Alicia Beardsley and Kailee Graham

By: Kailee Graham and Alicia Beardsley

George: My life has been a roller coaster for the last few years, Elie.

Elie: Yeah, since I was a little boy I grew up living in fear because I was abandoned from my family.

George: Why were you abandoned?

Elie: Well my family is Jewish, so during the World War II my family was split up. My father and I went to a different concentration camp. We spent all our days doing hard labor work, struggling to find food and water.

George: Oh my, that is a tragedy. I thought my life was bad because I have to take care of my friend Lennie, who is mentally challenged. The other day we had to flee from our home because a girl accused him of rape. He may be retarded, but he would never try to hurt anyone.

Elie: I am really sorry to hear that George. Where did you end up going?

George: We ended up in the country. I always told Lennie that we would be able to get our own ranch, and he would tend the rabbits. That was Lennie's dream. However, we had little money, so we needed to find some labor work that we both would be good at. So after traveling a long time, we ended up working on a farm share cropping.

Elie: I know exactly where you are coming from. When I was in the concentration camp, for most of my childhood the soldiers made us work daily for no rewards. It was miserable. Everyday I would wake up to yelling and a huge ruckus. Most of the time I wished I could have just killed myself.

George: Unfortunately that was never an option for me because I had to not only take care of myself, but take care of Lennie as well. When we were on the farm, I had to make sure Lennie did not talk to anyone because if he did Lennie would have ended up getting in a fight. I felt like I had to be his father, but our job was very important so I was willing to take on that role.

Elie: That seems like it would be a tough job. When I was younger, I would have to watch over my father because he became weak quickly. It was a weird feeling because when the soldiers would beat him, I would have no emotions towards it. Even though I loved my father dearly, I just figured maybe he would finally learn how to play the game of a prisoner. Eventually, he learned better, and the reason I felt obligated to take care of him was because he watched over me my whole life. I was not willing to give up on him in the hardest time of our lives.

George: You seem like a great son, but how did you live with the fear of losing your father?

Elie: It was very difficult because I had to live each day differently. Some days he would be able to complete all his work, then on others he could barely move. The hardest time was his last day with me. His strength had been lost, and his last words to me were to take care of myself. I felt like I had let my whole family down, but I knew I had to go
on with my life has a prisoner in order to survive.

George: Wow! That must have been very difficult for you to see your father die. I had to
go through the same thing with Lennie. Unfortunately, when we were at the farm, Lennie got in a little predicament. A slut who was married to the main farmer Curley, tried to confuse Lennie. He ended up killing her. So once again we were on the run. We made it to a large field, but I knew what I had to do in order to keep Lennie from being hurt. I had to shoot him when he did not know. It was the worst thing I had to do. I did not want to do it, but the lynch mob of farmers were going to torture him I could not allow Lennie to go through that.

Elie: You did the right thing. People may call you a murderer, but in the end you knew you were just trying to help him. It would've been horrible if the farmers got to him, you were just helping Lennie out.

George: Yes, that all I was trying to do. I may have had to live most of my life in fear, but now I think I have gotten some closure because I know Lennie is safe. He can tend all the rabbits he wants now!

Elie: Exactly. That is how I felt once my father died. Do not get me wrong, it was a horrible thing to see my father die, but I knew he would not have to fear for my life. As well as I would not have to fear that my dear father was being treated like an animal instead of a true human being. It is relieving to know that my father is no longer in pain and is happy.

George: I really enjoyed talking to you today and I am very glad we met Elie, we seem to have a lot in common. Even though much of our experiences were tragic, you and I were able to make something of ourselves. We are both able to move on in life and we both did the right thing in the end.

Elie: I agree. It was a pleasure to meet you and be able to share stories. I am glad that I now have someone to share my experiences with. You are a great man George, and I hope that we keep in touch. If you ever need someone to talk to, I am here.

George: Thanks, Elie! Same to you, have a nice rest of your day.

Elie: You too George, bye!

George: Bye!

