudes from the side of a young girl’s pink sandal. It takes effort to push the long needle through the thick fabric. His hands are rough and worn like someone who has worked long and hard their entire life. It’s not long before the small shoe is as good as new.
Scene 2:
The young boy scurried from the room, swung open the front door and galloped down the large stone steps. Ignoring his mother’s requests, the boy whipped down the narrow alleys, determined to find his sister’s shoes.
Children of Heaven
By Lyndsay Rowley
Looking frantically through the unorganized crates of food, Ali's eyes begin to dampen. The shoes his sister is waiting for at home are nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, as he reaches deep between the crates they begin to crash down on top of him. The food covers the street like a rainbow covers the sky. The owner of the store came crashing out of the front door yelling at Ali to leave. His oversized figure shadows over Ali as he bellows out at him.
Ali raced off down the dirt covered road. He sprinted down the narrow streets all the way home. He reached the entrance to his home. The clothes hanging from lines of wire are hanging above musty rugs, and are enclosed with cracked walls.
A look of terror came over Ali's face as he realized he had to tell his baby sister the shoes she so desperately needed were gone.
Children of Heaven Description
By Lizzie Cothran
The shoe, the color of a fresh sunburn, was so worn that the bow, placed gently on the toe, was beginning to look as if it were going to untie at any moment. He uses his worn hands to shakily paint glue under the sole of the shoe.
An older man uses his filthy hands to paint glue on the sole of the shoe. He steadily places the sole back into place, next to the soiled fabric. He then carefully threads a long needle and ties the tiniest of knots. A hammer is used like the beat of a drum, smooth and continuous, to strengthen the hold of the glue.
The man settles the shoe in his lap, and the threaded needle is wiggled back and forth, charging through the sole of the shoe. He does this multiple times, his hands move quickly, like lightning.
The thread is cut, and the man drums the sole of the shoe once more. Sweat drips from his face. Such a small task takes a lot of concentration.
He calmly asks the boy for pay for his job.
The shoe, the color of a fresh sunburn, was so worn that the bow, placed gently on the toe, was beginning to look as if it were going to untie at any moment. He uses his worn hands to shakily paint glue under the sole of the shoe.
An older man uses his filthy hands to paint glue on the sole of the shoe. He steadily places the sole back into place, next to the soiled fabric. He then carefully threads a long needle and ties the tiniest of knots. A hammer is used like the beat of a drum, smooth and continuous, to strengthen the hold of the glue.
The man settles the shoe in his lap, and the threaded needle is wiggled back and forth, charging through the sole of the shoe. He does this multiple times, his hands move quickly, like lightning.
The thread is cut, and the man drums the sole of the shoe once more. Sweat drips from his face. Such a small task takes a lot of concentration.
He calmly asks the boy for pay for his job.
Children of Heaven
By: Taylor Smithson
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Children of Heaven description
Red shoes that have seen there last grand days of usage are undergoing plastic surgery by the shoemaker. The shoemaker rapidly laces the string in and out of the shoes open wound. Within minutes, the shoe has undergone a transformation that, although not brand new, has the shoe working again.
The boy, small but fast, grabs the shoes and hurriedly takes them along the dusty streets. Before delivering the shoes, the boy runs into a grocery store. While shopping, the boys shoes have become lost. He runs home, hoping that the shoes master won't ask where they are. The shoes' master is waiting, her eyes staring up to the little boy with excitement. What does the boy tell her? That the shoes made it through surgery? Yes. That they look almost brand new? Yes. That the shoes have become lost, somewhere in between the tomatoes and celery?
The boy, small but fast, grabs the shoes and hurriedly takes them along the dusty streets. Before delivering the shoes, the boy runs into a grocery store. While shopping, the boys shoes have become lost. He runs home, hoping that the shoes master won't ask where they are. The shoes' master is waiting, her eyes staring up to the little boy with excitement. What does the boy tell her? That the shoes made it through surgery? Yes. That they look almost brand new? Yes. That the shoes have become lost, somewhere in between the tomatoes and celery?
Lost
Panick rises like lava in the young boy as he realizes his sisters shoes are gone from the spot he left them at the market. They are no longer between the crates of vegetables right out side the store in which he went to purchase potatoes. His face goes from a faint smile to utter terror at his realization of their absence. His eyes become wide and his lips clamp closely together.
Spinning around in his spot he pushes various light wooden crates full of various vegetables out of the way. Carrots go one way, while tomatoes go the other. It is clear that the lava inside him is getting hotter with each passing minute he is shoeless.
Suddenly a booming voice comes from above the boy. He glances up in his search to see the store manager, livid that his crates of vegetables have been upset.
