Passing-Death of Clare Essay

The death of Clare at the end of Nella Larsen’s Passing though left unclear was, in my opinion, caused by Irene pushing her out of the window. Nella Larsen does not specify what exactly happened, but Irene pushing Clare out of the window seems like the most plausible one. I don’t know whether Larsen intentionally left the ending so abruptly but I just feel as if Irene was the one to kill Clare. Larsen makes this point clear through the phrasing she uses when describing the self-esteem destruction Irene undergoes once Clare has reinserted herself into Irene’s life, and the situations Irene finds herself as a direct result of Clare. Prior to Clare’s reentrance into her life Irene is a self-assured, independent, and confident woman; however, she soon turns self-conscious, dependent, and hesitant. When viewing Clare at the hotel Irene is struck by Clare’s beauty stating, â€Å"She’s really almost too good-looking â€Å"(Larsen 27). The word â€Å"good-looking† shows that Clare is beautiful, however, it is the addition of the word â€Å"too† that indications that Irene feels inferior to Clare’s beauty. Clare embodies beauty, as she is â€Å"too good-looking†. When Clare requests her presence at tea Irene fears Clare will not believe that she had a previous engagement. Larsen writes, â€Å"She was afraid Clare would not believe it† (Larsen 27). It seems foolish that Irene should care what Clare believes of her integrity. Irene’s self-esteem not only continues to deteriorate, but displays of internalized racism begin to present themselves through illogical thought and irrationality. Irene describes Brian in the same way she does Clare as, â€Å"extremely good-looking† (Larsen 77). Irene, does not view herself as â€Å"good-looking†, therefore she believes herself unworthy of Brian an â€Å"extremely good-looking† man, so she assumes Brian and Clare are engaging in an affair. Despite assurances from Brian that he does not view Clare as â€Å"extraordinarily beautiful†, Irene remains convinced that they have engaged in a relationship. As an African-American woman Irene must contend with the ideology that she is not worthy because of her complexion. Clare’s presence in her life forces Irene to face feelings of inferiority. Though Clare is African-American she lives her life as a white woman. Irene no longer views Clare as African-American, but a white woman who threatens her life. White women are believed to be the epitome of beauty, so why would Brian, when presented with the best, not choose the finest option according to society? Larsen writes, â€Å"Irene Redfield wished, for the first time in her life she  had not been born a Negro† (151). Larsen includes the word â€Å"first† to inform readers that Clare is the cause for Irene’s internalized racism. She had never before contemplated what it would be like to have been born of another ethnicity. Clare forces Irene to feel inferior within her own home because she is not white. She is told everyday by society that she is inferior because of her skin color and now because of Clare she must return home and struggle with the knowledge she is not worthy of her husband because she is not white. While Clare never voices her emotions to Irene, she fears Clare; though she never verbalizes this fact Larsen shows it by writing, â€Å"A conviction that the words were intended as a warning took possession of Irene† (Larsen 166). Irene is in her own home, yet she feels Clare somehow â€Å"possessing† her. Larsen creates an image of an innocent person forced into a situation. The word possession implies a lack of choice and that Irene feels lesser. In Irene’s eye Clare is not a woman who passes, but a white woman whose presence in her home threatens the comfort and security of her life. Irene has managed to eradicate all knowledge that Clare is actually a biracial woman â€Å"passing† as white, allowing her to see Clare as she views all white women in society, as threats. Larsen indications this when saying, â€Å"she was aware that, to her, security was the most important and desired thing in life† (169). Towards the end of the book, after Irene runs into John Bellew, she begins to think about Clare and John divorcing. And Larsen writes, â€Å"Then came a thought which she tried to drive away. If Clare should die! Then – Oh, it was too vile! To think, yes, to wish that! She felt faint and sick. But the thought stayed with her. She could not get rid of it† (101). The thoughts that Larsen has Irene thinking makes it seem as if Irene wants Clare dead. If she really cared about her she would never have thought about her dying and if she had for some reason then the thought would not have stayed with her. Later on in the same scene, Larsen writes, â€Å"She turned her face to into her pillow to cry. But no tears came† (101). I think that if Irene really felt bad about her thoughts, she would have cried about it. When Irene finally realized that Clare had died she had so many thoughts in her head. Larsen writes, â€Å"It was an accident, a terrible accident,’ she muttered fiercely. ‘It was† (112). The inclusion of that last line, the italicized â€Å"was† makes it seem as if Irene was trying to reassure herself that it wasn’t her fault. And then she goes on thinking about whether she  should have stayed or not because she knew that people would eventually find her body and ask questions. In a few sentences Larsen establishes that Irene is self-conscious about what Clare will think of her, dependent on the approval of Clare, and hesitant to make a decision for fear of what Clare might choose to believe. Irene’s destruction continues as Clare inserts herself into Irene’s inner circle of family and friends. Irene went from having a good head on her shoulders to becoming a paranoid jealous women; which leads readers to believe that Irene pushed Clare.

Principles of Macroeconomics Essay

An increase of government purchases occurs after a rise in aggregate output and employment. This tends to stimulate the economy, people then tend to buy more and save less. Therefore, it results to a higher importation than exportation, known as the trade deficit. The budget deficit increases the external deficits because the exports do not proportionately increase to counterweight increase imports. This explains that a large budget deficit raises domestic interest rates and the exchange rate. With a higher exchange rate the domestic products becomes more expensive and foreign goods cheaper. Hence, the import increases while export decreases. Resulting, the trade deficit to be enlarged. Consequently, to help drive the trade and current account of the balance of payments into deficit there is a combination of a higher interest rate and a stronger currency. However, to defend that the budget deficits mainly results from tax cuts that tend to reduce both public revenues and public saving; many researchers have justified the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis. Nevertheless, these tax cuts are effective on reducing public savings and enlarging the budget deficit, equivalently they increase private saving by amount. However, Ricardo’s neutrality hypothesis recommended that the private sector views budget deficits as public investment and treats public and private investment as perfect substitutes. How do the CPI and the GDP deflator differ? Why do economists believe that the CPI overstates the rate of inflation? Is this an important problem? CPI is an accurate measure of inflation. When the price basket goes up so does the CPI. It is limited to what it measures. It only measure the prices of the goods and services purchased by the urban consumers which is about 60% of the total production of the economy whilst on the contrary the GDP deflator measures the total production in the economy. It also allows to show up in the deflator the as people respond to changing prices. With this approach, the GDP deflator is being rebound up to date expenditure patterns. Despite that CPI only measure about 60% of the total production, it helps people give the idea how it affects them because it measures the type of goods they buy. Moreover, it comes out monthly and available anytime. With the historical comparison, most of the time the CPI and GDP price deflator had the same inflation rate, and when there is a difference, they do not differ much. However, if the CPI differs from the GDP deflator, it is only by a fraction of a percentage point, even so this could be important for some economic policy decision. Many economists believe that CPI overstates the rate inflation because they think that CPI is not a good indicator of a current inflation. According to David Ranson, a U. S. economist, a better indicator of current inflation would be increases in the price of commodities because initially inflation affects commodity prices and it will probably take several years for this commodity inflation to work its way through an economy and be reflected in the CPI. It is not an important problem so long as one is using whichever measure is appropriate for their findings. Reference Quantcrunch Tutor (April 2009 ) Q&A in Macroeconomics http://qainmacroeconomics. blogspot. com/2009_04_01_archive. html

Research on Dribbling and Passing

Research on Dribbling and Passing Submitted By: Andro Joseph Dela Cruz Basketball dribbling skills Basketball dribbling skills are something that you have to work at to obtain, maintain and improve. Most everyone knows how to dribble a basketball, but not everyone can dribble like a pro. When you first begin to learn dribbling techniques you will learn that you don’t dribble with the palm of your hand, dribbling a basketball is done with the tips of your fingers. You will use your forearm and wrist to balance the ball as you learn to dribble with using the tips of your fingers.Your coach will usually put together a different basketball practice plan for the team each practice. This will assist each player individually and as a unit to improve both their individual and team skills. Don’t just stop with scheduled practices if you truly want to improve your skills and control on the court. On your own you can start by running dribbling drills. Remember to keep your weight on the balls of your feet and in the ready position. As you continue to learn and improve your foot and dribbling control on the court as an individual player, you will begin to show your improved skills as a team player.Your team members may also want to run drills with you after practice, or just play for fun. These are other ways for you to learn potential opposing team types of moves and learn different offensive techniques. A team works together toward the goal of winning, but they also work together offensively to help prepare each other for what the opposing team may be bringing to the court. Protect the Ball When dribbling against a defender, ALWAYS protect the ball with your body. You can do this by dribbling with your left hand when you are going left and your right hand when you are going right.This will force the defender to reach across your body to attempt a steal. Developing your â€Å"off† hand It is important to work right from the start at developing both ha nd equally well. When practicing your ball handling, make sure that you practice at least as much with your weak hand as you do your strong hand, eventually increasing to twice as much with your weak hand. Coaches like†¦ Coaches like a person who: 1) can dribble with both hands 2) doesn? t try to show off for no reason 3) isn? t afraid to make the extra pass to get a teammate more open than you are.And if coaches like you, then they tell other coaches. Word spreads very quickly and just by doing the little things you can have a name for yourself in no time. Keep Your Head Up When doing all drills involving dribbling, it is extremely important that you keep your head up. You must be able to see where you are going and where your teammates are so you can pass them the ball when they are open. Speed Dribble The speed dribble is used to advance the ball quickly up the floor, against little or no defensive pressure.The dribblers hand should be behind the ball pushing it in front, th en running to catch up. This prevents a â€Å"palming† or â€Å"carrying over† violation. The speed dribble in the open floor can be a little higher than other dribbles. Control dribble moves should be around the knee, but a speed dribble can be waist high. Power dribbling-Dirt dribbling This drill actually requires you to leave the basketball court and find a patch of dirt. Do a Power dribble on the dirt for 1 or 2 minutes. You will need to power dribble the ball even harder than usual in order to get the ball to bounce on the dirt.This drill is an extremely good arm workout with power dribbling. Dribbling to avoid pressure By dribbling the ball over half court on the sideline, you are giving the defense an advantage. They can set up their help side defense or trap you. Change directions and it helps relieve some pressure. As often as possible, bring the ball up the middle of the court and NEVER pick up your dribble in the corners. Passing 1)  Two-Handed Chest Pass Overview This is the most effective and efficient pass you can use. It can be used successfully from anywhere on the court.Use this pass whenever possible because it's the fastest way to advance the ball to teammates. Fundamentals Place each hand on either side of the ball and spread the fingers evenly. Fully extend your arms as you push the ball out from your chest and snap your wrists outward so that the back of your hands are now facing each other. You'll get a good rotation on the ball when you snap your wrists. This makes the ball easier to handle for the receiver. Be sure the pass is thrown crisply with the ball remaining parallel with the floor.You want the pass to arrive at your receiver above the waist and below the shoulders. 2)  Two-Handed Bounce Pass Overview This type of pass is good on the fast break, to a teammate in the post, under a defender, to a teammate making a back-door cut, on out-of-bounds plays, etc. A lot of times, players will make a shot or high-pass fa ke before making the bounce pass. The bounce pass is the slowest pass available. Fundamentals Use the same grip and motion with this basketball pass as you did with the chest pass. The ball should hit the floor about two-thirds of the way to the receiver.To be more accurate, step toward that spot. You want to hit your teammate between the knees and waist. A backspin is good to use to give the receiver a longer lead. Push the thumbs throught the ball to achieve the backspin. A forward spin can be used to get the ball through a narrow opening and to produce a quicker pass. You'll need to be more accurate when using a forward spin but if you can perfect it, it will add more to your game. 3)  Two-Handed Overhead Pass Overview This is an effective basketball passing option for every player on the court.Players often use it to start a fast break, forwards will use it to hit post players or guards cutting off the post, guards use it to hit the post, centers and players receiving high pas ses use it to make a quick return pass or pass off. This type of pass is easy to control and helps you keep the ball away from your defender. Fundamentals Position your hands on the sides of the ball with your fingers pointed up. Your thumbs should be on the back of the ball and pointing in toward one another. Bring the ball up above your head (be sure your hands go straight up, not up and back over your head).Release the ball with a quick snap of your wrists and fingers like on a chest pass. It's usually good to make a slight step forward with the foot of your strong arm side. 4)  Push Pass Overview This pass is used most often to advance the ball down the floor in order to set up the offense or to get the ball through or past a close-guarding defender (usually to a cutter). The bounce pass version is good for passes to a cutter on fast breaks or reverses, many out-of-bounds plays, to a post player or to pass under a defender. Fundamentals Hold ball chest high.Spread your fingers on each side with thumbs directly behind, but a bit toward the top of the ball and pointing toward one another. Keep elbows close in. The force of the ball is provided with a quick snap of your wrist, fingers and elbows. You should move forward with your body crouched a bit. Step forward with your passing-hand-side foot and push off with your non-passing-hand-side foot. You can use a direct or bounce pass. Direct pass should reach receiver between the waist and shoulders and bounce pass should hit the floor about two thirds of the way to receiver and arrive between the knees and waist. )  Off-the-Dribble Pass One of the quickest basketball passing options because there's really no set-up with it. As you're dribbling, instead of bouncing the ball back to the floor for another dribble, move your hand behind the ball and push it towards a teammate as a pass. It's hard for defenders to steal this one because they're expecting a dribble instead of the pass. 6)  Baseball Pass Effecti ve for long passes to a cutter or to inbound the ball quickly after allowing a score. Place the ball high above the side of your head with the passing hand behind the ball while the other hand is in front of and slightly under the ball.Be sure the fingers of each hand are pointed upward and your thumbs are pointing inward over your head. Plant your rear foot and step toward the receiver with your front foot. Try to keep both hands on the ball as long as possible and throw the ball with a quick wrist snap and arm thrust. As you follow through, snap your wrist straight down so the ball doesn't curve on you. 7)  Behind-the-Back Pass A basketball passing technique that can work wonders when done well or end up terrible if done wrong or carelessly.So make sure you practice this one to perfection and only use it when the situation warrants it. This pass can be used off the dribble, standing still or while moving toward the basket and is used often with two-on-one fast breaks. If you can deliver this pass correctly, it will be very difficult for your opponent to defend. Cup the ball in your hand. Swing your arm behind your back with the elbow bent, fingers pointed down and your thumb pointed toward your back. Release the ball with a whip of your arm and a quick wrist and finger snap

