Appleby College - Argus Yearbook (Oakville, Ontario Canada)

Page 57 text:

thing to do, something inside me - something which couldn ' t be ignored - said it was wrong. Then I saw the clipper in all its splendour, sailing across the bay below our house. It was battling the waves, and defeating them. The sails, boasting their majestic curve, welcomed each new gust of wind, circling it round in their billows. The dark blue seas, with its foaming white caps, parted in difference before the piercing bow of the graceful craft. I shall never forget the burning desire for reality, for a dream come true, which I felt as the pic- ture faded from my mind. As if in a final effort to sway me from my intentions, I saw mother, kneeling by her bed, sobbing. It was a sound which I had heard often since father ' s death, for I am a light sleeper, and had been awakened more than once by it. The next morning, I would rise to find her hard at work over some sort of furniture, which only the more affluent could afford to have restored to its former elegance. The scene broke sharply from my thoughts as I once again turned my attention to the boat in the window. I hesitated a moment, searching for some irrefutable reasoning which might prompt me to do as I wished. Although I found none, good sense soon gave way to fervent desire. Throwing aside all feelings of guilt, I marched decisively through the front door of the little shop. Returning home, I was not the proud young admiral I had hoped to be. My head was not held high, nor was my chest thrown out in an attempt to do justice to my new ship. Rather, I was ashamed of what I had done, and as I followed the winding Ravine Road , which led to our house, I felt a growing anxiety about how I would explain my actions. Again my thoughts turned to mother, and again I heard the sobbing. I began to see through the flimsy excuses I had heaped, one upon the other, as I had stood admiring the boat in the window. Anxiety quickly deepened into fear as thoughts of punishment rushed into my head. I began to walk faster, no, began to run as children aften do when tormented by guilt or fright. When I could stand it no longer, I left the road, and rushed towards the ravine. It was nearing suppertime, when I rounded the final bend before home, and seeing mother at the front door, I quickened my pace. My face in tears, I threw myself into her outstretched arms and began my lengthly explanation of how, upon arriving at the grocer ' s, and reaching into my pocket for the pound note, I had discovered it to be missing. The fact that I was late, I attributed to my having retraced my steps several times, but to no avail. The money was indeed, lost. She kissed my forehead. Don ' t worry Johnathan, she said. We ' ll find some way to make it up. Now, go and clean yourself. Supper ' s waiting. Walking towards the wash basin, I glanced over at the decript little boat, set in the comer of the room. My thought strayed to the ravine, and the once-beautiful clipper which lay in its clinging grasp, ravaged by the onrushing current. How nice it would have been Alasdair Halliday

Page 56 text:

At the shrill voice of my mother, scurried up several shabby, wooden steps which led from a tranquil little bay to our sorely neglected home. From the treetops, its leaky roof looked rather like a crossword puzzle for all the missing tiles. I had a small, model sailboat tucked un- der my arm, and as I ran across the yard, being slightly off balance because of it, stumbled, letting the boat crash to the ground. Picking it up, I brushed away the dirt and inspected it closely for any new damage. To an untrained eye, it would have been impossible to detect any change in the boat ' s appearance, yet I noticed another tear in the sail, as well as a small crack along the port hull. You see, through many years of rough use, it had acquired a great number of such flaws, of which I knew every one. It was about a foot in length, and in addition to its single mast, it had a small rudder which was held fast to the stern by a pair of upholsterer ' s tacks, placed stragetically at either end of the shaft. It was, indeed, a sorry sight, and though I had often dreamt of owning one of the magnificent vessels in the town hobby show, I had refrained from asking mother for one, knowing it to be far beyond our means. Glancing through the open door at the rear of our house, I saw my mother, bending over a tattered sofa, rather greyish in colour, which someone had left a day or two ago. I recall their having said that the frame was in fine con- dition, and could she find time to recover it, for a small fee . Since father ' s death, two years ago, mother had tried hard to make ends meet in this way. Nevertheless, it had always been a struggle. As I entered, she rose, brushing away a few stray hairs which had fallen down her forehead. Johnathan, she said, I ' d like you to go the grocer ' s this af- ternoon. There are several things we need, and I ' ll be toe busy to make the trip. I was rather suprised at this, as I had never been entrusted with such a task before. However, I tried not to show my delight, for I was overcome with a sense of maturity, and wished to appear outwardly so. Stuffing the list of necessities and a pound note in my shirt pocket, I rushed out the front door, and down the road towards the village. As I approached the narrow rows of houses which marked the edge of town, it occurred to me that a short trip to the hobby store would not take me far from my destination. That was my initial mistake, for within a few minutes I found myself standing outside the big display window of the shop, gazing with awe and wonder at the most gorgeous ship I had ever seen. It was a model clipper, about two feet in length, with three sets of sails, a gleaming wood finish and detail more beautiful than had seemed possible. Below the clip- per, in large black letters was written: SALE - 17 - A multitude of thoughts raced through my mind as I felt the pound note in my pocket. Mum wouldn ' t mind , I said to myself, even though I knew that she would. It really isn ' t a lot of money. Yet, I realized that it was. I ' ve had my old boat for years now, and I think I ' m en- titled to a new one. And after all, it is on sale. These chances don ' t come along often, and one really ought to take advantage of them. I argued in this way for quite some time, and although I was thoroughly convinced that buying the boat was the proper

