my short story for lit
anyone in a sophomore lit class at athenian knows what this story is for. i don't really like it but it wanted to be posted. it has problems still both gramatical and in the story it's self. I don't really care about it so unless someone has nothing to do don't bother telling me what's wrong with it. here it is.
The Train
“Mango,” whispered my sister Katherine.
“Shut up Kitty, I’m trying to sleep,” I said and rolled over in bed.
“I’m leaving today Mango.”
I sat up in bed and starred at her like she had suddenly turned into a goat. She had been planning this for a year, since her girlfriend had jumped off a bridge and died. She didn’t want to live through that pain; of the people you trust most, those who are supposed to love you unconditionally, your parents, telling you they never want to see you again.
“Please don’t leave me,” I said and grasped her hands.
She was eighteen and had just graduated from high school, I knew she was going to leave but I wanted her to wait. I wanted her to be around for my tenth birthday, a big birthday, double digits, a decade; I wanted her to see me grow up.
“I have too. You know Mama and Dad would never let me stay here if they found out.”
“You don’t know that. You haven’t told them. You didn’t even tell them about Ellie.” A sad look flashed across her face at the mention of her dead girlfriend.
“They would never accept the fact that I am gay. You know how they act.”
I could feel tears swelling in my eyes. I tried to hold them back but one got free and slid down my cheek. I felt Kitty’s arms wrap around me. “I love you and I always will,” she told me and then she was gone.
I sat on my bed crying. It was ten minutes before my mother threw open the door and started to yell.
“Where in the hell is your sister Margaret? Can you tell me that? How could you let her leave like that? What kind of daughter are you? You knew she was leaving! I know you did!”
I don’t know where I got the strength, I think Kitty’s leaving gave it to me, though; I stood up to my mother, “She ran away from you Mama, you and Dad. She couldn’t trust you and neither can I!!!”
I grabbed Baabaa, my stuffed eggplant toy and ran out of the house. There I stood on the sidewalk, with only Baabaa to keep me company. Baabaa had always been my favorite toy. He was a present Kitty had given me when I was born. At the time she was nine, the same age I was now, and an eggplant toy had seemed cool. She helped take care of me a lot an before I went to bed every night for the first year of my life she would make sure Baabaa was in my crib. Soon I could not sleep with out him.
It was July in Mississippi and by midmorning it would be fairly hot but it wasn’t midmorning yet. In fact the sun hadn’t risen. I was out in only my rubber ducky boxer shorts, a thin white tee-shirt and my penguin slippers. I hadn’t heard a car start which meant she’d probably walked to the train station. It was only eight blocks but she had a fifteen minute head start. She could already be on a train for all I knew. I started to run.
A few minutes later I heard a car behind me. I heard my father’s voice call, “Want a lift to the station?”
I turned towards them and jumped in to the back of the car.
At this point, I learned from her years later, Kitty was sitting on a bench waiting for the 5:30 train to San Francisco. She had a friend there who she had met when our parents had brought us to Boston when I was six. He had been seventeen and our parents had been convinced she had fallen in love with him. The truth was he showed her a life where gay people could be accepted. He was twenty now and worked at his uncle’s car dealership in San Francisco.
Kitty had left a note for her best friend Beth and a letter for us to send to Harvard, explaining why she would not be attending classes there in the fall. She also had left the letter my mother had found for our parents but not one for me.
In the car I asked my parents how they found out where Kitty was going.
“Well, how in the hell would she leave here if it wasn’t on the damn train?” my mother asked. I decided it would be best not to talk anymore.
“You know where she’s going don’t you?” my father accused. I didn’t say anything.
“Answer your goddamn father, Margaret!” my mother yelled.
