Feed Overall

I overall really enjoyed reading Feed because it showed the way society changed so much over time. They completely functioned and interacted different with other people. They really didn't interact with other people like we do today which is sad. They don't have normal conversations face to face and they don't even have children the same way anymore. Their society was completely different from anything we are accustomed to. Violet was my favorite character out of the novel because she was the only one who understood how the way they were acting was depleting the world. She wasn't accustomed to having the feed since she was little, so therefore she knew what it was like to be a real human being. Her having the feed degenerating inside of her, which was killing her made it seem more realistic that the feed was the best thing in the world to have. There were a bunch of malfunctions with the feed and she was living proof that having the feed was not necessary. The book made you appreciate the way things are today because the way that they lived in the book didn't seem like it was all that great.

Feed Part 4

     Titus finally arrived at the hospital with Violet and he had to sit outside patiently waiting for the doctor to come out to tell him the results. One of the nurses come out and told him there was some complications and the doctor would be out shortly, but Titus was beginning to grow impatient with them, so he paced back and forth down the hall way of the waiting room.
     Finally her dad arrived and he went in the room at once. When he walked back outside he sat down and Titus approached him. He told Titus that she was okay and after a while he went in to see her. She was covered in cables and Titus was afraid to get near her. They were chatting back and forth and she told him that she was going to be fine for a little while and he was worried about her. He left when the orb came in and went with his mom to Link's house to get his upcar. That night he ate dinner at home and watched the feed instead of doing his homework. When he fell asleep that night he dreamed of Violet.
     The next day Titus went to Violets house and it just seemed awkward between them. Violet kept rambling on and on about things that she wanted to do with her life before she died. Titus didn't really have a lot to say and it seemed like he didn't really care either. She had a whole list of things to do with him and enjoy all different types of things. When it came to a response from him, he didn't really have a a lot to say to her. Violet and her father called the feedtech because they wanted to petition that they needed help paying for the research and repairs. Her father threatened to take their business elsewhere but it doesn't seem like it mattered to the company because after they replied to Violet and her father, they didn't have anything else to say.
     The next day Titus went and saw Quendy and told her how sorry Violet was. He wanted her to know that it wasn't her fault, it was just the feed malfunctioning and messing with her brain. Quendy understood and told him to not treat Violet like she was "low-grade." That it wasn't Violet's fault that this was happening and Quendy found a link showing Titus what was happening to her so he would understand it better.
     That night while Titus was sleeping, Violet left him a message at three in the morning. She was telling him how she couldn't sleep and how her parents never had a feed because they were too expensive when they first came out for her family to get one. She also told him how her leg went numb earlier that day but it went back to normal and here was nothing more to say about it. She told him she hoped he was okay this morning and that she knew he was acting distant towards her. When Titus listened to the message the next morning and he could smell the distinct smell of the hospital. He was hoping the shower he took would get rid of the smell but it didn't. He finished listening to the message on the way to school and he just sat in his upcar as everyone raced inside so they wouldn't be late for school. He mentioned how the leaves outside the school turned red showing he was late. I thought that was kind of cool how the surroundings outside changed.
     The next chapter was just a list of things that Violet was telling Titus she wanted to do before she died. She kept naming things and putting him in the situation as if they were going to be together forever. I don't think she realized that Titus was distancing himself from her day by day. Titus couldn't focus in school that day. He seemed like he was changing ever since the situation with Violet. He didn't even listen to her list all the way through. He would just go back and forth listening to different parts as if he didn't care. Violet had tried chatting Titus for a few times but he kept ignoring her. He went over the Link's house where him and Marty were at and asked them to go in mal with him. Once they got in mal they were out of their mind. They ended up at the ice cream store and don't know how they got there and went to the mall as well. Violet tried chatting Titus again and when she got him to answer he told her that he was coming to her house. She could tell that he was too "whacked" out of his mind to drive and she begged him not to but he did it anyways. When he got there he noticed how her hair was different and she met him outside because she didn't want her dad to know. She was trying to tell him about how her dad had given up on teaching her but Titus was so "in mal" that he couldn't pay her any attention and finally he fell asleep on the ground.
