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The buzz about Terry’s beating Elisabeth Cassidy—balanced to some extent by her loss—resonated through the hallways and cafeteria at Point Collina. The main result of this was additional jealousy by the Fourth Form girls, although Cathy was certainly impressed by Jack’s account of the victory. For her part Madeleine’s mind was still full the images …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 12 January (Part I), Once I Was Blind, Now I Can See"

Carla had no trouble getting up the next morning. Her excitement that her friend had spent the night at her house was compounded by the fact that Madeleine was going to church with her the next day. But this added to Carla’s anxiety in one important respect: what would her friend wear? She had never …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 10 January, the Belle Epoque of Baptist Churches"

Both Joyce’s and Carla’s parents arrived in time to see all of their matches. Because they played Aloxan schools more often, they had a better idea of the possible schedule than the Point Collinans, so Pete Stanley could open up the store and Hank Kerr could get his early farm chores out of the way …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 9 January (Part II), Living Dangerously at the Edge"

It was still dark as the Point Collina tennis teams—or the portions of them which were headed to Beran—gathered at the bus parked near the two locker rooms. Three planets hovered near the horizon in the direction of the government beach, and the Moon was just setting more or less in the direction they were …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 9 January (Part I), A Miracle Victory"

The cafeteria of the Point Collina school was a cut above those of any other school in the Republic of Verecunda, which reflected the fact that everything else about the school was the same way. In theory it was a “private” school, but it received some money from the Republic, which made it affordable for …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 4 January, When You’re the President’s Kid, You’ve Got Privileges"

The Ten Weeks revolves around an interesting set of characters, to say the least. Long before the time of streaming and mp3, they had their music too, but they had different ways of playing it--8-track, the emerging cassette, and of course the best of the bunch, the enduring medium of vinyl. So let's "drop the …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, Meet the Characters Through Their Music"

Although the Island had a wide variety of school systems, their terminology for grades and divisions was fairly consistent from country to country. As is the case with schools in the U.S., Island schools had twelve regular graded divisions. The first six made up “primary’ school and the last six “secondary” schools, corresponding to U.S. …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, A Note About School Terminology"

It took Madeleine longer than usual to get ready, but that was the beauty of Midnight Mass—no celebration of the sacred mysteries afforded the faithful more time to prepare during the day. As midnight approached, they made their way from the Evan Point area they lived in across Central Avenue to the Sacred Heart Cathedral. …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 25 December, See the Blazing Yule Before Us"

Christmas Eve at the des Cieux residence started off with breakfast. The presence of all four members of the family was a sign that normality was returning. Madeleine was the last to come to the table. Still moving slowly, she eased herself into her seat and said grace as the rest of the family followed …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 24 December, So Do I Go to Confession?"

Winter on the Island was always called “the dry season,” but this year was dryer than usual, and around 3ºC warmer too. As the morning progressed and the temperature passed through 18ºC, another very nice day was in the making at the Stanley Farm and Supply Store. The store was located about halfway between Hallett …

Continue reading "The Ten Weeks, 23 December, What Women Are Expected To Do"