I sat in my seat just watching my hands. The tears which had been threatening to spill out again ever since I got in the car with my parents finally won. I felt a wet drop roll down the side of my nose. I quickly wiped it away. I couldn’t let them see me cry. I wouldn’t be able to keep where she was away from them long enough. Truth was I didn’t know why I was still in the car. If we caught her I couldn’t very well go with her. They would drag her home. Probably admit her to a physic ward. They wouldn’t understand she was sane. And if we didn’t catch her it didn’t really matter where I was. I guess I was hoping I would get to see my sister again.
I remembered the day she told me she was gay. It was before she met Ellie. She was thirteen and had just started eighth grade. I was four. Those days she picked me up from preschool everyday. This day she brought me to the ice cream store and told me, “Mango, I think I’m gay.” At the time I didn’t know what that meant. I think she was scared of what our parents might think and was testing it out on me. She had to explain to me what being gay was which also ended up with an explanation of sexual attraction in general. She had made me promise never to tell our parents and I had kept that promise to this day.
The car reached a red light. We were across the street from the railroad station now. I saw a big clock on the wall. The time was nearing five thirty, five twenty three or so. I undid my seatbelt and jumped out of the car. I ran across the street toward the station.
I remembered the time Kitty first told me about Ellie. I was six now and we were walking home from my first grade class. Ellie was in high school now. She was a sophomore. Beth and her brother Benny were with us. We went to the drugstore to get milkshakes. Outside the store I dropped BaaBaa and a girl walked in with him. She looked at Kitty. Kitty’s cheeks turned the color of the cherry on top of Benny’s sundae. The girl walked toward us. She held out BaaBaa to me.
“Here Mango, his name is Baabaa, right? Your sister told me about him.” I looked at her, slightly scared. I grabbed Baabaa and held him close to me.
“Hey El,” Beth said.
At this point Kitty regained her sanity and introduced Benny and me to her. “Mango, Benny, this is Beth and my friend Ellie, El this is my sister Mango and Beth’s brother Benny.”
Ellie ordered a coke and sat down on the shiny red stool beside Beth at the counter. I remember it was the second one over from the door. The man behind the counter, Bill, handed Ellie her coke. Benny and I were talking about a new joke we’d learned that day during recess from a big second grader. The joke was about a man who wanted a pet. So he went to the pet store. In the end he ended up with a centipede for a pet. When he wanted to bring the centipede on a walk the centipede wanted to put on his boots. Since centipedes have so many feet this took a very long time. Something about this was the punch line. When Benny reminded me of the joke I started laughing so hard my milkshake spilled all over my shirt. “I’m cold Kitty!” I had said.
“Kitty,” Ellie had laughed, “I like that name.” Ellie had given me her sweater and we took off my wet shirt but Kitty had thought we should go home. She had always taken care of me like that. Ellie came with us.
Once outside the store Kitty told me, “Mango sweety, Ellie is my girlfriend.” I had given Ellie a weird look and kept walking.
I ran into the train station. I turned to the man behind the ticket counter. “Where and when is the next train to San Francisco?” I asked him.
“Five thirty, platform two. Sold out,” he told me. I started to run toward the platform.
I remembered the day Ellie died. It was a sunny day, almost exactly a year ago. Ellie was a year older than my sister and had just graduated from high school. She was leaving for college in a few days. She wanted her parents to know she was gay before she left. She had decided to come out to them the night before and had told Kitty. Kitty had been sitting in my room when the police called. They had found Ellie’s body floating in the river covered with bruises and welts. Someone had identified the body and Kitty as a good person to find out more from. Later Kitty had found a letter for her in our mailbox from Ellie explaining her suicide. That was why she had been so scared to tell our parents. Afraid they would hurt her the way Ellie’s had.
I saw my sister across the station looking toward the doors, clearly waiting to see if anyone would come to stop her from leaving.
“All aboard for San Francisco, all aboard,” called the conductor. Kitty turned to board the train.
“Kitty!!! Kitty!!! Katherine Melissa Brown!!!!” I screamed across the station. Kitty didn’t turn. She just walked up the stairs on to the train. My parents came running in. I ran toward Kitty’s train. The doors closed and it started to pull away. I ran along side the train as it sped up. When the last car passed me I turned and walked toward my parents. This time there was no keeping the tears back.