     Titus got a message from Violet while he was sleeping and it was how her morning went. He was put into her place and viewed the events that happened while he was ignoring her. She went numb like she had been doing and fell down the stairs. The feedtech came on once she had fallen and told her that she wasn't available to be helped out for her condition and they couldn't invest in her. Titus could just see her
lying there on the floor waiting for her dad to come and help her up. After he had woken up they just sat there in the grass and talked. He began to feel bad because he hadn't done anything to help her and he felt as if they weren't dating anymore. He kept wanting to touch her and trying to do things to get her to touch him but she didn't catch onto the hint. He told her he needed to leave and when he went to leave he waited for her to kiss him but she didn't. The next day Violet's arms stopped working and she had to be sedated to calm her down.
    Later on Violet started to send Titus another message and he could tell that it was going to be a long one. She told him in the message that she was scared to loose all of her memories so she was going to send them all to him and then one day when she wanted to know them he could tell them to her. He never opened up any of the memories but he could feel them coming in and they were starting to give him a headache. He deleted everyone of her memories, which was a jerkish move to me. Those were her memories that she had of her past and she trusted him with those and he just deleted them. He was turning into someone that she didn't know and you could tell he was distancing himself majorly from her.
     The next day Violet just randomly appeared at Titus's house without him knowing. His mom sent her up to his room and she asked him if he wanted to go to the mountains with her. He at first turned her down and said he had plans, which he didn't, and she got angry with him. She sent him pictures of the cabin and things and finally convinced him to go with her. Titus was really being a jerk to her and he also told her he never got her memories or her messages from the chat. They finally left for the mountains and Violet could tell that there was something wrong with Titus. They got to the mountains and she was so excited about everything. She had put the room in under as Mr. and Mrs. Smith and they got their bags and went  to the room. Later on they went to tour the mountains and things around it and Titus just kept realizing how stupid it was for him to be there. They ended up getting into a huge fight and leaving the mountains. He took her back home and they kept arguing on the way there. Her arm had went numb and she was crying too. When they got home her dad got her out of the upcar and Titus left.
     She sent him the next day apologizing for some of the things she said and that she loved him and wanted to talk. He completely ignored her message again and went to play basketball with Link.
     The summer when they got out of school, Titus and his friends flew to Jupiter to stay with Marty's aunt for a little while. At that time Titus was dating Quendy at the time and he seemed to really like her. He talked about how people were freezing up and it was freaking everyone out. This chapter was a little confusing because I didn't really understand what they were talking about. Titus just kept feeling like he was trying to catch up with the new things in society but he always felt like he was running.
     Finally, Titus's dad came back form his trip that he went on with work. He showed them a video of the trip and things that happened during it. When the family was watching the feed that their father had shown them they picked up on the fact that he kept looking down the V.P.'s shirt. When the video was over Titus's mom was freaking out on him and was fussing about what was in the video. Titus had gotten a message during the video that there was something wrong with Violet and he needed to come. When he got there to her house, it was all dark and quiet and her father pointed him to her room. When he got to her room, she was just lying there. She couldn't speak, she couldn't talk, she just lay there like a vegetable. In todays terms you would say she was in a coma. Her dad started to talk to him and it turned into her father yelling at him over and over. He was partially blaming the situation on Titus because Titus was the one who introduced her to all these new things. Her father also blamed himself, for getting her the feed in general. He didn't want to get her one, but from a experience he had, he knew that she would suffer without one. Titus just left and that night he lay there ordering pants after pants, even though he had no credit.
     A few days later, Titus dressed nicely and went to visit Violet. When he got there he went in and sat by her bed. He just held her hand and she lay there not saying a word. He told her about the things she liked, all the new things happening in the world. He also told her the story of them because he didn't want to forget her. He cried for the first time while he was with her because he realized that she was dying. As he told her the story, her heartbeat got slower and slower.

