Anton Chekhovs `Heartache` and William Faulkners `A Rose for Emily`

Throughout his work Faulkner demonstrates this ability to create characters whose loneliness functions both as a dramatic fact and as a psychological theme. In The Sound and the Fury Quentin Compson's personal despair, or sense of irrevocable isolation, is related to his puritan meddling with the lives of others. In As I Lay Dying the individual members of the Bundren family are motivated by secret and lonely desires that are in strong contrast to the apparent solidarity of the family venture.Darl Bundren's madness is the price he pays for a full understanding of human loneliness, of how â€Å"the clotting which is you† struggles to preserve its identity in the relentless flux of time. The moral themes of Light in August are directly related to Joe Christmas's puritan loneliness. But his loneliness is only a product of his desperate search for moral absolution. Human isolation is implicitly identified in such novels with the search for selfhood in a dynamic and time-ridden wor ld.An individual's sense of isolation is never a quality imposed upon him by circumstances; it is rooted in human nature, and circumstances only bring to light its destructive consequences. Loneliness has its particular origin at the heart of puritan self-consciousness, when man tries to create a bulwark of morality and reason against the fear that nothing in this world really matters. Only Faulkner's nonrational characters are free of the destructive fluctuation between moral pride and amoral despair.His primitive characters are never lonely; they never see themselves as isolated human agents. Faulkner's success in portraying human loneliness lies in the fact that only individuals can be lonely — and the characters of his early novels are always individuals. But in Faulkner's later novels a character's sense of isolation is treated primarily as an abstract or universal theme. The opposition between man and his social world becomes a question of philosophy and not of dramatic organization.Atmosphere is defined in the Dictionary of World Literature as â€Å"The particular world in which the events of a story or a play occur: time, place, conditions, and the attendant mood. † When, as in â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† the world depicted is a confusion between the past and the present, the atmosphere is one of distortion–of unreality. This unreal world results from the suspension of a natural time order. Normality consists in a decorous progression of the human being from birth, through youth, to age and finally death. Preciosity in children is as monstrous as idiocy in the adult, because both are unnatural.Monstrosity, however, is a sentimental subject for fiction unless it is the result of human action–the result of a willful attempt to circumvent time. When such circumvention produces acts of violence, as in â€Å"A Rose for Emily,† the atmosphere becomes one of horror. Horror, however, represents only the extreme form of ma ladjusted nature. It is not produced in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† until the final act of violence has been disclosed. All that has gone before has prepared us by producing a general tone of mystery, foreboding, decay, etc. so that we may say the entire series of events that have gone before are â€Å"in key†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthat is, they are depicted in a mood in which the final violence does not appear too shocking or horrible.We are inclined to say, â€Å"In such an atmosphere, anything may happen. † Foreshadowing is often accomplished through atmosphere, and in this case the atmosphere prepares us for Emily's unnatural act at the end of the story. Emily is portrayed as â€Å"a fallen monument,† a monument for reasons which we shall examine later, fallen because she has shown herself susceptible to death (and decay) after all.In the mention of death, we are conditioned (as the psychologist says) for the more specific concern with it later on. The second paragraph depicts the essential ugliness of the contrast: the description of Miss Emily's house â€Å"lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps–an eyesore among eyesores. † (A juxtaposition of past and present. ) We recognize this scene as an emblematic presentation of Miss Emily herself, suggested as it is through the words â€Å"stubborn and coquettish. The tone–and the contrast–is preserved in a description of the note which Miss Emily sent to the mayor, â€Å"a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink,† and in the description of the interior of the house when the deputation from the Board of Aldermen visit her: â€Å"They were admitted by the old Negro into a dim hall from which a stairway mounted into still more shadow. It smelled of dust and disuse–a close, dank smell. † In the next paragraph a description of Emily discloses her similarity to the house: â€Å"She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue.Emily had not always looked like this. When she was young and part of the world with which she was contemporary, she was, we are told, â€Å"a slender figure in white,† as contrasted with her father, who is described as â€Å"a spraddled silhouette. † In the picture of Emily and her father together, framed by the door, she frail and apparently hungering to participate in the life of her time, we have a reversal of the contrast which has already been presented and which is to be developed later.Even after her father's death, Emily is not monstrous, but rather looked like a girl â€Å"with a vague resemblance to those angels in colored church windows–sort of tragic and serene. † The suggestion is that she had already begun her entrance into that nether-world (a world which is depicted later as â€Å"rose-tinted†), but that she might even yet have been sa ved, had Homer Barron been another kind of man. Just as Emily refused to acknowledge the death of her father, she now refuses to recognize the death of Colonel Sartoris. He had given his word, and according to the traditional view, â€Å"his word† knew no death.It is the Past pitted against the Present –the Past with its social decorum, the Present with everything set down in â€Å"the books. † Emily dwells in the Past, always a world of unreality to us of the Present. Here are the facts which set the tone of the story and which create the atmosphere of unreality which surrounds it. It is important, too, to realize that during the period of Emily's courtship, the town became Emily's allies in a contest between Emily and her Grierson cousins, â€Å"because the two female cousins were even more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been. The cousins were protecting the general proprieties against which the town (and the times) was in gradual rebellion. Just as each s ucceeding generation rebels against its elders, so the town took sides with Emily against her relations. Had Homer Barron been the proper kind of man, it is implied, Miss Emily might have escaped both horns of the dilemma (her cousins' traditionalism and Homer's immorality) and become an accepted and respected member of the community.The town's attitude toward the Grierson cousins represents the usual ambiguous attitude of man toward the past: