Peggy's Cove (Haiku)

Hard granite slab field;
The ghosts of my ancestors
drift on top the sea

Dialogue between Finn and Rin

“That smells good,” Finn said, popping his head in the window of the apartment. “My mom used to make spaghetti like that. Hers was probably better, though.” He climbed through the open window.

“O-oh…Hi there, umm…Did you want some? There’s lots and I don’t need that much,” Rin handed the boy a generous helping of pasta. “So…Does your mother know where you are?”

            “No, she’s not around no more. The other rats told me to tell people she bit the dust, but that’s stupid, right? She didn’t bite nothing, she just got sick.” He didn’t pause to chew.

“Rats? Oh…Right, okay. I’m sorry about your mother. But what about your fa-oh, nevermind. Do…Do you like the pasta? It’s not too salty or anything, is it?”

“It’s good. Name’s Finn, by the way. Should introduce myself if you’re gonna feed me, right?”

"My name? Oh right, sorry. I'm Rin. I'm glad you like the spaghetti, it wouldn't be nice if I gave it to you and you didn't like it. Umm, did you want more? And if you want I could get you something to drink."

“More? For real, Mister Rin? You’re gonna give me more and a drink?!”

“Well of course I’m going to give you more, why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, we ain’t exactly in the rich side of town, Mister. Don’t you wanna save it for later?”

“I don’t see a problem, I mean, I’m not hungry right now and you probably need it more than I do. It’s fine.”

“If you keep it up, Mister you’re going to have rats on your doorstep…Hey, how come your hair’s so weird?”

“Weird? Oh well I just don’t cut it, so that’s why it’s so long and I don’t like it getting in my face so I tie it up too.”

“No, why is it white?”

“Oh, I don’t really know actually, my mom and dad had brown hair so…”

“You’re weird…I kinda like you.”

“Thank… Thank you?”

"No problem. Hey, are those cookies? Can I have one? Please? Just one. I haven't ever had a homemade cookie. I swear I'll be out of your hair if you just give me the cookie please."

                "They're oatmeal cookies, I hope that's okay. Here you are. But you really don't have to leave. I kinda like you too"

                "Really? I can stay? I mean...Wow. You're, like, the greatest, Mister! I swear, I'll sleep on the couch and I'll do chores or something...Well...Maybe I won't do chores, I always mess them up anyway, but wow. You're the greatest!"

                "You can be my official taste tester. That'll be your chore. I hope you don't mind. But if it's okay... Do you think you could keep this from your other... friends? I don't think I can handle that... I wouldn't be sure if they're as nice as you"

                “Oh…Actually…Maybe I should get back to them. We’re sort of like one big family. We take care of each other, you know? They’ll miss me if I stay away too much.” Finn smiled sheepishly at Rin, before exiting from the window in which had come and disappearing into the dusk.

Stories: 55 Words or Less #3

The Specks
      Like an ant in a farm, he trudged through the muddy tunnels he had helped build. He had made a promise. His eyes scanned the distorted, blue faces for a sign of familiarity. He heard a crunch and froze. His heart fell as his eyes found the cracked reading glasses under his boot.

Stories: 55 Words or Less # 2

Colours

      She saw him. He was a mixture of brown and tan and blue, with hints of green. When his hand grazed hers he was orange like a dim candle. When he spoke he was the blue of moonlight reflecting off his face. She saw him, and it was beautiful because she was blind.

Stories: 55 Words or Less # 1

The Sweater

        She cuddled into herself, burying her face in the floppy sleeve of the soft sweater that hung off her frame. Her body relaxed as the scent of him filled her entire being. She could almost see him in her mind. She looked up, and she saw his casket instead.

Overview on The Glass Castle

From this unit on the memoir The Glass Castle I learned many things about clutter and how important it is to focus on only the most important events when writing. The memoir itself taught me to not let anything pull me away from my dreams, and if I'm unhappy, I can work to change it with some hard work, as Jeanette throughout the book, but mostly when she left for New York.

The overall message of The Glass Castle was one's past is nothing to be ashamed of, no matter how weird it is. The beginning of the book starts with Jeanette speaking of her embarrassment of seeing her mother on the street and confronting her mother about it. Her mother tells her to "tell the truth." Throughout the whole story Jeanette reveals her source of embarrassment to the reader. She shows when she starts feeling embarrassment for her family and life and why she feels this. She opens up to complete strangers and at the end she writes about her acceptance of her family as they gathered together, and all seemed well.

It was difficult to write a memoir of my own because all the important events in my life are very vivid in my mind, so there are many details that are irrelevant but still important to me that I wanted to include. The constraint on number of pages helped reduce clutter but also prevented me from writing all I wanted to. It was also difficult to show and not tell, since I wanted to make sure the reader understood all my feelings and everything that was going on, but I couldn't tell them what exactly I was feeling I had to show it.

I enjoyed sharing an exciting moment in my life and recalling it. I find I like to tell the particular story I wrote about to all my friends over and over, but I rarely have a set point to the story. I usually tell it as varies small things that happened to me that I found strange or funny. But writing the memoir really focused on the importance of what happened and helped me come to realise it. What I disliked about writing the memoir is more the psychological aspect of having to share the parts of the story I usually don't tell and having someone assess my life.

My writing has become less cluttered through this unit and I've learned that only important things should be included. My writing is filled with more relevant information and less irrelevant information.

The Glass Castle was not enjoyable to me. I didn't like any of the characters very much and didn't find Jeanette's life particularly interesting. I felt no emotional attachment to any of the characters of the story and felt the overall tone seemed a bit whiny. I did not feel sympathy for Jeanette until nearing the end of the book, and I never felt sympathy for her parents or siblings, save for occasionally her father. Because of this, the book was mostly boring to me.