Feed Part 3

Everyone was home now back on Earth but things still weren't the same. Titus's parents were treating him like he was sick, going back and forth to his room to check on him. He got tired of sitting in the house so he went out on his parents upcar and explored around the town a little just to get out. He came back and watched things on his feed and was glad he had friends to talk to. That night Quendy's parents were out of town so they were going to have a party at her house. He was excited about going and he had to pick up Violet and take her because she didn't have a way to get there. He was real nervous about seeing her for the first time since everything had happened at the moon. Everything seemed to be fine and Violet asked him what the parties were like. She told him that she was home-schooled and kind of sheltered so she didn't know what went on at parties. He told her that they were just like what you saw in the feed but a little bit dumber. Violet was nervous that everyone was going to be different acting at the party because of what had happened before on the moon, but Titus told her not to worry that everything was going to be fine. When they got to the party the realized that everything was completely normal. Violet went over to talk to Calista and Titus went and spoke to Quendy and she acted like everything was fine. Quendy then m-chatted Titus and asked if he thought Link and Calista were doing it and Titus told her yes. She went on to say how her and Link used to do it and she seemed really jealous that Calista was his new girl now. She asked Titus if him and Violet were dating and he said yes, then she told him how Calista thought that Violet was stuck up. So he m-chatted Violet to make sure everything was okay. Titus didn't seem okay with the fact that everything was okay with everyone at the party. He expected things to be weird with everyone and when they weren't he felt strange about the situation. Titus went upstairs where a lot of people were at and they were getting "mal." I took this as a translation of getting high like people do today but I wasn't for sure of what it meant to be exact. Titus decided not to do it and he went downstairs to find Violet. They went outside and talked and that's when she explained to him that her feed network was damaged. The day she went outside to talk to the doctors, they were telling her that her network was messed up and it should fix on its on. Titus freaked out on her and began to ask questions, but she reassured him that everything was going to be fine. They stood on the porch for a while and just held each other, and for the first time in a while, Titus thought he was in love.
The next night Titus dreamed about how he was getting all these games for free and he felt like someone was nudging him and he kept asking who it was and at first they said the police but he didn't believe them. He wanted to know who it was and when he woke up the next day he couldn't remember anything but the games which weren't there anymore. But the elf gloves, the bow, and the lizard were all his.
The next morning Violet chatted Titus and told him she had a new idea for him to meet her at the mall. When he found her at the mall he noticed that she was wearing a lowcut shirt and he liked it and it showed off her lesion. Ever since everyone had watched the show Oh? Wow! Thing!, apparently lesions were cool now. She told him about her idea and how the people in the mall were there to target things that went across your newsfeed because things in their were things you were interested in. So what if you started exploring all these new things and then your feed would be all confused and no one in the mall would understand what you wanted. Violet dragged him through a bunch of different stores and they looked at the most random things and never bought them. When it was time to go home, Titus asked if he could take her home and she refused. He didn't understand her reasoning for it and she told him that her dad had to save up for a year for her to go to the moon. I kind of got the feeling that Violet's family didn't have that much money and she was ashamed at where she lived, so that's why she never let Titus come over. He dropped her off at the feed technicians and went back home.
That night Titus chatted Violet and he could tell something was wrong with her. After chatting for a while she brought up the experience at the mall which perked her up a lot. After being with Violet for a while Titus began to feel like he was stupid. Not necessarily dumb, but since Violet was learning all of these things about history and more advanced subjects than him, he just felt as if he wasn't as good as her. They were chatting one day and she told him that she didn't always have a feed because her parents couldn't afford it and her father didn't want her to have one. They got in a argument about how society was either democratic or republic and Titus hated when she acted like this because it wasn't the Violet that he liked, she wasn't herself. She told Titus that she felt like the world was being brought up as self-centered, ignorant idiots. She realized what she had said because she was technically calling him that and felt bad because its not what she meant. Later on Titus brought him being stupid up to his mom and she got all defensive thinking Violet had called him dumb and he had to explain to her that it wasn't anything Violet had said. Titus's parents didn't give up and they felt sorry for him to they kept talking about how Titus was all the wanted and he was exactly what they wanted and he wasn't dumb. His parents told him about how he was created which sounded kind of different to me because I thought it was like it was now, but definitely not. They told him that they told the geneticist that they wanted him to have specific features but also look like DelGlacey Murdoch. After a while of conversation, Titus's parents told him that they were getting him his own upcar and he was sooo excited. He couldn't wait to take Violet out in his very own upcar.
The next morning Titus, his father, and Violet went to look for Titus a upcar. He had a hard time choosing between a sportier car that would just hold two people or a bigger car that would hold him and all his friends. Violet helped him decide on a autumnal color and on the bigger car. That night they all had supper at Titus's house. Violet got in a dispute with Titus's father about whether trees were necessary or not. She had mentioned earlier that her and Titus might be going to the Jefferson Park but his father told her that it had been cut down. The fight got really awkward and so Titus brought up that Violet had told him that there wasn't going to be a trial for the man that hacked into their feeds. After the awkwardness had begun to wear on them, Titus's father said it was time for him to take her home. When she went to get up, her foot was asleep and she couldn't feel it at all. This worried Titus and he wasn't okay with the things that were going wrong with her. She finally was able to walk and he took her to the new mall near her house, where her father picked her up.