a mixture of veneration and rebelliousness. The unfaithfulness of Homer represents the final act in the drama of Emily's struggle to escape from the past. From the moment that she realizes that he will desert her, tradition becomes magnified out of all proportion to life and death, and she conducts herself as though Homer really had been faithful–as though this view represented reality.Miss Emily's position in regard to the specific problem of time is suggested in the scene where the old soldiers appear at her funeral. There are, we are told, two views of time: (1) the world of the present, viewing time as a mechanical progression in which the past is a diminishing road, never to be encountered again; (2) the world of tradition, viewing the past as a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from (us) now by the narrow bottleneck of the most recent decade of years. The first is the view of Homer Barron and the modern generation in Jefferson.The second is the view of the older members of the Board of Aldermen and of the confederate soldiers. Emily holds the second view, except that for her there is no bottleneck dividing her from the meadow of the past. Emily's small room above stairs has become that timeless meadow. In it, the living Emily and the dead Homer have remained together as though not even death could separate them. It is the monstrousness of this view which creates the final atmosphere of horror, and the scene is intensified by the portrayal of the unchanged objects which have surrounded H omer in life.Here he lay in the roseate atmosphere of Emily's death-in-life: â€Å"What was left of him, rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust. † The symbols of Homer's life of action have become mute and silent. Contrariwise, Emily's world, though it had been inviolate while she was alive, has been invaded after her death–the whole gruesome and unlovely tale unfolded.In the first place, she has been frustrated by her father, prevented from participating in the life of her contemporaries. When she attempts to achieve freedom, she is betrayed by a man who represents the new morality, threatened by disclosure and humiliation. Loneliness is associated rhetorically with abstract humanity. Simultaneously it becomes a cause less for despair than for transcendental affirmation, a theme related in A Fable to the Marsha l's faith in irrevocable human evil.The loneliest experience of all, the reader is told in this novel, is just breathing. But in its identification with the human condition, the concept of loneliness loses all personal meaning. Only by declining to state such identifications can the novelist successfully establish them. In his best work Faulkner demonstrates that loneliness is a particular, never a universal state of mind. Loneliness is not an abstract concept of human experience but the world in which each individual must live.Chekhov in his story, â€Å"Heartache,† dealt with being old and alone in the city. In â€Å"Heartache,† an old cabby lamented the fact that his son had died before him. He was then alone with no one to take care of him and with no one to learn from him. He was completely alone, abused by people, with no one to help him bear his grief. He earned enough to feed his horse and not much else. He slept on a bench in a large room with the other cabbie s. One wonders how long he would last with hunger, cold, and loneliness on his old, tired heels. (Williames 132)

Sci207: Vocational Issues with Copd

Social Implications for Patient’s with COPD SCI207: Social Implications of Medical Issues August 1, 2011 Social Implications for Patient’s with COPD CASE 1 Mr. L. , a 55-year-old bartender in a large metropolitan area, has been a heavy smoker for 40 years. He was diagnosed as having COPD 7 years ago. Mr. L. lives in the city and takes the city bus to work, although he still has to walk about three blocks to the bar where he works. He has found it increasingly difficult to walk the three blocks without stopping to rest at frequent intervals. At work, his manager has also expressed concern about the effect Mr. L. ’s continuous coughing has on customers. (p. 440). According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), smoking is the leading cause of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and it is considered one of the most common lung diseases known. â€Å"COPD is a diagnostic term used to describe a group of conditions that are characterized by respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea (shortness of breath), cough, sputum production, limitation of air flow, and chronic inflammation of the lungs. † (Falvo, 2008, p. 420). Often, people have both. On the flip side, there are also the rare cases of nonsmokers who lack a protein called alpha-1 antitrypsin that can develop into emphysema. The longer a person smokes, the likelihood of developing COPD is high but there are some who are exceptionally fortunate who do not contract this disease as a result of routine, long term smoking. This paper will examine the causes, the symptoms and complications and what the social implications of having COPD that can affect an individual in an adverse way using the above case study as the example. It is known that Mr. L. began smoking at fifteen years of age. At age 48, he was diagnosed with COPD yet still continues to smoke. Let us assume that Mr. L. has had a nice physique given to him from good genetics rather than regular visits to the gym. Let us also assume that he is a New Yorker and has lived there all of his life. Because the city is so large, there is also automobile traffic that never ceases at any hour – day or night which produces high amounts of carcinogens into the air. There are still manufacturing buildings that also produce pollutants such as exposure to gases or fumes as well as tens of thousands of smokers who release second hand smoke into the environment. Add barbeques and smoke pits or poor ventilation in a smoky bar into the mix and one is exposed to heavy amounts of carcinogenic pollutants every single day. This kind of long term exposure can attribute to some of the causes that may be factored in as to why he was diagnosed with COPD. Mr. L. has been told by his physician that he needs to quit smoking and start a regular exercise routine along with the prescribed medicine to make his conditions manageable and bearable. Because Mr. L. as smoked for 40 years and lived in an urban environment with long term exposure to pollutants along with his own habit, he began to notice a â€Å"smoker’s cough† or excessive mucus that is lingering much longer than a common cold. He notices that he begins to wheeze and gets fatigued when simply walking a few blocks from his bus stop to work or home. Once at work or home, he may realize that he has a hard time catching his breath (dyspnea) with any mild activity such as changing out a k eg, moving a case of beer or carrying out the garbage. He’s given up going to the gym as it wears him out to easily and is embarrassing to him because he wheezes and coughs too often and doesn’t want to be the subject of ridicule from younger, healthy people. He has noticed more lines on his face from not only age, but the smoking has aged him even faster. His teeth are yellowed from