Haleigh+&+Austin

I got off the plane at JFK at approximately eleven in the morning. I have finally made it to the Big City, what I have wanted ever since my childhood. I’m here for a whole entire week and not only do I get to experience my life-long dream, but I also get to see my sister and her new boyfriend! First, I’m going to go to all of the boutiques a buy glamorous clothes for our extravagant party tonight. My sister has invited all of her friends, some who are very successful and wealthy, to the party she is throwing for me tonight. Today were going to go buy everything we need for the party. She already has caterers and decorators coming to prepare for tonight. Apparently, it’s a rather large event. Charlie, my sister, is obsessed with finding me a promising boyfriend. I, on the other hand, am not really concerned about meeting a guy. I came to New York for all of the parties, fashion, restaurants, and money. Hopefully, I will enjoy my party and the rest of the week. I’m extremely ecstatic that I was able to visit my sister and I look forward to visiting again.

A small town.

A small town can be a personal place; the faces are all familiar, the streets feel like home. To someone who is used to the impersonal life of a big city, this can seem like a comparatively very pleasant place. Christopher Kahn had always dreamed of this sort of utopia where rows of little houses sat and looked eagerly for every day to break. So in April, 1976, he moved to a small place in Kansas, that neither he, nor any of his family had heard of. It was almost as if time stood still, the cold brick walls standing firmly against the backdrop of the Midwest countryside. Not so much as a state highway graced the town with its presence. Many drove by every day on the long, winding ribbon of asphalt that lay a few miles off on the overlooking ridge, yet none notices it. He had idealized the town to the point of having massive expectations guaranteed only to bring disappointment. Everyone knew each other. It was this that he sought most. Everyone was trusting; a friend was never far away. And while he was given a warm welcome, he soon faded away from the limelight of being a “new” person, and gradually slipped into the unfortunate disposition of just being an “outsider." He still got along fairly well with most neighbors and even had quite a few friends in the town, though he couldn’t seem to earn the trust of the local authorities. They claimed that this kind of “city” person could cause nothing but trouble. On a frigid night in January, the local supermarket was closing at its usually prompt 11:00. People were scarce at the store at this time, as most were home by now in such a sleepy town. But to Christopher, 11:00 was no extraordinary time. His was the only car in the lot. Mr. Millis, a respected citizen, was slowly making his way to the last bus. Chris was startled to feel a movement of air as a darkly-dressed man ran by followed by three loud shots. The masked man was in the bushes by the time the store employees were alerted. When they emerged, all they saw was a petrified Christopher Kahn standing over a handgun and the lifeless body of Mr. Millis. Talk spread around town, and Chris was helpless, as he had spent the night in jail. The trial was prompt, and the jury of his “peers” was really a group of angry townspeople waiting to condemn an innocent man. Word of mouth served more important that evidence and facts. This mutual trust finally proved to be troublesome in the end.