Friendship

Rescue

It was the first day at my new school. I was excited and nervous. I am the first in my family ever to go to a Gymnasium (a German secondary school for grades 5 through 13, preparing for university entrance). Frau Heintz, the homeroom teacher for class 5b, was calling the roll. “Andreas Ludowsky?” “Here!” a thin boy with thick curly hair whom I didn’t know answered. His name began with an L. That meant my name would be coming soon. I began to think wildly, Please don’t call me, forget me, skip my name. But it didn’t help. Frau Heintz called, “Sieglinde Steinbrecher?” “Here,” I whispered barely audibly. But she hadn’t heard me. “I said Sieglinde Steinbrecher! Where is she?” This time I spoke a bit louder. “I’m here.” I couldn’t help sounding a bit whiny. Some other kids laughed. How I wished that I had a more modern name, like Daniela or Ann-Katrin. Why was I stuck with such an old-fashioned name? But at least the worst was over. The roll call had gone better this time than in elementary school, where everybody had repeated my name over and over again and had kept saying how stupid it was. I had just leaned back when I heard a voice behind me I knew only too well. Sabine von der Heide, my worst enemy. She’d been at my old school as well. “Hey, it’s Oma. Grandmother is in our class again!” she was saying to her best friend Birgit. “We’ll have some fun with her. In fact, we can start right now!” The next thing I knew, somebody had pulled the long braid hanging down my back. I turned around, even though I knew who had done it. Sabine sat there, with her fake, sweet, innocent smile. “Why, Grannie dear, how are you? What big teeth you have!” she said. Birgit could hardly contain herself with laughing. She looked like she was going to burst. I also thought I was going to burst with anger. I had to keep it in, but I couldn’t. I could feel my face getting hot, in a moment I would scream at that stupid girl, when . . . “We’ll have some fun with her. In fact, we can start right now!” “Sabine von der Heide? I repeat, Sabine von der Heide?” Frau Heintz was still calling the roll, and now it was Sabine’s turn. She hadn’t noticed it while she’d been annoying me. She raised her hand, looking very embarrassed at having missed her name. I couldn’t help grinning a little; it felt like I had paid her back. But I knew it was going to be a hard year. Just like all the other years since first grade. That was the first time I had ever been in a class with Sabine. Already then she had noticed I was a good teasing victim. That’s also when she had started calling me Oma. As we’d gotten older, Sabine had teased me about other things as well. I wore old-fashioned clothes, not Calvin Klein jeans or Gap clothes like her. She talked a lot about boys and pop stars. That didn’t interest me at all. I preferred reading books. I was sure that all the kids at this school were snobs who had parents that were doctors or professors and earned loads of money. My mother was a supermarket cashier who barely earned enough to raise her three daughters. And I was right about the hard year. Every day at recess Sabine, Birgit and their other friends would pull my hair and tease me. They stuck their feet out when I walked by their desks so I would trip. One time, Sabine grabbed my worn leather satchel and started throwing it across the room to Birgit. Moments later it was flying around the classroom. Even kids who usually left me alone were joining in the fun. I felt miserable. There was nothing I could do but wait till the teacher came. Or until they got tired of it. If I tried to snatch my bag back, they threw it around even more. Or they laughed at me during P.E., when I couldn’t run fast enough or wasn’t able to make a basket. At home, nobody really cared that I was unhappy. My mom was too busy taking care of my little sisters. And as for my father, well he’d left us when I was only six, just before my youngest sister was born. The one time I had asked my mother for help in first grade she’d answered, while she changed the baby’s diapers, “You can’t run to me every time a little thing goes wrong at school. You’re a smart girl! Stand up for yourself! Deal with it. The others will grow up sooner or later. Then they’ll leave you alone.” I’d hoped that would happen. For four long years I’d hoped. Sometimes I’d even wished something bad would happen to me, that I would break my leg, or get really sick, so that everyone who teased me would feel sorry. Or that I’d come to school and find that everyone was friendly and would apologize for the mean things they’d done. I’d really believed things would be better at my new school. But they weren’t. Nothing ever changed. And it looked like they never would. This was how I was feeling when Alison arrived. The weather had become cold and wet. Every morning I bundled up in my old thick brown coat and braved the wind. I think it was a Friday, because I remember thinking, as I battled the stormy weather, that very soon it would be the weekend, when I could stay home, relax and finish my library book, Robinson Crusoe. I could be alone on my island before Monday and the terrors of school began again. I reached school, and pushed open the heavy door. Thankfully, I stepped inside. At least in here it was warm and