nicotine as well as his index and middle fingers from where he holds his cigarettes. New York has passed a non-smoking law for all public places as of the year 2000 and where there were once many smokers, it seems that more have quit than smoke. His patrons have been verbal about his coughing near their beverages or how they have to wait on him as he runs out back to catch a quick smoke, and he does this quite often because he is a 2 pack a day smoker. They complain that his breath and clothing smell of stale cigarettes even though he tries to cover it with breath fresheners and cologne. The patron’s regularly harass him on his choice to smoke and taunt him to quit which annoys him and makes him irritable. Smoking which at one time made him look cool, has now made him a pariah in most social circles as well as the stigma attached to his habit and symptoms. They tease him and say that he will become one of â€Å"those† people who will have to carry an oxygen tank around with him. Johnson, Campbell, Bowers and Nichol assert that â€Å"Stigma is a social construction that defines people in terms of a distinguishing characteristic or mark, and devalues them as a consequence†. Their article further reports that, â€Å"a study involving 27 women and men living with COPD reported that respondents repeatedly described a sense of stigmatization that was a direct result of using supplemental oxygen around other people and which led to feelings of embarrassment and social isolation. (2007). Since there is no cure for COPD, clearly the fastest way to retard lung damage for Mr. L. before he absolutely needs the oxygen tank is to stop smoking. Taking his prescribed medications can treat many of the symptoms such as the wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath. He can increase the amount of time walking to build up strength. The stig ma of smoking will then change to encouragement from his patrons to see success in his effort to quit. His breath will not be so offensive nor will his clothes smell of cigarettes. His nails will begin to lose the yellow discoloration and he can whiten his teeth so that he can feel better about his physical looks along with his self pride can be restored by committing to quit. No longer will he feel dismay, embarrassment or be annoyed because of the stigma attached to a smoker that displays the outward symptoms of his disease. Mr. L. ’s whole outlook and attitude will change by simply giving up a horrible habit that can destroy not only his health, but other’s as well. References Falvo, D. R. (2008). Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability. 4th ed. ). Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Johnson, J. L. , Campbell, A. C. , Bowers, M. & Nichol, A. (2007). Understanding the Social Consequences of Chronic Obstructive Pulminary Disease: The Effects of Stigma and Gender. The Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society. Retrieved August 1, 2011 from: http://pats. atsjournals. org/cgi/content/full/4/8/680#otherarticles The N ational Center for Biotechnology Information Web site provides information on COPD http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001153/

Bloodlines Chapter Twelve

We tried to tell him that Tamara was killed by Strigoi, but he won’t believe it. He doesn’t want to. He can’t take revenge on a Strigoi. They’re immortal. Invincible. But some human vampire hunter? Somehow, in his head, that’s something he can go after. And if he can’t, then he can focus his energy on how the guardians won’t go after these nonexistent vampire hunters.† I just barely heard Eddie mutter, â€Å"Strigoi aren’t that invincible.† In the rearview mirror, I saw Jill’s face filled with compassion. She was seated between Lee and Eddie. â€Å"Even if it’s a fantasy, maybe it’s better this way,† she suggested. â€Å"It gives him comfort. I mean, kind of. Having something tangible to hate is what gets him through. Otherwise he’d just give in to despair. He’s not hurting anyone with his theories. I think he’s sweet.† She caught her breath in that way she did when she’d said a whole lot all at once. My eyes were back on the road, but I could swear Lee was smiling. â€Å"That’s nice of you,† he told her. â€Å"I know he likes having you around. Turn right up here.† That was to me. Lee had been giving me directions ever since we left Clarence’s. We were just outside of Palm Springs proper, nearing the very impressive-looking Desert Gods Golf Course and Resort. Further guidance from him led us to the Mega-Fun Mini-Golf Center, which was adjacent to the resort. I searched for a parking spot and heard Jill gasp when she caught sight of the golf course’s crowning glory. There, in the center of a cluster of gaudily decorated putting greens, was a huge fake mountain with an artificial waterfall spouting from its top. â€Å"A waterfall!† she exclaimed. â€Å"It’s amazing.† â€Å"Well,† said Lee, â€Å"I wouldn’t go that far. It’s made of water that’s been pumped over and over and has God only knows what in it. I mean, I wouldn’t try to drink or swim in it.† Before I even had the car to a stop, Adrian was out the door, lighting a cigarette. We’d gotten in an argument on the way over, despite me telling him three times that Latte was a strictly no-smoking car. The rest of us soon got out as well, and I wondered what I’d signed up for here as we strolled toward the entrance. â€Å"I’ve actually never been mini-golfing,† I remarked. Lee came to a halt and stared. â€Å"Never?† â€Å"Never.† â€Å"How does that happen?† asked Adrian. â€Å"How is it possible that you’ve never played mini-golf?† â€Å"I had kind of an unusual childhood,† I said at last. Even Eddie looked incredulous. â€Å"You? I was practically raised at an isolated school in the middle of nowhere Montana, and even I’ve played mini-golf.† Saying I was homeschooled was no excuse this time, so I just let it go. Really, it just came down to having a childhood more focused on chemical equations than on fun and recreation. Once we started playing, I soon got the hang of it. My first few attempts were pretty bad, but I soon understood the weight of the club and how the angles on each course could be maneuvered. From there, it was pretty simple to calculate distance and force to make accurate shots. â€Å"Unbelievable. If you’d been playing since you were a child, you’d be a pro by now,† Eddie told me as I knocked my ball into a gaping dragon’s mouth. The ball rolled out the back, down a tube, bounced off a wall, and into the hole. â€Å"How’d you do that?† I shrugged. â€Å"It’s simple geometry. You’re not that bad either,† I pointed out, watching him make his shot. â€Å"How do you do it?† â€Å"I just line it up and putt.† â€Å"Very scientific.† â€Å"I just rely on natural talent,† said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon’s Lair. â€Å"When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.† â€Å"That makes no sense whatsoever,† said Eddie. Adrian’s response was to pause and take out a silver flask from his inner coat pocket. He unscrewed it and took a quick drink before leaning in to line up his shot. â€Å"What was that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You can’t have alcohol out here.† â€Å"You heard Jailbait earlier,† he countered. â€Å"It’s the weekend.