Mr. Shiftlet: A Short Story

884 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A narrative essay about dreams

Mr. Shiftlet continued driving down the road, on his way to see his mother in Mobile, Alabama. The rain was pouring and all he could hear is the pelting on his windshield. His mind was heavy, the questions kept swirling in his head, “Why am I going to Mobile?”, “What has my mother ever done for me in the last few years?”, “Why don’t I just let her die of polio like she let my father do?” “I can’t go see her! I can’t, the boy was right my mother is a stinking polecat. I need sleep, I have to lay down right away.” Mr. Shiftlet said as he pulled into a park with four little children running around a playset. At first he was going to take a nap but then decided to go say hello to the young children. “Hi kids, I’m giving out candy. Would you like some?” The kids ran over and Mr. Shiftlet opened the trunk of his car. “Hey angel would you mind hopping in the trunk and grabbing the bag of candy in the very back of the trunk for me?” The littlest girl walked over to him and he lifted her into the trunk.
The strange man wearing old dirty clothes picked the child up and threw him in the trunk. All of a sudden he slammed the trunk and grabbed the other two girls and threw them into the backseat of his car. He got in the front seat, turned around, and said, “If you say a word I will get out, I throw you in a ditch, and drive away.” The girls said nothing and he started driving down the interstate in his green Ford. He pulled off on a gravel road and drove a few miles, on the right of the road was a hitch-hiker. When Mr. Shiftlet pulled up next to him the boy said, “Hello sir, would you mind taking me to Brewton, Alabama? It’s only 64 miles away, I won’t bother you I

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of The Legend of Big Liz

    1165 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the Civil War there was a slave girl named Elizabeth...who worked on a plantation in Dorchester County. Her owner was a very wealthy man who was extremely paranoid that he would lose his assets if the war reached his home and the North won. As things began turning out poorly for the Confederates, the owner decided to hide his treasures in the Greenbriar Swamp. He took Elizabeth, who he called Liz, deep into the swamp and had her dig a hole to bury the treasure in. After the hole was dug and the treasure placed in it, the owner knocked Liz over the head and into the hole with his shovel. He could not risk keeping a slave with knowledge of the whereabouts of his treasure. As she was lying unconscious on top of the treasure, her owner began shoveling dirt back into the hole. Just before her face was completely covered, she regained consciousness and began screaming. Her owner just kept throwing dirt into the hole, however, and eventually buried Liz alive.

    Read More

  • The Beet Fields Book Report

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    He arrived with the mexicans however, he did not leave with them as he was offered a full time job for the rest of the summer. He accepted the job mainly because he could not stop thinking about the farmer's daughter, Lynette. It was then that he had a steady job and fell in love for the first time. This is where he worked from sun up to sun down.. This went on for weeks. Alice, Bill’s wife would always bring him food and Bill would always pick him up. Until one night, Alice came and got the boy. She told him that Bill was in town and would be home later, however, Alice work the boy up at two in the morning and sent him to town to retrieve her husband. The boy found him in the bar in a huge poker game with lots of money. A huge fight broke out and the boy was told to grab the money off the bar and when the fight finished outside they left. Bill gave the boy almost two hundred dollars of the money. The next night there a sheriff’s car in the driveway. The sheriff was there looking for the boy. He said there was a poster of him in town. Bill told him “he busts his balls for me” that he was a good kid. Again,another life lesson, that working hard had paid off for him. The sheriff told him that if it all checked out he would bring him back. However, the Sheriff took all his money and threw him in a jail cell. It was there that he broke out and ran. He hitched a ride to Oregon. He was pissed and mad. He fell asleep in the man's car on the way to Oregon. When he awoken he was offered some coffee and doughnuts. However, before eating them a peasant came through the windshield and killed the man. The car was wrecked and the boy was scared. He got out of the car and headed down the road. He then picked up by Hazel. She took him to her farm, fed him and cleaned him up and he was grateful for that. Hazel took the boy to the county fair. This is where is ran in to the sheriff that had took all

    Read More

  • Shore Road Mystery By Franklin W. Dixon

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    The next morning a man named Jack Dodd called and told the Hardy's to come quickly. The police were looking for someone who had stolen a car. The police thought they found their man. They found Jack Dodd's fishing rod in the trunk of one of the stolen cars. Jack told the police that he had not put it there and that he was being set up. The cops handcuffed Jack and his father and took them down to headquarters. Later on the police chief came to the Hardy's home telling them that the Dodd's had taken off in their station wagon. The Hardy's had known the Dodd's for a very long time and it just didn't seen like them to break the law.