BLEHHH KierstenKeesee R.D.

Willy: *speaking to himself* i just don't know what to do...
George: you look like you got yurself a problem.

Willy: I do...

George: what seems to be the problem?

Willy: i have a really hard choice to make. i don't know what to do!

George: We've all had those. tell me bout' it.

Willy: well...Do you think a poor man is worth more dead or alive?

George: well it depends on em'

Willy: i'm old.. and tired.. I've worked my whole life. but i cant make anymore money. but if i'm dead my wife will get some money. so i just don't know.

George: well.. sometimes in life you jus' have to do what needs to be done.

Willy: i understand that. I've tried forever to do whatever it takes to be perfect. I've done what needs to be done to be happy but it never works out. Now i don't want to try anymore.

George: well then just do what you have to do!

Willy: but i just don't think i could ever kill myself.

George: people can do great things when they know what needs to be done.

Willy: how do you know?

George: i had a best friend, and he was a nice fella. but he was dumb. and he kept gettin himself into trouble on accident. but once he got himself into really big trouble, trouble that he could never get away from. and i jus'... had to do what needed to be done.

Willy: what did you do?

George: well you know how some ol' dogs just need to be put out of their misery and jus' killed?

Willy: yes i do... thats how i feel.

George: well, thats what i had to do.

Willy: you killed your best friend?

George: he wasn't just my friend.. he was family. and he was gunna be killed painfully by a bunch of guys. i did it quick and painless...

Willy: wow... should i just do it then? i just don't have the strength...

George: well if ya want, i have a friend who will just do it. He knows how to get it over with. ya know?

Willy: really??!

George: yeah he does it for dogs all the time.

Willy: alright... lets do that... quick and painless...

Alice Wilson

Alice Wilson
Senior English
2nd block

Twisted

Eli: Hello, my name is Eli it's nice to meet you.

George: Why, hello Eli my name be George.

Eli: It looks like you've had a rough night.

George: Well by golly, trust me I have had a hard night. Working on ranches bailing hay ain't the best, but I get the job done to get my money.

Eli: Yeah, I hear you on that. Life can be really hard at times. Life can be very unrelenting.

George: Yeah? Whys that, why is life unrelenting for you?

Eli: Well... I'd rather not talk about since you're a stranger. Not that, thats bad or anything its just a really intense subject.

George: It can't be that bad can it?

Eli: I just can't stand what they did to us... how cruel, how inhumane, how just sick and disgusting they were.

George: I have no idea what you are talk'n about.

George: Is it your family? Your family done you wrong or something? I used to have something like that. But now he dead.

Eli: No, no it's not my family that did anything to me. They'd never be even though of as my family. I hate to even imagine them as my family. Your family? They're all dead? Mine are too.

Eli: I never really got to see my mother, or sisters again after we departed that day. And my father, well my father is gone too.

George: Well, I don't have any family. I just have, well had Lennie. Anyway though he dead so it don't matter.

George: I'm sorry to hear your losses, must've been hard huh?

Eli: Yeah, it was. But thats in the past now and I don't want to re-live it ever again.

George: Yeah I ain't forcin you nothing, but what really happened with you? Whats your story?

Eli: People are twisted, they are sick out there. I was a Holocaust victim, where they took us Jewish people to concentration camps to kill us off. I am one of the lucky survivors from this catastrophe. It was horrible there, awful. The smell of burning flesh every morning. Working until you can't breathe nor think anymore. Watching innocent people being beaten down to a bloody pulp. It was Hell on earth.

George: Damn, that sounds really awful. I know what its like to have sick twisted people hanging around ya. I used to know a guy like that. Couldn't keep his paws out of trouble, they were always dirty. I was always having to clean up his messes it was a pain. He was sick in the mind. Defiantly not right, he was literally retarded.

Eli: Well there is nothing wrong with mentally handicapped.

George: Yeah, there ain't but if you knew this guy. Man, woo he was more than two handfuls. I just couldn't take him anymore. I mean I loved him, but he had to go.

