Guess who’s coming to dinner

Benjamin Unruh

English 10, Lord of the Flies assignment

Mrs. Gwalteny

12/6/2009

Guess Who’s coming to dinner

Me: Thank you all for joining me for dinner I hope you enjoy the Turkey, I did it myself.

Simon: Thank you for inviting us into your house, and to enjoy thanksgiving with you.

[Ralph and Roger remain silent. Ralph seems to be unsure of himself, but eyes the turkey hungrily. Seizing the opportunity I begin the thanksgiving tradition.]

Me: Before we eat I would like us to each say what we are most thankful for. Simon if you don’t mind could you please start?

Simon: Um, I am thankful for nature and the peace and quiet that it gives so that I can be alone. It allows me time to think. (pg.55-57)

Ralph: Sucks to your nature, Simon! I am thankful for my ponies back home, where I could feed them sugar. (pg.98)

Me: Ralph there is no need to criticize Simon; I personally like the quiet that can be found in Nature. Roger what things are you thankful for?

[After an awkward silence Roger gives a quick answer.]

Roger: Thankful for no Adults to tell me around on the island.

Me: Why are you than for no adults? Doesn’t that mean Jack becomes chief and the boys become chaotic?

Roger: Jack is a sissy and does not know how to use power, much less true power. But I know how and Jack is an easy boy to manipulate. He has no back-bone, just like Ralph.

Ralph: I do to have a back-bone! And who are you to say anything you just threw nuts and rocks at little kids from behind the trees, hiding like a baby! (pg.62)

[Trying to get a hold on the conversation before it to turns to chaos, I try to calm Ralph and Roger down by saying what I am thankful for.]

Me: There is no need to be fighting you two.  Now, I am thankful for first of all the food; and secondly for being able to have you over for Thanksgiving Dinner.

[Ralph and Roger have stopped bickering, but continue to glare at each other. Simon looks as if he wanted to shrink back into his chair. I am satisfied for the moment, but also know that it could flair back up at any moment.]

Me: Now that we have said what we are thankful for, would you mind carving the bird Roger?

Roger: [Looking greedily at the turkey]. Sure I’ll cut it.

[As Roger deftly carves the turkey, Simon begins to perk back up. Ralph stares with a determined look at one of the legs. I stand up, and go to the kitchen to get the rest of the food. After which I begin to pore the water.]

Simon: What are you going to do when we leave Ben?

Me: [Unsure of myself] Well I will probably wash the dishes and then do some of my home work and then get ready for bed. Why do you ask?

Simon: Well I was just wondering if I could help with the dishes. Sort of like when I helped make the shelters back on the island. (pg. 50)

Me: Thank you for your offer.

[Ralph, not wanting to be out done, offers to clean up the table after we are done eating.]

Ralph: I’ll clean up the table when were all done with the food.

[Roger is done carving the turkey and everyone simultaneously digs into the food, and begins to eat. As the guests and the host eat, the conversation dies down, and only the sound of chewing is heard.]

Cause and Effect essay

Benjamin Unruh
English 10
10/2/09
Cause and Effect Essay

In the early USA there was a predicament over slavery and Negro rights. The country of the United States of America was split into two opinions, for and against slavery; this also split the country into two in the sense of north and south, the north being for slave freedom and the south for slavery. With constant events such as slaves running to the north and northerners trying to free slaves trouble was inevitable.
In 1861 the south declared independence from the United States causing a civil war. The north did not want to start a war though but neither did they want to lose the southern lands and resources. As a result the north decided to forcefully keep the south a part of the union. This of course led to civil war. The north and the south entered a war that would cost six hundred and twenty thousand lives. The deaths belonged to both solders, and innocent lives. The north won the war but the cost of rebuilding the south was tremendous. The north kept the Sothern lands even in all of its destruction and loss of economy but they were willing to pay the price. The Negros where given freedom but the price in blood did not pay for no discrimination. The Negros where discriminated against for years to come and where still treated as animals if not animals for labor.
The country of the USA was reunited after the war, and was together stronger than before. The North had to pay for the south’s repairs, and for its economy to be reconstructed. Because of this, European countries no longer traded with the south as an individual but with the North and the South as one country.
Though the war was over and the North the victories, there were individuals who were still angry. One individual took his anger out on the North’s president, now the North and the South’s president, Abraham Lincoln. This individual was John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. As a result he was shot in a barn house while being chased and cornered by the police. He then bled to death afterwards. The president was succeeded by Andrew Johnson.

