A Review of Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Keri Momon Period 3 English Title: The Hunger Games Author: Suzanne Collins Type of literary material: science fiction- adventure, action, suspense, drama Setting: time-future, place- Panem (the future untied states) Main Character: A. Katniss Everdeen- she is the very main character in the story B. Peeta Mellark-he is the bakers son C. Haymitch-he is the town drunk Point of View- first person because the main character is telling the whole story. Conflicts- man vs. man Man vs. himself Man vs. the supernatural/ the unnatural Plot –Introduction- in district 12 in the country of Panem lives Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and Haymitch Narrative Hook- Primrose Everdeen (Katniss little sister) is called as a tribute for the hunger games. Katniss panics to the thought of her little sister being in the hunger games and volunteers as tribute so her sister won’t have to go. Rising Action- Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch are talking about ways to survive in the hunger games on t he train. They get dressed up for the ceremony and for the interviews. Then they train with the other tributes, then go and get rated for the judges.Climax –when they enter the hunger games and fight to the death with the other tributes Falling Action- When they get interviewed for the last time gets on the train and go home. Resolution- when they arrive home back in district 12 The Hunger Games (Introduction) In district 12 nicked named the Seam is a girl names Katniss Everdeen. She wakes up and goes into the wood with her bow and arrow as her usual routine. She crawls under the gate and starts looking for game. And in the woods waiting for her was her best friend Gale. They sat down and enjoyed some bread that Gale scored from the baker and the cheese Prim left for Katniss.While they were eating they made fun the Capitals accents. After they gathered up their game they went into the Hob and trade then went home to get ready for the reaping. Katniss came home took a bath and got dressed in one of her mother’s dresses. When they got to the reaping they are separated by age and gender. After they show the video of the dark days of the uprising in district 13 which led to the hunger games to show that the Capital is always in power. A woman from the capitol named Effie Trinket who draws the names for the hunger games. Narrative Hook) Effie draws the first name from the girls bowl and read it out loud. The name was Primrose Everdeen. As Prim slowly made her way to the stage Katniss started to panic and ran to grab her sister. But the guard grabbed her before she could reach Prim. Then out of fear she found herself yelling† I VOLUNTEER†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ I volunteer as tribute†. They finally let her go to grab Prim. Gal had to come get Prim because she kept refusing to leave. Katniss slowly took her place on the stage. Then the name was called for the boys. The name she pulled out was Peeta Mellark.She asked for volunteers but no one stepped f orward. Katniss saw him and remembered when her family was slowly starving to death and she was lying in the rain. Peeta came out side to throw some bread he burnt then he saw her and threw her the two loaves of bread and went back into the bakery. She quickly lost her concern for she knew in time she would have to face him the Hunger Games. After the anthem a group of Peace Keepers took them into the Justice Building for their last goodbyes. After that they headed for the train to head for the capital. After they got on the train and took off they got ready for supper.When they arrived at the dinner table they realized Haymitch (the previous victor of the hunger games) wasn’t there. So they got started eating anyway. When Haymitch finally came, he vomited on the floor. So Katniss and Peeta carried him to his room, into the bathroom, and turns on the shower. But when Katniss tries to help clean him up Peeta says it’s ok and tells her she can go. So she went to her room , took off her clothes and hopped into bed thinking Peeta being kind is just a strategy to trick her in the games and make her an easy target. When she wakes up she goes in the dining hall and starts her breakfast.After the drama is over Haymitch promises that he will stay sober enough to help them if they don’t interfere with his drinking. They all agree. After they pass through the tunnel they see the Capitol and in no time they arrive at the train station. They instantly token by their stylist and they get started on prepping for the ceremony. After they’re done they take her in the remake center so she can wait for her main stylist. She waits about three hours until he finally arrives. She is so surprised by how normal he looks compared to the other citizens in the Capitol. He introduces himself then starts to observe her look.They go into a room and talk over lunch. After lunch he gets her into her outfit. Then once Cinna is done with her makeup she meets Peeta at their chariots where the other tributes are. Then Cinna and Peeta stylist explain how they are going to light up their outfits with a fake fire. Once the chariots went out one by one finally it was their turn to go out. As they rolled out Katniss got a look of herself on the projector and realized how breath taking she looked. Then felt Peeta’s hand slowly moving toward hers. She pulled away then Peeta said it would make them look good so they grabbed hands and raised them in the air.As she heard them chanting her name she knew Cinna was right†¦ she was the girl on fire. The next day they begin to talk over dinner about the ceremony and what strategies they will have in the games. After dinner Katniss and Peeta go up to the roof and begin to talk. Peeta shows Katniss the garden and after they get done talking Peeta takes Katniss back to her room then he leaves. Katniss wakes up from her disturbing dreams, drags herself out of bed, and goes to eat breakfast. Eventually P eeta and Haymitch come in and start talking about each other’s strategies and what they’re supposed to do at training.When they get to the training center they get started learning survival skills Katniss goes over to the camouflage station and finds Peeta. She realized how talented he was. He told her he learned from doing all those cakes in the bakery. Finally the day for the game maker’s judges the tributes on their skills. It came the time when they summoned Peeta. And finally it was Katniss turn to go in and be judge. She grabbed the bow and arrow and tries to concentrate. Katniss aims the arrow and shoots. The arrow didn’t hit any part of the body. In response the game makers starts to laugh and ignores her.She tries again and she hits the target right where heart is. In excitement she has a big smile on her face but then it fades when she realized the game makers didn’t even see what she did. They were too busy looking and admiring the roast ed pig in front of them. In a sensation of anger she aimed the arrow and shot it straight through the group of game makers and hit right in the middle of the apple in the pigs mouth. The games were speechless. To end the silence Katniss said â€Å"Thank you for your consideration†. Then she left without being dismissed. After Katniss left, she started to panic.A novel of thought went through her mind and what’s going to happen. When she entered the room to eat, everybody wanted to know what Peeta and Katniss did. Peeta told them what he did then they turned to Katniss for her explanation. She told them what she did. Everyone was kind of over reacting except Haymitch. He simply got her to say what she did them he just finished eating. Then came the time to see what all the tributes were rated. They went district by district, tribute by tribute. Then it was finally got to Peeta and Katniss. The tributes are rated on a scale from 1 to 12. Peeta was rated an 8.He was surpr ised but everyone cheered when they saw that Katniss was rated an 11. They started to get ready for the interview. Haymitch starts talking to Katniss about how she is going to steal the audience. After that she spent most of the day getting prepped up by Cinna. Finally she saw herself and that she was as radiant as the sun. When she arrived she saw Peeta and Haymitch and Haymitch had to remind both of them that they are still friends. The order the interviews went was girl then boy, first to last district. Finally it was Katniss turn for her interview. She slowly made her way to the seat.The interviewers name was Caesar Flickerman. He asked her what was her favorite thing about the Capitol and she said the lamb stew. From then through the rest of the interview they loved her. When she left she watched Peeta’s interview. As she watched she saw he was natural speaker. But as she watched she heard something so stunning it was unreal. Caesar asked Peeta if he had a special girl b ack in district 12. At first he said no but then he said there was a girl he had a crush on for the longest. Caesar said if he wins the hunger games she will have no choice but to go out with him.Then Peeta said that won’t be any help. (Climax) Caesar asked why and Peeta said because she came with him here. Katniss was speechless but filled with rage. So when they got to their floor out of anger Katniss pushed Peeta and he feel down on a broken urn and his hands were filled with the broken pieces. She started yelling at him. Then Haymitch, Effie, Cinna, and Portia came in asking what happened and after everything was said and done they all agreed that Katniss and Peeta would be star-crossed lovers. Then they went to eat dinner. The next day they were going to arrive at the hunger games.Each tribute is put in a separate room with their stylist. So after they land Katniss meets Cinna in their room and after she’s ready and ate a little food Cinna says his final words the n Katniss goes into the cylinder and she lifted up where the other tributes are on their own metal plate. Then a voice announces â€Å"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin! † The tributes have to wait 60 seconds before they can run and start. Katniss sees the bow and arrow but by the look on Peeta’s face she knew he was giving her the look that says† Don’t go for the bow and arrow†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ DON’T, NO†.The gong rings and she realized that she missed her chance, so she goes for the first thing she sees. She goes for the backpack that she had to race to get from a boy in district 9. When she gets it she takes off in the woods. When she gets settled she didn’t see any sign of water so she settled in a tree she sees how many kids died that day then wondering what happened to Peeta because he is still alive. The next day she looks for game then she takes a nap and a sound awakes her†¦.. A snapping sound. Th en she sees a fire. She realizes that a tribute had lit a fire.Then she sees some careers that had obviously made an alliance kill the tribute that made the fire. Then she hears them talking about her saying they need to find her, then she an extra voice. She almost fell out tree when she realizes that voice belonged to Peeta. She hears them saying why don’t they just kill him. The leader from district 2 says that he is the only way to finding her. She realized that the think if she looks for him they can find her and kill her. Her instincts tell her to forget about him. After they leave she goes and cooks a rabbit. After she eats half of it she goes and looks for some water.After pretty much a whole day she has no luck until she sees a bush of berries. After she grabs some and about to eat them she gets s good look at them, opens it up and sees the juice is blood red. So she tosses them and keeps moving. She climbs a tree and looks for signs of water but sees nothing but the same unending trees. She keeps walking until she is stumbling to the ground. So she climbs into a tree and goes to sleep. She wakes up with pain in her joints with every movement. When she falls on to the ground she feels mud then thinks of the sent she smells.Then all of a sudden she realizes that a pond is nearby. She crawls into the pond and downs as much as she can then fill her jug fill of water, and then goes into a tree. A few hours later she wakes up to a stampede of feet running. She look up and sees what their running from. It’s a forest fire. She quickly got out of the tree, grabs her thing and takes off. As she’s running she thinks to herself that this fire must be the game makers doing. She runs and takes cover on a stone to catch her breath. Then suddenly a fire ball hits right where she was lying. She jumped right before it could hit her.Katniss keeps running until a fireball almost hits her but she dodges it but not soon enough. Her calf is screaming w ith pain. After a while of wondering the pack of careers spot her. She climbs the tree and wakes for them to kill her. But when of then try to climb the tree he falls. She realizes that they are too heavy to climb the tree. In response she starts to mock and tease them. After a while they make a fire and sleep around the tree. When night time falls Katniss sees a pair of eyes looking at her. First she thinks it’s an animal but she takes a closer look then sees it’s the little girl from district 11.It was Rue looking at her. And she’s pointing at something above Katniss’s head. She looks up and sees there’s a trackerjacker nest above her head. She was about to saw it down but she decided to wait till morning. When goes back down to her sleeping bag she sees there is something on her stuff waiting for her. She knows it’s a sponsor when is in her sleeping bag. After she opens it up she sees it’s a burn medicine. She was relieved and appl ied it to her wound. When she’s done, she falls asleep. When she wakes up, she looks at her leg and sees that it’s almost healed. Then she gets up and starts sawing the branch with the nest on it.In the process she gets stung by three trackerjackers. But finally the nest falls and sends the careers running. A tribute named Glimmer died from all the trackerjacker stings. When Katniss climbs down the tree she sees that the dead tribute had the bow and arrows. She grabs them and a ball of relief rolled off of her shoulder. After she got the bow and arrow and walked around for a little while the hallucinations started and out of a blur Peeta comes out limping yelling at her. He was yelling at her to go and runaway. He pushed her and she barely ran but then she fell and passed out on a log.When Katniss awake she finally was relieved that the hallucinations and the venom had both drained from her system. Then she saw a little person standing behind a tree. It was Rue. When s he came out and explained how she helped to get the venom out of the stings. Them they gathered some food, ate then developed a plan on how to weaken the careers. Then they both realized one thing the careers needed. They needed food. So the mad a plan to get rid of all their food. So they made a signal to tell each other that they are ok. So Katniss and Rue started the plan. Katniss went to where the careers were at.Rue set the distraction and Katniss went into action. She was going to hit the bag of apples with her arrow and blow the mines that were buried and will blow up all their food. So she waited until Rue started and when they left she shot her arrow and blew up everything. When the food blew up Katniss was blown back and hit the ground. When she got up she realized that she couldn’t hear out of her left ear. But eventually she got up and sent the signal to tell Rue that she was alright. As she ran through the forest she never heard the signal back and so she started to panic.Then finally after all the searching she heard the signal from Rue that meant she was alright. So she followed the sound of the signals. Then all of a sudden she heard a frightening scream. It was a child scream and she knew it came from Rue. So she yelled her name until she responded. Then Rue yelled Katniss name and so eventually she found Rue. She found her trapped in a net. But when she grabbed Rue out of the net and hugged her, a fellow tribute had set up this trap. He threw the spear but Katniss dodged it and killed him with an arrow. But Rue wasn’t so lucky.When Katniss turned around she saw that the spear he threw entered Rues body. After Katniss saw what happened she took Rue laid her on the ground. Rue asks her if she blew up the food and told her that she had to win. And finally Rue asked Katniss if she could sing to her and she did until the cannon shot telling Katniss that Rue was dead. But instead she wanted to show that Rues death just didn’t m ean anything. So Katniss arranged flowers all around Rues body because she knew that all the cameras were on her. After she got up she put up 3 fingers which meant that a loved one would be missed.So she left and sat down and cried. Then she climbed up in a tree then she heard an announcement from the game makers. They said there were changes in the ruling of the games. They said there can be two victors of the games if they were from the same district. Katniss took a minute to take the news in and without thinking she started yelling Peetas name. When she realized what she did she put her hands over her mouth. But still in excitement she started to climb down the tree but decided to wait till morning. The next day she started the search for Peeta.She started looking for him and while looking she saw something. She saw some blood and followed the trail. Eventually she made it to the lake and as she was stepping toward the water she heard a voice. It was Peetas voice. She looked down and saw nothing but then Peeta smiled and she saw that he had made a camouflage to blend into the bolder. So she got up cleaned him up and started looking at his wound. He had a deep cut in his upper left leg. She realizes how sick he was when he tells her that he hasn’t been hungry for days so she gets him to eat some dried apples then decides to clean her wound.She takes off his shoes, socks, and pants and sees how bad it is. The cut is oozing both blood and pus also his leg is swollen. So she pours water over the cut but it begins to look even worse so she makes him eat some dry fruit and she goes and washes the rest of his clothes. Then she chews up some leaves that gets rid of infections and puts them on his cut and the pus begins to drain out of his leg and she think that’s good. After she cleaned his clothes and lets him rest for a while they looked for a new place to rest. So they find a cave like structure to settle in.She kisses him then goes outside and see s that Haymitch left some broth. Then she practically kisses him awake then gives him the broth that Haymitch sent him. After she makes him drink the broth they go to sleep. That morning she gets up and gets some berries and when she returns he was up and was about to go looking for her. She sat him down and fed him the berries then he told her she needed to rest so he made her sleep. When she woke up she realized how long she slept but it didn’t matter so she tended to his minor wounds then his cut.When she looked at it her heart dropped. The pus was gone but the swelling had increased, his skin was tight and there were red streaks crawling up his leg. He had blood poisoning. He realizes it to but she doesn’t want to talk about. She makes him some soup but he doesn’t want any although he does want to hear a story. So she tells him the time on how she got her little sister Prims goat. Then there’s another announcement. There was going to be a feast which means each tribute needs something so they are going to leave it in the middle of the arena tomorrow.Katniss lies and says she wasn’t going but he knew she was and that if she goes he will go too. Then she says ok and goes to clean herself up then sees the sponsor Haymitch sent her. She got excited but then saw it wasn’t his medicine but a small bottle of sleeping syrup. So she mixed it up with some berries to feed to him. As he was eating it he thought they were really sweet then realized what was in the berries but it was too late. He already started losing consciousness. And even when he was going down Katniss could tell by the look on his face she had done something unforgiveable.She gathered her things and went to go get the medicine. When she got there she observed the area for a while. Then the girl from district 5 ran out got her bag and left. So Katniss went to get her bag but Clove came hit her with a knife and pinned her to the ground. She told Katniss that they had planned to kill Rue. Then Thresh the other tribute from Rues district came and grabbed Clove and started yelling saying â€Å"did you kill her†. Clove yelled Cato’s name and he yelled her name back but Thresh already started beating her heard with a stone until her heard was dented.He looks at Katniss and said â€Å"I’ll let you go this time for Rue†. Katniss ran back to the cave, gave Peeta the shot, and then passed out. When she regained consciousness Peeta is looking at her in relief. They ate the rest of the food, laid down, and began to talk. Katniss act him when did he start liking her. He told her the whole story on how he first saw her when she was 5 and how she sang in music class and from then on he watched her walk home every single day. Then right when they were about to kiss a sound scares then. Peeta goes outside and Haymitch sent them a feast to eat.After they eat and talk a little more Peeta tells Katniss that Thresh is dead. Afte r Peeta comforts Katniss and they go to sleep, the next day they went hunting and gathering. Before Katniss leaves Peeta she tells him to look for roots and berries. When she was hunting she went back looking for Peeta and saw the apple and cheese was gone. When she found him she started yelling at him for eating the food and he said he didn’t do it and that the berries he found were toxic. Then the cannon went off and then they saw the girl from district 5’s body then realized that she ate the poisonous berries and the food.After talking for a little bit they realize that fox faces death wasn’t a good thing. Now that Cato knows she’s dead he will come looking for them. So they decide to look for another form of shelter. So they get their stuff and look for a place but then they just go to the cave. But they sit in the open waiting for Cato and when they see him he is running toward then with some type of armor but his speed doesn’t slow down and a s he passes them Katniss notices the creature he is running from and their about a half a dozen more. So Katniss takes off with intentions of only saving herselfAs Katniss is running she turns around remembering that she left Peeta with his bad leg. So she grabs him and follows Cato to the Cornucopia. They climb to the top and then Cato tells them that the creatures can climb. When Katniss looked down at the mutts and recognized the features on it. It had blonde hair, green eyes, and the number 1 on its collar. Then Katniss realized that it’s Glimmer. She starts looking at all the other mutts and notices all of them were the tributes that died. She even notices the smallest on. It had curly brown and big brown eyes. She knew it was Rue.When she pulled Peeta up Cato grabbed him and Katniss aimed his arrow at him but he said if she shoots him Peeta will die with him. But Katniss shoots his hand but she grabs Peeta before he could fall. Cato fall into the pack of mutts and becau se of the armor it was taking a long time and he was suffering so Katniss shot an arrow at his head. Then the mutts ran off. They were happy and relieved until an announcement was made. They said that the rules had changed back to normal and that there can be only one victor. Peeta said he should be the one to die but Katniss had an idea.She pulled out the night lock she had saved and said they will both die and they counted to three and just as they raised the night lock to their lips the announcer said stop and announced that they were the Seventy-fourth annual Hunger Games victors. As they went up into the hovercraft Katniss would not let go of Peeta, but when there on board Peeta falls to the ground unconscious. They took him to a table and started working on his leg. They place Katniss behind a door where she yells until they land and they jab a needle in her. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a room with no windows or doors are visible.Then she notices that she can hear out of her left ear again and all her wounds and scars are gone. After they let her out she finds out that Peeta is fine and there is going to be a last interview. So she goes with Cinna to get ready. He puts her in a yellow dress with flats and a head band to go for a more innocent look. When she meets Haymitch he tells her the capitol is furious because she showed them up in the arena. And she is to say that she was so madly in love that wasn’t in control of her actions. She said ok and got into her position.When she got on stage she saw Peeta and ran into his arms and they started kissing. And finally Caesar told them they had to start the show. And after the interview President Snow came out with a metal for each of them. Even though he had a smile on his face his eyes were filled with unforgiving rage. And the next day they had another interview. And they showed the clips of when Peeta and Katniss were in the cave and everything. And then Katniss found out that Peeta had to get a new artificial leg. She freaked out and started saying it was her fault. After the interview they took a walk along the train.When Haymitch told them keep up the good work Peeta didn’t know what he meant. So Katniss told him that Haymitch had told her to act like she was in love him. Peeta was furious and stormed back to the train. But right before they stopped in district 12 he told her one more time for the cameras. His voice wasn’t angry but it was hollow. So Katniss grabbed his hand tightly dreading the time she would have to let go. The End 1. I loved the novel because it was exciting, suspenseful, and this book makes you about the future. 2. The main characters name is Katniss Everdeen.She is a strong independent girl who had to provide for her mother and little sister. But when she was in the hunger games she started having feelings for the bakers’ son Peeta Mellark. She is a good character for this story because in the beginning she had to be t ough but then she changed she became more innocent and started to show her feelings more. 3. Yes because in the beginning she was all hard and tough and by the end she was more sensitive and showed her feelings more. 4. Yes, and the book was easy to comprehend because even though the plot was exciting and suspenseful it was simple wording and easy to understand.

