Pershing Middle School - Reflections Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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An Expected Punishment Y BROTHER was going to school. I also wanted to go but mother M said I was too small. Iteased and teased, however, and she finally said I could go and Visit one day. My, how happy I was to go to school! Even if it was only for a one- day Visit, that was better than nothing. I could scarcely wait for the day. But time is bound to pass and finally the day arrived. I set out feeling very important and walked beside my brother into the school house and tried to think I was just as important as any of them, but after a while I didnlt feel so proud. It seemed like everyone was looking at me just as much as to say, Ho, Ho, see whols here. It was not nearly as nice as I had expected. At last the bell rang and everybody came into the school house and took their places. Then the teacher called the first grade and told them to march up to the front of the room and as she pointed to the different words and sounds on the charts for them to name them. I marched up with my brother and stood beside him. Soon the teacher noticed that some of the children were not saying the words so she called out sharply, All who do not say these sounds as I point them out Will have to take their medicine? Now I knew what medicine meant, or rather I thought I did. In the way the teacher used it, she meant punishment, but to me it meant horrid stuff like castor oil and pills. How frightened I was! I couldnlt say the sounds, having never gone to school. I had terrible Visions of that teacher swooping down on poor little me with a great big bottle of medicineb and a spoon. My heart began to flutter and I trembled all over while I looked at that horrid teacher, hardly knowing what to do. To have to take awful medicine, and perhaps right before the whole school, and have them laugh at me! Oh dear! I wanted to cry and run, and above all to get away from that school business. I donlt know how I ever got through the rest of the day. Perhaps she was going to wait until the very last thing. Keep me in misery all day! Dear me, school was a bad dream. How glad I was to be at home safe and sound. a was surely puzzled about the mediciney -Blanche Whitson, ,24. Neighbors Will Quarrel ARL SAT on the back steps deeply interested in a book. An old dog lay by his side and wagged his tail occasionally to disturb a fly or mosquito. llThis sunls too hot! exclaimed Earl. le going to seek the shade. Come on, Tige, lets go? Off they went, down the walk that led to the old maple tree in the back yard. I had been reading in an old swing under the maple tree but had fallen asleep and my book lay on the ground when Earl arrived. Come on, lets have some fun? called Earl as he closed the gate. This sudden exclamation disturbed my peaceful slumber and I sat up and rubbed my eyes dreamily. llSic, ,em! Sid lemlll encouraged Earl, and Tige chased an old cat that belonged to one of our neighbors up a tree next to the one under which I was sitting. m50m

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lW'hat does this mean? Who are these ?li he thought. ITve quit believ- ing in fairies ages ago. 'But his eyes had certainly not deceived him, for these tiny, weird men were fast approaching him, marching double quick, four abreast, with their leader walking along one side beating a drum and calling out, ltLeft, right, left, right, in a high-pitched voice. The little men were about two feet high, all dressed in brown, wearing high peaked caps. They had the most qualnt and wise expressions on their miniature faces. Soon the leader was almost near enough for Carl to touch him. Then he straightened up to his full height and said: ItMy boy, come, letls go to Mars. Carl opened his eyes wide. llWh-whafs that you say? he exclaimed, trying not to appear frightened or very astonished. ilVVould you take a trip to Mars with me ? the Brownie asked Carl. Who are you? How could we get there? the excited Carl demanded. lWVe are your Childhood friends, the Brownies, who took you too Visit Toyland in the Land of Nod so long ago, and now we have come to take you to Mars. You needn,t ask how we are to get there for PM attend to that. Carl had read a little astronomy and had become interested in the earth nearest neighbor, Mars. He wished to accompany the Brownies to Mars, but he could not believe in the supernatural so easily as he could when the Brownies took him to Toyland, so he asked, Have you invented a new kind of aeroplane to get there in ?ii llLand, no, the Brownie laughed at the idea. The Fairy Queen loaned us the very same magic boat in which we sailed to Toyland. We must be back by tomorrow. You had better hurry. We will have barely time to make the trip? The Brownie was fidgeting about nervously. llAll right, said Carl, putting his cap down, le ready? The