A Modern Mythological Tale THE TASKS OF JAMIE - Essay Example

? THE TASKS OF JAMIE Jamie was a high school with a good life. He lived in a nice house in the suburbs and had a lot of video games. He had anice dog named Spot. Most of the time he got along well with his parents. They understood one another and were respectful to each other for the most part. Jamie had a younger brother named Tim and a young sister named Babette. He didn't pay too much attention to them because they were quite a bit younger than he was. He went to a nice high school nearby and his grades were okay. He sort of just coasted along, not trying too hard and not sticking his neck out for anyone or anything. Although he had a fairly average life, Jamie always thought there was something special about himself, he just didn't know what. One of Jamie's favorite things to do was to play baseball. He and his friend Dave often practiced hitting and pitching in Jamie's backyard. Jamie would take a turn hitting and then Dave would take a turn. The backyard looked out onto a neighbor's yard. The neighbor was named Mr. MacGregor. He was a reclusive gentleman, about 85 years of age. He rarely came out of his house, but when he did he usually looked quite angry. No one knew anything about MacGregor, no one knew what he did before he became such a recluse. One day Jamie and Dave were playing baseball in the backyard. Dave pitched a ball to Jamie, and Jamie connected with it, cracking it towards MacGregor's house. It was Jamie's favorite ball. It had been signed by Roberto Hernandez, his favorite major league player. Jamie watched as the ball sailed towards MacGregor's house and smashed through the old man's sun-room window. “Oh no!” thought Jamie. Jamie and Dave discussed the issue between the two of them. Jamie was frightened of MacGregor but he knew he would have to get the ball back somehow. While Dave hid behind a tree, Jamie went to MacGregor's front door and rang the bell. MacGregor opened the door. He was holding the prized ball in his hand. “What do you want, kid? Are you the one who broke my window?” “It wasn't me,” said Jamie, “it was my friend, Dave. All we want is the ball back, sir.” “I have half a mind to tell your parents about this,” MacGregor said. “Who's going to pay for my window?” “Please, sir,” said Jamie, “don't tell my parents. I'll do anything.” “OK,” said Mr. MacGregor, “maybe we can work out an agreement. I have a number of things you can do to help me out. Otherwise, you're going to have to pay for the broken window and I think it will be around $500 at least.” Jamie looked back towards the tree where Dave had been hiding, but he couldn't see him anymore. He gulped. “Okay,” he said. “What do you have in mind?” MacGregor invited him into the house and closed the door behind him. He smiled cruelly at Jamie. “First of all, my cat Tabitha is missing in the basement. I need you to go find her. Be careful—she is very vicious.” Jamie went to the basement and climbed down the stairs. It was dark and gloomy. He could hear some mewing coming from a corner. There was Tabitha. She was an old, orange cat and looked mean. He tried to grab her with one hand, but she clawed at him and scratched his forearm. Jamie shrieked. He found an old blanket and threw it over the cat. He brought the bundle back up the stairs to MacGregor. “Not bad,” said the old man. “Now, please have a look at the bathroom in the basement. There is a huge spider there I need you to deal with.” Again Jamie went to the basement and looked around. He found the small bathroom in the corner. Inside the drain of the sink was the biggest insect he'd ever seen. It wasn't a spider; he realized as it seemed to have a dozen different heads and at least 40 legs. It must be some exotic creature from Africa, he thought. He turned on the faucet and the insect was washed away. “Next,” he thought to himself. He went up the stairs again and went to find Mr. MacGregor. “OK,” said the old man. “Next, you have to help me with something else.” He pointed to the walls of his house which were covered with pictures of strange animals. “I need you to go to the library and find the Encyclopedia Britannica. In it there are two pictures I want you to remove: a picture of a deer from the highlands of Scotland and a picture of a pig from the marshes of Algeria. Can you do that for me?” “Won't I get in trouble for tearing pictures out of a library book?” “Don't worry about that,” MacGregor said. “Just make a loud coughing noise when you tear them.” Jamie was beginning to wonder if it was worth doing all of these things just to get his ball