National Adult Literacy Database

February 1, 2010

This week, we have a story from Cambridge, Ontario. The author, Patty Cantwell, is enrolled in literacy classes and tutoring at the Literacy Group of Waterloo Region. She wrote this short story that will keep you guessing... until the next installment.

Turnaround (Part 2)

by Patty Cantwell

At the hospital, Michael was being prepped for surgery. Cane hurried over to the hospital to see Kevin anxiously pacing up and down the hallway for news on Michael. Kevin decided to search through Michael’s wallet to see if he could find the next of kin listed anywhere. Then he found the name of his cousin – Jenna Newman and her phone number. He phoned the number and it rang three times. Finally she picked up and answered in a groggy voice. Kevin said, "are you Michael Newman’s cousin?, she said, "yes". He said, "Well you have to come to the hospital right away because your cousin Michael is in surgery because he was stabbed tonight." In shock Jenna hurriedly got dressed and called for a cab. "Zeus stay." Jenna paced back and forth and anxiously watched for the cab. The cab finally came.

In no time at all Jenna was at the hospital asking where Michael was. Jenna ran to the elevator and got on. As the doors opened she was shocked to see Kevin standing there. "Kevin what are you doing here?". "I’m waiting to hear how my friend is doing in surgery. "Well what is your friend’s name,?" said Jenna. "Michael Newman", said Kevin. A look of surprise and worry came over Jenna’s face. "Are you the one who called me?", "yes that was me, I had no idea that was you". "So Michael Newman is your cousin?" "Yes" said Jenna, "but I haven’t seen him for a long time" All of a sudden Cane came out of the waiting room to say that Michael was out of surgery and the Dr. wanted to talk to them. "Cane, you remember Jenna that girl that we met by the bridge tonight, well she’s Michael’s cousin, her name is Jenna." "Hi, Jenna" said Cane. "Maybe we should go and talk to the Dr." said Jenna. Just then the Dr. came towards them. "Michael is out of surgery but he is going to need a blood transfusion as he’s lost a lot of blood and unfortunately we’ve discovered that he’s a rare blood type and we don’t have it on hand." "Well why don’t we three see if we’re a match" said Kevin. "Okay" said the Dr. and he went to get one of the nurses to do the blood work. It seemed like forever before the nurse came back to tell them that Cane was a match and that the blood transfusion had been successful and that Michael was stable condition but would have to stay in the hospital for a few more days.

Three days later Cane and Kevin went to testify in court with Michael who had just gotten out of the hospital hours before. Jenna also sat in the court room. As the guard brought the prisoner into the court room Michael froze as his eyes locked on the robber’s eyes. In a flash Michael could see the bad crime happening all over again. The grey haired judge asked the robber to rise and state his name. "Billy Abbot", said the robber in a calm voice. Cane got called to come up and testify and after many hours the Judge came back with a verdict of five years in the federal prison in Genoa City.

Meanwhile Jenna went off to university in Genoa City to study to become a lawyer. Part of the course requirement was going to the federal prison to meet and interview a prisoner for a case study. As time passed Jenna felt more and more uncomfortable about this assignment. As she arrived at the prison a tall, unfriendly looking guard led her to the prisoner. Jenna was stunned when she recognized the robber. She turned to the guard and said, "get me out of here!" She left and went back to her university and told her professor the story of what had happened to her cousin. The professor said, "that’s too bad, however you have to do this for your class assignment".

Jenna was terrified to go back to the prison to meet the prisoner face to face. Three weeks later she arrived back there, this time a short friendly looking guard let her in. She asked to meet with the prisoner. The guard went to get him. The prisoner sauntered into the room where Jenna sat nervously waiting for him. And then Jenna realized that the prisoner had not recognized her at all. The guard stood nearby as she began to talk to him. She continued to question him throughout the session but with many awkward silences.

Part 1 | Part 3

[This story was taken with permission, from Expressions, Fall 2009, an e-magazine published by Laubach Literacy Ontario