Immanuel Kant †Ethics Essay

Immanuel Kant was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia in 1724. He attended the Collegium Fridiricianum at eight years old where he was taught classicism. Then he went to the University of Konigsberg where he spent his career focusing on philosophy, mathematics, and physics. When his is father past away, Kant left the university and earned his living as a private tutor. In 1755 he returned to the University to receive his doctorate in 1756. Immanuel Kant remained at the University teaching for 15 years. He received his tenure at the University in 1770, where he stayed for the next 27 years. In 1792 he was barred from teaching or writing on religious subjects do to his unorthodox approach in his teaching by King Fredrick William II. He returned to teaching after the king had passed away five years later. In his retirement he published a summary of his views on religion. Immanuel Kant passed away in 1804. Immanuel Kant was widely known for his categorical imperative theory. Categorical imperative is how one determines one’s duty, what principles are proper, and which are not. Doing one’s duty for the sake of duty itself is better than simply acting in agreement with one’s duty. Telling the truth in order to benefit yourself is acting in accordance with duty and not acting for the sake of duty. The categorical imperative states, â€Å"Act only on that maxim whereby thou canst at the same time will it should become universal law(Keele, 2008). † Maxim in this sentence is the moral part of your action. Categorical imperative tells us it is immoral to make an exception of our self. Just like my mother would say treat and act as you would want others to treat and act towards you. In the news I view an article about â€Å"School knife attack poses ethical dilemma for daily. † In this article they talk about the Worcester New identifying a schoolboy as a suspect. The news published the boy’s name and picture on Facebook putting the boy’s life at risk. After the boy was found the news took down the boy’s picture at once. Everyone was perplexed by this situation asking why they put picture up and then took it down. According to the Worcester News, the situation change, where they were trying to find the boy to stop him from hurting himself or others and then to protecting the child. Would the newspapers actions have been ethical according to Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative? First let’s take a look at the reasons why they did it. The newspaper stated they put his picture up to protect him and other, then took down to protect him. I believe they were acting in the best of society myself by putting the information up. According to Immanuel Kant’s theory they were acting in accordance with their duty. They had a duty to let the public know what was going on to protect other students and teachers If they didn’t act with such speed would the boy have been found so soon? I think not! This boy could have went on a killing spree and if the Worcester News didn’t report it they would not have been acting in the best of society and would not have been doing their duty. But then to take down the information I feel is unethical. They don’t take down any information when it comes to any other person involved in a crime. Immanuel Kant stated that it is immoral to make an exception of yourself. The Worcester News should hold to the same standards as any other crime they report. I understand that they are trying to protect the boy, but if you are going to report any other crime and not take it down this should happen in the same way. In conclusion, based on my research I feel that Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative theory is important to our society today. It holds everyone to the same standards! He has help to maintain a set of standards for our society that requires everyone to be treated the same. The study of ethics is important in today’s business and government world because it sets standard for all to abide. From John Locke’s right theory to Kohlberg’s moral development stages. They all 1 / 2 set standards in which business need to stay within. If there were no standards there would be more scandals in the news than there is. References Britannica. (2014). Immanuel Kant. Retrieved from http://www. philosophypages. com/ph/kant. htm. Keele, Lisa. (2008, The Categorical Imperative of Immanuel Kant. Retrieved from https://www. suite. io/lisa-keele/ypd2fk. Linfold, Paul. (2014, September 28). School Knife Attack Poses Ethical Dilemma For Daily. Retrieved from http://www. holdthefrontpage. co. uk/2014/news/school-knife-attack-poses-ethical- dilemma-for-daily/ POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Admission to the Masters of Accounting Program

1. The Masters of Accounting program requires teamwork and leadership skills. Please give examples from your past that illustrate your abilities in both these areas and show how you’ve applied them.I have faced a number of knotty situations in life. On one occasion, I was working with the ADA or the American Diabetes Association. We worked as two groups and our principal task was to count and reconcile the checks, cash and credit card donations, which used to arrive in large quantities. One day an older man joined our team. Then our troubles started. Till that time we had worked without any mutual misgivings or bickering. With the advent of this person, our time schedules and procedures went haywire.I studied the situation and realized that all this was due to his reluctance to follow the established procedure. Every one, in both the groups, was compelled to go home late, due to this person’s obduracy. All felt that he should be suitably reprimanded, but no one was will ing to undertake this unpleasant task. The question that was foremost on every one’s mind was ‘who would bell the cat?’ I jumped into the fray and gently but firmly convinced him that what he was doing was unacceptable. He was happy with this way of communication, because I had talked to him in private, so that his pride was not hurt. This had the desired effect and we were able to complete the work in time.In addition, I was also the secretary of the African Cultural Society. I was instrumental in planning and implementing the IREP Africa program at the College of William & Mary. This task entailed coordination between and interaction with a number of fellow students, faculty and departments. I emerged much stronger as a coordinator, facilitator and administrator after this novel experience. The professed objective of this program was to unite African student organizations in Virginia and to improve their relations with each other.   I actively participated in several campaigns to raise funds for the underprivileged in Africa and one of them was in respect of poverty stricken women of Uganda.A successful and efficient accountant is one who is reliable, thorough, ingenious, a seeker of solutions, well organized and performance oriented. Of these the most important is trustworthiness, because accountants, in addition to their usual work, have to offer reliable advice regarding the conduct of business in the present day economic and legal context. Moreover, if accounting standards are not adhered to, then the company stands the risk of having to close down. The Sarbanes Oxley Act was enacted in the year 2002, in order to deal with such eventualities.Another important trait of an accountant is attention to detail. I possess this in ample measure. This fact was disclosed in my tenure as the treasurer of the African Cultural Society, between the years 2006 to 2007; and as the Vice President of the Syndicate. In these tasks, I maintained authen tic and comprehensive financial records. I reviewed the internal financial controls and ensured that the organization’s moneys were safe. This club has a number of advantages and I took up aggressive marketing to ensure that its membership increased.The lack of ethical and moral accounting practices in business organizations results in financial frauds. This was clearly established in the following cases.In the year 2001, Enron announced a net loss of $ 618 million for its third quarter and that it would reduce the shareholders’ equity by $ 1.2 billion. The SEC immediately stepped in and demanded financial information from Enron. The Enron team of Auditor’s lead by their leader Anderson systematically destroyed a large number of financial documents. Subsequently, the Enron officials and its auditors were charged and convicted of fraud.This company had engaged in malpractices relating to financial accounting, with the result that the company became bankrupt. To c onceal its malafide practices, this company indulged in complicated accounting practices. This illustrates the fact that accounting has to be ethical, transparent and morally upright. The consequence of the Enron case was that the law relating to accountancy was made more stringent. However, more than even legislation; personal attitude, morality and ethical behavior should have greater influence.WorldCom was another company, which also attempted to camouflage its fraudulent activities by resorting to fudging of figures and falsification of financial reports. The procedure adopted by its accountants was less sophisticated than that of the Enron team; nevertheless, it committed a much greater fraud than Enron. However, these cases were not isolated incidents and proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg. Several more such fraudulent corporations were investigated by the Federal and state regulators. The principal among these are Adelphia, HealthSouth and Tyco, to name a few.I have a flair for leadership and I often volunteer to lead in various academic projects. Recently, I took over the reins of project, involving the formulation of a business plan to be presented to the board of directors. This project emerged as a huge success, despite the difficulties encountered, due to having to lead a team of peers. The team comprised of persons with different temperaments and it required a lot of innovativeness and ingenuity to extract the best from them.I have tremendous patience, as can be attested to by the students of the second grade, whom I teach as a volunteer teacher in the Waller Mill Elementary school, in Williamsburg. The foregoing incidents from my life reveal that I possess a high level of integrity, reliability, planning and implementing capacity, motivational skills, inspiration, ability to work in a team and patience.2.   What are you hoping to achieve during your studies in the MAcc Program?I will complete my Bachelor’s degree in accounting by the month of May, 2008. Subsequently, I intend to pursue the Masters of Accounting Program at the College of William and Mary's School of Business. This course is truly outstanding and the faculty is the third best in the nation. Classes are typically small and informal. The emphasis is on acquiring expertise. The faculty is easily accessible, if one wants to clarify doubts. In conjunction with my considerable management and leadership skills, this knowledge in accountancy will render me highly suitable for obtaining the Certified Public Accountant license. My principal objective is to become a CPA.

