Let's cut to our next two characters. Emily and Cole. they are very close siblings. They do everything together. However her brother Cole is in a wheelchair so he can’t do much. But,
he’s not always down about it. He’s accepted this part of himself a long time ago. These two are the most zealous out of the friend group. And it shows. How? Because their parents are already outside eagerly waiting for the doors to be unlocked for the special campaign. Behind the driver and passenger seat were stacks of tracks and magazines. And one more spot for memorial handouts. “Hey Em?” askes cole. “What do you write about in your notebook almost all the time when were not jotting down spiritual food at the meeting?” he asked curiously. Emily looking annoyed says, “if i got a nickel for every saturday you asked me this i’d be rich! Get your own notebook dude…”. “Well you know I ask because I know you, and the rest of us have nothing to hide”, says Cole in confidence. Their parents nod in agreement but don’t say much other than, “mhm that’s got it right son”.
It turns out Emily has a notebook for her diary entries. Apparently her parents are so wrapped up in “doing Jehovah’s holy work that they don’t pay much attention to the kids that much. It wasn't always like this however. While Emily has already figured out that her parents don’t care about anything else, Cole on the other hand is metaphorically blind to their lack of secular things.
At this point everyone in the congregation is in the parking lot because it’s the first saturday of the month. Some are standing outside while some in their cars. The doors are unlocked by Brother Morris (AJ’s father) with a worried look on his face. “Good morning Brother Morris!” says one sister. As conductor, Brother Morris doesn’t want to seem worried so he puts on a fake smile. “Good morning sister Badcock, hope your days going well”, he says as he walks in the building. And everyone else followed behind him. A good 20 minutes pass while everyone is socializing. Cevonte sees his good friend AJ and they greet each other. “Hey man what's up?’ says cevonte confidently. “Hey dude, i just been hangin in there, i’m just so ready for summer break honestly”. “Yeah school is taking up so much of my time for spiritual things i swear”, says cevonte sarcsticlingy. They both chuckle a little. “So…, starts AJ, “what did your mom say about going to summer camp in june”? “Mannn, i wish, she said no, but the thing is, it won’t interfere with my spiritual activities, and she still said no”, he responds in an annoyed way. “Well, it's the least worldly summer camp program I saw on the school newsletter,” starts AJ, “in fact, my mom said i could go, and my dad hasn’t said a word about it other than, “make sure while your there, you read your bible every night before bed”, he says in a mimicking way. They chuckle amongst themselves again, only this time glancing over at AJ’s dad.
“Well that’s good news bro, speaking of your mom, how’s she doing? I haven’t seen her at any of the service meetings, let alone the mid week meeting”, askes cevonte curiously. “Well… starts AJ, “my dad says her job keeps her busy on those days and...i don’t know...i feel like it’s something deeper than that going on ya know?’ “ohh, ya know she might be having some dough-”. And before cevonte could get another word in, it was already time for the meeting to commence. “Friends, let’s gather round, it’s about that time again!”, exclaims Brother Morris.
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ESCAPING THE FISH BOWL: CAMPAIGN SEASON
JugendliteraturA part 1 of a story about the experiences of growing up as a jehovah witness youth. The group a four all learn new things about themselves along the journey of slowly but surely escaping their fish bowls together.
