Impact of Marketing Strategies on an Organization Free-Samples

Assessing The Capacity Planning For Bmw Business Essay

Evaluating The Capacity Planning For Bmw Business Essay As a matter of first importance, limit alludes to as far as possible or roof on the heap that a working unit can deal with. What's more, the heap may be number of physical units created or number of administration delivered. (Stevenson, 2009).According to Eng. Abdel Moniem shehata, he said that limit is continually something to oversee. He included that scope quantification isn't important to be tedious or costly. What's more, any organization will utilize the scope organization relying upon its instruments and assets. As per BMW, the Company possesses laborers, machines, apparatuses, building and materials and so on, and they need to utilize this assets to boost efficiency and exploit it to arrive at high limit. At the point when Mr. Abdel Moniem shehata was gotten some information about the significance of limit choices towards BMW he said that the greater limit the more benefit the organization will pick up and the costs will be diminished as BMW includes producing so it is essential to set a scope quantification in light of the fact that the wellspring of pay of BMW originates from selling vehicles. Be that as it may, Capacity is significant on the grounds that it convey advantages and benefits substantially more than what was normal. Mr. Abdel Moniem shehata said that limit is significant as it influence and have sway on BMW as a Company and its vehicles. It likewise influences seriousness and he said that he feels that the most close to contenders to BMW are Mercedes and Volkswagen as the three brands are Germany and the production lines are situated close to one another. Then again, the firm that has greater limit will have a favorable position of conveyance speed. He included that lim it choice influences the Operating expenses by aiding in limiting working expense. There are two distinct approaches to quantify limit which are structure limit and powerful limit. The structure limit is the yield rate while the powerful limit is the plan limit less recompenses. As indicated by BMW Eng. Abdel Moniem shehata says about the ways BMW use to quantify limit, that toward the start of any business a Feasibility study is essential to begin with and study it exceptionally legitimate and guarantee that it is all in all correct to arrive at the benefit which the organization needs. A while later things that is fundamental for creation comes after like machines, inventories, laborers, designing, and hardware all these sort of assets which will help in accomplishing high limit. At that point the financial plan of the creation is putted which comprises of salary and result. Pay like resources and costs while result like income and benefit that is gotten. Mostly BMW measures limit by increasing the quantity of machines or laborers with the quantity of move, with use and with proficiency. As indicated by the determinants of successful limit there are factors that impact limit. The structure of BMW is significant including the shape and the size. Likewise the structure can have effect on limit. As indicated by BMW it is imperative to create vehicles with a similar range other than various ones. He included that nature of the vehicle is a significant part in the determinants of viable limit. As by expanding quality the limit will increment also. Also, other outer components like security, buying choices and stock stocking choice, every one of these elements greatly affect limit. Any organization or association has a limit definition puts together its ability procedure with respect to suspicions and forecast. System definition comprises of 3 essential stages which are driving, after and following. Driving aides in building limit in an expectation of future interest increments. While following beginning structure limit when request builds current limit. At long last following keeps ability to keep request increment (Stevenson, 2009). In any case, BMW can gauge the accomplishment of its new procedure by following to what extent it takes for one vehicle to be worked from the earliest starting point until its all done. On the off chance that vehicles take diverse of times to be assembled, at that point it is an indication of lopsided progression of materials to the creation line. Another way is taking a gander at the quantity of vehicles that are returned for guarantee work. This estimation takes a gander at the last item. On the off chance that providers are rus hed to finish orders, they may decrease the nature of the items that they are providing to BMW. When those low quality parts are utilized in the assembling of another vehicle, the client will think that its unsuitable and it will be returned back to be adjusted. The scope quantification is finished by the senior supervisor and others that are liable for the materials and designing also. There are six stages of scope quantification. The initial step is to Estimate the future limit prerequisites, the subsequent advance is to assess existing limit, the third step is recognize choices, the fourth step is to direct monetary investigation, the fifth step is to evaluate key characteristics issues, while the six stage is to actualize elective picked, at long last, the six stage is to screen results.(Stevenson, 2009). Be that as it may, Eng. Abdel El Moneim said that BMW makes the scope quantification in 3 straightforward advances. The initial step is deciding assistance level necessities; as they arrange the work done by frameworks and evaluate clients desires for how those functions complete. The subsequent advance is to break down the present limit which is imperative to examine it to perceive how it is addressing clients needs. The third step is anticipating the future, by guaging BMWs future business action and deciding it. Nonetheless, Implementing is significant as it guarantee that the accessible limit will be sufficient regardless of whether any progressions occurred if what's to come. At last, when going to the assessment of the scope organization at BMW Mr. Abdel Moniem shehata said that Evaluations did to learn exercises that can be utilized to improve progressing or future scope organization endeavors are of conceivably more prominent worth. Tragically, improvement-situated assessments are only here and there did. This is a genuine inadequacy of assessment practice, since limit improvement endeavors include a lot of experimentation, and directors need to realize the outcomes so as to hone or reformulate targets and reorient their exercises in suitable manners. Taking everything into account, for any organization to accomplish an effective arranging limit is to define objectives and characterize targets. Â The organization should likewise guarantee that the arranging procedure is cautiously recognized.â And if the organization found any mix-up in the arrangement or the arrangement isn't working, it doesnt imply that the association needs to begin the arranging from the earliest starting point however just to address or improve the parts which incorporate the slip-up. BMW makes their ability arranging at any rate once per year and at some point like clockwork. Reference Page: Exchanging eBook. (2010). , AL: Scribd. Recovered May 3, 2011, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/36253765/bmw-case. kern, H. (2008). , AL: Tech Republic. Recovered May 3, 2011, from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-approaches to-construct a-strong scope quantification exertion/370 (2010). , AL: Carzy. Recovered May 6, 2011, from http://carzy.co.in/blog/vehicle news/bmw-india-extend limit 8000-units-mid 2011.html/

Stress in College

Stress in College 5 Ways to Cope with Stress in College Home›Education Posts›5 Ways to Cope with Stress in College Education PostsCollege is a new stage of every person’s life. Some students think that college times are interesting and funny and that they are all about parties. Others are afraid of the challenging studying process. Nevertheless, students experience many stressful situations when studying. The feeling of stress is always pestering many students. Stress is everywhere. It can find us at home, in school or college. When in college, students are often under stress since they want to cope with all their tasks and achieve their goals in one day. Education process demands a lot of efforts from students, therefore, they feel deep despair. Stress causes physical and emotional problems. Stress can affect our productivity and relations with other people.Below are 5 useful tips for how to cope with stress in college:Be calm. Very often, we are nervous without any reason. We worry about what will happen, how we will pass exams, or whether we will have time to cope with all academic assignments. First of all, students should calm down and control themselves. Focusing on the problem will only worsen it.Healthy food. Our mood depends on what we eat. Students should eat more fruits and vegetables since they contain many vitamins which help cope with stressful situations when studying.Physical exercise. Some physical activity can reduce stress. You may walk for 20-30 minutes a day while listening to your favorite music band and that will be enough. Even small physical activity assists our body in producing endorphins.Good sleep. Sleep has always been the best way to manage stress. While sleeping, our body and mind stop worrying about the problem. This, in turn, improves our productivity.Relaxation. Students should rest from education process. It is essential to have some time out. It is advisable to spend some time with friends, family or beloved, go to parties, and have so me fun. It is important to rest but very often students are overloaded and worry about their academic assignments. In this situation, qualitycustomessays.com can really help you.Find time for yourself and take life easier. College times are really fun and unforgettable if you can cope with stress!

The Worst Crime Is Faking It - 1928 Words

â€Å"The worst crime is faking it.† (Kurt Cobain) We use media every day in different forms, younger audience prefers to use social media to stay updated and older audience prefers more reliable sources. Media goes hand in hand with a lot of different issues. It is heavily involved with sexism , objectifying women and also it is closely related to the public s fear of crime. Miss Representation, the documentary, describes all the ways that media objectifies women. For instance, advertising companies use women’s bodies to sell different kind of products, for example AXE ads where women are practically naked because sex sells. Similarly, media blows details out of proportion resulting in public’s fear of crime. Crime has always been a part of our society, but how is it that it seems to be growing every day. Is crime really increasing or is it that people now are just more aware of it. In addition, does media exaggerate to get its point across and blow little deta ils out of proportion to create public fear of crime? U.S. annual crime report from FBI’s 2014 edition estimated that the number of violent crimes decreased 0.2 percent when compared with data from 2013. Likewise, the number of property crimes decreased 4.3 percent from 2013 as well (2015, September 28). Despite all the statistics, all that media portrays is mass shootings, mass bombings, sexual abuse, murder, rape, kidnapping, child abduction,etc. Why is media and public’s fear of crime so closely tied together? UsingShow MoreRelatedThe Silent Suffering Victim1323 Words   |  6 Pagescried with her, with them. Rape books are numerous, at least I ve read my fair share. They come in all shapes and sizes, giving us tragic stories of broken lives and emotionally crippled victims. Faking Normal may be one of the bunch, but it s one that stands out in its importance in showing one of the worst faces of rape: the one that goes wrongfully blamed, the one with circumstances that make the victim think it s excusable. He was hurt, he said. Lonely, he said. Since she didn t straight up sayRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller985 Words   |  4 Pagesand title since the definition is a severe trial. In The Crucible John Proctor, Rebecca Nurse, and Giles Corey are characters who illustrate being tested by the Witch Trials. These characters all struggle against facing the deceitful court and their worst enemy, themselves. Gile Corey is eighty three, despite his old age he is described as strong, canny, inquisitive, and powerful. He was a comical man who often stated his own opinion whether others agreed or disagreed. Giles wasn’t involved withRead MoreNegligence Of The Military Entrance Process Essay978 Words   |  4 Pages11 Most Powerful) Naturally American’s might expect some of the best individuals the country has to offer would be the ones standing guard. Although the military is full of some of the best and the brightest, it is also riddled with some of the worst our country has to offer. Over the years, military service has been proven to be a hunting ground for predators. According to The Provisional Statistical Data on Sexual Assault Fiscal Year 14, â€Å"the Military Services received a total of 5,983 reportsRead MoreThe Sarbanes Oxley Act s Purpose Essay1537 Words   |  7 Pageswith them, and their market share plummeted. This was credited as one of the worst aud iting failures. This was but one of many accounting scandals, but it was possibly the worst. To help prevent something like this from happened again, the Sarbanes Oxley Act was passed. This act greatly increased the accountability of auditing firms, and it also increased penalties for acts such as defrauding shareholders, as well as faking, destroying, or altering records (Jennings, 2015). Part 1 of Sarbanes OxleyRead MoreCyberbullying : A New Source Of Communication And Socializing For Young People Today1379 Words   |  6 Pagesacceptable, but it is not. Leaving someone out and talk harsh about them could result is self-pity and low self-esteem. This may also cause depression and stress depends on how the victim handles it. Another form of cyberbullying is masquerading or faking. It is when a person makes a fake profile or identity to bully, so that it will be anonymous. The bully also impersonates someone else to bully the victim using the anonymous profile. This usually happened because the bully is too scared to show whoRead MoreThe Defense Of The Insanity Defense1706 Words   |  7 Pagesproduct of mental disease or mental defect. The Durham rule was eventually rejected by the federal courts, because it cast too broad a net. Alcoholics, compulsive gamblers, and drug addicts had successfully used the defense to defeat a wide variety of crimes. (Legal information institute, Cornell university law school). This is an example of how the insanity defense can be used for all of the wrong reasons, this kid just wanted to use the defense to avoid trouble as well as the law and he knew what wasRead MoreThe Implications of the Stanford Prison Experiment Essay733 Words   |  3 Pages The experiment obviou sly had a serious flaw; this is thought to be Dr Zimbardos involvement (he acted as the superintendent). This was clear when a prisoner 8612 began to show signs of mental harm Zimdardo believed the prisoner was faking this to try to be released. If Zimbardo had not been involved he would have released him sooner. Another minor problem with the experiment is the definitions of a good person A great deal about mankind was learnt from the StanfordRead MoreThe Effects of Computer Technology to Students Lifestyle and Study Habits†.1147 Words   |  5 Pagesassignments for them, not to help them broaden their knowledge and come up with original work and creative projects. Most students now use computers not to do research work, but to play games, opening their facebook accounts to chat with friends and the worst, to destroy other’s dignity by the social networking wars and arguments. Students also make use of the computer to watch pornographic pictures and videos to satisfy their selves. Students can use the computer to fake their grades which they sendRead MoreThe Effects of Computer Technology to Students Lifestyle and Study Habits†.1158 Words   |  5 Pagesassignments for them, not to help them broaden their knowledge and come up with original work and creative projects. Most students now use computers not to do research work, but to play games, opening their facebook accounts to chat with friends and the worst, to destroy other’s dignity by the social networking wars and arguments. Students also make use of the computer to watch pornographic pictures and videos to satisfy their selves. Students can use the computer to fake their grades which they sendRead MoreExamples Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby1515 Words   |  7 Pageshere, as the book highlights the ingenuine and twisted life that this group of ‘friends’ live. From the outside, their lives may seem perfect, but when taking a closer look the truth comes out. The group struggles with staying monogamous, lying and faking everything. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald talks about how phony and unattainable the â€Å"American Dream† is, proving that money cannot buy happiness A constant theme amongst the characters is a difficulty to stay monogamous. Cheating happens very regularly

