Summit School - Flame Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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opposite each other and are skillfully carrying on a mute conversation, the topic of which, naturally. is the week-end. The four blackboards are free from the usual numerous 'fsave signs and the white film of chalk. allowing the cracks and scratches of long years of use to show more clearly. The shiny. cleanness ol' the slates seems llauntingly to defy us to write on it. and it is most annoying as we can hear someone in the l,atin room scribbling away. Ann, who is nervously chewing on her pencil, glances at her watch as someone dots two i's next door and reminds her of a clock. She catches Pegs eye and gives her that imploring look that we all give each other when we mean we want the period to end before we get called on. From downstairs a kindergartener howls lustily. and Margaret, indignant at being disturbed, clamps her teeth together. wrinkles her nose up, and makes a face that only she can make. The intense glare of a not too cloudy day pours in through the unshaded panes, silhouetting Mademoiselle and her desk against the windows, and giving us a good reason for not looking in her direction. Julie, who is none too quietly changing her position in the noisiest chair in the room, becomes alert suddenly. Thinking the class should show some sign of attention, she waits for Mademoiselle to pause and then laughs untimely at something not the least bit funny. Vle all perk up and snicker, hoping we are doing the right thing: but then after a moment we relax again, and eleven pairs of dirty saddle shoes once more settle themselves on the rails of the tables. ROXANNE 1'AricR Form VI RIP LITTLEBY HIS story began in ISHS! in the small town of Shady XVaters. Rip Littleby was one of Shady NVaters' favorite Cl12ll'2itflCliS. He was a bachelor and very lazy, but he had lots of friends. He had a pet raccoon named Jodie. He lived at Mrs. O'Grady's boarding house and could usually be found in the backyard munching an apple. He was a friend to everyone. Vlhenever Mrs. Carter ran out of sugar, he was always around to run and get it for her, or when Johnnie Riggs' roller skates simply wouldn't roll, Rip hxed them. He was always doing things like that. He was the general Hx-it man, errand boy, and baby sitter of the town. One day he and Jodie went on a hunting trip. He traniped around all day, but he didn't shoot anything because, you see, he was a very tender-hearted man. Nvhen night fell, he put down his sleeping bag and lay down. 'I'he hours ticked away, but Rip couldn't get to sleep. He had some sleeping pills with him because he had insomnia. Tonight he took five or six. Hlell, the pills had a very strange effect on Rip, for instead of killing him, they put him into a heavy sleep. When he woke up, he had never felt so stiff in his life! He got up and stretched. Though he hadn't been exactly what you would call clean shaven before, he now had a very long beard. He got up and started walking towards Shady Wfaters. He looked around and whistled for Jodie, but no Jodie was in sight. But while these things had bewildered him, imagine what he thought when he saw what used to be the small town of Shady XVaters! There instead of a very quiet town was a big, booming city. Instead of the quiet main street with its few little shops were huge skyscrapers, and in place of cars most people were flying around in their own helicopters. He walked slowly down the street. He saw no one he knew. Finally, he boarded fwith 29

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CLARENCE ES yeux sont comme deux boules noires. Le triangle qui represente son nez et les deux cercles de ces joues sont diun rouge brillant. ll est assis dans son manteau bleu et blanc qui couvre son corps de peluche. Avec un visage dont l'expression souriante ne change jamais, il surveille son petit monde. Qui est-ce? Mais c'est Clarence, mon petit clown qui orne rnon lit. Clarence est vraiment un camarade merveilleux. Il reste toujours et ecoute en silence tout ce que je lui raconte. ll garde ma chambre quand je suis absente. Il ne dit rien quand je suis assise sur lui par hasard. Ie me demande souvent s'il regrette dans son coeur, s'il en a un, de nietre pas un vrai clown. Ie voudrais bien qu'il puisse me parler. Si vous avez un ami en etoffe, vous devriez savoir la joie dlavoir quelqulun qui vous recevra toujours avec un grand sourire. Ie sais que je n'aurai jamais un ami plus fidele que Clarence. CATHERINE MYERS Form IV SERENITY AND UNNATURAL CALM HERE is something very distinctive about a first period class any day, but on Monday, French VI has a personality all of its own. The tables, which are warped by nature, sag even lower than usual under the extra tonnage of books which we, the seniors, take home every Friday and forget to open until Monday. It would be unthinkable for many of us to get to school early enough to do anything but throw these invaluable publications on the table, scattering them everywhere, and then tear down the hall to assembly. The middle table is always the