back. Nevertheless, he went out of the house. There he saw Dave. “What's going on?” asked Dave in a frightened voice. “What has he got you doing?” “Running his errands,” said Jamie. “I have to go to the library.” Dave looked confused. “See you later, Jamie,” he said. “Bye, Dave,” said Jamie, miserably. Jamie got on the bus and rode the bus to the library. He got off and went to find the book. Then he made the loud coughing noises, tore the appropriate pages and brought back the two pictures to MacGregor. “Thank you, young man,” said MacGregor. “These will be a nice addition to my collection. But I still have a few more things I need you to do.” Jamie groaned. “Do you want to pay for the window? Do you want your ball back?” “Fine,” said Jamie. MacGregor told Jamie that he needed him to clean the attic. Jamie climbed a ladder and looked around the attic. It was filthy. “This is going to take me forever,” he shouted down to MacGregor. “You have one hour,” said the old man. Jamie got on his hands and knees and started scrubbing. There were rat droppings everywhere. It was truly disgusting. After an hour, however, he had completed the job. “Now what?” he asked MacGregor, climbing down the ladder. “Now I want you to get rid of the birds nesting in my eaves.” Jamie went outside and climbed another ladder. He picked the nests out of the eaves and threw them in the garbage. “Nice work,” said MacGregor. “Next up: it's almost dinner. For dinner I would like a nice roast of bull meat. Please go to the supermarket and get me one.” Again Jamie left the house and got on the bus. He went into the store and looked around. There was a good deal on bull meat and he bought the roast. “Please add it to MacGregor's tab,” he told the woman at the cash register. He went back to MacGregor's house and plunked the meat down on the old man's counter. “There,” he said. “Your dinner.” “Thank you,” said MacGregor. “But, you know, I was looking through my picture collection again and I realized there were two more pictures I need. This time I need you to go to the library and get me a picture of the horse of Dalmatia and the cows of Hungary. Just use the same trick you used last time.” Jamie was becoming disgruntled. “Go back again?” “Do you want to pay for the window?” Jamie got on the bus again and did the same thing he did before. He brought back the two pictures of the animals. “Now,” said MacGregor, “come out to the garage.” In the garage, the old man showed Jamie his car, a '74 Hippolyta. “It's not running well these days,” he said. “It needs a new belt. It won't work unless it has a new belt. Please go to the hardware store and get me one.” “It would have been easier if you just gave me these tasks all at once, rather than making me come and go,” said Jamie. “Please don't talk back to your elders,” MacGregor said. Jamie went to the hardware store and brought back the belt. “Now what?” he asked. “Am I almost done?” “I need some apples for desert. Could you get some?” “Fine,” said Jamie, exhausted. He went back to the supermarket and picked out a dozen of the best apples he could find. Then he went back to the house again. “Mr. MacGregor,” said Jamie, “I'm sorry about your window, but it's getting late. I'm very tired. Can I go home yet?” “One more thing,” said MacGregor. “You found my cat Tabitha, but I need help finding my dog Fido. He's out there somewhere. I haven't seen him in a few days.” Jamie sighed and went outside again. He looked around the neighborhood. He heard a whining sound near an old house. He looked under a deck and there was Fido. Jamie climbed down under the deck and dragged the injured dog out from under the deck. Fido had a thorn in his paw and Jamie helped pull it out. He put the dog over his back since it couldn't walk by itself and went back to MacGregor's house. It was starting to get dark outside. “Thank you,” said MacGregor. “I appreciate it. That's all the errands I have for today. You don't have to pay for the window.” “Can I have my ball back too,” asked Jamie. He was feeling very tired. “Sure,” said MacGregor. He held the ball in his hand and looked at it. “Roberto Hernandez,” he said. “Not a bad player. He had a lot of home runs. Not as many as I did in my day, but not bad.” “You used to play baseball?” Jamie asked, astonished. “I'm in the hall of fame for most bases stolen,” said MacGregor. “I'll tell you what. Because you were helpful today, I'll sign the baseball too. It might be worth something to you.” MacGregor signed the ball and tossed it to Jamie. “Thanks again,” he said. “And please be more careful when you're playing in your yard in the future!” Read More