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Personal Statement Example And once I settled down with the campus life, I was more than eager to begin my education. However things did not turn out as I had expected as all my hopes that were built during the first few weeks did not last for long and I was left to think whether I really intended to continue my education in that place. After a lot of thinking, I then decided to transfer to a different college, though I was initially apprehensive about my parent’s response to my decision. After much debate and consultation, I have now finally decided to take the chance and apply for the university; one, which I believe, would provide me with good education and at the same time also aid in my personality growth and development into a better individual. College education changed my perception of education in many ways and also my objectives in life. The experience that I gained during my first semester at college was vastly different from that of school and it made me become more independent and pushed me to work harder with my studies. The confidence that I gained during this period helped me choose my major subjects and other courses, according to my liking and strength and also learnt the most important requirement of effective time management. I realized that there was more to education than what I had previously imagined.

GP210 week 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

GP210 week 2 - Research Paper Example nalist views argue that a constitution does not evolve or change; therefore, it will always mean what it meant when it was adopted in a country (Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, 2012). With this view in mind, its interpretation must be in line with the thoughts that the people who came with it had in mind. These people also argue that originalism preserves the authority of the court which is a mandatory element in ensuring that there is the prevalence of justice in a country. Thus, this school of thought believes that the constitution must be interpreted with regard to the views of the original composers. On the other hand, those who oppose this viewpoint argue that no written constitution can anticipate the means that the government might use to oppress people; hence it is sometimes mandatory for judges to fill in the gaps that exist in the constitution through their interpretation (Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, 2012). With these view in mind, the constitution must be interpreted with the needs of the people it is supposed to govern in mind. In addition to this, non-originalism allows judges to rectify inflexible interpretations that no longer serve their original purposes (Whittington, 2001). The need to amend or possibly revoke bad laws that exist in the constitution will be realized with continual originalist interpretations. Other than leave courts to continuously find fault in the constitutional provisions, the people concerned will be obliged to come up with a new constitution that best suits the needs of people. However, coming up with a new constitution is a costly affair and this is the reason why non-original interpretations should be given way. Moreover, they will allow for more enlightened understanding on contemporary issues such as equal treatment of blacks, women and other minority groups (Whittington, 2001). With these views in place, it is clear that non-originalist interpretations of the constitution are more favorable. Apart from

534 chapter 6,7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

534 chapter 6,7 - Essay Example Digital technology is vital in class because it makes learning in class quite simple and fast. Three web resources that are essential in learning include amazon, Google scholar and online tutorials. Amazon is a vital web resource because students can use it to buy books that they may need to get more info about a particular topic in class. Google scholar is a globally recognized company that ensures that students can access scholarly articles online. With Google scholar, students can do research about a certain topic or search for information that can enable them do research on a particular subject. There are also a number of online tutorials for learning how to use a particular software, how to design websites, and educational toys. These online tutorials offer the students access to information that can enable them learn new things such as designing websites, using software and acquiring new skills. Social networking issues are important in class because they help students and teachers connect with each other. When students and teachers are able to connect with one another, it means that they can communicate effectively and students will be able to tell their teachers whether or not they understand a point in class. Social-ethical issues in class include effective communication, reading, discussion and writing about the subject in class. The social-ethical issues are important because they ensure that the students clearly understand what the teacher is teaching. Distance learning is recommended for elementary, middle and secondary level because it cuts off the monotony of learning in class. Some students in such levels maybe busy working or doing other causes. Distance learning becomes effective for such students because they no longer have to move to a particular location to attend the classes. Technology has also enabled the ease of distance learning because people can

Essay about martin luther the priest Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

About martin luther the priest - Essay Example He translated Bible into the language of the people so that they could understand the Holy Book. He was also a noteworthy hymn writer as his hymns brought together different pieces of art and music with different age segments of the society. His theology basically challenged the manner in which the authority of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church was raised (Rose 2002). He suggested that Bible was the only source of knowledge that comes under the aegis of divinely revealed ones. In the later stage of his life, Martin Luther became strongly Antisemitic whereby he wrote that Jewish homes should be dismantled their synagogues be burnt, money usurped and liberty ended. For these revelations and public statements, Martin Luther was hailed as a very controversial figure among a number of historians and religious scholars. Martin Luther suffered from a number of diseases and eventually died in 1546. Rose, Paul Lawrence. Revolutionary Antisemitism in Germany from Kant to Wagner. Princeton University Press, 1990. Cited in Berger, Ronald. Fathoming the Holocaust: A Social Problems Approach. New York: Aldine De Gruyter,

Macroeconomic Theory and Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macroeconomic Theory and Policy - Essay Example The neoclassical economies aim at creating long term solutions for the economic problems with effects of inflation and government regulation being critical, while for Keynesian economies, immediate results form a major platform where the policies focus on short term goals(Evans & Seppo 2007, p. 89). This was a system that established rules for financial and commercial relations in mid 20th century among the major industrial states worldwide. This led to establishment of International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund. The major features of the Bretton Woods System were obligation of every country to establish a monetary policy which maintained an exchange rate of its currency to US dollar as well as ability of IMF in bridging the temporary payment imbalances in terms of gold (Evans & Seppo 2007, p. 89). Stagflation in economics describes the situation when the rate of inflation is high leading to slow rates of economic growth and high rates of unemployment. This results when economy is stagnant increasing the rates of inflation. The situation raises economic policy dilemma as a result of exacerbation of unemployment by decreasing the rates of inflation. In version of the Keynesian macroeconomic theory dominant during the late 1970s and at the end of World War II, recession and inflation were regarded to be mutually exclusive with relationship between them described by Phillips curve. Kaldor proposed an international buffer stocks system meant to raise the prices for commodities after they become too low in order to help the developing incomes from producing and developing nations after the prices raise too high (Evans & Seppo 2007, p. 89). European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was introduced in 1979 in UK by European Community with the aim of reducing the variability and achieving monetary stability in preparation for the Economic and Monetary Union. UK joined ERM with the aim of improving its stability in

Physical Inactivity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Physical Inactivity - Research Paper Example This paper reviews the literature available to know more about various consequences of childhood physical inactivity. Millar and Dean (2012), pointed out that â€Å"Obesity is the most significant risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes in childhood. The main causes of obesity and diabetes in the developed and the developing world include a lack of adequate physical activity (Millar and Dean, 2012). The intrusion of internet, computers and mobile phones, forced children to shift their attention from painful physical activities to less painful mental activities. From the above data, it is evident that girls are undergoing severe harassments both in the family and in other social circles because of overweight. Such harassments can affect the development of self-esteem among children. â€Å"According to the WHO, the regional differences in overweight and obesity could be explained by a number of factors including differences in socioeconomic status and the availability and preferences of food and leisure-time physical activities† (Malkogeorgos, 2010, p.137). Different countries have different overweight statistics among teenage community. This is because of the differences in life styles and eating habits in different countries. It should be noted that underweight is the problem among children in some of the poor African countries whereas in American and European countries children are suffered because of overweight. It is evident from the figure that only 7% of the available 39% of other than classroom hours is used for physical workouts. TV watching and reading take 26% of the available 39% of leisure time. All these facts clearly show that modern children are using negligible time for physical workouts and the percentage of physical inactivity time is more than the desired level. Adegoke and Oyeyemi (2011) mentioned the consequences associated with physical inactivity. In their opinion, â€Å"Physical inactivity is

