short story

The Puppeteer

by: Michelle Margaretha Suwito

"Smile for the camera!"

"Cassidy! Cassidy!"

"What do you think about his newest show?"

"He really did wonders with his last one! How do you feel about his never-ending success?"

She wore her sunglasses up high on her head and walked eagerly sipping her cappuccino, ignoring the blinding flashes of the paparazzi. She passed by magazine stands with headlines of missing people but she couldn't care less. Smiling innocently, she thinks of how he might look waiting for her under the dim cafe light with his short blonde hair and mysterious eyes. She was thrilled to finally be meeting him, her idol ever since she was a wide-eyed kid with pigtails entering the blood red auditorium she had visited on many occasions with her father. The way the puppets he moved seem so real and alive bewitched her to this very day.

He looked up from his now dull maroon journal as the chimes rang, alerting him to the door where an aura full of confidence and radiant waist-long red hair entered. He smiled to himself, pleased at the sight of the girl he had mesmerized with his talent and how she'd do wonders in the industry. He never disappoints his audience and would always be on the look out for new acts for shows. As he stared at the beauty seated in the plush comfortable antique chair in front of him, he attentively took note of her dreams and desires.

She was freaking out as she walked off, she couldn't believe how he had agreed to put her in one of his shows. The famous Richard Allen. It was her dream come true. She has always wanted to be a part of one of his shows, to be a part of the glittering wonders of the theater. Overjoyed, she had thanked him and rushed off bringing her here in search of inspiration along with all the fast-paced people in the busy streets of Manhattan. Once left alone, Richard chuckled and flipped another page in his journal, scribbling CASSIDY in strong cursive strokes.

One peculiar morning, about a week later, the sun was hiding behind a dark grey blanket of sky. Cassidy ran back home to grab her bright yellow umbrella before heading off towards the studio. She wanted to start reviewing and getting into character as soon as she could. She wanted this show to be more spectacular than his previous ones. This has to be special. Little did she know that was what he wanted too.

Knocking feverishly on his back door, she was hoping he'd answer quickly as raindrops were threatening to plummet to the ground around her. She heard distant footsteps approaching the door and readied herself to meet him.

"Hey, Cassidy. I'm glad you came. Come in before the rain soaks you." She smiled brightly and entered the building.

He offered her a seat and rushed to the kitchen to prepare tea and cookies. As this was the house of someone she thought was flawless, she got curious. She got up from her seat and walked around, examining object after object in the room. An old yellowed picture frame with torn apart photographs of him and his father, a chandelier made of colored glass and faint drips of wax from it.

When she walked back towards the seat, she accidentally stepped on sheets that were scattered all around the floor. Curiously, she picked up a page an read. It was his newest script! Continuously skimming through and reaching out for more, she found one wedged under a door. Cassidy tried pulling it out but it wouldn't budge, she wasn't going to risk ripping a script apart over some petty door. She got up and turned the knob, hoping to get the missing sheet. Instead, a pair of eyes so blue greeted her. She jumped back, startled by the horror in front of her. Living humans covered in wax with fake plastic doll eyes and strings sewed to their every joint.

"Help me."

Croaked the golden haired girl with big round eyes the color of the sky, arms wailing limply trying to reach out. A dozen other pairs of eyes opened in shock, shrieking through their pain and trying to scramble towards her. A mass full of bodies entangled to one another, clawing anything in their way to get out of the cramp bloody room.

She carefully backed away, eyes wide in fear, when Richard caught her shoulder from behind and whispered,

"Oh dear, this won't do."

holes

So for the past month or so, we've been reading and analysing "Holes" by Louis Sachar. It's overall a great story full of mystery and adventure. The story brings us three story lines which are all connected in an way that engages the reader. I love this book because although I found it absurd and a bit irrelevant at first, it got more and more interesting as the story continued. You immediately can sense the fear of yellow-spotted lizards, the riddle of digging holes to build so called 'character', the connection of the curse to his family's never-ending bad luck, and the story of two people separated by the unjustified law. I find this novel interesting because it's unlike any other novels I've read. It has a different feel to it with all the story lines mixing into one and having it be a really unorthodox plot. We can also learn a variety of morals ranging from keeping your promises to not being racist. It captured me in a way that I couldn't stop reading it. Highly recommended.

war horse film review

War Horse is a heartfelt movie based on the best-selling novel by Michael Morpurgo that tells the story about how hope is never absent, no matter how horrid the situation is. Directed by the talented Steven Spielberg who did a marvelous job with E.T., Saving Private Ryan, and lots more, he recreated the story with the help of Albert, a young lad, and Joey, his hardworking horse. 