    Read More

  • Separation Anxiety and Attachment in Infants and Toddlers

    2903 Words  | 6 Pages

    Susie’s mother opened the door to let Molly, Susie’s babysitter, inside. Ten-month old Susie seemed happy to see Molly. Susie then observed her mother put her jacket on and Susie’s face turned from smiling to sad as she realized that her mother was going out. Molly had sat for Susie many times in the past month, and Susie had never reacted like this before. When Susie’s mother returned home, the sitter told her that Susie had cried until she knew that her mother had left and then they had a nice time playing with toys until she heard her mother’s key in the door. Then Susie began crying once again.

    Read More

  • The Polio Journals: Lessons From My Mother Summary

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Polio Journals: Lessons from My Mother, by Anne K. Gross, is the heartbreaking and emotional version of one woman’s life as a polio survivor. Carol Greenfeld Rosenstiel, the author’s mother, contracted polio in 1927 at the young age of two. From then until her death from lung cancer in 1985, Carol Rosenstiel was a paraplegic, suffering paralysis below the waist. She did successfully marry, raise children, and enjoy a profession as a concert musician while confined to a wheelchair. She kept journals that Anne Gross used, after her mother’s death, to reminisce her mother’s life. She was encouraged by her courageous and pitiless efforts to attain recognition in the world of the non-disabled.

    Read More

  • Up The Coulee

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    After a decade of not seeing his mother and brother, Howard returns to his hometown in Mississippi. It is evident how thrilled he is. As the train approaches town, he begins “to feel curious little movements of the heart, like a lover as he nears his sweetheart” (par. 3). He expects this visit to be a marvelous and welcoming homecoming. His career and travel have kept his schedule extremely full, causing him to previously postpone this trip to visit his family. Although he does not immediately recognize his behavior in the past ten years as neglectful, there are many factors that make him aware of it. For instance, Mrs. McLane, Howard’s mother, has aged tremendously since he last saw her. She has “grown unable to write” (par. 72). Her declining health condition is an indicator of Howard’s inattentiveness to his family; he has not been present to see her become ill. His neglect strikes him harder when he sees “a gray –haired woman” that showed “sorrow, resignation, and a sort of dumb despair in her attitude” (par. 91). Clearly, she is growing old, and Howard feels guilty for not attending her needs for such a long time period: “his throat [aches] with remorse and pity” (par. 439). He has been too occupied with his “excited and pleasurable life” that he has “neglected her” (par. 92). Another indication of Howard’s neglect is the fact that his family no longer owns the farm and house where he grew up. They now reside in a poorly conditioned home:

    Read More

  • A legitimate Shiftlet: A complex character often misunderstood

    995 Words  | 2 Pages

    I believe that Mr.Shiftlet, the character from the story “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” by Flannery O’Conner is an innocent, truthful, and honest man. Although there are many misconceptions towards Mr.Shiftlet, this is mainly due to his complex character. My first example is as Mr.Shiftlet enters the story. At first he appears to the reader as innocent and pitiful. He shows an emotion to the reader as him being portrayed as helpless, innocent, and as a cripple. Mr.Shiftlet later questions Mrs. Crater why she trusts him stating, “…you never have seen me before: how you know I ain’t lying?” again appealing to his innocent appearance. Mr.Shiftlet’s helpless and pitiful character shows those around him believing that he is trustworthy. Another example is that as he is first led off his religious course by the thought that the car would be his ultimate passage to spiritual freedom. He compares the spirit to a car starting “the spirit...is like an automobile: always on the move.” This supports Mr.Shiftlet complex character because all of Mr.Shiftlet’s actions were specifically put to help himself, or in other words, to obtain the vehicle, as another action of just simply using his resources. A complex character once again expressed in the text, yet this time through his guilt. In the story it relates that Mr.Shiftlet searches for one last chance of redemption. Mr.Shiftlet knew that a man with a car has his responsibilities, so that’s why he gave the boy a lift. This act of kindness was a chance for Mr.Shiftlet to feel better about his mistakes. Once again, I believe that there are many misconceptions towards Mr.Shiftlet actions due to his complex character.