Amnesia

Benjamin Unruh

English 10

Short story Final Draft

Amnesia

The cold autumn wind blew across New York Central Park where the trees were beginning to surrender their golden leaves to the sky’s breath. Trees stood bare, yellow and red, holding onto the cold pale ground covered in stiff blades of grass. Tall metallic buildings surrounded the trees, the park, and the pond which was now giving spray to the air. At the center of this chilled fiery garden beneath the trees and overlooking the pond was a wooden bench, where a man in only a thin white shirt and a pair of black jeans slept. In his mid thirties, his face had the lines born of a cruel smile, but as he slumbered he had an aura of peace about him. Then the cold sky’s breath began to cut through his clothes and stabbed at his skin. Sitting up, the man began to hug himself to keep from shivering. The place was not where he remembered last, what did he remember last? The leaves danced about on the ground and spun around his body, ignoring him. Trying to remember when he had come to the park, the man began to stroll to the exit. No need to rush. Well might as well get a something to eat. Walking to a hot dog stand he orders a chili dog. He liked those. When was the last time he had a chili dog? “That’ll be a dollar ninety, sir.” Searching for his wallet to no avail the man gave back the chili dog with his apologies. Walking out of the park the man stopped at the road. Which way to go? What to do? When the man was unable to find his wallet back at the stand he also noticed that he had no phone. He decided to go to the Police station to see if they could retrieve his items. As he walked to the station he took in the buildings around him as if for the first time. The cars seemed to be sliding in and out of a metallic river of all colors conceivable to man’s desires. There were side shops and mega shops, electronic bill boards and mega stores with attractive clothing or mouth drenching foods all sitting on display. He took in the road names and the road signs like “West to the air port” and “North to Main,” and “South to Pennsylvania.” People flowed around him, they nudged him and shoved him way. They began to crush him and throw him about. The crowd became a torrent, no longer a flow. There was the occasional, “Excuse me” or “Get out of my way,” but nothing of an apology was uttered even once. The police station was just a huge white building with Greek columns and designs that gave an intimidating impression. The doors were at least thrice the man’s height and wide enough to allow a car to enter without hitting its side mirrors. There was a single flight of steps leading to the door. The interior of the building was bright yet seemingly small compared to the exterior. The people had not changed; they were still in a rush. Men, and some women, were wearing dark blue uniforms with guns at their sides. They gave the man a glance and maybe a second glance at his clothes that were all he had but none seemed to care about anything else. The front desk was a large counter of marble topped with well polished oak and covered in papers being filled out by a hoard of citizens. “You want some thin’ man?”A man with dark skin and black eyes and no hair on his head was looking at him; he wore the same blue uniform and also had a gun at his side. The officer in uniform repeated his question and waited for an answer. The man answered the officer “Ya, I think I was robbed.” He paused when the officer rolled his eyes. “I can’t find my wallet or my house.” House? Where had that come from? The officer behind the desk growled, “What’s yer’ name? Robbed? You look like a street boy to me. Well what’s your name? Do I have to spell it out for you? Hey!” The officer began tapping a finger on the counter. The man pulled in his mind, like any fisherman would his catch. “Um, Thomas, I think.” “You think? Come on man, don’t give me this crap. Thomas, eh? Well Thomas, can you come with me a moment?” There was no question in the officer’s voice. “Sure, where to? Got a suspect already? You guys must be good.” The officer only grunted his impatience. “Move.” The officer took him back through a thick door and up a short flight of stairs to the next floor. There were doors down the hallway. The officer led the man to a open area that was filled with waist high dividers. In each cubical was a person in uniform or in white. Thomas felt insecure for some reason and could not understand why. Why do I feel that this is not where I want to be? The feeling began to tear at his mind as the officer brought him to a glass room with only one desk and one woman inside. The woman wore the dark blue uniform and the gun, her bronze hair fell loosely over one shoulder. She sat nonchalantly in her swivel chair and held an open folder in her hand. The woman only spared a glance at the officer before returning to the folder but she pointed to a chair in front of her desk. Thomas waited but the officer did not take the seat so Thomas took it. The seat had a soft cushion and back but to Thomas’ disappointment it did not have the ability to swivel. The insecure feeling was overpowering him now. “Chief, this is Thomas. Thomas this is Chief Kornwell.” the officer’s voice was flat. “He can’t seem to find his wallet or his home.” The officer chuckled,, “Houses seem to disappear on us nowadays, huh, Chief?” “Thank you, Lewis. You can get back to work.” Chief’s voice was harsh as if worn by weariness and exhaustion. “We can begin looking for your belongings later, but could you answer a few questions for me first?” Without waiting for Thomas’ consent she begins to toss out seemingly random questions, most of which he couldn’t remember or didn’t know . “How old are you?” and “Where have you been this past week?” or “What have you done this week?” Thomas did not know. “Mrs. Chief how is this going to help me find my stuff?” Thomas’ voice was dry. “It appears that you do not recall anything that happened in a while so I might as well have the clinic down stairs have a look at you.” Her voice was full and strong, not at all submissive. “Why would I need a clinic,” he paused, “Chief?” “Well, for one, you seem to have lost your memory and you have a nice little bump on the side of your head and a pretty scab on your neck.” As she spoke those words Thomas became aware of the injuries and quickly