Unit 11

Conflict in the story is the problem or problems that characters face. Sometimes characters deal with their problems face to afce and try to solve them directly. Other times they may try to run away from problems or avoid them by finding distraction, escape, or replacements for what they really want.

As you read the next story, think about what the conflict isand how the main character tries to seal with it. Before you begin reading, look at the questions in Activity 3. Think about these questions as you read the story.

Record your beginning and ending time.

Most people want enough money so they can have some to saveand some to spend. But there are two ways to use money – foolishly and wisely. In this story, Sally uses her money to solve s conflict. See if you can tell why the first way is foolish – and why the second is wise.

Recovery________________________________________

Corinna Harmon

Dear Sally,

We feel like deserters, leaving our only and favorite daughter, but we know you're in good hands with the Okin family. Your Mom still hasn't gotten over the three months in that trailer. We both know how important your swimming is, but she just couldn't take another day of it. This check is for you to spend however you want, and we'll get something to you every week. Swim a lap for us.

Love,

Dad

Sally vacuumed the floor, part of the agreement for her room and board. Her parents had been unable to adjust to Florida, but they had let her stay so she could train every day. In Vermont, they lived far from an indoor pool and Sally despised the ride home in the winter, her clothes clammy from the locker room. And then there was her parents' constant wor­rying that she would become ill from going out in the cold with wet hair. Indeed, last winter she had been sick with one cold after another. For Sally's sake, they had tried moving to a warmer climate.

Her bathing suit rolled in a towel, Sally jogged the few blocks to the pool. Two hours later she hauled herself out of the water.

"Great —not even out of breath, are you?" joked Mr. Busch, her coach, squat­ting beside her. Then, he looked serious. "I told you to take off Friday and Saturday nights."

She shrugged.

"Now take this down," he said. "I want to win the state championship as much as you do. But I don't want you to turn into a hermit. Go out more often, eat some pizza, play pinball. A few extra laps will take off the few extra ounces, if that's what's wor­rying you."

In Vermont, Sally had done all those things. There, she had had friends. But she had come to the new school late in the year, and no one had made much of an effort to be friendly. Sally was shy about putting herself forward. What if they made fun of her different accent? What if they just didn't like her? She felt safer at the pool, where she knew she would never be a failure.

Friday afternoon, Sally took a bus to a different pool. That would be her weekend pool, and it was unlikely that Mr. Busch would find out about it.

Since Sally did nothing but swim, she spent very little and the weekly checks from her parents accumulated. One day she stared at her old worn-out bathing suit hanging over the shower curtain rod. Mr. Busch had remarked that he was afraid she might burst the seams if she flexed too many muscles. It was so faded, she could hardly tell what the original color had been.

On Monday after school, Sally ran to the pool, fumbled into her new suit and shot into the water before Mr. Busch could focus on her.

"I can see that new suit through the bubbles! Maybe I shouldn't let you out on weekends, after all," he laughed.

"Oh, -no," she fibbed, "I'm not sacri­ficing my social life."

By not buying anything besides toothpaste and shampoo, Sally saved enough for another swimsuit in three weeks. With Mr. Busch's words of admiration echoing in her mind, she bought another suit, and another, whenever she had enough money. The swimsuits piled up in her drawer, and whenever she looked at them, she felt good.

When some of the kids at school in­vited Sally to the amusement park, she re­fused, thinking first that she couldn't afford it, and second that they had taken too long before asking her to join them.

The day Sally dived past Mr. Busch in her fourth new suit, she glimpsed an at­tractive new girl standing beside him. As she swam back and forth, eyeing the new­comer, she noted with pleasure that her suit was more ragged than Sally's old one. The dye was streaked, there was a little hole at the waist, and it was so short for the girl that she tried to stretch it both up and down. Mr. Busch beckoned Sally out of the pool.

'This is Martina, a marvelous swim­mer with no self-confidence. She's likely to think of how miserable she is in mid-stroke and sink to the bottom of the pool. The state meet is next month and I want you to work together," he emphasized, tapping Sally's nose.