The CIA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The CIA - Research Paper Example The agency was established in the year 1947 through an act accented to by the then President. The National Security Act was signed by President Truman. Apart from creating the agency, this act also established the office of the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) who was supposed to be the President’s chief advisor on matters of national security as he was also the head of the United States intelligence community. The DCI was also supposed to head the Central Intelligence Agency. However, in the year 2004, the National Security Act was amended through the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. This amendment created the office of Director of National Intelligence to take up a number of roles previously carried out by the DCI. It also ensured that the Central Intelligence Agency was under a separate Director. Such agencies as the CIA are employed in performing intelligence gathering services and not the US military as these can easily lead to the declaration of wars. During World War II, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was created with the purpose of coordinating espionage activities against the Axis Powers. The CIA was thus created as a successor of this office. Basically, the CIA is charged with the responsibility of collecting information about corporations, foreign governments and individuals in addition to advising policymakers. The agency is headquartered in McLean, Virginia. In some quarters, the CIA is referred to as Other Government Agencies (OGA), The Agency, Langley and The Company. In trying to accomplish its mission, the CIA requires the deployment of high leverage technology, carrying out of research and development for purposes of intelligence. To ensure that the intelligence consumer acquires the best possible intelligence, the CIA engages closely with other agencies and organizations within the Intelligence Community and also carries out independent analyses of topics that are of concern2. The agency

Discuss at least one conceptual idea, model or theory in respect of Coursework

Discuss at least one conceptual idea, model or theory in respect of your topic area and evaluate it using case study material - Coursework Example This report has been organised into eight parts, and it has been appropriately numbered throughout the document. The methodology that was used is reviewing of secondary sources. Unexpected and rapid change has become a modern society norm. However, the world has become a steadily volatile place with water shortages, health epidemics, terrorism, changing consumption patterns, economic crises, increasing fuel prices, food and global warming confronting most countries (Sterman, 2012). The impact combination of such factors has reignited focusing of sustainable development as a continuing problem for governments and businesses in general, and for tourism specifically. It has been argued that the tourism sector is required to be prepared to address current and forthcoming problems in order to maintain the viability of the industry and the resources upon that it is depending; and therefore, there is a need for proactive strategic planning and decision-making by governments, businesses and any other stakeholders to increase opportunities, reduce adverse impacts as well as maintaining competitive merits. Furthermore, Sharpley (2000) argued that the sustainable tourism principles are accepted in general, but the function of tourism remains justified by the economic development objectives. Recently, Sharpley (2009) stressed that the discourse of sustainable tourism has been all going around in circles without a breakthrough and little use in the sector, suggesting a need to go beyond sustainable tourism so that tourism development can progress. However, it is still apparent that the rising focus on the climate change, environment, and sustainable development has led to wider planning perspectives for tourism worldwide, overcoming previous fixations with marketing growth and economic strategies (Kozak & Baloglu, 2010). Such a shift toward a sustainable development platform is representing a major step forward for the tourism

Naturalism in Theatre in the 19th Century Essay Example for Free

Naturalism in Theatre in the 19th Century Essay Naturalism in theatre in the 19th century, in its utmost simplest form, can be understood as the life like reproduction of life and human drama on stage. However the true understanding of naturalism is far more convoluted than this shallow notion. This essay will look at explaining and defining naturalism as a literature movement in the 19th century according to Emile Zola’s essay, Naturalism in the Theatre and Raymond Williams’ essay on Social Environment and Theatrical Environment. One way in which we may acquire a better understanding of naturalism is by comparing the other forms of theater that were precursors to naturalism. In the beginning of his essay Zola calls for an innovator’s mind to â€Å"†¦overthrow the accepted conventions and finally install the real human drama in place of the ridiculous untruths that are on display today† (Zola 1881; 351). This statement outlines the fundamentals of Romantic drama and Classical drama as being based on a grotesque exaggeration of reality and falsification of human drama. Often set in the Middle Ages (Classicism) or the Greek and Roman times (Romanticism) action was always of excess (Zola 1881; 353). If we compare this to 19th century naturalism the differences are major. Firstly we see that naturalism brought about the life like reproduction of human drama in the, then, present time, it sought realistic human stories, in real human environments. As Zola stated â€Å"Take our present environment, then, and try make men live in it: you will write great works†, here Zola expresses the basis for naturalism, real people in real situations in real environments. As this illustrates Naturalism was not concerned with fantastic untruths of another era as Romanticism and Classicism were, but was rather involved with the expression of the realistic drama of present life in a natural present environment. Williams’s classification of naturalism is divided into three ‘senses’. The first being an accurate reproduction of real life in the literal sense, this was school of thought was inherited from the naturalistic landscape paintings of the mid 1800’s, that sought to reproduce nature as accurately as possible on canvas. The second sense that Williams talks of is the distinction â€Å"between revealed (divine) and observed (human) knowledge† (Williams 1990; 125). This philosophical position viewed man as a biological element of the world as opposed to a divine metaphysical being of the universe. Naturalism in this sense was â€Å"consciously opposed to ‘supernaturalism’† (Williams 1990; 126). In the third sense Williams is more application specific, as he states that with in a play or novel it is the amalgamation of the first two senses that is â€Å"a conscious reliance on observed natural history and on human reason† (Williams 1990: 127). This expresses the urge of naturalism to rigorously investigate human nature and truth, not only in a temporal term but to â€Å"show character and action as determined or profoundly influenced by environment, either natural or social† (Williams 1990; 127). This illustrates how Williams has explained naturalism in three separate senses. [497] Determinism The Oxford Dictionary explains determinism as the belief that all events, and actions are fundamentally controlled by external causes, it suggests that humans have no free will as everything is pre-determined by the environment in which they live. As Williams points out â€Å"the novelty of the naturalist emphasis was its demonstration of the production of character or action by a powerful natural or social environment† (Williams 1990; 127). Here Williams is outlining the factor of influence, of the environment on the character or action. Naturalism as we have discussed, is concerned with the life like reproduction of life itself here Zola discusses the importance of reproduction by stating â€Å"most of all we would need to intensify the illusion in reconstructing environments, less for their picturesque quality than for dramatic utility. The environment must determine the character† (Zola 1881; 369). As this suggests, naturalism, particularly in written plays, will create the belief that the character has a predetermined outcome. As we have discussed in the second sense of Williams definitions of naturalism, the physiological man is preferred over the metaphysical view. This suggests that man is just apart of the environment in which he lives and, as a biological element, has no free will over his actions or environment. As Zola concurs â€Å"the physiological man in our modern works is asking more and more compellingly to be determined by his setting, by the environment that produced him† (Zola 1881; 370). As this illustrates, the notion of determinism in dramatic writing, especially naturalism is a vital one, as it’s study of human behavior, and what influences it in a given environment is crucial to the natural expression and form of a character. [291] The contemporary environment and its physical reproduction on stage The contemporary environment and its physical reproduction on stage is a vital facet in the workings of naturalism. Referring to Williams’ aspects of naturalism, the first being derived from the naturalistic painters of the mid 1800’s where replication of the environment was partially a scientific endeavor. Studying the surroundings and environment in exact detail is vital in understanding the action of a character, therefore in naturalism the lifelike reproduction of the characters environment on stage is essential (Williams 1990; 125). Here Williams states a ‘major feature’ of â€Å"naturalist drama in particular its specific central feature of the stage as a room† (Williams 1990; 129). This refers to the appearance of the stage as a physical extension of real present day life as it were, to supplement the feel of naturalism on stage. Here Zola agrees by stating â€Å"most of all we would need to intensify the illusion in reconstructing environments, less for their picturesque quality than for dramatic utility† (Zola 1881; 369). As this proves the aesthetical reproduction of life on stage is far more than a scenic attraction, it provides the environment in which the characters live and take influence. The second sense of naturalism that Williams describes is that of the physiological man opposed to the metaphysical man. This is an important factor as this philosophical position looks at the man as being apart of his surroundings in a biological sense. As Williams states â€Å"in the social sense that character is determined or profoundly influenced by its social environment, with the later and more penetrating observation that this social environment is itself historically produced, and in the wider sense of natural history, in the evolution of human nature itself within a natural world of which it is an interacting part† (Williams 1990; 127). Here Williams is stating that the character is impacted by his environment, that itself is historically produced. As Zola states that the physiological man in naturalism is requesting to be â€Å"determined by his setting, by the environment that produced him† (Zola 1881; 370). Zola does not take it as far as Williams as he does not state the environment itself as being historically produced, however it is agreed that they both see the physiological man being produced by his environment. This proves that the contemporary setting of a character is vital in naturalism as it illustrates the physiological man in his environment, as opposed to the metaphysical man in a distance time and place that has little relevance to mans contemporary intelligence. By utilizing two of Williams ‘senses’ of naturalism, we have seen the uses of the contemporary environment in which a character is places as well as the importance of the detailed physical reproduction of a characters environment. [458]

