text:
The Ability to Speak to Animals
“Hey guys, come over here and check this out!” That was me, 10 years old, with the adventurous nature of Lewis and Clark and a bowl cut sitting on top of a face only a mother could love. I was playing ball with some friends when it got lost in shrubs; I went to retrieve the ball but what I stumbled on instead changed my life forever.
“Where are you? Dude hurry up and grab the ball already” That was my “friend” Ricky. Ricky’s the type of kid to turn off the Nintendo if he isn’t winning and blame it on his finger slipping; he would come to your house, clog the toilet, then leave without telling anybody; he was best friends with my best friend so he always tagged along. I hated him.
“No seriously, guys c’mere I have no idea what the heck this is.” In my hand I held what looked like one of those gravy pourers, the things you use at Thanksgiving, decked out in gold and silver. And it was really heavy.
“Woah, dude…is that what I think it-“ Before Ricky got to finish his dumb sentence, a cloud of smoke exploded from the thing and when it all cleared, a genie was left floating over it.
This genie was pretty short, and kinda fat, with a really bad fake tan. So it threw me off guard when he proclaimed in a booming voice, the genie proclaimed “I AM PA-“
“Wh-who are you?” Ricky interrupted.
“Shut up kid. Like I was saying, I AM PATRICK: THE-”
“Ohmygod, are you a genie?”
With the snap of the genie’s finger, Ricky’s mouth disappeared.
“That’s much better. Anyway, like I was saying, I am Patrick: the Genie.”
“Wow!” Jimmy (my actual friend) and I were in awe. “Does that mean we get like three wishes or something?”
“Three wishes? You think wishes grow on trees or something? Nah kid,” he began murmuring to himself and counting off of his fingers “let’s see, its 1999…inflation…supply and demand…hmm…yes…that’ll come out to about $5.47 a wish, but I’ll round it down to five for ya.”
“But genie sir-“
“That’s Mister Patrick: The Genie, Sir, to you.” His voice was high pitched and nasally, like Joe Pesci in “My Cousin Vinny”.
“But Mister Patrick: The Genie, Sir, we’re only ten years old, we don’t have that kind of money.”
“Well, that sucks. I’ll tell ya what, I’ll be in this bush till like five or six, why don’t you guys run home, borrow whatever’s in your mom’s purse and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Gee thanks geni-“
“Nuh, uh, uh” he said as he wagged his finger.
“Ugh, thanks Mister Patrick: The Genie, Sir.”
Me and Jimmy, caught up in the excitement, ran home to grab the contents of our moms’ purses, completely forgetting about Ricky, whose mouth was still missing from his face; well, Jimmy forgot, I just neglected to remind him; sue me. Anyway, we only managed to rustle up a combined eight dollars, which if you were keeping track, is $2 short of a wish for both of us.
“Ah, only eight dollars?” the Genie said in a patronizing tone, “I’ll see what I can do, don’t expect too much though. Kid in the red shirt,” that was Jimmy, “whattya want?”
“Uhm, uhh, uhhmmmmm-“
“Hurry up kid, I don’t got all day.”
“Ooh! Ooh! I know, uhmmm, a dog that can shoot fireworks out of its eyes!”
“Uh…sure, kid. Here ya go.” And with a flick of the genie’s fingers, a dog shooting fireworks out of his eyes appeared.
The authorities never did track Jimmy and his dog down.
“And what do you want kid?” he said as he turned to face me.
“I want the ability to communicate to animals!”
“Easy enough, alright, you kids happy now? I’ll see ya around.” And just like that he disappeared.
Fifteen Miserable Years Later
I got out of bed, the sun barely peaking over the trees, enough to keep me from falling back to sleep but not enough to illuminate my room. As I shuffled around, trying to put my legs through my boxers, and then trying to push my foot through the rolled up pant leg on my khakis, I told the birds to shut the hell up. All they fucking do is wake up at 4 in the morning and start screaming at the lady-birds to have sex with them all day. After leaning over the sink, brushing my teeth and forcing my eyes to stay open, I stumbled down the stairs.
“Hey! Hey! Master look at my new chew toy!” the dog said while slobbering all over the kitchen floor.
“*sigh* I know, I bought it for you last week.”
I didn’t necessarily want to buy it for him but I made the mistake of bringing him with me to buy his food and he wouldn’t shut the fuck up about it. At the same time he was telling me about his toy, he was yelling at the squirrels taunting him from behind the safety of a glass door. Annoying little creatures they are, they just sit on their ass and make fun of people. “Hehehe, nice tie, not!” the one squirrel so cleverly declared. “Hehehe, yea, that tie looks stupid.” The other squirrel said over their symphony of chuckling. Ignoring them, I walked past the cat, who was sprawled out in front of the doorway. “Fill my food bowl, slave.”
“*sigh* what do you want to eat?”
 	“The finest Fancy Feast you have” I wasn’t listening, of course, I just grabbed whatever shit was on sale that week. “Ah yes, you live to serve me.”
Just shut up and go lick yourself, I thought.
I sat down at the table and ate my bowl of knock-off Cheerios, or Tasteeo’s, or whatever the fuck they’re called. Staring out my window, I watched the deer gallop from one part of the woods to another. Deer are such majestic creatures to look at but not so much to talk to. Then again, how intelligent could an animal who spends all day dodging the cars on I-81 really be?
7:30 AM: time to head to work. I made my way to the purple PT Cruiser parked in my driveway—a loaner car my insurance company gave me after I crashed my shitty ’91 Camaro because this fucking cricket jumped onto my windshield while I was going seventy-five on the highway and wouldn’t stop screaming. (For those of you that don’t know, muscle car manufacturers in the 90’s were all obsessed with being eco-friendly and economical; so I basically had a lowered station wagon with less doors.) While I was trying to knock him off with my windshield wiper, I swerved into a ditch. Sometimes I think back to the day we found the genie and can’t help but feel sorry for us. We were just kids, we didn’t think of the consequences. That genie was an asshole.