The next day Titus went to pick Violet up for their date to the country side and he met her father for the first time. On his way there he noticed that Violet lived in a different neighborhood than his. Each house was in the same bubble, versus in his neighborhood, each house was in a different bubble and had their own kind of weather. When he got to Violets house he met her dad and she wasn't kidding about how strange her father was. He spoke with words that no one understood because he believed that the language was dying. When they left Titus kind of stepped onto a sore subject because he told her that her life was different because her parents weren't married and she lived in a different location than he did.
On their ride to the farm they were talking about how their families met and such. Violet had told Titus that her parents never got married and when she was six or seven her mom left and went to South America where it was warm. Ever since then her dad had raised her and she was homeschooled and what not. Titus told her of the story how his parents met and lived together and went to Venus, since Venus was the planet of love and how he proposed and everything. Finally they arrived at the farm and they could smell the filet mignon and they went on a tour to watch how things grew. They went and bought doughnuts as well and Violet said they should eat the plain ones first because it was more of a thrill to get to the better thing later. Then she went on to tell him about how she would order something on the feed and keep pondering on it and then finally order it but not take it out of the box for a little while and then give in and take it out. But she liked doing this because of the thrill it gave her when she finally got to something new. Titus and Violet went on the steak maze race and tried to see which one of them could get to the middle first and they were being all cute. They finally sat down and watched the sunset together. Violet randomly asked Titus if he ever thought about dying. He told her he wanted to die in a overload of intense pleasure of his senses. That night he carried her back home and when he climbed into his bed he could hear the feeds of everyone in his family. His feed with speaking softly and informing him of all different types of things as he drifted off to sleep. He kept having this ridiculous dream and feeling like someone else was tampering into his feed. He called for the feed tech assistance but she kept getting annoying and not helping with the problem so he just went back to sleep. I don't understand how people can tamper into his own feed when its in his mind. Yeah, there's people in the networking systems but I don't get how they can mingle into his brain.
That Saturday they heard about the commercial for Coke, if you said it to your friends like a thousand times you would win a free six pack. So Titus and all his friends got together and they kept talking about Coke and it got real awkward when Violet said something about it and everyone looked at her weird. Titus could tell that all his friends were chatting about her and he tried to move the conversation forward. They had decided to all go to the store to get some Coke since thats what they were all talking about. During the walk outside, Calista and Loga were talking badly about the remarks that Violet had said and she was starting to get mad. Violet chatted Titus and told him it was time for her to go home, so he didn't have a choice and took her home and had to leave his friends. On their ride back home Violet and Titus were chatting and he felt as if she was showing off when she used big, weird words in conversation with his friends. As the conversation kept going Violet finally told him that her feed was really messed up. The technicians were trying to figure out what was going on, but they said since she got hers so late that he brain wasn't adapting to it as well as everyone else's did and she could die from it malfunctioning. she quickly changed the subject and told Titus to drop them so they could feel sudden vertigo together. She asked him to go back to his friend's house and he told her it would be awkward so they went back to his house. They just sat on the couch wondering about Violet's condition and talked about things they could do before her condition worsened. She didn't want to think about it even though the technicians said it was deteriorating faster. Violet had dinner with his family that night and then Titus took her home later that night. The next day they went to the Sea and sat on the sand and looked out at the water. They had to wear suits when they were there which was really strange. They kept talking about Violet's condition and she told him that parts of her body kept freezing up more frequently now which freaked him out. He had to change the subject and he told her he really liked her to get everything off her mind.
The next day at school when Titus walked in he noticed Calista's new lesion and Quendy was quick to chat him about it and tell him that it was fake. They were chatting back and forth and you could tell that she was "meg" jealous that Calista was dating Link. Titus chatted Violet to tell her about it and then she asked where he got his name from. Titus finally told her that he was supposed to be a clone of Abraham Lincoln. I find these things to be really weird and I don't understand why people were created this way in this time period.
That Friday night they went to the party and when they walked in they got drinks like everyone else and started dancing. After a few minutes of being there, Quendy walked in covered in lesions. Everyone just stopped and stared at her because they were in shock of what she was doing. After a while Titus took Violet to the attic and told her about the game they used to play when they were kids and how only Link's friends knew about the special hiding place. Titus found some old paintings in the attic as well and they were some of Link's dead relatives. When Violet and Titus returned downstairs to the party they saw that everyone was playing spin the bottle. On one of the spins when Link landed on Quendy and they started to kiss and it pissed Calista off because Quendy wasn't stopping. Finally after Calista had, had enough she called Quendy out and told her she looked stupid and how what she was doing was ridiculous. Marty spun the bottle next and it landed on Violet. Violet was not okay with this and when Marty got closer she freaked out on him. She started yelling and saying weird words and telling everyone that what they were doing was stupid and what Quendy did to herself was dumb and she looked like a monster. Violet was spinning out of control but Titus noticed that her body was going limp and her eyes had gone white and she wasn't okay. He kept telling everyone to call and ambulance but no one would do it because Violet was being rude before this had happened. Finally some women came and Titus went with them and that's when he realized that the party was over.


