Alex clenched his teeth as he heard his sister’s taunting voice. “Look at Alex! Look at him! He’s scared to go up!” With a swift move, Alex wiped the sweat from his forehead, pushing his auburn hair out of his eyes. He had waited all summer to come here to the outdoor rock-climbing center in Alberta, and now he was afraid to start climbing! Stalling, he adjusted the red helmet that protected his head and looked over at his sister Cory angrily. She had their mother’s red hair and green eyes that were always full of reckless fun and determination. “I’m not scared, Cory” he said quietly “I’ll race you up!” Cory looked surprised but nodded curtly and gripped the first rock. Alex copied her. Their mum, looking doubtful, pushed back a strand of her loose hair. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Alex has never climbed before . . .” “Relax, Mum,” replied her daughter impatiently. “We’re both on harnesses, it’s not as if we’ll break our necks or anything. Could you say ‘go’?” “Oh, all right. Ready . . . set. . . go!” Alex shot upwards. His small, lithe body twisted and turned as he reached for each new rock nailed in the artificial surface. His feet found tiny footholds to brace his body. His belayer, holding on to the rope so that Alex would not plummet to the ground, looked at him in surprise. “The kid’s good! How old is he? I’ve never seen someone go that fast in my life! Did you say he’s never climbed before?” “I’ve never seen someone go that fast in my life!” Alex’s parents watched their eleven-year-old son as he reached the top of the course; fifteen-year-old Cory arrived quite a few seconds after him. Alex had a small smile on his quiet face as he was let down to the ground by the amazed belayer. Cory then floated down on her harness, looking angry. “Where did you learn to climb like that, Alex? Why didn’t you tell me?” “I- I didn’t know I could,” said Alex softly, a little scared of this unknown talent. “I didn’t know” Cory’s face softened. “Well, what are you waiting for? Try a harder one!” Cory and I are so different, reflected Alex. She’s a daredevil, always pushing her luck. She doesn’t care about danger, and it’s got her broken bones more than a few times. I like challenges, sure, and I always push myself further, but I’d prefer to read instead. As an afterthought, he added, I wish I were more like her. * * * During the next two weeks at the Outdoor Climbing Center, Alex’s talent flourished. By the last day, he was climbing the hardest courses as if they were horizontal and flat. He almost cried when his parents reminded him that they were leaving the next day. “It’s not fair!” he yelled, losing his temper for one of the first times in his life. “I want to stay here forever!” “Nevertheless, you have school in a month, and you know that we can’t stay here forever, Alex,” said his father. Cory looked at her father. “Come on, Dad. Can’t we stay another day?” “No. We have to . . .” Her father was cut off by his wife, who wanted her family to stop arguing. She addressed her husband sternly. “I have a compromise. Right now, as you all know, we are going to Greece because I want to see the Parthenon and the Greek islands—and the mountains. The mountains, I have been told, are wonderful, and we can let Alex do some real climbing there.” She watched her son’s face brighten considerably; he had almost forgotten about the trip to Greece. Alex knew every piece of information there was about the ancient Greek gods and goddesses, and he was eager to see Athens and the Parthenon ruins. Her husband smiled and said, “I knew you would think of a solution, my dear.” “Honestly,” she said to her family. “What would you do without me?” Cory rolled her eyes. “Well,” she said, sighing. “I suppose we have to see the Parthenon?” Knowing that the answer was yes, she continued. “Alex, we can climb some real mountains now!” Even though she wasn’t as exceptionally good at this sport as Alex, she still excelled at it, as she did most sports. Climbing was the one in which Alex claimed victory over her. * * * Late that night, the sixth night that the family spent in Greece, they arrived at a small inn near the coast of Greece. They had hired a horse and cart for the trip, because Alex’s mother claimed that she would not travel in cars any more than she had to. Alex grinned. His mother sometimes got carsick on ten-minute drives—a four-hour ride over the rocky roads of Greece’s countryside would be torture for her. The past six days had been spent touring the sights of Greece; Alex had been in heaven, but now he was even more excited—the next day would bring mountains! The air was warm and laden with the sweet scent of flowers, and everyone, especially the children, was drowsy. “The Hestia Inn,” murmured Cory sleepily as she saw the small wooden sign hanging on a post. “And down that lane is Artemis Inlet. What is it with these people and the old Olympian gods?” The moment she said it, she regretted it; closing her eyes, she winced slightly as her brother opened his mouth indignantly. Alex started to talk a mile a minute about Artemis and Hestia. He explained that of course an inn would be named after Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. The owners might want their fire to be always bright and warm, and as Hestia had tended the fire of Mount Olympus, it stood to reason that she would be the one the ancient Greeks called on when they named inns with fires where travellers could
January/February 2005
The Whale Rider
