Journal 6

Dear Journal
I hope now that it is quite obvious that the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session will no longer be held. I thought to myself, "Peace had deserted Devon." (pg.64) I decided to work in the Crew House. The crew manager, Quackenbush, had immediately spotted me the second I walked in. I got an immediate bad vibe about him, I didn't know what it was, but I'm not sure I want to know what it is. Right away we began off the wrong foot. This is how it started: "Late, Forrester."
"Yes, sorry, I got held up."
"The crew waits for no man." I chuckled at this, but he didn't think it was funny at all.
"Well, if you think it's all a joke-"
"I didn't say it was a joke." (pg.69) This was not what I had in mind when I first got here.
He told me his name was Cliff Quackenbush, after he rambled on about winning some scholastic championship thing. This job was for basically disabled boys who couldn't participate in sports as well as others, since this school is built around their sports department. I can tell that as the summer comes to a close, this is going to be a rough year.

Journal 5

Dear Journal
I did something horrible last night. This is how i would describe it, "Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step forward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb." (pg. 52) Yes, I had shook Finny out of the tree. I don't know what came over me! For some reason something made me want to hurt Finny but I didn't want to. When he fell, again how I would describe it, "He hit the bank with a sickening and unnatural thud." (pg.52) His leg was clearly broken. He was taken to the hospital but none of us were allowed near the infirmary. From rumors that turned out to be true, he had "shattered" his leg. I wasn't quite sure to what extent but I didn't care, and I still don't care. I didn't want to know what I had done to Finny. I was talking to Dr. Stanpole about Finny. He said that he will be able to walk again in a little while. I questioned the fact that he would only be able to walk again, and Dr. Stanpole told me it was a messy break and that he is lucky to even be walking. I am so ashamed of what I done last night.

Journal 4

Dear Journal,
Earlier this week, I woke up at dawn on a beach, because Finny thought it was a good idea to sneak away from the school and go to the beach. It was almost seven o'clock and Finny wanted to go for a short swim. "And before I could say anything, he was trotting down the beach."(pg.42) There was no stopping him from doing what he wanted right now. Running on short time, and no money, we got back to Devon just in time for me to make it to my test. I flunked without a doubt, the first test I ever flunked. For most kids this wouldn't be problem, but for me it was like the world stopped for a moment and was like a black cloud raining over me. Finny didn't seem to care as we almost immediately played another game of blitzball. Immediately after that there was a meeting of the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. When we got back, me and Finny had an argument. He Had said, and I quote, "You work too hard, you know all about History and English and French and everything else. What good will Trigonometry do for you? (pg. 43) Why can't he just understand that school is something that matters to me, like sports matter to him. I wish he would just understand.

Journal 3

Dear journal,
Last night was the scariest night of my life. We started a new "club" called the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. We have to, every night to start each meeting, climb up the big tree and jump out into the river. But last night was different. When we climbed up and got to the edge, I lost my balance as I tried to make some stalling remark and almost fell out of the tree. "Yes he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me,"(pg.25) I thought to myself on the walk back home. I was so furious, that I was thinking to myself, I even almost said it, "I wouldn't have turned around, and so lost my balance, if he hadn't been there."(pg.25) He put me into a very bad position, and i don't even want to be there. Later on in the week, we were walking in the playing fields noticing all the seniors playing badminton. Finny looked at them in disgust and noticed a big leather-covered ball, a medicine ball. He picked it up and Bobby Zane said, "Let's make it have something to do with the war, like a blitzkrieg or something."(pg. 29) "We'll call it blitzkrieg ball" said Bobby. Finny shot back with, "Or just blitzball." He threw the ball at me, I then ran and then Chet tackled me, which I guess was completely illegal to Finny's new game. I then threw it to Bobby Zane and we all started running around playing blitzball. These days at Devon just keep bringing something horrible, immediately followed by something great.

Blitzball

journal 2

  Dear journal,
        As my memories started jumping around in my head, the morning after we missed dinner started playing like a movie in my head, exclusively only for me to see. I can see it now, "Mr. Prud'homme stopped at our door."(pg.14) I remember that gave me the chills. I was so terrified of the consequences that could have happened to Finny and I. He questioned why we were so wet in our room. Finny said, and i remember the exact words, "The real reason, sir, was that we just had to jump out of that tree. You know that tree . . . ."(pg. 15) "Mr. Prud'homme released his breath with a sort of amazed laugh, stared at Finny for a while, and that's all there was to it." (pg. 16) That was the thing about Finny, he had such a sincere way to him that he could get away with just about anything. It was almost supernatural, the way he could get around anything. It was like his sixth sense or some sort of super power. I was quite jealous of him at the time.


(Mr. Prud'homme)

Journal 1

     Today, I went back to my old high school. It was not anything like i remembered. It must have been renovated or something because it looked brand new and shiny. "I didn't entirely like this glossy new surface,"(pg. 1) I thought to myself. As I was standing in there, my thoughts drifted to a time fifteen years ago. There was a tree. Our tree. This is where it all started, Devon school, the tree, everything.
     As I walked through the woods, memories flashed in my head the entire way: classes, sports. . . Finny. As he entered my mind i came up to the tree. This also seemed different because back in the day it seemed like it was the only tree next to the river. But now it was "Stripped by the cold season and weary from age, enfeebled, dry,"(pg. 6) were my thoughts. But Finny, he entered my mind once again. My friend, my best friend, my brother, but at the same time, my opponent. Fifteen years ago at this very spot was where everything began. "We were the best of friends at that moment."(pg. 10) I began thinking of my earliest memories of Finny and I: the missed dinner, but most of all, the accident. The accident that started all of these mishaps.