By Ryu Han-seul

Ryu Han-seul

Mr. Garrioch

2013.04.01

“The Catcher in the Rye” Fan fiction

This is an adaptation of Chapter 25 of “The Catcher in the Rye.” Holden wanders in the streets and suddenly thinks he’s about to die. He wants to find Phoebe for the last time and say good-bye. In my adaptation, a KMLA student is wandering around the school during IR period with nothing to do. She goes into the forest around the school and suddenly decides to escape from her surroundings like Holden.

It was 7^th and 8^th period. I didn’t know where the hell to go. I didn’t want to go to the quiet, drowsy library again. So finally all I did was I walked over to the stone arch in front of the field track. I figured I’d sleep there, soaking in the sunlight. So that’s what I did. I only managed to sleep for thirty minutes because shadows of people passing by kept making the shades of my eyelids light and dark and light and dark. And these stupid, long as hell skirts of giggling, phony girls kept making breezes. So I sat up. The headache was even worse.

I didn’t mean to, but I kept thinking about the useless week I had. AP exams were coming in about two weeks and did I do anything? I was sort of caught up in weird paper documents about a club. Who cared if Mr. Park put his weird signature that looks like an upside-down three on the paper or not. He wasn’t in his office every time I went. I don’t’ know if he flew around or dug hole in the ground or something. He just wasn’t there.

I found a piece of paper, folded in half and stuck in one of the columns of the bridge. I started reading it, thinking it’d make me stop thinking about my useless life here. But this damn piece of paper made me feel worse. It was all about microfilaments. AP biology stuff back in chapter 10 or something. Then I read the next sheet about some Parkinson’s disease. It sort of said that the muscle tremors or poor balance means you have the disease and your brain is dying. I had this muscle cramp and tremor in my right leg for a month. I figured I’d be dead in a couple of years because of Mr. Parkinson. I really did. It certainly didn’t make me feel too much better.

It sort of looked like it was going to snow. In April, for God’s sake. I went for this walk in the woods anyway. I kept walking and walking up the trail that Mr. Ganse had shown to me in the woods. Then all of a sudden, something spooky happened. Every time I came across a goddam large tree in my way, I had this feeling that I’d never get around it. I’d just go sideways and sideways and nobody’d ever see me again. I started sweating like hell. Then I did something else. Every time I’d get to that stupid tree, I pretended my dad was alive. “Dad, don’t let me disappear. Please, Dad.” And then I reached an open road and I’d say thank you. It would start all over again as soon as another goddam tree was in the way. I knew it was stupid. But I kept going. I think I was too scared to stop. I don’t remember, to tell you the truth. The only thing I know is I didn’t stop till I was till the end of the trail. I sat down on this big rock. I could hardly get my breath and I was still sweating like a bastard.

I sat there for I guess an hour. Finally, I decided I’d go away. I decided I’d just see my best friend Suk-ho and sort of say good-bye. I decided then I’d start hitchhiking my way South. I’d go to Busan or something where nobody’d know me and I’d get a job, fishing or something. I thought what I’d do was, I’d pretend I had that Alzheimer disease or something. That way I wouldn’t have to learn anything or take goddam stupid useless exams. If anybody wanted to tell me something, they’d have to persuade me I knew them. They’d get frustrated as hell and then I’d be through with talking for the rest of my life.

They’d just let me catch fish, clean the nets, and lie down in the bottom of the ship, dirty as hell. Yeah, I’d cook all my own food, eat Raemyun and instant spaghetti. And no sagam will open the damn door and make check marks on my name. I’d want it to as sunny as hell all the time, instead of trying to talk the clouds into raining every morning to skip exercise. I’d use the computer all I want and get rid of the stupid blue and orange Microsoft program icons. I got excited as hell thinking about it. I really did. Pretending I was going insane was sort of crazy but I liked it anyway. But I did decide to get the hell out of this place. All I wanted to do first was say good bye to old Suk-ho. So all of a sudden, I ran like a madman down the slope. I don’t know if I went around the trees or I went through them. But I know I didn’t disappear cause I went past Dasan building. I ran past all the cars to the road I always used to go volunteering to some school on Tuesday. I ran like a madman until I couldn’t’ see the school anymore.