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!