messiest, as it is the most desirable place in the room. The reason for its popularity dates back to when we were quaking freshmen who wanted to be as far away as possible from Mademoiselle's desk in the hope that perhaps she wouldn't see us, and now that we have outgrown our fear we sit there from habit. Eleven of the fourteen partially broken chairs are occupied by girls who wish that they were, and still think they are, back in bed. Most of us are staring into space, deeply engrossed in our own thoughts and completely oblivious to Mademoiselle. Unfortunately, however, as we all are unprepared there is always one of us who is restless and Hustered by having to recite. She K'ahs and ums and invariably says, This is just the sentence or verb or grammar rule that I have a question on. If she gets away with this bluff, a smile of accomplishment spreads across her face, as she lets someone else struggle and stumble over the part of the lesson she was supposed to know. The grumbling of the radiator, warning us that Ed has finally turned on the furnace, has ceased and the stifling smell of too much heat has taken its place. The soiled red jackets with worn out elbows and missing sleeve buttons are only removed after Audrae has opened the windows and brought our attention to how unbearably warm the room is. Chairs squeak, pencils drop, and pockets full of everything but the kitchen sink crackle and jingle during the process. We can hear Phyllis, who is upstairs at her music lesson, playing over for what seems to be the hundredth time the Fantasie Impromptu. As the melody comes to the part more commonly known as 'Tm Always Chasing Rainbows, Nancy sighs heavily either from boredom or more probably because she has just remembered something particularly pleasant in connection with that song. Aleeta and Cynthia also exchange looks across the room. They are sitting directly 28

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great hesitationj a helibus and flew to Mrs. O'Grady's boarding house. But instead of the old house there was a big fancy hotel! He went into the hotel and went up to the registration desk and asked, 'iWasn't this Mrs. O'Grady's boarding house? The young man behind the desk answered, Oh, yes, but she sold out some sixteen years ago. But there is Mrs. O'Grady if you wish to speak to her. Oh, thank you, cried Rip with a great sigh of relief. He hurried over to the little old woman who was knitting in the corner. f'Mrs. O'Grady, he said, don't you recognize me? I'm Rip Littlebyl The old woman looked up and exclaimed, As I live and breathe, it is Rip, me boy. Whe1'e have you been? Well, if Rip told his story once, he told it one hundred times to everyone who would lend an ear. Some believed him, others didn't, but now Rip has adjusted himself to this new way of life. The young man behind the registration desk at the hotel turned out to be Johnnie Riggs. And now Rip is still the general errand boy, baby sitter, and fix-it man of the city of Shady VVaters. . GAY GRAY Form I PEOPLE AND THE SEA HE late afternoon sunshine felt hot to the many people at the beach who were lying on deck chairs, under sun umbrellas, on blankets, or just on the sand absorbing the sun. They read books or talked to each other lazily while the sea rolled up on the shore a few feet beyond. There were a few tanned children near the water, busily putting sand in their pails with their small hands. Having been warned often by their wary parents against going into the water without them, they all kept their distance from it, except one. There was one child, even smaller than the rest, who was up to her knees in water, examining shells as they were tossed underneath her. Unnoticed by her friends, she wandered out farther, still with her head down, concentrating on her search. As her small feet carried her on, the enormous waves became even larger and tossed about her like a wild storm around a solitary island. The water was far beyond her knees and creeping to her neck, but she continued, absorbed by the fascination of the shells at her feet. The other children close to shore looked out only a few times to see the waves, mad and dashing. They realized no more than their small friend how overpowering the waves were. The people still lay in the sun as the end of the day grew closer. Her absence was yet unnoticed by all. The rest of the children had stopped digging, and were either getting ready to leave or sitting quietly near their parents while they talked. Gradually n1ore people began to leave. There was one couple who seemed to be searching for someone. They looked in the bathhouses, asked the children, asked the other parents, but no one had seen her for hours. They asked the two policemen who were standing around. Neither of them had seen her. For hours they searched, calling, watching, listening, but she was not to be found. It was long after nightfall before the two sad parents left the beach. The moon had come up, and its reflection fell calmly on the cool, still waters below. The ocean sounded different now. Its voice was more like the moan of a small child. .IUNIE STRINGER Form IV 30