Unforgettable Stories

Does this ever happen to you? You sta;r up late on

New Year's Eve and watch T\/. Seems like every-

body in the country has gone bananas, especially

the crowd of people waiting for the ball to drop in

Times Square in New York City. "Huppy New

Year's Eve!" people are shouting, j,.-pirg up and

4o* as if they've just won the lottery. "Huppy

New Year!"

You say to yourself: What's the big deal?

You watch the opening ceremonies of the

Oly-pic Games. Next duy at school, people are

talking about how beautiful it was, how colorful,

how &wesorne. But you didn't find it the least bit

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UNFORGETTABLE STORIES

l r r ' . r r r t i l r r l , colorful , or awesome. You wonder: ' , Is

,\onrt:thing wrong with me?'l' ltcn one summer day you huppen to notice a

srrrrr l l lr l ix k ant draggitg the body of another

lr l ;rt k rrrr l along the sidewalk. Nobody else sees it,

lrrrt lor some reason this sight captures your inter-

csl; you squat down to take a closer look.'['he ant is really workitg, strainitg to hoist a

wcight nearly equal to its own. A dozen questions

('r'()w(l your mind. Is the ant carrying the body of

l l i i t .nr l? A brother or chi ld? I f So, does i t feel sad?

l)o ; r r r ls lurvc l i ' ( ' l i r rgs? (Probably not.) Where is

t l r r ' ; r r r t l lk i r rg the body? Is i t going to feed the

Irorly Io its babies? Are ants cannibalistic? You

r crrrl tlral some ants actually build graveyards for

t l rc r l r ' : r ,1. Is l l r r ' : rnt going to bury the body?

1,, ; r t t ' r , u l ) i r r y()ut . l r t : r l room, /ou can' t get i t oUt

ol y()ur l r t ' l r r l , t l r t ' s is l r t o l ' thzrt ant draggi tg the

r l r ' ; r r l l ror ly zrk)ng l l r t ' s i r l ( 'wrr lk. I t has st i r red some-

t l r i r rg i rrs ide you-y()tr l l i r k t tp y() t t r- pen to wri te.

We live in a world where people are quick to

It'll us how to feel. TV commercials promise 'oarr

urrforgettable vacation," a candy bar that will

"have your taste buds poppitg wheelies on your

9

AWRITER'S NOTEBOOK

tongue," a movie that will "make you want tostand up and cheer. " But too often we end up feel-irg hollow instead.

When something truly touches you, it touches

you on the inside, and you can't fake that. Iwatched on TV when the Rostr>n Rnrins held aspecial night to honor their ho<.kt:y star; t lobby

Orr. Just thirty years dlcl, ()rr was lleing forced byinjuries to retire. I loved Orr. Hc was so unbeliev-

ably fast and skilled. You could take someone to a

hockey game, someone who knew nothing about

hockey, arl'd you could say: 'nWatch number four-

he's the best guy on the ice"-2n6[ you would

always be right. That night when Bobby orr

appeared, the crowd eruptecl in an ernotional six

rninute standing ovaticln that brought me to tears.

My best friend, who couldn't care less about

sports, watched and yawned.

People are different. What dazzles one person

rnight bore the next. The question is: What moves

you? As a writer, you need to be able to answer .\

that question. And take note of it. Whenever I

hear a story that stirs something inside me I take

out mv notebook and write.

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UNFORGETTABLE STORIES

October 18

Jerry Kelly told me someth ing he heard from a

young white teacher who urorks in en all-block

school in Eost Harlem, New York On Fridoy, the

day of the Los Angeles riots, her students were

ofraid for her safety.After school they made a circle

around her, wolked her from the school to a sofe

place, and stayed there until she could get o toxi.

I looh l i r r s lol ' i t 's . , l ik t ' th is () I )c ' , that inspire me.

I l , r r , l * lur wl t ; r l l ; rsci tut l ( 's n l ( : ( ) t - I i l ls me with

\ \ 'oI rr l t ' l . I look l r l r st<l t ' ics t . l rat anger or disgust me,

( )r ' r rurkc nlc laugh out loud.

Itt'rnember when that comet collided with

f ,rpitcr-? ' fhis event, and the spectacular photo.

!.{r rrphs of it, got a friend of mine all agitated.