Role Of An Effective Workplace Mentor Nursing Essay

Role Of An Effective Workplace Mentor Nursing Essay The role of an effective workplace mentor is to help the mentee achieve a particular work specific goal or goals; this can be to hit a particular set target, to become competent in performing a particular task essential to their role; or something as general as improving confidence in the work environment. It is the responsibility of the workplace mentor to give help and support in a non-threatening manor; provide a positive environment that the mentee feels comfortable in and can feel encouraged to discuss their needs and circumstances openly; and to ensure confidentiality and honesty is upheld in accordance with mentoring guidelines. The role of a workplace mentor is a significant one and not all people in the workplace will be suited to. An effective workplace mentor will need to have excellent communication skills, both speaking and listening and be able to commit the necessary time to each mentee. In addition they need to remain objective, have a calm and patient demeanour, and bring a positive attitude to each session. It is important that the workplace mentor has the confidence to lead mentoring sessions and give appropriate advice and guidance tailored to the needs of the mentee. In my role as a Support worker on the Steps to Work program I act as a workplace mentor for my clients who I place in work placements with local employers for 8 or 26 weeks. I work with a wide range of clients from those who need a minimum level of guidance to those who require on-going support throughout placement. I mentor clients initially on how to perform in their placement interview, then how to perform in their particular job role and throughout on the best methods of job searching. Some clients will have lower level needs and may need mentored on getting to work on time and how to effectively communicate in the workplace. Describe developmental goals that can be met through mentoring There are a wide range of development goals that can be met through mentoring and these very much depends on the individual mentees and what they require from the sessions and what areas they need mentored on. For example one of my clients, Stephen has a learning difficulty and as a result finds job searching and applying for jobs difficult. The development goals for Stephen are to become competent at reading job advertisements in order to decide if he meets the criteria and to fill out application forms to a higher standard than he can currently. Another one of my mentees, Leah, has confidence issues and can be shy and awkward in social situations with people she does not know very well. Leahs development goal would be to gradually increase her confidence meeting new people and becoming more comfortable in her placement dealing with customers and handling queries. As part of this mentoring course I am also mentoring one of my colleagues Carla and trying to help her with some issues she has identified for development. Carla finds it hard dealing with difficult clients and clients that are a lot older than her; the development goal in this situation would be for Carla to become more confident dealing with these client groups and develop a some action points to implement. Describe the role of the mentee (person being mentored) The role of the mentee is integral to the mentoring process as without the need of mentees there would be no need for mentors. I see the role of the mentee as being two sided; one aspect is that they need mentored in by a suitable person in order to progress their development with a certain role or task. The other side of the role is that the mentee needs to be committed to the mentoring process, educate the mentor as to what exactly they need mentored on and help the mentor to understand what learning style is best to utilise. If the mentoring process is to be a success the mentee needs be open with the mentor during sessions and be willing to put into practice the advice given by the mentor; the mentee needs to be committed to achieving a positive outcome and be honest with the mentor throughout the process. Key concepts, principles and practices of mentoring Describe the similarities and differences between coaching and mentoring Coaching and mentoring are development techniques based on the use of one-to-one discussions to improve an individuals skills, knowledge or work performance. It is possible to draw differences between coaching and mentoring however in practice the two terms are often used together. The concept of Coaching is to target high performance and improvement at work and usually focuses on specific skills and goals of the individual(s) being coached, although it can potentially also have a positive effect on an individuals personal attributes such as social interaction, communication skills, motivation or confidence. The process of coaching generally lasts for a relatively short period. Although there is a lack of agreement among coaching professionals about precise definitions, the following are some generally agreed by the CIPD characteristics of coaching in organisations: It is essentially a non-directive form of development, though this is not a hard and fast rule. It focuses on improving performance and developing individuals skills. Personal issues may be discussed but the emphasis is on performance at work. Coaching activities have both organisational and individual goals. It provides people with feedback on both their strengths and their weaknesses. It is a skilled activity, which should be delivered by people who are trained to do so. http://www.cipd.co.uk Mentoring involves the use of similar models and skills of questioning, listening, clarifying and reframing associated with coaching. Traditionally, however, mentoring in the workplace has described a relationship in which a more experienced senior colleague uses their greater knowledge and understanding to support the development of a less experienced or junior colleague. In contrast to coaching arrangements, mentoring relationships tend to be longer term; mentoring relationships work best when they move beyond the directive approach of a senior colleague telling it how it is, to one where both learn from each other (CIPD). A truly effective mentoring relationship or environment between mentor and mentee should provide a learning opportunity for both parties. Mentoring Coaching Ongoing relationship that can last for a long period of time Relationship generally has a set duration More informal and meetings can take place as and when the mentee needs some advice, guidance and support Generally more structured in nature and meetings are scheduled on a regular basis More long term and takes a broader view of the person Short term (sometimes time-bounded) and focused on specific development areas/issues Mentor is usually more experienced and qualified than the client. Often a senior person in the organization who can pass on knowledge, experience and open doors to otherwise out-of-reach opportunities Coaching is generally not performed on the basis that the coach needs to have direct experience of their clients formal occupational role, unless the coaching is specific and skills-focused Focus is on career and personal development Focus is generally on development/issues at work Agenda is set by the client, with the mentor providing support and guidance to prepare them for future roles The agenda is focused on achieving specific, immediate goals Mentoring revolves more around developing the mentee professionally Coaching revolves more around specific development areas/issues  ©http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/openup/chapters/9780335221769.pdf Explain the key concepts, principles and practices of mentoring In my opinion the key concept of mentoring is to help the mentee to the best of my ability to enable them to get the best out of themselves. The key principles and practices of mentoring is to build an effective working relationship between the mentor and the mentee, to set and review smart goals, and to encourage the mentee to take ownership of the process. It is essential that the mentoring relationship is built on openness and honesty and both parties demonstrate commitment and a positive attitude throughout. The mentor should be capable of structuring the sessions towards helping the mentee achieve their goals through recognised questioning techniques and utilising mentoring models such as the Grow Model or Radar. One practice that will prove essential to the mentoring process is the establishment of a contract from the offset to which both parties have to adhere to and can be used as point of reference if things go array during a session. Own ability to use a variety of communication strategies to mentor individuals at work Assess your own ability to use a variety of interpersonal communication skills and your ability to give effective feedback to mentees on their development My role as a Support Worker on STW and the experience I have acquired from previous job roles has provided me with the opportunity to develop excellent interpersonal communication skills and enabled me to be confident and comfortable giving feedback to clients on a variety of issues. On a daily basis I communicate with clients, employers, colleagues and local govt. agencies such as the Job centre and SSA. In addition I have to review my clients monthly and deliver effective feedback on their performance in placement and after placement interviews. I feel that these skills are very transferable to the mentoring process and as a result I have felt very comfortable holding my mentoring sessions and delivering effective feedback to my mentees in order to help them achieve their goals. Identify areas for personal development I feel that through undertaking this mentoring course I have had the opportunity to evaluate myself and reflect upon my abilities not just as a mentor but also in my job role as a Support Worker on the Steps to Work program. SWOT Analysis Strengths: I feel that the areas I identified as strengths were my confidence in terms of delivering mentoring sessions, my communication skills and my ability to build a rapport with the mentees. In addition I feel that I was able to adapt well within sessions in terms of responding to the needs of the mentee as opposed to having a strict structure and following it through regardless. Weaknesses: One area I have earmarked for development is to ensure I am able to commit sufficient time to conduct mentoring session thoroughly; at times I felt as if I was squeezing the sessions into my working week as opposed to them having equal priority with my other work. One possible solution would be to ensure I plan my time more effectively and leave myself more time to prepare for and reflect after mentoring sessions. Opportunities: Having undertaken the mentoring qualification and officially conducted mentoring sessions, I see this as an opportunity to develop my own skills not just as a mentor but as a Support Worker. This experience should help me to build better working relationships with clients and colleagues and to be more insightful to the needs of others and how they may view different situations in relation to I view them. Threats: The external threats I faced when trying to deliver quality mentoring sessions were the demands of my job in terms of having the time to schedule and carry out mentoring sessions. In addition I also had to consider the impact on the mentees placement, each client has designated working hours and I needed to schedule sessions around the placement or liaise with the placement provider to get the mentee released for the session.

Realization in Welty’s A Piece of News Essay examples -- Welty Piece o

Realization in Welty’s A Piece of News Ruby’s death fantasy reflects the conflict between her wants, needs, and life in this Eudora Welty story. We first meet Ruby while she is coming in from a storm with a package of coffee wrapped in newspaper from a man from Tennessee. We find out later that she has a habit of hitchhiking and picking up men from Tennessee. Welty writes, â€Å"When Clyde would make her blue, she would go out onto the road, some car would slow down, and if it had a Tennessee license, the lucky kind, the chances were that she would spend the afternoon in the shed of the empty gin† (14). When Ruby comes in out of the rain, both she and the package are soaking wet. After drying herself off a little by the fire, she spreads the wet newspaper on the floor and lies down. Soon, she looks at the newspaper and reads her name: â€Å"Mrs. Ruby Fisher had the misfortune to be shot in the leg by her husband this week† (13). Immediately, Ruby connects her husband, Clyde to the crime, and she shouts out to him in the storm. However, she slowly realizes that â€Å"it was unlike Clyde to take up a gun and shoot her† (14). Nonetheless, she fantasizes about her funeral in a daydream, and when Clyde finally arrives home, she shows him the excerpt from the newspaper. Clyde vehemently denies the charges but, for a moment, is taken by Ruby’s assertion. In the end, Clyde proves to Ruby that the story cannot be about them because the newspaper is from Tennessee, and the storm rolls â€Å"away to faintness like a wagon crossing a bridge† (16). Throughout the narrative, Ruby’s comings and goings are intimately connected to the storm outside. Specifically, the storm mirrors Ruby’s innermost thoughts and implies the cyclical nature of Ruby’s experi... ...s often a perfect mirror of the feminine persona’s place within society, an image of the enclosure and of its victims, and thus the transformed hero who has survived this layer of her unconscious is unlikely to be able to reintegrate herself fully into â€Å"normal† society. (142) When Ruby mixes fantasy with reality she unlocks a way to understand her relationship with Clyde. But as a result of claiming that her fantasy is a reality, she is regarded as crazy by Clyde, the narrator, and perhaps, the reader. Hitchhiking, storm, green-world lover, confrontation with Clyde, and journey into the unconscious create a transformational journey, which brings Ruby to realization, resignation, and madness. Ruby’s inability to change her situation despite her psychological inroads into knowing precipitates her odd behavior and keeps her journey from being fully transformational.

Ancient Egypt :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ancient Egypt was a very important time in our time period. They had their own way of life. Egyptians had their own writing, burials, government, religion, cooking, and games. They were educated people with many talents. They were good with their hands and brains. Ancient Egyptians were a magnificent race of people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Ancient Egyptians called their country Kemet, which means â€Å"Black Land.† The dark soil from the Nile River was very fertile. The Nile overflowed at the same time every year, leaving farmers with very fertile soil. The Nile provided much needed water for their crops during the dry season by using their irrigation system. The Nile River also provided the Egyptians with drinking water, and a way for them to travel, allowing them to explore and trade. In addition, the desert around the river was called â€Å"Red Land† by the Egyptians. This is where they lived, grew and prospered. The desert provided much gold for the Egyptians to trade with other countries or to keep for themselves. They brought back silver from Syria, cedar wood, oils, and horses from Lebanon, copper from Cyprus, gems from Afghanistan, ebony, wood, and ivory from Africa, and incense from Punt.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Egyptians cherished family life the way we cherish food or money. Children were considered a blessing. They prayed for them and used magic to have children, but if a couple could not conceive they adopted. Men were the head of the household and the oldest son inherited everything of the father’s.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Egyptian women were to obey their fathers and husbands, but were equal in many other ways. For example, women could have jobs, some rights in court cases, and they were able to own land. Women were also allowed to own businesses. Only noble women, however, could be priestesses. The women raised the children and took care of the house. Wealthy families would hire maids and nannies to do such things. Divorce was not common in Ancient Egypt, though it was an option. Problems were talked about between families, and if they could not be settled a divorce would take place. Some women became rulers but only in secret. The only woman who ruled as a phara oh in the open was Queen Hatsheput. Ordinary men normally had one wife, while pharaohs and kings had several. Most marriages were arranged by parents. Most girls married at age twelve while boys were usually a little older.

