Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Dead Poets Society... I am just inspired by it.
A/N: First of all, I'm back... and plan on remaining back. Catstaff thwaps her afk life for going blooey for so long.
Secondly, the named Twilight Zone episodes are indeed from the 1959-60 television season, and therefore would (maybe) have been shown in summer repeats. No, I do not actually know what was showing on tv in August of 1960. :-)
And third, the mentioned places in Salem, MA all still exist, although the museum is now the Peabody Essex Museum and most of the rides at Salem Willows are no longer there. A carousel is still in existance, but is not the original. I have not been able to determine if the one that is there now might have been there in 1960, or if it replaced the original carved wooden horse carousel at a later date. If anyone happens to know, I'd love to hear from you, just to satisfy my own curiosity.
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The summer goes by swiftly. Too swiftly, in my opinion. Todd and I had a wonderful time on the Island, and a fairly good time since we've been back in Andover as well. It's been a little harder here, of course, since we each have our own rooms at the house. But tonight is Todd's last evening with us, his parents are due to pick him up tomorrow afternoon on their way home from Washington. We're both a little subdued at dinner, thinking of the coming two-week separation.
AJ is spending the week with friends, and Mother seems to notice our moods, but Father is rather cheerfully oblivious. He's going on about how our senior year ought to be fun and that we'll want to make sure our college application essays are perfect. "I know both of you boys will be applying to Dartmouth in the family traditions," he says. "Where else are you planning to apply?"
"Yale, Princeton, and the University of California at Berkeley as my backup school, sir," Todd replies.
"Harvard, Cornell, and UC Berkeley as a backup," I answer.
Father blinks a bit at our answers. "I understand choosing a good school as a backup, boys, but why that particular one? It's so far away."
"That's just it, Father," I tell him. "It is far away. So if it comes to needing to go to my backup school, I can get all sorts of new experiences that I wouldn't have by going to a non-Ivy League school here in the northeast. Just think of all the places of historical interest I could see in driving out there, for example... I could see Washington, the Mississippi River, the Alamo..."
Todd, somewhat comfortable at speaking up around my parents after his time with us, chimes in. "Also, sir, San Fransisco is considered the cultural center of the West Coast. While there may not be the sheer numbers of museums and theaters as in New York City or Boston, those things are available there, as they perhaps wouldn't be elsewhere."
"All right, I see you boys have thought about it and done some research," Father concedes. He studies me for a long moment. "Richard, if you'd rather not go to Dartmouth..."
Mother cuts him off. "Andrew, for goodness' sake, this is hardly the time for this discussion. We ought to be getting ready for the Prescott's reception, and I'm sure the boys want to make the most of their last evening together before school starts. I know what you're trying to say, and it can wait for tomorrow night." She softens her little rebuke with a smile and a squeeze of his hand.
Father returns her smile. "All right, Evelyn, you're correct. Boys, we'll probably not be back until midnight or later." He gets up from the table and heads upstairs, presumably to change for the reception.
Mother stands as well, but hesitates before leaving the room. "I suppose you two will want to stay up all night talking," she smiles. "AJ and his friends usually did on their last night together. If you want to, Richard, you can pull out the sleeping bags and camp out in the den tonight, so there's no chance of disturbing us if you're still talking at four o'clock in the morning. Just make sure you clean up after yourselves if you make any late-night snacks... Betty won't appreciate a sink full of dishes when she comes in tomorrow morning," she adds, referring to our part-time housekeeper. Then she follows Father upstairs to dress.
I smile at Todd. "Camping out in the den sounds like a good idea to me. We can watch television until it goes off the air for the night, then maybe we can do some writing. I bet our friends would like to hear about our summer."
Todd brightens at that suggestion. "I bet you're right. And we'll have time to go to the post office before my parents come for me, won't we?"
"As long as we don't sleep until two in the afternoon, sure." I stand up as Betty comes in to collect the dinner dishes. "Let's go find the sleeping bags."
He follows me to the attic and we rummage around for a bit, looking for the camping gear. Once we find the sleeping bags, we take them to the den along with pillows from both our rooms, and set them up facing the television. Mother pokes her head in to say goodnight and tell us that she and Father will try not to disturb us when they come in tonight, on the off chance that we're asleep by then. Shortly afterwards, Betty came in to ask if we needed anything before she went home for the night. I told her to go on and have a nice evening, that Todd and I were perfectly capable of opening the refrigerator if we wanted a drink of milk. She laughed and left.
Todd looks up from the TV Guide. "Let's hear it for summer reruns," he quips. "We've got Maverick, Gunsmoke, and The Twilight Zone, along with Peter Gunn and The Untouchables. Or The Lawrence Welk show."
I mock-shiver. "No! Save me from the evil bubble machine!"
Todd laughs and switches the channel to Maverick. We watch a few shows before taking a break to change into our pajamas and then fix popcorn and get a couple of cokes apiece. We're back at the tv in time for The Twilight Zone. Todd grins. "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street!" he exclaims. "Followed by The Hitch-Hiker."
"Oh, I loved that one! Let's hope we don't see anyone like that... or blow out a tire... when we're going to California," I chuckle.
He laughs as well, moving over to snuggle against me as we watch and eat the popcorn. Afterwards, when the news comes on, I grab some writing paper and a couple of books to lean on and we settle back to write.
Oh Captain, my Captain!
I hope your summer has been as good as mine has. Having Todd with me for the last six weeks has been wonderful. Sure, we've had to be careful, but we've managed. The only bad news is that Todd has to go home for a couple of weeks before school starts again. His parents will be picking him up tomorrow. This will be the first time I've truly looked forward to returning to school!
One thing that's interesting, my father asked earlier this evening about our choices of colleges. And he started to say something that I'm pretty sure indicates he won't try to force me into attending Dartmouth. Mother stopped him, but more in the manner of not wanting to get into a personal discussion with Todd there, than in disapproving of what he intended to say. So it looks as though I'll be able to come to California without opposition from home, at least not from the perspective of Father insisting I follow family tradition. I think telling him about Meeks and Pitts getting permission to go to MIT helped. I only hope Todd has the same sort of luck with his family, but I don't think he will.
I've told Todd to call me any time he needs to over the next couple of weeks. Even my parents have commented about his, and the way they treat him. They saw enough, when our families met at Welton on leaving day, to upset them. I'm going to ask if they'll invite Todd back a few days before school starts, and drive us up to school together. But I'm not telling Todd, in case they say no. I don't want to hurt him by getting his hopes up and then having them say no for whatever reason. I figure his parents will be more likely to accept the invitation if it comes from my parents.
But enough of the gloom. Summer was wonderful. I taught Todd to fish out on the Island, and he ended up being the one to land a small shark when we were out on the boat with my father. He and I kept my mother supplied with blackberries for cobbler, and my brother AJ taught us both to play poker. We also spent a day in Salem once we got back home, touring the Peabody Museum and having fun on the rides at the Salem Willows park as well as seeing the House of the Seven Gables.
I can't wait to hear about your wedding, and your trip to Yellowstone. I think Todd and I might try to plan our route to visit there when we drive out to California next summer. Which assumes everything goes well until then, of course. Still, it's nice to have a plan in mind. It gives me something to do besides worry over what might happen if we're found out. But we've made it this far, I think we'll be all right.
Your friend,
Richard