Read Online The Other Side of the Island by Allegra Goodman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Allegra Goodman
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Islands, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Family Life, Domestic Fiction, Nature & the Natural World, Social Issues, Families, Peer Pressure, Weather, Individuality
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scale the bathroom wall.
SEVEN
TWO ORDERLIES BURST THROUGH THE DOOR AND scooped up Honor. They were immensely strong. Their faces were calm, not angry or fierce, but blank as always. The two lifted Honor right off the floor, one orderly under each elbow, and sped her away. She turned her head and saw two more orderlies following with sticks. She closed her eyes.
When the orderlies dropped her off, Honor saw that she was not back in her own classroom; she was in the nurse’s office. The orderlies deposited her in a chair and the school nurse approached with a thermometer. “Are you all right?” the plump blond nurse asked.
Honor nodded.
“Where did the accident happen?” the nurse asked.
“I didn’t have an accident,” said Honor.
“Yes, but I have to fill out an accident report,” the nurse said kindly, and she showed Honor her clipboard with the accident form printed on pink paper. “My name is Nurse Applebee.”
Honor examined the nurse’s dimpled hands. The name Applebee made her think of honey.
“Tell me exactly where the accident happened,” said Nurse Applebee.
“In my classroom,” said Honor.
“Yes?” said the nurse.
Honor remembered Mrs. Whyte’s words: We do not lie. Ever.
“I fell into the aquarium,” she said.
Fell into the aquarium, Nurse Applebee wrote slowly. Then she looked up and asked, “Why aren’t you wet?”
“Look.” Honor showed the nurse the front of her shirt.
“But shouldn’t you be wet all over?”
Again, Honor remembered Mrs. Whyte. Do you know what exaggeration is? “Octavio pulled me out,” said Honor.
“The class octopus?”
“Don’t kill him,” Honor pleaded. “He saved me.”
“Why do you say that?” the nurse asked.
“Don’t kill him,” she begged. “Please, please . . .”
Nurse Applebee leaned forward. She spoke quickly and quietly. “Stop that. You aren’t a baby, and you know as well as I do that if the orderlies got him, he’s already dead.”
When Honor returned to the classroom, she carried the pink accident report signed by Nurse Applebee and sealed in an envelope. She did not know what the report said, but Mrs. Whyte frowned when she read it. “I’m disappointed,” Mrs. Whyte said at last.
Honor bowed her head.
Mrs. Whyte spoke again, and each word fell like a blow. “I am very unhappy with you.”
Honor stood silently before her teacher.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Mrs. Whyte asked.
Honor couldn’t speak.
“I’m waiting,” Mrs. Whyte said.
Honor stared at the floor. No words came.
“Go to your loom and get to work,” Mrs. Whyte snapped.
All that long afternoon, Honor kept her head down as she worked, avoiding the stares of the other children. She didn’t dare look at Mrs. Whyte. She kept her eyes on her shuttle and the threads in her loom.
At the end of the day, when the students lined up for the bus, Honor didn’t push to the front, but let the others go first. She felt beaten, even though no one had hit her; her body ached. When the doors finally opened for her stop, she trudged off the bus, dragging her book bag behind her.
Instead of her mother, her father was standing by the side of the road to meet her. “Hurry,” he told her, taking her book bag. He seemed excited and nervous. “You can walk faster than that.” He pulled her by the hand and they hurried to the City Center.
Thousands upon thousands of silvery bicycles flashed through the City. It was rush hour and the office workers were cycling home. The footbridges were packed, and as Honor and her father tried to walk across, there were so many workers crowded together that Honor could see nothing but their sweaty backs. Somehow, her father found an opening to push forward. Below them, the bicycles shimmered like a silver river in the afternoon sun.
Honor’s father led her past the Safety Bureau, with its lavish waterless fountains casting colors through tall prisms. Will rushed Honor through the Corporation
SEVEN
TWO ORDERLIES BURST THROUGH THE DOOR AND scooped up Honor. They were immensely strong. Their faces were calm, not angry or fierce, but blank as always. The two lifted Honor right off the floor, one orderly under each elbow, and sped her away. She turned her head and saw two more orderlies following with sticks. She closed her eyes.
When the orderlies dropped her off, Honor saw that she was not back in her own classroom; she was in the nurse’s office. The orderlies deposited her in a chair and the school nurse approached with a thermometer. “Are you all right?” the plump blond nurse asked.
Honor nodded.
“Where did the accident happen?” the nurse asked.
“I didn’t have an accident,” said Honor.
“Yes, but I have to fill out an accident report,” the nurse said kindly, and she showed Honor her clipboard with the accident form printed on pink paper. “My name is Nurse Applebee.”
Honor examined the nurse’s dimpled hands. The name Applebee made her think of honey.
“Tell me exactly where the accident happened,” said Nurse Applebee.
“In my classroom,” said Honor.
“Yes?” said the nurse.
Honor remembered Mrs. Whyte’s words: We do not lie. Ever.
“I fell into the aquarium,” she said.
Fell into the aquarium, Nurse Applebee wrote slowly. Then she looked up and asked, “Why aren’t you wet?”
“Look.” Honor showed the nurse the front of her shirt.
“But shouldn’t you be wet all over?”
Again, Honor remembered Mrs. Whyte. Do you know what exaggeration is? “Octavio pulled me out,” said Honor.
“The class octopus?”
“Don’t kill him,” Honor pleaded. “He saved me.”
“Why do you say that?” the nurse asked.
“Don’t kill him,” she begged. “Please, please . . .”
Nurse Applebee leaned forward. She spoke quickly and quietly. “Stop that. You aren’t a baby, and you know as well as I do that if the orderlies got him, he’s already dead.”
When Honor returned to the classroom, she carried the pink accident report signed by Nurse Applebee and sealed in an envelope. She did not know what the report said, but Mrs. Whyte frowned when she read it. “I’m disappointed,” Mrs. Whyte said at last.
Honor bowed her head.
Mrs. Whyte spoke again, and each word fell like a blow. “I am very unhappy with you.”
Honor stood silently before her teacher.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Mrs. Whyte asked.
Honor couldn’t speak.
“I’m waiting,” Mrs. Whyte said.
Honor stared at the floor. No words came.
“Go to your loom and get to work,” Mrs. Whyte snapped.
All that long afternoon, Honor kept her head down as she worked, avoiding the stares of the other children. She didn’t dare look at Mrs. Whyte. She kept her eyes on her shuttle and the threads in her loom.
At the end of the day, when the students lined up for the bus, Honor didn’t push to the front, but let the others go first. She felt beaten, even though no one had hit her; her body ached. When the doors finally opened for her stop, she trudged off the bus, dragging her book bag behind her.
Instead of her mother, her father was standing by the side of the road to meet her. “Hurry,” he told her, taking her book bag. He seemed excited and nervous. “You can walk faster than that.” He pulled her by the hand and they hurried to the City Center.
Thousands upon thousands of silvery bicycles flashed through the City. It was rush hour and the office workers were cycling home. The footbridges were packed, and as Honor and her father tried to walk across, there were so many workers crowded together that Honor could see nothing but their sweaty backs. Somehow, her father found an opening to push forward. Below them, the bicycles shimmered like a silver river in the afternoon sun.
Honor’s father led her past the Safety Bureau, with its lavish waterless fountains casting colors through tall prisms. Will rushed Honor through the Corporation
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