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FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON A WEEK LATER Carla and I watch as Mr. Waterman makes his way across the lawn and to his car to leave. I hugged him before he left. He was surprised, but didn’t question it, just hugged me back like it was perfectly natural. I stay outside for a few minutes after he’s left and Carla waits with me. She’s trying to find a way to gently break my already broken heart. “So—” she begins. I know what she’s going to say. She’s been gearing up to say it all day. “Please don’t leave me, Carla. I still need you.” Her eyes are on me but I can’t bear to look at her. She doesn’t deny what I’ve said, just takes my hand in hers. “If you really, truly need me to stay, I’ll stay.” She squeezes my fingers. “But you don’t need me.” “I’ll always need you.” I don’t try to stop the tears from coming. “But not like before,” she says gently. Of course she’s right. I don’t need her to be here with me for eight hours a day. I don’t need constant care. But what will I do without her? My tears turn into enormous sobs and she holds me in her arms and lets me cry until I reach the end of them. “What will you do?” She wipes at my face with the sides of her hands. “I might go back to working in a hospital.” “Did you already tell my mom?” “This morning.” “What did she say?” “She thanked me for taking care of you.” I don’t try to hide my scowl. She holds my chin. “When are you going to find it in your heart to forgive her?” “What she did is not forgivable.” “She was sick, honey. She’s still sick.” I shake my head. “She took my whole life away from me.” Even now, thinking about all the years I’ve lost makes me feel like I’m on the lip of an enormous chasm, like I could fall in and never come back out. Carla nudges me back to the present. “Not your whole life,” she says. “You still have a
lot left.” We go back inside. I follow her around, watching her pack her things for the last time. “Did you ever read Flowers for Algernon?” I ask. “Yes.” “Did you like it?” “No. Not my kind of book. Not enough hope in it.” “It made you cry, didn’t it?” She shakes her head no, but then confesses, “OK, yes, like a baby.” We both laugh.
- Page 177 and 178: THIS TIME OLLY SMILES. HE will not
- Page 179 and 180: “Do you believe it?” he asks.
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- Page 189 and 190: RELEASED, PART TWO Wednesday, 6:56
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- Page 203 and 204: HIS LAST LETTER IS HAIKU From: gene
- Page 205 and 206: FOR MY EYES ONLY From: Dr. Melissa
- Page 207 and 208: question if I have spoken after all
- Page 209 and 210: IDENTITY CARLA’S BARELY IN the do
- Page 211 and 212: PROOF OF LIFE ALL I HAVE to do is g
- Page 213 and 214: have SCID?” Her concern morphs in
- Page 215 and 216: I should feel compassion. But that
- Page 217 and 218: THE VOID A UNIVERSE THAT can wink i
- Page 219 and 220: “But my heart stopped.” “Yes.
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- Page 225 and 226: FIVE WEEKS A.D. I ORDER REAL plants
- Page 227: MADELINE’S MOM
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- Page 233 and 234: FUTURE PERFECT #2 From: Madeline F.
- Page 235 and 236: FORGIVENESS I STARE OUT the window
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- Page 239: choices you make and all the choice
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FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON<br />
A WEEK LATER Carla and I watch as Mr. Waterman makes his way across the lawn and to<br />
his car to leave. I hugged him before he left. He was surprised, but didn’t question it, just<br />
hugged me back like it was perfectly natural.<br />
I stay outside for a few minutes after he’s left and Carla waits with me. She’s trying to<br />
find a way to gently break my already broken heart.<br />
“So—” she begins.<br />
I know what she’s going to say. She’s been gearing up to say it all day. “Please don’t<br />
leave me, Carla. I still need you.”<br />
Her eyes are on me but I can’t bear to look at her.<br />
She doesn’t deny what I’ve said, just takes my hand in hers.<br />
“If you really, truly need me to stay, I’ll stay.” She squeezes my fingers. “But you don’t<br />
need me.”<br />
“I’ll always need you.” I don’t try to stop the tears from coming.<br />
“But not like before,” she says gently.<br />
Of course she’s right. I don’t need her to be here with me for eight hours a day. I don’t<br />
need constant care. But what will I do without her?<br />
My tears turn into enormous sobs and she holds me in her arms and lets me cry until I<br />
reach the end of them.<br />
“What will you do?”<br />
She wipes at my face with the sides of her hands. “I might go back to working in a<br />
hospital.”<br />
“Did you already tell my mom?”<br />
“This morning.”<br />
“What did she say?”<br />
“She thanked me for taking care of you.”<br />
I don’t try to hide my scowl.<br />
She holds my chin. “When are you going to find it in your heart to forgive her?”<br />
“What she did is not forgivable.”<br />
“She was sick, honey. She’s still sick.”<br />
I shake my head. “She took my whole life away from me.” Even now, thinking about all<br />
the years I’ve lost makes me feel like I’m on the lip of an enormous chasm, like I could<br />
fall in and never come back out.<br />
Carla nudges me back to the present. “Not your whole life,” she says. “You still have a