Siskiyou Union High School - White and Gold Yearbook (Weed, CA)

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noT To boTher wiTh The room. IT was Too big a iob. I oughT To be sTarTing off To school anyway or I would be laTe. IT was a beauTifuI fall day. The air was so crisp and fresh iT hurT your lungs To breaTh iT, buT iT smelled and TasTed so good you wanTed To iusT gulp iT down. The leaves on The Trees were iusT beginning To change color and They were a maze of red, rusT and green. A few leaves came floaTing down when a IiTTle breeze sTirred Them. IT was a lovely morning, and iT made me forgeT abouT my unhappiness unTil I meT Carol. Carol came running down The sTeps of her house. She had on a new red sweaTer. In her blond hair was a small red bow. Gosh! You look nice This morning, CaroI, I said. Like my new sweaTer? GOT iT for my birThday. Say, can you come TonighT? You iusT goT To come! I goT Two new records. Real dreamy! I Told her Then. BuT kid, you iusT have To come! We've iusT goT To Think of some way you can come. No chance, I said. My dad said 'No, and ThaT's final.' When he says ThaT he usually means iT. We walked silenTly along side by side for a few minuTes. We scuffed Through The brighf leaves, kicking Them up aT every sTep. Carol said, Well, why don'T you come any- way? WhaT do you mean, anyway? WelI, whaT will They do To you if you iusT didn'T go home, buT came To my house insTead? I stopped walking. Oh, gosh! I don'T know. I never did anyThing like ThaT before. Carol sTopped Too. Why don'T you Try iT and see whaT They will do? Probably won'T be much. My parenTs iusT Talk. They say They will do This and ThaT and Then They forgeT whaT They have said and don'T do anyThing. I sTill hesiTaTed. Carol sTarTed on. well come on, kid, she said. You Think abouT iT during school. BuT you really oughT To decide To come. We could have loTs of fun,,and I'll iusT beT They won'T do much To you. I sTill hesiTaTed. WhaT would They do? IT would be inTeresTing To find ouT. My hearT beaT fasTer aT The ThoughT. I ran a few sTeps To caTch up wiTh Carol. I'Il do iT, I said. Carol looked aT me wiTh new respecf. You will! she said. We boTh laughed. We felT like conspiraTors and life was suddenly exciTing. Carol and I were upsTairs in her room lisTening To her records when The Telephone rang. Carol's faTher answered iT. We could hear him Talking in LITERARY SECTION The hall below. Leaving The record playing we slipped ouT To The head of The sTairs To lisTen. I'll Tell her, we heard him say. Carol looked aT me and I looked aT her. Carol's eyes were opened wide, and she was biTing her lip. Suddenly I wished I hadn'T done iT. I was no longer exciTed, iusT frighTened. I didn'T waiT for Carol's faTher To Tell me ThaT The call had been from my faTher and ThaT he wanTed me To come righT home. I knew ThaT ThaT was whaT The call had been abouT. I wenT back inTo Carol's bedroom and picked up my coaT and school books. The reco rd had come To The end and was whirling around and around in The IasT groove. Carol didn'T seem To noTice iT, buT iT annoyed me so I walked over and Turned iT off. Gosh, kid, maybe you shouldn'T have come, she said. I'm sorT of sorry I suggesTecl iT. I didn'T answer her. I didn'T walk very fasT on The way home, buT if didn'T seem To Take me long To geT There. All The lighTs in The house were burning. I sTood ouTside The gaTe for a few minuTes. I could see Mom and Dad sifting in The living room. Dad had a paper in his hands, buT he didn'T Turn The pages as if he were reading iT. Finally he looked aT his wrisT waTch and goT ouT of his chair. I sTarTed up The walk. My bare hands were numb from The cold. I had forgoTTen To puT on my gloves. I sTopped and goT Them ouT of my pockeT. I puT my books down on The cemenT walk so ThaT I could puT on my gloves. Suddenly a paTh of lighT slanTed across The walk and onTo The grass of The fronT yard. Dad was sTanding in The doorway. WhaT are you doing? he asked. I couldn'T speak. My Tongue felT Too big for my mouTh. I held up my hands wiTh The gloves half on one of Them. I Took iT oFf again and puT Them in my pockeT. Dad sTepped aside as I walked Toward The door. The house was Too warm. I feIT su1'TicaTed. Go on inTo The living room, Dad said. JusT inside The living room I sTopped again. MoTher looks scared, I ThoughT. Dad came around behind me and moved over To his chair. When he saT down he kepT his hands on The arms. His finger Tips were whiTe from holding onTo The chair arms so hard. I could feel my hearT going Thump, Thump, Thump, Dad spoke To me buT my hearT was making so much noise in my ears ThaT aT firsT I didn'T hear whaT he said. When I did hear, he was saying . . . ThaT's whaT you need buT I feel ThaT because I am so angry I would probably whip you Too hard. So you will go To your room, and, excepT for The Time when you are in school, you will sTay in There for The nexT Two weeks. Your mofher will leave your meals ouTside your door. ' 29