Geology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 5

Geology - Essay Example It is in these mountains that the described rock was found (‘Washington Geologic Newsletter’ 56) According to further research, there is evidence suggesting that uplifting of the Cascade Mountains that occurred in the Columbian river, which is denoted as the ancestral Columbia river exhibited a coincidence that saw the formation of a canyon through cutting. In the years that followed, fluid deposition and intracanyon flows accounted for the existence of basalt in the river channel. Such basalt is the basic material that formed the volcanic rocks similar to the type presented in the image. The latest event in the Columbia River basalt was the deposition of the saddle mountain basalt. Saddle Mountains have been described as containing high silica content, and of noticeably thin nature compared to other basalts of the Columbian river (70). The nature of appearance is the result if extensive compression as well as that of the ensuing extensional events that followed as the deposited basalt

Cost, Benefits and Effects of Inward Direct Investment Literature review

Cost, Benefits and Effects of Inward Direct Investment - Literature review Example According to Mondy (2013) Inward foreign direct investment is seen as a spillover superior technology hence extending to domestically owned firms. Foreign-owned firms are seen as the main cause for increasing wage levels in a host’s countries and also lead to higher productivity compared to local firms. Also, the impact of inward foreign direct investment is witnessed in promoting exports of host countries. There is a spillover of production skills which have transformed the economies of host countries (Mondy, 2013). Much of the impact is seen when knowledge of the world market is transferred from foreign-owned firms to domestically owned firms. Introduction FDI refers to Foreign Direct Investment; the investment can be into a business or production of the country by another country or an individual of another country. This investment can either be by expanding production of existing firms in the target country or by coming up with a new business in the target country.  In d eveloping countries, FDI and exports are the key elements that lead to the growth of this country’s economy. Countries which dominate the largest part of the world’s economy, for instance, United State of America are mainly foreign direct investors. Impacts of inward direct investment can either be long term or short term (Cainelli et al., 2004). Short term effects include an increase in the production of existing companies. On the other hand, long term effects include impairing local innovations as foreign investors tend to control the economy in the long run. Inward foreign direct investment It has been suggested Cainelli et al., (2004) inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) is said to encourage innovativeness on local firms, through investing in the existing local business. This will encourage the use of modern technology in productivity, leading to an increase in production by local firms. Cash flow in local firms will increase due to modern advanced technology. I ncrease in innovation levels by local firms is due to knowledge brought in by foreign investors to domestic investors. Creation of job opportunities is witnessed in local firms since there is an increase in the wage rate which makes domestic workers remain in a local firm. Outputs in local firms relatively increase due to the advancement in technical supply requirement leading to economic growth in target countries. It is also believed that investing in foreign companies and individual posses’ technological superiority comparative to those of host countries.

Module 2 SLP PLANNING FOR EMERGENCIES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Module 2 SLP PLANNING FOR EMERGENCIES - Essay Example It could also be a result of increase in flow of water from rivers, streams, and other inlets. Hurricanes also have a big role to play in the motion of coastal waters in the Riverside County. Riverine flooding is the major cause of flooding in Riverside County. This comes as result of rivers and streams breaking their banks due to an increase in rainfall caused by changing weather patterns. Flash flooding usually last a short time and are a product of irregular high rainfall in the inland regions with compromised drainage facilities. A good example is regios with high population especially major towns. Modern day construction of subways, highways, and rail lines are partly to blame because these structures interfere with drainage systems thus causing floods. As reported by NBC Southern California, eight people had to be rescued from floodwaters in Riverside after a thunderstorm pummelled the region (Avila & Schwartz, 2014) Depending on severity, floods can be classified as major, moderate, and minor. Major floods causes the greatest property damage. For instance, flooding caused the closure of Highway 74 in Riverside County on both ends from Willowbrook to Highway 243 (McAllister, 2013). In addiiton, the floods could result in loss of life in serious incidences. It may involve the evacuation of people and closure of major transport networks. In moderate floods, the risk is at medium level but not as pronounced as in major floods. In the case of minor floods, there is no property damage. Earthquakes are most frightening and devastating occurrences in nature, they can happen in any time of the year, it’s important for people and governments to prepare in advance for earthquakes to avoid mass destruction of property and loss of lives, various methods can be used to reduce impact of earthquakes, for instance, use of earthquake surveillance systems, planning of construction places. Earthquake risk maps have been used in land management

Developmental Influences in the Prenatal Eveironment Essay

Developmental Influences in the Prenatal Eveironment - Essay Example Regardless of the conditions, it is a well-known fact among health care professionals that those women bearing a child are always exposed to factors may it be genetic predispositions, teratogenic agents or even stresses levels. Throughout the course of the gestational period, the woman as well as her partner and family support must be sufficiently equipped with the appropriate knowledge and latest information regarding childbirth. With a huge number of factors to consider, the only weapon that will effectively combat any hazards is knowledge. It is imperative that people have the correct understanding of the determined elements that greatly influence this miraculous bearing of a life inside one’s womb. Developmental Influences in Prenatal Environment Fortunately, in a specialized study and field of medicine, there have been already extensive researches and study about the most significant determinants whether for the worse or better effects on the process. Among the vast array of agents that bear bad effects, prescription drugs, caffeine, use of tobacco and alcohol are the worst because it is associated with a person’s lifestyle. Furthermore, some pregnant women are skeptical about the accuracy of such advices as these habits do not really cause harm to the health of the mother. However, once the baby is born, the effects become more apparent on the neonate and it might already be too late. First and foremost, prescription drugs, particularly thalidomide which was the earliest detected harmful drug, have been proven to cause congenital defects such as absence of limbs. This caused such an alarm and elicited immediate and subsequent researches on other drugs that would otherwise be therapeutic in normal conditions. The results conclude the detrimental effects that anticoagulants, anticonvulsants, selected antibiotics and artificial hormones bear on the fetus. Moreover, drinking caffeinated beverages are declared to be harmful despite the lack of em pirical basis. While it is still unclear of the possible outcomes of coffee or tea as well as some carbonated soda intake, it would be wise to stay away from them or at least limit the amount. The expecting mother should stay on the safe side and not risk the spontaneous abortion or low birth weight infant that often results with caffeine. Smoking and alcoholism are considerations that have tremendous significance. Even when not pregnant, these two lifestyle choices already have a questionable effect on the health of an individual; what more with pregnant women who have heightened sensitivity to a number of environmental factors? Based on the previous cases, there are many possible ill outcomes on the smoking mother’s developing fetus. Neonates with low birth weight or congenital defects are the most prevalent reactions but the worst possibility is death of the infant. The nicotine’s degree of effect is also dependent on the dosage. Alcoholism during pregnancy is carri es along with it the serious, ill consequences. They have even established the fetal alcohol syndrome which equals a group of anomalies and malformations in the brain, eyes, hearts, head, joints and face. The connection between the amount of alcohol allowable to the detrimental effect is still a blur. Therefore, to guarantee the absence of such physical and cognitive deformities, it will be wise to maintain sobriety as well as stay away from the occasional drinking throughout the whole gestational period.

Causes of Juvenile Delinquency Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Causes of Juvenile Delinquency - Research Paper Example Cynthia (2008) further highlights that the juvenile court systems are driven by the idea that children who violate the law and get into problems should be assisted, guided and helped instead of being punished. This system was formed around the parental concept which advocates that the court should act as a parent, and develop an interfered part to protect the juvenile rather than seeking to determine guilt or innocence. However, different states in the world have established juvenile courts, which have age limits that are used to determine the extent of the offence charged. This is because some crimes committed by juvenile can be heard and determined by criminal courts and trials listened as those of adults (Cynthia, 2008). Globally, there has been an increase in juvenile delinquency in many countries which can be attributed to many cases. This paper shall present and analyze the causes of juvenile delinquency and highlight some of the dependent and independent variables and the crim inological theory concerned with cases. There are several theories which are used to explain the causes of juvenile delinquency. ... Vitaro, Bredger and Trembley (2002, as cited in Mandela, 2008) argue that the family has a big influence on a child’s development which can be positive or delinquent. In the light of family influences, the world youth report highlights that minors who are given proper supervision are unlikely to be involved in criminal activities. Therefore, juvenile delinquency can be linked to abnormal or undesirable family settings which are usually characterized by lack of parental guidance. Juvenile delinquency is influenced by poor internal guidance, premature autonomy and frequent conflict. Juvenile delinquency is influenced by some of these factors because they influence the family background which they live in. Changes in the family institution in the society today are influencing how minors grow. The family institution form is becoming modified with time (Mandel, 2008). For example, single parent families have increased. The absence of one parent to guide the child, especially boys, leads them to seek and acquire behavior from the group they interact with, such as peers. These groups end up taking the family institutions roles, and they influence the morals of a minor and contribute towards acquiring of negative behavior such as cruelty (United Nations, 2004). In addition, the capacity of parents in a family to provide children with what they require for their daily lives, such as books and others things, influences the behavior of the children. Some may feel excluded, and they can be motivated to join juvenile delinquent groups to satisfy their needs. Finally, communication in a family can also influence juvenile delinquency (United Nations, 2004). Moreover, if there are adult offenders in a family, they can

Information Systems supporting the Department of Human Services Assignment

Information Systems supporting the Department of Human Services - Assignment Example Basically, organizations are segmented into different departments. Further, these departments are specified according to their roles and functions as well as these functions on a broader dimension are further supported by other business processes that shape overall structure of an organization. Now, it is very important for us to understand the role of Information System as a basic component in an organization as it enhances the abilities and adds value not only to an organization but also to its customers. The use of Information System mainly depends on the nature and the needs that are required to be addressed in meeting the objectives within an organization. It is worth mentioning that an organization is comprised of different systems which are inter-related with each other as well as the role of effective information and its usage among these systems is directly associated with the process of quick decision making. It is highly imperative for the organizations around the world to establish an effective and more comprehensive Information System that would help them in achieving their goals with increased work efficiency. TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents: Introduction: 3 Business Process of the Functional Area: 4 Creating Financial Statements: 5 Financial Operations: 6 Financial operations work on the basis of these statements as these statements show the performance and the financial needs of the organization. This also helps the organization to evaluate the potential of their operations and their financial capability that would further assist them in generating more funds and fulfilling its needs and other requirements. Financial operations estimate the potential or other possible resources through which they can generate funds. -Investing cash: 6 INFORMATION SYSTEMS: 6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems: 7 Management Information Systems: 9 List of References: 11 4-Samuel, M. (2010), â€Å"The Direct Link between Business Results and Organizational Cultu re†, viewed on 17 July 2011, 11 6-Kehinde, T. (2010), â€Å"Effective Information System† viewed on 17 July 2011, 12 8-Business Local Listing, (2009), â€Å"Advantages of Business Process Outsourcing† viewed on 17 July 2011, 12 APPENDICES 12 Introduction: To understand the importance and functioning of an Information System, it is very important for one to understand the structure of an organization. An organization consists of different groups and departments working together for achieving an organization’s goals and objectives. Organizations can be classified on the basis of their goals and structure. However, we cannot deny the fact that a balanced synchronization within the different departments and systems leads to smoother operations which results in overall success of the organization in the long-run. Functional Area: Basically, organizations are consisted of the functional areas which are inter-lined with each other as well as they are also respo nsible for achieving the goals of an organization (Jiang 2009, p.156). In large organizations, it is easy to differentiate between functional areas as they operate in

