Glass High School - Crest Yearbook (Lynchburg, VA)

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Journal Found In An Empty Raft May 4-It is now two days since our ship Went down. In my mind I still see screaming shipmates begging to be saved. David Wanted to pick up everyone, fool that he Was, but our raft only holds two. We are hopeful that we shall be picked up soon, as these waters are frequently travelled. We took turns at the watch-six hours on and six hours sleep. May 6-No ship s spotted yet. I found David asleep on watch and re- buked him, I'm afraid a little too severely, for the took it pretty hard. Our water supply is noticeably dimin- ished, though we have plenty of food. May 9-Only one-third of our Water remains. I've put both of us on strict rations and David finds it a drastic change from the meals on board he used to grumble about. Both of us find six-hour watches unbearably long. May 10-Nearly all water gone, as David broke under the strain and gulped down a whole day's supply. I tried catching fish with a bit of string and a pin with some hardtack on it, but no luck. We've drifted off course and the sun grows hotter every hour. David is feeling poorly -he speaks with a rasping voice and often talks nonsense. I-Ie hates me for not taking on more survivors. 24 ERIC VVASHBURN, '65 May 11-Desperation! VVith water gone and hopes dashed, we keep three-hour watches. The heat is Worse than ever in the day, while the nights are very cool. David wet his shirt with salt Water to reduce the heat, and the night winds chilled -him terribly. I-Ie is mad with thirst and his hostility grows-he would kill me if he had the strength. lXfIay I31-I am lost. I say I be- cause David died last night, prob- ably from drinking salt water. He died in my arms, Whispering, You'll be damned. Maybe he was right. lNIay I6-The days grow shorter and the nights are darker and colder. Thick fog has been closing in and the sun plays strange tricks indeed, for poor David's mouth seems to smile a little more each time I look at fhim. Not the healthy, boyish smile I knew, but a maniacal leer so hideous it contorts his handsome face . . . There! His teeth, I can see his teeth! His eyes have opened! . . . It must be rigor mortis or the salt air or something . . . May I7-I Wakened this morning to find that the rolling of the raft had pushed David's body so that his head was on my chest. I panicked and THE CRITIC

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ff D! A Nice Young Man MEG CHRISTIAN, '64 T I-IE wild-eyed young man and lvlrs. Emma Brown, owner of the fastest mouth on River Street, were alone in the self-service elevator. She noticed the perspiration running down his face and the strange way he was shaking. But most of all she noticed that he was somebody to talk to. How she loved to talk. - ' Hello, young man. Is anything the matter? Dreadful weather we're having, isn't it? Lady, I got something inside of me that's just gotta come out. I just gotta tell somebody 'cause I can't stand it any longer . . . There is simply nothing more depressing than rainy weather-- especially on a Wednesday! Wednesday is such a nice shopping day. Please listen to me! Last night I had a fight with my mother. She said I was a no-good bum and ain't nobody gonna call me that and get away with it. Like I was saying to Thelma the other day-Thelma, she's my next-door neighbor-there is the most wonderful little dress shop that just opened and they have the most wonderful bargains, and I simply must get down there and buy everything! So I took the carpet sweeper and hit her over the head and she screamed so I hit ther again-an-d then she fell on the floor and started bleeding all over the rug. I just kept hitting her and hitting her until she stopped bleeding . . . So here I am, and I just want' to tell you, if they have sold out of size 16 in the yellow chiffon, they are going to have an angry woman on their handsf' Then I carried her body downstairs and put it in the Washing ma- chine and turned it on and then I ran out of the house. Ilve been running and hiding ever since and I just can't stand it any more. I'm going to go kill myself as soon as I get off this elevator. And there's the most DARLING little French number in lavender and beige that I made them hold for me. I'm going to wear it at the bridge club party tomorrow night. The girls will simply shrivel with envy. Oh Lord, lady, when I think of what I did to my sweet little grey- haired mother-she was 97-I'm not even going to wait until I get off! I'm going to hang myself right here. You better get off, lady. You won't want to see this. Well, FINALLY! Thereis simply no excuse for an elevator being so slow. Ta, ta, young man. Nice to talk to you. As the elevator doors closed behind -her, Mrs. Brown said to herself, What a nice young man. Not very attentive though. I don't believe he heard a single Word I said. THE CRITIC 23

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shoved it away quickly . . . His eyes keep looking at me. I tried to close them, but I couldn't. If only I had saved the pin I was using to fish with. May 1 S-The body was beginning to rot and I had to throw it overboard. I wish I could have kept it on the raft Where I could watch it, but the stench was overpowering. lVIay I9-I awoke last night and in the moonlight I saw a hand clutching the edge of the raft. I reached out to touch it and saw on it the friend- f- ship ring I gave David. The hand slipped away-I thought I heard a little moan. I slept again and woke feeling cold hands around my neck. I sat up quickly, and heard a splash, but no one was there. May zo-This will probably be my final entry, as I must constantly keep Watch. I am fighting for my lifeg if I lose he will drag me under the waves to spend eternity in a cold, green hell. Night is approaching and my weary body begs for rest, but I dare not sleep. Arif: -'12 , in---- 'AIA'- 'l?-11- Lf' .7 K 1 r., j .:ke....-4...-.-1:12.--iinjfqqlx , ' , ,ay Wff fy 1 X , y Hy ,diff ya? X 47.4 If X f j -. X I 1' V X ' . Z IW, W W y , I, I -gwgii I I f l I , iiizgexi 'V 44 717 V l 'lf I 1 -7 I '4 r Q ' I. X 1 ju if ii T 'eg g o 'MW W ,ff ' ,r I M I at-Wi? if , Y ' f if Ha. ,mil x , 7 ,Ql.lwAfg, x4' I x Y 4 , 1' 14 WL :m m f-Q 4 r .1 . w . x l ' Shelrl F iedman, 66 THE CRITIC 25