suppressed the urge to touch them. * * * After finishing up with the nurse and the chief, Thomas left the building and wandered off. But before he could go very far an idea struck him. Turning back and up the stairs, through the doors and into Chief Kornwell’s room, Thomas wondered what the chief would think of this. Thomas opened the door and spoke those fateful words. “I wanna join the force.” * * * The gun felt good in his hands as he aimed and fired round after round not missing more than twice. His hands seemed to know the gun and the gun was something he could use. The physical conditioning tests were easy too; he remembered working out in an old gym that was his. His? He didn’t own any thing much less a gym. It was the papers that got him down though, he couldn’t write very well and only barely passed the writing exam. Over all Thomas did very well in his recruitment and training. His strength seemed to be in the field where the action was, but he was not at all good with reporting in afterwards. Over the course of a month Thomas became one of the most called on officers on the force for his ability to handle situations and still make it out alive. He took the calls when a shooting took place or when there was a suspected drug deal happening or when two gangs were supposed to meet. It was at one of those meetings that Thomas remembered. “In position at point ‘A’. Over to you, Charles,” Thomas spoke into the radio. “Roger that, Tom, position ‘B’ secured.” Charles went on, “How you doin’ Mike?” “No sign of the targets at point ‘C’. We now have the meeting place surrounded and secured.” Mike switched to HQ. “We are in position Head Quarters. “Target suspect should arrive in four minutes if our source was right.” As Mike was relaying the last words to HQ the warehouse went quiet. The air dripped with anticipation and suspense onto the officer’s skin. Their breaths were silent and controlled. Their guns were loaded and unlocked, their ears were alert as any given radar system. The light was dim and dust drifted in the air. There was no warning when six men came in from the back doorway with not a gun between them. The only thing they carried was a brief case each. They went straight to the middle of the room and put the cases down and opened them. Three of them were packed full of little white bags while the other three were gun cases with three pistils a piece. Two minutes went by. Then three. The six men waited without making any move to talk or to hide or even run away. They were only silhouettes in the dusty light. Four minutes. The men were joined by another group of silhouettes. This group had eight men who held a sense of power in the way they walked. The dust spun around them giving them a mystical appearance. They stopped in front of the six cases and six of the men from the new party knelt down to inspect them. The remaining two watched the original men. “This is what they promised, Boss,” The voice resonated in Thomas’ head over and over. Memories began to drip back into his mind. That was Mitch Olsand. He went on “Fifty pounds of heroin in each case and three cases of 5mm pistols and ammo. They did good Boss.” “Give’m the cash and let’s get something to eat. We got ourselves a busy day tomorrow.” Nike! That was Nike Kiromishi! Memories began to flow into his brain and wear away at his skull. The other six must be George, Jason, Reoul, Simmons, Peter and who was the last guy? That must be the replacement for me. So Nike has taken my place as boss. All of a sudden the radio whispered only one word, “GO.” Charles and his man stood in front of the back door while Mike and Thomas walked to confront the group. Charles’ guy and Thomas’ man stood to his left while Mike was to his right. The next moments were a blur and would never disappear from Thomas’ memory. “Stand away from the cases and put your hands in the air!” Mike bellowed his commands as if he were the creator of earth. There was a loud ‘bang’ and Mike gave a cry and went down. Two more gun shots and the two men to Thomas’ left went down. Charles and his man ran up to back Thomas up, but another two shots put them on the ground. “How’s the business gone while I was out, Nike?” Thomas’ head was now an undisturbed pond filled with his past memories. The look on the fourteen men was that of astonishment and fear. “You’re gonna want your gun Nike cause those six are the ones who thought they could take me out last month.” Instantly the six began to run for the doors but Nike and the other seven pulled out their guns and fired. The smoke and dust cleared. “Nice to have you back, Boss.” the men stood around Thomas, and he remembered. * * * The light shined into Chief Kornwell’s office and onto the stack of papers on her desk. The rubbish-bin stood full of torn and crumpled papers, spewing them like foam onto the floor. The floor was clean except around the bin and the desk where papers had fallen off. The swivel chair was frozen as was the Chief herself who was staring blankly at the man who had brought the news of Thomas’ identity. “Thank you, Lewis. You may go now.” The man left and went through the maze of cubicles and the hall, down the stairs and out the thick door into the reception area, and froze. Men in uniform lay on the ground everywhere, men in pools of blood and men who silently cried out but with no sound coming from their still forms. Instantly, Lewis drew his weapon on the nine men standing in the middle of the chaos, the men who were chaos, the man who was king of chaos, the man who knew peace no longer. His hand shattered and his gun flew over his shoulder. Lewis could only look at the remains of his hand lying on the ground before his kneecaps also splintered. He fell with a look of horror on his face and saw a man in front of him who showed no resemblance to the kind man who held a sense of peace and youth about him. This Thomas was cold, hard, and grim. Lewis could not scream to warn the others and he could not feel his pain. He could only see, and even his sight began to dissipate. Thomas and his men walked past him through the door and up the stairs. Lewis died before he could hear the gunshot that was followed by a cry of despair and of death, which in turn was followed by another eight more shots and more screams, until only silence remained. The king of chaos ruled and peace could do nothing.