Shouts of, "Get away", "Stop touching my food" erupt from the manager and bring more terror to the already distraught boy.
He attempts to continue to franticly look for the shoes, still throwing vegetables out of the way but is stopped by the return of the still fuming store manager.
He appears again, now with a wooden broom in hand. The boy knows he is in danger of getting hit so skirts around the man's feet, barely missing the swing of the broom.
Still shoeless and upset he sprints home, terrified of what his mother is going to say when he returns without the shoes she sent him out with.
Spinning around in his spot he pushes various light wooden crates full of various vegetables out of the way. Carrots go one way, while tomatoes go the other. It is clear that the lava inside him is getting hotter with each passing minute he is shoeless.
Suddenly a booming voice comes from above the boy. He glances up in his search to see the store manager, livid that his crates of vegetables have been upset.
Shouts of, "Get away", "Stop touching my food" erupt from the manager and bring more terror to the already distraught boy.
He attempts to continue to franticly look for the shoes, still throwing vegetables out of the way but is stopped by the return of the still fuming store manager.
He appears again, now with a wooden broom in hand. The boy knows he is in danger of getting hit so skirts around the man's feet, barely missing the swing of the broom.
Still shoeless and upset he sprints home, terrified of what his mother is going to say when he returns without the shoes she sent him out with.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Bureaucracy: How did it get so big?
To sum this up, I think this piece was a condensed version of a chapter in a political science textbook. I thought it was one of the most informative pieces I read, and a thoroughly researched piece. I would say that the biggest criticism I have for it would be that it did not grab my interest. I did not find it an enjoyable read, though I do give it credit for the details about the U.S. government that I did not know.
The statistics and numbers that were given were definitely eye-openers for me. However I thought these groups or agencies he was talking about in the government were jumbled together and in some ways did not make sense to me. I felt there were some gaps in his research because not everything was told in this article, it was more like a "here's some statistical data to prove what I just wrote. And, the paragraph that followed the data seemed completely irrelevant to what he was just talking about, so bad points on the transitions.
I did find this feature particularly hard to sift through because I knew what the focus was about the bureaucracy getting so big, but the information that was collaborated within to make this point was, in my view, a little draining and overwrought. Once I finished this feature, I felt like a boulder had been lifted off my head.
The statistics and numbers that were given were definitely eye-openers for me. However I thought these groups or agencies he was talking about in the government were jumbled together and in some ways did not make sense to me. I felt there were some gaps in his research because not everything was told in this article, it was more like a "here's some statistical data to prove what I just wrote. And, the paragraph that followed the data seemed completely irrelevant to what he was just talking about, so bad points on the transitions.
I did find this feature particularly hard to sift through because I knew what the focus was about the bureaucracy getting so big, but the information that was collaborated within to make this point was, in my view, a little draining and overwrought. Once I finished this feature, I felt like a boulder had been lifted off my head.
Progress On "The Newcomer"
By Cathy Caudill
The interview is complete, and I have supporting notes in hand. However, this project is proving to be more difficult than I had thought. The project seemed perfect: my "newcomer" was not only new to his job at the university, but he was also new to this country.
Dr. Honores is the history department's Latin American Studies scholar, teaching courses like Western Civilization, Mexican History, and Latin American Studies, haling from Lima, Peru. I suppose the complication is the theme of the project: the newcomer. Presumably, I should be writing about the trials that most newcomers face: how they are adapting, what they like about the new environment; what they don't like about the new environment; what they miss about their old life; what they don't miss about their old life.
Having spoken to people from many countries, I expected him to have the same stories of cultural shock and period of adjustment, but I didn't get any of this from him. Dr. Honores, with his overflowing energy and unyielding optimism, is just as comfortable in High Point as he was in Washington, and just as comfortable in Washington as he was in Peru. He immediately adapts to life wherever he goes, therefore, there is nothing "newcomer" about him.
I will not be discouraged, though. I shall keep digging through my notes; I am certain that I will be able to find a good angle on this story. It will just take more effort than I had expected.
Lead Exercise
by Cathy Caudill
1.
Imagine this: you’re driving out West, cruising through the Great Plains, when you notice a strange sign. It’s a yellow diamond—rather, it’s a square tipped onto its corner—and there’s a picture. Naturally, you recognize an animal-crossing sign when you see one, but what is that shape? It’s not a deer—of that you are certain. Perhaps an elk? A buffalo?
A minute later your question is answered, but you can hardly believe what you’re seeing—slamming on your brakes, you stop and stare in wonder: tramping on a cloud of dust, a herd of wildebeests are marching across the road.