This section was really long but there were a lot of interesting parts and different things that I noticed throughout the section. When strange things occurred I noted it in my summary. Sorry guys! There was no way I was going to remember every single thing that I wanted to point out by the time I finished reading this section.

Feed Part 2

Titus awoke from being knocked out since his feed was cut off and he discovered his feed wasn't back on as well. They were all laying in the hospital, waiting for their parents to get there. They didn't understand why their feed was cut off, but then the police informed them that someone had hacked into the system and they were trying to figure it out. Titus and his friends were so bored and they couldn't find anything to do. They had depended on the feed their entire life. Titus went on to explain how the feed not only helped them out with educational things but it helped them come up with things that they hadn't even thought of yet. They pretty much relied on the feed to do all of their work for them and now that they didn't have it, they were completely lost and didn't know how to function. Titus just kept complaining about how bored they were and that night when they were all supposed to be asleep he heard Violet walking to the bathroom and when she came back Titus asked her to sit with him for a little while. They didn't really have anything to say to each other so they sat there in silence. Violet began to cry silently and Titus noticed it and mentioned it to her and she asked him could he not be normal for once, in other words do things without the feed. The next morning Titus's father arrives and he's dressed all business-like. He forgets that Titus can't talk in M-chat and has Titus tell him everything that happened. His father starts to talk to himself and then tells Titus he's going to the police. Violet seems like she was listening in on the conversation and Titus is worried she is going to think that he is weird or something like that. Quendy asked Violet when her parents were coming and Violet told her that they were busy with work and things and were probably not going to come at all. The group of friends decided that they were tired of being bored so they came up with this game where they took needletips and shot them at the anatomy skinless man on the wall. Violet was surprisingly good at it and she won the game every time. She tried to teach Titus how to play the game and he found it attractive that she knew what she was doing. Loga came in because it was time for the girls tv show to come on and they all sat around her while she told them what was going on. I thought that everyone lost their feed connection but apparently Loga still had hers because she was able to watch the show. The doctor came in a little while later and started making a fuss because they made such a mess with the game that they were playing and Link's mom heard him fussing and came in and told them that the kids were stressed and the game was the only thing entertaining them. Titus was really starting to get attached to Violet and he liked the fact that they were getting so close to each other. She told him that today was like a salad day and the only good part was the ranch. Later on that evening Violet spoke to the doctor and while she was out Titus had noticed that Link and Calista were hooking up. When Violet came back in the room she asked Titus to go somewhere with her. When they got where she was taking him, it was to the garden, the garden that had died because the glass windows had cracked and the moon dust and air had leaked in and killed all the plants. They stood in the middle of the garden and for the first time Titus kissed Violet.
They returned back to where everyone was and Violet and Titus were sitting on the bed talking about their families. He told her about how he had a little brother and what his parents did for a living. She told him that her dad was a college professor and he taught the "dead language." She said they were languages that weren't used anymore and she got out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote it for him. Titus was very shocked that she actually wrote things down. He had always used the feed to write things for him and wasn't used to things being done without electronics. They noticed that Marty was freaking out and crazy things were happening to him. When the others tried to get someone's attention, everyone else in the ward told them to be quiet. Titus asked Violet if her father really wasn't going to come and get her because he was busy and she told him that, that wasn't the real reason..its just what she told him.
The next day the doctor, a nurse, and a technician came in and told them that everything was back to normal and they were going to get their feed's activated. At first when Titus went to get his activated in the examination room, it wasn't working properly. It took a while for his to work, but when it did information from the feed kept pouring in. Everyone was so excited that their feed network had returned and they couldn't stop laughing. Titus looked over at Violet and she was just as happy as everyone else and they found each other's hands and danced while information poured through their feed networks.

