Dear journal #10

As soon as I got Leper's letter he sent me he said "I am at Christmas location, which meant he was at his home in vermont. To get his house, I had to take a train and a bus and arrived at his house the next morning. The rest of the way there I had to trudge my way through the snow just to get to his house and the whole way there I kept thinking what did Leper mean by "escape"? When i get there I see Leper looking out the window and tells me to come in. We sat in the dinning room and this is when he told me that gave such a shock. He told me that he had to leave because the army was planning on giving him section eight discharge because they thought he was so crazy. I asked him why that was such a big deal and he told me that if he stayed then he wouldn't be abled to find a good job or have a normal life. I told him a few things and out of know where he started flipping out on me about how I pushed Finny out of the tree. When he said that to I lost it and I kicked his chair and then his mom came in and said to me "Well, good heaven, the boy is ill, Did you come here to abuse him?" I muttered "I'm terribly sorry, I'd better get going. Then Leper said no don't go I want you to stay for lunch, so I did. I ate a lot that night unlike Leper and after lunch me and Leper's mom talked about Leper's sickness. She told he was a good kid underneath and suggests that me and Finny go for a walk. As we were taking a walk Leper starts crying about all the hallunications he had while training at camp and after while I couldn't listen to him anymore, so I ran off in the snow. I felt really bad that I did this, but I just couldn't help it.


     

Dear journal #9

Ever since me and Finny have been together a lot with him training me and me tutoring him i feel closer to him and im starting to like him a lot more. In January Leper enlists, which made everyone very surprised. When he finally left Brinker would always make jokes about Leper and how he is an allied victory, but nobody would tag along with his jokes. Me and Finny stopped going to the Butt Room because Brinker would always be making jokes about Leper and we didn't like it. I started to notice that when Finny came back that he kept pulling me away from everyone and just wanted to train me for the olympics all day. Then one day Finny comes up with an idea to set up a winter carnival and I said "What Winter Carnival?". I told him "There isn't any Devon Winter Carnival and has been" and Finny said "There is now. We'll have it in that park next to the Naguamsett". Brinker helps set up all the equipment that was needed for it and his messy roommate watches the cider that was buried in the snow. All of the boys made a huge ski jump and prizes for the winner and sence Chet douglass loves music he played his trumpet for us, so we could have music while this was going on. Once the carnival began everyone had cider and especially Finny because he was dancing on the prize table with his good leg, which I thought was really funny. Then Finny has be do a bunch of athletic stunts for the crowd. Brownie, Brinker's roommate comes back to the dormitory with a telegram from Leper for me and it said that he escaped and it was up to me if I go to his Christmas location. I didn't understand why everything depended on me and why I was the center of attention to everything.

     

Dear journal #8

When he sees me he says "Where did you get those clothes?" and says the room is messy. I made his bed for the night. The next day Brinker runs in my room getting ready to ask me if im ready to enlist till he see's Finny sitting there. I then told Finny that I was planning on enlisting with Brinker, but I quickly changed my mind and told Brinker I wasn't enlisting anymore. After all this happened me and Finny went to our first class. Finny was saying that winter loves him because he loves winter and it must return his affection. Then Finny decides they should skip class, so he could look at the school since he hasn't been there in awhile. Finny went straight for the locker room when we got to the school and asked me what team did I sign up for. I told him that I didn't try out for any teams. After talking about why I didn't sign up for any teams, I went over to the exercise bar and do chin-ups and he tells me to do thirty. He told me that he wanted to be an olympic athlete and hes going to train me to be in his place. Then he trained me and I tutored him in his classes and we were very impressed with the progress. One morning as I was running around the headmaster's house and Mr. Ludsbruy came out to see what I was doing. Finny told him that I was training for the olmpics. Once he tells him that he tells us that training should be dedicated for the war and Finny says "No". I wasn't very surprised that he got away with that because he gets away with everything.