Ticonderoga and Crown Point :: essays research papers

The immediate object of the attack on the British Forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point on May 10 and 11, 1775 was first to capture the forts themselves, but also to obtain a cannon and supplies to use for the impending seige of Boston. Washington, who assumed command of the American forces on July 2, 1775, could not attempt this attack without heavy artillery, which was procured by Colonel Ethan Allen, Colonel Benedict Arnold and Colonel Seth Warner with Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys. Green Mountain Boys, was the name of a group of soldiers from Vermont led by Allen, Warner and Arnold. They took their name from the Green Mountains in Vermont. The Green Mountain Boys were originally organized by Ethan Allen before the revolution to protest the claims of the New York government to Vermont territory, and were later joined by Seth Warner and Benedict Arnold. Seth Warner, was born in Connecticut and later moved to Vermont, where he was declared an outlaw in 1771 for forcibly resisting a New York claim to the area, and had a reward offered for his capture. Under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, he participated in the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga and led the force that took Crown Point the next day. Later that year, he was elected lieutenant-colonel commandant of the Green Mountain Boys. Ethan Allen was also born Connecticut, moving to Vermont in 1769. He became involved in the struggle between New York and New Hampshire for control of the region, just like Allen was. The New York authorities rejected an appeal that the region be established as a separate province, and Allen organized a volunteer militia, called the Green Mountain Boys, to resist the New York cause. Volunteers were raised by the Committee of Correspondence. They recruited fifty men and three hundred pounds to set up the Green Mountain Boys. Allen too, was declared an outlaw by the governor of New York. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Allen and The Green Mountain Boys offered to fight against the British. Arnold was born in Connecticut and enlisted in the militia during the French and Indian War. Later, as a militia colonel, Arnold joined with Allen and The Green Mountain Boys to take Fort Ticonderoga .