† He lined up his ball and shot. The ball went directly for the dragon’s eye, bounced off it, and shot back toward Adrian. It rolled and came to a stop at his feet, nearly where it had started. â€Å"Natural talent, huh?† asked Eddie. I leaned forward. â€Å"I think you broke the dragon’s eye.† â€Å"Just like Keith,† said Adrian. â€Å"I figured you’d appreciate that, Sage.† I gave him a sharp look, wondering if there was any hidden meaning behind that. Mostly, Adrian seemed amused by his own wit. Eddie mistook my expression. â€Å"That was inappropriate,† he told Adrian. â€Å"Sorry, Dad.† Adrian shot again and managed not to maim any statues this time. A couple more shots, and he sank the ball. â€Å"There we go. Three.† â€Å"Four,† said Eddie and I in unison. Adrian looked at us incredulously. â€Å"It was three.† â€Å"You’re forgetting about your first one,† I said. â€Å"The one where you blinded the dragon.† â€Å"That was just the warm-up,† Adrian argued. He put on a smile I think he hoped would charm me. â€Å"Come on, Sage. You understand how my mind works. You said I was brilliant, remember?† Eddie glanced at me in surprise. â€Å"You did?† â€Å"No! I never said that.† Adrian’s smile was infuriating. â€Å"Stop telling people that.† Since I was in charge of the scorecard, his play was logged as four, despite his many further protests. I started to move forward, but Eddie held out a hand to stop me, his hazel eyes gazing over my shoulder. â€Å"Hold up,† he said. â€Å"We need to wait for Jill and Lee.† I followed his gaze. The two of them had been in deep conversation since we arrived, so much so that they’d slowed and lagged behind the rest of us. Even during his bantering with Adrian and me, Eddie had continually checked on her – and our surroundings. It was kind of amazing the way he could multitask. Thus far, Jill and Lee had only been one hole behind us. Now it was nearly two, and that was too far for Eddie to keep her in his sight. So, we waited while the oblivious couple meandered their way toward the Dragon’s Lair. Adrian took another drink from his flask and shook his head in awe. â€Å"You had nothing to worry about, Sage. She went right for him.† â€Å"No thanks to you,† I snapped. â€Å"I can’t believe you told her every detail of my visit that night. She was so mad at me for interfering behind her back with you, Lee, and Micah.† â€Å"I hardly told her anything,† argued Adrian. â€Å"I just told her to stay away from that human guy.† Eddie glanced between our faces. â€Å"Micah?† I shifted uncomfortably. Eddie didn’t know about how I’d gone proactive. â€Å"Remember when I wanted you to say something to him? And you wouldn’t?† I proceeded to tell him how I’d then sought out Adrian’s help and found out about Lee’s interest in Jill. Eddie was aghast. â€Å"How could you not tell me any of this?† he demanded. â€Å"Well,† I said, wondering if everything I did was going to result in the wrath of a Moroi or dhampir, â€Å"it didn’t involve you.† â€Å"Jill’s safety does! If some guy likes her, I need to know.† Adrian chuckled. â€Å"Should Sage have passed you a note in class?† â€Å"Lee’s fine,† I said. â€Å"He obviously adores her, and it’s not like she’ll ever be alone with him.† â€Å"We don’t know for sure that he’s fine,† said Eddie. â€Å"Whereas Micah’s a hundred percent okay? Did you do a background check or something?† I asked. â€Å"No,† said Eddie, looking embarrassed. â€Å"I just know. It’s a feeling I get about him. There’s no problem with him spending time with Jill.† â€Å"Except that he’s human.† â€Å"They wouldn’t have gotten serious.† â€Å"You don’t know that.† â€Å"Enough, you two,† interrupted Adrian. Jill and Lee had finally reached the start of the Dragon’s Lair, meaning we could move on. Adrian lowered his voice. â€Å"Your argument’s useless. I mean, look at them. That human boy doesn’t enter into it.† I looked. Adrian was right. Jill and Lee were clearly enthralled with each other. Some guilty part of me wondered if I should be a doing a better job of looking out for Jill. I was so relieved that she was interested in a Moroi that I hadn’t stopped to wonder if she should even be dating anyone. Was fifteen old enough? I hadn’t dated at fifteen. I’d actually, well, never dated. â€Å"There is an age difference between them,† I admitted, more to myself. Adrian scoffed. â€Å"Believe me, I’ve seen age differences. Theirs is nothing.† He walked off, and a few moments later, Eddie and I went to join him. Eddie maintained his simultaneous vigil of Jill, but this time, I got the impression the danger he was watching out for was right beside her. Adrian’s laughter rang out ahead of us. â€Å"Sage!† he called. â€Å"You have got to see this.† Eddie and I reached the next green and stared in astonishment. Then I burst out laughing. We had reached Dracula’s Castle. A huge, multi-towered black castle guarded the hole some distance away. A tunnel was cut out through the center of it with a narrow bridge meant for the ball to go over. If the ball fell off the sides before getting through the castle, it was returned back to the starting point. An animatronic Count Dracula stood off to the castle’s side. He was pure white, with red eyes, pointed ears, and slicked-back hair. He jerkily kept raising his arms to show off a batlike cape. Nearby, a speaker blasted eerie organ music. I couldn’t stop laughing. Adrian and Eddie looked at me as though they’d never seen me before. â€Å"I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh,† Eddie told him. â€Å"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting,† mused Adrian. â€Å"I’d been counting on abject terror, judging from past Alchemist behavior. I didn’t think you liked vampires.† Still grinning, I watched Dracula raise his cape up and down. â€Å"This isn’t a vampire. Not a real one. And that’s what makes it so funny. It’s pure Hollywood camp. Real vampires are terrifying and unnatural. This? This is hilarious.† It was clear from their expressions that neither really understood why this would appeal to my sense of humor so much. Adrian did, however, offer to take a picture with my cell phone when I asked him. I posed by Dracula and put on a big smile. Adrian managed to snap the shot just as Dracula was raising his cape. When I viewed the picture, I was pleased to see it had come out perfectly. Even my hair looked good. Adrian gave the picture a nod of approval before handing me the phone. â€Å"Okay, even I can admit that’s pretty cute.† I found myself overanalyzing the comment. What had he meant in saying even he could admit it? That I was cute for a human? Or that I had just met some kind of Adrian hot-girl criteria? Moments later, I had to forcibly stop thinking about it. Let it go, Sydney. It’s a compliment. Accept it. We played through the rest of the course, finally finishing off with the waterfall itself. That was a particularly challenging hole, and I took my time lining up the shot – not that I needed to. I was beating everyone pretty handily. Eddie was the only one who came close. It was clear Jill and Lee didn’t even have their attention on the game, and as for Adrian and his natural talent†¦ well, they were very solidly in last place. Eddie, Adrian, and I were still ahead of the other two, so we waited for them by the waterfall. Jill practically ran to it when she had the chance, gazing up at it with enchanted eyes. â€Å"Oh,† she breathed. â€Å"This is wonderful. I haven’t seen this much water in days.