Westphal

Westphal

Carolyn Westphal Per. 1 Fund. Comp. 11/12/08 Mike was always bombarded with work. With sticky-note reminders all over his desk and a stack of unsigned papers, the last thing he should have been doing was playing, but play he did. The toy helicopter he kept under his desk finally came in handy. With a polished red finish and propellers that sliced the air, how cold he resist?  (i keep one under my desk too...  )

Mike was the school nerd. He had a grave interest in mechanics and engineering. Science was right up his alley and math was his forte. While all of his friends were going to parties and eating out on the weekends, he perched himself in front of the television, glued his eyes to the screen, and watched infomercials for hours upon hours at a time, advertising the latest mechanical toys. After observing what all the toys on TV were like, he would beg his parents until he was sick to get them, and since he was an only child, they always caved. (I liked your description of mark a lot.)

Once the toy he ordered on TV arrived in the mail, he would rip the box open and whip out all the parts to build it. Without even glimpsing at the instructions he would assemble it in no more than ten minutes. Before he knew it he was flying the plane or driving the truck, but he got bored of that quickly. He was not as into controlling the toy as he was into assembling it, so every week a new toy would come in the mail for him to assemble. But he started becoming better and quicker at building the toys, and by the time he was a senior, he was assembling toys in no more than a minute.

A year later he went to MIT to become a mechanical engineer. There, he wanted no distractions. He wanted to study all the time and work like never before to procure the job of his dreams, a mechanical engineer. Little did he know, he would meet a girl there who would change his life forever. Jenna was perfect. She never made fun of him for assembling mechanics. In fact, that was the reason she liked him, and unlike all of his friends in grade school, she actually encouraged him to work hard in engineering. Soon after, they started going out on dates every Friday night to the neighboring Starbucks, where they read and discussed car manuals. After a few months it started getting more serious until one day he decided to take their relationship to the next level. Instead of coffee and a car manual, he stepped it up a notch to dinner and an airplane manual. He would always come to dinner in his nicest clothes with his hair gelled to the side and his tennis ball sized glasses squeaky clean. Jenna, on the other hand, would show up in her Jimmy Choo heals, Vera Wang outfits, and Prada purses. Her freshly manicured nails would glisten in the light, and her naturally blond hair would make her green eyes pop. Even though Mike saw Jenna every day he could never take his eyes off her. haha step it up to dinner and airplane manual, that's intense. I love the description of their relationship. After his years of college ended and he got his new job of a mechanical engineer up and running, he and Jenna decided to get married. The wedding was a success. He thought to build a bunch of toy helicopters and cars to scatter around the room for the kids who would be attending the wedding, to play with. The kids were absolutely thrilled when they found out about the toys. And to add onto that, they were allowed to keep them. They loved flying the helicopters in the air and weaving the toy cars between people’s feet in the reception area. “Uncle Mike,” Mike’s nephew, Tommy, squealed, “look at how fast my car can go!” As Mike turned to see the boy’s prized possession, one of the helicopters he had created nailed him in the head. The propellers cut his head open and the impact threw him to the ground, hitting the other side of his head on the floor. (nice! i like the twist) ohh, i thought this was a happy story. “Help!” Tommy screamed with his eyes bulging unable to attract the adults’ attention. Once Jenna turned to observe what all the ranting and raving was about, she saw blood splattered on the floor and Mike lying on the ground, unconscious, next to the puddle. “Somebody call the ambulance!” she screamed as she dropped to her knees next to him. “Hurry! Somebody call the ambulance!” Everybody at once jumped to his or her feet and raced to his or her phones. Some were crying while others were falling flat on their faces in the rush to reach their phones. “Everybody calm down!” Ryan’s booming voice had everybody listening at once. “You all need to relax. If you keep running around like maniacs you will only end up hurting yourselves. Now I will call an ambulance, and if there are any doctors in here, please assist Jenna and see if Mike is okay. As for the rest of you, take a seat and calm down. We have it all under control,” and at that Ryan, Mike’s best man, called for an ambulance. (way to take control)

In no more than five minutes an ambulance had arrived and Mike was carried out in a stretcher while Jenna hopped in the back of the ambulance to ride with him. They disembarked at the emergency room in no time, and Mike received treatment right away. After hours of sitting in the waiting room still wearing her wedding gown, Jenna finally got the news she had been hoping for. The doctor said Mike was in critical condition, but he was going to survive. Relieved and emotionally exhausted, she laid down on a row of chairs and fell into a light slumber. She kept waking herself up to ask the nurses and doctors how Mike was doing, and with every report she got, he was doing better and better. Finally, they told her she was allowed to go into his room and wait with him until he woke. As she opened the door to the hospital room he was resting in, she noticed machine parts lying all around the room. Unable to understand what was going on, she followed the trail of parts to the corner of the room where Mike was fervently tearing apart on of the hospital machines. “Mike, what are you doing?” she shouted, not knowing if this was some sort of practical joke. “Go away, nurse, I told you I don’t want any visitors unless it’s my mom.” “Mike, it’s your wife. I have no idea why you are acting so foolish, but if the hospital staff comes in here and sees you acting like…like…like a child,” she struggled for the right words, “they are going to kick you out and not give you the chance to recover!” Mike stared at her dumbfounded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said without the slightest hint of emotion on his face. “Mike, cut it out right now, and quit picking apart this machine like you did when you were seven years old.” Slowly, Mike lifted his head from the hospital machine he was disassembling and interrogated, “Who are you anyway?” “What? Michael, I am your wife,” she started to panic. “We were just married a few hours ago, and you ended up here because you got hit in the head with one of the helicopters you made for the wedding,” she begged. “I’m not married,” he laughed. Now getting extremely worried Jenna asked in a calmer voice, “Michael, do you know when your birthday is?” Thinking for a second Mike finally came up with the answer, “May 24 of course.” “Good Michael. Now do you know how old you are?” “That’s an easy one,” Mike smiled a boyish grin, “I’m five years old!" (wow! didn't see that coming.) This is definatley not how I imagined the ending!