It's been twenty years since I worked as a councilor at Camp Valleyway. Twenty years that I've tried to forget what I've saw, lying to myself and others about what I know happened. And for many of those years I succeeded in fooling myself, pushing the dark thoughts to hidden place in my mind, but after reading the newspaper today I can lie no longer.
Let me begin my story.
I started work when I was fifteen, spending my summers away at Camp Valleyway. The camp was nestled in the foothills of the Appalachians, cupped in a valley between two mountains with a natural lake at the center, its waters stained murky with southern clay. I worked as a swim instructor, and each week a new set of campers traveled from across the state to experience the outdoors.
I still remember the exact day it happened. Tuesday, fifth week of camp,
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Logan, the head of watersports and about five years older than me, sat across of of the picnic tables, his small eyes looking over the lake. Logan kept his hair in a tight buzz cut, revealing a scar around the back of his head, and when he spoke, it was in a deep drawl.
"Mike, watch what you're doing," He growled, noticing I had skipped a stitch, "I only got two eyes, and there's too much going on for me to watch everyone today."
"Got it." I said, and put my head down. Logan kept a tight watch on his crew, but now his focus was on the lake. Ed and Ted, two twin councilors with one brain between them, were teaching a beginner's swimming course. Ed and Ted always made Logan uneasy, and had earned a spot of first and second on his mental list of instructors-who-were-most-likely-to-screw-up-next.
So when Ed, the smarter of two, came sprinting up from the lakeside so fast his long legs spewed a dirt exhaust behind him, Logan was ready.
Ed opened his mouth, words wheezing in between each intake breath and his wet hair plastered over one
“Westbury Court” was told in a span of several years, when she was only a young teenager during the tragedy occurred and from then on, it had always haunted her. There is no way for her to entirely dismiss this incident from her memory other than moving forward by learning the consequence of being unmindful and realize the importance of “Sometimes it’s too late to say, ‘I shouldn’t have.’” If she is unable to do this, then she will have no choice but to consistently feel that guilty conscience of putting the two children in danger hanging over
Although, Conventional wisdom dictates that the age at which children started work was connected to the poverty of the family. Griffith presents two autobiographies to put across her point. Autobiography of Edward Davis who lacked even the basic necessities of life because of his father’s heavy drinking habit and was forced to join work at a small age of six, whereas the memoir of Richard Boswell tells the opposite. He was raised up in an affluent family who studied in a boarding school. He was taken out of school at the age of thirteen to become a draper’s apprentice.
In conclusion, the boys in the Husky Clipper, the boys’ boat, turned into men when they started rowing. They became solemn and they realized that America was more than a bunch of people but one body of hard work. They embodied the American spirit and showed Berlin what America is. When the boys’ rowing career was up they helped in World War II. The boy’s never forgot the day they won gold, with a sick crew member. The boys had to overcome hardships, to work hard, and they never stopped being a team in order to win gold in
Morace, Robert A. "The Swimmer: Overview." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.Literature Resource Center. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Cheever, John W. “The Swimmer.” Charters, Ann. Story and Its Writer. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Print.
The Swimmer is of a suburban man, Neddy Merrill, who decides to return home from work by swimming eight miles through all of his neighbors' pools along the way. At each pool he encounters a former mistress, distant and unfriendly neighbours and other symbols of a bitter, frustrated life. To Neddy, this is his epic day's journey. However, when he arrives home, his family has left him. The swimmer has made it home; but too much has changed.
From the beginning of the aforementioned short story, The Swimmer, Cheever sets the tone with lots of bright, fun, youthful descriptions. Our story’s protagonist, Neddy, is envisioned as having the “especial slenderness of youth” and compares him to a “summer’s day.” By giving us the impression that this man
pile against his chest. Then he sat back and looked at the water with bright excited eyes.”
The first thing I heard was Virginia Beach vacation, and then in excitement I ran and got my stuff and started to pack. The part I was most excited about was that the hotel is a beachfront hotel room.I was so excited because I love the beach and I really wanted to go back to the beachfront hotel and stay there. I went there when I was in second grade. I have gotten to go there a few times since second grade, but I did not get to stay there overnight.
It’s true, dads been fired. Into my second week in school, my mom picks me up from school. We pull into the driveway of our unfinished built house right across from the street from the school. Currently at this time we were living in a rental house on Cobbett’s Pond, which is to small for the five of us. This was at the moment, but now we have our new house which is built across the street from the high school. We already have enough stress on us. I do not want to go look at the house, and then my mom stops at the beginning of the drive way. She says “Zoë I have to tell you something”. I said “What?” She said dad got fired today. Everything starts rushing towards my mind, the feeling of rage, anger, sadness, and why?. Tears start welting out
One day in the middle of the summer, this was the day i have been looking forward to all summer.It was thewday my family gets to go to Cedar Point . My mother has been saying “This is the time you will able to ride the Top Thrill Dragster.” We have been measuring how tall i have been for weeks to make sure i could ride the Top Thrill Dragster.I have been waiting all summer to be able to ride it and the day finally came that i was tall enough about two weeks ago.
“Er-right, Gavin. So please tell me again why you’re here?” Marquis asked and swiveled on his chair to face his guest, forcing glob of straight rich brown hair to hang down into his eyes. It was evidence to the fact that a shower was much needed to cleanse all the oil shining off his hair. He reached u...
In “The Swimmer,” There is one main character named, Neddy Merrill. Throughout the story there are other less talked about characters, Neddy’s friends and wife, Lucinda. These characters help us unde...
I was a captive to Dad’s schedule, and I had no way to come and go when I pleased. The Bobby project was languishing, as I was too busy playing with the Papworths to complete the work that still needed to be done. I figured rowing to town in the Helen would be a good trial run to see how to go about maneuvering a skiff to a chosen destination. With Hughie to show me the ropes, I felt this would be a great learning opportunity.
As I was standing along the football field watching the game, someone came up from behind me and jumped on my back in a joking manner. Since this was a normal act of his, I had no doubt as to who it was, Kaimyn Anderson. “Where’s your brother at, I’ve been looking for him all game?” he asks. “He is over there under the scoreboard passing football with some people,” I answered. As he took off running in Logan’s direction, I placed my attention back on the football game, only to be interrupted by someone alarmingly speaking over the intercom.