Darl
Darl is in a cage, in a hospital, in Jackson now, where he looks outside across the bars from his bed and thinks as he becomes mad. He is all by himself, tied down to a steel bed, in a hospital where no one wants him. There are doctors and nurses around him, but no one wants to listen to him or talk to him. He talks to himself but he does not listen to himself. No one wants to love him or take care of him. He is all by himself and he is left out yet again by others around him. He stares out across the bars, frowning as he cries. He can feel his tears running down his face, from his eyes to his nose to his lips and then down his cheeks and off his chin where they then hit the cold hard floor. Yet, strangely he cannot really feel himself crying. His cries are mixed with laughter. The cold, hard halls echo in the craziness and reverberate all around him. The walls of the cage are so white. The doctors and the nurses are all dressed in white. It almost blinds him. And the sun, outside, behind the bars, is so bright, it sets the barn on fire. The flames leap from the roof and the smoke pours out of the wooden barn doors. Jewel rescues Addie from the fire. "Is that why you are laughing, Darl?"
His bold voice is heard throughout the building. The halls echo around him in madness. With his mouth wide open crying, and his face red with passion, tears start to roll out of the edge of his eyes again. He can feel the tears go into his ears, into his hair and wet everything in between the two. Yet he cannot really feel himself crying. The light from the sun outside shines in my face now. My eyes dry up. I can see doctors and nurses in the room again dressed all in white. They look at me and frown and move their lips but nothing comes out. I can see one of them holding something sharp and even brighter than the barn on fire in his hand. He puts it inside me. Now, I can see the white walls closing in all around me. I am trapped. The world is so silent now that I can even hear my own laughter. The world is so silent that I can hear Addie. She is in Jefferson now, riding the horses. She is telling me to come with her on the horses. She is above the rest, on top of her big horse waving good-bye to everyone but me. Why is she no longer there? I want her to be here again. I want her to love me. I remember when she took just me on a trip in a wagon around Jefferson when I was young. She hitched the horses up to the wagon and sat behind them on the seat with the reins in her hands. I hated the trip, but I loved to ride the horses with Addie. The trip
Some common words found in the essay are:
Darl Yes, DARL Darl, Addie Jefferson, Addie Darl, Cash Bundren, yes yes, Dewey Dell, yes yes yes, horses addie, doctors nurses, tied steel bed, laughing darl yes, darl yes yes, tied steel, steel bed, darl yes, laughing darl, world silent, doctors nurses dressed, hitched horses, halls echo,
Approximate Word count = 915
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