Everest Simulation Reflection Paper - 1708 Words

| Mt. Everest Simulation Reflection Paper | Assignment 1 | | | | Individual reflection on the Mt. Everest Simulation exercise carried out on 5th October and the subsequent debriefing on 12th October | The Everest simulation was a unique experience. Before the actual simulation started, my team discussed the approach we would take and how we will deal with situations wherein the personal goals collided with the team goals. We shared our character profile information with each other and began the exercise with excitement and a firm resolve to do our best. The team finished achieving 41% of its goals. Two of our members had to be rescued and we didn’t manage to attain any of the weather, oxygen or medical challenges. We†¦show more content†¦Once the exercise was over and as the individual points were displayed a lot of things became clearer. Having experienced the system and then debriefing later on, helped in filling a lot of gaps in information that seemed to exist during the simulation. With a better understanding of ‘the rules of the game’ and some of the strategies that did work, it is difficult to introspect now without a bias. As the saying goes – â€Å"Hindsight is wonderful. Its always very easy to second guess after the fact. â€Å"– Helen Reddy There are certain things though that we would have done differently even without any of the additional information we gathered later on. First of all we would have used the system very carefully. Often we don’t get a second chance to rectify things and therefore we need to exercise due caution at every step we take. We also would have examined each piece of information diligently. There seemed to be a lot of loose ends and therefore it was more important to be cautious and utilize any given information. On a strategy front, we tried to factor in the weather and health conditions at each stage. However we tried to take a broader view of the picture. So when the weather information was not available, we tried to draw a trend from the previous recordings. We decided to move to the next camp based on those trends. In the case where the environmentalist was in aShow MoreRelatedDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesThe Advantages of Teams 494 An Example of an Effective Team 497 Team Development 498 The Forming Stage 498 The Norming Stage 499 The Storming Stage 501 The Performing Stage 503 Leading Teams 506 Developing Credibility 507 Establish SMART Goals and Everest Goals 509 International Caveats 511 Team Membership 512 Advantageous Roles 512 Providing Feedback 516 International Caveats 517 SKILL ANALYSIS 519 Cases Involving Building Effective Teams 519 The Tallahassee Democrat’s ELITE Team 519 The Cash RegisterRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 Pagesany network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 WVR/WVR 0 9 8 7 ISBN 978-0-07-340334-2 MHID 0-07-340334-2 Editorial director: Stewart Mattson Publisher: Tim Vertovec Executive editor: Richard T. Hercher, Jr. Developmental editor: Gail Korosa Associate marketing manager: Jaime

An Analysis of the Eight Fold Path of Buddhism Free Essays

The Eightfold Path is a way that leads to the stopping of suffering and the achievement of self awakening. This instrument was brought forth through the teachings of the Buddha, Gautama Buddha. He taught his disciples how to follow this path how he did, so they may have self awakening and liberation. We will write a custom essay sample on An Analysis of the Eight Fold Path of Buddhism or any similar topic only for you Order Now The eight steps in the Eightfold Path are as follows: Right belief, Right purpose, Right speech, Right conduct, Right livelihood, Right effort, Right mindfulness, and Right meditation or concentration. In Buddha’s time, if a potential Arahat strayed from the Eightfold Path or the Four Noble Truths, he would have to confess his sin or sins to the public. They followed it very strictly and took it very seriously for they wanted to be able to reach Nirvana. Nirvana is â€Å"the unconditioned state of liberation, release from the cycle of rebirth-redeath† (Noss, 2008, 2003: 185). In present time, we live in a very fast-paced, high-stress environment. I wonder if a present day Buddhist would be able to live life in accordance with the Eightfold Path. The first step in the Eightfold Path is Right belief. The Right belief can also be translated as â€Å"right perspective†, â€Å"right vision† or â€Å"right understanding†. It is the right way of looking at life, nature and the world as they really are. It acts as the reasoning for the practitioner to start practicing the path. It gives direction and efficacy to the other seven path factors (Encyclopedia, Aug. 2006). Another way of looking at the Right belief phrased in a contemporary form is: First you must see clearly what is wrong (Soccio, 2007: 51). The second step is Right purpose. In this step, the Arahat should constantly try to succeed at ridding themselves of whatever qualities that they know are wrong and immoral. Correct understanding of Right purpose will help the Arahat to distinguish the differences between right intention and wrong intention (Encyclopedia, Aug. 2006). A contemporary definition of Right purpose is: Next you must decide that you want to be cured (Soccio, 2007: 51). The third and fourth step, which are I found have been lumped together in all of my reading, Right speech and Right conduct. One must love all creatures with the right sort of love in word and deed (Noss, 2008: 182). When practicing steps three and four, Arahat’s must make good use of their words and train themselves to not bring harm to themselves or to others. You must act and speak so as to aim at being cured is a contemporary form on steps three and four (Soccio, 2007: 51). Right means of livelihood is the fifth step of the Eightfold Path. In this step, the Arahat’s are not to participate in occupations that can cause harm to human beings. This would include occupations that deal with weapons, the buying or selling of sex, killing animals to sell as food, and making or selling alcohol. Historian and philosopher, Gerald Heard, modified this step into a contemporary version meaning: Your livelihood must not conflict with your therapy (Soccio, 2007: 51). Right effort is the sixth step. In this step, the Saints should make a die hard effort to desert all the wrong and harmful thoughts, words, and deeds they might have. Instead they should be persevering in coming up with thoughts, words, and deeds that would be good and helpful to others and themselves (Encyclopedia, Aug. 2006). â€Å"That therapy must go forward at the â€Å"staying speed†, that is, the critical velocity† (Soccio, 2007: 51). The seventh and eighth final steps of the Eightfold Path are Right mindfulness and Right meditation or concentration. In these steps, the Arahat’s should constantly keep their mind alert to developments as they are affecting the body and mind. They should be aware and careful, making sure not to act or speak through the power of carelessness or forgetfulness. During the practice of right concentration, the practitioner will need to investigate and verify their right view; in the process right knowledge will arise and then followed by right liberation (Encyclopedia, Aug. 2006). The contemporary definition of these steps is: You must think about it incessantly and learn how to contemplate with the deep mind (Soccio, 2007: 51). Now having listed and clearly defined what each step is, I have concluded that it would be impossible for a present day Buddhist to live a life in accordance with the Eightfold Path. Even the most open-minded person would still fail at one or more of these steps. Following the Eightfold Path in today’s society would make it pretty much impossible for a person to be a productive member of the community. Just look at how choosing a college major would be affected by following the Path. If someone aspired to be a Police Officer, the Eightfold Path would prevent that due to the possibility of taking a human life. Or if a present day Buddhist wanted to become a lawyer, that would be halted since the Right Speech prohibits one from speaking in any sort of abusive or divisive manner. No one would be able to properly argue their point of view. In today’s electronic driven, media everywhere, fast-paced world I don’t see how the Eightfold Path could be a successful practice to a contemporary Buddhist. It is a very strict instrument to follow for the Path of Nirvana and I believe that at least one or more steps would be broken even by the most devout Buddhist. How to cite An Analysis of the Eight Fold Path of Buddhism, Essay examples

Analysis for Jeep Grand Cherokee Essay Example

Analysis for Jeep Grand Cherokee Paper The advert denotes a jeep on rough terrain driving past a wooden shack. The scene is set in the countryside where nothing can be seen for miles. The writing takes up a small amount of the whole page, which shows the advertisers, want you to concentrate on the jeep rather then the text.  The anchor on the advert could be interpreted in different ways to the intended one. 8 on the Richter scale shows the jeep is powerful and can blow anything away. Richter scale is probably the keyword as it connotes ideas of power and strength. The wooden hut looks like it has been in an earthquake but in fact the advertisers wants to show you can drive it and feel commanding. At the bottom of the advert it tells you about the engine specification and the luxurious interior. The company wants to show off the best bits of the car. In the top left hand corner it has the company logo and the words THERES ONLY ONE. The advert works as a whole by placing the signifier for power (V8 Engine) next to the logo Jeep. This represents to consumers only this jeep will give you the ideas and hopefully persuade people to buy one. The caption will influence a consumer in their perception of the product: Jeep is a unique 44 manufacturer that upper class people may drive around town to do their errands or people who want to be powerful/commanding and use the car to its maximum limit. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis for Jeep Grand Cherokee specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis for Jeep Grand Cherokee specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis for Jeep Grand Cherokee specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This suggests it is indexical. Earthquakes are associated with power/noise and the seismic rumble from under the bonnet makes people want to buy it. This signifies to most people, a meaning that it is a good, stylish car that will impress and everybody will want. The blurred background is also important because it connotes an impression of speed and immense power, which will help to sell the car. Furthermore the man in the car is not very young for a reason. The advert is designed, obviously, to target people who can afford the 30,000 jeep, and so the image of the middle aged man, who maybe has enough money to buy one, is important. The photography of the car is responsible for making the advert work as well. Although the blurred background is probably computer generated, the car is a photograph. The camera never lies, but here it has been chosen to capture the image when the wheel hubs are blurred with speed and the slight glinting off the bonnet and headlights adds to luxury ride ordinary people could be experiencing. In looking at the image of the iconic jeep, the advert denotes a car travelling on a long distance terrain in a natural setting, which signifies that the jeep is capable of handling rough terrain as well, a smooth ride. Also it is a realistic representation of the kinds of roads the car maybe travelling on and whatever it (or lack of it) throws at you. The juxtaposing of a dark sky and natural environment signifies a smoothness and air of mystery, further implying to the consumer that it is desirable. This is the same with the car, as it is a dark colour too. This dark/natural colour setting is predictably continued to the jeep itself, so that the consumer associates the values signified by the natural setting to the product. The picture of the jeep is on the left hand side where the sky is darker which suggests the car has just driven through the earthquake and survived. The advert is more likely aimed at men, who tend to be the main money earners and more interested in cars and also the representation of colour for males is usually dark, and for females, dark, which further implies it is aimed at men. The ideology at work here is significant: the car represents power and authority and consequently, men learn to aspire to such images. The advertisement makes the reader feel in control and make people buy the product at price.