I made my way to work and parked in the same spot I had parked in the day before, and the day before that, and the day before that. Except today, on the way to the door, I had an altercation with a group of skunks. I overheard one of the skunks tell his buddy that he was “totally gonna spray this asshole in the polo.” And my dumb ass decided to confront him about it.
“Yea? You’re gonna do what?” I said, trying to puff out my chest and be bigger than I actually was.
“I said I’m gonna spray you, asshat.” The argument didn’t last very long, as the second he turned around to lift his ass, I got mine in the building.
I walked up to my office on the fifth floor and settled into my chair, which is inclined in a way that’s slightly uncomfortable but not enough for me to actually do anything about it. I was only just settling into my chair when my fucking supervisor poked his nose into my cubicle.
“Hey, Al, could you get the Johnson files on my desk by 3?”
“The Johnson files? I’m not assigned to that, Murphy is.”
“Yeaaa, Murphy’s got a more important file to take care of. Soo I’m gonna need those files on my desk by three.”
“Yea, sure thing, Rick.”
Yup. Rick. That Rick (He got his mouth back shortly after the genie disappeared). He’s still around, and he’s still an asshole. He had passed out after the whole losing his mouth fiasco and chalked it up to me fucking with him whenever I tried to tell him what happened. Then, in high school, he started making fun of me for it. He got everybody to call me “the genie.” It sucked, but at the time, I accepted it, thinking that at least I’ll probably be more successful than this guy. Who would hire such an asshole? The company I work for, that’s who. I probably would have been as successful as him too, but it’s kind of hard to pay attention in class when every fly lingering near the windows can’t find its way out and is VERY VOCAL ABOUT IT.
As I allowed myself to be consumed into the excruciating monotony that is office work, while also trying to make it look like I give a damn about the company, Janice— that bitch— decided to show everybody her new goldfish that she just bought. “Isn’t it cute?” she claimed, un-ironically. “It’s so calming!” as if she were regurgitating a line from this article in People’s magazine that she skimmed over once. “I can’t wait to put him right here on my desk and show him how mommy does her job!” It took all of my willpower not to hang myself with my own tie. But, it’s not like I’m happy when I work anyway, so back to staring at my computer screen, wondering what the hell I’m doing with my life.
	Bump. “Ouch.” Bump. “Ouch.” Bump. “Ouch.” Can you guess what that was? Yup, the fucking goldfish couldn’t figure out that it’s in a $5 glass bowl and was ramming its head into it for FIVE HOURS. At least when a bird flies into my window it dies, this thing just kept going at it.
“Hey, would you shut the fuck up?” I blurted out, pretty loud.
“Excuse me?” Janice’s shrill voice pierced my ears. Shit.
Oh well, I thought to myself, might as well make the most of this opportunity.
“Would. You. Shut. The. Fuck. Up. About. Your. God. Damn. Fish.”
“Hey! That’s not very nice!” the goldfish squeaked.
“Shut up, nobody can hear you.”
“What are you talking about? Are you on drugs? S-step away from me, I know self-defense.” She pulled a can of mace out of her purse.
Yea, I’m sure your self-defense class at the Y would stop me if I really wanted to attack you, I thought.
“Hey, Al, buddy, can I see you in my office real quick?” Rick beckoned me, sticking his nose out past the doorway.
As I walked towards his office, I bumped the fishbowl, hoping it would fall, but it didn’t. Just my luck.
“Agh! Did you see that, Rick?” Even from a few yards away, her voice made me want to pop my eardrums.
“Hey Al, buddy, you okay? Something wrong?” even when he was trying to be nice, he still had that shit eating grin plastered on his face.
“Actually, I’ve been having a rough couple of days. And with the Johnson report…I don’t know, I’m pretty stressed.” Not to mention the fact that I haven’t got more than 4 hours of sleep for the past 15 god damn years. I hate to admit it, but I can’t shake the jealousy I had for Rick. Why couldn’t the genie have taken my mouth away and saved me from all of this bullshit?
“So, you’re saying you don’t think you’ll have the Johnson report done by 3? Look, Al, buddy, you’re my friend, but this company needs team players. I can’t be covering your ass every time you yell at a co-worker.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Look…buddy…I think it might be time for you to have a little change in scenery don’t you think?”
“Are you firing me?”
“I’ve been getting pressured from the higher-ups. You’re just not pulling enough weight for the company. I mean, Janice, she finished a $1.5 million report before the end of the second quarter. That’s the kind of can-do attitude we look for in our employees. I stuck my neck out for you and I’d do it again if I could, buddy, but I think we’re gonna have to let you go.”
“Really?!”
“Yea. I’m really sor-“
“Thank you! Thank you so much.”
“Huh?”
I poked my head out of Rick’s office and yelled “Fuck you Janice, fuck your goldfish, fuck your desk, fuck your job, fuck you.” I shook Rick’s hand and went to grab my things. On the way back from my desk, I smacked the goldfish bowl off the table. I wish I could do the same to Janice, but you gotta pick your battles. I got in my car and drove to the pet store and bought two the biggest bags of dog food I could buy. I got home, threw the bags of food into the kitchen and yelled to my cat and dog “Have fun with the rest of your lives, I’m outta here!”
“Wait! Al! We don’t have opposable thumbs, how are we suppo-“
The sound of my engine turning on drowned out their nagging voices. I hopped on the highway and went 90 towards the airport. Parking the Cruiser in a fire hydrant zone, I made my way to the ticket desk; I didn’t have a care in the world, especially not about this piece of shit. BAM slamming my credit card down on the table I said to the ticket lady “I want a coach ticket to the next available flight.”
She looked at me, with a bored and unimpressed face and said “Sir, it doesn’t work like that.”
“Fine, uhm, let me get a ticket for the next flight to Hawaii”
She let out a long sigh “Sir, your card was declined.”
“Oh.”
“Yea.”