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TEN

Around nine o'clock, a pickup came down the driveway and parked behind my Chevrolet. The truck was new a Dodge Ram so clean and chrome-shiny it looked as if the ten-day plates had just come off that morning but it was the same shade of off-white as the last one and the sign on the driver's door was the one I remembered: WILLIAM ‘BILL' DEAN CAMP CHECKING CARETAKING LIGHT CARPENTRY, plus his telephone number. I went out on the back stoop to meet him, coffee cup in my hand. ‘Mike!' Bill cried, climbing down from behind the wheel. Yankee men don't hug that's a truism you can put right up there with tough guys don't dance and real men don't eat quiche but Bill pumped my hand almost hard enough to slop coffee from a cup that was three-quarters empty, and gave me a hearty clap on the back. His grin revealed a splendidly blatant set of false teeth the kind which used to be called Roebuckers, because you got them from the catalogue. It occurred to me in passing that my ancient interlocutor from the Lakeview General Store could have used a pair. It certainly would have improved mealtimes for the nosy old fuck. ‘Mike, you're a sight for sore eyes!' ‘Good to see you, too,' I said, grinning. Nor was it a false grin; I felt all right. Things with the power to scare the living shit out of you on a thundery midnight in most cases seem only interesting in the bright light of a summer morning. ‘You're looking well, my friend.' It was true. Bill was four years older and a little grayer around the edges, but otherwise the same. Sixty-five? Seventy? It didn't matter. There was no waxy look of ill health about him, and none of the falling-away in the face, principally around the eyes and in the cheeks, that I associate with encroaching infirmity. ‘So're you,' he said, letting go of my hand. ‘We was all so sorry about Jo, Mike. Folks in town thought the world of her. It was a shock, with her so young. My wife asked if I'd give you her condolences special. Jo made her an afghan the year she had the pneumonia, and Yvette ain't never forgot it.' ‘Thanks,' I said, and my voice wasn't quite my own for a moment or two. It seemed that on the TR my wife was hardly dead at all. ‘And thank Yvette, too.' ‘Yuh. Everythin okay with the house? Other'n the air conditioner, I mean. Buggardly thing! Them at the Western Auto promised me that part last week, and now they're saying maybe not until August first.' ‘It's okay. I've got my Powerbook. If I want to use it, the kitchen table will do fine for a desk.' And I would want to use it so many crosswords, so little time. ‘Got your hot water okay?' ‘All that's fine, but there is one problem.' I stopped. How did you tell your caretaker you thought your house was haunted? Probably there was no good way; probably the best thing to do was to go at it head-on. I had questions, but I didn't want just to nibble around the edges of the subject and be coy. For one thing, Bill would sense it. He might have bought his false teeth out of a catalogue, but he wasn't stupid. ‘What's on your mind, Mike? Shoot.' ‘I don't know how you're going to take this, but ‘ He smiled in the way of a man who suddenly understands and held up his hand. ‘Guess maybe I know already.' ‘You do?' I felt an enormous sense of relief and I could hardly wait to find out what he had experienced in Sara, perhaps while checking for dead lightbulbs or making sure the roof was holding the snow all right. ‘What did you hear?' ‘Mostly what Royce Merrill and Dickie Brooks have been telling,' he said. ‘Beyond that, I don't know much. Me and mother's been in Virginia, remember. Only got back last night around eight o'clock. Still, it's the big topic down to the store.' For a moment I remained so fixed on Sara Laughs that I had no idea what he was talking about. All I could think was that folks were gossiping about the strange noises in my house. Then the name Royce Merrill clicked and everything else clicked with it. Merrill was the elderly possum with the gold-headed cane and the salacious wink. Old Four-Teeth. My caretaker wasn't talking about ghostly noises; he was talking about Mattie Devore. ‘Let's get you a cup of coffee,' I said. ‘I need you to tell me what I'm stepping in here.' When we were seated on the deck, me with fresh coffee and Bill with a cup of tea (‘Coffee burns me at both ends these days,' he said), I asked him first to tell me the Royce Merrill-Dickie Brooks version of my encounter with Mattie and Kyra. It turned out to be better than I had expected. Both old men had seen me standing at the side of the road with the little girl in my arms, and they had observed my Chevy parked halfway into the ditch with the driver's-side door open, but apparently neither of them had seen Kyra using the white line of Route 68 as a tightrope. As if to compensate for this, however, Royce claimed that Mattie had given me a big my hero hug and a kiss on the mouth. ‘Did he get the part about how I grabbed her by the ass and slipped her some tongue?' I asked. Bill grinned. ‘Royce's imagination ain't stretched that far since he was fifty or so, and that was forty or more year ago.' ‘I never touched her.' Well . . . there had been that moment when the back of my hand went sliding along the curve of her breast, but that had been inadvertent, whatever the young lady herself might think about it. ‘Shite, you don't need to tell me that,' he said. ‘But . . . ‘ He said that but the way my mother always had, letting it trail off on its own, like the tail of some ill-omened kite. ‘But what?' ‘You'd do well to keep your distance from her,' he said. ‘She's nice enough almost a town girl, don't you know but she's trouble.' He paused. ‘No, that ain't quite fair to her. She's in trouble.' ‘The old man wants custody of the baby, doesn't he?' Bill set his teacup down on the deck rail and looked at me with his eyebrows raised. Reflections from the lake ran up his cheek in ripples, giving him an exotic look. ‘How'd you know?' ‘Guesswork, but of the educated variety. Her father-in-law called me Saturday night during the fireworks. And while he never came right out and stated his purpose, I doubt if Max Devore came all the way back to TR-90 in western Maine to repo his daughter-in-law's Jeep and trailer. So what's the story, Bill?' For several moments he only looked at me. It was almost the look of a man who knows you have contracted a serious disease and isn't sure how much he ought to tell you. Being looked at that way made me profoundly uneasy. It also made me feel that I might be putting Bill Dean on the spot. Devore had roots here, after all. And, as much as Bill might like me, I didn't. Jo and I were from away. It could have been worse it could have been Massachusetts or New York but Derry, although in Maine, was still away. ‘Bill? I could use a little navigational help if you ‘ ‘You want to stay out of his way,' he said. His easy smile was gone. ‘The man's mad.' For a moment I thought Bill only meant Devore was pissed off at me, and then I took another look at his face. No, I decided, he didn't mean pissed off; he had used the word ‘mad' in the most literal way. ‘Mad how?' I asked. ‘Mad like Charles Manson? Like Hannibal Lecter? How?' ‘Say like Howard Hughes,' he said. ‘Ever read any of the stories about him? The lengths he'd go to to get the things he wanted? It didn't matter if it was a special kind of hot dog they only sold in L.A. or an airplane designer he wanted to steal from Lockheed or Mcdonnell-Douglas, he had to have what he wanted, and he wouldn't rest until it was under his hand. Devore is the same way. He always was even as a boy he was willful, according to the stories you hear in town. ‘My own dad had one he used to tell. He said little Max Devore broke into Scant Larribee's tack-shed one winter because he wanted the Flexible Flyer Scant give his boy Scooter for Christmas. Back around 1923, this would have been. Devore cut both his hands on broken glass, Dad said, but he got the sled. They found him near midnight, sliding down Sugar Maple Hill, holding his hands up to his chest when he went down. He'd bled all over his mittens and his snowsuit. There's other stories you'll hear about Maxie Devore as a kid if you ask you'll hear fifty different ones and some may even be true. That one about the sled is true, though. I'd bet the farm on it. Because my father didn't lie. It was against his religion.' ‘Baptist?' ‘Nosir, Yankee.' ‘1923 was many moons ago, Bill. Sometimes people change.' ‘Ayuh, but mostly they don't. I haven't seen Devore since he come back and moved into Warrington's, so I can't say for sure, but I've heard things that make me think that if he has changed, it's for the worse. He didn't come all the way across the country 'cause he wanted a vacation. He wants the kid. To him she's just another version of Scooter Larribee's Flexible Flyer. And my strong advice to you is that you don't want to be the window-glass between him and her.' I sipped my coffee and looked out at the lake. Bill gave me time to think, scraping one of his workboots across a splatter of birdshit on the boards while I did it. Crowshit, I reckoned; only crows crap in such long and exuberant splatters. One thing seemed absolutely sure: Mattie Devore was roughly nine miles up Shit Creek with no paddle. I'm not the cynic I was at twenty is anyone? but I wasn't naive enough or idealistic enough to believe the law would protect Ms. Doublewide against Mr. Computer . . . not if Mr. Computer decided to play dirty. As a boy he'd taken the sled he wanted and gone sliding by himself at midnight, bleeding hands not a concern. And as a man? An old man who had been getting every sled he wanted for the last forty years or so? ‘What's the story with Mattie, Bill? Tell me.' It didn't take him long. Country stories are, by and large, simple stories. Which isn't to say they're not often interesting. Mattie Devore had started life as Mattie Stanchfield, not quite from the TR but from just over the line in Motton. Her father had been a logger, her mother a home beautician (which made it, in a ghastly way, the perfect country marriage). There were three kids. When Dave Stanch-field missed a curve over in Lovell and drove a fully loaded pulptruck into Kewadin Pond, his widow ‘kinda lost heart,' as they say. She died soon after. There had been no insurance, other than what Stanchfield had been obliged to carry on his Jimmy and his skidder. Talk about your Brothers Grimm, huh? Subtract the Fisher-Price toys behind the house, the two pole hairdryers in the basement beauty salon, the old rustbucket Toyota in the driveway, and you were right there: Once upon a time there lived a poor widow and her three children. Mattie is the princess of the piece poor but beautiful (that she was beautiful I could personally testify). Now enter the prince. In this case he's a gangly stuttering redhead named Lance Devore. The child of Max Devore's sunset years. When Lance met Mattie, he was twenty-one. She had just turned seventeen. The meeting took place at Warrington's, where Mattie had landed a summer job as a waitress. Lance Devore was staying across the lake on the Upper Bay, but on Tuesday nights there were pickup softball games at Warrington's, the townies against the summer folks, and he usually canoed across to play. Softball is a great thing for the Lance Devores of the world; when you're standing at the plate with a bat in your hands, it doesn't matter if you're gangly. And it sure doesn't matter if you stutter. ‘He confused em quite considerable over to Warrington's,' Bill said. ‘They didn't know which team he belonged on the Locals or the Aways. Lance didn't care; either side was fine with him. Some weeks he'd play for one, some weeks t'other. Either one was more than happy to have him, too, as he could hit a ton and field like an angel. They'd put him at first base a lot because he was tall, but he was really wasted there. At second or shortstop . . . my! He'd jump and twirl around like that guy Noriega.' ‘You might mean Nureyev,' I said. He shrugged. ‘Point is, he was somethin to see. And folks liked him. He fit in. It's mostly young folks that play, you know, and to them it's how you do, not who you are. Besides, a lot of em don't know Max Devore from a hole in the ground.' ‘Unless they read The Wall Street Journal and the computer magazines,† I said. ‘In those, you run across the name Devore about as often as you run across the name of God in the Bible.' ‘No foolin?' ‘Well, I guess that in the computer magazines God is more often spelled Gates, but you know what I mean.' ‘I s'pose. But even so, it's been sixty-five years since Max Devore spent any real time on the TR. You know what happened when he left, don't you?' ‘No, why would I?' He looked at me, surprised. Then a kind of veil seemed to fall over his eyes. He blinked and it cleared. ‘Tell you another time it ain't no secret but I need to be over to the Harrimans' by eleven to check their sump-pump. Don't want to get sidetracked. Point I was tryin to make is just this: Lance Devore was accepted as a nice young fella who could hit a softball three hundred and fifty feet into the trees if he struck it just right. There was no one old enough to hold his old man against him not at Warrington's on Tuesday nights, there wasn't and no one held it against him that his family had dough, either. Hell, there are lots of wealthy people here in the summer. You know that. None worth as much as Max Devore, but being rich is only a matter of degree.' That wasn't true, and I had just enough money to know it. Wealth is like the Richter scale-once you pass a certain point, the jumps from one level to the next aren't double or triple but some amazing and ruinous multiple you don't even want to think about. Fitzgerald had it straight, although I guess he didn't believe his own insight: the very rich are different from you and me. I thought of telling Bill that, and decided to keep my mouth shut. He had a sump-pump to fix. Kyra's parents met over a keg of beer stuck in a mudhole. Mattie was running the usual Tuesday-night keg out to the softball field from the main building on a handcart. She'd gotten it most of the way from the restaurant wing with no trouble, but there had been heavy rain earlier in the week, and the cart finally bogged down in a soft spot. Lance's team was up, and Lance was sitting at the end of the bench, waiting his turn to hit. He saw the girl in the white shorts and blue Warrington's polo shirt struggling with the bogged handcart, and got up to help her. Three weeks later they were inseparable and Mattie was pregnant; ten weeks later they were married; thirty-seven months later, Lance Devore was in a coffin, done with softball and cold beer on a summer evening, done with what he called ‘woodsing,' done with fatherhood, done with love for the beautiful princess. Just another early finish, hold the happily-ever-after. Bill Dean didn't describe their meeting in any detail; he only said, ‘They met at the field she was runnin out the beer and he helped her out of a boghole when she got her handcart stuck.' Mattie never said much about that part of it, so I don't know much. Except I do . . . and although some of the details might be wrong, I'd bet you a dollar to a hundred 1 got most of them right. That was my summer for knowing things I had no business knowing. It's hot, for one thing '94 is the hottest summer of the decade and July is the hottest month of the summer. President Clinton is being upstaged by Newt and the Republicans. Folks are saying old Slick Willie may not even run for a second term. Boris Yeltsin is reputed to be either dying of heart disease or in a dry-out clinic. The Red Sox are looking better than they have any right to. In Derry, Johanna Arlen Noonan is maybe starting to feel a little whoopsy in the morning. If so, she does not speak of it to her husband. I see Mattie in her blue polo shirt with her name sewn in white script above her left breast. Her white shorts make a pleasing contrast to her tanned legs. I also see her wearing a blue gimme cap with the red W for Warrington's above the long bill. Her pretty dark-blonde hair is pulled through the hole at the back of the cap and falls to the collar of her shirt. I see her trying to yank the handcart out