† â€Å"Remember what I said about the toxicity,† teased Lee. But it was clear he found her reaction endearing. As I glanced at the other two guys, I saw that they shared the same feelings. Well, not exactly the same. Adrian’s affection was clearly brotherly. Eddie’s? It was hard to read, kind of a mix of the other two. Maybe it was a kind of guardian fondness. Jill made a gesture to the waterfall, and suddenly, part of it broke off from the tumbling cascade. The chunk of water shaped itself into a braid, then twisted high into the air, making spirals before shattering into a million drops that misted over us all. I had been staring wide-eyed and frozen, but those drops hitting me shocked me awake. â€Å"Jill,† I said in a voice I barely recognized as my own. â€Å"Don’t do that again.† Jill, eyes bright, barely spared me a glance as she made another piece of water dance in the air. â€Å"No one’s around to see, Sydney.† That wasn’t what had me so upset. That wasn’t what filled me with so much panic that I could barely breathe. The world was doing that thing where it started to spin, and I worried I was going to faint. Stark, cold fear ran through me, fear at the unknown. The unnatural. The laws of my world had just been broken. This was vampire magic, something foreign and inaccessible to humans – inaccessible because it was forbidden, something no mortal was meant to delve into. I had only once seen magic used, when two spirit users had turned on each other, and I never wanted to see it again. One had forced the plants of the earth to do her bidding while the other telekinetically hurled objects meant to kill. It had been terrifying, and even though I hadn’t been the target, I’d felt trapped and overwhelmed in the f ace of such otherworldly power. It was a reminder that these weren’t fun, easy people to hang out with. These were creatures wholly different from me. â€Å"Stop it,† I said, feeling the panic rise. I was afraid of the magic, afraid it would touch me, afraid of what it might do to me. â€Å"Don’t do it anymore!† Jill didn’t even hear me. She grinned at Lee. â€Å"You’re air, right? Can you create fog over the water?† Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. â€Å"Ah, well, it’s probably not a good idea. I mean, we’re in public†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Come on,† she pleaded. â€Å"It won’t take any effort for you at all.† He actually appeared nervous. â€Å"Nah, not right now.† â€Å"Not you too.† She laughed. Above her and in front of her, that demon water was still spinning, spinning, spinning†¦ â€Å"Jill,† said Adrian, a harsher note in his voice than I’d ever heard before. In fact, I couldn’t recall him ever addressing her by her actual name. â€Å"Stop.† It was all he said, but it was like a wave of something went through Jill. She flinched, and the water spirals disappeared, falling away in droplets. â€Å"Fine,† she said, looking confused. There was a moment of awkwardness, and then Eddie said, â€Å"We should hurry. We’re going to be pushing curfew.† Lee and Jill set out to make their shots and soon were laughing and flirting again. Eddie continued watching them in his concerned way. Only Adrian paid any attention to me. He was the only one who really understood what had happened, I realized. His green eyes studied me, with no trace of their usual bitter humor. I wasn’t fooled, though. I knew there had to be some witty quip coming, mocking my reaction. â€Å"Are you okay?† he asked quietly. â€Å"I’m fine,† I said, turning from him. I didn’t want him to see my face. He’d already seen too much, seen my fear. I didn’t want any of them to know how afraid of them I was. I heard him take a few steps toward me. â€Å"Sage – â€Å" â€Å"Leave me alone,† I snapped back. I hurried off toward the course’s exit, certain he wouldn’t follow me. I was right. I waited for them to finish the game, using the alone time to calm myself down. By the time they caught up to me, I was fairly certain I had wiped most of the emotions from my face. Adrian still watched me with concern, which I didn’t like, but at least he didn’t say anything else about my breakdown. Surprising to no one, the final score showed that I had won and Adrian had lost. Lee had come in third, which seemed to trouble him. â€Å"I used to be a lot better,† he muttered, frowning. â€Å"I used to be perfect at this game.† Considering he’d spent most of the time paying attention to Jill, I thought third was a pretty respectable performance. I dropped him and Adrian off first and then just barely got Eddie, Jill, and me back to Amberwood on time. I was more or less back to normal by then, not that anyone would’ve noticed. Jill was floating on a cloud as we went into our dorm room, talking nonstop about Lee. â€Å"I had no idea he’d traveled so much! He’s maybe been more places than you, Sydney. He keeps telling me that he’ll take me to all of them, that we’ll spend the rest of our lives traveling and doing whatever we want. And he’s taking all sorts of classes in college because he’s not sure what he wants to major in. Well, not all sorts this semester. He’s got a light schedule so that he can spend more time with his father. And that’s good for me. For us, I mean.† I stifled a yawn and nodded wearily. â€Å"That’s great.† She paused from where she’d been searching her dresser for pajamas. â€Å"I’m sorry, by the way.† I froze. I didn’t want an apology for the magic. I didn’t even want to remember it had happened. â€Å"For yelling at you the other night,† she continued. â€Å"You didn’t set me up with Lee. I should never have accused you of interfering. He really has liked me all along, and, well†¦ he’s really great.† I let out the breath I’d been holding and attempted a weak smile. â€Å"I’m glad you’re happy.† She returned cheerfully to her tasks and to talking about Lee until I left to go down to the bathroom. 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He’s not hurting anyone with his theories. I think he’s sweet.† She caught her breath in that way she did when she’d said a whole lot all at once. My eyes were back on the road, but I could swear Lee was smiling. â€Å"That’s nice of you,† he told her. â€Å"I know he likes having you around. Turn right up here.† That was to me. Lee had been giving me directions ever since we left Clarence’s. We were just outside of Palm Springs proper, nearing the very impressive-looking Desert Gods Golf Course and Resort. Further guidance from him led us to the Mega-Fun Mini-Golf Center, which was adjacent to the resort. I searched for a parking spot and heard Jill gasp when she caught sight of the golf course’s crowning glory. There, in the center of a cluster of gaudily decorated putting greens, was a huge fake mountain with an artificial waterfall spouting from its top. â€Å"A waterfall!† she exclaimed. â€Å"It’s amazing.† â€Å"Well,† said Lee, â€Å"I wouldn’t go that far. It’s made of water that’s been pumped over and over and has God only knows what in it. I mean, I wouldn’t try to drink or swim in it.