3 conceptual questions about childhood memory

Why is the relationship between friends so powerful?
Maia was one of my very first friends. I know I can tell her anything. When I was younger, I would have a play date with Maia every week. She was the one person I could always rely on. I confided all of my secrets with her, and she told me all of hers. I trusted her, and I learned to be myself around her. This story is an example of one of the crazy things we would do together, just because we could. Together, we made up many games, and learned how to use teamwork to get out of the problems we encountered.

Why is making up games important?

Making up games requires creativity. No game could be fun if there was no creativity involved in creating it. Maia and I made up the game of getting the beanie babies stuck in the tree to avoid being bored. It also takes problem-solving skills to deal with the results of the game. We had to figure out a solution to get the beanie babies out of the tree.

Why do children often attach themselves to inanimate objects?
In this story, I was very attached to my beanie babies. They were my friends, and I really cared about them. I attached myself to them so that I would have friends who would never abandon me. I could tell them all of my secrets because I knew that they would keep them (since they could not talk.) They were under my control, so they would have to do what I said. They could not leave after a fun play date like my real friends. I felt like I was in charge of them, and it gave me a sense of leadership and power.

Beanie Babies in the Tree

It all started on September 14, 2004, when I was 10 years old. My friend Maia, whom I have known since I was 2 years old, came over to my house for a play date. She has been over to my house hundreds of times, so we were looking for something new to do. We were getting hungry, so my mom gave us the great idea to have a picnic on my front lawn. Being little kids, we decided to invite all 39 of my beanie babies to come with us. We set up a blanket on the long grass under the tiny bit of shade from the young tree, and brought out a picnic basket. Inside was everything we needed to enjoy a lovely picnic, including PB & J sandwiches, plates, mini water bottles, bananas, and napkins. We set up my beanie babies on the blanket, then sat down and enjoyed a lovely picnic. A bulldog named Wrinkles was my favorite beanie baby, so he sat next to me. While we were eating, we watched all of the people go by, and chatted with each other and the beanie babies. When we finished eating, we stared up at the crisp blue sky, through the bright green leaves of the little tree. Suddenly, a fantastic idea popped into my mind.

"What if we threw the beanie babies up in the tree, and tried to get them caught in the branches?" I asked Maia.

"Woah! That would be so much fun!" She replied.

So, that is exactly what we did. We would take turns tossing the beanie babies up. If you got one stuck in the tree, you got to throw another. It was so satisfying to get one stuck, especially near the top of the tree. Sometimes, we would throw the little animals so high, that they would hit the electrical wire above the tree. At first, Maia and I were scared that they would catch on fire, or that the wire would fall down. When nothing happened, we both laughed. Some beanie babies were much more difficult to get caught in the branches than others. I remember Tini, the little chihuahua was the last one left, and it took Maia and I several tries until he finally got stuck. Some were easier to get wedged in the tree. I remember tossing up Valentina and Valentino the bears up near the top of the tree. I refused to throw my little Wrinkles up, just in case he never came down. When all of the other beanie babies were stuck in the branches of the tree, we were posed with the problem of getting them down.

At first, we both though that we could just climb the little tree and toss the beanie babies down. After several attempts to climb up, we realized that the tree was too little to climb, even for us 10 year olds. Now, we were really stumped. We could not just leave them up there to die! We pondered our little dilemma for a few minutes, and thought it out logically. We needed something that would not get stuck that we could throw up in the tree to knock down the beanie babies. Maia thought of using a basketball, since it was heavy enough not to get stuck. After getting it out of the garage, we aimed it at Spike the rhino, since he was near the bottom. After a few tries, we knocked him out of the tree, and he landed with a little "poof" in the luscious grass.

We were able to get all of them down except for Valentino and Valentina, who were way up near the top. We could not throw the heavy basketball up high enough to knock them free. We did not know what to do. At that time, Maia's mother came to pick her up. We told each other that, since it was early September, it would not rain, so they could enjoy the view from the top of the tree until our next play date.

The next time Maia came over was two weeks later. We were so glad that it did not rain, and ruin the two love bears. We went into the garage to see if we could find anything that could help us get them down. Maia spied a big broom, and thought that we could use the handle to poke them out. So, we unscrewed the handle from the brush part, and took it out to the tree. I tried to reach Valentina, but she was too high for me. Since Maia was taller, she tried. She could not reach them either, but was closer than I was. I ended up getting down on my knees, and she climbed on my back. With the extra height, she could poke them both down! I picked up the white bear Valentino, and gave him a big hug. When we went to get the magenta Valentina from the grass, we noticed that she was sunburned! About half of her body was a very light pink where the color faded. I gave her a hug anyways, because I was glad to have her in my arms again.