2.
So far, so good.
Adrenaline surged through the robber as he searched for his escape. There: in ignorance of his approach, she was removing the gas nozzle from her tank. The keys glimmered invitingly from the ignition. Yes, there. He wrenched open the driver’s door and jumped inside, flinging the sack of newly-stolen money aside and turning the car to life. As he sped out of Quik Shoppe parking lot he heard her screaming something at him, but the words were lost—smothered by the ferocious roar of the engine and the shrill cry of the tires—not a moment, and he was gone.
So far, so good.
But, wait—no—something was wrong, horribly wrong: maybe it was a noise he had heard but ignored; maybe it was something he’d seen but hadn’t noticed; maybe a stray word from the screaming woman had only just reached him. But he was aware that it was there— back there, behind him. Twisting to peer into the back seat, he blanched—something had gone horribly wrong: there was a baby on board.
3.
As 86th District Representative Constance P. Wei was driving home Wednesday she was involved in an accident, sustaining $8,000 in damages and an inestimable amount of irony.
Wei is fighting a bill that representatives are trying to pass that would ban cell phone use in cars. “All this is is Big Brother telling you what to do,” she said. Wei was on her cell phone speaking to State representative Peter Mackey about postponing a vote on the bill, when she drove into Michael Jeffrey’s Toyota Camry, stopped at a red light.
4.
It’s every school-child’s dream come true: no school on Friday...every week!
5.
The city’s uncompleted annex will soon serve a greater purpose than the government’s storage warehouse. Soon the boxes of old water bills and other papers will give way to a thriving community center with a historical exhibit hall and a senior citizen’s center, equipped with meeting and conference rooms for public usage.
The project was abandoned seven years ago due to a lack of funding, until the city recently received a $2,000,000 from one Willie Hattaway. Hattaway, an elderly man who lived a middle-class existence, willed his life’s savings to the government upon his recent death—the money which will be used to finish the forsaken community center.
6.
Sarah Zerwinn has been sentenced to 60 days in jail—not because of something she did, but because of something she failed to do. Zerwinn had failed to take her 6-year-old daughter, Sarah, to school.
Alternative Leads handout
1. The lions are resting in the shade, while the elephants are grazing on grass, and the giraffes take a cool drink from the pond.
There is no longer a need to grab a flight to a different continent to see these sights. African wildlife has jumped the sea and moved to the Great Plains of North America.
2. Ethel Perakiss parks her car next to gas pump number three and filled up her tank like any other day. She had no idea about the intense adventure she was about to be thrown into.
As she hangs up the nozzle, a man pushes her aside, jumping into the driver’s seat of the black Explorer and speeds off, with Ethel’s 6-month-old sleeping in the backseat.
“My baby’s in the back seat!” she screams, but her cries didn’t quiet the screeching tires.
3. Representative Constance P. Wei is paying.
She is paying for damages of her car and the car she rear-ended Wednesday.
She is paying for the accident because she was driving and using a cell phone.
She is paying for opposing a bill for the ban of cell phone use while driving.
4. At 8 a.m. on Friday morning, students are usually starting their school day by cracking open books, sharpening pencils, and rubbing their eyes to stay awake. Now, they will be pulling up the covers, catching up on a few extra hours of shut-eye.
5. He seemed to be a humble, modest, 98-year-old man to everyone. He didn’t live the life of anyone too important, but when he died last year, he left behind something big.
6. Instead of just packing her daughter’s lunch, a 27-year-old mother will be joining her in the kindergarten classroom.
Sarah Zerwinn was given the option to attend classes with her daughter to avoid jail time. Zerwinn continuously failed to get her 6-year-old daughter, Jennifer, to school 111 out of 180 days in the school year.
There is no longer a need to grab a flight to a different continent to see these sights. African wildlife has jumped the sea and moved to the Great Plains of North America.
2. Ethel Perakiss parks her car next to gas pump number three and filled up her tank like any other day. She had no idea about the intense adventure she was about to be thrown into.
As she hangs up the nozzle, a man pushes her aside, jumping into the driver’s seat of the black Explorer and speeds off, with Ethel’s 6-month-old sleeping in the backseat.
“My baby’s in the back seat!” she screams, but her cries didn’t quiet the screeching tires.
3. Representative Constance P. Wei is paying.
She is paying for damages of her car and the car she rear-ended Wednesday.
She is paying for the accident because she was driving and using a cell phone.
She is paying for opposing a bill for the ban of cell phone use while driving.