Mastering the Falls – Narrative Essay

Ben Unruh

Narrative essay

Mrs. Gwalteny

9/15/09

Mastering the Falls

Crystal water rushed down onto my protected head, and sprayed down my back. The moment exhilarating, glorious, vigorous, but that did not change the situation: 42 meters suspended in the air! Hanging, dangling from ropes with only mere rocks for support to keep me from falling to my death below. I wore a helmet to break the fall of water against my head or to stop falling rocks from breaking my neck. My boots only hindered me and did not have any purpose in the passage down, only to slow me down.

After a three hour hike to a beautiful bubbling creek, that seemed to pour its water down stream in a crystal spray, we waded down the final few meters of stream that lead to our final destination. It occurred to me that this might well be just that: My final destination. That truly was an unpleasant thought. If the bolder didn’t hold or if the rope was old then there could be a fall to the shallow water bellow.

The ropes were attached to one large bolder not much smaller than a car, but much bigger or heavier than any man alive, as it should be to anchor men and women alike off and down the edge of the stream.  The rope now attached like a leach to the first girl’s harness ready to support any body down to the pebbles down below.  The form of my friend’s body vanished over the edge of the waterfall. Moment and moment again we stood waiting and waiting. The rope then, at the height of our tension went slack. There was a call from her that she was ok, and if she was ok, than we would be too.

The rope tested for strength with a quick tug and I went over.  With my legs in front of me, I bouncing off the wall of stone that stood behind a wall of flowing crystal, that shattered over and over as I rebounded off the stone. The spray hit me like a cold breeze with a touch of last summer rain well into the fall. But it was a hard rain; and it did not stop, not until the mountain itself was made to bow down in the final days of creation. I repelled down the side of the water fall and all too soon, dropped. My footing was gone and my mind was in a torrent of thoughts that were not relevant or logical, yet I still fell. The moss patch was slippery made even slicker by the constant flow of water. This was something I learned and survived unharmed to warn the rest of my class who were yet to come. The rope caught as the man at the top strained to keep me from falling any further down. I gained control once more and was safely down the forty two meter water fall.

Sitting below watching the rest of my class repel down the water fall was in, a way, relaxing. Watching them make their mistakes and thinking of my own was strangely peaceful. Almost anything seemed peaceful after reaching the bottom of the falls. They seemed to be a confusion of mixed feelings about the adventure down the falls. Finally we were united as a class at the bottom and were ready to head back to camp, on the other side of the mountain we had just scaled down. We were to hike back, but none objected and none complained.