† Before I even had the car to a stop, Adrian was out the door, lighting a cigarette. We’d gotten in an argument on the way over, despite me telling him three times that Latte was a strictly no-smoking car. The rest of us soon got out as well, and I wondered what I’d signed up for here as we strolled toward the entrance. â€Å"I’ve actually never been mini-golfing,† I remarked. Lee came to a halt and stared. â€Å"Never?† â€Å"Never.† â€Å"How does that happen?† asked Adrian. â€Å"How is it possible that you’ve never played mini-golf?† â€Å"I had kind of an unusual childhood,† I said at last. Even Eddie looked incredulous. â€Å"You? I was practically raised at an isolated school in the middle of nowhere Montana, and even I’ve played mini-golf.† Saying I was homeschooled was no excuse this time, so I just let it go. Really, it just came down to having a childhood more focused on chemical equations than on fun and recreation. Once we started playing, I soon got the hang of it. My first few attempts were pretty bad, but I soon understood the weight of the club and how the angles on each course could be maneuvered. From there, it was pretty simple to calculate distance and force to make accurate shots. â€Å"Unbelievable. If you’d been playing since you were a child, you’d be a pro by now,† Eddie told me as I knocked my ball into a gaping dragon’s mouth. The ball rolled out the back, down a tube, bounced off a wall, and into the hole. â€Å"How’d you do that?† I shrugged. â€Å"It’s simple geometry. You’re not that bad either,† I pointed out, watching him make his shot. â€Å"How do you do it?† â€Å"I just line it up and putt.† â€Å"Very scientific.† â€Å"I just rely on natural talent,† said Adrian, strolling up to the start of the Dragon’s Lair. â€Å"When you have such a wealth of it to draw from, the danger comes from having too much.† â€Å"That makes no sense whatsoever,† said Eddie. Adrian’s response was to pause and take out a silver flask from his inner coat pocket. He unscrewed it and took a quick drink before leaning in to line up his shot. â€Å"What was that?† I exclaimed. â€Å"You can’t have alcohol out here.† â€Å"You heard Jailbait earlier,† he countered. â€Å"It’s the weekend.† He lined up his ball and shot. The ball went directly for the dragon’s eye, bounced off it, and shot back toward Adrian. It rolled and came to a stop at his feet, nearly where it had started. â€Å"Natural talent, huh?† asked Eddie. I leaned forward. â€Å"I think you broke the dragon’s eye.† â€Å"Just like Keith,† said Adrian. â€Å"I figured you’d appreciate that, Sage.† I gave him a sharp look, wondering if there was any hidden meaning behind that. Mostly, Adrian seemed amused by his own wit. Eddie mistook my expression. â€Å"That was inappropriate,† he told Adrian. â€Å"Sorry, Dad.† Adrian shot again and managed not to maim any statues this time. A couple more shots, and he sank the ball. â€Å"There we go. Three.† â€Å"Four,† said Eddie and I in unison. Adrian looked at us incredulously. â€Å"It was three.† â€Å"You’re forgetting about your first one,† I said. â€Å"The one where you blinded the dragon.† â€Å"That was just the warm-up,† Adrian argued. He put on a smile I think he hoped would charm me. â€Å"Come on, Sage. You understand how my mind works. You said I was brilliant, remember?† Eddie glanced at me in surprise. â€Å"You did?† â€Å"No! I never said that.† Adrian’s smile was infuriating. â€Å"Stop telling people that.† Since I was in charge of the scorecard, his play was logged as four, despite his many further protests. I started to move forward, but Eddie held out a hand to stop me, his hazel eyes gazing over my shoulder. â€Å"Hold up,† he said. â€Å"We need to wait for Jill and Lee.† I followed his gaze. The two of them had been in deep conversation since we arrived, so much so that they’d slowed and lagged behind the rest of us. Even during his bantering with Adrian and me, Eddie had continually checked on her – and our surroundings. It was kind of amazing the way he could multitask. Thus far, Jill and Lee had only been one hole behind us. Now it was nearly two, and that was too far for Eddie to keep her in his sight. So, we waited while the oblivious couple meandered their way toward the Dragon’s Lair. Adrian took another drink from his flask and shook his head in awe. â€Å"You had nothing to worry about, Sage. She went right for him.† â€Å"No thanks to you,† I snapped. â€Å"I can’t believe you told her every detail of my visit that night. She was so mad at me for interfering behind her back with you, Lee, and Micah.† â€Å"I hardly told her anything,† argued Adrian. â€Å"I just told her to stay away from that human guy.† Eddie glanced between our faces. â€Å"Micah?† I shifted uncomfortably. Eddie didn’t know about how I’d gone proactive. â€Å"Remember when I wanted you to say something to him? And you wouldn’t?† I proceeded to tell him how I’d then sought out Adrian’s help and found out about Lee’s interest in Jill. Eddie was aghast. â€Å"How could you not tell me any of this?† he demanded. â€Å"Well,† I said, wondering if everything I did was going to result in the wrath of a Moroi or dhampir, â€Å"it didn’t involve you.† â€Å"Jill’s safety does! If some guy likes her, I need to know.† Adrian chuckled. â€Å"Should Sage have passed you a note in class?† â€Å"Lee’s fine,† I said. â€Å"He obviously adores her, and it’s not like she’ll ever be alone with him.† â€Å"We don’t know for sure that he’s fine,† said Eddie. â€Å"Whereas Micah’s a hundred percent okay? Did you do a background check or something?† I asked. â€Å"No,† said Eddie, looking embarrassed. â€Å"I just know. It’s a feeling I get about him. There’s no problem with him spending time with Jill.† â€Å"Except that he’s human.† â€Å"They wouldn’t have gotten serious.† â€Å"You don’t know that.† â€Å"Enough, you two,† interrupted Adrian. Jill and Lee had finally reached the start of the Dragon’s Lair, meaning we could move on. Adrian lowered his voice. â€Å"Your argument’s useless. I mean, look at them. That human boy doesn’t enter into it.† I looked. Adrian was right. Jill and Lee were clearly enthralled with each other. 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A tunnel was cut out through the center of it with a narrow bridge meant for the ball to go over. If the ball fell off the sides before getting through the castle, it was returned back to the starting point. An animatronic Count Dracula stood off to the castle’s side. He was pure white, with red eyes, pointed ears, and slicked-back hair. He jerkily kept raising his arms to show off a batlike cape. Nearby, a speaker blasted eerie organ music. I couldn’t stop laughing. Adrian and Eddie looked at me as though they’d never seen me before. â€Å"I don’t think I’ve ever heard her laugh,† Eddie told him. â€Å"Certainly not the reaction I was expecting,† mused Adrian. â€Å"I’d been counting on abject terror, judging from past Alchemist behavior. I didn’t think you liked vampires.† Still grinning, I watched Dracula raise his cape up and down. â€Å"This isn’t a vampire. Not a real one. And that’s what makes it so funny. It’s pure Hollywood camp. Real vampires are terrifying and unnatural. This? This is hilarious.† It was clear from their expressions that neither really understood why this would appeal to my sense of humor so much. Adrian did, however, offer to take a picture with my cell phone when I asked him. I posed by Dracula and put on a big smile. Adrian managed to snap the shot just as Dracula was raising his cape. When I viewed the picture, I was pleased to see it had come out perfectly. Even my hair looked good. Adrian gave the picture a nod of approval before handing me the phone. â€Å"Okay, even I can admit that’s pretty cute.