4. At 8 a.m. on Friday morning, students are usually starting their school day by cracking open books, sharpening pencils, and rubbing their eyes to stay awake. Now, they will be pulling up the covers, catching up on a few extra hours of shut-eye.
5. He seemed to be a humble, modest, 98-year-old man to everyone. He didn’t live the life of anyone too important, but when he died last year, he left behind something big.
6. Instead of just packing her daughter’s lunch, a 27-year-old mother will be joining her in the kindergarten classroom.
Sarah Zerwinn was given the option to attend classes with her daughter to avoid jail time. Zerwinn continuously failed to get her 6-year-old daughter, Jennifer, to school 111 out of 180 days in the school year.
Some Leads
1.
Imagine driving through the
2.
“My baby’s in the back seat!” Ethel Perakiss yelled, as a tall man in a white T-shirt pulled away from the gas station in her car with her baby girl in the back seat. What started as an ordinary day for one mother turned into a nightmare, when she stopped at the Quik Shoppe.
3.
Representative Constance P. Wei can often be found in congress, adamantly protesting a bill to ban cell phone use while driving. On Wednesday, however, Wei was found by police at the intersection of
4.
“Mom, do I have to go to school today?”
“No.”
“But it’s Friday.”
“I know.”
The weekend may be starting early for kids in the
5.
“It just goes to show that you never really know your neighbors…” That is what one former neighbor, Marilyn Boudinot, said of the late Willie Hattaway, a retired construction worked. Until moving to a retirement home at the age of 97, the 98 year old lived most of his life in a modest two-story house and owned a 40 year old car. None of his neighbors knew he was a millionaire.
6.
Go back to kindergarten at the age of 27, or go to jail for 60 days—that’s the decision facing Sarah Zerwinn, the mother of six-year old, Jennifer. Some, such as defense attorney Miguel Aceveda, say the punishment is too harsh, others think it is necessary.
First Feature Story
For me, the hardest part of writing my feature story was writing the lead. I must have written ten different ones! Some of them were variations on the specific wording of the sentence, while others had entirely different approaches. The lead really does shape the direction for a story. I've discovered that once you get a lead right, everything else seems to flow pretty quickly.
Well, quicker than the lead.
Another area where I had more difficulty was transitions. Transitioning from one paragraph subject to the next can take a good deal of effort. I wanted to make sure that my paragraphs weren't choppy, but at the same time, I didn't want to have a ton of extra words that would bog down my article.
My feature is a profile piece, so I've been reading some profile pieces from different papers to get a good idea of how it's done. I liked the one about Cybill Shepherd in our book for the most part, but its tone isn't really what I am aiming for. There was something about the angle from which the author was writing that bothered me a little.
I did really like how as a reader I was able to get a sense of Shepherd's personality, which is what I am aiming to do with my feature article.
Well, quicker than the lead.
Another area where I had more difficulty was transitions. Transitioning from one paragraph subject to the next can take a good deal of effort. I wanted to make sure that my paragraphs weren't choppy, but at the same time, I didn't want to have a ton of extra words that would bog down my article.
My feature is a profile piece, so I've been reading some profile pieces from different papers to get a good idea of how it's done. I liked the one about Cybill Shepherd in our book for the most part, but its tone isn't really what I am aiming for. There was something about the angle from which the author was writing that bothered me a little.
I did really like how as a reader I was able to get a sense of Shepherd's personality, which is what I am aiming to do with my feature article.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A ride on the Baghdad 99
Okay, so this was by far one of the best features I have seen, even though it was disgusting in some scenes, I still thought it was superbly written. The descriptions of the bus, like spider-web cracks, or the verbs that described the motion of the bus: slows, shakes, grunts, and wobbles, I thought were fantastic to describe the scene I was seeing.
Other descriptions like the area of Iraq - like broken city, or heat and flies climate, or the guy who sells light bulbs but doesn't have any electricity - great examples to outline and imagine Iraq. I felt like I was on that bus as he was describing the scene to us. So, 100 % given to the descriptions - I loved them!
I also loved how the story was formatted or told. The style of moving from the bus to the outside area of Iraq, and of course all the problems in it was very powerful and moving. I blatantly saw the hostility toward Saddam and the United States, and the problems existing with the local folk as well. The meat scene where the guy has stopped swatting at the flies was a great anecdote or example of a personal problem the people face. Though I found it sad, it was still powerful to see the depth of which these people live in.
The last two things that I loved about this piece was the lesson or metaphor from the poet Rusafi, who says "I told you so," to the people. It was a lesson they should have learned but they didn't bother. Then, the very ending, the kicker: "there is no schedule," I interpreted its meaning as symbolic to the situation in Iraq. There's no schedule as to when the bad events and situations happening in Iraq are going to end. I also thought it could mean, "no plan, or no organization" is present within Iraq at the moment.
