When Will We Ever Learn

Submitted into Contest #242 in response to: Write about two characters who meet and/or fall in love in a museum.... view prompt

57 comments

Adventure Friendship American

When Will We Ever Learn?


“Careful. That whitewash may still be wet.”

“What are you talkin' 'bout? How would you know?”

“Helpin' paint picket fences is one of ma many talents. Used ta spend hours doin' it just fer fun.”

“Just fer fun? Sounds like work to me.”

“Then ya'll haven't ever met my good ol' pal Tom Sawyer. He'd talk ya inta it alright. But then agin, ya'll pretty little. Maybe ya couldn't handle the big ol' brush, anyways.”

“I'm plenty big enough to use a brush. Ya gots one on ya? I'll prove it to ya.”

“Na, they's got fancy maintenance people in uniforms ta do that kind o' stuff in this high-falutin' place. I'm free an' easy these days. What's ya name anyways. Wheres ya come from?”

“Scout. My name's 'Scout'. Maycomb. Maycomb, Alabamie, is wheres I come from.”

“Boy, ya'll a long way from home up here in Chicaga. How'd ya get here?”

“Don't rightly know. Just opened my eyes an' I'm a sittin' on that bench next ta that book. Thought I would look around tryin' ta figure wheres I at. Where's am I, anyways? Who are ya? Have ya seen my brother, Jem, or my friend, Dill?”

“This here's the American Writer's Museum in Chicaga, Illinoiz. It's a place where lots of famous or well known past writer's from all over the USA hang out to edicate and entertain folks. Name's 'Huck'. Iz comes from the south, too, along the Big Mississippi River. I popped out o' a book just like ya a whiles back.

“Come on. I'll show ya around a bit. It's a really grand place even if it's small. Iz even think I've seen your book here somewheres. Look up above. There's a rainbow of books up there. See one by Miss Harper? That's the same as the one on the bench. A visitor must o' left that behind. Haven't seen ya folks, tho.”

“They're always off on some adventure. They'll be sorry they missed this place.”

“Hey, Iz like adventure, too. Kinda known fer 'em. Stay close an I'll take ya on one now.

“Sos this here room with the picket fence around it is the kid's corner. See the giant oak tree with the little woodland critters curled up in the nooks and crannies o' the branches all a readin' some sort of book. 'Wizard o' Oz', Richard Scarry, 'Cat 'n the Hat' an' others. Big mural paintings on the walls like 'Charlotte's Web'. Bean-bag chairs and cozy couches fer little ones ta curl up in an' have books read ta 'em. An' some fun interactive adventures, too. Kid's can explore an' get lost in this corner.

“This long wall is filled with banner's showing picture's o' authors with some o' their famous words and when they lived. Here's the desk a Mr. Ray Bradbury used. On these tables are typewriters some o' them there authors actually worked with when they wrote their masterpieces. Ya can type some wisdom of your own and pin it on the wall or add ta the story o' the day. Guests create a line ta advance the story started out with a famous first line from a novel, short story, poem, screen play, song or news report. All forms o' written art are represented.

“With these buttons ya can find out what authors liked the same things ya'll like. Other interactive ideas tell ya the story behind the stories and a lot more. Look at that waterfall o' ever-changing words that are quoted from favorites.

“Here's a whole nation showing where writers come from. Ya'll's creator, Lee Harper, come from the same hometown as Truman Capote who wrote 'In Cold Blood'. Betcha never knew that! They even wrote something together once.”

“I never even knew I was created other than by Atticus, and, o' course, Ma who I don't remember.”

“Na, we's all what they call 'characters'. Some o' us are 'protagonists' and some are 'antagonists'. But we live our lives in their creations with conflicts and resolutions and 'character arcs' that prove we learned sumpin' or maybe we didn't learn nuthin'. I know Miss Watson tried to 'sivilize' me with all kinds o' learnin' an' I had ta get away from it all. Iz happiest just floatin' down the Mississippi with good ol' Jim. Boy, did we have some sketchy adventures!”

“Well, I don't know if I'm an agonist or what. Thought I was Baptist. Atticus tried ta teach me right from wrong but things sure got mixed up in my town. See that wall o' Negroes there? Says they was all real educated and wrote a lot o' wise things. But Atticus, ya see he's a lawyer, and a good one, he proved this black man in our town was a good man and never did the cruel thing he was accused o'. But the jury said he was guilty anyway. When poor Mista Robinson tried to escape they shot him dead.

“All along it was this mean ol' girl's daddy that did the mean things to her. Then that mean ol' man tried to hurt Jem an' me. Broke Jem's arm. But Boo came to our rescue. I was always afraid of Boo when I was littler but he turned out to be a good man after all. He just acted differently. Anyways. Hard to understand the justice when an innocent man is thrown in jail 'cause of the color of his skin.”

“Yeah, ma friend ol' Jim was a slave who just wanted ta get home ta his wife an' kids. We had an awful time sortin' that all out. Not right fer someone ta own another person but anyone wit' dark skin were thought o' more like animals in ma time.”

“My time was seventy years after slavery was done away with yet they was still treated poorly. Looks like what this man King says they was still suffering thirty years past my time and fightin' fer rights. When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?”

“Ya know, Scout, ya'll real smart an' kinda cute even if ya dress like a boy in ya rolled-up bib overalls. But we needs ta get back inta our books 'fore folks come in. Think I can see ya agin tanight afta the place closes up?