"f was so shocked when that comet smacked

irrto.fupiter," she said to me. "Didn't you feel sorry

l irr ' poor old Jupiter?""Not really," I admitted. "For heaven's sake,

f ,r lr i ter is a planet, not a human being! There's

rrotlr ing l iving on it. I t can't feel a thing."

She sniffed and stomped away. I didn't write

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AWRITER'S NOTEBOOK

about this in my writer's notebook. But a few dayslater I heard on the radio a story about vietnam,where so many American and Vietnamese soldierslost their lives during the 1960s and 1970s. Somevietnamese people believe rhe ghosts of rhe deadsoldiers still wander the land ar night. At nightthese people put out food so the p4hosts will havesomething to eat. They put out Vietnamese foodfor the ghosts of the dead victnamese soldiers.But many American GIs died, too, so they put outAmerican food for the ghosts of the deadAmerican soldiers.

A story like rhis one simply refused to ger outof my head; at night I found myself thinking abourit before I fell asleep. In my writer's norebook Ijotted down a few sentences about this strangehospitality to the ghosts of those dead soldiers.

At times you hear something on the news, orread something in a newspaper, that affects youstrongly:

October 23

Been reoding about all the flooding in the midwest.ln one ploce there wos a drive-through sofori

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UxTonGETTABLE STORIES

there. The zoo got flooded quickly ond the zoo

people didn't hove'enough advonce worning to get

the onimals out The onimols were in cages neorly

underwoter so the zoo people had to go oround

ond quickly shoot oll the onimals.

So horrible! I mean if people ore going to cop-

ture wild, endongered onimols and put them in

our zoos, they better hove o plan to keep them

olive in on emergency like this.

( )ften the stories that tug hardest at our heart-

st r it lgs rlre close to home:

o a womon you know who stil, puts roses on

her husbond's grove ten yeors after his death

o the eourageous woy your cat fought off o

mueh larger cat who ottocked it one night

r a local bottle between people who want, topreserve o noture sonctu ory ond those whowont to build houses on thot lond

o o friend who lost his wollet with a hundred

dollors cosh in it; the wollet and money got

returned by a young mon who refuse d to

accept o reword

AWRITER'S NOTEBOOK

The story could be something rhat huppenedto you:

Came home from school yesterdoy, volentine'sDoy, ond something really weird hoppened. Momcolled from work asking me to go out ond buyDod o volentine's cord from her. I grumbted butsoi4 all right,l'll do it.As soon os she hung up, Dodcolled.Would I do him o big favor ond go out andbuy Mom some chocolotes from him forVolentine's Day?

Whot's wrong with those two?! Give me obreak!

What moves you? What stories keep rumblingthrough your mind even when you try not tothink about them? Jot them down in your writer'snotebook. You might write the whole stor/, butyou don't have to. You can also"write down a keyphrase (L.A. riots-black kids making circle around,white teacher) as a mental place-holder to remindyou until you have the chance to go back andwrite more about it.

Writers are people who have a keen nose forunforgettable stories. Often we stumble on to a

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UNFORGETTABLE STORIES

p,r t.;rt story and tell ourselves: "FI.y, no problem,

| ' l l r l t ' l i l r i tely remember that." But our l ives are so

lrrrsy t lrat the story gets buried under a mil l ion

otlrr 'r ' t tr ings in our memory. And lost forever.

Wr itc it down in your notebook before it slips out

, | y()rrr mind.

Don Murray ond I were tolking obout beors. He

told me obout something that hoppened to him in

Alosko. He walked into o store ond sow o large

dog sitting beside e mon.

"Okoy if I pet your dog?" Don osked.

"Sure," the mon said,"but I won't."

"Why not?" Don osked."Ihot's o beor dog," the mon explained.

" A bear dog?" Don had never heard of that."l work out in the wilderness," the mon told

Iutrt."My last three dogs were killed when o beor

rrllrrrkcd. They stood up to o charging beor-thot

w(rs lrcw I monoged to get owoy." He looked down

at his dog. "Chonces ere, the some thing will

hoppen to this feller.lt's just too poinful for me to

gct reol ottached to a good dog, and lose it. Go

oheod ond pet him. I won't. I try not to care too

much obout my dogs. lt's just tos painlul."