John Adams High School - Clipper Yearbook (Ozone Park, NY)

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HE SET the bottle of sleeping tablets beside his bed and proceeded to un- dress. Then. lighting a cigarette, he walked into the kitchen and drew a glass of water from the tap. This, too, he set on the table by the bed. Sitting down, he inhaled deeply a few times and stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray. It's so simple. he thought. to end everything this way. I'm a powerful man. It's fitting that I take my own life. He felt a glow of inde- pendence surge through him as he un- screwed the cap from the bottle. Two, four, six, he counted. better make it eight to be on the safe side. Plac- ing them on his tongue, he swallowed them with the water and slipped in between the sheets. He couldn't have remained waiting for death to come to him. His mind raced back to the day when the doc- tors had told him that he had an in- curabl-e cancer and that, at most, he had only a year to live. That had been three months ago. How long does it take? he thought. lf only I could fall asleep. I don't want to think any more. He listened to the rain hitting his window with vehemence. A bolt of lightning lit up the room for a second, then it was dark again. A stormy night. he thought, very appropriate. Then he realized that he was thinking like a child. He was actually glad that it was storming. because it made the situation more dramatic. Even suicide was childish. he thought. But actually it was the only way. I want to live so badly. he mur- mured, yet it's impossible. What would the remainder of the year hold for him? Suffering, and then, finally, the death that he knew was inevit- able. There was so much good in life. The joy in a smile. or the sadness in eagza fion WILLIAM PEARCE a tear. These things were all good and fine because they were part of life. Then he knew. If iust being alive made even sadness something good. then his life must not end. While he was thinking these thoughts. his eyes had been closed. When he opened them, it was like lifting two heavy pieces of lead. He snapped the light on beside his bed and stood up. His knees were weak and unable to support him. Using the furniture as a guide. he groped his way to the living room and sat down beside the telephone. I've got to live. he thought, I've got to. Lifting the receiver from the hook, he quickly dialed the operator. He could hear a ringing sound and then her voice. Operator, get me- Lightning flashed across the sky be- fore he finished. Operator, get me the police. Operator! he screamed. His head was swimming now, and he knew there was little time. He hung up and then lifted the receiver. There was no dial tone. The storm, he cried, the storm! He dropped the re- ceiver to the floor and stood up. If he could only get to the window and cry out for help. Doggedly he raised himself from the chair and staggered across the room. When he got as far as the piano. the room started to spin dizzily about him and his knees folded beneath him. He grasped the piano for support, but in his hand there was no strength. His hands passed over a few keys before he fell, but to him the tones that came from them were inaudible. 25

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umni rom Jcirea ARTHUR SHOSTAK OUR NEIGHBORHOOD was in quite a commotion. The boy who lived next door had just retumed from fourteen months' military service in Korea. After the Welcome Home festivities, I saw him one day, sitting on the stoop of our house. I asked him for his impression of Korea for the Clipper. You see, he was a former Adamsite, and I felt he would be interested in reporting recollections of his sojourn in Korea to his alma mater. In a soft, slow, but warm and glow- ing tone, the veteran told me that the Korean natives had made the greatest impression upon him. When the police action in Korea is recorded for history, he told me, the freedom-loving Korean youth, who braved all the terrors of war to assist in the emancipation of their country from a state of com- munistic slavery, will be classed as the unsung heroes from this epic. H-e re- called how a teen-aged Korean boy had attached himself to his outfit and had voluntarily performed menial tasks out of appreciation for what the outfit was doing to free his country. He re- counted the story of a Korean soldier who, after thirty-six months of active service refused a furlough because there remained so much to do and so 24 little time to do it in. He reflected, The pain, suffering, and discomfort of the U.N. soldier was like make-believe when compared with the tragedy be- setting the native Koreans. But one did not hear any misgivings or regrets ex- pressed by them. Russian expansion must be curbed. lust as David stopped the powerful Philistine, Goliath, when the latter's people were encroaching ruthlessly on the right and freedoms of their neighbors, so the Koreans feel that they must stop the twentieth cen- tury Goliath, who likewise is trampling upon the freedom of peace loving neighbors. People scoffed when puny David, using a slingshot, confronted the giant. Today, people, similarly snicker at the thought of hungry and tattered South Koreans standing up to the Red Chinese Government and chal- lenging it to a fight till death. You know what happened to Goliath. His- tory will repeat itself. I looked at the soldier and for but one moment felt that I was witnessing the struggle of the centuries waged in my presence. All I could say was, Amen.

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KL JCCLIHJ Q PAUL USTRUVVSKI ROBESPIERRE WAS an American alley cat of the special New York City variety. Now. please do not confuse this with the plain alley cat. for then you will be doing Robespierre a gross injustice. New York alley cats have many features which do not appear in the other members of their races. First of all. the New York variety has a special scent about it which is about as exotic and rare as Chanel No. 5. In this heavenly scent. we can dis- tinguish the unbelievably sweet odor of garbage cans. Intermixed with this there are tinges of wet leaves. sewage. chicken, and many other reasonably delightful fumes. Another feature which makes these cats so different is their whole mental make-up. If you, somewhere in your journeys. have had the privilege of witnessing the crossing of a street by such a cat, you will know what I mean. However, for those poor unfor- tunates who have never had the honor. I shall try to describe this mar- velous sight. First of all, from basic or kitten training, the cat will first stand at the curb and look in both directions to see if any cars are com- ing. If. for instance, a large truck should be passing. this highly intelli- gent animal will slowly and indig- 26 nantly retire to the safety of his stoop and shoot glances of bitt-er scorn at the rude vehicle. When there are no longer any cars in sight. a slow walk will be started to the middle of the street and then will become a fast gallop until after the safety of the opposite curb is attained. For these special creatures. the con- tents of garbage pails are irresistible. No matter how well fed the animal may be, the lure of loose garbage cannot be denied. Perhaps it is sort of an adventure to see how many new things may be found. or perhaps the odor seems ambrosial to their sensitive nostrils. Now let us look into the love life and the real charm of the New York alley cat. He is urban. debonair. a veritable sophisticate. His loves are many. and, sad as it may seem. these heartless creatures are not very adapt- able to home life. They prefer the wild. adventurous. free existence and not the responsibility of a cat and kittens. It is here that our story begins. for Robespierre, unlike the other alley cats, wanted a loving wife and a family. He remembered how, when as a kitten his mother had to go robbing garbage cans to feed the family after his father had deserted them. Sad as it was. he looked everywhere for a wife but was unable to find a single feline who would take him seriously. Mary, the maltese. had given him the cold stare routine and had walked away with her tail in the air when he had proposed. He knew of no other eligible lady cats so. in desperation. he iust walked off one day to see if he could find someone in the world