My Short Story - A Walk Through Seattle

Evan Yoho
A Walk Through Seattle
     One overcast day in Seattle, a man walked closer to the heart of Seattle from his home in the hills surrounding the city. Looking up towards the sky, he saw the billowing, clouds and was unsurprised. The weather in Seattle was boring to say the least, and most of the time it was cloudy or rainy, never going far below freezing to offer a change to the city. Nonetheless, he realized that he wouldn’t change a thing about his home as he strode closer to the city center. Approaching the city, he started to feel a few drops of rain in the air around him. Quickening his pace, he hoped that the day wouldn’t bring rain to Seattle, but he knew that this was unlikely. Rain plagued the city like a sickness, and it was even worse during this warm winter in comparison to other places around the States. This man had no umbrella or overcoat, and the rain would get him soaked as he strode faster now, towards the heart of Seattle, and his destination.
    This man was a professor at one of the nearby colleges in the city. Shortly after the downpour started, he heard the distant noise of a car engine behind him. Turning around, he saw that it was a sleek, black car that was approaching him. Turning back around away from the car, he continued walking, seeing it as no threat to him, until it neared him and slowing down, it stopped next to him and two men, both in suits, came out of the sliding van door. He turned to face the pair, only to be grabbed by the first, and have a mask put over his head by the second. He felt himself be roughly placed into one of the seats in the car and the two men seat themselves on either side of him. The whole sequence happened in under twenty seconds and the innocent man had no clue what had happened before he felt the car move underneath his feet and they were on there way, to a new destination.
    The inside of the car smelled strongly of upholstery and plastic. These men hadn’t said a word since he had suddenly joined them and he just sat still, afraid and puzzled to what might happen next. The car drove on for a few minutes, and by this time he realized that they had probably left the city, as he felt the ground under the tires go from the smooth of the pavement, to the rough texture of gravel or dirt. The car stopped, and his mask was taken off. He was about to ask why they had taken him so suddenly, when the driver turned around to face him in the backseat.
    The man said, “You remember the lottery ticket that you purchased yesterday?"
    In fact, he did remember buying a ticket, but the chances of winning the lottery were so slim. Why would they believe that he had won?
    The leader of the three men then said, “The numbers were called this morning, and we believe that you have the winning numbers. We luckily then found you walking along the street, and picked you up. We brought you with us, so we could check your lottery ticket numbers."
    “You guys actually think I hold he winning numbers.” The captive man pulled out his card he bought yesterday, after he got off work.
    The second man, speaking for the first time, said, “We are almost certain of this."
    The leader then proceeded to take the lottery ticket out of the man’s hand.
    The captive man, sensing that it was a bad decision to resist, slowly handed the lottery card over. Eagerly snatching it, the leader proceeded to scratch off the numbers. The numbers that he examined were not at all what he expected. They were not matching with the paper that he was holding.
    “These are supposed to match. Why don’t they match?” the second of the men said.
    The leader replied shakily, “I… I’m not sure. But I think we’ve made a mistake.”
    Reaching behind him, the second of the men opened the door of the black van, and then unbuckling the captive man, he pushed him out of the car, and onto the dusty ground.
    Looking up, he saw the door close quickly behind him, and drive away into the distance, leaving a confused man sitting by himself on the ground, unsure of what to do next.

Who Should Decide?

(Absent)

Question #1

The report points out that those who oppose censorship believe that no individual or group should dictate what others can read. This leaves open the possibility of requesting a different book for your child only. Would you agree that parents should have this option?

I agree that parents should have this option because it is he parents opinion and they as parents have the right over their children. Requesting a different book for one child is a much better alternative than banning the book in question from every school district in the state. By banning a novel from schools everywhere, children won't get to read it, even if children and their parents are allowed to.

By banning a book from every school would make it so that every child who would want to read it wouldn't even have the opportunity to approve or disapprove of the novel,