Journal 1

My names Phineas but most people call me Finny, like Gene. Gene is my best friend who was at Devon School in the summer of 1942. As we were adventuring around the school we came across this river. I noticed an immense tree that’s limb laid across the river. I came up with a fun idea, to make the day more exciting; I decided to try to climb it. I told Gene and the others what I liked best about the tree was such a cinch. Gene being a wise guy remarked, "Is that what you like best?" I ignored his sarcasm and asked the group who wanted to go first. Expecting no volunteers I started climbing the tree. I figured if they say me do it first then they would follow. I got to the top then decided to jump off. I jumped off and landed in the river. To be honest it was fun. I asked them who was ready to go next. That’s when Gene started climbing the tree. I figured he would be the only other volunteer; he was more of a follower than a leader, unlike me. When Gene got to the limb of the tree it seemed to be forever until Gene got the courage to jump. He stood up there examining the tree like it was some mathematical equation that needs careful thinking to solve. If I just stood there letting him observe it more he would have backed down. I told him that if they torpedo the troopship he cannot just stand there! He finally got the courage to jump. When he landed Leper said, “I think that was better than Finny’s.” I told Leper that if everyone wasn’t done jumping yet so he couldn’t jump to saying who did the best. Sure enough he became quiet while Chet and Bobby said that it was against school rules. It didn’t surprise me that they were to chicken to do it. On our way back I told Gene that he was good once I shamed him into it. He told me, “You didn’t shame anybody into anything.” I told him I did and he replied by saying I was goofy. We started wrestling across the field. While the boys were advising us to hurry up before were late so we don’t get in trouble. When we got back to the dorm we listened to our radio that we weren’t allowed to have. Shortly after listening to the news of the world outside of us we went to sleep. Gene found it strange that I slept in my clothes. But I’ve heard that pajamas were unmilitary so I decided they weren’t worth it. I said my prayers and feel asleep to rest for the next day.