Motivation in Pixar Animation Studios Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Motivation in Pixar Animation Studios - Essay Example It was to provide professional film making services majorly on animation and cartoons. This was after realizing that skills in information technology as related to animation were the major requirement. The first step was to gather resources and execute the plans. Consequently, the basic resources were in place and it was time to face the reality of it (Downs 2002). Management of the organization was a significant hitch as there was a need to hire professionals for various positions. The management team had to apply professional skills in ensuring efficient operation of the organization. As the organization grew bigger, there was a need for more staffing with the help of the HRM. This was carried out as per the needs at each point so as to balance out all activities carried out. An evaluation of the employee performance had to be done periodically so as to monitor the functionality of every position. As a result, changes on the positions and number of employees required in every duty had to take place accordingly. The HRM was charged with the responsibility of ensuring efficient staffing. Through this way, the organization has made tremendous steps towards attaining an excellent status. All these have been attributed to by the motivational factors, courtesy of the HRM and other stakeholders in influential positions within Pixar The objectives and activities of the company Pixar Pixar animation studios have an identity as an award winning animation studio embracing abilities in technical and creative productions. An assurance of these is by the creation of new features in animations in the new generation merchandise. Currently the organization has developed into a pioneer producer of technology applied in computer graphics and animations among other software developments (Wallace 2004). The studio aims at combining skills in proprietary technology with talents regarded to be of a world class in developing computer animated outputs with the support of memory. The industry made a brave turn into the film business from its initial venture and made more emphasis on the resources. Sustaining the innovation and creative behavior within the business called for brave actions to enable more output as compared to before. Proper coordination of the finances and the employees was one of the factors that led to the success of the organization. This depicts how important employee motivation is crucial to the survival of a business. Case motivation HRM practices Strategic management in the company was the yardstick to its success. This involved the use of strategic management skills applied by the management in handling all its operations. The major reason for establishing a strategic plan in management is to attain competitive advantage. These strategic management theories change from time to time regarding the customer needs. The fact that Pixar had roots from technology and art, played a role in the setting of the strategic management. Edwin Catmull to ok advantage of his passion for animation and made a team of individuals with similar interests such as George Lucas to work out on computer animations. This did not work out for them despite Luca's unwilling nature to venture in other areas other than animations as effected by computers. Steve jobs then surfaced to buy Edwin's unit before

Investigating Decision-Making Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Investigating Decision-Making Methods - Essay Example This paper looks at ways of making the best decisions using the case of Miller as the case study (Lindblom, 2008). It also gives an insight to some of the ways to mitigate issues and or conflict of interest that may arise as one is handling different groups. The case study involves Mr Miller who is new to the school and on his first day is welcomed by two groups. The first group wanted Mr Miller to establish ability grouping at the school as they argued that the slow children took a lot of instructional time leaving only few hours for the gifted children. The second group however wanted no change and was the view that everything was running well at the school and they wanted no changes at the school. Mr Miller was left with a major problem which was to make sure that the two groups came to an understanding and if not make a decision that would be fair by acting with integrity and in ethical manner. There are different decision making approaches that Mr Miller could employ and try and resolve this problem. First there is the autocratic approach whereby Mr Miller makes a decision without consulting any other party in the school community. This is cited as one of the fastest forms of decision making as there are no other people involved th at may stall the decision making process. Ignoring what others may have to say and assessing the problem and making a decision may not be received well by the community. Being a new school leader it is very important for Mr Miller to have the community backing him up and not to start having his decisions challenged by everyone including his faculty staff. Secondly Mr Miller might use the consultation approach where a leader seeks the advice of the followers and after giving him the ideas, opinions and suggestions the leader makes the decision based on these contributions on his own. This approach may also be

Labour Party to socialism Essay Example for Free

Labour Party to socialism Essay ‘Explain the ideas and policies which link the modern Labour Party to socialism’. (10 marks) Socialism is the economic system based on cooperation rather than competition of businesses which utilizes centralized planning and redistribution of wealth. Industry is state owned and therefore companies have government monopolies on them which results in no competition. Industries are redistributed though the state to achieve a fairer society. Traditional Labour values were indeed a form of socialism as some of their core values include a large welfare state, mild redistribution of wealth through taxes and social mobility. Socialism was founded in 1789 if the modern day Labour party had the same ideologies as those of the original socialist politicians then it would be considered a far right party in today’s political spectrum. Since its origins, the principles of socialism have evolved into many different forms of itself to make it compatible with society. There are many links to many differing forms of socialism both traditional and modern in today’s Labour party. Democratic socialists i.e. Labour believe in Equality of opportunity this means that everyone has the same opportunities to maximise their potential and accomplish high positions in life no matter what their background or ethnicity, for example a labourer’s child can become a lawyer or politician if he/she desires and they will not be discriminated against. This is still one of Labour’s core values, therefore linking to traditional socialism. Another concept of democratic socialism is the redistribution of wealth an example of ‘New Labour’ doing that is increasing the amount in social housing estates, or the introduction of the ‘windfall tax’ which raised ?5billion to set up the ‘New Deal’ which helps the long term unemployed back to work through training and employment, thus giving opportunities to those who previously didnt have the skills to generate their own wealth. Traditional socialism wants radical constitutional reform e.g. democratise institutions such as the House of Lords. ‘New Labour’ does want constitutional reform such as the de-centralisation of power and mild House of Lords reform e.g. it is elected not inherited. So therefore shows that Labour does still have socialist values.

A Competitive Analysis Of Kingfisher Airlines Tourism Essay

A Competitive Analysis Of Kingfisher Airlines Tourism Essay To research and analyze how kingfisher airlines has retained one of the top position in a highly competitive market like India. To find out what makes them special from all other airlines in India. To find out how kingfisher airlines compete with leading airlines like Air Indian and Jet. To find out what customer tactics they used to bring more customers to the organization. Content summary To approach by doing SWOT and PEST analysis of the company by looking through the magazines and websites available on company. In order to analyze the companys strategy I will be doing 7p analysis. In order to make my objectives a true I will be carrying out an interview with fathers friend who is working in kingfisher airlines. I will be doing a case study on how kingfisher airline is different from and India Airlines. I will be also proposing some new strategies which can help the organization to improve their performance more Table of contents Page Table of Content 34 Objective 2 Content summary 2 Introduction 3 About the Company 5 History 5 Achievements 6 Marketing strategy 7 PESTEL Analysis 8 Political 8 Economical 8 Social 8 Technological 8 Environmental 9 Local 9 7 Ps Analysis 9 Product 9 Promotions 10 Price 10 People 10 Place 10 Physical evidence 11 Process 11 SWOT Analysis 11 Strengths 11 Weakness 12 Opportunities 12 Threats 12 Comparison Kingfisher VS Indian Airlines 1213 Suggestion and recommendation 14 Appendix 14 Questionnaire References 15 Introduction Kingfisher Airlines Limited is a major  Indian  airline. Kingfisher operates more than 400 flights a day and has a network of 72 destinations, with regional and long-haul international services. Kingfisher Airlines, through one of its holding companies  United Breweries Group, has a 50 percent stake in  low-cost carrier  Kingfisher Red, formerly known as Air Deccan. Kingfisher Airlines is one of six airlines in the world to have a five-star rating from  Skytrax, along with  Asian Airlines,  Malaysia Airlines,  Qatar Airways,  Singapore Airlines  and  Cathay Pacific Airways. In May 2009, Kingfisher Airlines carried more than a million passengers, giving it the highest market share among airlines in India. Kingfisher has its registered office in the  UB Tower  in  Bangalore  and its head office in the Kingfisher House in  Mumbai. History The airline started operations on 9 May 2005, following the  dry lease  of four brand new  Airbus A320-200  aircraft. Its first flight was from Mumbai  to  Delhi. At the launch of the airline, Dr. Mallya said that he is committed to achieving our ambition of making Kingfisher Airlines Indias largest private airline both in capacity and market share by 2010. The airline ushered in a new era of luxury in Indias domestic aviation sector with its brand new aircraft with stylish red interiors, and smartly dressed crew and ground staff. Kingfisher was the first Indian airline to have  in-flight entertainment  (IFE) systems on every seat even on domestic flights. All passengers were given a welcome kit consisting goodies such as a pen, facial tissue and headphones to use with the IFE system. Initially, passengers were able to watch only recorded TV programming on the IFE system, but later an alliance was formed with  Dish TV  to provide live TV in-flight. And in a marked departure from tradition, Kingfisher Airlines decided to have an on-screen  safety demonstration  using the IFE system. On 14 July 2008, Kingfisher unveiled its first ever  Wide-body aircraft, a  Airbus A330-200  at the 46th  Farnborough Air show  held in July 2008. Kingfishers first Airbus A330-200 was widely billed as the best A330-200 ever built by  Airbus. On 3 September 2008, Kingfisher started its international operations by connecting  Bangalore  with  London. Achievements Kingfisher Airlines has received three global awards at the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards   Named Best Airline In India / Central Asia; Best Cabin Crew Central Asia Kingfisher RED named Best Low Cost Airline in India / Central Asia NDTV Profit Business Leadership Award for Aviation   awarded to Kingfisher Airlines by NDTV twice in two years Indias only 5 Star airline, rated by Skytrax  and  6th airline in the world   to be certified as  5 star airline by Skytrax Ranked amongst Indias Top Service Brands of 2008 ranking by Pitch  magazine Voted as  Indias Favourite Airline in a survey conducted by an independent research firm with 46% votes compared to others Rated as Asia Pacifics Top Airline Brand in a survey conducted by TNS on Asia Pacifics Top 1,000 Brands for 2008 Brand Leadership Award in the service and hospitality segment against several acclaimed hotels, leading banks and other airlines Economic Times Avaya Award 2006 for Excellence in  Customer Responsiveness award is presented by the highly acclaimed Business Daily, Economic Times Indias No. 1 Airline in customer satisfaction Business World Rated amongst Indias most respected companies Business World Rated amongst Indias 25 Innovative Companies in a  survey conducted by Plan man Media in 2006 The Best Airline and Indias Favourite  Carrier in a Survey conducted by The Times of India Service Excellence 2005-2006 for a New Airline   by Skytrax, a UK based specialist global air transport advisor Ranked Third in the survey on Indias Most Successful Brand launch of 2005 Under the Brand Derby Survey conducted by Indias leading business daily Business Standard Busiest Brands of 2005 ranked amongst the Top Ten busiest brands of 2005  and 2006 across product categories, in the survey conducted by agency faqs and The Brand Reporter Best New Airline of the Year Award for 2005   Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Award in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region Marketing strategies Kingfisher Airlines has a clearly defined target audience- SEC A, SEC B+ (socio-economic class) in the age group of 25-45 years of age. Kingfisher Airlines offers brand new aircraft, designer interiors, gourmet cuisine and in flight-entertainment (there are five channels of FUN TV and 10 channels of Kingfisher Radio, which are personalized). Communicate with guests at multiple touch points. They use all media of communication television, print, radio, outdoor, malls, multiplexes, clubs, pubs, in-flight etc. The guests are constantly informed of their new offers.   They offer tickets to theatre screenings, fashion shows, sports screenings etc to their frequent travellers (club members). Their Partners Program has been very successful. They have tied up with the best of brands across industries. Tata Tetley, Pepsi, Microsoft, Inox, Kenzo , IFB, Taj, Park Hotels and Oxford book stores have been some of leading partners. PESTEL Analysis Political Foreign airlines are not allowed to buy a stake in domestic airlines. International route regulations Closing down of domestic airports Open sky policy Economical Contribution to the Indian economy Rising cost of fuel Investment in the sector of aviation The growth of the middle income group family affects the aviation sector. Shortage of the infrastructure capacity Social Development of cities leads to better services and airports Employment opportunities Safety regulations The status symbol attached to a plane travel. Technological The growth of e-commerce and e-ticketing Satellite based navigation system Modernisation and privatisation of the airports Developing green filed airports with private sector for example in Bangalore the airport corporation limited. Environmental The increase in global warming The sudden and the unexpected behaviour of the atmosphere and the dependency on whether Shortage of the infrastructural capacity Tourism saturation Legal Bilateral treaties Airlines acquisitions and the leasing cost In the United States, low-cost airlines often operated from small airports that charge lower fees and that did not suffer from the congestion at large airports In India, however, government policy did not allow the creation of airports closer than 150KM from each other, and the old airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad were closed down when the new one started. 7 Ps Product Fleet size Aircrafts International foray Promotions Advertisements Magazines and newspaper ads Exposure at non-corporate events Participation at international airs hows Endorsing celebrities like Katrina Kaif and Deepika padukone Price Dynamic pricing model multiple fare levels Uniform rules No hidden restrictions Pricing models eight different levels Discounts provided from time to time People Backbone of the brand Extensive trainings Hospitality industry and consider their customer as guest Interpersonal skills, aptitude, and service knowledge Place Online booking (official site) Online booking Yatro.com, make my trip.com, ezeego1.com Credit cards and debit cards payment SMS/call Outlets in every major city and at every airport across the country Physical evidence Personal valets Exclusive lounge space Hi! Blitz Gourmet cuisine World class cabin crew Kingfisher radio Process Booking the ticket online booking or telephone booking or from any of the kingfisher outlets and private agencies. SWOT Analysis Strength First airline with full new fleet of aircraft Quality hospitality provided to customers. Route rationalization. Already having training academy. Weaknesses Service delivery to metros and other big cities Yet not in a high profit. High ticket pricing Opportunities Under penetrated domestic market Chances International market Untapped air cargo market Expanding tourism industry Threats Existing operators Infrastructure issue Fuel price hike Economic slowdown Kingfisher VS Indian Airlines Areas Indian airlines Kingfisher Airlines Reservation Ticket can be booked by ringing or visiting the office. As soon as waiting list ticket get confirmed they will call the customers on the given contact number Passengers can make the booking first and purchase the ticket later Ticket can be cancelled over phone or through fax 24hr before the journey By the help of user friendly websites Kingfisher airline office Authorized agents Payment can be made by the debit card, credit card, payment at kingfisher airlines office, credit note Kingfisher airline provides the home delivery of tickets and maintains direct relation with the customers. Fares Special fares offered for army forces, war disabled officers, war widows, blind persons, cancer patients, person suffering from 80% and above locomotive disability. Concessional fare to senior citizens, students etc. Fare apply only for carriage from airport at the point of origin to the airport at the point of destination It has 30 to 40 % lower ticket coast compared to other carrier operating in the country Meals Indicate the personal meal preference at the time of booking to ensure correct meal on board the flight Special meals: provided to passengers Indian vegetarian, western vegetarian, Hindu non- vegetarian, children food items etc. On board Choose from the readymade food Business class and economic class Order what you like freshly made on board Equality in class , no differentiation Low cost On ground More waiting time Satisfactory handling of delays Less waiting time Efficient handling of delays Suggestions and recommendation Reduce labour cost Simplify the flight operations Offer more transparent pricing Get smart on fuel The process of acquiring spice jet if complete would make kingfisher the larget player in the aviation industry Different modes of pricing should be taken care of Needs to change brand perceptions Gain optional efficiencies through alliances as with Jet Airways Fleet size expansion Partnering with Jet Airways and some depending brands. Appendix As part of the report preparation I visited my dads friend who is working in kingfisher and I had an interview with him. I went through many magazines who wrote articles about kingfishers and Dr. Mallyas success. I have talked with some of my friends who got chance to fly in kingfisher. They explained to me the facilities they got and their rating to the flight travel. Questionnaire As a supplier, what major trends have you witnessed in the manner consumers in India buy travel especially air ticket? How would you describe your target audience? How do you assess the current positioning of Kingfisher Airlines? Companies are going about brand activation at multiple consumer touch-points. How are you balancing your offline and online marketing initiatives? How tough is it in the current environment to build connect with consumers? How successful has been your Partners Program, a forum where like-minded brands to Kingfisher Airlines can come on the same platform and achieve respective marketing objectives?

