In my English III class, we are reading a story called "The Life You Save May Be Your Own." So far, it is a very strange read. A man called Mr. Shiftlet shows up at the home of an old woman and her daughter, who live in the middle of nowhere, and offers to work for them in exchange for a place to stay. The daughter, named Lucynell, has some sort of mental disability, and is very simple and uneducated as a result. She is dumb until Mr. Shiflet teaches her her first word, 'bird.' She is very excited when she learns how to say this word. She is around 30 years old, but behaves as if she is far younger. Her mother, the old lady who is also named Lucynell, likes Mr. Shiflet and wants him to marry her daughter. One of the first questions she asked him upon meeting him was whether or not he was married. He told her that it was nearly impossible to find an innocent woman anymore and that he didn't want any of the trashy women. The old woman told him that Lucynell was the most innocent girl he would find. She tried to convince him to marry her. He said he wouldn't marry any girl if he couldn't take her on a nice weekend trip and buy her a nice meal. The old woman said she'd give him $17.50 and let them take the car for the weekend if he'd marry young Lucynell. He agreed, they went to the courthouse to get married, then Mr. Shiftlet and Lucynell left for the weekend on their honeymoon. When they stopped to get something to eat that evening, Mr. Shiflet ditched Lucynell at the restaurant and drove off to Mobile, Alabama by himself in the old woman's car. It was a strange story.

-Ellie Lane