Balmoral Hall School - Optima Anni Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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is A g coat was made o-f vowel letters and his trousers were made of consonants. When 'he 'finally spoke to her, letters grouped into words filed out of his mouth like sparklers in the 'dark room. Frances was dumb with astonishment, f-or the 'letters spelled out this message, 'Willyou come with me to the 'Land of Letters Into Words', for I am Mr. Alpha- bet? I heard your questions and I'd like 'to help you find the answers. With a whispered yes , Frances was transformed into a 'tiny being, and they were both up in the air heading for the Land of Letters Into Words. As they drew near, Frances could see miniature houses in the shape of letters. Mr. Alphabet ex- plained to her that some letters were 'much more prosperous than others. A , he said, was the hardest-working and therefore was the most prom- inent. He also added saying, 'B', 'C', and 'D', 'A's' next door neighbors, are not ha-lf as busy as he is, and are always borrowing him to make words as bad, dab, and cad. 'C' is helping out 'K' to make its living in words like pick, stick, and brick. 'E' he continued as they came to his house, is almost as busy as 'A' is, but does not work as hard because the majority of words 'he is in, 'E' is not pronounced as in name, mane, and lane. He had a quarrel with 'I' once about which of them would come first in a word when they appeared together. They made a compromise. Here they are spelling it with the other letters now. Frances saw the letters perform and it read: 'I' before 'E' Except after 'C' Or when used as 'A' As in neighbour or weigh. They walked along from house to house until they came to a duplex which had on one side a and the other side a Mr. Alphabet ex- plained saying, 'Q', I am afraid, has an infer- iority complex and needs 'U' to make it sound properly. This also helps 'U's', unemployment situ- ation, receiving the least work of all the vowels. At the end of the road lived X , Y and The tiny man told 'her that these letters were little used. However, Y served in two ways, as a con- sonant and as a vowel and so 'had extra value. Y became used as a vowel when I was being over- worked and was able to use Y's help. Do 'you know the answers to all your questions now, Fran- ces? Mr, Alphabet asked. Frances was about to answer when she realized the question had not come from Mr. Alphabet but from her mother standing in 'her bedroom. Half awaken and 'half asleep she asked, Where are Mr. Alphabet and the letters? Her mother said, Frances, what on earth are you talking about? Are you stil-l worrying over your spelling? Oh, Mother, I know all the answers now, for Mr. Alphabet 'has helped me to understand how to put letters into words. A bewildered mother and ia 'happy daughter went down to breakfast. Mr. Alphabet had van- ished into the mythical Land of Letters Into Words . Joanne Wilson, Grade IX. Intermediate Literary C ompelilion Prize Story A cleverly-handled, amusing little story Amazon Adventure The moon shone at its very best over the still lake. Not a sound could be heard. The eerie dark- ness was terrifying. All of a sudden, a dark shadow shot out of the reeds at the side of the lake. What was it? Should I investigate? No, that wouldn't be the thing to do. just wait. just wait and see what it is. As the moving object came closer I could 'see the out- line of a canoe. How skilful the -canoer was. Would it be . . . Yes, it was Swift Cheeta! He stopped silently beside me and I climbed in. Not a word was spoken between us. Then, picking up the other paddle, we moved on. Swiftly 'we paddled up the lake, staying close to shore. Occasionally a sound 'broke the silence as we dis- turbed a frog or other animal sitting on the bank. Fina-lly we were out of the lake and on 'the river near the deadliest of al-1 places. Dangerous animals, fish and reptiles made their 'homes on its banks or in its waters. It was said 'that huge snakes would 'yank both paddle and paddler out of a canoe and swallow him alive. I 'can't believe such things but maybe they are true. It is also said that the ferocious pirana, a small but deadly fish which tears the flesh from its prey, lives in these waters. As we 'travelled up river, I began to 'think over my mission. To bring back native animals alive. Whaft a ,job that would be! Swift C-heeta 'brought me out of my day-dreaming by announcing we were approaching a 'bad bend in the river. Many other boats had crashed on this bend because they rounded it too far out and hit the rocks in the middle. -But, however, we made it safely by keeping Close to shore. fWe were also a bit wetj. About an hour later my guide told me we should stop and rest for a bit before going on. At dawn we found a good landing place and were about to pull in when there was a great up- heaval and the boat turned over throwing us into the black murky water. I heard Swift Cheeta scream what I thought was Look out! when I

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. .15 Candles Candles-relics of the past, dreams of the future. The dazzling brightness of myriads of candles re- flected in the mirrors of a ballroom, the comforting flicker of a single candle -moving silently through the dark wards. The pride of mother and father and the delighted gurgles over baby's first candle, the solemriity of candles burning over 'the coffin. The candle in the window lighting the way home for the weary traveller, candles stuck in bottles in a cellar cafe giving atmosphere to the -smoky haze and chatter, the candle in the 'lonely cabin lighting the worn, yelilowed page of The Book. Candle-light flattering the flushed happy 'faces of the young, softening the hard, lined faces of the old. Gay laughter drifting below the shining candelabra, her eyes meeting his over the two tall tapers. Yotmg-Hop-a-long extinguishing eight candles in one desperate 'blow after the wish is made, the candle flickering out in the deadly air-danger! The candle 'being quickly, furtively snuffed out at the sound of footsteps. There go the lights! 