Meeting the Gang of Robbery and Murders
I love walking in the woods in the summertime. Especially late in the afternoon. As I was doing the very same near the banks of the Mississippi, I came across a raft; that was aimlessly floating on the shore. I was intrigued by the way the raft was made and looked vaguely familiar. As soon as I touched it, my surroundings became dark and were soon unconscious.
When I opened my eyes, all I heard were a bunch of voices yelling and screaming. The voices all seemed to belong to a group of boys. I was right. They were boys. But not the kind who'd play a nice game of baseball or soccer. But instead were harassing a few women having a picnic by the stream.
"Look here, we don't wanna kill you or anything. Just give us your money and watches and stuffs and we'll be on our way. It's been weeks since my Gang has got any sleep or food even. So you'd better cough up!" said a small, skinny boy with curly hair. "And I need some money so that I can live without my Pap.” said another little boy. "Listen here fella; we ain't got no money or anything. We are just having a picnic that's all. Now go away or I'll- As soon as the woman and her friends saw me approaching, their expressions changed. It was almost as if I was a different specie or something. I noticed them looking up and down at me. I was wearing jeans and a shirt that said 'adventure' on it. The boys were giving me admiring stares.
"Sorry to intrude. But what is this place? And why are you boys bothering these ladies?" I asked. "Because it's what we do. We are highwaymen. We are not burglars. In fact... we are actually really nice men." replied the curly haired boy. “Well, 'really nice men' don't ask innocent women for money. And highwaymen kill their victims and rob them. They don't ask." I said with a smile. “Well... I guess we'll be on our way then. I suggest you stay away from these troublemakers; being a young lady and all...” said one of the women. I thanked them as they walked away.
"Now can someone tell me where I am? Because this place seems familiar and unfamiliar all at once." I asked the boys. The curly haired boy seemed the most enthusiastic to speak out. “You’re in St. Petersburg, Missouri and this is the Mississippi river. And... I'm Tom Sawyer by the way." And gave me a little bow and a tip with an imaginary hat. Right then, I immediately understood what happened. I have traveled back in time. And I also realized that I'd have to leave as soon as possible. Right then one of the boys pulled me out of my thoughts. " I'm Huckleberry Finn. Friends call me Huck." I remembered that this boy was the one who wanted money to live away from his Pap. “Why are you living away from your Pap Huck?” I asked “Cuz I don’t like him. Everyone else wants to ‘sivilize me. I don’t like that either. Don’t tell me you’re gon ‘sivilize me too!!” exclaimed Huck. I laughed and said,” No Huck! I’m not going to do that. I’m a kid myself. We should be the kids we are until we get to a point where we should act like grownups. Does that make sense?” “Yeah. I guess it does.” replied Huck. “Aww Huck, you always wanna kill the mood. You know what my books say; you treat a lady like a lady. And what are you doing? You’re blubbering like a baby. I’m so sorry Miss. But what’s your name?” Asked Tom Sawyer. Before I could tell him my name, I woke up with a jolt and realized I fell asleep in the raft. I looked around and it was still a summer afternoon just like the one in St. Petersburg, Missouri. I got out of the raft and looked around and thought to myself, the existence of ignorance in childhood is bliss. Could Twain have said it even better?
When I opened my eyes, all I heard were a bunch of voices yelling and screaming. The voices all seemed to belong to a group of boys. I was right. They were boys. But not the kind who'd play a nice game of baseball or soccer. But instead were harassing a few women having a picnic by the stream.
"Look here, we don't wanna kill you or anything. Just give us your money and watches and stuffs and we'll be on our way. It's been weeks since my Gang has got any sleep or food even. So you'd better cough up!" said a small, skinny boy with curly hair. "And I need some money so that I can live without my Pap.” said another little boy. "Listen here fella; we ain't got no money or anything. We are just having a picnic that's all. Now go away or I'll- As soon as the woman and her friends saw me approaching, their expressions changed. It was almost as if I was a different specie or something. I noticed them looking up and down at me. I was wearing jeans and a shirt that said 'adventure' on it. The boys were giving me admiring stares.
"Sorry to intrude. But what is this place? And why are you boys bothering these ladies?" I asked. "Because it's what we do. We are highwaymen. We are not burglars. In fact... we are actually really nice men." replied the curly haired boy. “Well, 'really nice men' don't ask innocent women for money. And highwaymen kill their victims and rob them. They don't ask." I said with a smile. “Well... I guess we'll be on our way then. I suggest you stay away from these troublemakers; being a young lady and all...” said one of the women. I thanked them as they walked away.
"Now can someone tell me where I am? Because this place seems familiar and unfamiliar all at once." I asked the boys. The curly haired boy seemed the most enthusiastic to speak out. “You’re in St. Petersburg, Missouri and this is the Mississippi river. And... I'm Tom Sawyer by the way." And gave me a little bow and a tip with an imaginary hat. Right then, I immediately understood what happened. I have traveled back in time. And I also realized that I'd have to leave as soon as possible. Right then one of the boys pulled me out of my thoughts. " I'm Huckleberry Finn. Friends call me Huck." I remembered that this boy was the one who wanted money to live away from his Pap. “Why are you living away from your Pap Huck?” I asked “Cuz I don’t like him. Everyone else wants to ‘sivilize me. I don’t like that either. Don’t tell me you’re gon ‘sivilize me too!!” exclaimed Huck. I laughed and said,” No Huck! I’m not going to do that. I’m a kid myself. We should be the kids we are until we get to a point where we should act like grownups. Does that make sense?” “Yeah. I guess it does.” replied Huck. “Aww Huck, you always wanna kill the mood. You know what my books say; you treat a lady like a lady. And what are you doing? You’re blubbering like a baby. I’m so sorry Miss. But what’s your name?” Asked Tom Sawyer. Before I could tell him my name, I woke up with a jolt and realized I fell asleep in the raft. I looked around and it was still a summer afternoon just like the one in St. Petersburg, Missouri. I got out of the raft and looked around and thought to myself, the existence of ignorance in childhood is bliss. Could Twain have said it even better?
First, I love the creativity emulated through your story! Great job getting the same point across that Mark Twain does, making knaves out of Tom and Huck and fools out of the girls to show the hypocritical nature of Tom and Huck's actions. Although they claim to be good guys, they are torturing innocent people for money. How do you think The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would have been different if Twain included the concept of sexism? Would it be very different from racism?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your encouraging comment Angela. I'm glad that you enjoyed reading my story!! As for the boys, they don't consider the fact that the women are innocent or that they don't have money. All they care about is to have fun and be the 'highwaymen' that they claim to be. Indeed I think Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would have been different if Twain decided to discuss sexism . Though it would have promoted additional controversy to racism; it is also an issue in need of discussion. This is so because women were seen as the inferior race and are expected to stay at home, care for the kids and stay away from trouble as much as possible. And even if there was any trouble, the men were expected to have caused it and to bear it. If you noticed in my story, 'The Gang of Robbery and Murders' is a group of boys who are causing trouble and the women are trying to solve it. When I made my entrance among the boys and the women, their reactions were entirely different. The women gave me stares of shock and disgust and the boys were intrigued. Due to the fact that normally, women don't step in to solve problems like I did. Also, before the women exited the scene, they warned me to "stay away from those troublemakers being a young lady and all." Which is hypocritical in all sense. Still I wonder why Twain did not include sexism in his novel and is there a logical reason for it?
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