Bridge 3 Writing Assignment: The Creative Group Narrative
This assignment asks you to consider multiple perspectives by researching a site in New York City and creating a visual performance in this site for studio (documented in 8 photographs) and writing a creative group narrative that corresponds with the performance for seminar.
The loss of Tom
It was a cloudy day. Sarah together with her mother Catherine wandered to the place where they lost their spiritual pillar in their family. The loss of Tom was a catastrophe for both of them. They used to have great memories of the high-line. Although it had been awhile since the death of Tom, Catherine couldn’t help herself from sorrowful weeping.
Tom was a nice guy, he treasured his family and loved them so much. The loss of Tom had defeated Catherine both mentally and physically. Catherine looked pale as if she had lost her soul. Her tears were continuously spinning in the eye sockets; even her lips were white. They used to have a happy family full of love. However, all of a sudden, the peace had gone away with the loss of Tom.
Sarah did not dare to glance at the wall where her father used to show her his artwork – the graffiti. She was a tough girl for her age; she tried not to believe the fact that Tom was already gone. She imagined her father would come to see her one day, and she’d dreamed of him last night. In the dream, Sarah was told by her father to be strong and to strengthen her mom.
Staring at the wall where Tom had left his unfinished graffiti, Catherine showed a lusterless face and her eyes were completely motionless. The familiar scene had brought Catherine back to the glad moment that shared by her family. The special smell, which combined the aroma of flowers and fresh scent of grass together with the odorous smelling of undried paint, dragged her memories back as if she had returned to the past.
Abruptly, Catherine rushed to the edge of the platform of the high-line and climbed on to the handrail. The vivid memory they shared in this place had coerced her out of control, and in that instant, she urged to terminate the agony.
“What are you doing Mom? No! Dad has already gone; you can’t leave me alone!” Sarah shouted desperately.
“Why! How could you be so cruel, God! Can you just give him back to us! It is so hard for me to lose him, we have been together for fifteen years! How dare you take him away in a blink of an eye!” Catherine was tightly holding the handrail and screaming to the sky. Her tears were flooding over her trembling face. She tried to exhaust her energy to let go of the hatred feeling but she just could not let the memory vanish.
“Dad is still with us! Trust me! He wants us to be happy; he came to see me last night.” Sarah controlled her emotion as much as possible to exhort her mother to calm down, although she had the anguish of her heart as well.
Admonished by her daughter, Catherine was dumbfounded for a second. She closed her eyes and turned her face Sarah. Her teeth and fists were clenching while she was trying to find a reason to live and to be strong.
Eventually, Catherine opened her eyes and stepped away from the handrail. She felt guilty and embarrassed. Regardless the tough moment was extremely hard for her, she was not the only one who was suffering the miserable experience from the calamity. Although she was exhausted, she realized the family needed her to be strong. Their sensible daughter who is the crystallization of their love needed her. She headed to her daughter and tried her best to drag herself out of the memory. She was trying to make herself back to an amiable mother that she had always been and hugging her daughter tenderly in her arm. She can feel the heat from Sarah’s trembling body. The inclining desire to protect her daughter had humiliated Catherine and was impelling her to take over the burden of the family.
“I’m sorry Sarah, Let’s go home.” Whispered by Catherine, her feeble body could not support her to say more. She was holding her daughter’s hand and tottering back home. The dark clouds had gradually disappeared, and the sun shone again.
As time went by, Catherine and Sarah gradually became accustomed to the fact that Tom was gone. Instead of fearing for the future, they had learned to face the hardships and obstacles in their life. Together as a family, they could feel Tom was everywhere around them and support them overcome the difficulties.
Half a year later, Catherine and Sarah came back to the graffiti wall where Tom used to paint. This time, Catherine together with her daughter brought some flowers. They were holding their hands tightly and looking over the sky from the high line. The sky was bright with warm sunlight, and the wind was sweeping through their ears.
“Can you hear that? I think dad is proud of us, Sarah.”
“Look, those cute clouds, don’t you think they look like Dad’s smile! I knew he has always been somewhere watching us.”
Sarah saw the smiling face assembled by the marshmallow like cloud which was lying over the blue sky. She still believes his father was there with them, protecting them, and being proud of them. They could feel the warm sunlight, the aroma of the flowers.
Studio Piece