What do you guys think?
Other descriptions like the area of Iraq - like broken city, or heat and flies climate, or the guy who sells light bulbs but doesn't have any electricity - great examples to outline and imagine Iraq. I felt like I was on that bus as he was describing the scene to us. So, 100 % given to the descriptions - I loved them!
I also loved how the story was formatted or told. The style of moving from the bus to the outside area of Iraq, and of course all the problems in it was very powerful and moving. I blatantly saw the hostility toward Saddam and the United States, and the problems existing with the local folk as well. The meat scene where the guy has stopped swatting at the flies was a great anecdote or example of a personal problem the people face. Though I found it sad, it was still powerful to see the depth of which these people live in.
The last two things that I loved about this piece was the lesson or metaphor from the poet Rusafi, who says "I told you so," to the people. It was a lesson they should have learned but they didn't bother. Then, the very ending, the kicker: "there is no schedule," I interpreted its meaning as symbolic to the situation in Iraq. There's no schedule as to when the bad events and situations happening in Iraq are going to end. I also thought it could mean, "no plan, or no organization" is present within Iraq at the moment.
What do you guys think?
Leads from Class
1. Imagine driving across the Great Plains with your family, and outside the car window, one of your kids yells, “Look mommy, an elephant!” A once in danger of facing extinction animal that was in Africa has now been relocated.
2. The woman left her keys in the ignition while filling the tank. Just then a man rushed out of the store, climbed into the front seat and drove off with a six-month-old baby in the backseat.
3. Representative Constance Wei, a congresswoman fighting the ban on the use of cell phone usage while driving now knows why her opponents are advocating this ban.
4. The after-school programs are out, the price of school lunches is coming up short, the next task for the school board, a proposal about the school week.
5. Willie Hattaway, a former construction worker, gardner, and friendly neighborhood man gave the last piece of his magnanimous soul through a check to city officials.
Friday, September 18, 2009
My Progress
Last night I worked on a good portion of my feature story so I'm feeling good about things. I took my time to think about everything from my past that had to do with Bruce Springsteen. All the albums, all the concerts, and all the things I learned.
Writing leads in class the past few days has definitely helped me practice. I feel come up with a strong lead. I want to begin the feature describing how it feels to be at a Bruce concert-- what I see, what I hear, and what I feel.
Now I'm just trying to figure out how to organize the rest of the story. I have a lot to say but I want to be sure I don't jump around and confuse the reader. I'm leaning towards putting it in chronological order so the audience can experience it in the same way I did. So the body of the article will discuss a few things I recall from my childhood and transition to the present.
Obviously it is important that I talk with my dad and incorporate some of his quotes. Those quotes will be the last piece of the puzzle. We plan to chat about Bruce this evening (as if that's different from any other day).
I was wondering exactly how much detail I should include when explaining the band. I assume everyone has heard of Bruce but I think I should mention a little about their history... how/when they started and what they're up to these days. Since this is a feature story I think a brief description of each band member is also necessary.
Writing leads in class the past few days has definitely helped me practice. I feel come up with a strong lead. I want to begin the feature describing how it feels to be at a Bruce concert-- what I see, what I hear, and what I feel.
Now I'm just trying to figure out how to organize the rest of the story. I have a lot to say but I want to be sure I don't jump around and confuse the reader. I'm leaning towards putting it in chronological order so the audience can experience it in the same way I did. So the body of the article will discuss a few things I recall from my childhood and transition to the present.
Obviously it is important that I talk with my dad and incorporate some of his quotes. Those quotes will be the last piece of the puzzle. We plan to chat about Bruce this evening (as if that's different from any other day).
I was wondering exactly how much detail I should include when explaining the band. I assume everyone has heard of Bruce but I think I should mention a little about their history... how/when they started and what they're up to these days. Since this is a feature story I think a brief description of each band member is also necessary.
Alternative Leads
1. It will no longer be necessary to travel to Africa to go on a safari. That is, if scientists get what they are asking for.
2. A man escaped with more than he bargained for when his get-away car had an unexpected visitor in the backseat—a 6-month-old baby girl.
3. Representative Constance Wei now has a better idea why her opponents are pushing for a ban on cell phone use while driving.
4. A four-day school week seems to be the only answer to cutting costs and students do not object.
5. Willie Hattaway treated the neighborhood children to more than just sweet candies; he left them a check for over $2 million.
