https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57 Untwine by Edwidge Danticat en-us 2021-11-28 20:37:22 UTC 2024-01-26 02:08:59 UTC hello@padlet.com akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1916622830 Blue - Beginning
Purple - Middle
Green - End]]> 2021-11-28 21:06:41 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1916622830 akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929181300 Title: Untwine
Author: Edwidge Danticat
Main Character: Giselle Boyer]]> 2021-12-05 03:39:40 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929181300 akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929184839 Mom, Dad, Isabelle, and I got in the car to go to Isabelle's concert. She was going to be playing the flute!! But when we were driving, a red minivan slammed into us from behind. Dad tried to dodge the van but on the passenger side of the car there was a retaining wall, so he couldn't. Isabelle just took off her seatbelt and the sudden impact made her smash her head against the window, and her flute stabbed into her ribs. All this happened to the slow-motion tune of Igor Stravinsky's Firebird playing in the background, as Mom's loud screams pierced the air. I couldn't perceive anything as me and Isabelle held our hands together, tighter than we ever had.  I hoped everything was going to be ok... but deep down, I knew it wouldn't be. ]]> 2021-12-05 03:47:52 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929184839 akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929189649 I woke up to the cry of an ambulance's siren. The ambulance suddenly stopped, and I was pulled out of the ambulance. I was taken to a room that I think was the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. I heard the doctor rattling off a long list of serious injuries that Isabelle and I had sustained. I couldn't comprehend anything; I had a horrible concussion and couldn't hang on to consciousness, and I couldn't respond to people. Aunty Leslie, a pediatrician from Orlando and also Isabelle and I's grandmother, and a policewoman came into the room. The policewoman wanted to interrogate me, and Aunty told her in tears that I couldn't speak and that she and the rest of the family believes the crash wasn't an accident. Then, Aunty told me something dreadful. Mom and Dad were both in the Adult Wing because of course, they too had sustained injuries. But Isabelle, oh dear Isabelle... ]]> 2021-12-05 03:58:36 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929189649 akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929214210 Tina and Jean Michel are going to be there! Oh, Tina, my best friend, and Jean Michel, my crush! It's perfect, it'll be so fun! Tina understands me so much... she can finish my sentences, just like Isabelle! Jean Michel's so dreamy... I tried to keep my eyes off of him, and umm... maybe I failed. We were working on our assignment for Mr. Rhys's class. Even though they were both nerds when it came to the internet, Mr. Rhys advised us to use index cards for our group presentation. Our presentation was on Jean Michel's namesake, Jean-Michel Basquiat. We had so much fun, laughing and working together. Then something washed over my mind - Tina and Jean Michel in my hospital room. They were... they were trying to help me remember that afternoon at Tina's house. It wasn't actually happening, it was a past memory. Jean Michel tried to breathe words and pictures into my mouth. He touched his lips to mines... he kissed me. Memories came flooding back to me, of how we talked about being famous and going to church and so much more, and how Jean Michel and I awkwardly stared at each other for a long moment and then him leaving.
Even though I was still in the hospital, recovering, my life was coming back together, piece by piece. My friends and family were faithfully helping me with my journey.]]> 2021-12-05 04:50:48 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929214210 akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929679659 I'm out of the hospital and my life's finally getting better! Grandma Régine, Grandpa Marcus, Mom, Dad, Uncle Patrick, Alejandra, Aunt Leslie, and Dr. Aidoo are going to be there along with me!! At the family reunion!  We're meeting for Isabelle's and my birthday; we're going to honor Isabelle. We're celebrating it at Grandpa Marcus and Grandma Régine's house in Haiti. We all remembered and recognized Isabelle, for her great attitude and kindness and helpfulness and just... amazingness. Mom tipped a smaller version of the urn we left at home and sprinkled part of the ashes into the half calabash. We were all sad; I remembered that the last time Isabelle and I were standing here, at this same spot, we introduced Grandpa and Grandma to step dancing. I finally let go. I finally accepted it. I couldn't help but smile while my family tried to wipe away their tears, tiny particles of Isabelle on their faces. We all accepted it. We're all trying. ]]> 2021-12-05 16:05:27 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929679659 akash_matukumalli_069 https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929804887 I'm deaf now. Deaf. Everything's quiet... total and absolute quiet. In my head, I see Isabelle comforting me by telling me that the famous composer and musician Beethoven went deaf, too. I can't hear what anyone's saying; not Grandpa, not Grandma. I can only see; everything's a 3D movie, but without sound. I miss music, the faint hum of the radio during the night. I miss echoes, footsteps, the nurses tiptoeing into my room in the middle of the night to care for me. I'm sad. The only thing I can hear are the voices in my head. I keep dreaming and thinking too much about Isabelle in the silence of the hospital. I can't leave her, but then I won't wake up or leave the hospital. I redirect my thoughts to Jean Michel, my crush. I remember how he passed me a note after Christmas Break that read "Do you want to meet up later?" and my heart was bursting with joy. Mom, Dad, and Aunt Leslie came to visit me, snapping me back to reality. I still can't hear anything, their voices... nothing. All I see are strange mimes in a strange play. I wonder if I'll ever hear them again... their beautiful voices, their kind words. I wonder if I'll ever hear anything again. ]]> 2021-12-05 18:42:59 UTC https://padlet.com/akash_matukumalli_069/uyr0zjt9wsj7ux57/wish/1929804887