Eli: Thats how the Nazi's felt about us... I understand that the man you're talking about might have been hard to handle but I'm sure you still want him in your life. Is he your brother or something, your father?

George: Nazi's? Whats them? No, he was just a friend of mine. I'd been taking care of him for some time.

Eli: They started out in Germany and they were Hitler's followers who believed that the economic downfall was all of the Jewish republic's fault. But anyhow its very complex to really understand how horrible it was. Oh, okay I see.

George: Yeah, but he ain't nothing now but a dead body.

Eli: It seems like whenever something bad happens people always blame it on another person. Yeah maybe he was a pain in your rectum sometimes but you can't blame his illness on him, it's not his fault. He was born that way, thats what God gave him. It wasn't anyone's fault for the economic downfall. Even if it was doesn't mean that a whole damn sector of people because of this.

George: Well we're all twisted in a sense.

George: He was twisted, but I damned loved that fool. He never meant to do a thing, know one understood that he never meant to kill nobody. He was just dumb as a rock, that was all. I kilt him only to save him, I wasn't trying to mean it cruely.

George: Lennie, was his name. He was my partner when working, he was always the best worker out of anybody. He was so strong he could do anything, just anything. I knew that Curley was gonna kill him so I killed him first.

Eli: What?

George: It was a fast death, a happy death too.

Eli: How is that George?

George: Well, Lennie always liked this story I'd tell him about what we was gonna do when we got enough money. We were gonna buy a nice ranch, work on it make it look real nice. Lennie always wanted bunnies, so I told him we was gonna get bunnies. I told him the whole story perfectly like he always wanted to hear. And then I just shot him, he was dead within seconds.

Eli: Wow, George I'm sorry about that. I just, I don't know I don't agree with you killing an innocent person like that.

George: Then you don't have to like it, I've got to go, nice talking to ya though.

Eli: Yeah, nice meeting you too...

Zach Scott Final

George: Hey maam, you dropped something. MA'AM

Linda: Oh I'm sorry I didn't realize. I have just been really out of it lately. After losing my husband things just haven't been the same.

George: I know the feeling very well. I have just currently lost someone very prominent in my life too.

Linda: really?

George: ya, he wasn't one of the brightest men you would ever meet but he did have a big heart and he was the closest thing I had to a family.

Linda: Wow we sound like we are in about the same boat. There were many things I loved about my husband, but one thing that I did not really care for was the fact that as much love as I expressed towards him he did not always show the same back to me. There were points when I really wanted things to be easier but for some reason at the end he always seemed to make things harder.

George: Ya, I had the same problem. Lennie, the person that was basically a brother to me, had a mental disability. He was a great guy but he liked to pet things. Usually when he would pet things it would end up dying because he would pet too hard and would strangle them or crush them. At first it started with my aunt giving him mice. He loved the mice, but as I said before he always thought they were soft and would pet them to death. This was known by many people.

Linda: Wow that sounds like a lot of stress. My husband, Willy, put the same kind of stress on me. The only difference was that I had to worry about him killing himself, not other people. The most stressful thing was that many times I caught him with a little hose attached to the gas line. I wanted to say something but there was no way I could bring myself to confront him about it.

George: That does sound tough. I didn't know what to do with my friend, he ended up trying to pet one girl's dress and ripped it. Then the girl ended up accusing him of raping her. He basically lost me every job that I have ever gotten. I protected him from everything and in the end I get nothing for it. He felt like more of a burden to me than a help, but he was basically family and I will do anything for family.

Linda: I agree, I gave all my love to my husband but in return I did not get anything. He yelled at me when I tried to get into a conversation and did not return the same love I showed him. He started talking to himself and that basically took me out of the whole conversation.

George: Wow, both of us had to deal with people that were mentally challenged. It is not a task I would wish onto anyone. It is such a hard thing to deal with on a daily basis. I thought he was going to be alright on this farm because he could do so much more work than some of the guys that were smaller than him. He was doing so well and I thought we had finally found a home. I always had to make sure that he wasn't getting into trouble and that others weren't antagonizing him. He did not really know what he was doing and it was hard for him to deal with things.

