Creative Interpretation

Creative Interpretation

The little Mexican Girl

My sister and I looked at each other and sighed. After a long a tedious train ride, we had eventually reached the boarding school. We did not have anything with us apart from two old suitcases. My elder sister, Lizzy looked more composed than I was. We were two orphaned girls who had moved from a foster home to a boarding school at the end of the world. So I wondered why Lizzy looked so calm and content.

“Are you Lizzy and Janet?” a voice startled me back to reality.

“Yes,” Lizzy responded to the lady who was smiling down at us.

“Oh, good. My name is Madam Hinkleberg, and I am here to take you to Wempshire Boarding.” She said as Lizzy, and I stared at her thinking of what to say next.

“Hurry along then. We haven’t got all day. Pick your bags and follow me.” Without another word, Lizzy and I picked our suitcases and followed the lady.

I stared outside the car window and got lost in a pool of thoughts, again. “What sort of world sent a five-year-old and a seven-year-old to boarding school so far off? Was it a crime to be born to poor immigrant parents? Where were they going to put us when the school closed for summer break? Would they place us in a racist foster home again?” endless questions flooded my mind.

“We are here.” My thoughts were interrupted by Madam Hinkleberg. The lady later became a close friend of mine and a constant source of motivation. It sounds strange that a five-year-old Mexican girl would become best friends with a 40-year-old white woman seeing that they have nothing in common. However, Madam Hinkle, as I called her, was always kind to me, the youngest girl in the boarding school. She would still spare a fruit or a piece of bread for me. She would save me the window seat on the school bus whenever we went out on a trip and most of the time; she would let me stay with books and comics from the library a little bit long after the deadline was long due.

Our parents, as we later came to learn were illegal immigrants from Mexico. Lizzy and I gained our citizenship by birth since we were born in America. When our parents died in a road accident, the government could not trace their family because of the fake passports. Since they could not deport us, Lizzy and I got placed in foster care, where we moved from one home to another for two years. Now, here we were, two orphaned Mexican girls shipped away to a boarding school.

My first challenge was when the matron placed Lizzy and me in different rooms. I was torn. I had lived all my life next to my sister. I felt safe with her by my side, and now the matron had shattered that feeling when she placed us in different rooms. I cried and cried that night. The first night I slept without my sister holding my hand and whispering our favorite words in my ear, “It is well.” However, that night was not well. I felt like a grain of sand in a massive beach; so insignificant that I felt meaningless in the face of the earth. For a moment, I felt like joining my parents in the never-world.

When I look back to that day, I think that the same night was when I shed my vulnerability and gained a new level of confidence. The tears I shed that night washed away the timid and shy Janet and brought forth a confident and fearless girl. I promised myself to fight for my place in the school and later make my presence felt in America. My story would read ‘the small girl who made America proud.’

The routine in the boarding school was normal. We would start classes from 8 am to 3 pm. Later in the afternoon, we would engage in co-curricular activities. Some would head to the field for sports; others would go to their various clubs, and the passive girls went to gossip in their dorm rooms. Every fortnight, all students would go for a field trip or a picnic outside the school.

“Jany you should join our theatre and drama club,” said Lizzy as we walked from her dorm room

“You know I don’t like theatre. I prefer the book club because I get to read many books” I said to Lizzy as we walked down the stairs. From a young age, I had always loved reading and writing. I think that is why Madam Hinkle took a liking to me. I always asked her to read anything I wrote, and she looked forward to every story I wrote.

I remember one time when I was in the fifth grade; the school announced a writing competition. The instructions were to write on the most significant moment of our lives. The winner would receive a university scholarship despite their age. Later that day, I talked to Madam Hinkle, and she encouraged me to participate in the competition because she believed in me.

Although I wrote the piece in fifth grade, I consider the essay my most significant piece of writing, I wrote about my first night in the boarding school. I wrote about all the thoughts that crossed my mind as I cried alone in my bed. I wrote about how the night was significant because I made up my mind to struggle and gain significance in a world where I felt so insignificant. I had never told anyone about that night, and the words felt so fresh because I was pouring out the feelings for the first time.

I recall the day I was called out as the winner every time I sign an autograph on my book. It was that afternoon that the writer and author in me was born. All heads turned to look at as I walked down the assembly hall aisle to claim my prize; the little Mexican girl who won the competition and gained a scholarship.

Although it took me many years to get my first book published, I consider my days in boarding school very significant because it is where my passion for reading and writing got nurtured. Whenever I look at my best-seller books, I remember the little girl at the train station with all her belongings in a tiny, dusty suitcase.

The Reflection

I picked the book ‘The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian’ by Sherman Alexie. The main character in the book, Arnold Spirit Jr., gets faced by a considerable dilemma when he has to choose between living a better life and remaining true to his culture. As a child, Arnold describes himself as a social misfit because of the various physical conditions he suffers. He gets picked on not only by fellow children but also by adults. Arnold considers art the only way he can communicate efficiently and as such; he perfects his cartoonist skills. Although most people view Arnold as a retard because of his physique, he proves to be courageous by leaving the reservation to pursue his dreams, unlike most people who dwell in the reservation.

The book is written in the first person, making the book seem more of a diary rather than just a novel. The story is narrated in the eyes of a teenage boy who faces an identity crisis. He has to switch his personality every time he goes to school and back home. I love the narration because it sounds as if Arnold is narrating his experiences in the first person, an aspect which makes the story more exciting and convincing.

The book ends when the two best friends, Rowdy and Arnold reconcile. Although the two have contrasting personalities, they put their differences aside and strengthen their friendship. The climax encourages people to pursue their dreams without fear of discrimination because along the way; they will reconcile with their new friends or better yet, make new friends.

Creative writing in the book has sharpened my writing skills. I have learned how to engage an audience by crafting my ideas uniquely and in an exciting manner. In the story ‘The little Mexican Girl’ I write about a little orphaned girl who is taken to a boarding school at the age of five. To escape reality and find solace, she ventures into reading and writing. Although many details of her, life are emitted it is clear that the motivation to become a great writer comes from her experience in boarding school.