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera; Harcourt, Inc.: New York, 1987; $17 I enjoyed reading The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera because the main character, Kahu, had many characteristics which I admire. She is also a girl whose values I can relate to. Kahu believes that boys and girls would do equally well leading their tribe. She was determined to prove this to her grandfather. He kept kicking her out of the boys’ lessons, saying that she cannot be the leader, because she is a girl. When Kahu heard this she got a little sad because she loved her grandfather but she did not want this to get in her way. Kahu was so determined to learn the ways of her people, she looked through the windows of the classroom to see what the boys were learning. She asked them to teach her, and soon she became very good at fighting and saying some chants that only boys were supposed to know. Although her grandfather did not want a girl to learn a boy’s lessons, Kahu continued to do so. Kahu wanted to show him that a girl could do anything that a boy could do. I admire her courage and her strong will to go after what she wanted. Kahu cared about her tribe and her culture. If her grandfather worried about something that was going on with the tribe then she would worry too. She wanted to learn the traditions, so that if she became leader, she could pass them on. Kahu was trying to show that she was strong and trustworthy. Half of her wanted to impress her grandfather and wanted him to love her even if she was a girl, and the other half was just proving that everyone is equal. I admire the respect that she shows to her grandfather and to the traditions of her people. Some of the cultural things that Kahu is learning are similar to the ones that I am learning. We are both being taught what gods to pray to, and how to pray to them. The Maori tribe believed that their great ancestor Paikea was able to ride and talk to a whale. That whale was the one they worshiped and believed was a god, as well as Paikea. In our Hindu tradition, we worship many forms of God in our temple. Some of these are named Krishna, Rama, Ganesha, and Hanuman. We are also learning how to sing, dance, and speak the way the people of our culture do. Kahu learned to speak the Maori language and dance the tribal dances. I am learning to read, write, and speak Hindi, the native Indian language. I am also learning classical Indian dance called Kathak. Kahu and I both go to a special school to learn these cultural things. We both have choral recitals, dance recitals, special places to worship God, and animals that are sacred to our people. The whale is the Maori tribe’s sacred animal, while the cow is sacred to Hindus. It is obvious that Kahu really loves her culture and the ways of her people. Despite her love and respect for her grandfather, she shows courage, strength, and determination when she saves the whale and the tribe. She has taught me that no matter who is against you, you should always keep trying for the things that you want. That is something everyone should remember. Nayna Shah, 9Morris Plains, New Jersey
Moving On
I stared out into the pitch-black morning. It was about five AM and very quiet. There was a huge lump stuck in my throat and I tried as hard as I could not to let my tears spill out. A single tear rolled down my cheek anyway. We were passing the tennis courts and the park. My eyes wandered from each familiar sight to another, and my hands were trembling. I could hear the quiet sound of the highway and I could see some lights flickering on in some houses. We passed by my friend Jean’s house, the house I’ve played at for so many years, the house of one of my best friends. The house that we had so many parties at, the house that we had pretended was so many things. In my mind, I said a farewell to Jean, to Alanna, to Nancy, Cameron, Roxy, Sarah, and everybody else I knew. My family was moving from North Carolina to Texas. Moving away from the one place that I would ever call home. I knew that I would miss the cold mountains, the warm beach, all the camping trips, and my friends; I would miss everything in North Carolina. A couple years before, my dad was notified that, if he wanted to, he would be transferred to Galveston, Texas. I was eight and I didn’t mind much. A couple of years later, the choice was final. My father would move to Galveston first and find a new house for us. At the end of the school year, my mom, sister, and I would move to Texas, after selling our house. I felt like the world was crumbling down, right in front of me. Life was so unfair. North Carolina was my home, my everything. North Carolina was my home, my everything Months later, we moved. My head was spinning and I was freezing cold. Not because it was a cold night, it was summer and quite warm, but because the string connecting my home and me had been cut by a big greedy monster. We drove until we came to the very end of North Carolina and started heading into the next state. “Well, this is it, from this moment on, North Carolina will only be our past, and we’re moving on. Say goodbye,” my dad said quietly. Tears stung my eyes, and they spilled out all at once. I didn’t try to stop them. They just kept on pouring out. “Although my body is moving on, my heart and soul will always stay here, no matter what,” I said fiercely. My sister hugged me tight and we drove past the welcome sign. She murmured something and then laid her head down on the pillow beside her. We’ve been through so much together, and we’ve always made it through. This wasn’t going to be any different. I was pretty quiet the rest of the ride to Texas. My heart pounded loudly and my head ached in pain. My legs and arms were stiff and my eyes were forcing me to sleep, my mouth was drawn into a thin line, and I refused to accept that we were moving on. “No, I’m not moving on, where my heart stays is where the real me will always be, this is just my body here, that doesn’t mean anything,” I whispered to myself “And that’s that.” Caroline Lu, 10Friendswood, Texas Orli Hakanoglu, 10New York, New York