Linda: Like?

George: As I said earlier he liked to pet things. I got him a dog after we were on the farm from a man that we were working with. He loved it and in the end he ended up killing it, just like the mice. There was nothing I could do to help him because I could not be by his side twenty-four seven. I tried to find him something that he could do by himself and not worry about him getting into trouble.

Linda: I see. The only thing that really kept Willy out of trouble was the fact that he was working. After he got fired he did not know what to do with his life and he in a way cracked. He was not the same after he had to stop working. He lied to me about being able to pay for things and he walked around in the dark talking to himself as if he were talking to our children when they were younger.

George: Work, that really is the only thing that keeps me going now. I am glad to have a steady job now and not worry about the fact that I need to watch someone other than myself.

Linda: We are living off of my husbands Life Insurance for now. The fact is though is that it may run out very soon and I don't have any idea on what we will do if that happens. My two son's are living with me for now until I can get back on my feet. They do not make all that much money though and we are already in debt to the neighbor from all of the borrowing that Willy had done.

George: That does put you in a tough spot. If you don't mind me asking, did your husband die of the gas poisoning or was it something different?

Linda: No actually that is a very valid question. The night he died I ran up to bed and I thought he was right behind me. He wasn't, he had gone out the front door and had ran to the car. By the time me or my kids realized he was pulling out of the driveway it was too late. Within half an hour or so we heard sirens coming towards the house and we all knew what happened. He was a dear father and husband, but I still do not understand why he took his own life on that night.

George: Wow, I am so sorry for your loss Ma'am

Linda: Please just call me Linda

George: I'm sorry Linda, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm George.

Linda: Well hi George. If you don't mind, I would like to ask you the same question. What happened to Lennie?

George: From what I have heard he was petting one of the girls on the farms dress and she told him that her hair was even softer than the dress was. So she lifted his hand to her head and he got to violent and started to freak out when she started yelling. That's when he picked her up by the hair and ended up shaking her too much and it snapped her neck. I had told Lennie where to go when he got into trouble so I figured that was where he was at when I heard the news. I knew by this point he was going to be killed by these people and there was nothing I could do to save him. So I decided that I should just do it myself so that it would be like a horse with a broken leg and just put him out of his misery. This way I knew that he went without being scared and could have been peaceful. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I knew I did what was right.

Linda: Wow George. I think I am going to have to get going now. I have to talk to my boys about the jobs they have and are applying for.

George: Alright Goodbye Linda, I hope I didn't scare you away.

Linda: No it wasn't that. I just lost track of the time.

George: Ok, well maybe I will see you around. It was great talking with you. Bye Linda.

Linda: Ya I agree it was nice, talk to you later George.

Kasey Cloos

George: Do you mind if I sit with ya sir?

Montag: Sure I could use some company. I’m Montag.

George: Nice to meet ya Montag, I’m George.

Montag: It’s a pleasure to meet you as well.

George: Wow, you’re lookin pretty tired sir. I’ll have the waitress bring ya some coffee.

George: Waitress!

Waitress: Yes sir?

George: Can you bring this man some coffee please?

Waitress: Okay, would you like anything else?

George: Bring me one too.

Waitress: Okay, I’ll be back with the coffees in a minute.

George: Anyways, what kinda job do you have that makes ya so tired?

Montag: I actually don’t have a job right now. It’s a really long story.

George: Well, I don’t got no where else to be if you don’t mind tellin it to me.

Montag: Well I lived in a country that hated books. I was a fireman. I burned books and houses that had books in them almost everyday. However, I met a girl Clarisse and she changed my world. She viewed things differently then everyone else. She was something special.

George: She sounds like a great gal.

Montag: Clarisse definitely was. She opened my eyes to everything and made me curious as to why our world was the way it was. It made me question why we burned books. So I decided to take some from houses.

George: Wow sir that’s mighty brave of ya.