The Train
“Mango,” whispered my sister Katherine.
“Shut up Kitty, I’m trying to sleep,” I said and rolled over in bed.
“I’m leaving today Mango.”
I sat up in bed and starred at her like she had suddenly turned into a goat. She had been planning this for a year, since her girlfriend had jumped off a bridge and died. She didn’t want to live through that pain; of the people you trust most, those who are supposed to love you unconditionally, your parents, telling you they never want to see you again.
“Please don’t leave me,” I said and grasped her hands.
She was eighteen and had just graduated from high school, I knew she was going to leave but I wanted her to wait. I wanted her to be around for my tenth birthday, a big birthday, double digits, a decade; I wanted her to see me grow up.
“I have too. You know Mama and Dad would never let me stay here if they found out.”
“You don’t know that. You haven’t told them. You didn’t even tell them about Ellie.” A sad look flashed across her face at the mention of her dead girlfriend.
“They would never accept the fact that I am gay. You know how they act.”
I could feel tears swelling in my eyes. I tried to hold them back but one got free and slid down my cheek. I felt Kitty’s arms wrap around me. “I love you and I always will,” she told me and then she was gone.
I sat on my bed crying. It was ten minutes before my mother threw open the door and started to yell.
“Where in the hell is your sister Margaret? Can you tell me that? How could you let her leave like that? What kind of daughter are you? You knew she was leaving! I know you did!”
I don’t know where I got the strength, I think Kitty’s leaving gave it to me, though; I stood up to my mother, “She ran away from you Mama, you and Dad. She couldn’t trust you and neither can I!!!”
I grabbed Baabaa, my stuffed eggplant toy and ran out of the house. There I stood on the sidewalk, with only Baabaa to keep me company. Baabaa had always been my favorite toy. He was a present Kitty had given me when I was born. At the time she was nine, the same age I was now, and an eggplant toy had seemed cool. She helped take care of me a lot an before I went to bed every night for the first year of my life she would make sure Baabaa was in my crib. Soon I could not sleep with out him.
It was July in Mississippi and by midmorning it would be fairly hot but it wasn’t midmorning yet. In fact the sun hadn’t risen. I was out in only my rubber ducky boxer shorts, a thin white tee-shirt and my penguin slippers. I hadn’t heard a car start which meant she’d probably walked to the train station. It was only eight blocks but she had a fifteen minute head start. She could already be on a train for all I knew. I started to run.
A few minutes later I heard a car behind me. I heard my father’s voice call, “Want a lift to the station?”
I turned towards them and jumped in to the back of the car.
At this point, I learned from her years later, Kitty was sitting on a bench waiting for the 5:30 train to San Francisco. She had a friend there who she had met when our parents had brought us to Boston when I was six. He had been seventeen and our parents had been convinced she had fallen in love with him. The truth was he showed her a life where gay people could be accepted. He was twenty now and worked at his uncle’s car dealership in San Francisco.
Kitty had left a note for her best friend Beth and a letter for us to send to Harvard, explaining why she would not be attending classes there in the fall. She also had left the letter my mother had found for our parents but not one for me.
In the car I asked my parents how they found out where Kitty was going.
“Well, how in the hell would she leave here if it wasn’t on the damn train?” my mother asked. I decided it would be best not to talk anymore.
“You know where she’s going don’t you?” my father accused. I didn’t say anything.
“Answer your goddamn father, Margaret!” my mother yelled.
I sat in my seat just watching my hands. The tears which had been threatening to spill out again ever since I got in the car with my parents finally won. I felt a wet drop roll down the side of my nose. I quickly wiped it away. I couldn’t let them see me cry. I wouldn’t be able to keep where she was away from them long enough. Truth was I didn’t know why I was still in the car. If we caught her I couldn’t very well go with her. They would drag her home. Probably admit her to a physic ward. They wouldn’t understand she was sane. And if we didn’t catch her it didn’t really matter where I was. I guess I was hoping I would get to see my sister again.