Effect of the Financial Crisis on the British Economy

Effect of the Financial Crisis on the British Economy To what extent has Britain been affected by the financial crisis and what efforts contribute to recovery of the British economy? The worldwide financial crisis of 2007-2008 almost brought down the global financial system. The fundamental cause agreed broadly was the combination of credit and the housing bubble crunch (Acharya and Richardson, 2009). Most people are placed on the same side of credit ranking relaxing area; however, the question may be raised that why the housing bubble would bring the financial system instead of having an effect on just on the housing sector of the economy. The answer is assigned to the bankers and regulators on the Wall Street. In this global economic crisis, banks had shirked regulatory capital requirements with the temporarily placed assets increasing and the reduction on the number of holding capital requirement allowed by the regulators. The financial crisis began to out of control after September 2008 and led to a number of fairly large financial institutions bankrupt or takeover by governments. As a financial industry and service oriented country, although Britain has a smaller size of economies of scale than America, financial industry accounted for a greater proportion of the national economy, the real estate market existing bubble as well. Therefore, the British economy suffered a massive hit by the crisis and shaped the current British commercial and business scene (Hodson and Mabbett, 2009, pp. 1041–1061). These factors are making a huge influence on the public now, either at national or individual level. Under such circumstances, Britain tends to cut government expenditure to repay debt rather than cause inflation. In terms of the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, the British economy is picking up by 0.2% and confidence of consumers is being improved. This essay will contain two main parts. The first part aims to give an overview of the British economy has been affected by the financial crisis on the following aspects. They are currency devaluation, housing and mortgage market bubble as well as the employment policy. In the second part, this essay will demonstrate the consequences of these aspects and efforts contributing to the British economic recovery, especially for employment policy. For a better understanding, efforts and consequences will follow behind by introducing the three aspects. First of all, devaluation is a natural process in financial markets. All currencies exchange rates will rise or fall based on the international situation and the states financial condition. Assume 5 British pounds were able to buy 10 U.S. dollars years ago, today the pound could be devalued and its purchasing power would only be enough to buy 7 dollars. Compared with the devaluation of the market, governments around the world sometimes use devaluation as a balance tool to protect their trade. For instance, the country could benefit from the lower cost of its export of goods if the currency is devaluated. Meanwhile, the lower currency value encourages exports and discourages imports, which could improve trade deficit and imbalances for the country. So far, the sharp depreciation of sterling in 2008 was not due to naturally devaluation process but by the true power-driven, the global financial crisis (Broadbent, 2011). In addition, trade performance of the UK since financial crisis in 2008 has been part of an essential developments in the British economy. Despite a fact that extensive depreciation in the value of sterling, which should have enhanced the UK’s competitiveness theoretically, the performance of UK trade has remained relatively stable (Hardie et al., 2003). As can be observed in the figure 1, there was a massive depreciation from 2007 to 2008 and the trade deficit stayed open. At the same time, import prices went up by a fairly large amount as well as export prices according to the figure 2. Which is not coherence with economic theory that currency depreciation encourages exports and discourages imports. Figure 1: Sterling effective exchange rate and balance of UK trade Figure 2: Sterling effective exchange rate index and UK import and export price indices Figure 3: Earnings against inflation Moreover, the reason for why there was a large depreciation of sterling during 2007 and 2009 is because the value of the sterling is tied up with the price and turnover of financial assets in the City of London. While, the UK does not contribute to the same position as America, which has the Worlds’ reserve currency. And hence when asset prices took the hardest hit in 2007-2008, the sterling did as well. This phenomenon demonstrates the sensitivity of the sterling that might occur in the financial markets. Furthermore, based on figure 3, the consequences of sterling depreciation cause a dramatic decline with earnings growth from around 4.5 per cent in 2007 to just above 1 per cent in 2009, even though the price inflation decrease during 2008. Forecast could be made from the data that standards of living quality for British people fall markedly (Hardie et al., 2003). The second impact by the 2007-2008 global financial crisis within the British economy is housing and mortgage market bubble. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (2010) point out that the housing market is playing an essential role in UK economic activity, and there was a high owner-occupation rate stood at 68% in 2010 (Niklewski et al., 2013, PP. 518–530). However, the financial crisis associated with the credit crunch means that the UK market faced a further problem relating to the housing and mortgage market. Prior to the financial crash, borrowers were in a position to finance at least 95% of the purchase price using mortgage debt (Niklewski et al., 2013, PP. 518–530). By contrast, banks withdrew the majority of these offers after crash, and many increased the required down-payment from the historical average of 10 percent to 25 percent (Niklewski et al., 2013, PP. 518–530). The British Banking Association (2013) indicates that house purchases sum reduc ed from almost  £12 billion in November 2006 to around  £2000 in November 2008. Prima facie this had improved slightly to  £4550 million by July 2012, but this was still below the historical average. In terms of credit becomes more readily available eventually, the housing market still performs unlikely to revert to pre-crisis levels. Hence, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) placed proposals to a greater formal restriction on mortgage lending. The Council of Mortgage lenders suggested that the implementation of these proposed restrictions could see four million fewer mortgages in the United Kingdom over the subsequent four years (Niklewski et al., 2013, PP. 518–530). Finally, international financial crisis caused serious problems on the status of British employment. And the National Bureau of Statistics report shows that by October 2008, there were more than 150,000 jobs to be cut. Thus, UK jobless claims have increased by 257,500. Moreover, the British company lay off up to 38,588 people mainly due to high cost and low demand during the preceding three months. Under such situations, the British government had taken a number of steps to slow the further development of expanding unemployment and helped to recover the British economy to some certain extent. This could be split into two points. The first one is to encourage employment directly. And there are four policies will be presented at this point. Policy one: at least 100,000 new jobs were established through infrastructure projects. The British government implemented a total of  £10 billion for infrastructure investment plans in 2009, including education, transportation and other infrastructure projects in order to create at least 100,000 additional jobs. This measure was appropriate to provide a large number of jobs for British workers, reducing the unemployment rate as well as promoting the improvement of infrastructure. This has encouraged the development of economy and city construction in the long run. However, the biggest problem is the huge pressure for fiscal policy of expend iture, which may lead to British citizens’ tax burden in the future. The second policy was for women were received training allowance for re-employment. This policy had improved the housewife job enthusiasm to some significant extent, and it relieved the economic pressure due to decrease income by husband unemployment; also promoted the sex ratio of the employment market equilibrium. However, this policy has intensified competition among job markets, the employment situation will deteriorate further, and the effect may deviate from the original purposes. Policy three was the National Program to promote the employment of university students. Based on the view of the great employment pressure, the British government launched a National Program in 2009, helped the college students who were failed to find a job to get an internship in enterprise or other organizations, improving their occupation and comprehensive quality by skill training (White Paper, 2011). Then, reach the goal for the final realization of employment. This policy increased the quantity and quality of employment. At the same time, because of financial crisis, British unemployment rate for young people under the age of 25 continues to increase. Hence, the British government introduced a number of youth employment measures for 18 to 24 years old people, to help them find work or study, where can improve their employment skills (White Paper, 2011). The positive effect of this policy is obvious. For instance, recent figures from the Office for National Statistics show that about 30 million people were in work at the end of 2012, an increase of 154000 on the quarter to September, which is the most obvious improvement since 2007 (King, 2013) The last policy was restricting immigration. The British government started to increase the difficulty of immigrants in October 2008 (GOV.UK, 2014), and limited the number of British immigrants to the open jobs. This policy has reduced the British resident employment pressure to a certain extent, but it will cause hatred between the British and foreign immigrants, which may lead to the problem of racial discrimination. Meanwhile, this policy made life more difficult for immigrating people who have already lived in the UK. Therefore, government had to increase fiscal expenditure on their housing and daily expenses. Which was also made the foreign immigrants cannot engage in some work that British people do not want to engage in, it may hinder the British economic development to some extent. The second point was to pay a subsidy to the unemployed class, and this will be introduced by three policies. The first one was spending  £50 million to help the unemployed people. In order to cushion the impact of the economic recession, the British government planned to apply for a package of measures to help the long-term jobless workers back to the positions in the next two years since April 2009. Spending on this plan was around  £50million, which including paying compensation to the company to hiring workers who are unemployed for more than six months. These measures improved the re-employed workers’ skills and promoted the employment rate. However, paying subsidy to jobless people may cause ethical risks of enterprises. Because of obtain the compensation payment from the government, enterprises may take negative training even repeat its layoffs behavior, which leads to the re-employment rights and interests cannot be ensured. The second policy was that an unemployed worker could delay the mortgage interest payments up to 2 years. The British government provided guarantees to lenders, allowing those property buyers who lost their jobs and income appear serious decline can delay the mortgage interest payments up to 2 years. It helps to prevent the default risk on interest payment. If this policy is implemented, buyers can afford the monthly repayment, the risk of default will be reduced. Also, it helps the buyers overcome the current financial crisis smoothly. Nevertheless, there is no accurate calculation on the cost of risky loan guarantee provided by the government. If the cost is quite high, the reachable and feasibility of the reformed policy are still far from satisfactory. At the same time, the Bank of England offers loan, if the government is responsible for guaranteeing costs, the liquidity will become worse, which may lead to continuing market turmoil. The final policy was raising the minimum wage standard. The British government raised the minimum wage standards in the late 2008. However, it was obvious to see the dual characters of this policy during the recession. On the one hand, there is an undeniable fact that an increase in the minimum wage will increase income of workers living at the bottom of society relatively, which strengthen their basic livelihood security and maintain their basic living standard for low income groups. It serves to sustain the stability of British society. On the other hand, minimum wage standards will also increase the labor cost of enterprises directly. The increased burden would have a negative effect on employing workers, and cause the amount of jobless people increase, which deteriorates the employment environment. Even bring negative effect on the British economic recovery.

Income Distribution and Economic Growth in LDCs Essay -- essays paper

Income Distribution and Economic Growth in LDC's INTRODUCTION In recent years, one of the major concerns of economic development is the study of poverty, the income distribution and growth in the less developed countries (LDC’s) or Third World countries. Economists from all over the world have been doing researches and studies on how to induce a growth in those underdeveloped countries. However, countries differentiate in historical backgrounds, cultural believes and natural resources. As a result, the government would implement different strategies to attain a much fairer distribution of income among the society. The relationship between the income distribution and growth in the LDC’s is a significant factor that would affect government policies. Also, the study of the strategies, promoted from the government, would show us how the government can enable economic growth with a more equal income distribution. INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH For years, most of the more developed countries have been helping the less developed countries. Most of them believed that the only solution to the problem of poverty is to make the GDP grow. However, some other questions may arise as to who would make it grow, and should they be the few or the many. If it is the many who need to make it grow, then the GDP may be shared more equally. On the other hand, in order to make the GDP rise, we need to make decisions in production. The Production Possibility curve can show us the maximum amounts an economy can produce, but it doesn’t tell us which decision would be made. A country makes the decision on what to produce is accordance to the income distribution. The most ideal case is to have perfect income equality (Gini Coefficient equal to 0) in one society. However, studies tell us that this can never be reached. In most of the more developed countries, a Gini Coefficient (G.C.) of 0.2 to 0.35 is considered to be in relative equa lity. One may wonder what is the G.C. in the less developed countries? The answer is assumed to be a number in the higher rank. In fact, in most LCD’s, the G.C. is about 0.5 to 0.7 or even higher. This shows us that the problem of income inequality is very seriously in those countries. â€Å"We were taught to take care of our GNP as this will take care of poverty. Let us reverse this and take care of poverty as this will take care of po... ...ad to many positive notes such as increase in productions, employments, and indirectly increase the local investments. Increase in productions, employments and capitals in the country thus enable a growth in the economy and therefore, the government should make careful decisions keeping in mind that of the impact these factors have on the societies. Bibliography: Judith Randel and Tony German., The Reality of Aid 1998/1999, UK:Earthscan Publications Ltd., 1998 Adelman and Morris: Economic Growth & Social Equity in Developing Countries, California: Stanford University Press.,1973 David Dembo, Clarence Dias, Ward Morehouse, James Paul: The International context of Rural Poverty in the Third World, Newyouk: Council on International and Public Affairs, Inc., 1986 Jacques Lecaillon, Felix Paukert, Christian Morrisson, Dimitri Germidis. Income Distribution and economic development,French:International Labour Organisation., 1984 Gary S. Fields. Poverty, Inequality, and Development, New York: Cambridge University Press.,1980 Michael P. Todaro. Economic Development, New York: Longman.,1994 Simon Kuznets. Population Capital & Growth, New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Inc.,1973

