Of Mice and Men

      For a moment he seemed bewildered. And then he whispered in fright, “I done a bad thing. I done another bad thing”. He pawed up the hay until it partly covered her. “Oh no, what am I going to do now . . . if George comes he is really gonna get angry and he won’t let me ten’ the rabbits!”
Lennie tried to remember where George had told him to hide if he got into any trouble, but he became confused and instead of remembering brush he remembered barn, so he buried himself under a big pile of hay.  A reddish light illuminated the barn making Curley’s wife look innocent, like she really was inside, a pure rose.  Her delicate lineaments made the atmosphere peaceful.
 
      A furious voice called from outside. “Hey where the hell is my wife?”
Curley slowly opened the barn door and peered inside.
“Oh, you are here. Hey, why are you here in the barn? Who told you to come here? Wake up!”
He waited for a reply but she didn’t move or speak. Curley noticed the bruised neck and ran towards her. He shook her but then felt her heart … and realized that it wasn’t beating any more.  Curley ran outside to the fields where the men were working, screaming at them, “I want all of you in the barn right now!”
The men were asking each other what could have had happened but only one had realized; George.  Now the workers walked up the hill and arrived at the barn where Curley, Candy and the Boss were staring at the dead girl.  One by one the guys took a look inside and were shocked by what they saw.
 
     The Boss made them stand in a straight line while Curley checked to see that all of them were there.
“Carlson ok, Slim ok, George ok, Crooks ok …. hey, the only one missing is Lennie Small, that stupid, big guy!”
A sense of doom struck George.  He knew perfectly well that it must have been Lenny’s fault.
“Ok guys, let’s go get him! Take your guns and get on the trucks . .  we are going to divide into two teams . .  one will go north and one south.  We’re gonna get him and then I will kill him!” shouted Curley.
“Hey Slim can’t they just lock him up somehow?” asked George.
“I don’t think so George.  Curley is too angry and wants to kill him, and if we lock him up it would be much worse”, said Slim.
All the men had gone to the trucks and were waiting for the two men.
“Hey are you comin’?”  Curley asked impatiently.
“Yes”, George and Slim answered.
George jumped into a truck and Curley handed him a shotgun. The trucks drove off, out of the ranch.  Now with all the men gone, it looked lonely and abandoned. Candy and Lennie had remained at the ranch and the Boss was asleep in his house.
 
     Night had arrived and the men were still searching for Lennie.   George headed north to the place from where they had come and he made straight for the place where he had told Lennie to hide.  He looked back, hoping that he was alone.  He ran down the little hill that led him to the place where the pool was and called out,  “Lennie, Lennie!”  George cried out again, but there was no reply.  He looked everywhere, even in the little cave where Lennie had threatened to go when he was angry with George, but there was no trace of Lennie anywhere.  George had now lost all hope and returned to the truck where all the guys had planned to meet.
 
    Meanwhile, Lennie had realised that George wouldn’t come so he went out and headed for the bunkhouse.
“Oh my God, Lennie! What are you doing here? All the guys are looking for you”, said Candy.
“Oh no, I am in serious trouble and George is not gonna let me ten’ the rabbits!” Lennie cried.
“Lennie, why did you kill Curley’s wife? What the hell got inta ya?” asked Candy.
“She started screamin’ and so I… holded my hand over her mouth and she started agitating and so . . .” Lennie sobbed.
“Oh Jesus Christ! You’ve gotta hide in the woods and get yourself outta here, and quick too,” said Candy.
“Hum… Ok Candy, but then will George come and find me?”
“Don’t  worry Lennie, just go now!” said Candy reassuringly.
“Ok, so I guess this is good bye. . . goodbye . . . Candy”, said Lennie slowly.
“Good bye Lennie, take care of yourself, won’t ya now,”  said Candy quietly.
 
     After having hugged Candy, Lennie headed out of the ranch and then towards the woods.  He had walked for a while when he realised that he had arrived at the place where George had told him to hide.  There was the pool from were they had drunk that fresh water and the sycamore leavess that covered the shore. Lennie remembered George’s voice saying, “ Hide in the brush till I come”.  Lennie sat down and took some gulps from the pool when suddenly a shape emerged from the water.
The shape became clear and Lennie saw that it was Aunt Clara!
“Lennie you are a disaster.  George is such a nice fella, he has always took care of you, and what did you do for him?” said Aunt Clara.
“Well we supported each other, we had a nice dream together and we were friends”, he replied.
“Yes, but he couldn’t realize his dream because you always got into trouble!” she added.
“No, no it’s not like you say!” cried Lennie.
“You should throw yourself in the water and die. Then George would be happy”, said Aunt Clara angrily.
“Even if I do, George will come and save me just like he done the last time I nearly drowned”, said Lennie.
     Aunt Clara’s cruel laughter pounded in Lennie’s head as he dived into the deep water.  Where was George?  When would he come?  Soon Lennie realized that George was not going to come.  He could see Aunt Clara laughing at him as he struggled for air.  Before long the struggle was over, the water became still and the strong currents pulled his Lennie’s huge limp body up onto the shore.
  
     The next morning the ranch looked peaceful and quiet.  That day George didn’t go to work but stayed in the bunkhouse with Candy.
“Hey George.”
“What do you want?” asked George.
“Last night Lennie came here in the bunkhouse and then went to the woods somewhere”.
“Where did he go?” asked George furiously.
“I dunno,” said Candy.
“I’d better go and find him”, said George.
 
     George looked outside to see if anyone was there but the scene was quiet.  He packed his things and found his way out of the ranch. After having passed the ranch gates he heard a voice creaming after him.
“Hey George, wait!” It was Candy who had packed his things.
“May I come with you? I haven’t got anyone here . . you are my only friend George.”
“Ok my friend, let’s go and find Lennie and then we are going  to buy that house”.
 
     The two headed north in search of Lennie but they didn’t expect what they soon found.
“Hey Candy, this is the place”, said George as soon as they arrived.
As they made their way down to the shore they found Lennie lying motionless on the bank.
“Hey Lennie, Lennie!” cried George but Lennie didn’t reply.  He ran down to him and fell to his knees.
“Oh no Lennie, I shouldn’t have let you come here alone!” said George with a sobbing voice.
“Oh George it’s not your fault”, said Candy in a comforting voice.
“I haven’t got anyone in this world, he was my family, my life, my only hope”, said George.
 
     Even though this was a sad moment it was peaceful.  Some birds were singing from the tops of the sycamore trees, the blue water shone and all the animals appeared in the woods.  A rabbit came and sat on Lennie’s hand, just like Lennie would have wanted. That rabbit had found someone who really cared about him just like Lennie had found George.  That was the most beautiful sunset that George and Candy had ever seen with rose light and groups of birds flying in the sky.
Candy turned to George and said, “What are we going to do now?”
“We are going to built a new life here in the land of California…”.
 
Tommaso 8C
 

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