In Elysian Fields by Tom Evans

Author:Tom Evans [Evans, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2016-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

. . . . .

Things then were moving apace, when, at exactly the most propitious moment possible in her young life, her New England grandparents intervened out of the blue once more, insisting on sending her to summer camp on Cape Cod, which the Daileys reluctantly agreed to. Norah was at first also leery about this, as she recalled all too well how sick it had made her the last time she had gone to New England, and knew she would be homesick and miss going to the baseball games with her grandfather. Her grandparents said they’d miss her too but reassured her it was a great opportunity in spite of their misgivings.

In the end, it turned out to be just what she needed. The shy and extremely self-conscious girl discovered a previously unknown side of herself, becoming very much the tomboy, and getting on famously at camp, camping out, swimming, hiking, fishing, and, most of all, observing her surroundings, especially the water, in the minutest detail. She didn’t care much for the organized sports but otherwise loved anything to do with the outdoors, where she thrived, all vestiges of her asthma or eczema gone.

This success laid the groundwork for her Brahmin grandparents (whose fortunes had apparently rapidly turned around- either that or they were making a desperate attempt at keeping up appearances) insisting on sending her to an all-girls school near Boston starting in tenth grade. Surprisingly, Norah readily agreed to it. It seemed in a short time she’d grown quite fond of New England, especially being near the ocean after living in land-locked Ohio.

Because she had so little formal education, as the time to begin neared, Norah viewed her new school with foreboding. Once again, however, her aptitude in English served her well, and she was quickly recognized as a bright new literary talent, which also helped her acquire friends with a similar literary bent. She hated math, and some of the science still seemed like a foreign language to her, especially chemistry, but found she had an aptitude for biology and geology, which she never would have believed possible. If she paid attention in class and did her homework, she could keep up in her weak subjects, and thrive in the others.

There she met Fanny Kimball, from nearby Brockton, who would become a lifelong friend. Though the same age, she was much more worldly, having all the advantages and opportunities an upper-middle class girl was blessed with, introducing Norah to the big city (Boston), and the ins and outs of boarding school, making her acclimation much easier. She took Norah home over the fall holiday to meet her parents, who Norah loved immediately, and they her. She felt right at home there, and they had such great fun, but not without Norah being conflicted, both being jealous of Fanny’s upbringing and feeling guilty about never wanting to go back to Ohio again. She had outgrown it once and for all, she realized.

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