Branksome Hall - Slogan Yearbook (Toronto, Ontario Canada)

Page 32 text:

SIX She stood out like a sore thumb on the conveyor- walk near Border Gate. Unlike the rest of the girls her age, she didn ' t have the checkerboard patterns of make-up on her face, and her clothes were simple. She was with a friend, coming from school with their report tapes in hand. She looked mournfully at the women about her and then at the forcefield wall which blocked from sight, sound and remembrance the male part of the population from the female. She sighed, wishing she was one of the lucky girls that got to cross the Border gate only to mate and come back again to keep the population going. If one of those women should happen to have a baby boy, he would be taken across the Boarder before he reached two days old and the men would look after him. The Central government just couldn ' t risk another population crisis like the one in ' 32. Her friend was walking beside her, an earphone chord protruding from her long, dark hair and disappearing into her pocket as she listened to her report tape on her mini recorder. She was analyzing any possible reaction her mother could have and all possible denials and skin-saving rebuttals. Finally, she pulled at the chord and watched the self-rewind drew it into her pocket, then she sighed in discontent. Six, what did you get in 428? Oh, she shrugged sheepishly, I failed it again. How are you going to learn without Mathematics? Well, I did at least get a 90 on 426! You ' re always going on about that. Six. I swear your were born in the wrong time! A thousand years ago would do you well, wouldn ' t it? Don ' t you think it would be great to live back then. Nine? Could you imagine perhaps a thousand years ago, in this very spot, a man and a woman stood together, and they were in love - real love! Their names weren ' t even categorized numbers! Could you imagine that Nine?! Nine thought for a minute. No, not really. The whole thing sounds rather disorganized. Six looked over at the border with resentment. I hate it here! she said, quietly, but furiously. She looked at Nine. I wish I could just ... Oh, no you don ' t! The last time you tried to cross the Boarder you were nearly killed! Not aaain! Six sighed. They say that the men have gone back to the old Earth customs. ' You know the women are doing better! Our minds are more scientific and we ' re more in- dustrialized and advanced. We ' re the ones that keep the population stable! Six looked up through the protective transparent dome at the murky brown sky and dismal orange sun. They say that the men have a clear blue sky and a bright yellow sun - just like hundreds of years ago. Who ever heard of a blue sky? You haven ' t been listening in the426 class! A long silence followed as they rode the conveyor to the interchange right beside the border. Hopping off. Six looked again longingly at the wall, ten metres away from her, as they waited for a place to stand on the East - going conveyor belt. I think there ' s a space coming up ... Nine said as she turned to Six, but Six wasn ' t there. With a last thrust of determination. Six had dropped her tape and had run for the wall. Six, no! Nine screamed, running after her and looking for help. But no one seemed to notice; the police wouldn ' t even look. It was too late anyway. Nine had only taken two steps when she saw Six run right into the wall and disintegrate into millions of particles with one zap. Hanging her head, not wishing to see the purplish smoke her friend had created. Nine tried to make herself believe what had just happened. She knew she couldn ' t mourn for then she would hate the place as much as Six. That wouldn ' t do. Taking Six ' s tape, she pulled out her pocket recorder, placed in the tape, thought for a moment, then set it to record. I ' m sorry, Mrs. 394, but I think she ' s happier this way. Nine. She gave the tape to a albour ' droid, programmed to the 394 ' s house, and ordered him to deliver it. Then she mounted a lonely conveyor for home. Christie Bailie

Page 34 text:

I Your morning smile It was midnight on the ocean. Not a streetcar was in sight. It was a winter ' s day in summer. It rained all day that night. A barefoot boy with shoes on stood sitting on the grass. It was a winter ' s day in summer and the rain was snowing fast. A foolish Wiseman came, though he was far away, to see exciting Branksome girls - ten Branksomites at play. A joke was said; no laughs were heard and all the girls did sign. No smiles or laughs or wit or jokes had this man ever tried. So ... to the third floor office top we pulled him up and did not stop - then, presented him with our sweet whim - a smile and laugh we saw in him. His face was one of lemonade and sugar it had rare. Odd laughter that he saw and felt caused others to dispair. His world it straightened out so much now laughter was within, that scorns and thorns from other worlds let all bittersweetness in. His view on life ' s a wider range he sees things not so strange, and friends are his forever more ' cause now he ' s not deranged. Our cruel kindness was in haste but enlightened we ' re by it - Our friend is now a happy clown. These pages are not waste. Learn from this omniscient fools! Your heads so bogged with rhymes and rules! Smile and laugh and joke (not sigh) when you see these pages come this nigh ' that give our hearts a Branksome cry. CONTENTS Editorial and Contents Facing the News New Music Ads Lake Placid Fashion Clan Gathering Before and After Anna Rexia and Obesity How to . . . Facing the Camera