NERMESH SINGHHHHH

Okay,time to recap. I was in Form 4 and it was during the school recess. The
minute the bell rang for recess, I rushed to the toilet because I had been
controlling my urinary bladder since class started this morning. I didnt want
to miss class because the lesson taught was including useful tips for the final
examination.
Without realising, I had rushed to the girls toilet. The prolonged
control and an upset stomach made worse by two glasses of cold milk in the
morning made me grunt and groan in what I thought in what I thought was
the privacy of the cubicle. I thought I heard giggling outside and wondered
why the giggles sounded nearby. A few minutes later I came out the cubicle
and discovered my horror that I had entered the girls toilet. To make matters
worse, the few girls standing outside didnt even turn away when I came out.
Instead they looked down at me, then only they turned quickly away. Horror
of horrors, I had forgotten to zip up! No beetroot could have matched the
colour of my face at this point in time!
They news of my predicament spread like wild fire throughout school. I
was truly the talk of the town. I was just wishing that the earth would open
up and swallow me up. I felt like I could either walk around feeling
perpetually self-conscious and embarrassed or I could turn the situation
round, perhaps even to my advantage. I remembered my mothers words
that if you cant beat them, join them. So I decided to make fun of myself, to
laugh at myself too. It works. Everyone got bored after a while and nobody
teased me after that.
It was indeed an eye-opening experience for me. I have learnt that
when people laugh at you, you should laugh along. You must not take
yourself seriously. Learn to look at yourself through other peoples eyes and
you will realise that most of the time when they laugh at you, they just want
to have some fun. They mean no harm. If you can make people laugh, its like
bringing sunshine into their lives and as someone said, those who bring
sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. My name is
Edwin Adhock and this is my story!

Ailurophile

A cat-lover.

Assemblage

A gathering.

Becoming

Attractive.

Beleaguer

To exhaust with attacks.

Brood

To think alone.

Bucolic

In a lovely rural setting.

Bungalow

A small, cozy cottage.

Chatoyant

Like a cat's eye.

Comely

Attractive.

Conflate

To blend together.

Cynosure

A focal point of admiration.

Dalliance

A brief love affair.

Demesne

Dominion, territory.

Demure

Shy and reserved.

Denouement

The resolution of a mystery.

Desuetude

Disuse.

Desultory

Slow, sluggish.

Diaphanous

Filmy.

Dissemble

Deceive.

Dulcet

Sweet, sugary.

Ebullience

Bubbling enthusiasm.

Effervescent

Bubbly.

Efflorescence

Flowering, blooming.

Elision

Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.

Elixir

A good potion.

Eloquence

Beauty and persuasion in speech.

Embrocation

Rubbing on a lotion.

Emollient

A softener.

Ephemeral

Short-lived.

Epiphany

A sudden revelation.

Erstwhile

At one time, for a time.

Ethereal

Gaseous, invisible but detectable.

Evanescent

Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.

Evocative

Suggestive.

Fetching

Pretty.

Felicity

Pleasantness.

Forbearance

Withholding response to provocation.

Fugacious

Fleeting.

Furtive

Shifty, sneaky.

Gambol

To skip or leap about joyfully.

Glamour

Beauty.

Gossamer

The finest piece of thread, a spider's silk

Halcyon

Happy, sunny, care-free.

Harbinger

Messenger with news of the future.

Imbrication

Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.

Imbroglio

An altercation or complicated situation.

Imbue

To infuse, instill.

Incipient

Beginning, in an early stage.

Ineffable

Unutterable, inexpressible.

Ingnue

A nave young woman.

Inglenook

A cozy nook by the hearth.

Insouciance

Blithe nonchalance.

Inure

To become jaded.

Labyrinthine

Twisting and turning.

Lagniappe

A special kind of gift.

Lagoon

A small gulf or inlet.

Languor

Listlessness, inactivity.

Lassitude

Weariness, listlessness.

Leisure

Free time.

Lilt

To move musically or lively.

Lissome

Slender and graceful.

Lithe

Slender and flexible.

Love

Deep affection.

Mellifluous

Sweet sounding.

Moiety

One of two equal parts.

Mondegreen

A slip of the ear.

Murmurous

Murmuring.

Nemesis

An unconquerable archenemy.

Offing

The sea between the horizon and the offshore.

Onomatopoeia

A word that sounds like its meaning.

Opulent

Lush, luxuriant.

Palimpsest

A manuscript written over earlier ones.

Panacea

A solution for all problems

Panoply

A complete set.

Pastiche

An art work combining materials from various sources.

Penumbra

A half-shadow.

Petrichor

The smell of earth after rain.

Plethora

A large quantity.

Propinquity

An inclination.

Pyrrhic

Successful with heavy losses.

Quintessential

Most essential.

Ratatouille

A spicy French stew.

Ravel

To knit or unknit.

Redolent

Fragrant.

Riparian

By the bank of a stream.

Ripple

A very small wave.

Scintilla

A spark or very small thing.

Sempiternal

Eternal.

Seraglio

Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.

Serendipity

Finding something nice while looking for something else.

Summery

Light, delicate or warm and sunny.

Sumptuous

Lush, luxurious.

Surreptitious

Secretive, sneaky.

Susquehanna

A river in Pennsylvania.

Susurrous

Whispering, hissing.

This isn't about me. It is about my best friend. Her name was Karan. She ended up running
away from her brothers and father. See her father abused her and her brothers beat her
up. I remember her telling me once that her brothers raped her. I told her to tell someone,
but she brought up a very important point.... THERE IS NO ONE THERE TO LISTEN.
I did what I could. I gave her money, and shelter for the first couple of days. Then she told
me something else... she was pregnant. I didn't know what to do. I told her that she could
continue to hide out in my room... see my parents didn't think she was a "good influence"
on me. So she did, and surely enough, she stayed for a short time.
I got a call about a week after she ran away from my house. She said she was having the
baby, and she wanted me to come. I told her to call the ambulance or I will. She hung up,
so I called one. Well, she went to the hospital, and had the baby 2 months premature. If
that wasn't bad enough, the hospital found her dad and brother, and then called them
down. I felt so bad cause I knew what was going to happen. But, there was nothing to do
but wait.
Well, 2 weeks later she got to leave, with her dad. I remember her cell phone calling me,
and over it I could hear her crying, and screaming for help. The switch of the belt... or
something, and then it was silent... I freaked and didn't know what to do. Then her dad
picked up, and told me that if I said anything he'd give me the belt next, and I wouldn't be
so lucky.
I was scared and didn't know what to do. I never talked to Karan for around 2 weeks. Then
she showed up at the door. She was on the run. Her baby was still in the hospital, and like
cowards, we left it there. We ran away from Ontario, Canada, to B.C. Life was great. We
were okay, and we planned on returning for the baby once we were strong enough.
When that day came, she did return. We got the baby, and returned back home. Karen got
a boyfriend, who ended up being a total jerk. She felt hopeless, and the last thing she told
me, was to take care of her baby.
I didn't catch on at first. But then, when I did, it was to late. She shot herself. I took the
baby, and returned home, at the age of 17, one year later. But, to my unpleasant suprise,
my family had moved. I was homeless, with a child, and my best friend's dad, brothers and
boyfriend after me. To this day I am still on the run from them. I would hate to see what
would happen if I did accidentally run into them.
But, like Karan said, no one will help us, so we can't go home.