Essay --

Courtney Peters Essay 1 Rough Draft ENG 308 2/21/14 Donne: The Imprint Left Behind Every writer leaves his mark, his imprint, in his writing; a thumb print left behind the ink if you know how to look for it, and Donne is no exception. The problem is extracting Donne’s imprint, and essence, from the poem, and understanding what that tells us about him. In one poem in particular this stands out, his Holy Sonnet IX, where Donne’s imprint lingers, giving another story behind the text, of his belief in God, but also his inner questioning, and confliction and doubt which come out as contradictions. Behind the text, Holy Sonnet IX, as Donne speaks through his speaker and poem, we come to understand that he is a religious man, though conflicted, which leads to doubt and contradictions, as he resents God in a way, while also just craving for his absolution and for him to forget and forgive his sins and wash them away, sins which weigh on him heavily and he believes taint him. Looking at Donne’s Holy Sonnet IX, you can see where parts of his self are hidden under the text, if you only know how to look and how to interpret what you find. Donne repeats â€Å"I† throughout the poem three times, and while doing so he not only reflects parts of his inner self, but changes his stand point each time. In the first instance of â€Å"I†, Donne writes, â€Å"If lecherous goats, if serpents envious/Cannot be damn’d; Alas; why should I bee?† (3-4). Here he questions God, demanding to know why he should be damned when the lecherous goats, and serpents cannot not be condemned and damned for their sins. The second instance of â€Å"I† however writes, â€Å"But whou am I, that dare dispute with thee/O God? Oh! of thine onely worthy blood,† where he shifts from angrily questioning... ...e forgotten and he is not damned by them. The illusion and imagery emphasize the severity of his desire for God to forget his sins, the sins which he emphasizes by referring to them as â€Å"black sins† utilizing severe language in calling them thus, to further darken the already negative connotation of his sins and their evilness. The allusion speaks of the greatness of Donne’s sorrow, in that he would cry a river, his wish in the end, more than anything, for his sins to be forgotten and him undammed, and his thoughts on sins, that they are black, his darkness, his taint, his embarrassment, indebting him to God who in turn damns him. -- Create a conclusion, short, but sums up: What I mean by Imprint How his imprint shines throu, aka, what we learn of him from: His usage of I His pattern His allusions, imagery, and language Should be one per paragraph for most

Language Essay :: essays research papers

Introduction To awaken from the dream means recognizing the illusory nature of this constricted self concept and perception of the body and mind, not as a means as of gasping at the ephemeral pleasures of the world or as a prison enclosing the self, but as an instrument for learning and communicating in various languages. Before the Move Two months before moving to New York, my friend William, thought he would be kind enough to warn me about the vast culture of the, â€Å"Big Apple.† William begins by telling me that I would not be able to survive the cultural diversity and I would not be able to get a good paying job or housing because of my ethnicity. Well, was he very wrong. Since I commuted to and from New York three times, a week I decided to put in a transfer from the company I was employed with to work in their satellite office in New York. When speaking with Cindy, one of the customer service representatives already living and working in New York, I mentioned to her that I was relocating to the New York office but did not have a place to live. Immediately, Cindy who I did not meet at the time offered me full living quarters with all the amenities for a charge of $445.00 a month. Gleefully, I accepted without even looking at the place. Moving day I had two oversized suitcases and my brother at my side, who kept telling me to, â€Å"You can make it.† Because I was somewhat familiar with my surroundings, it was no problem for me to jump on the â€Å"E† train from Manhattan to Queens, New York. It was not until my brother Jerry and I got to Jamaica Queens that William’s words replayed in my mind. â€Å"You will not be able to survive the cultural diversity.† There were so many people from different cultural background gathered in one place ranging from: Jamaican, Guyanese, Trinidadians, Indians, Hispanics, Caucasians, Blacks and Mexicans. They were shopping, walking, talking, waiting for the bus and catching the dollar vans, going to their different destinations. After I stood there for a moment (relieving myself of the shock), while almost getting knocked down, I called Cindy on my cell phone to let her know I had arrived at the arranged pick-up spot. Prior to that day, when speaking with Cindy, I never knew she masked her Trinidadian accent.