Montag: Thank you. It was a huge risk that I was willing to take. I just knew there was something more to the books and I wanted to find out. My wife however, did not share the same feelings. You see we never had a good relationship. As soon as I revealed them to her she freaked out. I wanted her to see what I was seeing, but she was so blinded by our world that she refused. My goal was to save her from the society we lived in.

George: It sounds like you cared bout her alot Montag.

Montag: Yes I did. Did I tell you that she had tried to commit suicide a few times?

George: No you didn’t. Wow, that’s quite rough sir.

Montag: It was. Especially since she’d never remember it. She’d always overdose on pills. These guys had to pump them out of her stomach. It broke my heart to see that.

George: Gosh sir, I sure am sorry.

Montag: You don’t have to apologize. She’s in a better place now.

George: Well, that sure is good sir. May I ask what happened?

Montag: The city I lived in had a nuclear bomb dropped on it. Everything was gone. I tried to save Mildred, but she had left me before it happened. After knowing I wasn’t going to return the books I took she called the firemen on me. My house was burned down and she left me. Wish I could’ve had her stay. I wish we could’ve been more like a family. Just wish I could’ve saved her George.

George: It’s not your fault. I just lost my family too.

Montag: I’m sorry George. What happened?

George: Promise ya won’t turn me in?

Montag: Of course.

George: I had an old friend Lennie. He wasn’t right in the head ya see? He’d get scared real easy and people would end up getting hurt. We was always movin round trying to get jobs.

Montag: Sounds tough George.

George: Oh, it sure was sir. Before our last job we was workin on a ranch and he hurt a girl. You see Montag; he likes pettin things. This girl let Lennie feel her dress, and he was pettin too hard. So she started screaming. Lennie wouldn’t let go cause he was too scared. She went and told people that he raped her, but he didn’t ya see?

Montag: Yes.
George: So we had to go find a new job on a ranch. I told him to stay out of trouble, but he don’t listen too well. You see there was this woman who would give the “eye” to all of the men. I knew she was trouble. I told Lennie to stay away from her. He don’t listen though. Next thing I know, I’m lookin for Lennie and I find her dead in the barn. He broke her neck.

Montag: Your kidding? Wow, how’d he do that?

George: Lennie is a big fella. He don’t know his own strength.

Montag: Wow, what happened after you found her?

George: Lennie ran away to the spot where I told him to meet me if anythin bad were to happen. The woman’s husband found out and wanted to go kill Lennie right away. I wanted to protect him. He was like family ya know? So I stole a fella’s gun and went lookin for Lennie. I found him, and we talked about our dream.

Montag: What was your dream?

George: To get our own ranch.

Montag: Oh, I see.

George: Montag, you may hate me for what I’m about to tell ya.

Montag: No I won’t.

George: I shot him Montag. Right after we talked about our dream. I didn’t want no one else to hurt him. It was my way of protecting him from the world that didn’t understand him. He was nuts in the head.

Montag: You wanted to save him like I wanted to save Mildred. I understand George. They were family. We just wanted to save them and protect them. Both of them meant a lot to us.

George: Montag, I sure am glad you understand me.

Montag: I feel the same way. Oh, it looks like my friends are ready to leave. It was very nice talking with you George. I’m really glad we met.

George: I sure am glad too Montag. Maybe I’ll run into ya again.

Montag: I sure hope so. Goodbye George.

George: Bye Montag.

Joel Stiffler

George: Hello, my name is George. What's your name?

Ralph: I'm Ralph, nice to meet you.

George: So tell me Ralph, what's your story?

Ralph: Well, a bunch of other kids and myself got stranded on an island when our plane crashed. The pilot was killed in the crash and all that was left were us kids. Long story short, two of us died, one was murdered, and everyone else except for me went crazy and became like a tribe of savages. Obviously we were eventually rescued. Just in the nick of time i might add, as they were about to kill me too.