title: [HM] The Ability to Speak With Animals

question: What kind of message is the writer trying to tell the reader?

answer: It appears that the basic notion is that life is difficult, things that make a person unique or special can backfire and become a cause for why a person is having a difficult life, and that the people who can be described as assholes can sometimes become inexplicably more successful. It is not a very hopeful message, in fact, it is quite the opposite.


split: test

text:
“James’s performance, I’m sure, is causing grief for an accountant somewhere.”

April 20, 2019

[]
Getty
Ken Jennings rose to fame after an unprecedented run on _Jeopardy_ 15 years ago: Over the course of 74 episodes, he won a total of roughly $2.5 million.

Recently, a contestant named James Holzhauer has been working toward Jennings’s record at an astonishing pace. After the Friday-evening broadcast of the quiz program, Holzhauer had won about $850,000 over just 12 episodes. If he keeps up that rate, he’ll reach $2.5 million in less than half the time it took Jennings to do so.

Before Holzhauer went on the show, the most money earned in a single episode of _Jeopardy_ was $77,000. During his 12-episode streak, he’s beaten that total not once, but five times, and has set a new record of $131,127. Holzhauer’s success has been attributed not just to his deep trivia knowledge, but also to his aggressive style of play—he homes in on high-value tiles that might contain Daily Doubles, and then often bets enormous sums when he finds them—and his unmatched buzzer-pressing reflexes.