This part of Feed was kind of interesting to read because the gang didn't really know how to work properly without their feed's working. They were completely different people and didn't know how to function without having someone help them through everything. I can understand why they were probably freaking out about not having their feed networks. It was kind of like a learning experience for them. They were used to something their whole life and in a matter of seconds it was taken away from them and they didn't know how to work without it. Violet and Titus's relationship matured in this part and it made me really happy for them to finally show their true feelings to each other and not hide them inside.

Phenomenal Woman- Maya Angelou

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/maya_angelou/poems/492

This poem talks about how women always ask the writer how she attracts men. She tells us that she's not model size, but its the fire in her eyes. She goes on to say how she doesn't do anything out of the ordinary to attract men, it's just the type of person she is. Maya Angelou seems like she is trying to tell the audience, kind of narrowing it down to women, that you don't have to be something your not to attract the attention of men. Being yourself and having confidence is a woman's best quality and most men find that attractive.

The Story of an Hour- Kate Chopin

http://www.flashfictiononline.com/fpublic0052-story-of-an-hour-kate-chopin.html


This story tells of a woman who has heart troubles as it is, but is astonished at the news that her husband has been killled. She sobs and weeps as any woman would do at first but then she stows away to her room and sits in a chair that faces the outside. She sits there and ponders on the past events that have just occurred but she whispers to herself "free, free, free." She sobs a little at the news of her husbands death once again but begins to think about the life she was about to face on her own. After sitting there for a while her sister knocks at the door and tells her to come outside. When she finally gets up and walks outside of her room and down the stairs, her husband is standing in the doorway looking at her. He wasn't dead indeed after all but the woman didn't seem excited about his presence.

This story sounds so familiar but I can not remember where I have heard it before. The woman was at first startled with the news of her husbands death, but then she seems at peace with it. It mentions in the story that she loved her husband, but sometimes she didn't. The lady seems to be accepting her new life on her own as she sits by herself facing the window. She doesn't seem to be saddened by the death of her husband anymore. "Free, free free" is what she says to herself. I think she is talking about herself, like that she's free from her husband now. Since he's dead she has no one to answer to, no one to worry about, no one to tell her what to do anymore. The lady seems kind of disappointed when she walks downstairs to see that her husband was not dead. She feels trapped again and knows that she is going to have to live the life she had been living ever since they got married.

What do you guys think?!