Placed in the alluring town of Devon, the story begins when Albert, the son of a drunken farmer, sees the birth of Joey and is intrigued by the origin of life in front of him. As Ted Narracott— Albert's father —takes home the wrong breed of horse, his family experiences an economic collapse. A thoroughbred clearly wouldn't plough land, would it? How was he supposed to pay rent if he can't even use the land he's paying for? Nevertheless, Albert trains him and makes the impossible happen. When Captain Nicholls who was going to war, buys Joey from the Narracotts, the two were split apart leaving Albert devastated. 

Through endless struggles and amazing breakthroughs, the separation of the two has touched a million hearts all over the world. This film reveals the talented yet unpolished acting of a young Albert Narracott who was played by Jeremy Irvine, a Chopard Trophy winner, and has successfully reflected genuine emotions as if it is real. Not forgetting the fact that Joanna Johnston's costumes were precise and the shocking truth that it was all hand sewn down to the very last detail. All the hard work certainly paid off with the construction of an actual windmill and the naturalistic sets throughout the movie. The combination of these factors has definitely brought the movie to life! 

Follow Albert and Joey through an adventure beyond expectation and wonder. You'd want to see the moral values hidden behind every action of this movie, the small little snippets of happiness that was eventually taken by the war. This movie of faith, loyalty, courage and the never-ending friendship between two individuals who worked very hard to get to where they are. Fans of historical fiction will be thrilled by this extraordinary movie, don't miss it!

war horse

What good would a thoroughbred be to the Narracotts? A family of three who's been struggling for a peaceful living, paying for land that can't even be used. When Albert – the only son of the family – saw a foal's birth when he was a kid, a bond was formed between the two parties. Ted Narracottt bought it  at the auction and Albert raised him ever since, giving him the name Joey.

One day, the struggle to pay their rent was harder than ever before, counting the fact that their land needs to be ploughed in order for them to be able to plant crops. Albert though, the hard working lad he is, trained Joey. Taught him to be able to respond to calls and to be obedient. But when the day came for Ted to pay the rent and they had nothing, Ted was forced to auction Joey off to a wonderful man called Captain Nicholls.

While Joey was going to be rode on in the surprise attack the British had planned on the Germans, it was a shock to all of them when the British lost due to the machine guns the Germans had hidden near the borders of the forest.

Joey and Topthorn, a black horse that was in the war too, was taken and was cared for by many people. First they were taken by Michael and Gunther, the German brothers that defected the war, then Emilie and her grandfather who were French and lived in the midst of the war. The horses were taken again by  the German private Heiglemann and were told to drag heavy artillery for the war which caused the death of Topthorn.

Joey who was left alone, overcame his fear of leaping when the tank threatened to kill him. He ran to No Man's Land and miraculously survived with the help of Peter from Edinsburg and Colin from Britain. When Colin brought Joey back to the British Camp Base, he was almost killed. Luckily, Albert who was there realized it was Joey and he was tended to.

When the war ended at 11:00, because Joey wasn't a captain's horse, he had to be auctioned off. All of Albert's friends helped him gather the money even though he lost Joey to Emilie's grandfather who gave Joey back to Albert because he knew it was the right thing to do.

In the end, Albert came home from war safe and sound, getting Joey back in the process too.

who is responsible

On the 9^th of September 2013, a thirteen-year-old driver took the life of six people in a high-speed accident where he crashed into a road divider at the toll road hitting oncoming cars. Dhani, the father and the legal guardian of the underage child, should be held accountable for this devastating mishap.

It has been argued that Dul was responsible for he was the one driving the car, although his father should have been aware that his own son drives sometimes and that his personal driver was on holiday. He fully understood that Dul was a minor and was not emotionally stable yet (according to Standford studies) in which it was stated that “As people age, they’re more emotionally balanced and are better in the ability of solving highly emotional problems in limited time.” There is a reason why the legal driving age is in fact seventeen-years-old. The act of driving requires unbreakable concentration and fast reflexes, you should be aware of your own surroundings and at that moment, you’re responsible for the lives of people around you.

The opposing side has also dumped the blame on the toll driver because he/she was in charge of the gate that Dul went through and he/she didn’t do anything about it when it’s not actually his/her fault. Half the teenagers in Indonesia does look older than their actual age and it wasn’t his/her responsibility to look out for driving minors, he probably didn’t even know who Dul was! He was just doing his job. The father, however should have stopped Dul and his brothers because it was believed that Dul followed the example of his two brothers who were also underage and who the dad also bought cars they drove.