Lost Friendship

Whenever I see Joanne, I always notice the red scar on her beautiful long legs. Although it was just a small scar, it seemed so noticeable on her feminine and beautiful legs. Joanne is the prettiest girl in my class. She has deep chestnut hair that she can flick about her face and shining crystal eyes glittering behind her little spectacles. We had been the best of friends, until one day . . . It was my ninth birthday then. I threw a big party and invited tons of friends for a grand celebration at my house. I, of course, had not forgotten about Joanne. She was specially appointed as the clown of the show because of her comical face and humorous jokes which always bring us tears of laughter and leave us many happy memories. That day, she dressed up in a big clown costume and had colorful makeup blotched all over her face. She looked messy but funny at the same time. We watched her perform the magic tricks, and burst out laughing at her pretended clumsiness. After that, we played all sorts of games and enjoyed ourselves tremendously. The only time I felt a bit sad was when they reluctantly left one by one and could not sleep over at my house. Soon, there was only Joanne there to accompany me. I brought her into my bedroom and showed her the wonderful presents I got from my parents. All too fast, it was time for her to leave. I had to bid her a gloomy good-bye as her car slowly disappeared into the streets. I threw a big party and invited tons of friends for a grand celebration at my house The next morning, I was awakened by the mind-bursting yells from my infuriated mother. “Where’s the watch I bought for your birthday? Do you know how expensive it is? And you just lost it like that? Your father and I saved every penny to . . .” “Yeah, yeah, can you stop shouting and making such a big fuss? It’s just in the drawer of my desk!” I murmured drowsily with eyes half open. “I’ve looked, it isn’t there!” my mother barked at me. Her news hit me with a pang as I jumped out of my cozy bed and ran helter-skelter toward the desk. “It can’t be!” I remembered so vividly that I had put it . . . “Oh no, it’s gone!” My heart sank like a deflated balloon as I tried to recall where on earth I had put my precious watch. Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, a name that I refused to think of at the moment flashed across my mind. “No, not Jo, it can’t be her!” I tried to convince myself but had to face the bald fact. She was the only one who entered my bedroom the night before and also the first one to see my watch. I remembered her face green with envy as I showed it to her. She must have wanted it so much that she couldn’t help taking it. No, stealing it. I felt the rebellion and fury at this thought and called Joanne to come at once. I dressed quickly and ate my breakfast. At about eight in the morning, I heard the doorbell ring. Joanne was standing on the porch. She waved happily to me as if nothing happened. I glared at her in a fierce, smoldering way and she was intimidated by my coldness. I approached her and blared, “Give me back my watch, you thief!” “Huh? What?” “Stop acting as if you’re innocent!” “I didn’t take it!” “Yes you did, you stole it!” “I really didn’t take it!” “Oh, so you want to deny it!” “Please, I don’t have it!” “Right!” I felt my face going as hot as fire. Without thinking, I took the crystal photo frame she gave me yesterday with the photo of us in it and smashed it hard onto the floor. Broken pieces of crystal and splinters fired off in all directions. I heard a small scream from Joanne but I chose to ignore it and stomped back into my bedroom. I slammed my bedroom door shut and threw myself onto the bed. “I hope it hurts, she deserved it!” I muttered angrily under my breath. Then, I felt tears prickling behind my eyes, before I knew it, they flowed fast and free down my cheeks like scattered pearls. I impatiently wiped them away with my hand and closed my eyes. I’m supposed to be the victim but why am I crying? The next day in school, I told everyone who would listen to me that Joanne had stolen my watch. At first nobody believed me, but they began to see the “true colors” of Joanne as I told them my evidence along with the details. Then, the news about “Joanne the thief” spread far and wide. Joanne, of course, was a total disgrace. No one talked to her the whole day in school. I was happy to have my other good friends surrounding me during the break, listening to my explanation of how I found out that Joanne was a stealer. I was certainly delighted to see Joanne being left out of the conversation, feeling sad and miserable. So week after week I had not spoken a word to Joanne and, when the weeks turned to months, Joanne had made a few friends (who doubted what I said about her) and I started hanging around with a new group of friends. I was enjoying myself so much with my new group of friends that I hardly noticed her. But one afternoon, when I came home from school, I plopped my school bag down beside my bed as I watched my favorite TV show. After that, I decided to finish my homework first before I went roller-skating with my friends. As I took out my books, something shiny under my bed