of the mud without upsetting the keg of beer. Her head is down; the shadow thrown by the bill of the cap obscures all of her face but her mouth and small set chin. ‘Luh-let m-me h-h-help,' Lance says, and she looks up. The shadow cast by the cap's bill falls away, he sees her big blue eyes the ones she'll pass on to their daughter. One look into those eyes and the war is over without a single shot fired; he belongs to her as surely as any young man ever belonged to any young woman. The rest, as they say around here, was just courtin. The old man had three children, but Lance was the only one he seemed to care about. (‘Daughter's crazier'n a shithouse mouse,' Bill said matter-of-factly. ‘In some laughin academy in California. Think I heard she caught her a cancer, too.') The fact that Lance had no interest in computers and software actually seemed to please his father. He had another son who was capable of running the business. In another way, however, Lance Devore's older half-brother wasn't capable at all: there would be no grandchildren from that one. ‘Rump-wrangler,' Bill said. ‘Understand there's a lot of that going around out there in California.' There was a fair amount of it going around on the TR, too, I imagined, but thought it not my place to offer sexual instruction to my caretaker. Lance Devore had been attending Reed College in Oregon, majoring in forestry the kind of guy who falls in love with green flannel pants, red suspenders, and the sight of condors at dawn. A Brothers Grimm woodcutter, in fact, once you got past the academic jargon. In the summer between his junior and senior years, his father had summoned him to the family compound in Palm Springs, and had presented him with a boxy lawyer's suitcase crammed with maps, aerial photos, and legal papers. These had little order that Lance could see, but I doubt that he cared. Imagine a comic-book collector given a crate crammed with rare old copies of Donald Duck. Imagine a movie collector given the rough cut of a never-released film starring Humphrey Bogart and Marilyn Monroe. Then imagine this avid young forester realizing that his father owned not just acres or square miles in the vast unincorporated forests of western Maine, but entire realms. Although Max Devore had left the TR in 1933, he'd kept a lively interest in the area where he'd grown up, subscribing to area newspapers and getting magazines such as Down East and the Maine Times. In the early eighties, he had begun to buy long columns of land just east of the Maine-New Hampshire border. God knew there had been plenty for sale; the paper companies which owned most of it had fallen into a recessionary pit, and many had become convinced that their New England holdings and operations would be the best place to begin retrenching. So this land, stolen from the Indians and clear-cut ruthlessly in the twenties and fifties, came into Max Devore's hands. He might have bought it just because it was there, a good bargain he could afford to take advantage of. He might have bought it as a way of demonstrating to himself that he had really survived his childhood; had, in point of fact, triumphed over it. Or he might have bought it as a toy for his beloved younger son. In the years when Devore was making his major land purchases in western Maine, Lance would have been just a kid . . . but old enough for a perceptive father to see where his interests were tending. Devore asked Lance to spend the summer of 1994 surveying purchases which were, for the most part, already ten years old. He wanted the boy to put the paperwork in order, but he wanted more than that he wanted Lance to make sense of it. It wasn't a land-use recommendation he was looking for, exactly, although I guess he would have listened if Lance had wanted to make one; he simply wanted a sense of what he had purchased. Would Lance take a summer in western Maine trying to find out what his sense of it was? At a salary of two or three thousand dollars a month? I imagine Lance's reply was a more polite version of Buddy Jellison's ‘Does a crow shit in the pine tops?' The kid arrived in June of 1994 and set up shop in a tent on the far side of Dark Score Lake. He was due back at Reed in late August. Instead, though, he decided to take a year's leave of absence. His father wasn't pleased. His father smelled what he called ‘girl trouble.' ‘Yeah, but it's a damned long sniff from California to Maine,' Bill Dean said, leaning against the driver's door of his truck with his sunburned arms folded. ‘He had someone a lot closer than Palm Springs doin his sniffin for him.' ‘What are you talking about?' I asked. †Bout talk. People do it for free, and most are willing to do even more if they're paid.' ‘People like Royce Merrill?' ‘Royce might be one,' he agreed, ‘but he wouldn't be the only one. Times around here don't go between bad and good; if you're a local, they mostly go between bad and worse. So when a guy like Max Devore sends a guy out with a supply of fifty- and hundred-dollar bills . . . ‘ ‘Was it someone local? A lawyer?' Not a lawyer; a real-estate broker named Richard Osgood (‘a greasy kind of fella' was Bill Dean's judgment of him) who denned and did business in Motton. Eventually Osgood had hired a lawyer from Castle Rock. The greasy fella's initial job, when the summer of '94 ended and Lance Devore remained on the TR, was to find out what the hell was going on and put a stop to it. ‘And then?' I asked. Bill glanced at his watch, glanced at the sky, then centered his gaze on me. He gave a funny little shrug, as if to say, ‘We're both men of the world, in a quiet and settled sort of way you don't need to ask a silly question like that.' ‘Then Lance Devore and Mattie Stanchfield got married in the Grace Baptist Church right up there on Highway 68. There were tales made the rounds about what Osgood might've done to keep it from comin off I heard he even tried to bribe Reverend Gooch into refusin to hitch em, but I think that's stupid, they just would have gone someplace else. ‘Sides, I don't see much sense in repeating what I don't know for sure.' Bill unfolded an arm and began to tick items off on the leathery fingers of his right hand. ‘They got married in the middle of September, 1994, I know that.' Out popped the thumb. ‘People looked around with some curiosity to see if the groom's father would put in an appearance, but he never did.' Out popped the forefinger. Added to the thumb, it made a pistol. ‘Mattie had a baby in April of '95, making the kiddie a dight premature . . . but not enough to matter. I seen it in the store with my own eyes when it wasn't a week old, and it was just the right size.' Out with the second finger. ‘I don't know that Lance Devore's old man absolutely refused to help em financially, but I do know they were living in that trailer down below Dickie's Garage, and that makes me think they were havin a pretty hard skate.' ‘Devore put on the choke-chain,' I said. ‘It's what a guy used to getting his own way would do . . . but if he loved the boy the way you seem to think, he might have come around.' ‘Maybe, maybe not.' He glanced at his watch again. ‘Let me finish up quick and get out of your sunshine . . . but you ought to hear one more little story, because it really shows how the land lies. ‘In July of last year, less'n a month before he died, Lance Devore shows up at the post-office counter in the Lakeview General. He's got a manila envelope he wants to send, but first he needs to show Carla DeCinces what's inside. She said he was all fluffed out, like daddies sometimes get over their kids when they're small.' I nodded, amused at the idea of skinny, stuttery Lance Devore all fluffed out. But I could see it in my mind's eye, and the image was also sort of sweet. ‘It was a studio pitcher they'd gotten taken over in the Rock. Showed the kid . . . what's her name? Kayla?' ‘Kyra.' ‘Ayuh, they call em anything these days, don't they? It showed Kyra sittin in a big leather chair, with a pair of joke spectacles on her little snub of a nose, lookin at one of the aerial photos of the woods over across the lake in TR-100 or TR-110 part of what the old man had picked up, anyway. Carla said the baby had a surprised look on her face, as if she hadn't suspected there could be so much woods in the whole world. Said it was awful cunnin, she did.' ‘Cunnin as a cat a-runnin,' I murmured. ‘And the envelope Registered, Express Mail was addressed to Maxwell Devore, in Palm Springs, California.' ‘Leading you to deduce that the old man either thawed enough to ask for a picture of his only grandchild, or that Lance Devore thought a picture might thaw him.' Bill nodded, looking as pleased as a parent whose child has managed a difficult sum. ‘Don't know if it did,' he said. ‘Wasn't enough time to tell, one way or the other. Lance had bought one of those little satellite dishes, like what you've got here. There was a bad storm the day he put it up hail, high wind, blowdowns along the lakeshore, lots of lightnin. That was along toward evening. Lance put his dish up in the afternoon, all done and safe, except around the time the storm commenced he remembered he'd left his socket wrench on the trailer roof. He went up to get it so it wouldn't get all wet n rusty ‘ ‘He was struck by lightning? Jesus, Bill!' ‘Lightnin struck, all right, but it hit across the way. You go past the place where Wasp Hill Road runs into 68 and you'll see the stump of the tree that stroke knocked over. Lance was comin down the ladder with his socket wrench when it hit. If you've never had a lightnin bolt tear right over your head, you don't know how scary it is it's like havin a drunk driver veer across into your lane, headed right for you, and then swing back onto his own side just in time. Close lightnin makes your hair stand up makes your damned prick stand up. It's apt to play the radio on your steel fillins, it makes your ears hum, and it makes the air taste roasted. Lance fell off the ladder. If he had time to think anything before he hit the ground, I bet he thought he was electrocuted. Poor boy. He loved the TR, but it wasn't lucky for him.' ‘Broke his neck?' ‘Ayuh. With all the thunder, Mattie never heard him fall or yell or anything. She looked out a minute or two later when it started to hail and he still wasn't in. And there he was, layin on the ground and lookin up into the friggin hail with his eyes open.' Bill looked at his watch one final time, then swung open the door to his truck. ‘The old man wouldn't come for their weddin, but he came for his son's funeral and he's been here ever since. He didn't want nawthin to do with the young woman ‘ ‘But he wants the kid,' I said. It was no more than what I already knew, but I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach just the same. Don't talk about this, Mattie had asked me on the morning of the Fourth. It's not a good time for Ki and me. ‘How far along in the process has he gotten?' ‘On the third turn and headin into the home stretch, I sh'd say. There'll be a hearin in Castle County Superior Court, maybe later this month, maybe next. The judge could rule then to hand the girl over, or put it off until fall. I don't think it matters which, because the one thing that's never going to happen on God's green earth is a rulin in favor of the mother. One way or another, that little girl is going to grow up in California.† Put that way, it gave me a very nasty little chill. Bill slid behind the wheel of his truck. ‘Stay out of it, Mike,' he said. ‘Stay away from Mattie Devore and her daughter. And if you get called to court on account of seem the two of em on Saturday, smile a lot and say as little as you can.' ‘Max Devore's charging that she's unfit to raise the child.' ‘Ayuh.' ‘Bill, I saw the child, and she's fine.' He grinned again, but this time there was no amusement in it. †Magine she is. But that's not the point. Stay clear of their business, old boy. It's my job to tell you that; with Jo gone, I guess I'm the only caretaker you got.' He slammed the door of his Ram, started the engine, reached for the gearshift, then dropped his hand again as something else occurred to him. ‘If you get a chance, you ought to look for the owls.' ‘What owls?' ‘There's a couple of plastic owls around here someplace. They might be in y'basement or out in Jo's studio. They come in by mail-order the fall before she passed on.' ‘The fall of 1993?' ‘Ayuh.' ‘That can't be right.' We hadn't used Sara in the fall of 1993. †Tis, though. I was down here puttin on the storm doors when Jo showed up. We had us a natter, and then the UPS truck come. I lugged the box into the entry and had a coffee I was still drinkin it then while she took the owls out of the carton and showed em off to me. Gorry, but they looked real! She left not ten minutes after. It was like she'd come down to do that errand special, although why anyone'd drive all the way from Derry to take delivery of a couple of plastic owls I don't know.' ‘When in the fall was it, Bill? Do you remember?' ‘Second week of November,' he said promptly. ‘Me n the wife went up to Lewiston later that afternoon, to ‘Vette's sister's. It was her birthday. On our way back we stopped at the Castle Rock Agway so ‘Vette could get her Thanksgiving turkey.' He looked at me curiously. ‘You really didn't know about them owls?' ‘No.' ‘That's a touch peculiar, wouldn't you say?' ‘Maybe she told me and I forgot,' I said. ‘I guess it doesn't matter much now in any case.' Yet it seemed to matter. It was a small thing, but it seemed to matter. ‘Why would Jo want a couple of plastic owls to begin with?' ‘To keep the crows from shittin up the woodwork, like they're doing out on your deck. Crows see those plastic owls, they veer off.' I burst out laughing in spite of my puzzlement . . . or perhaps because of it. ‘Yeah? That really works?' ‘Ayuh, long's you move em every now and then so the crows don't get suspicious. Crows are just about the smartest birds going, you know. You look for those owls, save yourself a lot of mess.' ‘I will,' I said. Plastic owls to scare the crows away it was exactly the sort of knowledge Jo would come by (she was like a crow herself in that way, picking up glittery pieces of information that happened to catch her interest) and act upon without bothering to tell me. All at once I was lonely for her again missing her like hell. ‘Good. Some day when I've got more time, we'll walk the place all the way around. Woods too, if you want. I think you'll be satisfied.' ‘I'm sure I will. Where's Devore staying?' The bushy eyebrows went up. ‘Warrington's. Him and you's practically neighbors. I thought you must know.' I remembered the woman I'd seen black bathing-suit and black shorts somehow combining to give her an exotic cocktail-party look and nodded. ‘I met his wife.' Bill laughed heartily enough at that to feel in need of his handkerchief. He fished it off the dashboard (a blue paisley thing the size of a football pennant) and wiped his eyes. ‘What's so funny?' I asked. ‘Skinny woman? White hair? Face sort of like a kid's Halloween mask?' It was my turn to laugh. ‘That's her.' ‘She ain't his wife, she's his whatdoyoucallit, personal assistant. Rogette Whitmore is her name.' He pronounced it ro-GET, with a hard G. ‘Devore's wives're all dead. The last one twenty years.' ‘What kind of name is Rogette? French?' ‘California,' he said, and shrugged as if that one word explained everything. ‘There's people in town scared of her.' ‘Is that so?' ‘Ayuh.' Bill hesitated, then added with one of those smiles we put on when we want others to know that we know we're saying something silly: ‘Brenda Meserve says she's a witch.' ‘And the two of them have been staying at Warrington's almost a year?' ‘Ayuh. The Whitmore woman comes n goes, but mostly she's been here. Thinkin in town is that they'll stay until the custody case is finished off, then all go back to California on Devore's private jet. Leave Osgood to sell Warrington's, and ‘ ‘Sell it? What do you mean, sell it?' ‘I thought you must know,' Bill said, dropping his gearshift into drive. ‘When old Hugh Emerson told Devore they closed the lodge after Thanksgiving, Devore told him he had no intention of moving. Said he was comfortable right where he was and meant to stay put.' ‘He bought the place.' I had been by