'Ilhe line must be down. Quick-someone light a candle! Crude, 'hand-dipped candles, stately ta rs in silver candlesticlcs, gay novel candles mouli-did into figurines, dignified candles gracing the House of God. Mary-Kaye Simpkinson, Grade XII. Grey Stockings One bright morning, we were told that grey stockings would be worn next Monday. From all over the gymnasium groans could 'be heard. When we got 'back to the classroom 'many grievous sounds were in the air. Everyone was complaining about wearing stockings. All that week the weather was sunny and grey stockings were not even mentioned. When Friday came we realized what we had to wear on Monday. Complaints 'began all over again. If Friday was sunny, 'then Monday was sure to be a lovely day. Monday came. Was any person wear- ing her green knee-highs? Why, everyone had on her long, grey stockings! Over the week-end it had snowed. We must wear grey stockings all winter, and wait patiently un-til the spring, when we can wear our green knee-highs once again. Diana Elwood, Grade VIII. A Grammar Lesson Teacher: Did you borrow that from me, or did you lend that from me? Pupil: You gave it to me, didn't you? TV or not TV? T.V. or not T.V.? Let's have a suggestion, Even Shakespeare would think This a difficult question. The teachers frown, they rant and thunder, Why is this work not done?' they wonder. And every morning the girls 'troop in With red-rimmed eyes and sagging chins, Bored to death with History and reason But really gone on jackie Gleason. And one girl, panting wild with glee Shouts, Li-berace winked at me! But after all is said and written, Is it not true the staff are smitten ? For who but 'they at twelve are seen Catching the show with Bishop Shean? Lyn Stephen, Grade X. A Fantasy of Letters As usual, at the end of -the hrst term of school, there were examinations. Frances Roy was a pupil in seventh grade. Frances was bright in most sub jects, -but she found spelling difficult. There were so many exceptions to the rules. Tomorrow was her spelling examination. Fran- ces studied her words in 'the speller as a parrot, repeating the spelling of the words over and over again. She asked 'her mother why so many words sounded -the same and yet were spelt differently. She was puzzled over why I was sometimes put before and at other times after E , U put after a Why should Y be a vowel in some instances and in others a consonant? Her mother said that she should study her word appreciation book to learn the answers, and sent her up to her room to do this. You need a good after you have read your sleep tonigh't, and so book for half an hour, if you still have problems, I'll try to answer them at breakfast, she told her. Frances was very tired and soon went to sleep with 'the book in her hand. In 'her sleep she heard a noise. There appeared before her a tiny man who had a face the shape of an O , two eyes composed of upside down D's , a mouth made of two C's' put together, hand and arms put together by I's , I.'s , T's , and l-I's , His

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felt a crushing sensation in my chest. And, at the same time I beheld the gaping mouth and vicious fangs of a huge snake which I realized was an anaconda, the world's largest constricting snake. The pressure increased to such an extent that I became almost breathless and was fast losing consciousness, and then . . . I wakened. During my struggles caused by the excitement of my dream, the upper bed sheet had become entwined around my chest like a tendril. There's nothing like a nightmare for a hair- raising adventure. Shelagh Kelsey Grade IX. Unfortunate Bear The polar bear, That mighty beast With shaggy hair Is so un-happy! King of kings, But not of ice Or snow and things, But 'twelve square feet of concrete! He's rather fat, And finds it hard Because of that To clamfber from this pool. His other world Is seen through bars, Of people, children, Dogs and cars And moving life. He longs to sit In quiet undisturbed repose, Upon an iceberg Trailing his tired -toes In Arctic water. Oh, unfortunate Bear! This life which he And others s-hare Is really very bare And void of life. So children when Next at the Zoo, Throw our friend bear A word or two Of sympathy. Dorothy Richardson, Grade XI. g, I7 The Chest Miss Amelia will not be able to see you for about half an hour. Will you sit down, sir? I sat down and waited for Miss Amelia to appear. While I am waiting I will tell you some- thing about myself. My name is Archibald Stephenson, I am a bachelor, and I live in a small cottage with a maid, a dog, and two cats. I work in a bank but for a hobby I am very interested in old houses. This was why I was waiting in the hall of this huge, gloomy house. Nobody knew much about the place, and some believed it to be haunted. However, I decided to discover the truth myself. In spite of the warm, sunny day and the good luck some people had hoped I would have, I felt nervous when I reached the huge, iron gates. I managed to summon enough courage to rap on the great bronze knocker, and introduce myself to a rosy-faced maid who ans- wered my knock, and then bustled away to inform Miss Amelia of my presence. While I waited for Miss Amelia I looked around the hall. It was large and gloomy and had many statues and pictures in it. A portrait of a lady and a little boy arrested my attention. Both had dark complexions that made them look attractive. The lady, I presumed, was the child's mother. I was so engrossed with looking at the picture that I did not hear Miss Amelia come down the stairs and walk over to where I was standing. Her voice violently interrupted my thoughts. I see you admiring my picture, Mr. Stephenson. I whirled around to find I was facing a middle- aged lady with iron-grey hair. I found it very beautiful, I replied softly. The boy is my son, that is me beside him. When she spoke of her son, her voice faltered, and her eyes grew soft and tender. But she recovered herself quickly and decided with me what price I should pay for a visit through the old house, As we were walking upstairs to see my room, she suddenly halted and said, Mr. Stephenson, you are free to go where you like in the house but please stay out of the front room upstairs. Now come to your apartment. During the week I roamed the old house and its garden but never ventured into the front room, though I was often tempted to. However, one night the temptation grew too strong for me. I opened my bedroom door and slipped into the hall. The house was as silent as a tomb and I