It was also a problem that Dhani was solely responsible in restricting his children and prevent bad influences from society, their way of life and that was all because his divorce with former wife did not end well. Apparently, his three children, Al, El, Dul, all had experiences with smoking and drugs and it was believed to be some sort of affected behavior from the divorce.

Dhani was wholly responsible for letting a minor drive a car that he purchased for his underage children. He should’ve been aware that his actions reflect to his sons behavior that was caused by the unmoral society he raised them 

the volupides mystery

To the chief of police,

When we arrived at the scene of crime at the private estate of the Volupides family located on the 4^th Avenue at 02:00 on the 24^th of August 1970, we were greeted by a body that was later identified as Arthur Volupides lying on his back, face up on the foot of the stairs with legs hanging on the third stair and Queenie, his wife, beside the body. A glass was still gripped in his hand and the stove was on. Arthur was dressed in formal and was wearing a robe on top.

Queenie said that, “Something terrible happened. Arthur slipped and fell on the stairs. He was coming down for another drink–he still had the glass in his hand–and I think he’s dead. Oh, my God–what shall I do? ”

The autopsy result of Arthur Volupides confirmed that Arthur had died from a wound and stated that he had been drunk.

We have concluded that Queenie’s story does not match the evidence that we have found.

First of all, the glass in his possession was not broken. When a person falls down, the object they’re holding usually breaks or the other possible outcome is that you usually let go of that object as a protective reflex. The second evidence we got was that the object on the wall was not misplaced. The rule is that when someone falls down they would usually try to grab hold of something nearby to prevent theirselves from falling. The staircase carpet was not messed up which was illogical because when someone falls down carpet covered stairs; the carpet usually would be rumpled because of the friction. The biggest lead we’ve got is that victim was found lying on the floor, face up, while usually when someone falls downstairs, they would fall face first and the paramedics that would usually be called when someone experiences an accident, were not present.

After seeing all of the evidence, we can say that Queenie’s was lying and she will need to be interrogated for further investigation. If she’s proved to be guilty we will continue investigating and bring it to court.

uniforms?

Have you ever wondered how it feels not to wear a school uniform to school? I know some are lucky not to use them, that’s for sure. But as an Indonesian, it's a very complex topic that's easily debatable.

I for one am against the use of uniform in schools. Why, you ask? Well, for one, you can express your identity when you use your own clothing. You’d certainly be more comfortable and people can really see who you really are. Sure, appearances don’t matter much but everyone has their own styles that would be reflected when they can use whatever they want. Appropriate, of course.

Not many would disagree on the statement that schools can easily increase the uniform prices and we wouldn’t know why. Wearing your own wardrobe would certainly result in less cost and people who can’t afford to go to school can look at school kids not wearing uniform and feel equality. Because in some cases, these kids that can’t go to school sees us in uniforms and may feel really depressed because they don’t have enough to be able to go to school, let alone buy a uniform.

We’d increase the school’s artistic side by indulging in our creativity and being colorful in what we wear. Clothes can reflect your feelings, like when you’re feeling down, most would wear black. When you’re feeling happy most would wear energetic, bright colors like pink or yellow, etc. This is not constant though, some people are happier with comfortable clothes like baggy pants and sweatshirts for no psychological reason and who are we to judge, right?

Parents would be concerned with the level of appropriateness of the child’s clothing as they are entitled to but if we wanted not to wear a uniform, we certainly would have created a policy segment that discusses the dress code rules on its own inside the student handbook everyone receives and should definitely follow.

“I want students to wear school uniforms because not wearing them results in no school identity!” Shouts one person.

Well I can’t really agree with you on that one, bud. Your uniform should not define you, you define your school uniform. Your behavior, your attitude, your respect. That defines your school. In addition to that, if you can conclude that no uniform means no school identity that means you’re insulting universities and colleges for no incoherent reason.

Look at them, for example. Even though they don't have uniforms, they’re united. And that's the whole point. Besides, if you’re worried that on trips you’d get separated with the group, a few schools has applied a wonderful strategy of making official school jackets, shirts, ribbons, bracelets, caps, it can be anything.

The wealthy and poor case that everyone takes intense notice of can also be avoided because most schools in Indonesia have economic standards that has to be fulfilled to be able to enroll to said school and that basically decreases the wealthy and poor range for we’re not that far of from each other. Almost equal.

The former statement can also explain the lack of jealousy that would occur in the certain school and the bullying levels would not be high, maybe not at all.

Based on the opinions and facts above, I don't see any problem with not using a uniform. I’d say that the advantages are worth more than the disadvantages that could easily be wriggled out of.

But everyone’s entitled to their own opinions. Tell me what you think!:)