Every day Sally measured Martina against herself. Martina's butterfly was stronger, her backstroke not as even. Sally could swim faster, but Martina could swim longer. Through the long hours of practice, Sally's initial resentment and jealously faded. Mutual respect and admiration grew between the two girls, but after practice, they always went their separate ways.

One afternoon, Martina shivered be­side Mr. Busch, gripping his wrist while they timed Sally. Martina leaped to the edge of the pool, yelling, "You broke your own record. They can't beat you!"

When Martina began her endurance swimming, Sally shouted, "Go Raggedy Ann! One more hour and that old suit'll disintegrate." Sometimes Martina would retch, closing her eyes and swimming steadily until she recovered. Sally had never seen anyone swim beyond the point of discomfort and she knew that together they would win the meet, even though Martina started every practice saying, "I know I can't do it."

During the weekends, which seemed so long, Sally could hardly wait to rejoin Mr. Busch and Martina. She swam alone at the other pool until she almost fell asleep in the water. She purchased another suit and flung it into her drawer, noticing that she'd never taken the store tags off the last one.

Sunday she got to the pool early and did yoga exercises. When Mr. Busch and Martina arrived together, Martina's face was tear-stained, and she yanked at her suit more than usual.

"I was just telling Martina that you must have regulation suits for the state match," Mr. Busch said.

"I won't compete, then," interrupted Martina.

"How come?" asked Sally.

"I always wear this suit. I've had it for, for three years," she wailed.

"Well you certainly got your money's worth," joked Sally.

"It's not a life preserver," said Mr. Busch comfortingly.

"I can't swim without it, especially not at a meet," Martina shivered. "If I can't wear it I won't go!"

"That's ridiculous," laughed Sally, "You're such a good sw —"

Martina lunged toward Sally, shouting, "Don't call me ridiculous. You're ridicu­lous with your two hundred suits. It's a good thing they specified a suit for the meet or you'd spend the whole day trying to decide what to wear!"

Mr. Busch pulled Martina away, leav­ing Sally to practice alone. She's scared out of her mind, Sally thought.

When Sally got home that night, she scattered her bathing suits on the floor and counted them. She'd bought the first few with an excited feeling, the last ones out of habit.

Martina was right, she thought to her­self. Ridiculous. Why did I buy them? What was all the scrimping and saving for, when I could have been having fun? I had my chance to make friends, but I blew it. And just to save for another stupid suit!

It suddenly seemed to her that she had been sick and recovered, and that these suits were the last symptoms of her illness. She went downstairs, calculating that her next check would arrive Wednesday.

"Hello, Martina," she said on the tele­phone. "I know the meet is coming right up, but we don't have to practice Friday night. Let's go to a movie, or whatever you want. My treat, OK?"

______________________________________________________

hermit – a person who lives alone in a place far away from other people

disintegrate – separate into parts; brake up

Activity 1

Fact Questions

1. Where does Sally get her money?

2. Why did Sally's parents go back to Vermont?

3. Why did Sally's parents move to Florida in the first place?

4. How was Sally's life in Vermont dif­ferent?

5. Did Sally really need the first new swimsuit she bought?

6. How did she save for the others?

7. Give two reasons why Sally refused to go to the amusement park.

8. What was Martina's problem?

9. What does Martina call Sally's habit of collecting swimsuits?

10. What does Sally ask Martina to do at the end of the story?

Activity 2

Thought Questions

1. Why does Mr. Busch want Sally to take off Friday and Saturday nights?

2. Why would Sally rather swim on week­ends than go out with the other kids?

3. Why does she spend all her money on bathing suits?

4. Why do you think Mr. Busch's ap­proval and admiration are so important to Sally?

5. Why did Sally note "with pleasure" that Martina's suit was ragged and too small?

6. What might be Mr. Busch's real reason for putting Sally and Martina together?

7. Why is the title of the story "Recovery"?

Activity 3

Thinking about Conflict

1. What is Sally's conflict?

2. Does she attempt to resolve it directly or escape from it? Explain.

3. What does she really want? What does she replace it with?

4. Does buying the new suits solve the conflict?

5. How is the conflict finally resolved?