I told Maia that I could not stand being away from some of my beanie babies again. She agreed completely, and we both decided that this game was much too risky for our little friends. So, next time Maia came over, we thought of a new game.

Questions for Tobias Wolff

1) Many of your stories have parents abandoning or hurting their children. Where does your inspiration for this come from?

2) In "Bullet in the Brain," why does Anders keep bothering the robbers? Does he want to die?

3) Why doesn't Tub notice the tracks in "Hunters in the Snow"?

Zoom Out

"It vexed him to get lost like this in front of his son, especially since the fault lay with the lousy map the Academy had sent him, but Owen was in one of his trances and didn't seem to notice." "Nightengale" Our Story Begins p. 337 Tobias Wolff

"I cannot believe this map that the Academy sent us! It's terrible!" cried Dr. Booth.

"Un hun" mumbled Owen in a trance.

"You can clearly see that it's not my fault we are lost."

"Un hun" Owen grumbled vaguely.

"I just cannot believe this." His father ranted.

"Dad, this map clearly represents what the Academy is like. It's going to be just as confusing and un-useful as this silly map." Owen exclaimed.

"You know what Owen, this one faulty map means nothing of the sort Owen. Do not even try to change my mind. It's just that this foolish map keeps getting us lost..." His father replied, taking yet another wrong turn.

"Un hun" Owen muttered, returning to being in a daze.

When Owen was first born, Dr. Booth and his wife wanted him to have a good life. Owen was a good boy. He did well in school, and did what his parents asked him to. When the brochure for Fort Steel Academy arrived in the mail, Dr. Booth knew that his son would go there. He wanted his son to grow up, and be mature. He did not want his son to be humiliated after loosing class elections like he was. After so many arguments with his wife and son, he would not change his mind. Owen was going to Fort Steel Academy. 

After his time at the Academy, Owen finally came home. He was not the same boy that his father dropped off. He had, in fact, grown up. He didn't say anything without being spoken to, and completed every single task his parents asked of him.

A few years went by, and Owen got married to a girl he met through his old friends. He still acted as though he was at the Academy, still only speaking when his wife asked him a question. They had a son, Carl, and Owen sent him to Fort Steel Academy to follow in his footsteps. Even though his wife and son disagreed, he would have it no other way. Carl was going to Fort Steel Academy.

As Dr. Booth and his son drove to the Academy, it started to drizzle. They both heard the "tap tap tap" on the car as they rode along. While they were not speaking, they could hear the deep hum of the engine, and the faint whirr of the fan. The birds were not making a sound, and stayed bundled up in their nests. It was getting colder outside, and the side windows started to fog up near the two warm bodies. The rain stopped, and the sun peered over the trees. Every so often, a few drops would slip off the tree branches, and echo off the roof of the car.

Extra Credit 2

"Serving one purpose: to annihilate all and any trace of the truth."

To me, this sentence does not make very much sense. I don't even think it's grammatically correct. I would start out by having a subject, and removing the colon. Also, the word annihilate just does not fit in with the tone of the story.

I would say:

"Their only purpose here is to eliminate all and any trace of the truth."

Extra Credit 1

"When a child their 5th year he or she is given 5 buckets of different colored paint and a canvas."

First of all, there is a grammatical error. There is no verb in the first part of the sentence. Also, 5 should be written as "five" because it's under ten. Just saying "their 5th year" could mean anything. It could mean their fifth year in school, in life, or even their fifth year of doing a hobby. I interpreted it as being their fifth year of life. 

I would say:

"When a child has reached the 5th year of his or her life, he or she is given five buckets of different colored paint and a canvas."

or simply:

"When a child as turned five years old, he or she is given five buckets of different colored paint and a canvas."