Page 58 text:

THE GREAT ATTEMPT Two tickets for Cinema One, please. said the boy and the cashier paused. I couldn ' t help overhearing this, as I was next in the cinema line up. The cashier gave the two boys a cool, long glance. Cinema One is a restricted movie , she said. Restricted to what? questioned the boy. Impatiently she replied, You have to be accompanied by an adult. Why? said the boy. She indicated the sign on the wall, pointing her long bright red finger nail. The sign mentioned the fact that persons under 18 had to be accompanied by an adult. How does that apply to us? questioned the taller of the two boys. You have to be 18, said the cashier. How do you know we ' re not 18? asked the boy. You have not even asked us how old we are? All right, how old are you? she questioned. Eighteen, and my friend is 18 and four months the boy replied. O.K., look at these, our social insurance cards, they show that we work. The cashier responded, Yes, but you do not have to be 18 to have one. doggedness. Finally the cashier said, I ' ll just call the manager over to settle this little matter. The boys looked at one another and one turned to look at me. and said, She doesn ' t believe us. Would you accompany us? As he was standing on tiptoes, how could I resist? S. Gatrell JAMES HALL BROOKS IS AN UNUSUAL PERSON James Anthony Hall Brooks is unusual. In Canada, one of the criteria of abnormality is to have been born in the province of Newfoundland. This fact that our subject was born in Goose Bay, Labrador, therefore, has obvious phychological implications about his mental capacities. There is even a peculiar aspect to his name; inherent in its hyphen, for there is none. To aggravate matters, his name is continually being misspelt. Perhaps this is the root of the problem? Does James Hall Brooks have an identity crisis? Is this lack of cohesion so evident in his surname contributive to a fractured mind? I would tend to dismiss this as mere speculation. Were we to look more closely at the facts, however, we would indeed find something unusual with Mr. Brooks. His room is decorated in the early Doggerel style. On his walls, hang posters on behalf of the Progressive Conservative Party, and pictures of Napoleon Bonaparte, and a boy in the death throes of starvation. Surely THIS is the mark of an aberration of the mental processes. His library merely adds support to such a surmise, for in it are contained such dubious works as The Theory and Practice of Guerilla Warfare , an Introduction to Or- nithology , Watership Down , and the Holy Bible. James Hall Brooks is also rather unusual to look at. He has that emaciated appearance characteristic of the intellectual. In accordance with this he has been bestowed with the sobriquets of Pretzel , String Bean or Stickman. Otherwise, his countenance is nondescript, ex- cepting a ludicrous pair of glasses which are alway perched lopsidedly on the bridge of his nose. HB ' s psychological make-up is extremely complex, however, and I doubt whether even he suspects half the truth about it. Whatever the diagnosis be, there are some decidedly unusual aspects to it. For in- stance, he likes Latin. He is a latent heterosexual besides, although he is apt to assign this to diffidence. His political views are somewhat suspect, as are his motives in wanting to go to England when everyone else is trying to leave that country. He abhors decadence, especially Western style. And finally, he is one of that curious breed of man or semi-man, a harrier. The cumultive result of such nonsensical traits point, almost conclusively, to the fact that there is definitely something the matter with him. I know, but I just thought .... ' I listened to the conversation with some amusement, since I had then reached the great age of 21, but folk behind me were getting impatient. However, the boys were quite persistent and I couldn ' t help admiring their Despite all of Mr. Brooks ' idiosyncracies, eccentricities, and weird and wonderful ways , he may be consoled by the fact that he is a mere ONE one out of THOUSANDS of unusual people. It should be remembered, too, that it is these weird people as a whole who collectively com- prise the most dubious of all classes - the average, or THE NORMAL. Abnormality is the essence of normality. Such being the case, James Anthony Hall Brooks simply reeks of it. James Hall Brooks