The Red Convertible

This story starts off with the author telling us about how him and his brother went in together and bought a red convertible, "Red Olds." But he went on to say that they both had owned it, but now his brother owned it to himself and he didn't know why. Lyman (the narrator) was really good at making money. He once owned a restaurant called the Joilet Cafe. He started off working there as a busboy and then became part time manager, then he fully owned the whole place. But that all went down hill because a tornado came threw and tore the place all to pieces. Lyman and his brother went into town one day with all their money and that's when they saw "Red Olds." Before he knew it they had bought her and were driving around everywhere. One summer they decided just to drive where ever the road took them and they would stop and take breaks along side of the road. One day they were driving and they saw a girl standing aside of the road so they picked her up. Lyman asked her where she was from and she told them "Chicken" which was in Alaska, so thats where they went. The girls name was Susy and her family took them in like they were their own children, they even had their own tent beside their house. But it began to grow cold outside and it was time for the two brothers to leave. The night before they left Susy went into their tent and they broke the news to her. She told them that they have never seen her hair and she unpinned all of it and her hair reached the ground! Henry picked her up and put her on his shoulders, because he always wondered what it would be like to have long, pretty hair. The next morning they left the family and headed towards home. They got home in time for Henry to be deployed to be a Marine in the services. He only came home once for Christmas and then he was off again, but he did write letters. He only got two letters written before the enemies caught him, so he had to stop. But Lyman kept writing him letters hoping that he would get them and he told him all about the things he was doing to the car. Lyman kept referring to it as Henry's car, even though Henry gave it to him when he was deployed. When Henry returned home, he had changed dramatically. He wasn't the same person anymore and Lyman wasn't happy about the change. He couldn't joke around with his brother anymore and I guess it was just hard for him the accept the fact that he brother wasn't the same person anymore since he had come back from overseas. One day Henry and Lyman were watching TV, when Lyman heard a clicking noise and looked over at Henry and he had bitten through his lip and blood was running down his face. Lyman tried to help Henry but he just pushed him away and tried to act like it was nothing. After supper that night when Henry left the room, the family was talking about how they needed to get Henry some help but they didn't want to take him to the hospital because all they would do was give him drugs. Lyman figured maybe if he destroyed the "Red Olds" that Henry would pay some attention to it and it might bring the old Henry back. Henry finally noticed after a month that Lyman had let the car get beat up and run down. He fussed at Lyman about it and Lyman just kept his mouth shut and didn't say a whole lot because he wanted Henry to go back to his old self and maybe the car would do the trick. After that day, Henry was always working on the car..day and night. He even strung a lamp outside to be able to see at night to work on the car. He was much calmer now and he was getting back to himself, but Lyman still wasn't happy. Lyman was used to him and his brother doing things together and now Henry was a loner. One day, Henry asked Lyman to go for a spin in the ole car and their younger sister took a picture of them outside of the car. Lyman hung the picture up on the wall but after a while the picture creeped him out. One night he was drunk and high and had to leave the room because of the picture and his friend came over and they put a paper bag over it. Lyman then goes on to explain the drive that him and his brother took. Henry was calm and quiet which made Lyman happy but all of a sudden Lyman lost it and grabbed his brother and yelled wake up, wake up and Henry knew exactly what he was talking about. He said he knew it and he knew that Lyman had destroyed the car on purpose, but that Lyman should take the car for himself. They get into a fight over this stupid car and start hitting each other and after a few hits, Henry starts laughing and says "you take it" and finally Lyman agrees. They drink the beers that were in the cooler and then Henry decides to go for a swim in the river to cool off. The current starts to get a hold of him and suddenly he's gone. Lyman took the car to the edge of the bank, put it in first gear and got out, and slowly let it roll into the water.

Woahhhhh I did not expect this to be the ending of the story. After reading this story, the quote that comes to my head is "Appreciate the things you have in life, because one day..they could disappear. I feel really bad for Lyman throughout the whole story because he feels like he's lost his brother completely since he went off overseas. But when he finally gets him back to his old self, the river current takes him away again. I can't imagine what was going through Lyman's head as this was happening, that poor kid. This story just really teaches you that you should always appreciate the people and things you have in life, because one day you might not have those things anymore.