Kisses from Cécile

Do you think that it’s possible to love someone you have never met? Is it possible to love someone who lived and died before you were even born? Cécile Cosqueric, a sixteen-year-old girl living in Paris, France in 1919 is whom I’m talking about. I believe her life was meant to touch mine. I am a twelve-year-old American girl, living in Atlanta, Georgia in the year 2002. Cécile is not a famous girl, nor is she a relative of mine. Cécile is actually an ordinary girl. If I have never met her, then how can I know her? Right now, I hold in my hand a letter—a fragile, discolored envelope, aged by time. This letter could fall to pieces in my hands if not held gently enough. A beautiful, flowing script graces the front, created by a hand well practiced. A pen dipped in an inkwell has addressed the letter, yet another giveaway to its age. The postmark is my clue as to exactly how old this letter is, and it’s the postmarks that also help me put the letters into order. You see, I hold in my hand just one letter. But on the table in front of me are seventy-five letters! A letter is hard to come by in today’s world. I am an ordinary girl living in “the new millennium.” Letters are no longer a popular form of communication. Since there is no need for letters, I have probably only written five in my entire life! E-mail is today’s replacement letter. E-mail is easy and convenient. Why write a letter when it is so time-consuming, and not quickly received? E-mail is instantly received, and easily disposed of. Just a click of the delete button, and the computer will ask, “Are you sure you would like to delete this?” After the “yes” button is clicked, the e-mail is completely deleted, lost in cyberspace and never to be read again. The thought of writing seventy-five letters is so contrary to the “You’ve got mail” culture of today. The thought of saving seventy-five letters is even more contrary. Who would save the letters for so many years? Who were these letters sent to? Over a span of four years, there was only one recipient of all of these letters. Her name was Ruth. Like me, she was another twelve-year-old American girl. Each letter made the journey from Paris, France, across the Atlantic Ocean, to Colorado Springs, Colorado. The two girls were pen pals, and their friendship developed solely through their letters. They never met in person. As I open the first letter sent to Ruth that was previously opened over eighty years ago, I feel excited. I pull out the faded pink paper and begin to read. A special note in the top left-hand corner says, “I put my letter in the letterbox the day of the peace.” Cécile was referring to the end of World War I. Her letter describes herself as a French girl looking for an American girl to correspond with. She is sixteen years old and lives in Paris with her parents. She has a twenty-year-old brother, Lucien, (nicknamed Lulu) and a “pretty” cat named Bidart. Her letter gets somber when she describes in broken English, “There are many American soldiers in Paris. Near my house bombs are dropped in a house which have been demolished, many persons have been killed.” I can’t imagine the tragedy she has seen at such a young age. She ends her first letter with many questions about Ruth and her country. Her final salutation reads, “By waiting news from you, I kiss you, Cécile.” Cécile Cosqueric Cécile’s second letter describes a historical site. Monday was a fine day, July 14th, a large parade passed under the Arc de Triomphe, then American soldiers with their flags, the sailors and Pershing; English soldiers, Belgians, Italians, etc . . . and at last French troops composed of several men from each regiment. Four-millions of persons have seen the soldiers pass. Cécile describes the celebrations that continued after the parade. On the grands boulevards there was thousands and thousands of people crying, running, dancing, singing, pushing [selling] guns that were taken on the front. I have seen an English nurse on the top of a gas lamp in the street, singing the “Marseillaise” and the “God Save the King.” Round her was 500 more perhaps singing with her. Farther in the avenue de l’Opera an American soldier was singing too, while other American soldiers was making noise with the motor of their motor cars. What a jazz band!!! Before I go any further, I would like to explain how these girls, separated by half the globe, got each other’s addresses and began to write the letters that would grow into a loving friendship. After World War I, there were many children whose parents died in the war. Americans looked for ways to assist them. Money and letters from American schoolchildren were sent to cheer them. Ruth was one of those schoolchildren who wrote a letter to a war orphan as a class assignment. Louise Drogorn was the orphan who received the letter in Paris in 1919. She was a friend of Cécile Cosqueric. Louise knew Cécile wanted an American girl to correspond with, so she gave Cécile Ruth’s address. Opening each letter, one by one, I feel as though I am opening pieces of lost treasure, because each envelope has a treasure inside. I feel so privileged to be given a window back in time. Cécile becomes very real to me because of the things she has enclosed in each envelope. I open up one letter, and a pressed flower falls out. This dry, brittle, lifeless flower once brightly adorned Cécile’s hair at a party, as she went on to explain in her letter. Cécile was very interested in fashion, movies, and actresses, like many girls today. She sent newspaper articles about French actresses, pages from 1920s Parisian fashion magazines, and wrote of