Brownie called, ilObey the servant of the Fairy Queen, 0 worthy little boat. In an instant the little boat appeared before them. There was room enough in it for Carl and all the Brownies. The leader Brownie shouted, HAll aboard V They all climbed in. A number of the Brownies had oars. Carl was not allowed to take an oar, for what can a boy do with the magic oars used by the Brownies? Away the Brownies rowed the boat through the air. Carl enjoyed the smooth gliding. The air waves were not as boisterous as ocean waves. In what seemed to Carl a very short time the leader Brownie said, llWe are at Mars. Shall we go on shore ?i, . llSuref said Carl. He was curious to know what Mars looked like, but was a little timid about alighting on unknown shores, so he kept close to his friend, the Brownie, stepping carefully. It had been growing darker all the time. Now it was so dark that he could see nothing but a gray mist. Come on, said the Brownie, taking Carlls hand. After they had left the ship Carl felt that they were walking almost in space, only now and then feeling a solid bit of rock. They walked on for some time, but it was too dark to see anything. After a time he heard a noise like ten thousand dogs and coyotes howling all at once. They felt that objects were being thrown at them, landing near their feet, but never quite hitting them. ttHurryfi said the Brownie, lithey are throwing stones at us. They hastened to the magic little boat with its load of Brownies. They got in quickly, the Brownie took his oar, and away they went. In a twinkling they reached earth and landed with a bump beside the old apple tree. Carl woke up and began to rub his eyes. III must have been dreaming, he thought. llAnyhow I am glad I am on earth, and feel the solid ground beneath my feet. Fay Jessee, :21. a 49 .h

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IIEarl, you naughty b0y,II I scolded, IIdonIt you know you shoulant be cruel to animals ?II IIVVhat do I care?I answered Earl, Who cared about nothing but mischief. II 111 going to make Mrs. Hughes Chase me down the street with a broom.II IIKitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, called Mrs. Hughes, come right home to dinner.II Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, your Grandma wants you to come right home to dinner,II teased Earl. Earl, you re the cruelest, naughtiest boy IIve ever seen,I Iscolded Mrs. Hughes as she caught a glimpse of EarlI s red hair through the fence. IIYou just Wait, that beautiful red hair of yours won It look so nice when I get hold of you, II called Mrs. Hughes as she came running out of the back door with a coal shovel in her hand. Down the tree went the cat and over the fence went Tige and Earl, and after them all Mrs. Hughes came with the coal shovel. Down the street went the procession, cat, dog, Earl and Mrs. Hughes. People came into the street to see what was the matter. Men stopped on their way home from dinner to see the procession. Faster and faster ran the cat and louder and louder the dog barked. Still Earl ran on. II 11 get that boy if I have to run clear to New York, II uttered Mrs. Hughes with a sigh. IIOh, I m so tired, so tired I just canIt hardly walk,II said Mrs. Hughes to one of her neighbors on her way back home after she had given up all hopes of catching Earl. Some time afterwards Earl came home tired and exhausted. IIMa, we chased that old cat clear up on the Heights and it fell into the river, but we fished it out,IIEar1 explained to his mother as he met his mother in the pantry. IIAnd hereI s the coal shovel that Mrs. Hughes was going to chastise me with. II IIEarl, you must go apologize to Mrs. Hughes.II IIAw, Ma, I donIt want to,II answered Earl as he cut himself a large piece of cake. IIMy, that run made me hungry.II aHelen McCabe, I24 The Pleasures of Theme Writing SAT at my desk in school one day and heard our honorable teacher assign I the subject, The Pleasures of Theme Writing,II as a topic. Poor Fresh- men! Poor teacher! Alas, the pleasures of theme writing! Many a time and oft, toh, those favorite words of Shakespearel I have sat and scratched my noble head and thought and thought and thought. Then again come some of ShakespeareI s words, You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things. 'II Whoever had the inspiring inspiration of theme writing? You hard hearts, you cruel men of talent, knew you not that the coming generation would suffer from your wonderful brains? Oh, the Ides of March, the Ides of April, May, June, and of all the other months, do you not pity us, the poor proliters of Shakespeare and others, as we meet your smiling faces with frowns upon our own over the same old cause, theme writing, each year as you make your appearance? Each year we pray upon our bended knees for an English teacher who has not the cruel craving in her system for themes. Then each time we utter as ..51I