George: Wow, that's pretty intense. I thought I had problems but that's pretty messed up too. You wanna talk about it at all? I've not exactly lived a fairy tale either. We could talk about it and work through our experiences together.

Ralph: Ok, I suppose I'd be up to that. Well, let's see, where to start? Um, in the beginning it was just another kid named Piggy and I...

George: One of the kid's names was Piggy?

Ralph: Well, no actually. I don't know what his real name was, he was always just Piggy. It was actually me that got him named that I suppose, now that I think about it. That's beside the point though.

George: Right, sorry for interrupting.

Ralph: It's ok. Anyways, it was just the two of us, then I found a shell that could make noise if you blew into it loud enough. After I did that, other kids started coming. There were a lot of us, and some of them were very young while others were older around my age.

George: How did you handle having to look after the smaller children? That must've been an enormous burden to carry. I know a thing or two about having to look after other less competent individuals.

Ralph: Well, at first it went ok. The others actually voted me to be their leader on account of the fact I had thought to gather everyone with the shell. Although looking back, it was actually Piggy who knew what it was, not me.

George: You seem upset whenever you mention this Piggy kid. Was he one of the kids that died while you were on the island.

Ralph: He was. I'll get to that in a moment.

George: Right, sorry for asking.

Ralph: As I was saying, everything was going alright for a little while, until everyone became obsessed with the "monster" on the island. One of the little ones mentioned it at first, and it was just a joke, then it became something more. One of the other kids took over and turned what was essentially a democracy into a tribe, where he was the leader. One of the little ones had already died in an accident. Then once it was only Piggy and I left, we went into their village to talk with them and to maybe come to some sort of understanding. They killed Piggy and I ran away. They hunted me and burned the whole island in an attempt to find me. Ironically it was the fire they started that alerted a nearby Naval vessel of our location. We were rescued just as they had found me.

George: You're a pretty lucky kid. I can't believe that a bunch of kids could do something like that. Its really disturbing to think. I always thought of childhood as a time of innocence before you become aware of the awful parts of the world.

Ralph: So had I. The environment on the island was so full of fear and anxiety that it tore us apart. People had to break away from a logical and reasoned existance because that kept reminding them of the reality of our situation. I've spent a lot of time since then thinking about what happened.

George: Clearly, I can see that. That sounds like a pretty good explanation of what happened too. That must be such a burden on you still since you were the leader in the beginning.

Ralph: Ya, I would say it still weighs pretty heavily on me.

George: I know how you feel. I was forced to make the decision of killing my best friend myself, or letting a gang of others eventually catch and kill him. I decided to do it myself while he wasn't looking. I just didn't want him to be afraid. I'm not ever going to really get over it I think.

Ralph: I don't blame you. That is similar to how I feel as well. I feel like it was my fault that Piggy died and that things turned out the way they did.

George: The responsibility always falls on the shoulders of leader. I never even intended for it to be that way. Lennie just kind of grew on me, and before I knew it we were traveling together and I was having to look after him. Part of me wishes I never would've known him, that I could've just wandered about on my own doing my own thing. I would've been fine that way. It would've saved me a lot of grief.

Ralph: I agree. If I would've been the only one to survive the plane crash I wouldn't have to live with this either. That sounds awful, but I wouldn't have to deal with these feelings now. Even if that meant still being stuck on the island.

George: Knowing people, its just not worth it. You'll end up getting hurt in the end no matter what. People all die eventually, and more than likely they'll find some way to be a burden on you or hurt you some other way before that anyways. People are all scared, self interested creatures. So why should any of us try to be anything different? I say from now on I'm just gonna go about my business my own way, and do whatever I want when I want. I will no longer be hindered or bothered by others.

Ralph: I agree. People are self-interested and look out for only themselves. So there is no point in trying to fool ourselves otherwise. I'm just going to move on with my life and not worry about others from now on.

George: I'm glad we've had this talk. I actually feel much better than I did a bit ago. I feel, resolved and ready to start over.

Ralph: Yes, thank you I feel the same. Be seein' ya then.

George: Yup, good luck.

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