6. Aren’t parents supposed to encourage their kids to go to school? That was not the case for Sarah Zerwinn, who was sentenced to sixty days in jail for failing to take her daughter to kindergarten.
2. A man escaped with more than he bargained for when his get-away car had an unexpected visitor in the backseat—a 6-month-old baby girl.
3. Representative Constance Wei now has a better idea why her opponents are pushing for a ban on cell phone use while driving.
4. A four-day school week seems to be the only answer to cutting costs and students do not object.
5. Willie Hattaway treated the neighborhood children to more than just sweet candies; he left them a check for over $2 million.
6. Aren’t parents supposed to encourage their kids to go to school? That was not the case for Sarah Zerwinn, who was sentenced to sixty days in jail for failing to take her daughter to kindergarten.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Leads
By Lyndsay Rowley
Story One -
A peaceful drive through the countryside interrupted by the sight of pack of lions attacking a herd of cattle.
This could be a reality for americans if some ecologists and biologists get their way in relocating African Wildlife to the Great Plains of North America.
Story Two –
Trembling with fear in her car seat, a baby girl stares at the unrecognizable man recklessly driving the car that her mother did just minutes ago.
“My baby’s in the baby’s in the back seat,” a mother’s voice screams out as she watches a criminal drive off with her child strapped down inside.
Story Three –
The screeching tires, the metal smashing, and the glass is shattering. Five hearts beat no more due to the impatience of a driver that simply had to make a call.
For years State Representative Wei has been fighting against the use of cell phones in cars, and now he finds himself with blood on his hands due to the fact that that he was breaking the law he hoped to pass.
Story Four –
Every child looks forward to the holiday three day weekends, but for one school district every weekend could be a holiday.
High Point’s school district is possibly changing to a four day school week due to problems with their budget.
Story Five –
An old man smiling and laughing as he gives the children of the neighborhood candy and fruit, while he sits on the porch of the house he has lived in for more than 60 years. Rust gathers on the garage that holds an ancient green impala. No one would have guessed that this man was sitting on a fortune.
“It just goes to show that you never really know your neighbors,” says a former neighor.
Story Six –
Most mothers drive their children to school to drop them off for a day of knowledge, however; for one mother she will be driving to school to gain that same knowledge as her daughter.
“Perhaps you will learn something about the importance of your daughters education,” the judge stated as he slammed the gavel to send the mother to her kindergarten doom.
Blog Post this week: Leads
1.) “How many steers or dairy cows can a pride of lions eat in a week?”
This is the evolution of Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest theory.
Many ecologists and biologists are suggesting ranchers find out, what would happen if different continental animals merged?
2.) Imagine: your six-month-old daughter lay innocently sleeping as you pulled up to get gas.
You left the keys in the ignition.
As you get out someone, strong, angry and in a hurry pushes you aside.
And gets into your car. Where your baby sleeps.
Living your worst nightmare you scream, “My baby’s in the back seat,” as your car screeches out of the gas station parking lot out of sight in ten seconds flat.
3.) What happens when the issue that you are fighting passionately against, comes back and hits you with $8,000 in damage?
After protesting the thought that talking on the cell phone while driving causes wrecks, Representative Wei was talking on her own cell phone when she did not see cars stopped at an intersection and rammed into the car in front of her.
4.) Cutting back on Student’s education and Teacher positions never saved so much money.
With the state announcing that it does not have enough of a budget to fund schools, school boards are hoping to preserve your child’s education by, cutting back on after-school programs, eliminating teacher aides’ positions, and cutting back to a four day school week. This will save the school board an average of $1 million dollars, but impact your kids’ lives forever.
5.) Willie Hattaway Carter was a millionaire in a poor man’s clothing.
For 60 years, Willie was just the friendly neighbor who lived in the modest two-story, white clapboard house. When he died he left his true self behind: a check for $2 million dollars to the city in order to build the long awaited community center.
6.) “Mommy! Mommy! I’m going to be late for school!”
The mom of the kindergartner keeps snoring, loud enough, to almost wake herself up. Almost.
The little girl just wants to go to school- to play on the monkey bars, to eat PB&J sandwiches, but mostly to learn. However, she finds herself watching her mommy and her learning sleep. The child’s sponge-like brain, that’s eager to learn, has missed 111 out of the 180 days of school. Watching Mommy sleep, counting her snores.
This is the evolution of Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest theory.
Many ecologists and biologists are suggesting ranchers find out, what would happen if different continental animals merged?
2.) Imagine: your six-month-old daughter lay innocently sleeping as you pulled up to get gas.
You left the keys in the ignition.
As you get out someone, strong, angry and in a hurry pushes you aside.
