Forever Remembering

It was a peaceful morning. My wife and I had gone out for coffee and to get a few things for the house. There wasn’t all that much to do today but it would still take me ages anyways. Waiting for my wife, I sat down outside of the Save on Foods. God I loved her to pieces, it is a shame that most young people don’t know the meaning of love. I waited for what seemed like ages and the stress came back. Regrettably I have PTS, a condition affiliated with the war times. As I was sitting on the stools the memories came back.

            I was in the battle field, a 16 year old boy who had no business being in the midst of a war.

            “JOHN! MOVE!” my colleague Samuel yelled at me. The bombs were coming down and the battle was a slim chance at us winning. Seconds away from being obliterated I ran to get out of the way.  

“THANKS!” I shouted my thanks back. This was my worst nightmare. I never wanted to be here in the first place. I continued running trying to stay out of as much of the battle as possible, “SAMULE BEHIND YOU!” he turned around just in time. He shot to kill. It was a wretched place to be. The stench of death lingered everywhere. Fear slithering through peoples minds. Not a single person wanted to be a part of this war. My mind was racing and my body was one step behind. I continued to run this way and that, dodging the shots of my comrades and the enemy.

            “Just keep one foot in front of the other. Just keep running. Just GO.” I was talking to myself now, my mind finally broke.

I snapped back out of my trance for the time being, the images of the war lingering at the edge of my subconscious. My hat had come off my head and had been crumpled in my hands, my hands covering my ears. This was a very bad habit of mine, when I go into a reminiscent memory I always put on and take off my hat as well as cover my ears. It is all a part of the PTS and everyone is different, this just so happens to be a perk of mine. I take a deep breath and look up to see my wife walking out of the store. I try to clear my head so she does not know. She worries about me all the time. My bones ache and creak as I slowly get up from my seat, the unfortunate effect of age.

            “Hello dear, I did not take too long did I?” My wife asked smiling at me as we slowly walked on. I continuously forget how hard walking is getting, especially with a limp and a stiff knee.

            “No you didn’t take long at all.”

            “I’m glad, what did you do to pass the time?”

I did not want to tell her at all. I did not want to worry her more than need be.

            “Oh nothing, I just watched as the people passed by.”

It is an awful feeling avoiding telling her the truth but her smile is what keeps me going through the day. We walk on out of the building to continue our day. Charles and I are going to play checkers later today and Molly is going to her knitting club. The day passes by slowly but that’s all I could ever ask for, all leading up to D Day.

A Woman Of Many Talents

  I am a woman of many accomplishments. On a whim I fight the predators of the town like the super hero I am, but just manage to brush my teeth in the morning. The newspaper man doesn't come near my house anymore for fear I will bite him, but my mommy still tucks me in at night. Bill Nye the Science guy is me in disguise, but I don't like crust on my sandwiches. I have scaled the highest cliffs and down the deepest depths. I have soared. I have strived. I have succeeded.

  My pet alligator was wrangled by me and only me but I cried when I broke a nail. When babies cry it is like the smell of napalm in the morning but my bath water can't be too hot or too cold. Space is only a mile away with my stride, but I have to hold my mommies hand when I cross the street. My teachers don't scare me, I scare them but small dogs terrify me. I have run miles and miles at one time. I have run up steep inclines with no problem. I have run to Calgary and back again without stopping. I am Ironman.

  I have given a six hour lecture without boring the audience, and I have battled the cold with Einstein, but I melt when a cute puppy is near by. I eat chicken nuggets raw, but I like my steak well done. Jack Skelington the Pumpkin King is the child of my evil, but I have a heart of gold. The gods bow down to me, but when my mom calls I come running. Chuck Norris learned all his skills from me, but I will cry if I stub my toe. I have many accomplishments at my back but the one infinite challenge I have yet to master, is braving the dangerous fields of college. 

Analysis of Eli

A drug addict, set-up for something he has not done is brought to the hospital for a “quick fix”. In the story Eli by Vincent Lam many different devices are used. Irony, Stereotypes and theme are all relevant parts of the story. The irony of the characters, how they are stereotyped as well as the main theme, all have important roles to play.

“Police stand and talk and lean on things as if they belong anywhere.” (pg 166, Doctor Fitzgerald) Police are stereotyped to all be good people who follow the law due to the fact that they are ‘the law’. In this story the police officers take a different route and the darker side is shown. There is evidence in the story that leads to show that police officers are not all that they seem. The reader is lead to believe that the officers are outrageous people who have no moral for the law. In the midst of trying to ‘cover up’ their tracks by saying their convict, “slipped and hit his head while getting into the cruiser.” The officers, besides lying so blatantly about their convict, care not for the safety of the doctor. Eli, a rogue drug addict, comes up and bites the doctor all due to the officers’ hands ‘slipping’. Police normally would not do these acts, yet in this story they are shown true. The police officers are ironic and stereotypical characters.

Drug addicts are always portrayed as the bad guy. In Eli the convict is a hardcore drug addict, but is set-up for something he has not done. The convict is asked for names he doesn’t have and this results in his forehead being split open. Rowdy as he is during his time in the hospital screaming “Set-up, it was a set-up! [Pulling and rattling] the metal bands tight on both wrists,” (pg 168) has in all actuality, innocent of any wrong doing he was convicted of. The doctor tries to ‘throw him a lead’ by getting him to pretend to be crazy, but being testy as he is trashed that idea and left Eli to fend for himself. This drug addict backwards as it may be is another ironic and stereotyped character.