Read: Is there any way James Holzhauer could lose at ‘Jeopardy’?

Whatever his method, Holzhauer is far exceeding the show’s average single-day winnings, which a _Jeopardy_ fan website calculated to be $19,980. With his sometimes six-figure daily prizes, how much damage is Holzhauer doing to the show’s finances?

“Every game show has a prize budget,” says Bob Boden, a former head of programming at Game Show Network who has worked on dozens of shows there and elsewhere, including _Family Feud_. “Typically, for a long-running show the prize budget is determined by way of averages of what has been won in the past.” Large deviations from such averages can strain these prize budgets. “James’s performance, I’m sure, is causing grief for an accountant somewhere,” says Boden, who’s now an executive at the production company Entertainment Studios.

Estimating payouts is easier for some types of shows than others. “You know that the winner of _Survivor_ is going to get $1 million, and you know what the second- and third-place players will get, so the prize budget on that is locked,” Boden says. Budgets for shows such as _Jeopardy_ with variable winnings are harder to project.

Some production companies protect against that unpredictability by taking out insurance policies that cover abnormally large jackpots. This is common, Boden says, for shows such as _Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?_, in which giving out the top prize is rare but really costly. But he says he’d be surprised if _Jeopardy_, which has a prize structure less prone to extremes, has such a policy. (Representatives for _Jeopardy_ and Sony Pictures Television, which produces it, did not respond to requests for details about the show’s financial workings.)

_Jeopardy_, though, should fare just fine during Holzhauer’s reign, for two reasons. First, prize budgets are generally not game shows’ biggest expenses. Boden says that the bills for paying production crews and on-air talent tend to be higher. (The salary of Alex Trebek, _Jeopardy_’s host, has been reported to be $10 million a year.)

Second, Holzhauer’s stellar performances are drawing in more viewers. Normally, Boden says, it’s not compelling TV for a single player to run up the score, “but in a situation like this, where records are being set and broken every night, the excitement, I believe, outweighs the lopsided results.”

That excitement will almost definitely help the show’s bottom line. Increased viewership often translates to more lucrative ad sales (though, Boden notes, this uptick in ad value isn’t immediate and would take some time to kick in). Spikes in popularity are also good for whatever additional revenue streams a show may have, such as merchandising or interactive gaming. More symbolically, Boden says, a thrilling contestant like Holzhauer can further burnish the reputation of a long-running game show like _Jeopardy_, solidifying its place in the canon of American TV.

Jennings was extremely valuable to _Jeopardy_ in this regard, but with average winnings of about $34,000 an episode, he was a bargain compared with Holzhauer, who’s averaging roughly $71,000. In fact, if reports of Trebek’s salary are indeed correct, Holzhauer is currently outearning even the show’s host on a per-episode basis—though, of course, he has a bit less job security.

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

Joe Pinsker is a staff writer at _The Atlantic,_ where he covers families and relationships.

question: What has helped Holzhauer reach this stage?

answer: Holzhauer's deep trivia knowledge has definitely helped him reach this stage, but besides that, his aggressive style of playing- by going for the high-value tiles that might contain Daily Doubles, betting on enormous sums when he finds them, and his unmatched buzzer-pressing reflexes have also been of much help.

question: How would Holzhauer's performance affect the show?

answer: According to a former head of programming at Game Show Network, for a show to be long-running, the show has a prize budget determined by taking averages of what has been won in the past. Holzhauer's performance so far has surely beat those averages and may damage the show's finances.

question: How could such shows safeguard themselves against the risk that these jackpots put on them?

answer: Normally, production companies protect themselves by taking out insurance policies that cover these large jackpots. According to Boden, shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? do such things since giving out the top prize is rare but costly. Although, whether Jeopardy has such a policy or not is a question.

question: How much does Holzhauer win?


text:
“BAD CHOICE ROAD” is the ninth and penultimate episode of the fifth season of the AMC television series _Better Call Saul_, the spinoff series of _Breaking Bad_. The episode aired on April 13, 2020 on AMC in the United States. Outside of the United States, the episode premiered on streaming service Netflix in several countries.