Free Essays on The Road Is Not Taken

Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey, life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to head. In most poetry different people can choose certain characteristics that tend to appear in each piece of the Robert Frost’s work that they can relate to. In spite of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey in his poem, â€Å"The Road Not taken† has left its various readers with many different interpretations. The speaker is introduced as being faced with the decision of which path he will choose to travel. He has to choose only one path, therefore leaving one road that he will not get to experience. Furthermore, this poem clearly express’ Frost’s belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is; it is one’s past, present and the attitude with which he looks upon his future that determines the shadow of the light that he will see the poem in. It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. â€Å"And sorry I could not travel both...†(line2). There seems to be a strong sense of regret, disappointment and hesitancy before the choice is even made, it is impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler â€Å"looks down one as far as I could†. The road that will be chosen leads to unknown, as does any choice in life. As much he may strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it goes beyond his vision and he can never see where it is going to lead him and the choice he made. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey and decides where he is going. In our journey, we the travelers want to separate from others by choosing a path that has never been taken. Robert Frost emphasizes this idea by setting the two roads apart from one ano... Free Essays on The Road Is Not Taken Free Essays on The Road Is Not Taken Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey, life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to head. In most poetry different people can choose certain characteristics that tend to appear in each piece of the Robert Frost’s work that they can relate to. In spite of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey in his poem, â€Å"The Road Not taken† has left its various readers with many different interpretations. The speaker is introduced as being faced with the decision of which path he will choose to travel. He has to choose only one path, therefore leaving one road that he will not get to experience. Furthermore, this poem clearly express’ Frost’s belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is; it is one’s past, present and the attitude with which he looks upon his future that determines the shadow of the light that he will see the poem in. It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. â€Å"And sorry I could not travel both...†(line2). There seems to be a strong sense of regret, disappointment and hesitancy before the choice is even made, it is impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler â€Å"looks down one as far as I could†. The road that will be chosen leads to unknown, as does any choice in life. As much he may strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it goes beyond his vision and he can never see where it is going to lead him and the choice he made. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey and decides where he is going. In our journey, we the travelers want to separate from others by choosing a path that has never been taken. Robert Frost emphasizes this idea by setting the two roads apart from one ano...

Free sample - P3 DB. translation missing

P3 DB. P3 DBThe incorporation of the bill of rights refers to the process by which the supreme court has applied sections of the Bill of Rights of U.S. to the states (Breyer, 2005). Before this incorporation, the bill of rights applied only to the federal government. The incorporation was to the effect that the states and local authorities now obey the incorporated protections and prohibitions. This is courtesy of the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment (Breyer, 2005). Some protections available to criminal offenders through the bill of rights have not been incorporated so states are not required to follow them. These include the right to indictment by a grand jury (Madison, 2008). This is quite evident since the constitutions of many states provide for indictment by grand jury contrary to the bill of rights. This especially happens when the case involved is a serious crime (Madison, 2008). The right to jury trial in civil cases has also not been incorporated. This is a right that allows juries to search for facts concerning the case while the determination of the case is left to be done by the judge (Madison, 2008). The jury basically listens to the case, evaluates the evidence presented before it to find facts and then makes a decision following the rules governing them as well as the law. Lastly, provisions for protections against â€Å"excessive† bail and â€Å"excessive† fines have not been incorporated and therefore not observed by the states (Madison, 2008). Substantive law focuses on the substance of the matter. Essentially, it defines how facts in the case are supposed to be handled and how the crime is to be charged (Kelvin, 2004). Substantive protections seek to reserve the individual’s authority to possess particular things even though the intention of the government may be to the contrary. Substantive due process requires that the police should make criminal defendants aware of their rights before any interrogation is made (Kelvin, 2004). For instance, the defendant should be informed of his/her right to remain silent as any information given would be used as evidence against him/her. This right is provided for in the fourth amendment (Kelvin, 2004). Procedural law on the other hand focuses on the process that the case will follow. It focuses on how proceedings as far as the enforcement of substantive law will take place (White, 2000). This process ensures fair administration of the law in order to eliminate arbitrary as well as unreasonable decisions. Procedural rights emphasize on fairness hence the government can lawfully take away freedom , life or property of an individual if the law says so be done (White, 2000). Procedural protection therefore gives defendants the right to be informed adequately of the particular charges or proceedings, the right to be heard as these proceedings are carried out, and the right to an impartial judgment from however is handling the case (White, 2000). In a nut shell therefore, substantive law is concerned with the creation, definitions and the regulation of rights while procedural law is concerned with the enforcement of these rights as well as redress in the event that the rights are violated (Kelvin, 2004). Protections which are substantive include: freedom of speech, and right to privacy while procedural protections include: the right to adequate notice of a law suit, the right to be present as testimony is given, as well as the right to have an attorney (Kelvin, 2004). References Breyer, S. (2005). Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution. New York: Knopf. Kelvin, R. (2004). Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court's Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice. Washington: Regnery Madison, A. (2008). A Dummies Guide to Understanding the Fourteenth Amendment . New York: Routledge. White, G. (2000). The Constitution and the New Deal. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Trying to fit in Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trying to fit in - Essay Example The outcome was successful and I completed all tasks as expected by the group members. Before I expressed my willingness to join the group, I first assessed the openness and closeness of the group. It understood that the group was interested in discussing topics that concerned me since I could hear their conservations while seated next to them during my break time. I introduced myself sincerely and openly by greeting all members and telling them my name. I asked them on how long they had been working together and make a positive statement about the group. I also made a positive statement about myself and expressed my willingness to join and fit in the group since I shared the same objectives with all the group members (Crisp and Turner 108). The main objective of joining and fitting in the group was to combine our unique talents, skills and knowledge in accomplishing our classroom work. At the formation stage, each member talked politely and outlined the duties and responsibilities o f each individual. For instance, the group members openly provided suggestions on the time schedules of the meetings and also number of hours for the meetings. The members had adequate time to adapt to the unique personalities of each group member. For instance, the members selected a common mode of communication which was official English language (Crisp and Turner 109). ... In the group work decisions, the group laid down a framework of clarifying the factual ideas and suggestions of the members towards the discussion including reviewing academic literature that is contained in classroom notes. In addition, any arguments during the discussion were based on opinions, ideas and not individual personalities (Crisp and Turner 110). The members had diversity of opinions and view points on the discussion topics and the discussion process was well organised. Showing my confidence and asking questions made the other members easily accept me in the group. I also played an additional role of note taking and organizing the meeting venues which made me an active and crucial member of the group. At the fitting stage, I exercised my listening skills and leadership skills which were critical for the attainment of the group objectives. In deed, some members suggested that I should take up the group leader role due to my self-confidence, decision making skills, assertiv eness and politeness while dealing with conflicts or countering opposing arguments and ideas. Sitting next to the group and making positive comments made me easily join and fit in to the group. I attained my outcomes of fitting in to the group since the group provided me an opportunity to share my ideas and opinions and also counter the arguments of the rest of the members. I understood that individuals have different cultural backgrounds, personalities and values thus it is essential that group members focus on ideas and not differing personalities. It is important that group members familiarize themselves with discussion materials and clearly understand the rules and

Random House Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Random House - Essay Example Therefore, the story is written, simply to paint a positive side on the illegal immigration saga, often painted in bad light and insensitivity, through documenting the resilience, courage and determination that it takes to brace the journey. This way, it opens an avenue for further scrutiny into the issue of illegal immigration, paving way for further societal engagement and alternative policy formulation. Analysis Reading this story, one thing remains clear; the immigration of children and mothers from the nearby countries into the United States, though illegal, no doubt remains acceptable, logical and justifiable, when perceived from the eye of humanity, compassion and reason. Poverty, abuse and domestic violence remain the common denominator for most of the illegal immigrants that flocks the USA every year ((Nazario, 112). This is especially true for children who must always device means of reuniting with their parents, after a long period of separation, which eventually tears dow n all the walls of patience. No wonder therefore, that 75% of the unaccompanied children in a detention center in Texas holding children caught by the INS illegally migrating into the USA, are seeking for their mothers (Nazario, 1). Different individuals may have different reasons for illegally immigrating into another country. However, it is only the ones with logical, justified and courageous hearts, who will withstand all the challenges posed by the immigration journey. Trekking the 1600 miles from Honduras to the USA, especially for an illegal immigrant is a journey that many would find not worth taking. There is virtually no comfort in such a journey, which greatly involves clinging on sides and tops of freight trains, unless one is the greeted with the kindness of strangers, who are on route to the country for different reasons, other than running away from the unbearable circumstances in their motherland. The journey is pretty hard for those immigrating from Mexico, but even harder for those emigrating from other regions like Enrique (Nazario, 2). It is therefore apparent that those seeking the fun of trekking will not withstand the harsh and hostile conditions characterized by the journey, and thus would opt not to make such attempts. Most of the illegal immigrants, and especially those who are children, brace the journey, since it is the only option they have left. Therefore, the author of the story seeks to document all the challenges involved in the immigration journey, through the exemplification of Enrique, who represents a thousand other children, apparently to tell the world that there is more than just the illegality of the migration. Thus, the story raises various critical questions. Is the emigration of children from Central America and Mexico into the USA justifiable? Can the society do something to avert the suffering endured by children left by their parents in sear’s border be reconciled with the need to avert the horrendous experi ences borne by immigrant children in search of their parents? The eminent risks of death, cruelty and

Comparing Lamb to the Slaughter and the Speckled Band :: Lamb Band Slaughter compare Contrast Essays

Comparing Lamb to the Slaughter and the Speckled Band In this essay i am going to compare two short stories, and see if they are traditional murder mystery stories. I want to see if the stories also follow the conventions of a murder mystery story. One story is called 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and the other is 'The Speckled Band'. The story 'Lamb to the Slaughter' ('LTS') was written in 1954, which is over sixty years ago. 'The Speckled Band' ('TSB') was written in 1892. Roald Dahl wrote the story 'LTS'. This story does not follow the conventions of a murder mystery story. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 'TSB'. This is a murder mystery story. It follows the basic conventions of murder mysteries. I will try to show the differences between the two stories, and show how the stories have different genres. Genre is a type. Geenre is a french word which means Type. Many things have genres. Things we use to entertain ourselfs with, or pass time with, have a genre. For example, films, music, books, games and many other things have genres. Genre is important because it lets people know what they are doing. If someone is watching a film they would wnt to know what genre it is. It could be a horror,thriller, comedy or anything else. So this helps them to know what type of film they are watching, but it would not give away any part of the film. Genre is useful for writers, film makers or artists. They would know what area to target, and they can make money. I am trying to find out if these two stories, 'LTS' and 'TSB', are murder mysery stories. Murder mysteries have conventions. They are basic requirments and these are: -The Detective is the main focus -The reader/viewer (if a film) is set a challenge or challanges -Usually set ater the murder -Gradually builds tention -Denoment (crime is solved) Ending -Then ending has a moral Every murder mystery has a basic story line and must have most of the conventions to fit the genre. In 'LTS' Mrs Maloney is portrayed as a normal wife. She is not presented as a murderer. At the beginning of the story it said she "...glance up at the clock" and "...was waiting for her husband." When he came back home she "Took his coat." She then "Walked over and made the drinks." This is what any normal wife would do. She then asked, "Shall i get your slippers?" and she wanted to make him some dinner. She appears as though she is a loving caring wife. She does not look like a suspect for any type of