Bag of Bones CHAPTER SIX

On July 3rd of 1998, I threw two suitcases and my Powerbook in the trunk of my mid-sized Chevrolet, started to back down the driveway, then stopped and went into the house again. It felt empty and somehow forlorn, like a faithful lover who has been dropped and cannot understand why. The furniture wasn't covered and the power was still on (I understood that The Great Lake Experiment might turn out to be a swift and total failure), but 14 Benton Street felt deserted, all the same. Rooms too full of furniture to echo still did when I walked through them, and everywhere there seemed to be too much dusty light. In my study, the VDT was hooded like an executioner against the dust. I knelt before it and opened one of the desk drawers. Inside were four reams of paper. I took one, started away with it under my arm, then had a second thought and turned back. I had put that provocative photo of Jo in her swimsuit in the wide center drawer. Now I took it, tore the paper wrapping from the end of the ream of paper, and slid the photo halfway in, like a bookmark. If I did perchance begin to write again, and if the writing marched, I would meet Johanna right around page two hundred and fifty. I left the house, locked the back door, got into my car, and drove away. I have never been back. I'd been tempted to go down to the lake and check out the work which turned out to be quite a bit more extensive than Bill Dean had originally expected on several occasions. What kept me away was a feeling, never quite articulated by my conscious mind but still very powerful, that I wasn't supposed to do it that way; that when I next came to Sara, it should be to unpack and stay. Bill hired out Kenny Auster to shingle the roof, and got Kenny's cousin, Timmy Larribee, to ‘scrape the old girl down,' a cleansing process akin to pot-scrubbing that is sometimes employed with log homes. Bill also had a plumber in to check out the pipes, and got my okay to replace some of the older plumbing and the well-pump. Bill fussed about all these expenses over the telephone; I let him. When it comes to fifth- or sixth-generation Yankees and the expenditure of money, you might as well just stand back and let them get it out of their systems. Laying out the green just seems wrong to a Yankee, somehow, like petting in public. As for myself, I didn't mind the outgo a bit. I live frugally, for the most part, not out of any moral code but because my imagination, very lively in most other respects, doesn't work very well on the subject of money. My idea of a spree is three days in Boston, a Red Sox game, a trip to Tower Records and Video, plus a visit to the Wordsworth bookstore in Cambridge. Living like that doesn't make much of a dent in the interest, let alone the principal; I had a good money manager down in Waterville, and on the day I locked the door of the Derry house and headed west to TR-90, I was worth slightly over five million dollars. Not much compared to Bill Gates, but big numbers for this area, and I could afford to be cheerful about the high cost of house repairs. That was a strange late spring and early summer for me. What I did mostly was wait, close up my town affairs, talk to Bill Dean when he called with the latest round of problems, and try not to think. I did the Publishers Weekly interview, and when the interviewer asked me if I'd had any trouble getting back to work ‘in the wake of my bereavement,' I said no with an absolutely straight face. Why not? It was true. My troubles hadn't started until I'd finished All the Way from the Top; until then, I had been going on like gangbusters. In mid-June, I met Frank Arlen for lunch at the Starlite Cafe. The Starlite is in Lewiston, which is the geographical midpoint between his town and mine. Over dessert (the Starlite's famous strawberry shortcake), Frank asked if I was seeing anyone. I looked at him with surprise. ‘What are you gaping at?' he asked, his face registering one of the nine hundred unnamed emotions this one of those somewhere between amusement and irritation. ‘I certainly wouldn't think of it as two-timing Jo. She'll have been dead four years come August.' ‘No,' I said. ‘I'm not seeing anybody.' He looked at me silently. I looked back for a few seconds, then started fiddling my spoon through the whipped cream on top of my shortcake. The biscuits were still warm from the oven, and the cream was melting. It made me think of that silly old song about how someone left the cake out in the rain. ‘Have you seen anybody, Mike?' ‘I'm not sure that's any business of yours.' ‘Oh for Christ's sake. On your vacation? Did you ‘ I made myself look up from the melting whipped cream. ‘No,' I said. ‘I did not.' He was silent for another moment or two. I thought he was getting ready to move on to another topic. That would have been fine with me. Instead, he came right out and asked me if I had been laid at all since Johanna died. He would have accepted a lie on that subject even if he didn't entirely believe it men lie about sex all the time. But I told the truth . . . and with a certain perverse pleasure. ‘No.' ‘Not a single time?' ‘Not a single time.' ‘What about a massage parlor? You know, to at least get a ‘ ‘No.' He sat there tapping his spoon against the rim of the bowl with his dessert in it. He hadn't taken a single bite. He was looking at me as though I were some new and oogy specimen of bug. I didn't like it much, but I suppose I understood it. I had been close to what is these days called ‘a relationship' on two occasions, neither of them on Key Largo, where I had observed roughly two thousand pretty women walking around dressed in only a stitch and a promise. Once it had been a red-haired waitress, Kelli, at a restaurant out on the Extension where I often had lunch. After awhile we got talking, joking around, and then there started to be some of that eye-contact, you know the kind I'm talking about, looks that go on just a little too long. I started to notice her legs, and the way her uniform pulled against her hip when she turned, and she noticed me noticing. And there was a woman at Nu You, the place where I used to work out. A tall woman who favored pink jog-bras and black bike shorts. Quite yummy. Also, I liked the stuff she brought to read while she pedalled one of the stationary bikes on those endless aerobic trips to nowhere not Mademoiselle or Cosmo, but novels by people like John Irving and Ellen Gilchrist. I like people who read actual books, and not just because I once wrote them myself. Book-readers are just as willing as anyone else to start out with the weather, but as a general rule they can actually go on from there. The name of the blonde in the pink tops and black shorts was Adria Bundy. We started talking about books as we pedalled side by side ever deeper into nowhere, and there came a point where I was spotting her one or two mornings a week in the weight room. There's something oddly intimate about spotting. The prone position of the lifter is part of it, I suppose (especially when the lifter is a woman), but not all or even most of it. Mostly it's the dependence factor. Although it hardly ever comes to that point, the lifter is trusting the spotter with his or her life. And, at some point in the winter of 1996, those looks started as she lay on the bench and I stood over her, looking into her upside-down face. The ones that go on just a little too long. Kelli was around thirty, Adria perhaps a little younger. Kelli was divorced, Adria never married. In neither case would I have been robbing the cradle, and I think either would have been happy to go to bed with me on a provisional basis. Kind of a honey-bump test-drive. Yet what I did in Kelli's case was to find a different restaurant to eat my lunch at, and when the YMCA sent me a free exercise-tryout offer, I took them up on it and just never went back to Nu You. I remember walking past Adria Bundy one day on the street six months or so after I made the change, and although I said hi, I made sure not to see her puzzled, slightly hurt gaze. In a purely physical way I wanted them both (in fact, I seem to remember a dream in which I had them both, in the same bed and at the same time), and yet I wanted neither. Part of it was my inability to write my life was quite fucked up enough, thank you, without adding any additional complications. Part of it was the work involved in making sure that the woman who is returning your glances is interested in you and not your rather extravagant bank account. Most of it, I think, was that there was just too much Jo still in my head and heart. There was no room for anyone else, even after four years. It was sorrow like cholesterol, and if you think that's funny or weird, be grateful. ‘What about friends?' Frank asked, at last beginning to eat his strawberry shortcake. ‘You've got friends you see, don't you?' ‘Yes,' I said. ‘Plenty of friends.' Which was a lie, but I did have lots of crosswords to do, lots of books to read, and lots of movies to watch on my VCR at night; I could practically recite the FBI warning about unlawful copying by heart. When it came to real live people, the only ones I called when I got ready to leave Derry were my doctor and my dentist, and most of the mail I sent out that June consisted of change-of address cards to magazines like Harper's and National Geographic. ‘Frank,' I said, ‘you sound like a Jewish mother.' ‘Sometimes when I'm with you feel like a Jewish mother,' he said. ‘One who believes in the curative powers of baked potatoes instead of matzo balls. You look better than you have in a long time, finally put on some weight, I think ‘ ‘Too much.' ‘Bullshit, you looked like Ichabod Crane when you came for Christmas. Also, you've got some sun on your face and arms.' ‘I've been walking a lot.' ‘So you look better . . . except for your eyes. Sometimes you get this look in your eyes, and I worry about you every time I see it. I think Jo would be glad someone's worrying.' ‘What look is that?' I asked. ‘Your basic thousand-yard stare. Want the truth? You look like someone who's caught on something and can't get loose.' I left Derry at three-thirty, stopped in Rumford for supper, then drove slowly on through the rising hills of western Maine as the sun lowered. I had planned my times of departure and arrival carefully, if not quite consciously, and as I passed out of Motton and into the unincorporated township of TR-90, I became aware of the heavy way my heart was beating. There was sweat on my face and arms in spite of the car's air conditioning. Nothing on the radio sounded right, all the music like screaming, and I turned it off. I was scared, and had good reason to be. Even setting aside the peculiar cross-pollination between the dreams and things in the real world (as I was able to do quite easily, dismissing the cut on my hand and the sunflowers growing through the boards of the back stoop as either coincidence or so much psychic fluff), I had reason to be scared. Because they hadn't been ordinary dreams, and my decision to go back to the lake after all this time hadn't been an ordinary decision. I didn't feel like a modern fin-de-mill? ¦naire man on a spiritual quest to face his fears (I'm okay, you're okay, let's all have an emotional circle-jerk while William Ackerman plays softly in the background); I felt more like some crazy Old Testament prophet going out into the desert to live on locusts and alkali water because God had summoned him in a dream. I was in trouble, my life was a moderate-going-on-severe mess, and not being able to write was only part of it. I wasn't raping kids or running around Times Square preaching conspiracy theories through a bullhorn, but I was in trouble just the same. I had lost my place in things and couldn't find it again. No surprise there; after all, life's not a book. What I was engaging in on that hot July evening was self-induced shock therapy, and give me at least this much credit I knew it. You come to Dark Score this way: 1-95 from Derry to Newport; Route 2 from Newport to Bethel (with a stop in Rumford, which used to stink like hell's front porch until the paper-driven economy pretty much ground to a halt during Reagan's second term); Route 5 from Bethel to Waterford. Then you take Route 68, the old County Road, across Castle View, through Motton (where downtown consists of a converted barn which sells videos, beer, and second-hand rifles), and then past the sign which reads TR-90 and the one reading GAME WARDEN IS BEST ASSISTANCE IN EMERGENCY, DIAL 1-800-555-GAME OR * 72 ON CELLULAR PHONE. To this, in spray paint, someone has added FUCK THE EAGLES. Five miles past that sign, you come to a narrow lane on the right, marked only by a square of tin with the faded number 42 on it. Above this, like umlauts, are a couple of. 22 holes. I turned into this lane just about when I had expected to it was 7:16 P.M., EDT, by the clock on the Chevrolet's dashboard. And the feeling was coming home. I drove in two tenths of a mile by the odometer, listening to the grass which crowned the lane whickering against the undercarriage of my car, listening to the occasional branch which scraped across the roof or knocked on the passenger side like a fist. At last I parked and turned the engine off. I got out, walked to the rear of the car, lay down on my belly, and began pulling all of the grass which touched the Chevy's hot exhaust system. It had been a dry summer, and it was best to take precautions. I had come at this exact hour in order to replicate my dreams, hoping for some further insight into them or for an idea of what to do next. What I had not come to do was start a forest fire. Once this was done I stood up and looked around. The crickets sang, as they had in my dreams, and the trees huddled close on either side of the lane, as they always did in my dreams. Overhead, the sky was a fading strip of blue. I set off, walking up the right hand wheelrut. Jo and I had had one neighbor at this end of the road, old Lars Washburn, but now Lars's driveway was overgrown with juniper bushes and blocked by a rusty length of chain. Nailed to a tree on the left of the chain was NO TRESPASSING. Nailed to one on the right was NEXT CENTURY REAL ESTATE, and a local number. The words were faded and hard to read in the growing gloom. I walked on, once more conscious of my heavily beating heart and of the way the mosquitoes were buzzing around my face and arms. Their peak season was past, but I was sweating a lot, and that's a smell they like. It must remind them of blood. Just how scared was I as I approached Sara Laughs? I don't remember. I suspect that fright, like pain, is one of those things that slip our minds once they have passed. What I do remember is a feeling I'd had before when I was down here, especially when I was walking this road by myself. It was a sense that reality was thin. I think it is thin, you know, thin as lake ice after a thaw, and we fill our lives with noise and light and motion to hide that thinness from ourselves. But in places like Lane Forty-two, you find that all the smoke and mirrors have been removed. What's left is the sound of crickets and the sight of green leaves darkening toward black; branches that make shapes like faces; the sound of your heart in your chest, the beat of the blood against the backs of your eyes, and the look of the sky as the day's blue blood runs out of its cheek. What comes in when daylight leaves is a kind of certainty: that beneath the skin there is a secret, some mystery both black and bright. You feel this mystery in every breath, you see it in every shadow, you expect to plunge into it at every turn of a step. It is here; you slip across it on a kind of breathless curve like a skater turning for home. I stopped for a moment about half a mile south of where I'd left the car, and still half a mile north of the driveway. Here the road curves sharply, and on the right is an open field which slants steeply down toward the lake. Tidwell's Meadow is what the locals call it, or sometimes the Old Camp. It was here that Sara Tidwell and her curious tribe built their cabins, at least according to Marie Hingerman (and once, when I asked Bill Dean, he agreed this was the place . . . although he didn't seem interested in continuing the conversation, which struck me at the time as a bit odd). I stood there for a moment, looking down at the north end of Dark Score. The water was glassy and calm, still candy-colored in the afterglow of sunset, without a single ripple or a single small craft to be seen. The boat-people would all be down at the marina or at Warrington's Sunset Bar by now, I guessed, eating lobster rolls and drinking big mixed drinks. Later a few of them, buzzed on speed and martinis, would go bolting up and down the lake by moonlight. I wondered if I would be around to hear them. I thought there was a fair chance that by then I'd be on my way back to Derry, either terrified by what I'd found or disillusioned because I had found nothing at all. ‘You funny little man, said Strickland.' I didn't know I was going to speak until the words were out of my mouth, and why those words in particular I had no idea. I remembered my dream of Jo under the bed and shuddered. A mosquito whined in my ear. I slapped it and walked on. In the end, my arrival at the head of the driveway was almost too perfectly timed, the sense of having re-entered my dream almost too complete. Even the balloons tied to the SARA LAUGHS sign (one white and one blue, both with WELCOME BACK MIKE! carefully printed on them in black ink) and floating against the ever-darkening backdrop of the trees seemed to intensify the d? ¦j? ¤ vu I had quite deliberately induced, for no two dreams are exactly the same, are they? Things conceived by minds and made by hands can never be quite the same, even when they try their best to be identical, because we're never the same from day to day or even moment to moment. I walked to the sign, feeling the mystery of this place at twilight. I squeezed down on the board, feeling its rough reality, and then I ran the ball of my thumb over the letters, daring the splinters and reading with my skin like a blind man reading braille: S and A and R and A; L and A and U and G and H and S. The driveway had been cleared of fallen needles and blown-down branches, but Dark Score glimmered a fading rose just as it had in my dreams, and the sprawled hulk of the house was the same. Bill had thoughtfully left the light over the back stoop burning, and the sunflowers growing through the boards had long since been cut down, but everything else was the same. I looked overhead, at the slot of sky over the lane. Nothing . . . I waited . . . and nothing . . . waiting still . . . and then there it was, right where the center of my gaze had been trained. At one moment there was only the fading sky (with indigo just starting to rise up from the edges like an infusion of ink), and at the next Venus was glowing there, bright and steady. People talk about watching the stars come out, and I suppose some people do, but I think that was the only time in my life that I actually saw one appear. I wished on it, too, but this time it was real time, and I did not wish for Jo. ‘Help me,' I said, looking at the star. I would have said more, but I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what kind of help I needed. That's enough, a voice in my mind said uneasily. That's enough, now. Go on back and get your car. Except that wasn't the plan. The plan was to go down the driveway, just as I had in the final dream, the nightmare. The plan was to prove to myself that there was no shroud-wrapped monster lurking in the shadows of the big old log house down there. The plan was pretty much based on that bit of New Age wisdom which says the word ‘fear' stands for Face Everything And Recover. But, as I stood there and looked down at that spark of porch light (it looked very small in the growing darkness), it occurred to me that there's another bit of wisdom, one not quite so good-morning-starshine, which suggests fear is actually an acronym for Fuck Everything And Run. Standing there by myself in the woods as the light left the sky, that seemed like the smarter interpretation, no two ways about it. I looked down and was a little amused to see that I had taken one of the balloons untied it without even noticing as I thought things over. It floated serenely up from my hand at the end of its string, the words printed on it now impossible to read in the growing dark. Maybe it's all moot, anyway; maybe I won't be able to move. Maybe that old devil writer's walk has got hold of me again, and I'll just stand here like a statue until someone comes along and hauls me away. But this was real time in the real world, and in the real world there was no such thing as writer's walk. I opened my hand. As the string I'd been holding floated free, I walked under the rising balloon and started down the driveway. Foot followed foot, pretty much as they had ever since I'd first learned this trick back in 1959. I went deeper and deeper into the clean but sour smell of pine, and once I caught myself taking an extra-big step, avoiding a fallen branch that had been in the dream but wasn't here in reality. My heart was still thudding hard, and sweat was still pouring out of me, oiling my skin and drawing mosquitoes. I raised a hand to brush the hair off my brow, then stopped, holding it splay-fingered out in front of my eyes. I put the other one next to it. Neither was marked; there wasn't even a shadow of scar from the cut I'd given myself while crawling around my bedroom during the ice storm. ‘I'm all right,' I said. ‘I'm all right.' You funny little man, said Strickland, a voice answered. It wasn't mine, wasn't Jo's; it was the UFO voice that had narrated my nightmare, the one which had driven me on even when I wanted to stop. The voice of some outsider. I started walking again. I was better than halfway down the driveway now. I had reached the point where, in the dream, I told the voice that I was afraid of Mrs. Danvers. ‘I'm afraid of Mrs. D.,' I said, trying the words aloud in the growing dark. ‘What if the bad old housekeeper's down there?' A loon cried on the lake, but the voice didn't answer. I suppose it didn't have to. There was no Mrs. Danvers, she was only a bag of bones in an old book, and the voice knew it. I began walking again. I passed the big pine that Jo had once banged into in our Jeep, trying to back up the driveway. How she had sworn! Like a sailor! I had managed to keep a straight face until she got to ‘Fuck a duck,' and then I'd lost it, leaning against