Stopping Time

"It vexed him to get lost like this in front of his son, especially since the fault lay with the lousy map the Academy had sent him, but Owen was in one of his trances and didn't seem to notice." "Nightengale" Our Story Begins p. 337 Tobias Wolff

Dr. Booth was constantly reminding his son that the silly map that the Academy sent them was the reason they were getting lost. He definitely did not want his son to know that he had absolutely no idea where they were. Dr. Booth never wanted his son to see a weakness in him, especially right before dropping him off at school. If getting lost because of his father was one of the last memories before going away to school, it was certainly going to stick with him for a while. Even though Owen was a little out of it, he was trying to convince his dad that the faulty map to the Academy was proof that the Academy itself was faulty. He was trying to convince him that sending him away to a faulty school would result in him being badly educated. Dr. Booth was replying that just because the school sent out one faulty map didn't mean that they were not an excellent school. Owen was convinced that the Academy was not the right place for him. He tried desperately to change his fathers mind, using the map as evidence to support his claim. However, his father kept twisting his words and coming back to the point that the map was clearly the reason that they were lost. He was avoiding the conversation that his son wanted so desperately to talk about. Dr. Booth just kept telling his son that it was most definitely not his fault that they were lost, even though he did not bother getting other directions just in case. During their long conversation, Dr. Booth continued to take wrong turns, resulting in them getting more and more lost. The map was very confusing. The names of the streets were completely marked wrong, and the directions were very vague. It really was not Dr. Booth's fault that they were so lost. Maybe Owen would have an easier time believing him if he did not keep telling him that it was the maps fault. However, Owen wasn't really paying close attention to what his father was saying anyways. He was only trying to convince him to change his mind about sending him to the Academy. Owen was still in a trance because of his immense fear of the boarding school that his father was forcing him to go to. Dazed, he just blankly stared out the window. He was not actually seeing the trees and grass that were whizzing by, but instead he saw blankness. All he could envision was the huge boarding school in which he would be trapped in at the end of the car ride. He was wondering how the other boys would treat him. Whether they would accept him, or reject him. He could not stop conjuring up images of him being an outcast at the Academy. Instead, he decided to let his mind go blank as his father continued to get them lost.

lies lies, and more lies

I'm not going to lie; (haha) I've told many lies in my life. They've ranged from tiny little white lies to bigger, badder lies that don't need to be surfaced from their deep dark graves. When I was little, I lied to my older sisters. I would steal cool things that they had, and hide them in my room. When they asked me if I knew where they were, I would lie, and tell them that I had no idea. I stole things from sparkly gel pens to cuddly stuffed dolphins. Once they found my secret pile, I was a goner. They no longer trusted me, and never let me borrow anything from them anymore. That was when I got caught. There were quite a few instances where I never got caught, but it was so long ago that it doesn't even matter. For example, I really liked my friends new blue jeans. Because I wanted them, but didn't want her to know I was copying her, I told her that I had the same ones. So before I saw her again, I went to Nordstroms, where she bought hers, and bought the same ones. Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't lied in a while, knock on wood.

As for lies that I've believed, there are quite a few of those. I still believe in Santa Claus, but not the same way I did when I was eight. When I was about 10, I knew he didn't exist, but still didn't say so because I was afraid he wouldn't come. I guess I'm pretty gullible, so it takes me a while to catch on to lies told to me.

Vonnegut at MHS

Today, there's assembly at MHS. Before entering the gym, everybody must remove their shoes. Once taking a seat on the bleachers, the student body starts listening to Mr. Schaffer. He is saying what he always says. That MHS is a school that only teaches lives, and how we should be so lucky we don't go to a school where they teach the truth. Once his short speech is over, he allows the senior class to commence the ceremony of bokumaru. They all head down to the basketball court and touch the bottoms of their feet to each others. After several minutes, their ceremony time is up, and it's the juniors turn. Their turn is slightly shorter than the seniors, since they have not been taught as many lies. Then the sophomores go, followed by the freshman, each time a little shorter. After each has has had a turn, the teachers of the lies all have a go. They get the longest period of time since they have more knowledge of lies, and are the lie masters of MHS. All the students are to observe their foot touching technique, since they have the most experience. Before assembly ends, every member of the school is invited to sing a Calypso that was chosen by Mr. Colb, the Great Master of Lies. Then, when the sacred assembly is dismissed, all followers are free to go to lunch.

Call me...

Call me Frannie. My real name is Frances though. To tell you the truth, I was named after my dad's favorite Irish uncle, Alex. His middle name was Francis, so that's where my name comes from. Supposedly, Frances (or Francis) is a latin name meaning free man, or a man from France.The only really famous person that I've heard of named Frances (Francis) is Saint Francis. I saw a film about him when I was younger, and I thought it was so cool that he had the same name as me. I've also heard of Francis Sinatra, but he goes by Frank, so that doesn't really count. However, I have never been introduced to another Frannie. My 8th grade History teacher's mother was named Franny, but I never met her. So, I guess that means my name is pretty unique around here, which is pretty neat, I think.