THE REVIEW

TWO IN ONE

Had a great Meeting here on Wednesday after the cancelled Meeting in May due to the car accident in which I suffered some injuries. Have mostly recovered now and can type again so no more excuses for not writing a Review. Will try to incorporate information from both of the last two Meetings to make up for the missing Review.

At the Meeting in May, Margaret F. read a fictionalized chapter from “Babes In The Wood” in which she tells about a young Clifford Olsen who was always in trouble and had a penchant for torturing birds. While his father was horrified, his mother seemed to make excuses for him. It should be interesting to see how Margaret ties this in with the rest of the investigation of the murdered children found in Stanley Park.

At two different Meetings, Luke read about Goren still at the cave where he killed the snake. He skins and cooks it and shares the meat with the celiat and then cleans up and prepares the skin and head to transport home as trophies. He decides to wait for sunrise before travelling and remembers the past when he decided to stay out of the combat troops of the military, in spite of what others thought. He became a lone hunter, like the celiat, which slept beside his tent that night.

Charity read twice about Trixie. After the girl had killed Brett, she takes his boots and knife and runs, afraid of being caught. She runs a zig-zag pattern to make it hard for Marley and his posse to track her. Hidden among the rocks in the sweltering heat, she sees the minister on horseback, sitting and watching the valley below. She forces herself not to move, trying to outlast his vigilance. Lots of tension in this scene.

Annette also read at both Meetings from the story she had started. Maxine was wanting to end a relationship with a man named Jarod. But he had been injured in a motorcycle accident and she needed to take time off work even though her boss wanted her to leave the man. She is at the hospital and meets a Ray Matthews, dressed in a coat and stethoscope, who tells her about Jarod’s injuries and asks for her signature for Jarod to have surgery. She questions the legality of her signing for that, but is told since there is no other family and that she had previously been designated temporary substitute decision maker, that her signature was valid. She realizes that Jarod will probably live and recover and that he needs her to help with that, but consequently she would have no freedom. Desperation is sometimes born of sacrifice to the needs of others.

I had read two Honey stories. In May I read “Reluctant Mr. Fixit” about Honey telling me he was done after doing three chores for me at home. Then I read “Lost And Found” about our road trip to Thunder Bay and the trials and tribulations of so much togetherness, ameliorated upon finding home again.

Guy didn’t read in May, but did at the last Meeting. He said he is just jotting down events in rough draft and read this time about George as a teen living with his grandmother, and being more interested in partying and drinking with his friends than school. He had a dream of being a pilot, though, and applied for ROTC with the Air Force. His application was accepted but when he went for the physical exam it was discovered that he was colour blind and his dream was denied.

Crystal Colligan was a new member who joined us for the first time on Wednesday. She writes mostly poetry and shared with us that a lot of her writing was about being recovered from anorexia. She read to us a poem entitled “Broken Things”, and it was raw, pulsating pain trying to survive past hurts and re-invent herself, and not at all sure of who she should be. This poem was naked emotion on the page and we hope will find publication somewhere. And Crystal did say she writes a blog, so we will have to ask where to find it.

Somebody asked me if the Rams were going to take some time out during the summer, and I replied I didn’t know. So give that some thought. In the past we have sometimes taken the month of August off, so if people want to do that, we can. I don’t have any travel plans this summer, so to keep having Meetings during July and August is fine with me if others want to attend. We will decide at the next Meeting, which will be Wednesday, June 21st at 7:00 p.m. here at my place. I look forward to seeing you then, which will be the longest day of the year!

Lisa A. Hatton
Author