"No." He shook his head. "No."
His father looked up. "I'm real sorry, boy."
"No!" Jess was yelling now. "I don't believe you. You're lying to me!" He looked around again wildly for someone to agree. But they all had their heads down except May Belle, whose eyes were wide with terror. But, Leslie, what if you die?
"No," he said straight at May Belle. "It's a lie. Leslie ain't dead." He turned around and ran out the door, letting the screen down sharply against the house. He ran down the gravel to the main road and then started running west away from Washington and Millsburg - and the old Perkins place. An approaching car beeped and swerved and beeped again, but he hardly noticed.
Leslie - dead - girl friend - rope - broke - fell - you - you - you. The words exploded in his head like corn against the sides of the popper. God - dead - you - Leslie - dead - you. He ran until he was stumbling but he kept on, afraid to stop. Knowing somehow that running was the only thing that could keep Leslie from being dead. It was up to him. He had to keep going...
...He was awake, jerked suddenly into consciousness in the black stillness of the house. He sat up, stiff and shivering, although he was fully dressed from his windbreaker down to his sneakers. He could hear the breathing of the little girls in the next bed, strangely loud and uneven in the quiet. Some dream must have awakened him, but he could not remember it. He could only remember the mood of dread it had brought with it. Through the curtainless window he could see the lopsided moon with hundreds of starts dancing in bight attendance.
It came into his mind that someone had told him that Leslie was dead. But he knew now that that had been part of the dreadful dream. Leslie could not die any more than he himself could die. But the words turned over uneasily in his mind like leaves stirred up by a cold wind...
...You think it's so great to die and make everyone cry and carry on. Well, it ain't...
...But Leslie had failed him. She went and died just when he needed her the most. She went and left him...
...She had made him leave his old self behind and come into her world, and then before he was really at home in it but too late to go back, she had left him stranded there - like an astronaut wandering about on the moon. Alone.
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
it's so... insane how much i was able to relate to that novel - even going to sleep with all my clothes still on and waking up to in the middle of the night thinking the night before had been a dream. yeah, it wasn't. wow. i still think it's a depressing book for children but i'm glad i read it. i understand what jess is going through.
His father looked up. "I'm real sorry, boy."
"No!" Jess was yelling now. "I don't believe you. You're lying to me!" He looked around again wildly for someone to agree. But they all had their heads down except May Belle, whose eyes were wide with terror. But, Leslie, what if you die?
"No," he said straight at May Belle. "It's a lie. Leslie ain't dead." He turned around and ran out the door, letting the screen down sharply against the house. He ran down the gravel to the main road and then started running west away from Washington and Millsburg - and the old Perkins place. An approaching car beeped and swerved and beeped again, but he hardly noticed.
Leslie - dead - girl friend - rope - broke - fell - you - you - you. The words exploded in his head like corn against the sides of the popper. God - dead - you - Leslie - dead - you. He ran until he was stumbling but he kept on, afraid to stop. Knowing somehow that running was the only thing that could keep Leslie from being dead. It was up to him. He had to keep going...
...He was awake, jerked suddenly into consciousness in the black stillness of the house. He sat up, stiff and shivering, although he was fully dressed from his windbreaker down to his sneakers. He could hear the breathing of the little girls in the next bed, strangely loud and uneven in the quiet. Some dream must have awakened him, but he could not remember it. He could only remember the mood of dread it had brought with it. Through the curtainless window he could see the lopsided moon with hundreds of starts dancing in bight attendance.
It came into his mind that someone had told him that Leslie was dead. But he knew now that that had been part of the dreadful dream. Leslie could not die any more than he himself could die. But the words turned over uneasily in his mind like leaves stirred up by a cold wind...
...You think it's so great to die and make everyone cry and carry on. Well, it ain't...
...But Leslie had failed him. She went and died just when he needed her the most. She went and left him...
...She had made him leave his old self behind and come into her world, and then before he was really at home in it but too late to go back, she had left him stranded there - like an astronaut wandering about on the moon. Alone.
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
it's so... insane how much i was able to relate to that novel - even going to sleep with all my clothes still on and waking up to in the middle of the night thinking the night before had been a dream. yeah, it wasn't. wow. i still think it's a depressing book for children but i'm glad i read it. i understand what jess is going through.
posted by Ruth Marie at 8:51 PM
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