Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)
Warm up. Nothing to read yet. You know, little stretching before running (yeah, as if). Maybe a better analogy might be singing (or other musical instrument operating), yeah! that’s it hold on, I’ll get us a video.
Yeah! Now we’re talking… or singing, ok, humming, only ’cause I’m a clark and we have a problem with the singing thing.
So, what the hell would a proper ‘classic rhetoric warm up exercise’ consist of?
Oh man! No, seriously, I searched and read and, seeing how that was, like, 20 minutes ago, no way I can continue this humorous set up. There are way more cool, Greco-latin words for talking funny than I’d ever realized. Man, them grammarians and rhetorians know how to have fun with the writing and the words and such.
Speaking of words. Our friend zoe does this thing, every Thursday, called the Six Sentence Story. It’s a bloghop (so there’ll be other stories to read and enjoy) and it requires that only Six Sentences go into any story (so it won’t take too long to read ’em).
Stick.
‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,’ the little boy thought, his frown every bit the all-or-nothing exertion of a body builder, facing the weight no longer supported by anything other than muscles and will.
‘That’s what I should’ve said,’ walking along the leaf-carpeted street in the gathering dusk of a cloudy autumn Thursday, the boy felt his initial anger begin to transmute into embarrassment. Like the first drink to an alcoholic, his consideration of what he might have said or done changed everything, without anything changing. If he could now see what he might have done differently, then the impact of what actually happened was diminished, what he wanted to have happened increasingly the basis for how he felt. With each logically-inferred alternate version of the recent bus stop drama playing and replaying in his mind, rendered in meticulous detail, the boy felt better and better; the land of normal emotional connections trading places with the mirage, the unreal become real and the real, avoidable.
As he walked from the pool of yellowish streetlight up the flagstone walk towards the house, it’s picture window a welcoming borealis of blue-grey television light, the boy felt less and less like crying.
*
About clarkscottroger
FRIST???
Faar…Rist!
Beautiful story. Nice job!
thank you
… ht words can hurt…
yeah… too bad we’re so young when it first happens.
Great story, Clark! I think we all go through times when we replay a scene with what we wish we would have said instead of how it acutally went down. I agree that it in someway vindicates our feeling of being bested… we had a good response, we just didn’t know it at the time. This tale was insightful!
thanks, Josie
I think we all have an experience like this, but, as the Doctrine would have us remember, how we relate ourselves to (this kind of thing) depends on who we are (at the time).
He had time to process the event and think on a positive note and actually improve his disposition by the time he reached his house. This is a great story and is a wonderful example of the type of thing that happends to a lot of people sometime during their life. I’ve been in situations sort of on that level and it always helps to step away from the actual event, think about what happened and what could happened…some good, some not so good, but you begin to calm yourself down and decide how much you will let it affect your life.
agreed… and, in that considering of the situation, we can see (if we are so inclined) the personal nature of reality. Our experiences are so very much our own, despite how exactly the same they may be compared to another’s (experience).
There but for the grace….Excellent
A seasonal tale!
thankee
Awwwwww. Sweet.
Such a poignant telling of an experience that is unfortunately all too common for many children.
I’m with Keith up there – excellent.
“His consideration changed…without anything changing.” Perfect!
Sitting here with my mouth open. How utterly poignant (just noticed this was Denise’s word, too.) this tale of bullying and the mind’s way of compartmentalizing pain. Tres Accompli.
thank you val
Oh, yes: the replaying in one’s mind for the best response. Even though the exact same words rarely come up again, I think the replaying not only somehow makes the past experience better, it somehow prepares one for any similar future experiences.
Good take on the prompt, and great telling of the story!
there can’t be anyone one of us who are prone to this (replaying), the cool thing about the Doctrine is that allows us to imagine that ‘the same thing’ can be different for each of the three personality types.
“Bus stop drama” is a very real thing that leaves scars on the one targeted, the instigator, and even those who do nothing to stop the situation. Who among us hasn’t replaying in our minds, what could I have said or done differently. Very descriptive piece of writing!
thanks…funny how many very common life events are perceived and they effects they have on us at the time and, more importantly for some, as life continues.
We are not that confident when young and the best solution is always to turn away and show no emotion as any reaction will mean the other one has won. Sadly we only learn this when we leave school!