† I found myself overanalyzing the comment. What had he meant in saying even he could admit it? That I was cute for a human? Or that I had just met some kind of Adrian hot-girl criteria? Moments later, I had to forcibly stop thinking about it. Let it go, Sydney. It’s a compliment. Accept it. We played through the rest of the course, finally finishing off with the waterfall itself. That was a particularly challenging hole, and I took my time lining up the shot – not that I needed to. I was beating everyone pretty handily. Eddie was the only one who came close. It was clear Jill and Lee didn’t even have their attention on the game, and as for Adrian and his natural talent†¦ well, they were very solidly in last place. Eddie, Adrian, and I were still ahead of the other two, so we waited for them by the waterfall. Jill practically ran to it when she had the chance, gazing up at it with enchanted eyes. â€Å"Oh,† she breathed. â€Å"This is wonderful. I haven’t seen this much water in days.† â€Å"Remember what I said about the toxicity,† teased Lee. But it was clear he found her reaction endearing. As I glanced at the other two guys, I saw that they shared the same feelings. Well, not exactly the same. Adrian’s affection was clearly brotherly. Eddie’s? It was hard to read, kind of a mix of the other two. Maybe it was a kind of guardian fondness. Jill made a gesture to the waterfall, and suddenly, part of it broke off from the tumbling cascade. The chunk of water shaped itself into a braid, then twisted high into the air, making spirals before shattering into a million drops that misted over us all. I had been staring wide-eyed and frozen, but those drops hitting me shocked me awake. â€Å"Jill,† I said in a voice I barely recognized as my own. â€Å"Don’t do that again.† Jill, eyes bright, barely spared me a glance as she made another piece of water dance in the air. â€Å"No one’s around to see, Sydney.† That wasn’t what had me so upset. That wasn’t what filled me with so much panic that I could barely breathe. The world was doing that thing where it started to spin, and I worried I was going to faint. Stark, cold fear ran through me, fear at the unknown. The unnatural. The laws of my world had just been broken. This was vampire magic, something foreign and inaccessible to humans – inaccessible because it was forbidden, something no mortal was meant to delve into. I had only once seen magic used, when two spirit users had turned on each other, and I never wanted to see it again. One had forced the plants of the earth to do her bidding while the other telekinetically hurled objects meant to kill. It had been terrifying, and even though I hadn’t been the target, I’d felt trapped and overwhelmed in the f ace of such otherworldly power. It was a reminder that these weren’t fun, easy people to hang out with. These were creatures wholly different from me. â€Å"Stop it,† I said, feeling the panic rise. I was afraid of the magic, afraid it would touch me, afraid of what it might do to me. â€Å"Don’t do it anymore!† Jill didn’t even hear me. She grinned at Lee. â€Å"You’re air, right? Can you create fog over the water?† Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. â€Å"Ah, well, it’s probably not a good idea. I mean, we’re in public†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Come on,† she pleaded. â€Å"It won’t take any effort for you at all.† He actually appeared nervous. â€Å"Nah, not right now.† â€Å"Not you too.† She laughed. Above her and in front of her, that demon water was still spinning, spinning, spinning†¦ â€Å"Jill,† said Adrian, a harsher note in his voice than I’d ever heard before. In fact, I couldn’t recall him ever addressing her by her actual name. â€Å"Stop.† It was all he said, but it was like a wave of something went through Jill. She flinched, and the water spirals disappeared, falling away in droplets. â€Å"Fine,† she said, looking confused. There was a moment of awkwardness, and then Eddie said, â€Å"We should hurry. We’re going to be pushing curfew.† Lee and Jill set out to make their shots and soon were laughing and flirting again. Eddie continued watching them in his concerned way. Only Adrian paid any attention to me. He was the only one who really understood what had happened, I realized. His green eyes studied me, with no trace of their usual bitter humor. I wasn’t fooled, though. I knew there had to be some witty quip coming, mocking my reaction. â€Å"Are you okay?† he asked quietly. â€Å"I’m fine,† I said, turning from him. I didn’t want him to see my face. He’d already seen too much, seen my fear. I didn’t want any of them to know how afraid of them I was. I heard him take a few steps toward me. â€Å"Sage – â€Å" â€Å"Leave me alone,† I snapped back. I hurried off toward the course’s exit, certain he wouldn’t follow me. I was right. I waited for them to finish the game, using the alone time to calm myself down. By the time they caught up to me, I was fairly certain I had wiped most of the emotions from my face. Adrian still watched me with concern, which I didn’t like, but at least he didn’t say anything else about my breakdown. Surprising to no one, the final score showed that I had won and Adrian had lost. Lee had come in third, which seemed to trouble him. â€Å"I used to be a lot better,† he muttered, frowning. â€Å"I used to be perfect at this game.† Considering he’d spent most of the time paying attention to Jill, I thought third was a pretty respectable performance. I dropped him and Adrian off first and then just barely got Eddie, Jill, and me back to Amberwood on time. I was more or less back to normal by then, not that anyone would’ve noticed. Jill was floating on a cloud as we went into our dorm room, talking nonstop about Lee. â€Å"I had no idea he’d traveled so much! He’s maybe been more places than you, Sydney. He keeps telling me that he’ll take me to all of them, that we’ll spend the rest of our lives traveling and doing whatever we want. And he’s taking all sorts of classes in college because he’s not sure what he wants to major in. Well, not all sorts this semester. He’s got a light schedule so that he can spend more time with his father. And that’s good for me. For us, I mean.† I stifled a yawn and nodded wearily. â€Å"That’s great.† She paused from where she’d been searching her dresser for pajamas. â€Å"I’m sorry, by the way.† I froze. I didn’t want an apology for the magic. I didn’t even want to remember it had happened. â€Å"For yelling at you the other night,† she continued. â€Å"You didn’t set me up with Lee. I should never have accused you of interfering. He really has liked me all along, and, well†¦ he’s really great.† I let out the breath I’d been holding and attempted a weak smile. â€Å"I’m glad you’re happy.† She returned cheerfully to her tasks and to talking about Lee until I left to go down to the bathroom. Before brushing my teeth, I stood in front of the sink and washed my hands and arms over and over, scrubbing as hard as I could to wash away the magical drops of water I swore I could still feel on my skin.

