Bourne High School - Canal Currents Yearbook (Bourne, MA)

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CANAL CURRENTS 23 face felt swollen and her tongue seemed six times its normal size but she had to find Daddy. That was the last thing she knew. When she regained consciousness she was on her own little cot. She ached all over. It seemed as if something was sticking needles or pins into her. Since then she had lain there in her little cot and watched her friends go by on their way to and from school, had watched the postman as he passed every noontime, had watched, as she was watching now, for her mother to come home every night. She felt no pain now; only a dull sort of numbness. Mother had never spoken very much about Daddy since the accident and Mary had not broached the subject be- cause, somehow, in her child’s mind, she realized that it hurt mother to think of it. On this special day in December it was very cold and frost covered all but one window pane through which Mary looked every few minutes to see if she could catch a glimpse of mother. Frost magic brought back sad memories to Mary’s mind. Although the accident had happened over three years ago, and children are supposed to forget griefs in a short time, Mary could never see the pictures which Jack Frost had breathed on window panes without thinking of that terrible day when she had last seen her Daddy. Dorothy Ryan, ’33. ON THE UMBRELLA I wonder what people did in the days before the umbrella was invented? They probably did what some of the people of today do, turn up their overcoat collars (if they have over- coats) and pull down their hats over their ears, or maybe just brave the weather. The inventor of the umbrella is probably unknown, but whoever he was, he is a hero in the eyes of the people who cannot go without them on rainy days. When I was a child I read a story about the first um- brella; it was a story of a field mouse, who on a rainy day, not wanting to wet his clothes, carried a toadstool over his

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22 CANAL CURRENTS FROST MAGIC She was a very delicate little girl, Mary Sullivan, with long ringlets of jet black hair that formed a soft frame around her pinched face. Her eyes were a clear, soft blue that reminded one of the sky on a sunny morning in May. She had not always been confined to this little cot where she now lay watching eagerly for her mother’s return after a long hard day’s work in the factory. Oh, no! Mary had at one time been one of the liveliest little girls imaginable. On Mary’s tenth birthday she had been allowed to go down, with her father, to his garage. This was a very special occasion for it did not occur very often. Mary liked to watch the people who stopped their cars for oil, gasoline, water, or to have Daddy repair something for them. It seemed as though something was always going wrong with cars on cold, snowy days like this one. Mary didn’t mind the cold for her new snow suit that she had received for Christmas was thick and woolly and kept her snug and warm. It had been freezing cold in the garage when they had entered. White frost covered every window with beautiful pictures. There were all sorts of animals, birds, trees, people, toys, and fish that one could possibly imagine. Surely this was the most beautiful sight that Mary had ever seen in her short life. She stood spellbound for a moment; then dashed from one to another finding so m any things that she recog- nized that her head whirled and she thought that Jack Frost must be a most wonderful creature! Much to Mary’s disappointment the frost magic soon dis- appeared after Daddy built a roaring fire in the huge stove in the corner. Her disappointment was short lived, however, for business started early that morning when a big black sedan drove up and “honked” for gasoline and Daddy told her that she might wait on the first customer. Overjoyed, she ran out and started to fill the man’s tank. Then, — without a sound of warning, — came a loud report, as though something had blown up. At the very same moment flames burst through the roof of the garage. Mary had dropped the hose and run madly into the burning building — Daddy was in there! The people in the car tried to stop her but she dodged them. The flames licked around her new snow suit as if it made a delicious breakfast. Her hands and

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24 CANAL CURRENTS head. The inventor may have had such an idea when he in- troduced the umbrella. The umbrella is a good invention even if all the people of today do not make use of it. Of course, it’s better not to carry one, especially if one is in a crowd, or if the wind is blowing. It seems to me that there are more women than men who carry umbrellas. There may be several reasons for this. The chief one being that men think it is a nuisance, while the women want to protect their hats and therefore do not mind the extra burden. Whatever the real reason for the invention of the um- brella, it was a good one. Jenny Consoni, ’38.