    Read More

  • Eulogy For Son

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    One day John came up to Juan and told him ,“ Juan, I am not going to bully you anymore, I want to tell you something.” Juan then said ,“Go ahead tell me.” Then John said ,“ Josh has either ran away or hid with a girl. His cousins are saying that he ran away with Emily” Juan then said, “ No, I don’t believe you.” John then said, “ Juan please believe me, Josh’s cousins said that he is leaving with a girl and they most of the time never lie. John adjured Juan to help him find out the truth, “I want to help you find out the truth.” John says,” I don’t believe you, but I’ll go with you. We will go find out the truth”. Josh said, “ Ok let’s go. Josh said that he is going to the village nearby our village so we will go

    Read More

  • Anna Quinden: Living Through Writing

    1233 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cold sweat trickles down Kate's back as she stands over the hospital bed, watching the mother she cares for slowly pass away. The droning beep of the monitoring heart machine pierces through the air. Kate kisses her mother one last time, wiping warm tears from her watery eyes, and sluggishly begins to leave. Step by step out of the door the pain intensifies in her heart, but Kate must keep staying strong and move on. A new chapter of her life begins here. Much like Kate, Anna Quindlen undergoes with the catastrophic death of her mother dying of cancer, leaving her arriving at college with an entire new perspective. Her significant childhood and maturement, experiencing the death of her mother, and giving birth to three children influenced Anna Quindlen with her writings.

    Read More

  • Short Story Done By Davjohn

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    He just found out that his mom has cancer and she is dying slowly. Davjohn cried for several days and then he decided that it was time to help out his mom and try to get her to feel better. He thinks if he finish their home that she’ll get better. Davjohn takes a risk to go find more metal for their home. It’s really hot outside. It feels like when you’re out at Texas and you just can never get cooled. His sweat is running down him like a waterfall. He tries his best to keep himself to keep going for his mom. He tells himself that’s all for his mom. As soon as he goes over a hill he sees the

    Read More

  • Essay On Nursing Home Experience

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    It had been a cold, snowy day, just a few days after Thanksgiving. My grandmother became immensely ill and unable to care for herself. We knew she had health problems but her sudden turn for the worst was so unexpected and therefore we weren’t prepared for the decisions that had to be made and the guilt we would feel. Where would grandma live? Would she be taken care of? So many concerns floated around. A solution was finally found and one that was believed to be the best or so we thought.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay About Euthanasia

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    It was the middle of the night when my mother got a phone call. The car ride was silent, my father had a blank stare and my mother was silently crying. I had no idea where we were headed but I knew this empty feeling in my stomach would not go away. Walking through the long bright hallways, passing through an endless amount of doors, we had finally arrived. As we

    Read More

  • The Silent Struggles of Immigrant Hope

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our eyes locked, as tears streamed down her sullen face. She was a petite woman with heavy dark eyes, revealing her struggle, her pain, and a hope for a better life. She cradled her infant gently, yet firmly as if it was her last breath. With every sway, she kissed her child’s head as a promissory note that she would take care of her and provide for her the world.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative Essay: Christmas: My Favorite Time Of Day

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    My once carefree childhood was replaced with sterile, colorless rooms where physicians would crowd around me like a specimen under a microscope. They poked and prodded with their cold, lifeless instruments. It always ended the same, though. I saw me mother wearing the expression of both apprehension and melancholy on her face. I heard the doctor’s muffled utterances migrate to my ears saying, “The prognosis is not good.” As a result, I came to realize that the thread holding my life was dangling in front of me, mocking my imminent mortality. A thick mass of gray clouds migrated into my head filling the void with hopelessness.

    Read More

  • A Typical Day – A Short Narrative

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    The shrill cries of my alarm echo across vermilion painted walls, stirring my consciousness into an aware state. It is precisely eight o’clock on a warm summer Monday; the distant cries of mockingbirds can be heard above the soft whirring of cars passing our genteel residential street. My ears scan the house; it is quiet – barely a sound other than the tinkling of tags as our pets navigate the living room. The still morning air brought realization, with no children running around Mother must have already left for work. Never leaving my lax position I stretch and sigh, it is nice to not have to baby-sit my sister’s kids – my nieces and nephew – but I do miss the mornings where my mother would still kiss me goodbye.

    Read More

More about Mr. Shiftlet: A Short Story

Open Document