Short+Story

= = = Justin S. The Fountain Of Youth Oct 28/10 =

geography he knows exactly where he needs to go and he knows exactly how to get there.
With his sights set on The Fountain of Youth, the possible solution to all his problems. He sneaks of the barn during the night and seeks out any means of transportation and to his amazement he finds a bike leaning against a fence that seems to be in perfect condition. As Hubert knows this is as good as it gets, he grabs the bike and begins to head south out of the small town of Williamsburg without knowing that he may never make it back. Despite the fact that Hubert play no sports and takes part in no athletic activities his ever changing body is managing to pull an amazing quick pace as he moves closer and closer to The Fountain of Youth. As quick as he started he begins to slow, He slowed down dramatically somewhat to that of an young teenage child or an  older gentlemen's pace. Now night has fallen upon Hubert, and only a few miles out of town he can begin to feel the chill that those freezing cold winter nights bring. At first it does not seem to bother him but as the night progressed he began to feel the pain of the cold. The cold was now a searing pain throughout his entire body, what was once numb in his body is now hurting more than anything he has ever felt before. Hubert is now nearing the point of just collapsing of pain. He is now thinking of the possibility of death; with no light or signs of life in either direction Hubert knows there is no way he can survive on this open dirt road if he doesn’t find shelter soon. Just as he feels like falling down and giving up he see’s a miracle. He see’s way off in the distance, a flicker of light emerging from far up the road and his chance of survival has just greatly increased. With the possibility of a nice warm home or a car or anything up that road Hubert begins to pick up the pace. Now traveling faster than he ever has before he wipes the thought of death completely out of his mind and focuses on that light growing ever so slightly brighter down the road. Just as he think he is saved and he can completely make out the house down the road the dirt road way gives way beneath him. This propels Hubert from his bike and into the ditch and then his bike slams down behind him on his back bringing him unimaginable pain. As all the dust settles Hubert finds himself lying down in the ditch unable to move from all the pain and now he knows this is where he will die. As he grips onto the last few seconds on life he reflects on all his mistakes in life and just wishes that if only his guardian angle came down from the heavens to give him a nice warm glass of Fountain Water, if only…..

5. How does the main character change over the course of the story?

The main, Huburt, takes on a mild change during the course of the story. He starts off being in a happy state of mind, and being happy about all the things that he has in his life with no hate at all stirring up in his mind. As the story begins to progress Huburt begins to change because of many saddening events that happen to him. He becomes the exact opposite of what he used to be. His mind becomes filled with anger and he starts to focus on all the bad things in his life. Now you can see at this point a drastic change has taken place to the main character Huburt.

6. Describe the use of Irony i n your story.

There is not a strong use of irony in this story but near the end you may have noticed some. One very noticeable point of irony is when Hubert is trying to seek out eternal life and a chance at redemption when he ends up dieing in the end. Hubert embarks on a journey to reach the Fountain of Youth to try and restore his life and live it normally for once. But on the path to seek out the fountain he ends up dieing from the outrageous cold while bicycling down a road.

7. What symbols are present in your story?

One symbol that I saw in my story was the symbol of a New Life. The Fountain represents to Huburt a second chance at life, a do-over if you will. The Fountain would grant a brand new life for Huburt if he were to drink from it. All of the conflicts that were stirring around in His life would be erased and forgotten if he were to get a chance at drinking from the magical Fountain of Youth.

8. What is the theme of your story?

The main theme of my story that is very apparent to the reader is Redemption. The life that Hubert has lived is one that deserves much more than he was given. His disease had conflicted with every single aspect of his life because it gives him the appearance of an old man in a child's body. This quality about him makes it very hard for him to move forward and progress in life. This is why if he could get a drink from the fountain, he could possible get a redo at his life and live it to the fullest.