      

Dear jounal #7

The next morning Brinker comes to my room to congratulate me on having such a big room. Brinker said " I'll bet you knew all the time Finny wouldn't be back this fall. That's why you picked him for a roommate rite?" I told him "Don't be nutty Brinker". I got sick of what he was saying to me so i said lets go have a cigerette in the "Butt Room", which was the basement. When we got down there, Brinker was telling everyone that he brought the prisoner that got accused of killing his roommate. All the boys there said that I pushed Finny off the branch, so I didn't even talk to them or look at the for the rest of the time I was there for. I left after awhile because I had to go study my French and I didn't even get to smoke, which was the reason I went to the Butt Room. In the wartime labor shortages we had to shovel the snow off of the railroad and we got money in return, which helped out a lot for me. On my way to go shovel I saw Leper in the meadow cross-country skiing. He told me that he is trying to find a beaver dam on the Devon River and invites me to come see it sometime. After shoveling the railroad with the boys, we all took the train back to Devon and we saw Leper coming back from trying to find the beaver dam. When Brinker saw Leper, he makes fun of him and Leper comes over to me and says he is tired of school and wants to enlist tomorrow. That night I thought and thought about enlisting as well and I finally made my decision and said yea I will do it too. When I got back to my room guess who was there? Finny. I had no idea he was coming and was very surprised and confused why he was in my room and didn't tell me he was coming.

 

Dear journal #6

When i arrived back at Devon everything seemed back to normal except Leper didn't live across the hall anymore, Brinker Hadley did. That afternoon i had to go to an appointment at the Crew House and on the way there i stopped at the upper part of the river and imagined Finny balancing on the tree like he used to do. When i arrived at the crew house they told me i got position of assistant senior crew manger and i would have to work for a bully Cliff Quackenbush. He then starts arguing with me about how i should be a manager sence i can't row. I got so angry with him insulting me that I hit him and we both fall into the river. When we got out he tells me not to come back ever again. As I walk home I met Mr. Ludsbury and he told me that I had a long distance phone call, so I went to his study and I called the number back. It was Finny's voice, he asks about our room and he seemed very relieved that I didn't have a new roommate. Finny said "Start with sports, what are you going out for?" I told him "Crew"... Assistant crew manager". When I told him that he freaked out and tells me that I need to play sports for his sake. I was thinking in my head if i should do it for him or just not listen to him and go on with my life.

      

Dear journal #5

As soon as I got Finny out of the river, he couldn’t walk because his legs were shattered. I brought his to the infirmary, but nobody could see him after that. I spent a lot of alone time in my room because Finny was in the infirmary and one day I put on Finny’s pants, shoes and his pink shirt. When I put his things on I felt like Finny. The next morning Dr. Stanpole tells "Finnys better!". He also told me that Finny wont be abled to play sports anymore which made him mad because he loves playing sports. When i got to the infirmary, i was talking to the doctor and he was telling me everything and i just started crying. As i entered his room, he was just laying there and he said why do you look so sick. I got really mad and asked him "how did you fall of that tree, Im going to cut it down"? Finny pretty much hinted that it was my fault that he fell out of the tree, but never really said that to me. The next day Finny was brough home and the summer session ends. I also went home for my month vacation, which was a relief. When September came it was time to go back to school, but i didnt take the train right to school i went to Finny's house for a visit. When i got there i told him while i was back at home i was thinking a lot about when you fell off the tree and that is when i told him i shook the tree so you would fall off. The wierd thing is that he didn't believe and he became very angry. As i was leaving i told him i would be back at Devon by Thanksgiving.

   

Dear Journal #4

That night we went to the beach we ended up sleeping there and when i woke up Finny was still sleeping and i tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. We didn't have a watch at that time, so I looked at the sky and I knew it was about six thirty. The ride back to Devon would take three hours and I had to be back in time for my trigonometry test that was at ten. We couldn't eat breakfast that morning because Finny lost our money we had. We got to Devon just in time for my test that I flunked. Later on me and Finny were talking and he was asking me "What good will Trigonometry do you" and I said "I'll have to pass it to graduate, for one thing". Then Finny started saying all these things about how I just want to be head of the class, valedictorian, so i can make a speech on Graduation day. I asked Finny if he would mine if I did become valedictorian and he said i would kill myself out of jealous envy. Me and Finny were very different because he was very good at sports and not so good at school and me I was very good at school and not so good at sports. A couple of nights later I was studying for a French test and Finny came into the room and told me that Leper wanted to jump from the tree to become part of the society. Finny asked me to go, but I was studying, but I couldn’t picture him jumping so I went anyways. When we got to the tree Finny and I decided to jump together and when we were up there he turned around for a second and lost his balance. He fell through little branches and hit the bank, so after I climbed down the tree and jumped in the river. I was really scared and didn't know what would happen or what to do.