My Florence Blog, and Likely My Last Post On This Blog

So - I'm in Florence, Italy - or, Flo-town as the locals say. Just kiddin', they don't say that.

Anyway, here's a link to my new blog which you can read to follow my latest European experiences.

http://florentinetimes.wordpress.com/

Enjoy!

Steal Your Sentence

As a short exercise for my writing class, we took a sentence from a famous piece of literature. Mine below is from The Great Gatsby.

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. Let me take you back to my days in grammar school.” A hectic time flashed before his eyes - lots of learning and trying to fit in and observing life all around him in a totally new way.

“ ‘Son, whenever you’re speaking in front of a lot of people,’ my father told me, ‘just remember to think about what you want to say, and then say it. There are other kids that will be more nervous than you.”

“That always takes me to this one day after class I’ll never forget.”

“But, but Mrs. Willows I prwomise I’ll do better next time. You just need to give me one more chance”

“Now Nicholas, I’m sorry but I can’t do that. If I gave you another chance to present your story, I would have to do the same for all the other boys and girls.”

Nick sat up from his recline and gazed out the window. The sun reflected off a moist glaze filling his eyes. “I remember starting to cry, and as I brought up my hand to hide the tears Mrs. Willows took hold of it, looked me in the eye, and said I would be allowed another chance, then wiped the tears off my face.”

At this point Dr. Burgess raised his chin at Nick with discovery. “And you think this may have been the start of your depression?”

“No, no good sir. not at all. I started feeling this way back in the late of ’22.” Nick explained with self-realization: “Like I said, the one relationship I had, which I ruined by the way, was with a girl so superficial I myself didn’t notice it until she was gone. And aside from that my only real friend was murdered.”

“But you’ve always had a privileged life, excuse me, a sheltered life - safe from common disadvantages. You yourself - ”

“Ha!” Nick blindly cut him off. “A real friend I said. He wouldn’t even tell me half his story!”