WWW

americanwritersmuseum.org



March 18, 2024 22:32

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57 comments

Jonathan Page
02:05 Mar 19, 2024

Hmmmm. Huck Finn meets To Kill a Mockingbird. Honorable mentions to Cat in the Hat, Wizard of Oz, and Charlotte's Web too! Hitting the nail on the head with some Capote-Harper lore! What a cool idea! Great work, Mary!

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Mary Bendickson
02:16 Mar 19, 2024

Makin' me blush here.🤗

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Ty Warmbrodt
00:06 Mar 19, 2024

Wow. What an imaginative take on the prompt with a moral message. The dialect was an added treat. Thank you for sharing that, Mary. Loved it.

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Mary Bendickson
01:36 Mar 19, 2024

Glad you loved it! Thanks.

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Isabel Jewell
16:10 Apr 08, 2024

“Na, we's all what they call 'characters'. Some o' us are 'protagonists' and some are 'antagonists'. But we live our lives in their creations with conflicts and resolutions and 'character arcs' that prove we learned sumpin' or maybe we didn't learn nuthin'” — I loved this part lol!! Wow this was a fun and interesting read! Love the style, the language and the creativity of it all!

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Mary Bendickson
16:51 Apr 08, 2024

Thank you😊 And thanks for liking 'Because He Lives '.

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Martin Ross
22:18 Mar 31, 2024

Mockingbird was the first adult novel I read, and a lifelong influence. I loved your homage to Lee and to Twain, who many younger Americans today misinterpret or misunderstand. And to the love of writing and reading and books. I hope this story excites others to read TKaM!

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D H
19:17 Mar 28, 2024

Mary with another banger. Such a great story and great way to end it. Good work!

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Mary Bendickson
22:48 Mar 28, 2024

☺️

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Darvico Ulmeli
20:00 Mar 26, 2024

Strange dialogue for me to understand. Had to read twice. Love connection with books (most of them I read). Nice work.

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Mary Bendickson
00:01 Mar 27, 2024

The dialogue is trying to depict old time American Southern speech by somewhat sloppy or poorly educated youth. Scout would have been better educated than Huck and lived 70 years later. Thanks for putting in the extra effort and liking it.

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Darvico Ulmeli
02:51 Mar 27, 2024

You welcome.

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Claire Trbovic
19:09 Mar 25, 2024

Hawt dang that was a goodun, queen of dialogue, Mary! ♥️

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Mary Bendickson
04:38 Mar 26, 2024

Ah, shucks. Thank ya kindly.

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John Rutherford
09:52 Mar 25, 2024

Dialect is great Mary. It takes time, but this is very well done. Imaginative piece. Thanks for sharing.

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Mary Bendickson
13:38 Mar 25, 2024

Thank you.😊

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Stevie Burges
09:13 Mar 24, 2024

An interesting approach to the prompt. A good read.

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Mary Bendickson
18:09 Mar 24, 2024

Thank you.😊

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Daniel Rogers
01:55 Mar 24, 2024

Loved how Huck hoodwinked Scout into whitewashing. Great job

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Mary Bendickson
02:51 Mar 24, 2024

Loved how you loved it.

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Nancy Batty
15:30 Mar 23, 2024

Very clever approach to the assignment, Mary. Thanks.

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George Beasley
12:06 Mar 23, 2024

Beautiful story! Loved the content and the setting you put us in deep in the south.

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10:00 Mar 23, 2024

What a fantastic idea you had to write this. I can see your characters as if they walked straight out of their books. Sounded just like them too. So authentic. Wonderful. Fabulous. Very well done. Great moral message. What more can I say.

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Mary Bendickson
22:18 Mar 23, 2024

Well, than you kindly.

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Annie Hewitt
09:38 Mar 23, 2024

Great job, Mary! Scout is one of my favorites so this was very fun to read.

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Mary Bendickson
22:17 Mar 23, 2024

Glad you liked it and thanks for following.

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Kristi Gott
07:38 Mar 23, 2024

Enjoyed all the clever references and dialogue. Very original approach to the story prompt and I enjoyed reading this. Well done!

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Aeris Walker
11:23 Mar 22, 2024

Definitely a creative take on the museum prompt! What a cool idea. I’ve read Huck Finn recently and thought Huck’s dialogue was spot on, but it’s been a long time since I’ve read TKAMB. I wonder if it might make the speaker slightly more clear if Scout’s “my’s” were not also spelled “ma” like Huck. Their speech is very similar is some ways and that might help keep it distinct without dialogue tags. Great job working in important civil rights conversation. Overall, this is a really awesome story :)

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Mary Bendickson
14:32 Mar 22, 2024

Thank you. Been a long time reading those myself. Maybe could have done more research. May have time yet.

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Aeris Walker
14:37 Mar 22, 2024

💕

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Harry Stuart
16:58 Mar 21, 2024

The past and present struggles intersect by way of Huck and Scout - such an ingenious way to use the prompt and bring back to life two memorable characters. You are spot on with the southern twang and dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, Mary! Oh, and thanks again for all your supportive feedback. I am appreciative!

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Mary Bendickson
18:35 Mar 21, 2024

And thanks for yours, too.

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Philip Ebuluofor
15:33 Mar 20, 2024

What captured me was the man who knew no English like me. I like those who speak that way.

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Mary Bendickson
18:52 Mar 20, 2024

Thanks for gettin' it.😉

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Irene Duchess
02:01 Mar 20, 2024

Wunnerful story, Mary. Luved the idea an' the dialogue. :)

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Mary Bendickson
05:52 Mar 20, 2024

♥️ you ♥️ ed it.

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J. I. MumfoRD
22:30 Mar 19, 2024

Wow, that was neat. Got most of the references.

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Mary Bendickson
23:10 Mar 19, 2024

Glad you did.

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