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The Motorcycle Company - Essay Example It is expected that the proposed budget will bring success for the company and will increase its market share tremendously. However, success of this project entirely depends upon the planning and implementation process, the concept and project of developing new and large motors for heavy vehicle is quite challenging because company is operating in an industry that is characterized by the production of small motors. Given below is the detailed analysis of procedures with the help of which we are going to achieve our goals. No2 Type of Required Staff Staffing is a function of Human Resources which incorporates the proper management of the workforce of an organization. Staffing involves all the steps required to create an efficient workforce for an organization and to maintain the efficiency of that workforce. Staffing incorporates all the functions of a human resource department from recruitment and hiring to evaluation, promotion and layoffs. Effective staffing is very important for t he growth and success of an organization (Ranne, 2011). It helps an organization get the best employees for all of its departments and this ensures higher productivity and better performance. Individuals of different technical and non-technical backgrounds were assigned to the pilot project team on either a full or part-time basis. Also, managers from both production and business departments were included to coordinate the effort and provide inputs to the project team. Each participant belonged to one or more of the five entities defined for the project: planning board, project board, project team, key stakeholders and key resources (see Fig. 1). The staffing will be based on the internal guidelines of the company for the production of new motors. Fig. 1: Project organization View Within Article The planning board will be responsible for the high-level effort and its strategic alignment with business processes. It will compose of an End-user designing and execution committee (EDEC), a planning manager, and the chief information officer (CIO) as its chair. EDEC provided related feedbacks on DWG from a business-user perspective. The project board will be responsible for overall practical planning, coordination, and evaluation of the project, with close cooperation from business customers in functional departments. Business customers were responsible for the validation of new motor models and follow-up on modeling issues specific to business requirements. The board consisted of a planning manager as the project sponsor and liaison between the boards, a technical representative, and three representatives from customer departments. Since business units of the company were organized according to three customer levels (individual, group, and corporate), one representative from each customer level participated in the project board. According to the internal guidelines, key stakeholders should be people whose departments will be affected by the implementation of large motors. In this project, however, because of the crucial importance of stakeholders’ role, they were directly involved in the planning and project boards. No3 Team building Strategies Team building is an important and crucial part

The impact of University Center Cesar Ritz students expenditure on the Essay

The impact of University Center Cesar Ritz students expenditure on the local community of Brig - Essay Example This mini â€Å"United Nations" truly represents the international aspect of the hospitality industry. The faculty and staff of UCCR are here to assist the students and guide them to achieve academic excellence. This environment may also help the educators in hospitality management to enhance their professional abilities and knowledge to guide and educate future professionals â€Å"who are mentally equipped to face current and future challenges with regards to the internationalization of hotels† (Velo & Mittaz, abstract, 2006). In turn, they aid the students by giving them the capital to implement transformational leadership methods and techniques to face the new challenges (Gil, Flaschner & Shachar, abstract, 2006). Unlike other hotel schools, UCCR focuses on the management aspects of the hotel & tourism industry, and prepares the students for supervisory and managerial positions. It is an objective, which Ricci and Tesone (2006) describe in their abstract as the importance of certain knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes, as well as their competencies. University Center Cesar Ritz was originally founded in Switzerland in 1982 under the name Hotelconsult SHCC, which represented a hotel chain management. By 1986, after the death of Cesar, under the management of his wife, the Hotelconsult, transformed the hotel into Cesar Ritz Foundation which operates and manages a chain Ritz hotel and an education institution to teach young people the hospitality management and trade. The name Cesar Ritz was adopted as a legacy of one of the founders of the hotel industry and the owner of the Hotelconsult SHCC. In the section of â€Å"Founders of the Hotel Industry,† Cesar Ritz is described as â€Å"a hotelier at the Grand National Hotel in Lucerne, Switzerland. Because of his management abilities, â€Å"the hotel became one of the most popular in Europe and Cesar Ritz

Costco Wholesale Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Costco Wholesale Corporation - Essay Example The department is often responsible for conducting all the staffing functions of the business; additionally, it ensures that all the people recruited in the company are working under the best conditions that can inspire effective and maximum performance from them. Some of the most effective functions of this department include staff recruitment. Here, the department is expected to conduct a job evaluation, and then call for applications to get the best candidate suited for the job. The department helps new employees get acquainted to the job and nurture some of the best talents for future success of the company. Costco corporations has managed to build its success around effective human resource development strategies, that have seen the corporation establish more that 670 branches in Europe and other countries in Asia (Runkle 9). Costco is one of the most successful wholesale corporations operating in the United States under membership-only basis, providing a wide variety of merchandise. The growth and development approaches that the corporation has established have seen it rise to become the world’s third largest retail warehouse and the second largest in the United States. Currently, the warehouse is headquartered in Issaquah, Washington D.C. The corporation was established in 1976 in San Diego, California, creating it’s the first of its warehouses in under the name Costco in Seattle, California, which came seven years after its establishment (Runkle 11). Currently, the corporation has grown and expanded, managing to establish about 671 warehouses that have been widely spread across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korean and Taiwan (Runkle 13). It is important to note that currently, Costco Corporation has been successful in its strategies for human resource development in comparison to those adopted by its

The Effects of Disability on You Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Effects of Disability on You - Essay Example When my brother was involved in a car accident, his arm was seriously injured such that the doctors had to remove it. The only thing that made me happy is that he did not lose his precious life. However, the most challenging thing I discovered in him is that he could not perform some of the tasks which require the use of two hands on his own. I developed a positive feeling towards him such that I would help him in completing different tasks he could not perform on his own. The main aim of my action is to make him feel that he is just like any other normal human being despite the fact that he had lost his arm. I also wanted to make him feel loved so that he does not feel out of place as a result of his physical disability. Because of the brotherly love between me and my brother, his disability had an effect on me such that I could help him in performing tasks that were a bit challenging for him to do alone. I would help my brother to do things like washing and ironing his clothes. Indeed, he could perform some of these tasks on his own but he was facing some difficulties. Whilst he could do some of the things like bathing, I would always give him assistance whenever I saw that he was experiencing some challenges to do them. I would also help him carry things which were heavy after realizing that he could not do it on his own. In most cases, I would help to perform a bit challenging tasks such that he would not strain the other hand. I sympathized a lot with my brother such that I could feel the same difficulties he was experiencing.  Ã‚