the side of the Jeep with the heels of my hands pressed against my temples, howling until tears rolled down my cheeks, and Jo glaring hot blue sparks at me the whole time. I could see the mark about three feet up on the trunk of the tree, the white seeming to float above the dark bark in the gloom. It was just here that the unease which pervaded the other dreams had skewed into something far worse. Even before the shrouded thing had come bursting out of the house, I had felt something was all wrong, all twisted up; I had felt that somehow the house itself had gone insane. It was at this point, passing the old scarred pine, that I had wanted to run like the gingerbread man. I didn't feel that now. I was afraid, yes, but not in terror. There was nothing behind me, for one thing, no sound of slobbering breath. The worst thing a man was likely to come upon in these woods was an irritated moose. Or, I supposed, if he was really unlucky, a pissed-off bear. In the dream there had been a moon at least three quarters full, but there was no moon in the sky above me that night. Nor would there be; in glancing over the weather page in that morning's Derry News, I had noticed that the moon was new. Even the most powerful d? ¦j? ¤ vu is fragile, and at the thought of that moonless sky, mine broke. The sensation of reliving my nightmare departed so abruptly that I even wondered why I had done this, what I had hoped to prove or accomplish. Now I'd have to go all the way back down the dark lane to retrieve my car. All right, but I'd do it with a flashlight from the house. One of them would surely still be just inside the A series of jagged explosions ran themselves off on the far side of the lake, the last loud enough to echo against the hills. I stopped, drawing in a quick breath. Moments before, those unexpected bangs probably would have sent me running back up the driveway in a panic, but now I had only that brief, startled moment. It was firecrackers, of course, the last one the loudest one maybe an M-80. Tomorrow was the Fourth of July, and across the lake kids were celebrating early, as kids are wont to do. I walked on. The bushes still reached like hands, but they had been pruned back and their reach wasn't very threatening. I didn't have to worry about the power being out, either; I was now close enough to the back stoop to see moths fluttering around the light Bill Dean had left on for me. Even if the power had been out (in the western part of the state a lot of the lines are still above ground, and it goes out a lot), the gennie would have kicked in automatically. Yet I was awed by how much of my dream was actually here, even with the powerful sense of repetition of reliving departed. Jo's planters were where they'd always been, flanking the path which leads down to Sara's little lick of beach; I suppose Brenda Meserve had found them stacked in the cellar and had had one of her crew set them out again. Nothing was growing in them yet, but I suspected that stuff would be soon. And even without the moon of my dream, I could see the black square on the water, standing about fifty yards offshore. The swimming float. No oblong shape lying overturned in front of the stoop, though; no coffin. Still, my heart was beating hard again, and I think if more firecrackers had gone off on the Kashwakamak side of the lake just then, I might have screamed. You funny little man, said Strickland. Give me that, it's my dust-catcher. What if death drives us insane? What if we survive, but it drives us insane? What then? I had reached the point where, in my nightmare, the door banged open and that white shape came hurtling out with its wrapped arms upraised. I took one more step and then stopped, hearing the harsh sound of my respiration as I drew each breath down my throat and then pushed it back out over the dry floor of my tongue. There was no sense of d? ¦j? ¤ vu, but for a moment I thought the shape would appear anyway here in the real world, in real time. I stood waiting for it with my sweaty hands clenched. I drew in another dry breath, and this time I held it. The soft lap of water against the shore. A breeze that patted my face and rattled the bushes. A loon cried out on the lake; moths battered the stoop light. No shroud-monster threw open the door, and through the big windows to the left and right of the door, I could see nothing moving, white or otherwise. There was a note above the knob, probably from Bill, and that was it. I let out my breath in a rush and walked the rest of the way down the driveway to Sara Laughs. The note was indeed from Bill Dean. It said that Brenda had done some shopping for me; the supermarket receipt was on the kitchen table, and I would find the pantry well stocked with canned goods. She'd gone easy with the perishables, but there was milk, butter, half-and-half, and hamburger, that staple of single-guy cuisine. I will see you next Mon., Bill had written. If I had my druthers I'd be here to say hello in person but the good wife says it's our turn to do the holiday trotting and so we are going down to Virginia (hot!!) to spend the 4th with her sister. If you need anything or run into problems . . . He had jotted his sister-in-law's phone number in Virginia as well as Butch Wiggins's number in town, which locals just call ‘the TR,' as in ‘Me and mother got tired of Bethel and moved our trailer over to the TR.' There were other numbers, as well the plumber, the electrician, Brenda Meserve, even the TV guy over in Harrison who had repositioned the DSS dish for maximum reception. Bill was taking no chances. I turned the note over, imagining a final P.S.: Say, Mike, if nuclear war should break out before me and Yvette get back from Virginia Something moved behind me. I whirled on my heels, the note dropping from my hand. It fluttered to the boards of the back stoop like a larger, whiter version of the moths banging the bulb overhead. In that instant I was sure it would be the shroud-thing, an insane revenant in my wife's decaying body, Give me my dust-catcher, give it to me, how dare you come down here and disturb my rest, how dam you come to Manderley again, and now that you're here, how will you ever get away? Into the mystery with you, you silly little man. Into the mystery with you. Nothing there. It had just been the breeze again, stirring the bushes around a little . . . except I had felt no breeze against my sweaty skin, not that time. ‘Well it must have been, there's nothing there,' I said. The sound of your voice when you're alone can be either scary or reassuring. That time it was the latter. I bent over, picked up Bill's note, and stuffed it into my back pocket. Then I rummaged out my keyring. I stood under the stoop light in the big, swooping shadows of the light-struck moths, picking through my keys until I found the one I wanted. It had a funny disused look, and as I rubbed my thumb along its serrated edge, I wondered again why I hadn't come down here except for a couple of quick broad daylight errands in all the months and years since Jo had died. Surely if she had been alive, she would have insisted But then a peculiar realization came to me: it wasn't just a matter of since Jo died. It was easy to think of it that way never once during my six weeks on Key Largo had I thought of it any other way but now, actually standing here in the shadows of the dancing moths (it was like standing under some weird organic disco ball) and listening to the loons out on the lake, I remembered that although Johanna had died in August of 1994, she had died in Derry. It had been miserably hot in the city . . . so why had we been there? Why hadn't we been sitting out on our shady deck on the lake side of the house, drinking iced tea in our bathing suits, watching the boats go back and forth and commenting on the form of the various water-skiers? What had she been doing in that damned Rite Aid parking lot to begin with, when during any other August we would have been miles from there? Nor was that all. We usually stayed at Sara until the end of September it was a peaceful, pretty time, as warm as summer. But in '93 we'd left with August only a week gone. I knew, because I could remember Johanna going to New York with me later that month, some kind of publishing deal and the usual attendant publicity crap. It had been dog-hot in Manhattan, the hydrants spraying in the East Village and the uptown streets sizzling. On one night of that trip we'd seen The Phantom of the Opera. Near the end Jo had leaned over to me and whispered, ‘Oh fuck! The Phantom is snivelling again!' I had spent the rest of the show trying to keep from bursting into wild peals of laughter. Jo could be evil that way. Why had she come with me that August? Jo didn't like New York even in April or October, when it's sort of pretty. I didn't know. I couldn't remember. All I was sure of was' that she had never been back to Sara Laughs after early August of 1993 . . . and before long I wasn't even sure of that. I slipped the key into the lock and turned it. I'd go inside, flip on the kitchen overheads, grab a flashlight, and go back for the car. If I didn't, some drunk guy with a cottage at the far south end of the lane would come in too fast, rear-end my Chevy, and sue me for a billion dollars. The house had been aired out and didn't smell a bit musty; instead of still, stale air, there was a faint and pleasing aroma of pine. I reached for the light inside the door, and then, somewhere in the blackness of the house, a child began to sob. My hand froze where it was and my flesh went cold. I didn't panic, exactly, but all rational thought left my mind. It was weeping, a child's weeping, but I hadn't a clue as to where it was coming from. Then it began to fade. Not to grow softer but to fade, as if someone had picked that kid up and was carrying it away down some long corridor. . . not that any such corridor existed in Sara Laughs. Even the one running through the middle of the house, connecting the central section to the two wings, isn't really long. Fading . . . faded . . . almost gone. I stood in the dark with my cold skin crawling and my hand on the lightswitch. Part of me wanted to boogie, to just go flying out of there as fast as my little legs could carry me, running like the gingerbread man. Another part, however the rational part was already reasserting itself. I flicked the switch, the part that wanted to run saying forget it, it won't work, it's the dream, stupid, it's your dream coming true. But it did work. The foyer light came on in a shadow-dispelling rush, revealing Jo's lumpy little pottery collection to the left and the bookcase to the right, stuff I hadn't looked at in four years or more, but still here and still the same. On a middle shelf of the bookcase I could see the three early Elmore Leonard novels Swag, The Big Bounce, and Mr. Majestyk that I had put aside against a spell of rainy weather; you have to be ready for rain when you're at camp. Without a good book, even two days of rain in the woods can be enough to drive you bonkers. There was a final whisper of weeping, then silence. In it, I could hear ticking from the kitchen. The clock by the stove, one of Jo's rare lapses into bad taste, is Felix the Cat with big eyes that shift from side to side as his pendulum tail flicks back and forth. I think it's been in every cheap horror movie ever made. ‘Who's here?' I called. I took a step toward the kitchen, just a dim space floating beyond the foyer, then stopped. In the dark the house was a cavern. The sound of the weeping could have come from anywhere. Including my own imagination. ‘Is someone here?' No answer . . . but I didn't think the sound had been in my head. If it had been, writer's block was the least of my worries. Standing on the bookcase to the left of the Elmore Leonards was a long-barrelled flashlight, the kind that holds eight D-cells and will temporarily blind you if someone shines it directly into your eyes. I grasped it, and until it nearly slipped through my hand I hadn't really realized how heavily I was sweating, or how scared I was. I juggled it, heart beating hard, half-expecting that creepy sobbing to begin again, half-expecting the shroud-thing to come floating out of the black living room with its shapeless arms raised; some old hack of a politician back from the grave and ready to give it another shot. Vote the straight Resurrection ticket, brethren, and you will be saved. I got control of the light and turned it on. It shot a bright straight beam into the living room, picking out the moosehead over the fieldstone fireplace; it shone in the head's glass eyes like two lights burning under water. I saw the old cane-and-bamboo chairs; the old couch; the scarred dining-room table you had to balance by shimming one leg with a folded playing card or a couple of beer coasters; I saw no ghosts; I decided this was a seriously fucked-up carnival just the same. In the words of the immortal Cole Porter, let's call the whole thing off. If I headed east as soon as I got back to my car, I could be in Derry by midnight. Sleeping in my own bed. I turned out the foyer light and stood with the flash drawing its line across the dark. I listened to the tick of that stupid cat-clock, which Bill must have set going, and to the familiar chugging cycle of the refrigerator. As I listened to them, I realized that I had never expected to hear either sound again. As for the crying . . . Had there been crying? Had there really? Yes. Crying or something. Just what now seemed moot. What seemed germane was that coming here had been a dangerous idea and a stupid course of action for a man who has taught his mind to misbehave. As I stood in the foyer with no light but the flash and the glow falling in the windows from the bulb over the back stoop, I realized that the line between what I knew was real and what I knew was only my imagination had pretty much disappeared. I left the house, checked to make sure the door was locked, and walked back up the driveway, swinging the flashlight beam from side to side like a pendulum like the tail of old Felix the Krazy Kat in the kitchen. It occurred to me, as I struck north along the lane, that I would have to make up some sort of story for Bill Dean. It wouldn't do to say, ‘Well, Bill, I got down there and heard a kid bawling in my locked house, and it scared me so bad I turned into the gingerbread man and ran back to Derry. I'll send you the flashlight I took; put it back on the shelf next to the paperbacks, would you?' That wasn't ‘any good because the story would get around and people would say, ‘Not surprised. Wrote too many books, probably. Work like that has got to soften a man's head. Now he's scared of his own shadow. Occupational hazard.' Even if I never came down here again in my life, I didn't want to leave people on the TR with that opinion of me, that half-contemptuous, see-what-you-get-for-thinking-too-much attitude. It's one a lot of folks seem to have about people who live by their imaginations. I'd tell Bill I got sick. In a way it was true. Or no . . . better to tell him someone else got sick . . . a friend . . . someone in Derry I'd been seeing . . . a lady-friend, perhaps. ‘Bill, this friend of mine, this lady-friend of mine got sick, you see, and so . . . ‘ I stopped suddenly, the light shining on the front of my car. I had walked the mile in the dark without noticing many of the sounds in the woods, and dismissing even the bigger of them as deer settling down for the night. I hadn't turned around to see if the shroud-thing (or maybe some spectral crying child) was following me. I had gotten involved in making up a story and then embellishing it, doing it in my head instead of on paper this time but going down all the same well-known paths. I had gotten so involved that I had neglected to be afraid. My heartbeat was back to normal, the sweat was drying on my skin, and the mosquitoes had stopped whining in my ears. And as I stood there, a thought occurred to me. It was as if my mind had been waiting patiently for me to calm down enough so it could remind me of some essential fact. The pipes. Bill had gotten my go-ahead to replace most of the old stuff, and the plumber had done so. Very recently he'd done so. ‘Air in the pipes,' I said, running the beam of the eight-cell flashlight over the grille of my Chevrolet. ‘That's what I heard.' I waited to see if the deeper part of my mind would call this a stupid, rationalizing lie. It didn't . . . because, I suppose, it realized it could be true. Airy pipes can sound like people talking, dogs barking, or children crying. Perhaps the plumber had bled them and the sound had been something else . . . but perhaps he hadn't. The question was whether or not I was going to jump in my car, back two tenths of a mile to the highway, and then return to Derry, all on the basis of a sound I had heard for ten seconds (maybe only five), and while in an excited, stressful state of mind. I decided the answer was no. It might take only one more peculiar thing to turn me around probably gibbering like a character on Tales from the Crypt but the sound I'd heard in the foyer wasn't enough. Not when making a go of it at Sara Laughs might mean so much. I hear voices in my head, and have for as long as I can remember. I don't know if that's part of the necessary equipment for being a writer or not; I've never asked another one. I never felt the need to, because I know all the voices I hear are versions of me. Still, they often seem like very real versions of other people, and none is more real to me-or more familiar than Jo's voice. Now that voice came, sounding interested, amused in an ironic but gentle way . . . and approving. Going to fight, Mike? ‘Yeah,' I said, standing there in the dark and picking out gleams of chrome with my flashlight. ‘Think so, babe.' Well, then that's all right, isn't it? Yes. It was. I got into my car, started it up, and drove slowly down the lane. And when I got to the driveway, I turned in. There was no crying the second time I entered the house. I walked slowly through the downstairs, keeping the flashlight in my hand until I had turned on every light I could find; if there were people still boating on the north end of the lake, old Sara probably looked like some weird Spielbergian flying saucer hovering above them. I think houses live their own lives along a time-stream that's different from the ones upon which their owners float, one that's slower. In a house, especially an old one, the past is closer. In my life Johanna had been dead nearly four years, but to Sara, she was much nearer than that. It wasn't until I was actually inside, with all the lights on and the flash returned to its spot on the bookshelf, that I realized how much I had been dreading my arrival. Of having my grief reawakened by signs of Johanna's interrupted life. A book with a corner turned down on the table at one end of the sofa, where Jo had liked to recline in her nightgown, reading and eating plums; the cardboard cannister of Quaker Oats, which was all she ever wanted for breakfast, on a shelf in the pantry; her old green robe hung on the back of the bathroom door in the south wing, which Bill Dean still called ‘the new wing,' although it had been built before we ever saw Sara Laughs. Brenda Meserve had done a good job a humane job-of removing these signs and signals, but she couldn't get them all. Jo's hardcover set of Sayers's Peter Wimsey novels still held pride of place at the center of the living-room bookcase. Jo had always called the moosehead over the fireplace Bunter, and once, for no reason I could remember (certainly it seemed a very un-Bunterlike accessory), she had hung a bell around the moose's hairy neck. It hung there still, on a red velvet ribbon. Mrs. Meserve might have puzzled over that bell, wondering whether to leave it up or take it down, not knowing that when Jo and I made love on the living-room couch (and yes, we were often overcome there), we referred to the act as ‘ringing Bunter's bell.' Brenda Meserve had done her best, but any good marriage is secret territory, a necessary white space on society's map. What others don't know about it is what makes it yours. I walked around, touching things, looking at things, seeing them new. Jo seemed everywhere to me, and after a little while I dropped into one of the old cane chairs in front of the TV. The cushion wheezed under me, and I could hear Jo saying, ‘Well excuse yourself, Michael!' I put my face in my hands and cried. I suppose it was the last of my mourning, but that made it no easier to bear. I cried until I thought something inside me would break if I didn't stop. When it finally let me go, my face was drenched, I had the hiccups, and I thought I had never felt so tired in my life. I felt strained all over my body partly from the walking I'd done, I suppose, but mostly just from the tension of getting here . . . and deciding to stay here. To fight. That weird phantom crying I'd heard when I first stepped into the place, although it seemed very distant now, hadn't helped. I washed my face at the kitchen sink, rubbing away the tears with the heels of my hands and clearing my clogged nose. Then I carried my suitcases down to the guest bedroom in the north wing. I had no intention of sleeping in the south wing, in the master bedroom where I had last slept with Jo. That was a choice Brenda Meserve had foreseen. There was a bouquet of fresh wildflowers on the bureau, and a card: WELCOME BACK, MR. NOONAN. If I hadn't been emotionally exhausted, I suppose looking at that message, in Mrs. Meserve's spiky copperplate handwriting, would have brought on another fit of the weeps. I put my face in the flowers and breathed deeply. They smelled good, like sunshine. Then I took off my clothes, leaving them where they dropped, and turned back the coverlet on the bed. Fresh sheets, fresh pillowcases; same old Noonan sliding between the former and dropping his head onto the latter. I lay there with the bedside lamp on, looking up at the shadows on the ceiling, almost unable to believe I was in this place and this bed. There had been no shroud-thing to greet me, of course . . . but I had an idea it might well find me in my dreams. Sometimes for me, at least there's a transitional bump between waking and sleeping. Not that night. I slipped away without knowing it, and woke the next morning with sunlight shining in through the window and the bedside lamp still on. There had been no dreams that I could remember, only a vague sensation that I had awakened sometime briefly in the night and heard a bell ringing, very thin and far away.