Creative Story : A Short Story

 Water represents Sethe's transition from slavery to freedom. Sethe left Sweet Home pregnant with Denver, "and ran off with no one's help" (p.224). She ran scared and fearful of the trackers following her trail.  Sethe met Amy Denver, a white women, on her way to Ohio.  Amy helped Sethe find the Ohio River.  The river was "one mile of dark water...[and] it looked like home to her and the baby"(p.83).  When Amy left, Sethe traveled downstream and met Stamp Paid.  He helped her and Denver cross the river to freedom.  Stamp took Sethe upstream, "and just when she thought he was taking her back to Kentucky, he [Stamp Paid] turned the flatbed and crossed the Ohio like a shot" (p.91).  The river locked away the memories of Sweet Home and began her life with Denver at 124.   Water represents the transition of Sethe's slave life to her life of freedom.  Again, water has cleansed the soul of the sin of slavery. The river is now a barrier.  It separates Sethe's life of slavery, to her new life of freedom.

In the short story, “The Boat” by Alistair Macleod, symbolism is used to represent an abstract idea. The boat, being a major symbol of the story was the way of life for the family. As the story goes on, the boat starts to make the family feel confined giving them a choice to leave or stay with the boat. There were symbols that impacted the story that had connection towards the boat. Chain bracelets, the father’s clothes, the books that the father read are all symbols that tied to the boat. The father's chain bracelets and clothes represent the father feeling trapped as a fisherman since he never changes out of them. We find out more about the characters and their personal connection with the boat and the other symbols and what it means to them. The family starts to fall apart due to the kids learning about the father’s books leading to them moving away from home. Symbolism is used when one thing is meant to represent something else adding meaning and emotion to the story which is well represented throughout the story.

“Oh Dang! He said under his breath. The church is on fire! “Let's go see what the deal is.”

Stepping out onto her small porch Laurel placed her hands her hands at her hips, head turning from side to side, to gaze at the city. Everything looked so peaceful, it was hard to believe that sooner or later everything would change, war was on the horizon whether they like it or not. She muttered out a sigh as she reached her hand up to rub at her forehead. She blinked a few times when she caught sight of Cain. “Here goes nothing.” She mumbled to herself as she walked down the small steps. She met Cain at the gates, a slight smile played at her lips. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to keep everything in check. I won’t allow anyone to blow anything up.” She stated with a slight nod of her head. Her right hand fell to rest atop her gun, “Make sure you don’t kill anyone else Cain. If we want to win this war we are going to need the numbers.” She muttered out in a soft voice, a hint of announce could be heard.

It was a dark halloween night. 7 year old Sophie and 13 year old Tommy were just heading home from trick-or-treat. Their town was a good place to go trick-or-treating.The neighbors always knew what candy the kids wanted. They remarkably knew what the Robinson family liked. (Sophie and Tommy) Just as they were heading in the door, Tommy saw something strange across the street. It was something he had never seen before. He saw his father watching television and he could smell fresh collard greens, mashed potatoes, and a big juicy steak. All he could think about was eating but he kept looking over at that house figure. Immediately, he took Sophie in and told his mom he was going to the Little Quick Market around the corner to get salt and pepper. Of course she said okay. Tommy slowly walked over toward the house.

"Where the fuck are we going, the border's West." The hulking six-foot three, heavily tattooed Latino removed a ham-size first from the steering wheel and glared at the man in the passenger seat.

Aiko was slumped forward over the table. The private dining hall was perfect, quiet and peaceful.

Michael was dreaming. He was a boy in his father's ranch and he'd been bad again, playing in the snow against the strict warning of his mother. Doggedly, he'd sneaked out of the house, running wild in the snow covered field, even skating on the frozen lake not far from the house. Mother said, “not to,” because the ice wasn't solid enough, but he did anyways like always. As it turned out, his mom was right. He felt the ice crack under him, bleeding with icy water. He wanted to be calm and savvy his way out, but he heard the neighbor's dogs barking, perturbing him. The dog was usually friendly, but not today. In a panic and effort to escape, he sank to his waist in the ice. He was going to drown!

As the game flowed on, layups, three pointers, and any basket you think of were raining like snow falling out of the sky. Players talking smack, coaches yelling at each other and parents steaming in fury over the performance of their children, especially mine. A major loss by 8, to the worst team in the league. When the game ended, my sister snatched me into the car and drove me home, in silence. I had no idea what was going on, I asked myself did someone just lose their bestfriend? As thoughts were running through my mind, I didn’t know what to think. I arrived at my house and just ran up into my room, avoiding all verbal contact.

Mikal sat across from Tracy, one of the Golden Heart’s analysts. He fixated on her stale, boxed-in office, the simulated wavy fields, the dark forest behind it, a sunset steeped in crimson clouds, the sounds of birds migrating—all of it tracing their way behind her and around the office. Centering on Tracy’s face, she crinkled her pink neon lit lips into a smile and tapped her glowing neon pink nails upon her metal desk.

As Mom walked away I began to cry. I whispered to myself “I'll find a plan so I don't have to go.”

“It was the perfect day. The sun was shining, the wind was light and I couldn't have been happier. How could I have not been happy. I had a great day of school with all my friends, my mom bought me lunch and I was just on my way to the comic book store. It was a 6 year old's dream. I was skipping down the sidewalk, holding my mom’s hand when I noticed weird man in the alleyway. “Want some free comics?” he begrudgingly asked, and being the idiotic 6 year old I was, I let go of my mother’s hand and ran towards him.

“Ouch!” Nova mumbled, sitting up and holding her head. It felt like She had been hit with a baseball bat. Nova, a teenage girl with long black hair and skin of a dark complexion, had a terrible headache. While slowly getting up to examine her environs, she realizes she was in the middle of what seemed to be an abandoned circus tent. It featured innumerable lifeless aspects to the point it didn’t look like a circus anymore. There were few rusted metal chairs and leftover rubbage. The weather-beaten tent was ridden with holes and it reeked of mold. There was one more item to inspect, a rope. She walks over to the rope and pulls it out of curiosity. Due to this action, the curtain behind her rose, revealing an empty stage. Suddenly, the lights went out and when they came back on she was in the center of the tent once more; the only nuance was the man standing on the stage.

“I mean, I shouted on you in the morning. I did not mean to hurt you. It was just….” She could not finish her words

In a small town called Cape Town in South Africa, a young 14-year-old girl was walking down the streets heading home after school with her 2 friends Arlene and Abdu, as they were walking 4 men approached them and they were shoved into a white BMW. All three girls were screaming but the men quickly silenced them by holding each girl between their knees and tied their hands with rope and blindfolded them. None the girls were aware of what was going to happen to them or where they were going but they knew enough to be frightened since they had all caught a glimpse of the gun one man had. When the car finally stopped they told them to get out and follow them, although one girl later said it was very difficult since they were blindfolded and their hands were tied. The men took all three girls to a room where the blindfold and ropes were removed.