And gets into your car. Where your baby sleeps.
Living your worst nightmare you scream, “My baby’s in the back seat,” as your car screeches out of the gas station parking lot out of sight in ten seconds flat.
3.) What happens when the issue that you are fighting passionately against, comes back and hits you with $8,000 in damage?
After protesting the thought that talking on the cell phone while driving causes wrecks, Representative Wei was talking on her own cell phone when she did not see cars stopped at an intersection and rammed into the car in front of her.
4.) Cutting back on Student’s education and Teacher positions never saved so much money.
With the state announcing that it does not have enough of a budget to fund schools, school boards are hoping to preserve your child’s education by, cutting back on after-school programs, eliminating teacher aides’ positions, and cutting back to a four day school week. This will save the school board an average of $1 million dollars, but impact your kids’ lives forever.
5.) Willie Hattaway Carter was a millionaire in a poor man’s clothing.
For 60 years, Willie was just the friendly neighbor who lived in the modest two-story, white clapboard house. When he died he left his true self behind: a check for $2 million dollars to the city in order to build the long awaited community center.
6.) “Mommy! Mommy! I’m going to be late for school!”
The mom of the kindergartner keeps snoring, loud enough, to almost wake herself up. Almost.
The little girl just wants to go to school- to play on the monkey bars, to eat PB&J sandwiches, but mostly to learn. However, she finds herself watching her mommy and her learning sleep. The child’s sponge-like brain, that’s eager to learn, has missed 111 out of the 180 days of school. Watching Mommy sleep, counting her snores.
Leads :)
by: steph duhaime
1. Devastation to the cattle industry, the introduction of new diseases, and a move that could hurt tourist trade on an entire continent; you would think all these problems couldn’t be outweighed, but some ecologists and biologists have an idea they think is worth it.
2. A man got more than he intended to after robbing a gas station. Not only did he make out with an undetermined amount of money, he also found a six-month-old girl in the back seat.
Or
Screams could be heard for miles on Wednesday afternoon after a mother’s car was stolen at a gas station with her six-month-old daughter still in the back seat.
Or
Ethel Perakiss got out of her car like she always did.
Leaving the keys in the car, she started pumping the gas.
Just as she turned her back, a man in a white t-shirt ran out of the convenient store and jumped in her car.
“My baby’s in the back seat!” Perakiss shouted, but the car was already screeching away.
3. Constance Wei, a Representative for the 86th District, who is a strongly opposed to the banning of cell phones while driving, was on her way home on Wednesday night when she hit the car in front of her.
The cause?
She was on her cell phone.
Wei did not see the red light or the cars that were stopped.
4. Students’ dreams are finally coming true in one school district.
The high point school district just voted 7-0 to have a four day school week.
5. An empty building in the center of a town will finally be transformed due to the generosity of one neighbor.
Willie Hattaway, who died last year at age 98, left $2 million in his will to transform the empty building into a community center.
6. As the saying goes, everything you need to learn you learn in kindergarten. Courts proved this true after sentencing Sarah Zerwinn, who had failed to bring her daughter to kindergarten, to attend kindergarten with her daughter to make sure she attended and got there in time.
“Perhaps you will learn something about the importance of your daughter education”, said the judge.
1. Devastation to the cattle industry, the introduction of new diseases, and a move that could hurt tourist trade on an entire continent; you would think all these problems couldn’t be outweighed, but some ecologists and biologists have an idea they think is worth it.
2. A man got more than he intended to after robbing a gas station. Not only did he make out with an undetermined amount of money, he also found a six-month-old girl in the back seat.
Or
Screams could be heard for miles on Wednesday afternoon after a mother’s car was stolen at a gas station with her six-month-old daughter still in the back seat.
Or
Ethel Perakiss got out of her car like she always did.
Leaving the keys in the car, she started pumping the gas.
Just as she turned her back, a man in a white t-shirt ran out of the convenient store and jumped in her car.
“My baby’s in the back seat!” Perakiss shouted, but the car was already screeching away.
3. Constance Wei, a Representative for the 86th District, who is a strongly opposed to the banning of cell phones while driving, was on her way home on Wednesday night when she hit the car in front of her.
The cause?
She was on her cell phone.
Wei did not see the red light or the cars that were stopped.
4. Students’ dreams are finally coming true in one school district.
The high point school district just voted 7-0 to have a four day school week.
5. An empty building in the center of a town will finally be transformed due to the generosity of one neighbor.
Willie Hattaway, who died last year at age 98, left $2 million in his will to transform the empty building into a community center.
