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the boy who went on all rightNov 30 '06 (Updated Dec 02 '06) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line "Laika flew through inky blue and Laika neared the atmosphere and Laika knew, Laika's life was through" - The Divine Comedy
I A half remembered line from a play, "It was a mistake that I was born a man, I should have been a seagull."* Laika Seabird wasn't the commonest of young men. He liked company but did just as well on his own, as he often ended up being - though he didn't quite know why or worry about it. Laika isn't a spectacular story of a misunderstood genius or shy boy coming out of his shell in some vulgar, dramatic way. Blink and you missed him. He was alright with that too. He wasn't interested in playing for the audience. Looks-wise, you could almost see right through him. One could describe him as gentle in every way. He was seventeen years old. II His fingers flitted around his left ear, which he thought was liable to combust soon enough. The heat and pain spiraled up and up and up and up and up and bloomed indefinitely. Even the ends of his hair irritated his neck which was rubbed raw from his worrying hands. He and his ailing ear were away from home, just for the day. Foreign faces caused his worry to get redirected directly into his own stomach. There were only apologies in his mouth for those he brushed against accidently on his way through the bus. The last bench and the very last seat on the right were his own, he somehow knew. Laika, Laika, Laika. His wide blue green eyes watched the buildings blur, with his mouth hidden safely behind his sleeve. The bus stopped once more to let on Jacqueline, whom he did not know. She sat near the front and read a book with a pink cover. Laika snapped his fingers next to his left ear but could not hear the sound. Laika leaned his back against the window pulled his knees to his chest. He was thinking about the day he flew a kite by himself in a field around Nature Hill. The kite had been red and had soared before getting ripped after a fall from the sky. III Dr. Stratton was a well educated man in his late thirties who had a dentist's office in town. Laika hope to turn into someone not completely unlike him as he grew older. Dr. Stratton hired Laika as his secretary on the Saturdays, when his regular secretary took off to be with her aged mother. Stratton was the only dentist in the area who provided hours on Saturdays. He thought that it'd give him a edge in competition, but really very few people came in except for emergencies, which were rare. Most Saturdays Laika'd read at the desk and do occasional bits of paper-work for Dr. Stratton. Sometimes there'd be a little kid with a chipped tooth or someone calling to make an appointment, but for the majority of the time those days were quiet. Laika liked it especially when Dr. Stratton would leave the door to his office open and they would talk a bit. Dr. Stratton preferred that Laika call him by his forename, Greg, which Laika never quite got used to. He could do it easily in his head, when thinking about him, but in person he usually just avoided calling him anything at all. Greg was a very well read man. He had a truly impressive collection of books which he'd lend to Laika. This was probably Laika's very favorite aspect of his job at the dentist's office. He was reading Dr. Stratton's copy of "Raise High the Roofbeam, Carpenters" when they had their one big emergency on a Saturday. There's still a blood stain on page fifty-nine. Dr. Stratton didn't have his attending hygienists and nurses come in most of the time on Saturdays so he had Laika assist him instead. He showed him how to scrub as carefully as a doctor and gave him latex gloves to wear. Laika only had to hand him the necessary tools and some other basic things but afterward Greg said that he couldn't have done it with him. Very little has ever made him feel quite so instrumental as that day. IV When Laika had his wisdom teeth out, Dr Stratton did the operation. He seemed almost apologetic when he had to inject the novacane. He very much regretted whatever pain he had to inflicted on him. Dr. Stratton always had music on in the room while he worked, usually his favorite classical or Scandinavian electronika, but he let Laika choose the music. Whenever Laika had his hair cut or went to the dentist he closed his eyes so he wouldn't make the person nervous but when Dr. Stratton took out his wisdom teeth he watched. One of his most vivid memories of him was when he was looking solemnly down at him, from behind the mask covering his mouth and nose, after he had extracted the offending teeth. He ran his index finger across his jawline and asked if the numbness was wearing off yet. The following Saturday he wouldn't let Laika come into work, but gave him a paid holiday. That was one of the only Saturdays that the office wasn't open. *paraphrased Eugene O'Neil line (c) HC 2006  |
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