A theme within the story is the illustration of human nature. Within the story all of the characters have their own idea of how the situation should play out but it never goes according to plan. The doctor, in the beginning timid but aware of what is happening, the police officers self absorbed and suffering from lack of moral, and Eli the poor soul who got caught in all of this mess. Each character wants out of the hospital and away from each other but the lack of cooperation and truth keeps everyone in the hospital longer than need be. The doctor unhappy in the situation retorts to the officer “Your boy too strong for you?” (pg 177 Doctor Fitzgerald) adding to the frustration and angst in the room. The officers snickering and laughing at everything, all due to the fact of the doctor’s frustration and the drug addicts pain. Poor Eli, wound into this series of unfortunate events, yells and screams all because he was set-up. Human nature stops people from doing what is morally right, and in this story that theme is predominant.

After all the trouble that the Doctor, the Officers, and the Convict went through, theme, irony and stereotypes are all very large roles within the story.

The Apple Of My Eye

George looked up from shoeing the horse to see the outline of Curley's wife in the doorway of the barn. They were alone, Georges spine went rough as a cob.  "Hi-ya George, what you doin’?" She was a jack of all trades but a master of none, unable to hit the broad side of a barn. I tried to keep quiet for silence is golden but she had my knickers in a twist, "What you want ya floozy?" "I just wanted to talk.. All you men are meaner then a hen in a cock fight." She was trying to pull the wool over my eyes I knew what she was up to tryin’ to be slicker than a fox. "Sigh you ain't no use out here shoeing horses, why you really out here?" "I told ya I just wanna talk, I be getting’ lonely in there you can hear the crickets its so quiet in that ol' house." She was fishin’ for complements and sure wasn't goin’ to get one, until hell froze over she wasn't gettin’ nothin’ from me. "Lady you're drivin’ me up the wall I  can't give you what you're lookin’ for you're barkin’ up the wrong tree ya hear?" With a bee in her bonnet she stormed off madder then a wet hen. I didn't want to drive the little filly wild but I had to get her out of sight and out of mind.

That Nonsense That We All Call High School

  High school, the fight between the teachers, best friends, and other repulsive beings we call students.
Its second period in the day, and you're in math. Of all the lowly classes you could be in you got siphoned into Mr. Becker’s. Sitting on the left side, middle pair of desks is the best place you can find in the class. You try your best to get away from the giggling "popular" girls, always guffawing about some unimportant drivel. Or the "Want-To-Be-Super-Models" always fixing their hair and putting on more clown make-up, making it appear even more so as if they rolled in a bag of Doritos. The gothic kid in the corner, with more make up on then the clowns themselves, that everyone and anyone seems to be afraid of. The jocks flexing their muscles at some giggling girl across the way, winking so many times that their eyes look like they are having a mini seizure. The cluster of different ethnic students, sticking together like double sided tape, no matter how often they bicker with each other. Or that one kid in the back corner, with the over sized headphones trying to look like he's the "next up and coming rapper" but all you hear coming out of his headphones; all the way down the hall, Is Justin Beiber playing over and over. No matter how many times you ask if it is he'll be right there denying it till the end. Then there’s you; the plain Jane, simple T-shirt and some worn out jeans trying to do your work. The teacher keeps talking though he knows almost everyone has completely and utterly stopped listening. You’re sitting there trying so hard to hear him over the absolute chaos going on around you, your brain trying to comprehend the complex algorithms; but the kid in the back is snoring away, the girls giggling louder and louder! The jock’s obnoxiously leaning over your desk, just to try and get a better “view”. You sit there trying your best not to punch him in the head and tell him to get his slimy, over worked body away from you; trying not to scream at the girls to shut their sniveling mouths and just shut up for once in their "pretty little rich girl" lives. But you sit there and take it, waiting for the bell to go. Jumping up from your desk the second the bells go running into the first "great green giant" that just so happens to pass the door at the wrong moment. The same repulsive routine, like an mp3 stuck on repeat, every day. Six more months then you’re out of the everyday pulsing headache that sits right behind your eyes that everyone calls "High school".

The Strange Place We Call Stephanie's Mind

  Stephanie Cole is a wild girl running around finding new adventures. You can see her a mile away with her always colourful hair. Her teeth sharp like fangs; explaining the snake bites. You will often hear her quoting some lines from her favorite band All Time Low, being strange or quoting something from a horrible movie, of which nobody ever know's what in the world she is talking about.
  This crazy girl is always nice to everybody and almost never in a bad mood. She is always willing to work with everyone, while participating is always a delight. She loves people and the simple beauty of that around her. Creativity is not an option, many waterfountains of creativity pouring out of her, are put into everything she does. Saftey on the other hand is an option, the more fun everyone including herself is having, the more danger there is. The mass adventures of dragon slaying and damsel saving; though for her the damsel is usually herself, is an everyday thing for this wild child and the best fun to be had.
  With her maiden Katie the Ferocious and her dragon tamer Derrek the Lanky but Bold,  this trio will find the greatest adventure and the biggest of dragons to tame while Stephanie herself has her tail end on fire.

A Dilemma I Had To Over Come

  A challange I have had to over come is my home life. My mom has alot of medical issues and I have to help her alot. My younger brother is also in school so I constantly have to help him with school work and conflicts. I watch over my brother and cousins all the time, making sure they are well fed and always safe. I also have to try and do my school work at the same time. I have over come this by doing what I need to, to make sure everyone in the house is safe and happily on there way. I do my school work and what I need to later in the night that way I still have time to do everything.