turns surprised, amused, and angered over the last twenty minutes, but never exactly dumbfounded. Now I was. ‘He bought Warrington's Lodge so he wouldn't have to move to Lookout Rock Hotel over in Castle View, or rent a house.' ‘Ayuh, so he did. Nine buildins, includin the main lodge and The Sunset Bar; twelve acres of woods, a six-hole golf course, and five hundred feet of shorefront on The Street. Plus a two-lane bowlin alley and a softball field. Four and a quarter million. His friend Osgood did the deal and Devore paid with a personal check. I wonder how he found room for all those zeros. See you, Mike.' With that he backed up the driveway, leaving me to stand on the stoop, looking after him with my mouth open. Plastic owls. Bill had told me roughly two dozen interesting things in between peeks at his watch, but the one which stayed on top of the pile was the fact (and I did accept it as a fact; he had been too positive for me not to) that Jo had come down here to take delivery on a couple of plastic goddam owls. Had she told me? She might have. I didn't remember her doing so, and it seemed to me that I would have, but Jo used to claim that when I got in the zone it was no good to tell me anything; stuff went in one ear and out the other. Sometimes she'd pin little notes errands to run, calls to make to my shirt, as if I were a first-grader. But wouldn't I recall if she'd said ‘I'm going down to Sara, hon, UPS is delivering something I want to receive personally, interested in keeping a lady company?' Hell wouldn't I have gone? I always liked an excuse to go to the TR. Except I'd been working on that screenplay . . . and maybe pushing it a little . . . notes pinned to the sleeve of my shirt . . . If you go out when you're finished, we need milk and orange juice . . . I inspected what little was left of Jo's vegetable garden with the July sun beating down on my neck and thought about owls, the plastic god-dam owls. Suppose Jo had told me she was coming down here to Sara Laughs? Suppose I had declined almost without hearing the offer because I was in the writing zone? Even if you granted those things, there was another question: why had she felt the need to come down here personally when she could have just called someone and asked them to meet the delivery truck? Kenny Auster would have been happy to do it, ditto Mrs. M. And Bill Dean, our caretaker, had actually been here. This led to other questions one was why she hadn't just had UPS deliver the damned things to Derry and finally I decided I couldn't live without actually seeing a bona fide plastic owl for myself. Maybe, I thought, going back to the house, I'd put one on the roof of my Chew when it was parked in the driveway. Forestall future bombing runs. I paused in the entry, struck by a sudden idea, and called Ward Hankins, the guy in Waterville who handles my taxes and my few non-writing-related business affairs. ‘Mike,' he said heartily. ‘How's the lake?' ‘The lake's cool and the weather's hot, just the way we like it,' I said. ‘Ward, you keep all the records we send you for five years, don't you? Just in case IRS decides to give us some grief?' ‘Five is accepted practice,' he said, ‘but I hold your stuff for seven in the eyes of the tax boys, you're a mighty fat pigeon.' Better a fat pigeon than a plastic owl, I thought but didn't say. What I said was ‘That includes desk calendars, right? Mine and. Jo's, up until she died?' ‘You bet. Since neither of you kept diaries, it was the best way to cross-reference receipts and claimed expenses with ‘ ‘Could you find Jo's desk calendar for 1993 and see what she had going in the second week of November?' ‘Td be happy to. What in particular are you looking for?' For a moment I saw myself sitting at my kitchen table in Derry on my first night as a widower, holding up a box with the words Norco Home Pregnancy Test printed on the side. Exactly what was I looking for at this late date? Considering that I had loved the lady and she was almost four years in her grave, what was I looking for? Besides trouble, that was? ‘I'm looking for two plastic owls,' I said. Ward probably thought I was talking to him, but I'm not sure I was. ‘I know that sounds weird, but it's what I'm doing. Can you call me back?' ‘Within the hour.' ‘Good man,' I said, and hung up. Now for the actual owls themselves. Where was the most likely spot to store two such interesting artifacts? My eyes went to the cellar door. Elementary, my dear Watson. The cellar stairs were dark and mildly dank. As I stood on the landing groping for the lightswitch, the door banged shut behind me with such force that I cried out in surprise. There was no breeze, no draft, the day was perfectly still, but the door banged shut just the same. Or was sucked shut. I stood in the dark at the top of the stairs, feeling for the lightswitch, smelling that oozy smell that even good concrete foundations get after awhile if there is no proper airing-out. It was cold, much colder than it had been on the other side of the door. I wasn't alone and I knew it. I was afraid, I'd be a liar to say I wasn't . . . but I was also fascinated. Something was with me. Something was in here with me. I dropped my hand away from the wall where the switch was and just stood with my arms at my sides. Some time passed. I don't know how much. My heart was beating furiously in my chest; I could feel it in my temples. It was cold. ‘Hello?' I asked. Nothing in response. I could hear the faint, irregular drip of water as condensation fell from one of the pipes down below, I could hear my own breathing, and faintly far away, in another world where the sun was out I could hear the triumphant caw of a crow. Perhaps it had just dropped a load on the hood of my car. I really need an owl, I thought. In fact, I don't know how I ever got along without one. ‘Hello?' I asked again. ‘Can you talk?' Nothing. I wet my lips. I should have felt silly, perhaps, standing there in the dark and calling to the ghosts. But I didn't. Not a bit. The damp had been replaced by a coldness I could feel, and I had company. Oh, yes. ‘Can you tap, then? If you can shut the door, you must be able to tap.' I stood there and listened to the soft, isolated drips from the pipes. There was nothing else. I was reaching out for the lightswitch again when there was a soft thud from not far below me. The cellar of Sara Laughs is high, and the upper three feet of the concrete the part which lies against the ground's frost-belt had been insulated with big silver-backed panels of Insu-Gard. The sound that I heard was, I am quite sure, a fist striking against one of these. Just a fist hitting a square of insulation, but every gut and muscle of my body seemed to come unwound. My hair stood up. My eyesockets seemed to be expanding and my eyeballs contracting, as if my head were trying to turn into a skull. Every inch of my skin broke out in gooseflesh. Something was in here with me. Very likely something dead. I could no longer have turned on the light if I'd wanted to. I no longer had the strength to raise my arm. I tried to talk, and at last, in a husky whisper I hardly recognized, I said: ‘Are you really there?' Thud. ‘Who are you?' I could still do no better than that husky whisper, the voice of a man giving last instructions to his family as he lies on his deathbed. This time there was nothing from below. I tried to think, and what came to my struggling mind was Tony Curtis as Harry Houdini in some old movie. According to the film, Houdini had been the Diogenes of the Ouija board circuit, a guy who spent his spare time just looking for an honest medium. He'd attended one s? ¦ance where the dead communicated by ‘Tap once for yes, twice for no,' I said. ‘Can you do that?' Thud. It was on the stairs below me . . . but not too far below. Five steps down, six or seven at most. Not quite close enough to touch if I should reach out and wave my hand in the black basement air . . . a thing I could imagine, but not actually imagine doing. ‘Are you . . . ‘ My voice trailed off. There was simply no strength in my diaphragm. Chilly air lay on my chest like a flatiron. I gathered all my will and tried again. ‘Are you Jo?' Thud. That soft fist on the insulation. A pause, and then: Thud-thud. Yes and no. Then, with no idea why I was asking such an inane question: ‘Are the owls down here?' Thud-thud. ‘Do you know where they are?' Thud. ‘Should I look for them?' Thud! Very hard. Why did she want them? I could ask, but the thing on the stairs had no way to an Hot fingers touched my eyes and I almost screamed before realizing it was sweat. I raised my hands in the dark and wiped the heels of them up my face to the hairline. They skidded as if on oil. Cold or not, I was all but bathing in my own sweat. ‘Are you Lance Devore?' Thud-thud, at once. ‘Is it safe for me at Sara? Am I safe?' Thud. A pause. And I knew it was a pause, that the thing on the stairs wasn't finished. Then: Thud-thud. Yes, I was safe. No, I wasn't safe. I had regained marginal control of my arm. I reached out, felt along the wall, and found the lightswitch. I settled my fingers on it. Now the sweat on my face felt as if it were turning to ice. ‘Are you the person who cries in the night?' I asked. Thud-thud from below me, and between the two thuds, I flicked the switch. The cellar globes came on. So did a brilliant hanging bulb at least a hundred and twenty-five watts over the landing. There was no time for anyone to hide, let alone get away, and no one there to try, either. Also, Mrs. Meserve admirable in so many ways had neglected to sweep the cellar stairs. When I went down to where I estimated the thudding sounds had been coming from, I left tracks in the light dust. But mine were the only ones. I blew out breath in front of me and could see it. So it had been cold, still was cold . . . but it was warming up fast. I blew out another breath and could see just a hint of fog. A third exhale and there was nothing. I ran my palm over one of the insulated squares. Smooth. I pushed a finger at it, and although I didn't push with any real force, my finger left a dimple in the silvery surface. Easy as pie. If someone had been thumping a fist down here, this stuff should be pitted, the thin silver skin perhaps even broken to reveal the pink fill underneath. But all the squares were smooth. ‘Are you still there?' I asked. No response, and yet I had a sense that my visitor was still there. Somewhere. ‘I hope I didn't offend you by turning on the light,' I said, and now I did feel slightly odd, standing on my cellar stairs and talking out loud, sermonizing to the spiders. ‘I wanted to see you if I could.' I had no idea if that was true or not. Suddenly so suddenly I almost lost my balance and tumbled down the stairs I whirled around, convinced the shroud-creature was behind me, that it had been the thing knocking, it, no polite M. R. James ghost but a horror from around the rim of the universe. There was nothing. I turned around again, took two or three deep, steadying breaths, and then went the rest of the way down the cellar stairs. Beneath them was a perfectly serviceable canoe, complete with paddle. In the corner was the gas stove we'd replaced after buying the place; also the claw-foot tub Jo had wanted (over my objections) to turn into a planter. I found a trunk filled with vaguely recalled table-linen, a box of mildewy cassette tapes (groups like the Delfonics, Funkadelic, and. 38 Special), several cartons of old dishes. There was a life down here, but ultimately not a very interesting one. Unlike the life I'd sensed in Jo's studio, this one hadn't been cut short but evolved out of, shed like old skin, and that was all right. Was, in fact, the natural order of things. There was a photo album on a shelf of knickknacks and I took it down, both curious and wary. No bombshells this time, however; nearly all the pix were landscape shots of Sara Laughs as it had been when we bought it. I found a picture of Jo in bellbottoms, though (her hair parted in the middle and white lipstick on her mouth), and one of Michael Noonan wearing a flowered shirt and muttonchop sideburns that made me cringe (the bachelor Mike in the photo was a Barry White kind of guy I didn't want to recognize and yet did). I found Jo's old broken treadmill, a rake I'd want if I was still around here come fall, a snowblower I'd want even more if I was around come winter, and several cans of paint. What I didn't find was any plastic owls. My insulation-thumping friend had been right. Upstairs the telephone started ringing. I hurried to answer it, going out through the cellar door and then reaching back in to flick off the lightswitch. This amused me and at the same time seemed like perfectly normal behavior . . . just as being careful not to step on sidewalk cracks had seemed like perfectly normal behavior to me when I was a kid. And even if it wasn't normal, what did it matter? I'd only been back at Sara for three days, but already I'd postulated Noonan's First Law of Eccentricity: when you're on your own, strange behavior really doesn't seem strange at all. I snagged the cordless. ‘Hello?' ‘Hi, Mike. It's Ward.' ‘That was quick.' ‘The file-room's just a short walk down the hall,' he said. ‘Easy as pie. There's only one thing on Jo's calendar for the second week of November in 1993. It says ‘S-Ks of Maine, Freep, 11 A.M.' That's on Tuesday the sixteenth. Does it help?' ‘Yes,' I said. ‘Thank you, Ward. It helps a lot.' I broke the connection and put the phone back in its cradle. Yes, it helped. S-Ks of Maine was Soup Kitchens of Maine. Jo had been on their board of directors from 1992 until her death. Freep was Freeport. It must have been a board meeting. They had probably discussed plans for feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving . . . and then Jo had driven the seventy or so miles to the TR in order to take delivery of two plastic owls. It didn't answer all the questions, but aren't there always questions in the wake of a loved one's death? And no statute of limitations on when they come up. The UFO voice spoke up then. While you're right here by the phone, it said, why not call Bonnie Amudson? Say hi, see how she's doing? Jo had been on four different boards during the nineties, all of them doing charitable work. Her friend Bonnie had persuaded her onto the Soup Kitchens board when a seat fell vacant. They had gone to a lot of the meetings together. Not the one in November of 1993, presumably, and Bonnie could hardly be expected to remember that one particular meeting almost five years later . . . but if she'd saved her old minutes-of-the-meeting sheets . . . Exactly what the fuck was I thinking of? Calling Bonnie, making nice, then asking her to check her December 1993 minutes? Was I going to ask her if the attendance report had my wife absent from the November meeting? Was I going to ask if maybe Jo had seemed different that last year of her life? And when Bonnie asked me why I wanted to know, what would I say? Give me that, Jo had snarled in my dream of her. In the dream she hadn't looked like Jo at all, she'd looked like some other woman, maybe like the one in the Book of Proverbs, the strange woman whose lips were as honey but whose heart was full of gall and wormwood. A strange woman with fingers as cold as twigs after a frost. Give me that, it's my dust-catcher. I went to the cellar door and touched the knob. I turned it . . . then let it go. I didn't want to look down there into the dark, didn't want to risk the chance that something might start thumping again. It was better to leave that door shut. What I wanted was something cold to drink. I went into the kitchen, reached for the fridge door, then stopped. The magnets were back in a circle again, but this time four letters and one number had been pulled into the center and lined up there. They spelled a single lower-case word: hello There was something here. Even back in broad daylight I had no doubt of that. I'd asked if it was safe for me to be here and had received a mixed message . . . but that didn't matter. If I left Sara now, there was nowhere to go. I had a key to the house in Derry, but matters had to be resolved here. I knew that, too. ‘Hello,' I said, and opened the fridge to get a soda. ‘Whoever or whatever you are, hello.'