6. As the saying goes, everything you need to learn you learn in kindergarten. Courts proved this true after sentencing Sarah Zerwinn, who had failed to bring her daughter to kindergarten, to attend kindergarten with her daughter to make sure she attended and got there in time.
“Perhaps you will learn something about the importance of your daughter education”, said the judge.
leads!
1. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! That would be the scene on the Great Plains of North America if scientists could successfully relocate African Wildlife to this continent
2. A man bolts from the Quik Shoppe convienence store and over to the nearest car.
He jumps into the front seat of Ethel Perkassis 2006 Ford Explorer and proceeds to drive away.
What he does not know however is Perkassis six-month-old daughter is sitting in the back seat.
3. BAM! The sound of crunching metal rings through the air as Representitve Constance P. Wei slams in to the car infront of her. Wei puts down the cell phone she was talking on to asses the damage. Wei was talking to fellow Representitve Peter Mackey about her opposition to a newly proposed ban of talking on a cell phone while driving.
4. If you want the fantasy of three days weekends all the time to become reality then Avon schools are the place for you.
5. Willie Hattaway enjoyed driving his 40 year old Chevy impala around town, sitting on his pourch and talking to the neighborhood kids and tending to his garden.
He seemed to live the simple life, but what people did not know was that he was a millionare.
6. Finger painting, nap time and recesss are now a prominent piece of Sarah Zerwin’s life.
She attends kindergarden five days a week.
There is something different however about Sarah, she is 27 years old.
2. A man bolts from the Quik Shoppe convienence store and over to the nearest car.
He jumps into the front seat of Ethel Perkassis 2006 Ford Explorer and proceeds to drive away.
What he does not know however is Perkassis six-month-old daughter is sitting in the back seat.
3. BAM! The sound of crunching metal rings through the air as Representitve Constance P. Wei slams in to the car infront of her. Wei puts down the cell phone she was talking on to asses the damage. Wei was talking to fellow Representitve Peter Mackey about her opposition to a newly proposed ban of talking on a cell phone while driving.
4. If you want the fantasy of three days weekends all the time to become reality then Avon schools are the place for you.
5. Willie Hattaway enjoyed driving his 40 year old Chevy impala around town, sitting on his pourch and talking to the neighborhood kids and tending to his garden.
He seemed to live the simple life, but what people did not know was that he was a millionare.
6. Finger painting, nap time and recesss are now a prominent piece of Sarah Zerwin’s life.
She attends kindergarden five days a week.
There is something different however about Sarah, she is 27 years old.
leads!
1. You no longer have to go to Africa to go on safari.
2.When Ethel Perakiss needs to get gas she has a routine. She leaves her car unlocked, with the keys in ignition. As she pumps gas she watches her 6-month old daughter sitting in the back seat.
Yesterday, she filled up her gas tank and did her normal routine. She did not know that the gas station was being robbed until the armed robber carjacked her car with her daughter inside.
3. Representative Constance P. Wei was running late. She got into her Cadillac Sedan de Ville and called State representative Peter Mackey. As they were discussing her opposition of ban on using a cell phone while driving, Wei failed to stop and rearended another car.
4. Do you want after-school programs and extra help for your children? Then you better move out of Mt. Lebanon.
5. Willie Hattaway lived a simple life.
He was a retired construction worker living in a modest two-story house. Neighbors would often stop by and he would tell stories. He always had treats for children.
No one knew that he left a 2-million dollar check to the senior citizen center.
“It just goes to show that you neverreally know your neighbors,” said former neighbor Marilyn Boudinot.
6. Sarah Zerwinn is going back to kindergarten. She is 27.
2.When Ethel Perakiss needs to get gas she has a routine. She leaves her car unlocked, with the keys in ignition. As she pumps gas she watches her 6-month old daughter sitting in the back seat.
Yesterday, she filled up her gas tank and did her normal routine. She did not know that the gas station was being robbed until the armed robber carjacked her car with her daughter inside.
3. Representative Constance P. Wei was running late. She got into her Cadillac Sedan de Ville and called State representative Peter Mackey. As they were discussing her opposition of ban on using a cell phone while driving, Wei failed to stop and rearended another car.
4. Do you want after-school programs and extra help for your children? Then you better move out of Mt. Lebanon.
5. Willie Hattaway lived a simple life.
He was a retired construction worker living in a modest two-story house. Neighbors would often stop by and he would tell stories. He always had treats for children.
No one knew that he left a 2-million dollar check to the senior citizen center.
“It just goes to show that you neverreally know your neighbors,” said former neighbor Marilyn Boudinot.
6. Sarah Zerwinn is going back to kindergarten. She is 27.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)