Franklin K Lane High School - Senior Echoes Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

Page 13 text:

Tl-lE DOLL She looked lovely. Her rose lulle gown wilh lhe sleeves barely hanging onlo her shoulders gave her lhe leeling ol . . . well, ol being sixleen. She knew she looked prelly, wilh lhe color ol her gown rellecling lhe radiance ol her own color scheme ol pink and brown. The lilled waisl and llared skirl accenlualed lhe liny waislline lhal Johnny always said she slole lrom a china doll. You slole lhal waisl lrom a china doll, was lhe way he said il. Sweel Johnny. The doorbell rang. She was near lhe lronl door, so lo prevenl an unpleasanl discussion wilh her brally lwelve year old brolher, Richard, who really should answer doorbells, she answered il. A messenger boy wilh a package emilled a long, low whislle, lhe kind Lana Turner gels, and said, Are you Miss Jenniler Larsen? She smiled, allhough she shouldn'l have, aller lhal whislle, and said she was. Sign here, he said, and she obliged, lhanked him, and walked inlo lhe house. Pulling lhe package in her room, she wenl lo gel a knile lo cul lhe slring il was lied wilh. She walked very slowly, because she was sure she would lrip on her high heels il she weren'l carelul. They were very high heels . . . all ol lhree inches high. Her molher had lel her gel lhem aller she had sulked and argued lhal she would look posilively repulsive dancing in her low-heeled shoes wilh lhe six-lool boys she had inviled lo her parly. She was only live leel and one-hall inch in her slocking leel. Ol course, Johnny, who was live leel eleven and one-hall, liked her small lhe way she was, bul she wasn'l going lo dance wilh Johnny all evening. And lhe olher lall lellows mighl be more comlorlable il she were less diminulive. So she gol lhe high heels. And she was leeling prelly grown up. When she gol back lo her room and opened lhe box, she gasped al whal she saw. ll was a doll! l-low could anyone do lhis lo her? She, wilh her lhree inch heels and her sleeves lairly dripping from her shoulders! True, il was a beaulilul doll, wilh a lovely rose lulle dress and bonnel. Bul she hadn'l played wilh dolls since . . . since . . . well, she hadn'l REALLY played wilh dolls since she was len. She had merely kepl Amanlha's dress clean and neal looking. A doll always looks nice in a girl's room, and she couldn'l lel Amanlha gel soiled, could she? Bul lo receive a doll as a gill, al sixleenl Creepers! How could anyone do lhis lo her? She remembered when she was a lillle girl, how overioyed she had been every lime she gol a doll. She would hug il, lhen smoolh ils rumpled dress: she would hum lo il, rock il lo sleep, lhen pul il lo bed, and kiss il goodnighl. Bul she was only a child lhen. Now . . . why, she was sixleenl She was praclically an adull! She suddenly realized she didn'l know who had senl il. She look lhe doll oul ol lhe box, pul il on lhe lloor, and began lo look lor lhe card. Hidden in excelsior, she lound il. On lhe card was wrillen, Molher. For some unexplained reason, Jenniler lound a lear sliding lenderly down her cheek: lhis she quickly brushed away. Hey, Jen, il's seven-lhirly. Mom says people will be arriving soon, yelled Richard. All righl, answered Jenniler, barely audible. She wenl lo lhe mirror. Aller combing her hair slighlly, she lixed her makeeup, JANUARY I948 9

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I SHALL NOT SCREAM NOR PREACI-I . I have a lacl lo reporl. A recenl poll reporls lhal racial and religious preiudice is again on lhe upswing. I have somelhing lo say. Please Iislen. Whal I have lo say will lake only a lillle lime. I shall nol scream nor preach, allhough lhal ugly lacl is as near lo me and as personal wilh me as my own skin. I shall only lalk a lillle . . . I cannol lell ol how insidious lhis halred is and has always been, any beller lhan counlless olhers have lold il in lhe pasl. So I shall only lalk ol whal I have lound lo be lrue, in my own lile, in sevenleen years. I have lound lhal people have a greal deal lo give. People can give so much lhal is warm and human, so much ol lhe rich experience lhal is parl ol living. So much is being wasled. I lhink lhere is no grealer experience on earlh lhan lhal ol meeling each person as a dilferenl, unique individual. When we iudge people singly, only by whal lhey prove lhemselves lo be, we enrich ourselves many limes over. And we lose lhis opporlunily every day ol our lives. We lhrow il down a long, never ending drain ol human wasle. We are limid or resenllul because we are lhe oppressed, and we draw ourselves inlo our sullen, narrow lillle shells ol hale, and judge lhe many by lhe aclions ol lhe lew. Or we consider lhose who have commilled lhe unlorlunale blunder ol being born dillerenl, sub-human. ll is all lhe same. I-lalred is a lwo-edged sword, and lhe hand which holds il always bleeds. I-lale is all lhe same-wilh an ugly sameness. Bul we as people are nol all lhe same, Each generalion is dillerenl. And ours musl be lhe mosl dillerenl, beller in lhis respecl lhan any olher. We have inheriled loo much lo have il any olher way. There is somelhing very promising in lhe air-somelhing low bul slrong, some- lhing akin lo a murmur. ll is more lhan iusl lhe speeches lhal are made, lhe arlicles lhal are wrillen. There is a yen,-iziwjy lo a wrong, lhe realizalion lhal lhere is an injuslice and lhal as long as some are nol sale, none are sale. This age is one in which lhe oppressed have more freedom, more dignily, more happiness lhan ever before. We have behind us many lhings ol which lo be ashamed, bul lhere is also a record ol progressive improvemenl. Ahead ol us lhere is lhe vasl, pressing need ol compleling lhe iob . . . as quickly as possible. We have loughl lwo wars lo remain free. Now we are laced wilh lhe job ol selling democracy. We musl improve our producl lirsl. We musl speak oul aboul whal is righl and wrong. We musl praclice whal we so ollen preach. We musl make lhe iuslice lor all, which we promise in our pledge ol allegiance lo lhe flag, an everyday realily in our republic. We musl judge each individual and each counlry separalely and carelully. This is nol an easy way. Bul we have lo make il our way. No one else will ever care as much as we do. Rulh Windsor 8 SENIOR ECHOES

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I 1 I I il 3 ,O which suddenly didn? need fixing at all, excepl where lhe fear had made a IiHIe palh- way down her cheek. She wenl Io The door, pu? her hand on Ihe knob. and suddenly lurned, as if she had forgollen somefhing. Going fo lhe doll on Ihe floor, she picked if up, hugged I+, smoolhed ils rumpled dress, and pul il on her bed. She wenl fo lhe door, 'rurned once more +o look al if wisflully, and wenl down fo me-el her guesls. Barbara Silenzi A PRICELESS POSSESSION Whal is lhaf fhing upon your chesf Ihaf shines like Ihe sun's rays? You keep if polished and gliifering Through all your nighls and days. You wear if on your dresses: you wear if in your hair: Nolhing you have ever owned has had such Iasfing care. Why do you seem 'fo cherish lhis quile subordinafe Ihing? Hs mere possession makes your hearl gay and ready fo sing. No mailer how you look al' il, iI's only a hunk of lin. Why is if so imporlanl? II's iusl a SENIOR PIN! Joan Newell SENIOR ECHOES