Hitchcock began his career in filming Essay

Hitchcock began his career in filming in the 1920’s. Later on he became a director, this involved changing the script or book into a film. Hitchcock used his own method of preparing the order of shots before filming, as he preconceived each shot in ‘Psycho’, ensuring that the tension was built up in a dramatic manner with a purpose, which made him very successful and led to a huge success. Hitchcock found ways to overcome censorship laws against nudity, sex and violence. He shot the film in black and white to conceal flesh/blood. Music was created to build up an atmosphere of contempt to kill, also to make the audience feel relaxed to increase the shock of certain events. The shower scene was shot in 76 cuts! So that the protagonists arms and other objects would cover up her breasts. Hitchcock’s, most impressive technique was to suggest violence instead of showing it, which made it much more dramatic. Hitchcock used techniques, which later became known as Hitchcockean techniques. He tries to emphasise a character’s view by only having one person in a shot or relating the charter to the audience. Placing objects around the room to show characters characteristics and builds up certain ideas. Hitchcock used an ongoing theme of death through out the film, using stairs to represent life at the bottom and death at the top, which instantly creates tension as soon as a shot with stair is shown. The plot begins with Marion having an affair with Sam. She is sick of sneaking around with him and is sick of her job. So one day when her boss gives her money to deposit in the bank, which she keeps for herself and decides to run away to her boyfriend, the audience have related to Marion and because of this do not think that she has done anything wrong. When se is on the road she is followed by a police officer so part-exchange’s her car for a new one, the audience starts to think that she will get caught and start to hope that she doesn’t. She then continues on her journey, but gets lost in the rain. She arrives at the Bates Motel and decides to stay there the night. She meets the owner, Norman Bates who seems a nice man, although a little nervous (to scared to say bathroom. ). He offers her tea, but his mother objects so they secretly eat in the back room. The audience have related with Marion and because of this are also unsure this helps to build up the suspense at a key point in the films. Marion then goes to have a shower, but unknowingly is watched through a peephole. She is then killed by a mystery figure, the audience then feel shocked that the main character has died. Norman finds the body and forgets about it. However Marion’s sister and Sam want to find out where she has gone so hire a private detective, who leads them to the bates motel. Psycho begins with the normal (a big city. ) and draws slowly into the abnormal (Norman and his disturbed mother. )

Technology And Methods Of Communication - 1783 Words

Has technology and methods of communication made academic achievement easier for students and are they ready for the world of work? Discuss This essay will address technology and methods of communication and if they have helped students develop the necessary skills that are needed for the world of work. It will discuss the main skills and values that employers are looking for when recruiting and students are expected to have in order to be successful in the work place. Lastly it will touch upon the different advantages that technology has given to students when it comes to education. Technology is the purposeful application of information in the design, production, and utilization of goods and services, and in the organization of human activities. Communication has changed at the same time technology has and the introduction of Internet and mobile phones has created a significant progression for communication. There are many links between communication and technology and that is because they go hand in hand. One of the most important changes in communication due to technology is the Internet as it has introduced different facilities such as the use of emails and other forms of written messages on different networks where people can communicate in a matter of seconds and there is no need to write letters and wait for someone’s response days or even weeks like in the past (Nayab 2014). Email has changed any handwritten message onto a digital one therefor plays a bigShow MoreRelatedMethods of Communication and Technologies Used to Support Them1698 Words   |  7 Pagesanalyze different types of communication and the various technologies used to support them. I will then explain the advantages and disadvantages of each one, the different types of technologies which support them and how they can be applied to benefit the company. Methods of Communication SMS/MMS Short Message Service  (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) are a communication service component of the  GSM  mobile communication system, using standardized communications protocols  that allow theRead MoreTechnology And The Internet Has Changed The Method Of Communication1800 Words   |  8 PagesBachelor of Applied Science (MRS) Diagnostic Radiography at the University of Sydney. This essay will cover Angela’s use of a mobile phone and explore how technology and the Internet has changed the method of communication, how teenagers are becoming more networked individuals, how has the language of textspeak created barriers for communication, how has the mobile devices transcended place, how has multifunctional mobile devices instigated multitasking and the perspectives of teenagers toward mobileRead MoreDigital Technology : The Modern Method Of Global Exposure And Communication1734 Words   |  7 Pages The term â€Å"digital media† describes the moder n method of global exposure and communication rather than the actual technologies themselves (such as the internet or mobile phones). When you look closely at the differences between â€Å"new† and â€Å"old† technologies, you will be surprised that it is a very short list. The use of radio, television, telephone, and picture-taking technologies display images, words, and sounds in relatively the same way as digital media does, only with improvement as to qualityRead MoreTechnology And Analytical Method Support Communications At All Levels Of The Organizations You Selected?851 Words   |  4 PagesDoes this technology and analytical method support communications at all levels of the organizations you selected? General Motors is a large automotive manufacturing company that utilizes material requirements planning and linear regression models. General Motors has a very large and complex logistics system that incorporates hundreds of other companies into its processes. From distributors to suppliers, General Motors must be able to communicate throughout the process in order to achieve a successfulRead MoreTechnology And Its Impact On The Business World992 Words   |  4 PagesAdvances in technology and connectivity have made daily communication and face-to-face interaction possible across international borders and will continue to bring innovation to the business world. The innovation has forever changed the how companies do business and is fully integrating itself into day-to-day operations as well as the lives of employees. Technological advances in the communications field have been rampant and will continue to evolve even the business culture. Technology and communicationRead MoreEssay on The Benefits of Modern Methods of Communication1466 Words   |  6 Pagescommunicate have changed significantly, and new technologies are increasingly being used for communication in everyday life. The barrier of connecting between one area and another area has decreased. Furthermore, the advantages of modern technologies are more convenient than in the past. The term modern methods of communication can be defined as the new ways of contacting, which are advantageous for human relationships and these modern technologies that give advantages to the values of society orRead MoreHow Technology Changed Over Time Essay1519 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Communication used to be relatively limited. At one point, a person could only talk to somebody else in person or send them a written letter. Nowadays, somebody can send somebody else a moving picture with words written on top of it asking them a question, and this message might only be viewable within a certain amount of time, and the message might be one part of many other messages with all sorts of other visually communicative features. Technology is what took communication to where itRead MoreDeveloping A Crisis Communication Strategy And Implementation Plan952 Words   |  4 PagesSteps in Developing a Crisis Communication Strategy and Implementation Plan Development of a tactical plan or implementation plan integrate several factors, including framework, social development, communication tools, channels, and approaches (Schiavo, 2007). The development of crisis communication involves the assessment of communities, rural areas, and other critical areas where rapid dissemination of information lacks advancement in technologies or experience extreme poverty. These areas mayRead MoreDecision Making Process Of The School Board1354 Words   |  6 Pagesresource allocation for staffing, technology, or supplies above typical office communications. Additionally, it may be difficult to convince teachers that a PR program is a priority; they are always going to advocate for more help in the classroom, more teacher pay, and more classroom supplies over funding for a public relations staff member or a mass communication system. Therefore, one of the chief tasks in creating a plan is genuine listening and clear communication with all involved parties aboutRead MoreTechnology Technologies On Learning869 Words   |  4 Pages(Venkatesh, 2014) aims at finding out how college students perceive the IT technologies on learning. The authors conduct a 50-items survey in Canada with 14,283 college students, which include the impact of online resource, teaching methods, study strategies, self-regulatory strategies and the use of ICT. Then they draw a conclusion that gender is a significant influence factor for motivation to use technologies in learning, and that online learning sometimes even has a better performance than face

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How Technology Has Changed The Classroom - 1107 Words

Technology in the Classroom Over the last two decades technology has changed the way we see the world, however education fell short. Because of lack of funding, educators chose to not incorporate technology into the educational environment until much later. Only now, in early 2015 are schools truly beginning to introduce the â€Å"Digital Classroom†. The â€Å"Digital Classroom† is the 21st century s classroom and Jeremy Posey, a mathematics coordinator and NMSI expert, says it best â€Å"To begin with, let’s define technology in the classroom. Technology can be defined as any tool that can be used to help promote human learning, including – but not limited to – calculators, tablets (such as an iPad), Smart Boards, video cameras, digital cameras, MP3 players, Portable Digital Assistants (PDAs), and, of course, the computer. These are all innovations that have helped countless people during regular daily activities, but they can also have a profound impact on classroom learning† (â€Å"Huneycutt, Technology in the Classroom: The Benefits of Blended Learning, NMS†) Teachers and Students are equipped with technology and software (ex: Tablets and Laptops/NoteBooks, Grade Analytics, Digital Methods of Turning Assignments In, and environments to Communicate and collaborate). Using these combined technologies the possibilities are endless. Teachers are discovering new methods to educate, and students are discovering new ways to learn. Technology helps to improve all aspects of educationShow MoreRelatedHow Technology Has Changed Our Classroom1532 Words   |  7 PagesHow to Teach in the Modern Classroom If you were to ask people today what it takes to teach students most would say that all it takes is putting students in classroom, make them take notes, give them a test, and viola the students have learned the subject. That is simply not true. Teaching in the modern classroom requires the use of new technology, and teaching methods. As well as understanding how students today act, standards that teachers have to follow, and Technology For many teachersRead MoreHow Technology Has Changed Our Classroom Essay1992 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction. New technologies in the classroom are a cutting-edge field of study in contemporary history. Education is now going digital. With the creation of online software for students, the lessons learned in the classroom have shown more efficiency and has made a big contribution to higher literacy rates for students. Not so many years ago, the internet was limited both in what it could do and in who used it. Today, most teachers have not only been exposed to the internet but also have accessRead MoreHow Technology Has Changed Our Classroom1202 Words   |  5 Pageslearned a little bit. I discovered how technology was changing the way students are taught in the classroom; I figured out how to approach the algorithm of multiplication from a variety of angles to accommodate different learning styles; I learned how to spend four hours labouring over a 30-minute lesson plan to introd uce a picture book to a group of Grade two students. All useful, though not all necessary. 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With ongoing changes in teaching practices, which in turn changes the attitudes of today’s teachers and learners. A 21st century classroom is a productive environment where the teachers are the facilitators of the students learning. There are many characteristics however, which segregate a 21st century classroom from that of previousRead MoreThe Definition Of Technology From Www1377 Words   |  6 Pages The definition of technology from www.dictionary.com says, â€Å"the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science.â⠂¬  Technology is both technology and science and are closely related but they are different in so many ways. 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The slowness of integrating technology in education is due to several reasons. According to Joanna Tudor (2015), one concern is the amount of data collection that technology in schools allows and what is done with that information (p. 291). With technology always changing, how areRead MoreImpact Of Technology On Society1007 Words   |  5 Pagesof technology in our society There is no doubt that technology has been bettering the way that we learn and makes it more enjoyable and easier than ever. No more fear from going to school early, meet teachers and waste time looking for books on large library shelves. Nowadays with the modern technology people save time, money and energy. They can do a vast number of important things in brief time, with a simple click even while staying in their beds. Of course, not everything about technology isRead MoreA Brief Note On Flipped Classroom And The Classroom1552 Words   |  7 PagesFlipped Classroom With the technology that is available for everyone to use today the priorities of what needs to be taught in the classroom has changed. Information is readily available for everyone to utilize at anytime. Students nowadays can ask Siri or Google about anything they want to know. Because of this, what students should be taught and the way that this teaching should be conducted should change. Students today need to be taught to critically think about things and be able to collaborate

Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Free Essays

string(17) " by a side door\." After that I was mostly in the zone. I came out a few times when that scratched-out scrap of genealogy fell from inside one of my old steno books, for instance but those interludes were brief. In a way it was like my dream of Mattie, Jo, and Sara; in a way it was like the terrible fever I’d had as a child, when I’d almost died of the measles; mostly it was like nothing but itself. We will write a custom essay sample on Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX or any similar topic only for you Order Now It was just the zone. I was feeling it. I wish to God I hadn’t been. George came over, herding the man in the blue mask ahead of him. George was limping now, and badly. I could smell hot oil and gasoline and burning tires. ‘Is she dead?’ George asked. ‘Mattie?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘John?’ ‘Don’t know,’ I said, and then John twitched and groaned. He was alive, but there was a lot of blood. ‘Mike, listen,’ George began, but before he could say more, a terrible liquid screaming began from the burning car in the ditch. It was the driver. He was cooking in there. The shooter started to turn that way, and George raised his gun. ‘Move and I’ll kill you.’ ‘You can’t let him die like that,’ the shooter said from behind his mask. ‘You couldn’t let a dog die like that.’ ‘He’s dead already,’ George said. ‘You couldn’t get within ten feet of that car unless you were in an asbestos suit.’ He reeled on his feet. His face was as white as the spot of whipped cream I’d wiped off the end of Ki’s nose. The shooter made as if to go for him and George brought the gun up higher. ‘The next time you move, don’t stop,’ George said, ‘because I won’t. Guaranteed. Now take that mask off.’ ‘No.’ ‘I’m done fucking with you, Jesse. Say hello to God.’ George pulled back the hammer of his revolver. The shooter said, ‘Jesus Christ,’ and yanked off his mask. It was George Footman. Not much surprise there. From behind him, the driver gave one more shriek from within the Ford fireball and then was silent. Smoke rose in black billows. More thunder roared. ‘Mike, go inside and find something to tie him with,’ George Kennedy said. ‘I can hold him another minute two, if I have to but I’m bleeding like a stuck pig. Look for strapping tape. That shit would hold Houdini.’ Footman stood where he was, looking from Kennedy to me and back to Kennedy again. Then he peered down at Highway 68, which was eerily deserted. Or perhaps it wasn’t so eerie, at that the coming storms had been well forecast. The tourists and summer folk would be under cover. As for the locals . . . The locals were . . . sort of listening. That was at least close. The minister was speaking about Royce Merrill, a life which had been long and fruitful, a man who had served his country in peace and in war, but the old-timers weren’t listening to him. They were listening to us, the way they had once gathered around the pickle barrel at the Lakeview General and listened to prizefights on the radio. Bill Dean was holding Yvette’s wrist so tightly his fingernails were white. He was hurting her . . . but she wasn’t complaining. She wanted him to hold onto her. Why? ‘Mike!’ George’s voice was perceptibly weaker. ‘Please, man, help me. This guy is dangerous.’ ‘Let me go,’ Footman said. ‘You’d better, don’t you think?’ ‘In your wettest dreams, motherfuck,’ George said. I got up, went past the pot with the key underneath, went up the cement-block steps. Lightning exploded across the sky, followed by a bellow of thunder. Inside, Rommie was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table. His face was even whiter than George’s. ‘Kid’s okay,’ he said, forcing the words. ‘But she looks like waking up . . . I can’t walk anymore. My ankle’s totally fucked.’ I moved for the telephone. ‘Don’t bother,’ Rommie said. His voice was harsh and trembling. ‘Tried it. Dead. Storm must already have hit some of the other towns. Killed some of the equipment. Christ, I never had anything hurt like this in my life.’ I went to the drawers in the kitchen and began yanking them open one by one, looking for strapping tape, looking for clothesline, looking for any damned thing. If Kennedy passed out from blood-loss while I was in here, the other George would take his gun, kill him, and then kill John as he lay unconscious on the smoldering grass. With them taken care of, he’d come in here and shoot Rommie and me. He’d finish with Kyra. ‘No he won’t,’ I said. ‘He’ll leave her alive.’ And that might be even worse. Silverware in the first drawer. Sandwich bags, garbage bags, and neatly banded stacks of grocery-store coupons in the second. Oven mitts and potholders in the third ‘Mike, where’s my Mattie?’ I turned, as guilty as a man who has been caught mixing illegal drugs. Kyra stood at the living-room end of the hall with her hair falling around her sleep-flushed cheeks and her scrunchy hung over one wrist like a bracelet. Her eyes were wide and panicky. It wasn’t the shots that had awakened her, probably not even her mother’s scream. I had wakened her. My thoughts had wakened her. In the instant I realized it I tried to shield them somehow, but I was too late. She had read me about Devore well enough to tell me not to think about sad stuff, and now she read what had happened to her mother before I could keep her out of my mind. Her mouth dropped open. Her eyes widened. She shrieked as if her hand had been caught in a vise and ran for the door. ‘No, Kyra, no!’ I sprinted across the kitchen, almost tripping over Rommie (he looked at me with the dim incomprehension of someone who is no longer completely conscious), and grabbed her just in time. As I did, I saw Buddy Jellison leaving Grace Baptist by a side door. You read "Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX" in category "Essay examples" Two of the men he had been smoking with went with him. Now I understood why Bill was holding so tightly to Yvette, and loved him for it loved both of them. Something wanted him to go with Buddy and the others . . . but Bill wasn’t going. Kyra struggled in my arms, making big convulsive thrusts at the door, gasping in breath and then screaming it out again. ‘Let me go, want to see Mommy, let me go, want to see Mommy, let me go ‘ I called her name with the only voice I knew she would really hear, the one I could use only with her. She relaxed in my arms little by little, and turned to me. Her eyes were huge and confused and shining with tears. She looked at me a moment longer and then seemed to understand that she mustn’t go out. I put her down. She just stood there a moment, then backed up until her bottom was against the dishwasher. She slid down its smooth white front to the floor. Then she began to wail the most awful sounds of grief I have ever heard. She understood completely, you see. I had to show her enough to keep her inside, I had to . . . and because we were in the zone together, I could. Buddy and his friends were in a pickup truck headed this way. BAMM CONSTRUCTION, it said on the side. ‘Mike!’ George cried. He sounded panicky. ‘You got to hurry!’ ‘Hold on!’ I called back. ‘Hold on, George!’ Mattie and the others had started stacking picnic things beside the sink, but I’m almost positive that the stretch of Formica counter above the drawers had been clean and bare when I hurried after Kyra. Not now. The yellow sugar cannister had been overturned. Written in the spilled sugar was this: ‘No shit,’ I muttered, and checked the remaining drawers. No tape, no rope. Not even a lousy set of handcuffs, and in most well-equipped kitchens you can count on finding three or four. Then I had an idea and looked in the cabinet under the sink. When I went back out, our George was swaying on his feet and Footman was looking at him with a kind of predatory concentration. ‘Did you get some tape?’ George Kennedy asked. ‘No, something better,’ I said. ‘Tell me, Footman, who actually paid you? Devore or Whitmore? Or don’t you know?’ ‘Fuck you,’ he said. I had my right hand behind my back. Now I pointed down the hill with my left one and endeavored to look surprised. ‘What the hell’s Osgood doing? Tell him to go away!’ Footman looked in that direction it was instinctive and I hit him in the back of the head with the Craftsman hammer I’d found in the toolbox under Mattie’s sink. The sound was horrible, the spray of blood erupting from the flying hair was horrible, but worst of all was the feeling of the skull giving way a spongy collapse that came right up the handle and into my fingers. He went down like a sandbag, and I dropped the hammer, gagging. ‘Okay,’ George said. ‘A little ugly, but probably the best thing you could have done under . . . under the . . . ‘ He didn’t go down like Footman it was slower and more controlled, almost graceful but he was just as out. I picked up the revolver, looked at it, then threw it into the woods across the road. A gun was nothing for me to have right now; it could only get me into more trouble. A couple of other men had also left the church; a carful of ladies in black dresses and veils, as well. I had to hurry on even faster. I unbuckled George’s pants and pulled them down. The bullet which had taken him in the leg had torn into his thigh, but the wound looked as if it was clotting. John’s upper arm was a different story it was still pumping out blood in frightening quantities. I yanked his belt free and cinched it around his arm as tightly as I could. Then I slapped him across the face. His eyes opened and stared at me with a bleary lack of recognition. ‘Open your mouth, John!’ He only stared at me. I leaned down until our noses were almost touching and screamed, ‘OPEN YOUR MOUTH! DO IT NOW!’ He opened it like a kid when the nurse tells him just say aahh. I stuck the end of the belt between his teeth. ‘Close!’ He closed. ‘Now hold it,’ I said. ‘Even if you pass out, hold it.’ I didn’t have time to see if he was paying attention. I got to my feet and looked up as the whole world went glare-blue. For a second it was like being inside a neon sign. There was a black suspended river up there, roiling and coiling like a basket of snakes. I had never seen such a baleful sky. I dashed up the cement-block steps and into the trailer again. Rom-mie had slumped forward onto the table with his face in his folded arms. He would have looked like a kindergartner taking a timeout if not for the broken salad bowl and the bits of lettuce in his hair. Kyra still sat with her back to the dishwasher, weeping hysterically. I picked her up and realized that she had wet herself. ‘We have to go now, Ki.’ ‘I want Mattie! I want Mommy! I want my Mattie, make her stop being hurt! Make her stop being dead!’ I hurried across the trailer. On the way to the door I passed the end-table with the Mary Higgins Clark novel on it. I noticed the tangle of hair ribbons again ribbons perhaps tried on before the party and then discarded in favor of the scrunchy. They were white with bright red edges. Pretty. I picked them up without stopping, stuffed them into a pants pocket, then switched Ki to my other arm. ‘I want Mattie! I want Mommy! Make her come back!’ She swatted at me, trying to make me stop, then began to buck and kick in my arms again. She drummed her fists on the side of my head. ‘Put me down! Land me! Land me!’ ‘No, Kyra.’ ‘Put me down! Land me! Land me! PUT ME DOWN!’ I was losing her. Then, as we came out onto the top step, she abruptly stopped struggling. ‘Give me Stricken! I want Stricken!’ At first I had no idea what she was talking about, but when I looked where she was pointing I understood. Lying on the walk not far from the pot with the key underneath it was the stuffed toy from Ki’s Happy Meal. Strickland had put in a fair amount of outside playtime from the look of him the light-gray fur was now dark-gray with dust but if the toy would calm her, I wanted her to have it. This was no time to worry about dirt and germs. ‘I’ll give you Strickland if you promise to close your eyes and not open them until I tell you. Will you promise?’ ‘I promise,’ she said. She was trembling in my arms, and great globular tears the kind you expect to see in fairy-tale books, never in real life rose in her eyes and went spilling down her cheeks. I could smell burning grass and charred beefsteak. For one terrible moment I thought I was going to vomit, and then I got it under control. Ki closed her eyes. Two more tears fell from them and onto my arm. They were hot. She held out one hand, groping. I went down the steps, got the dog, then hesitated. First the ribbons, now the dog. The ribbons were probably okay, but it seemed wrong to give her the dog and let her bring it along. It seemed wrong but . . . It’s gray, Irish, the UFO voice whispered. You don’t need to worry about it because it’s gray. The stuffed toy in your dream was black. I didn’t know exactly what the voice was talking about and had no time to care. I put the stuffed dog in Kyra’s open hand. She held it up to her face and kissed the dusty fur, her eyes still closed. ‘Maybe Stricken can make Mommy better, Mike. Stricken a magic dog.’ ‘Just keep your eyes closed. Don’t open them until I say.’ She put her face against my neck. I carried her across the yard and to my car that way. I put her on the passenger side of the front seat. She lay down with her arms over her head and the dirty stuffed dog clutched in one pudgy hand. I told her to stay just like that, lying down on the seat. She made no outward sign that she heard me, but I knew that she did. We had to hurry because the old-timers were coming. The old-timers wanted this business over, wanted this river to run into the sea. And there was only one place we could go, only one place where we might be safe, and that was Sara Laughs. But there was something I had to do first. I kept a blanket in the trunk, old but clean. I took it out, walked across the yard, and shook it down over Mattie Devore. The hump it made as it settled around her was pitifully slight. I looked around and saw John staring at me. His eyes were glassy with shock, but I thought maybe he was coming back. The belt was still clamped in his teeth; he looked like a junkie preparing to shoot up. ‘Iss ant eee,’ he said This can’t be. I knew exactly how he felt. ‘There’ll be help here in just a few minutes. Hang in there. I have to go.’ ‘Go air?’ I didn’t answer. There wasn’t time. I stopped and took George Kennedy’s pulse. Slow but strong. Beside him, Footman was deep in unconsciousness, but muttering thickly. Nowhere near dead. It takes a lot to kill a daddy. The jerky wind blew the smoke from the overturned car in my direction, and now I could smell cooking flesh as well as barbecued steak. My stomach clenched again. I ran to the Chevy, dropped behind the wheel, and backed out of the driveway. I took one more look at the blanket-covered body, at the three knocked-over men, at the trailer with the line of black bulletholes wavering down its side and its door standing open. John was up on his good elbow, the end of the belt still clamped in his teeth, looking at me with uncomprehending eyes. Lightning flashed so brilliantly I tried to shield my eyes from it, although by the time my hand was up, the flash had gone and the day was as dark as late dusk. ‘Stay down, Ki,’ I said. ‘Just like you are.’ ‘I can’t hear you,’ she said in a voice so hoarse and choked with tears that I could barely make out the words. ‘Ki’s takin a nap wif Stricken.’ ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘Good.’ I drove past the burning Ford and down to the foot of the hill, where I stopped at the rusty bullet-pocked stop-sign. I looked right and saw the pickup truck parked on the shoulder. BAMM CONSTRUCTION on the side. Three men crowded together in the cab, watching me. The one by the passenger window was Buddy Jellison; I could tell him by his hat. Very slowly and deliberately, I raised my right hand and gave them the finger. None of them responded and their stony faces didn’t change, but the pickup began to roll slowly toward me. I turned lift onto 68, heading for Sara Laughs under a black sky. Two miles from where Lane Forty-two branches off the highway and winds west to the lake, there stood an old abandoned barn upon which one could still make out faded letters reading DONCASTER DAIRY. As we approached it, the whole eastern side of the sky lit up in a purple-white blister. I cried out, and the Chevy’s horn honked by itself, I’m almost positive. A thorn of lightning grew from the bottom of that light-blister and struck the barn. For a moment it was still completely there, glowing like something radioactive, and then it spewed itself in all directions. I have never seen anything even remotely like it outside of a movie theater. The thunderclap which followed was like a bombshell. Kyra screamed and slid onto the floor on the passenger side of the car with her hands clapped to her ears. She still clutched the little stuffed dog in one of them. A minute later I topped Sugar Ridge. Lane Forty-two splits left from the highway at the bottom of the ridge’s north slope. From the top I could see a wide swath of TR-90 woods and fields and barns and farms, even a darkling gleam from the lake. The sky was as black as coal dust, flashing almost constantly with internal lightnings. The air had a clear ochre glow. Every breath I took tasted like the shavings in a tinderbox. The topography beyond the ridge stood out with a surreal clarity I cannot forget. That sense of mystery swarmed my heart and mind, that sense of the world as thin skin over unknowable bones and gulfs. I glanced into the rearview mirror and saw that the pickup truck had been joined by two other cars, one with a V-plate that means the vehicle is registered to a combat veteran of the armed services. When I slowed down, they slowed down. When I sped up, they sped up. I doubted they would follow us any farther once I turned onto Lane Forty-two, however. ‘Ki? Are you okay?’ ‘Sleepun,’ she said from the footwell. ‘Okay,’ I said, and started down the hill. I could just see the red bicycle reflectors marking my turn onto Forty-two when it began to hail great big chunks of white ice that fell out of the sky, drummed on the roof like heavy fingers, and bounced off the hood. They began to heap in the gutter where my windshield wipers hid. ‘What’s happening?’ Kyra cried. ‘It’s just hail,’ I said. ‘It can’t hurt us.’ This was barely out of my mouth when a hailstone the size of a small lemon struck my side of the windshield and then bounced high into the air again, leaving a white II mark from which a number of short cracks radiated. Were John and George Kennedy lying helpless out in this? I turned my mind in that direction, but could sense nothing. When I made the left onto Lane Forty-two, it was hailing almost too hard to see. The wheelruts were heaped with ice. The white faded out under the trees, though. I headed for that cover, flipping on my headlights as I went. They cut bright cones through the pelting hail. As we went into the trees, that purple-white blister glowed again, and my rearview mirror went too bright to look at. There was a rending, crackling crash. Kyra screamed again. I looked around and saw a huge old spruce toppling slowly across the lane, its ragged stump on fire. It carried the electrical lines with it. Blocked in, I thought. This end, probably the other end, too. We’re here. For better or for worse, we’re here. The trees grew over Lane Forty-two in a canopy except for where the road passed beside Tidwell’s Meadow. The sound of the hail in the woods was an immense splintery rattle. Trees were splintering, of course; it was the most damaging hail ever to fall in that part of the world, and although it spent itself in fifteen minutes, that was long enough to ruin a season’s worth of crops. Lightning flashed above us. I looked up and saw a large orange fireball being chased by a smaller one. They ran through the trees to our left, setting fire to some of the high branches. We came briefly into the clear at Tidwell’s Meadow, and as we did the hail changed to torrential rain. I could not have continued driving if we hadn’t run back into the woods almost immediately, and as it was the canopy provided just enough cover so I could creep along, hunched over the wheel and peering into the silver curtain falling through the fan of my headlights. Thunder boomed constantly, and now the wind began to rise, rushing through the trees like a contentious voice. Ahead of me, a leaf-heavy branch dropped into the road. I ran over it and listened to it thunk and scrape and roll against the Chevy’s undercarriage. Please, nothing bigger, I thought . . . or maybe I was praying. Please let me get to the house. Please let us get to the house. By the time I reached the driveway the wind was howling a hurricane. The writhing trees and pelting rain made the entire world seem on the verge of wavering into insubstantial gruel. The driveway’s slope had turned into a river, but I nosed the Chevy down it with no hesitation we couldn’t stay out here; if a big tree fell on the car, we’d be crushed like bugs in a Dixie cup. I knew better than to use the brakes the car would have heeled sideways and perhaps have been swept right down the slope toward the lake, rolling over and over as it went. Instead I dropped the transmission into low range, toed two notches into the emergency brake, and let the engine pull us down with the rain sheeting against the windshield and turning the log bulk of the house into a phantom. Incredibly, some of the lights were still on, shining like bathysphere portholes in nine feet of water. The generator was working, then . . . at least for the time being. Lightning threw a lance across the lake, green-blue fire illuminating a black well of water with its surface lashed into surging whitecaps. One of the hundred-year-old pines which had stood to the left of the railroad-tie steps now lay with half its length in the water. Somewhere behind us another tree went over with a vast crash. Kyra covered her ears. ‘It’s all right, honey,’ I said. ‘We’re here, we made it.’ I turned off the engine and killed the lights. Without them I could see little; almost all the day had gone out of the day. I tried to open my door and at first couldn’t. I pushed harder and it not only opened, it was ripped right out of my hand. I got out and in a brilliant stroke of lightning saw Kyra crawling across the seat toward me, her face white with panic, her eyes huge and brimming with terror. My door swung back and hit me in the ass hard enough to hurt. I ignored it, gathered Ki into my arms, and turned with her. Cold rain drenched us both in an instant. Except it really wasn’t like rain at all; it was like stepping under a waterfall. ‘My doggy!’ Ki shrieked. Shriek or not, I could hardly hear her. I could see her face, though, and her empty hands. ‘Stricken! I drop Stricken!’ I looked around and yes, there he was, floating down the macadam of the driveway and past the stoop. A little farther on, the rushing water spilled off the paving and down the slope; if Strickland went with the flow, he’d probably end up in the woods somewhere. Or all the way down to the lake. ‘Stricken!’ Ki sobbed. ‘My DOGGY!’ Suddenly nothing mattered to either of us but that stupid stuffed toy. I chased down the driveway after it with Ki in my arms, oblivious of the rain and wind and brilliant flashes of lightning. And yet it was going to beat me to the slope the water in which it was caught was running too fast for me to catch up. What snagged it at the edge of the paving was a trio of sunflowers waving wildly in the wind. They looked like God-transported worshippers at a revival meeting: Yes, Jeesus! Thankya Lawd! They also looked familiar. It was of course impossible that they should be the same three sunflowers which had been growing up through the boards of the stoop in my dream (and in the photograph Bill Dean had taken before I came back), and yet it was them; beyond doubt it was them. Three sunflowers like the three weird sisters in Macbeth, three sunflowers with faces like searchlights. I had come back to Sara Laughs; I was in the zone; I had returned to my dream and this time it had possessed me. ‘Stricken!’ Ki bending and thrashing in my arms, both of us too slippery for safety. ‘Please, Mike, please!’ Thunder exploded overhead like a basket of nitro. We both screamed. I dropped to one knee and snatched up the little stuffed dog. Kyra clutched it, covered it with frantic kisses. I lurched to my feet as another thunderclap sounded, this one seeming to run through the air like some crazy liquid bullwhip. I looked at the sunflowers, and they seemed to look back at me Hello, Irish, it’s been a long time, what do you say? Then, resettling Ki in my arms as well as I could, I turned and slogged for the house. It wasn’t easy; the water in the driveway was now ankle-deep and full of melting hailstones. A branch flew past us and landed pretty much where I’d knelt to pick up Strickland. There was a crash and a series of thuds as a bigger branch struck the roof and went rolling down it. I ran onto the back stoop, half-expecting the Shape to come rushing out to greet us, raising its baggy not-arms in gruesome good fellowship, but there was no Shape. There was only the storm, and that was enough. Ki was clutching the dog tightly, and I saw with no surprise at all that its wetting, combined with the dirt from all those hours of outside play, had turned Strickland black. It was what I had seen in my dream after all. Too late now. There was nowhere else to go, no other shelter from the storm. I opened the door and brought Kyra Devore inside Sara Laughs. The central portion of Sara the heart of the house had stood for almost a hundred years and had seen its share of storms. The one that fell on the lakes region that July afternoon might have been the worst of them, but I knew as soon as we were inside, both of us gasping like people who have narrowly escaped drowning, that it would almost certainly withstand this one as well. The log walls were so thick it was almost like stepping into some sort of vault. The storm’s crash and bash became a noisy drone punctuated by thunderclaps and the occasional loud thud of a branch falling on the roof. Somewhere in the basement, I guess a door had come loose and was clapping back and forth. It sounded like a starter’s pistol. The kitchen window had been broken by the topple of a small tree. Its needly tip poked in over the stove, making shadows on the counter and the stove-burners as it swayed. I thought of breaking it off and decided not to. At least it was plugging the hole. I carried Ki into the living room and we looked out at the lake, black water prinked up in surreal points under a black sky. Lightning flashed almost constantly, revealing a ring of woods that danced and swayed in a frenzy all around the lake. As solid as the house was, it was groaning deeply within itself as the wind pummelled it and tried to push it down the hill. There was a soft, steady chiming. Kyra lifted her head from my shoulder and looked around. ‘You have a moose,’ she said. ‘Yes, that’s Bunter.’ ‘Does he bite?’ ‘No, honey, he can’t bite. He’s like a . . . like a doll, I suppose.’ ‘Why is his bell ringing?’ ‘He’s glad we’re here. He’s glad we made it.’ I saw her want to be happy, and then I saw her realizing that Mattie wasn’t here to be happy with. I saw the idea that Mattie would never be here to be happy with glimmer in her mind . . . and felt her push it away. Over our heads something huge crashed down on the roof, the lights flickered, and Ki began to weep again. ‘No, honey,’ I said, and began to walk with her. ‘No, honey, no, Ki, don’t. Don’t, honey, don’t.’ ‘I want my mommy! I want my Mattie!’ I walked her the way I think you’re supposed to walk babies who have colic. She understood too much for a three-year-old, and her suffering was consequently more terrible than any three-year-old should have to bear. So I held her in my arms and walked her, her shorts damp with urine and rainwater under my hands, her arms fever-hot around my neck, her cheeks slathered with snot and tears, her hair a soaked clump from our brief dash through the downpour, her breath acetone, her toy a strangulated black clump that sent dirty water trickling over her knuckles. I walked her. Back and forth we went through Sara’s living room, back and forth through dim light thrown by the overhead and one lamp. Generator light is never quite steady, never quite still it seems to breathe and sigh. Back and forth through the ceaseless low chiming of Bunter’s bell, like music from that world we sometimes touch but never really see. Back and forth beneath the sound of the storm. I think I sang to her and I know I touched her with my mind and we went deeper and deeper into that zone together. Above us the clouds ran and the rain pelted, dousing the fires the lightning had started in the woods. The house groaned and the air eddied with gusts coming in through the broken kitchen window, but through it all there was a feeling of rueful safety. A feeling of coming home. At last her tears began to taper off. She lay with her cheek and the weight of her heavy head on my shoulder, and when we passed the lakeside windows I could see her eyes looking out into the silver-dark storm, wide and unblinking. Carrying her was a tall man with thinning hair. I realized I could see the dining-room table right through us. Our reflections are ghosts already, I thought. ‘Ki? Can you eat something?’ ‘Not hung’y.’ ‘Can you drink a glass of milk?’ ‘No, cocoa. I cold.’ ‘Yes, of course you are. And I have cocoa.’ I tried to put her down and she held on with panicky tightness, scrambling against me with her plump little thighs. I hoisted her back up again, this time settling her against my hip, and she subsided. ‘Who’s here?’ she asked. She had begun to shiver. ‘Who’s here ‘sides us?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘There’s a boy,’ she said. ‘I saw him there.’ She pointed Strickland toward the sliding glass door which gave on the deck (all the chairs out there had been overturned and thrown into the corners; one of the set was missing, apparently blown right over the rail). ‘He was black like on that funny show me and Mattie watch. There are other black people, too. A lady in a big hat. A man in blue pants. The rest are hard to see. But they watch. They watch us. Don’t you see them?’ ‘They can’t hurt us.’ ‘Are you sure? Are you, are you?’ I didn’t answer. I found a box of Swiss Miss hiding behind the flour cannister, tore open one of the packets, and dumped it into a cup. Thunder exploded overhead. Ki jumped in my arms and let out a long, miserable wail. I hugged her, kissed her cheek. ‘Don’t put me down, Mike, I scared.’ ‘I won’t put you down. You’re my good girl.’ ‘I scared of the boy and the blue-pants man and the lady. I think it’s the lady who wore Mattie’s dress. Are they ghosties?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Are they bad, like the men who chased us at the fair? Are they?’ ‘I don’t really know, Ki, and that’s the truth.’ ‘But we’ll find out.’ ‘Huh?’ ‘That’s what you thought. â€Å"But we’ll find out. â€Å"‘ ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I guess that’s what I was thinking. Something like that.’ I took her down to the master bedroom while the water heated in the kettle, thinking there had to be something left of Jo’s I could pop her into, but all of the drawers in Jo’s bureau were empty. So was her side of the closet. I stood Ki on the big double bed where I had not so much as taken a nap since coming back, took off her clothes, carried her into the bathroom, and wrapped her in a bathtowel. She hugged it around herself, shaking and blue-lipped. I used another one to dry her hair as best I could. During all of this, she never let go of the stuffed dog, which was now beginning to bleed stuffing from its seams. I opened the medicine cabinet, pawed through it, and found what I was looking for on the top shelf: the Benadryl Jo had kept around for her ragweed allergy. I thought of checking the expiration date on the bottom of the box, then almost laughed out loud. What difference did that make? I stood Ki on the closed toilet seat and let her hold on around my neck while I stripped the childproof backing from four of the little pink-and-white caplets. Then I rinsed out the tooth-glass and filled it with cold water. While I was doing this I saw movement in the bathroom mirror, which reflected the doorway and the master bedroom beyond. I told myself that I was only seeing the shadows of windblown trees. I offered the caplets to Ki. She reached for them, then hesitated. ‘Go on,’ I said. ‘It’s medicine.’ ‘What kind?’ she asked. Her small hand was still poised over the little cluster of caplets. ‘Sadness medicine,’ I said. ‘Can you swallow pills, Ki?’ ‘Sure. I taught myself when I was two.’ She hesitated a moment longer looking at me and looking into me, I think, ascertaining that I was telling her something I really believed. What she saw or felt must have satisfied her, because she took the caplets and put them in her mouth, one after another. She swallowed them with little birdie-sips from the glass, then said: ‘I still feel sad, Mike.’ ‘It takes awhile for them to work.’ I rummaged in my shirt drawer and found an old Harley-Davidson tee that had shrunk. It was still miles too big for her, but when I tied a knot in one side it made a kind of sarong that kept slipping off one of her shoulders. It was almost cute. I carry a comb in my back pocket. I took it out and combed her hair back from her forehead and her temples. She was starting to look put together again, but there was still something missing. Something that was connected in my mind with Royce Merrill. That was crazy, though . . . wasn’t it? ‘Mike? What cane? What cane are you thinking about it?’ Then it came to me. ‘A candy cane,’ I said. ‘The kind with stripes.’ From my pocket I took the two white ribbons. Their red edges looked almost raw in the uncertain light. ‘Like these.’ I tied her hair back in two little ponytails. Now she had her ribbons; she had her black dog; the sunflowers had relocated a few feet north, but they were there. Everything was more or less the way it was supposed to be. Thunder blasted, somewhere close a tree fell, and the lights went out. After five seconds of dark-gray shadows, they came on again. I carried Ki back to the kitchen, and when we passed the cellar door, something laughed behind it. I heard it; Ki did, too. I could see it in her eyes. ‘Take care of me,’ she said. ‘Take care of me cause I’m just a little guy. You promised.’ ‘I will.’ ‘I love you, Mike.’ ‘I love you, too, Ki.’ The kettle was huffing. I filled the cup to the halfway mark with hot water, then topped it up with milk, cooling it off and making it richer. I took Kyra over to the couch. As we passed the dining-room table I glanced at the IBM typewriter and at the manuscript with the cross-word-puzzle book lying on top of it. Those things looked vaguely foolish and somehow sad, like gadgets that never worked very well and now do not work at all. Lightning lit up the entire sky, scouring the room with purple light. In that glare the laboring trees looked like screaming fingers, and as the light raced across the sliding glass door to the deck I saw a woman standing behind us, by the woodstove. She was indeed wearing a straw hat, with a brim the size of a cartwheel. ‘What do you mean, the river is almost in the sea?’ Ki asked. I sat down and handed her the cup. ‘Drink that up.’ ‘Why did the men hurt my mommy? Didn’t they want her to have a good time?’ ‘I guess not,’ I said. I began to cry. I held her on my lap, wiping away the tears with the backs of my hands. ‘You should have taken some sad-pills, too,’ Ki said. She held out her cocoa. Her hair ribbons, which I had tied in big sloppy bows, bobbed. ‘Here. Drink some.’ I drank some. From the north end of the house came another grinding, crackling crash. The low rumble of the generator stuttered and the house went gray again. Shadows raced across Ki’s small face. ‘Hold on,’ I told her. ‘Try not to be scared. Maybe the lights will come back.’ A moment later they did, although now I could hear a hoarse, uneven note in the gennie’s roar and the flicker of the lights was much more noticeable. ‘Tell me a story,’ she said. ‘Tell me about Cinderbell.’ ‘Cinderella.’ ‘Yeah, her.’ ‘All right, but storyguys get paid.’ I pursed my lips and made sipping sounds. She held the cup out. The cocoa was sweet and good. The sensation of being watched was heavy and not sweet at all, but let them watch. Let them watch while they could. ‘There was this pretty girl named Cinderella ‘ ‘Once upon a time! That’s how it starts! That’s how they all start!’ ‘That’s right, I forgot. Once upon a time there was this pretty girl named Cinderella, who had two mean stepsisters. Their names were . . . do you remember?’ ‘Tammy Faye and Vanna.’ ‘Yeah, the Queens of Hairspray. And they made Cinderella do all the really unpleasant chores, like sweeping out the fireplace and cleaning up the dogpoop in the back yard. Now it just so happened that the noted rock band Oasis was going to play a gig at the palace, and although all the girls had been invited . . . ‘ I got as far as the part about the fairy godmother catching the mice and turning them into a Mercedes limousine before the Benadryl took effect. It really was a medicine for sadness; when I looked down, Ki was fast asleep in the crook of my arm with her cocoa cup listing radically to port. I plucked it from her fingers and put it on the coffee-table, then brushed her drying hair off her forehead. ‘Ki?’ Nothing. She’d gone to the land of Noddy-Blinky. It probably helped that her afternoon nap had ended almost before it got started. I picked her up and carried her down to the north bedroom, her feet bouncing limply in the air and the hem of the Harley shirt flipping around her knees. I put her on the bed and pulled the duvet up to her chin. Thunder boomed like artillery fire, but she didn’t even stir. Exhaustion, grief, Benadryl . . . they had taken her deep, taken her beyond ghosts and sorrow, and that was good. I bent over and kissed her cheek, which had finally begun to cool. ‘I’ll take care of you,’ I said. ‘I promised, and I will.’ As if hearing me, Ki turned on her side, put the hand holding Strickland under her jaw, and made a soft sighing sound. Her lashes were dark soot against her cheeks, in startling contrast to her light hair. Looking at her I felt myself swept by love, shaken by it the way one is shaken by a sickness. Take care of me, I’m just a little guy. ‘I will, Ki-bird,’ I said. I went into the bathroom and began filling the tub, as I had once filled it in my sleep. She would sleep through it all if I could get enough warm water before the generator quit entirely. I wished I had a bath-toy to give her in case she did wake up, something like Wilhelm the Spouting Whale, but she’d have her dog, and she probably wouldn’t wake up, anyway. No freezing baptism under a handpump for Kyra. I was not cruel, and I was not crazy. I had only disposable razors in the medicine cabinet, no good for the other job ahead of me. Not efficient enough. But one of the kitchen steak knives would do. If I filled the washbasin with water that was really hot, I wouldn’t even feel it. A letter T on each arm, the top bar drawn across the wrists For a moment I came out of the zone. A voice my own speaking as some combination of Jo and Mattie screamed: What are you thinking about? Oh Mike, what in God’s name are you thinking about? Then the thunder boomed, the lights flickered, and the rain began to pour down again, driven by the wind. I went back into that place where everything was clear, my course indisputable. Let it all end the sorrow, the hurt, the fear. I didn’t want to think anymore about how Mattie had danced with her toes on the Frisbee as if it were a spotlight. I didn’t want to be there when Kyra woke up, didn’t want to see the misery fill her eyes. I didn’t want to get through the night ahead, the day that was coming beyond it, or the day that was coming after that. They were all cars on the same old mystery train. Life was a sickness. I was going to give her a nice warm bath and cure her of it. I raised my arms. In the medicine cabinet mirror a murky figure a Shape raised its own in a kind of jocular greeting. It was me. It had been me all along, and that was all right. That was just fine. I dropped to one knee and checked the water. It was coming in nice and warm. Good. Even if the generator quit now, it would be fine. The tub was an old one, a deep one. As I walked down to the kitchen to get the knife, I thought about climbing in with her after I had finished cutting my wrists in the hotter water of the basin. No, I decided. It might be misinterpreted by the people who would come here later on, people with nasty minds and nastier assumptions. The ones who’d come when the storm was over and the trees across the road cleared away. No, after her bath I would dry her and put her back in bed with Strickland in her hand. I’d sit across the room from her, in the rocking chair by the bedroom windows. I would spread some towels in my lap to keep as much of the blood off my pants as I could, and eventually I would go to sleep, too. Bunter’s bell was still ringing. Much louder now. It was getting on my nerves, and if it kept on that way it might even wake the baby. I decided to pull it down and silence it for good. I crossed the room, and as I did a strong gust of air blew past me. It wasn’t a draft from the broken kitchen window; this was that warm subway-air again. It blew the Tough Stuff crossword book onto the floor, but the paperweight on the manuscript kept the loose pages from following. As I looked in that direction, Bunter’s bell fell silent. A voice sighed across the dim room. Words I couldn’t make out. And what did they matter? What did one more manifestation one more blast of hot air from the Great Beyond matter? Thunder rolled and the sigh came again. This time, as the generator died and the lights went out, plunging the room into gray shadow, I got one word in the clear: Nineteen. I turned on my heels, making a nearly complete circle. I finished up looking across the shadowy room at the manuscript of My Childhood Friend. Suddenly the light broke. Understanding arrived. Not the crossword book. Not the phone book, either. My book. My manuscript. I crossed to it, vaguely aware that the water had stopped running into the tub in the north-wing bathroom. When the generator died, the pump had quit. That was all right, it would be plenty deep enough already. And warm. I would give Kyra her bath, but first there was something I had to do. I had to go down nineteen, and after that I just might have to go down ninety-two. And I could. I had completed just over a hundred and twenty pages of manuscript, so I could. I grabbed the battery-powered lantern from the top of the cabinet where I still kept several hundred actual vinyl records, clicked it on, and set it on the table. It cast a white circle of radiance on the manuscript in the gloom of that afternoon it was as bright as a spotlight. On page nineteen of My Childhood Friend, Tiffi Taylor the call-girl who had re-invented herself as Regina Whiting was sitting in her studio with Andy Drake, reliving the day that John Sanborn (the alias under which John Shackleford had been getting by) saved her three-year-old daughter, Karen. This is the passage I read as the thunder boomed and the rain slashed against the sliding door giving on the deck: FRIEND, by Noonan/Pg. 19 over that way, I was sure of it,’ she said, ‘but when I couldn’t see her anywhere, I went to look in the hot tub.’ She lit a cigarette. ‘What I saw made me feel like screaming, Andy Karen was underwater. All that was out was her hand . . . the nails were turning purple. After that . . . I guess I dived in, but I don’t remember; I was zoned out. Everything from then on is like a dream where stuff runs together in your mind. The yard-guy Sanborn shoved me aside and dived. His foot hit me in the throat and I couldn’t swallow for a week. He yanked up on Karen’s arm. I thought he’d pull it off her damn shoulder, but he got her. He got her.’ In the gloom, Drake saw she was weeping. ‘God. Oh God, I thought she was dead. I was sure she was.’ I knew at once, but laid my steno pad along the left margin of the manuscript so I could see it better. Reading down, as you’d read a vertical crossword-puzzle answer, the first letter of each line spelled the message which had been there almost since I began the book: owls undEr stud O Then, allowing for the indent next-to-last line from the bottom: owls undEr studIO Bill Dean, my caretaker, is sitting behind the wheel of his truck. He has accomplished his two purposes in coming here welcoming me back to the TR and warning me off Mattie Devore. Now he’s ready to go. He smiles at me, displaying those big false teeth, those Roebuckers. ‘If you get a chance, you ought to look for the owls,’ he tells me. I ask him what Jo would have wanted with a couple of plastic owls and he replies that they keep the crows from shitting up the woodwork. I accept that, I have other things to think about, but still . . . ‘It was like she’d come down to do that errand special,’ he says. It never crosses my mind not then, at least that in Indian folklore, owls have another purpose: they are said to keep evil spirits away. If Jo knew that plastic owls would scare the crows off, she would have known that. It was just the sort of information she picked up and tucked away. My inquisitive wife. My brilliant scatterbrain. Thunder rolled. Lightning ate at the clouds like spills of bright acid. I stood by the dining-room table with the manuscript in my unsteady hands. ‘Christ, Jo,’ I whispered. ‘What did you find out?’ And why didn’t you tell me? But I thought I knew the answer to that. She hadn’t told me because I was somehow like Max Devore; his great-grandfather and my own had shit in the same pit. It didn’t make any sense, but there it was. And she hadn’t told her own brother, either. I took a weird kind of comfort from that. I began to leaf through the manuscript, my skin crawling. Andy Drake rarely frowned in Michael Noonan’s My Childhood Friend. He scowled instead, because there’s an owl in every scowl. Before coming to Florida, John Shackleford had been living in Studio City, California. Drake’s first meeting with Regina Whiting occurred in her studio. Ray Garraty’s last-known address was the Studio Apartments in Key Largo. Regina Whiting’s best friend was Steffie Underwood. Steffi’s husband was Towle Underwood there was a good one, two for the price of one. Owls under studio. It was everywhere, on every page, just like the K-names in the telephone book. A kind of monument, this one built I was sure of it not by Sara Tidwell but by Johanna Arlen Noonan. My wife passing messages behind the guard’s back, praying with all her considerable heart that I would see and understand. On page ninety-two Shackleford was talking to Drake in the prison visitors’ room sitting with his wrists between his knees, looking down at the chain running between his ankles, refusing to make eye-contact with Drake. FRIEND, by Noonan/Pg. 92 only thing I got to say. Anything else, fuck, what good would it do? Life’s a game, and I lost. You want me to tell you that I yanked some little kid out of the water, pulled her up, got her motor going again? I did, but not because I’m a hero or a saint . . . ‘ There was more but no need to read it. The message, owls under studio, ran down the margin just as it had on page nineteen. As it probably did on any number of other pages as well. I remembered how deliriously happy I had been to discover that the block had been dissolved and I could write again. It had been dissolved all right, but not because I’d finally beaten it or found a way around it. Jo had dissolved it. Jo had beaten it, and my continued career as a writer of second-rate thrillers had been the least of her concerns when she did it. As I stood there in the flicker-flash of lightning, feeling my unseen guests swirl around me in the unsteady air, I remembered Mrs. Moran, my first-grade teacher. When your efforts to replicate the smooth curves of the Palmer Method alphabet on the blackboard began to flag and waver, she would put her large competent hand over yours and help you. So had Jo helped me. I riffled through the manuscript and saw the key words everywhere, sometimes placed so you could actually read them stacked on different lines, one above the other. How hard she had tried to tell me this . . . and I had no intention of doing anything else until I found out why. I dropped the manuscript back on the table, but before I could re-anchor it, a furious gust of freezing air blew past me, lifting the pages and scattering them everywhere in a cyclone. If that force could have ripped them to shreds, I’m sure that it would have. No! it cried as I grabbed the lantern’s handle. No, finish the job! Wind blew around my face in chill gusts it was as if someone I couldn’t quite see was standing right in front of me and breathing in my face, retreating as I moved forward, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf outside the houses of the three little pigs. I hung the lantern over my arm, held my hands out in front of me, and clapped them together sharply. The cold puffs in my face ceased. There was now only the random swirling air coming in through the partially plugged kitchen window. ‘She’s sleeping,’ I said to what I knew was still there, silently watching. ‘There’s time.’ I went out the back door and the wind took me at once, making me stagger sideways, almost knocking me over. And in the wavering trees I saw green faces, the faces of the dead. Devore’s was there, and Royce’s, and Son Tidwell’s. Most of all I saw Sara’s. Everywhere Sara. No! Go back! You don’t need no truck with no owls, sugar! Go back! Finish the job! Do what you came for! ‘I don’t know what I came for,’ I said. ‘And until I find out, I’m not doing anything.’ The wind screamed as if in offense, and a huge branch split off the pine standing to the right of the house. It fell on top of my Chevrolet in a spray of water, denting the roof before rolling off on my side. Clapping my hands out here would be every bit as useful as King Canute commanding the tide to turn. This was her world, not mine . . . and only the edge of it, at that. Every step closer to The Street and the lake would bring me closer to that world’s heart, where time was thin and spirits ruled. Oh dear God, what had happened to cause this? The path to Jo’s studio had turned into a creek. I got a dozen steps down it before a rock turned under my foot and I fell heavily on my side. Lightning zigged across the sky, there was the crack of another breaking branch, and then something was falling toward me. I put my hands up to shield my face and rolled to the right, off the path. The branch splashed to the ground just behind me, and I tumbled halfway down a slope that was slick with soaked needles. At last I was able to pull myself to my feet. The branch on the path was even bigger than the one which had landed on the roof of the car. If it had struck me, it likely would have bashed in my skull. Go back! A hissing, spiteful wind through the trees. Finish it! The slobbering, guttural voice of the lake slamming into the rocks and the bank below The Street. Mind your business! That was the very house itself, groaning on its foundations. Mind your business and let me mind mine! But Kyra was my business. Kyra was my daughter. I picked up the lantern. The housing was cracked but the bulb glowed bright and steady that was one for the home team. Bent over against the howling wind, hand raised to ward off more falling branches, I slipped and stumbled my way down the hill to my dead wife’s studio. How to cite Bag of Bones CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX, Essay examples