I remembered the day she told me she was gay. It was before she met Ellie. She was thirteen and had just started eighth grade. I was four. Those days she picked me up from preschool everyday. This day she brought me to the ice cream store and told me, “Mango, I think I’m gay.” At the time I didn’t know what that meant. I think she was scared of what our parents might think and was testing it out on me. She had to explain to me what being gay was which also ended up with an explanation of sexual attraction in general. She had made me promise never to tell our parents and I had kept that promise to this day.
The car reached a red light. We were across the street from the railroad station now. I saw a big clock on the wall. The time was nearing five thirty, five twenty three or so. I undid my seatbelt and jumped out of the car. I ran across the street toward the station.
I remembered the time Kitty first told me about Ellie. I was six now and we were walking home from my first grade class. Ellie was in high school now. She was a sophomore. Beth and her brother Benny were with us. We went to the drugstore to get milkshakes. Outside the store I dropped BaaBaa and a girl walked in with him. She looked at Kitty. Kitty’s cheeks turned the color of the cherry on top of Benny’s sundae. The girl walked toward us. She held out BaaBaa to me.
“Here Mango, his name is Baabaa, right? Your sister told me about him.” I looked at her, slightly scared. I grabbed Baabaa and held him close to me.
“Hey El,” Beth said.
At this point Kitty regained her sanity and introduced Benny and me to her. “Mango, Benny, this is Beth and my friend Ellie, El this is my sister Mango and Beth’s brother Benny.”
Ellie ordered a coke and sat down on the shiny red stool beside Beth at the counter. I remember it was the second one over from the door. The man behind the counter, Bill, handed Ellie her coke. Benny and I were talking about a new joke we’d learned that day during recess from a big second grader. The joke was about a man who wanted a pet. So he went to the pet store. In the end he ended up with a centipede for a pet. When he wanted to bring the centipede on a walk the centipede wanted to put on his boots. Since centipedes have so many feet this took a very long time. Something about this was the punch line. When Benny reminded me of the joke I started laughing so hard my milkshake spilled all over my shirt. “I’m cold Kitty!” I had said.
“Kitty,” Ellie had laughed, “I like that name.” Ellie had given me her sweater and we took off my wet shirt but Kitty had thought we should go home. She had always taken care of me like that. Ellie came with us.
Once outside the store Kitty told me, “Mango sweety, Ellie is my girlfriend.” I had given Ellie a weird look and kept walking.
I ran into the train station. I turned to the man behind the ticket counter. “Where and when is the next train to San Francisco?” I asked him.
“Five thirty, platform two. Sold out,” he told me. I started to run toward the platform.
I remembered the day Ellie died. It was a sunny day, almost exactly a year ago. Ellie was a year older than my sister and had just graduated from high school. She was leaving for college in a few days. She wanted her parents to know she was gay before she left. She had decided to come out to them the night before and had told Kitty. Kitty had been sitting in my room when the police called. They had found Ellie’s body floating in the river covered with bruises and welts. Someone had identified the body and Kitty as a good person to find out more from. Later Kitty had found a letter for her in our mailbox from Ellie explaining her suicide. That was why she had been so scared to tell our parents. Afraid they would hurt her the way Ellie’s had.
I saw my sister across the station looking toward the doors, clearly waiting to see if anyone would come to stop her from leaving.
“All aboard for San Francisco, all aboard,” called the conductor. Kitty turned to board the train.
“Kitty!!! Kitty!!! Katherine Melissa Brown!!!!” I screamed across the station. Kitty didn’t turn. She just walked up the stairs on to the train. My parents came running in. I ran toward Kitty’s train. The doors closed and it started to pull away. I ran along side the train as it sped up. When the last car passed me I turned and walked toward my parents. This time there was no keeping the tears back.