Page 90

By Jack Joseph Smith

91 | : at hima the menacing presence of us was coming over his fading form as he vate tho the other side of a dim suns Father Lawnegan picked the ball up from the ground and tossed it to me, as-David in-an instant was gones I watched his feet flickering in slight blides over the ice, and then I tossed the ball, leading him as he ranj. It hit him on the chest, and he held on to it almost falling as his heels kicked high across the lonesome yard, We began to convergOon him, rynning wide spread under the dismal sky, I was jogging evenly with him now, .as the others began to elose ins His face had gone white watching us close she gaps There was-very little sound and the breathing was loud; No one was yelling when he was hits and his voice screamed with the pain of a broken spirit, Father Lawnegan was there in a moment, and we all drew-back as David stood shivering with a wetthate in his eyess Keep the ball and go with it again, rang through my brainy as the uninow' bas becoming stronger and stronger, This time he ran as if on the wings of a know Pear, = and we-all ran fast against hing A few of the boys optoled and between us he was hit hard like the motion of a weed cut into by a cycles This time he yose terrified, and we all aproled athe, fear with a distances His blind vapecen Aware had almost brought him to the peak of shock, when Father 1 Lagnegan grabbed him by the shoulder with his full arm and held him nears It had / been taken all the way, and his-spirit lay barren before us, like cinders in snows. Let's see, there must be thirty of you heres Not bad; David of Saint Bernards : against thirty other Saint Bernards boys; Your not afraid of them now are you Davidf You put up a good fights Who wants to be on Davidd team? That's rights’ David's team : ‘* against the rest,,for the rest of the afternoon, I hurried across that line of ° ‘ demarcation quick,.and stood beside David, No classes for the rest of the days. I looked at David, as-some other boys were walking to him, It was elears We were on : <

Original Scan

Page 90

AI Interpretation

GPT

David is forced back into the game, hunted down again under a dim sky, and finally pulled out of terror by Father Lawnegan, who turns the whole yard against itself by making David's side the new center.

What lands hardest is the silence around David's pain, with breath and impact replacing ordinary noise until Papa Joe breaks the spell. His intervention does not end the game so much as seize its meaning and redistribute loyalty in front of everyone.


Claude

David is hit, gets up terrified, is hit harder, and Lawnegan catches his shoulder and holds him near — thirty of you against David — and suddenly Michael is on David's team for the rest of the afternoon, no classes.