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is on these few during the entire play, but these actors must realize that stardom is not security. It can be lost through errors. Many stars have be- come has-beens because they failed to arrive at the high standards established b'y their fellow players. In order to preserve their present prestige, stars must constantly study and improve their roles. This calls for many sacrifices, but the results bring great personal satisfaction and rewarding acclaim. The bit players and extras consist of students whose lives spice this production. These bit players are by no means failures. For them, this is the be- ginning. Many will become stars of other greater productions, because a small part often leads to a star role. It takes patience and the strong desire to attain a goal. g There are the comedians who know very little of their parts, but who are always ready to ad lib when an emergency arises. Then there are the dramatic students whose every line is overacted, no matter how small the part. Many other types of players can be mentioned, but each is an individual with a part which helps to bring about a polished production. SECOND PLACE SHORT STORY As is true in show business, each actor must have a manager to advise, encourage, and take personal interest in him. Parents have this im- portant role, and they know and understand that a good manager can make a star. To them goes the ioy of seeing their child become a professional. Now the play is ready to start. Its ioys and sorrows, laughter and tears, belong to the cast as well as the audience, for these are truly some of Iife's most cherished years. In this, the actor's first and last performance in high school, there is a mixture of teenage love with its seeming reality, hours of study for final examinations, suspense when grade cards are finally distributed, talking with friends in the well-known corridors, and many other scenes which must appear when we are growing up with others. Then as graduation day draws near, we arrive at the climax of this unforgettable production, memories of which will live forever in the hearts of all who had any part in its success. The people who played their parts well, face unafraid the world of tomorrow, for they have taken with them the most valued treasure of youth -education. Theirs is the security which they found by performing well in the theater which is School- JANET iw-xRcHi '55 Weed High School Suddenly Life Was Exciting I was trying to talk Mom and Dad into letting me do it all the time while I was getting ready for school and eating. Finally Dad said, No, and that's final! So I had to stop talking about it. I thought they were doing me a great iniustice. After all, I iust wanted to stay all night with Carol. Mother said, You lust stayed all night with Sandra last night, and Gail thelnight before that! I didn't answer because since Dad had said no there wasn't any use talking about it anymore. I went into my room to get my school books. My room was simply a mess. My clothes were strung all over the room so that you could hardly get into it, and some of the pictures of Tony Curtis, Bob Wagner, James Stewart, John Derick and some other of my favorite movie stars were coming down. I also had souvenirs-pennants, canes with monkeys on them, New Year's hats, and pom-poms -on my walls, and they were so dusty you coughed iust being near them. I picked up several dresses andghung them in the closet. Perhaps if I cleaned my room Mother would take my side and persuade Dad to let me go. I closed a dresser drawer and picked up one of my best shoes from under a chair. I looked around for the other shoe. I didn't see it. I got down on my stomach and looked under the bed. There it was way back against the wall. I dropped the other shoe on the floor and sat there hugging my knees. I decided

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Dad picked up his paper and held it in front of his face. I knew I was dismissed but I did not seem able to move. Carol had said her parents lust talked. Well, so had mine. At least Dad had talked. I looked at Mom. She was looking at her hands, which were smoothing out a handkerchief on her knee. They smoothed it and smoothed it and smoothed it. The two weeks of confinement ahead of me were sort of a letdown. I don't know what I had expected but not that. There wasn't anything hap- pening during the next two weeks that I wanted to do. It was going to get boring up there alone in my room but-. Suddenly I felt like giggling. I would get my room cleaned now. BOBBIE MADRON '55 Fort Jones High School SECOND PLACE POEM -V Snow Storm Announced by all the trumpets of the sky Arrives the snow, driving o'er the fields, Seems here to alight, the whited air Hides hills and woods, river and sky, Veils the farmhouse at the garden's end. Drifting down, it stops the courier's feet, Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed, As the snow comes down, silently, they sit In the seeming endless privacy of storm. Come, see the snow's soft masonry As it builds its peaks, topping everything Curving gently over stake and tree, I Piling up, here and there, Caring not for number or proportion. When hours are numbered, the world its own It leaves, the sun appears revealing soft-curved art, As it looks back, seeing what was built, The mad night wind's work begins The frolic architecture of the snow. DIANA LARK '56 Tulelake High School The Judges LITERARY COMPETITION DR. ARTHUR KREISMAN Professor of English and Chairman of the Division of Humanities DR. ALVIN FELLERS Assistant Professor of English MR. DeWAYNE JOHNSON Assistant Professor of English and Director of. Information SOUTHERN OREGON COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, ASHLAND, OREGON It was a pleasure to iudge the contest. Thank you for giving us the opportunity. You are to be com- plimented on the calibre of your young writers. Sincerely, ARTHUR KREISMANH FRONTISPIECE ART COMPETITION MR. DONALD BOYD Director, Art Department SHASTA COLLEGE, REDDING, CALIFORNIA SECOND PLACE FRONTISPIECE ART BARBARA MCMASTER '54 Mount Shasta High School LITERARY SECTION