Plot

Jimmy and Mike arrive at a truck stop where Tyrus and Victor pick them up. Jimmy posts Lalo's bail and Lalo is released. As Mike and Jimmy agreed, Jimmy tells Lalo his car broke down and he walked alone cross-country so he would not risk losing the money. Lalo tells Jimmy he plans to avoid suspicious police and prosecutors by returning to Mexico.

Kim tends to Jimmy's sunburn and bruises and he tells her the same story he told Lalo. Kim realizes he is lying when she sees that Jimmy saved his bullet-pierced coffee mug.

Mike reports to Gus, who realizes Juan Bolsa arranged the attack on Jimmy to protect Gus' business. Mike tells Gus that Nacho wants to stop working as Gus' informant, but Gus refuses to release a valuable asset.

Jimmy ends a day of convalescence early to deal with a client. Kim tells him she knows he is lying about his desert trip and she will be ready to listen when he decides to tell the truth. Kim quits Schweikart and Cokely, handing over the Mesa Verde account and keeping her _pro bono_ clients. As she departs, she takes the bottle stopper she previously kept as a souvenir.

Jimmy tells Mike he is experiencing post-traumatic stress. Mike tells Jimmy it will pass with time. When Jimmy questions the events that brought them to the desert, Mike says they both made choices, good and bad, so they have to live with the consequences.

Lalo says goodbye to Hector and has Nacho bring him to the pickup site where Jimmy received Lalo's bail money. Instead of waiting for the Cousins to arrive, Lalo searches for Jimmy's car. After finding it, he tells Nacho to drive back to Albuquerque.

Jimmy and Kim argue about Kim quitting S&C. Mike calls Jimmy to warn him of Lalo's imminent arrival, and tells him to leave his phone on but hidden so Mike can listen. As Kim lets Lalo in, Mike keeps a sniper rifle trained on him from a nearby roof. Lalo has Jimmy repeat the story of his desert walk, then reveals he found Jimmy's car in a ditch, riddled with bullet holes. Kim tells Lalo that a passersby probably shot at the car for fun and berates him for not trusting Jimmy. Lalo seems satisfied and departs. He tells Nacho to drive to Mexico, but not the original pickup site.

Production

The final scene, with Lalo arriving at Kim and Jimmy's apartment, ran for sixteen minutes without commercial breaks in the original broadcast in order to keep the dramatic tension. Other scenes in the episode were made shorter to allow for additional ad space, which enabled the ad-free final scene.[1]

Alan Sepinwall of _Rolling Stone_ observed that the film that Kim and Jimmy try to watch before Jimmy is called into court is _His Girl Friday_, which Sepinwall describes as “about a woman who keeps returning to a relationship she knows is deeply unhealthy for her, with a man whose charm and wild professional lifestyle she ultimately can’t resist.”[2]

Reception

[Rhea Seehorn was acclaimed for her performance in the final scene.|alt=] “Bad Choice Road” received universal acclaim from critics, with many calling it one of the best episodes of the series. It has a 100% Certified Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, with an average 9.17 out of 10 rating from 13 reviews.[3]

The final scene, the confrontation between Lalo, Jimmy, and Kim, was highly regarded by critics as one of the best scenes of the series, attributing its framing to the scriptwriter and director Thomas Schnauz, and to performances by the lead actors particularly for Rhea Seehorn as Kim and Tony Dalton as Lalo. Sepinwall of _Rolling Stone_ called the scene a “knockout performance” for Seehorn, and the scene itself critical to the show as “the two halves of _Better Call Saul_ itself, long held separate, finally merge into one thrilling, terrifying story”.[4] David Segal of _The New York Times_ called the final scene “a nonviolent, psychologically fraught ending to an episode that is low on action and very interior.”[5] Steve Greene of _IndieWire_ described the scene as an “impeccably braided sequence, with three threads woven together at a point when a blade threatens to slice each one of them to bits. For a sequence with so little movement, there's a certain choreography at work here that goes beyond simple blocking. Every inch matters when there's a sniper sight trained on the man with a gun in the living room.”[6]

TVLine named Rhea Seehorn a “Performer of the Week” for her performance in this episode.[7]

Ratings

“Bad Choice Road” was watched by approximately 1.51 million viewers on its first broadcast.[8]

Accolades

For the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Thomas Schnauz received a nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for this episode.[9]

Notes

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

title: Bad Choice Road

question: Summarize what Breaking Bad is according to the passage.

answer: Breaking Bad is a television series on AMC. It has a spinoff TV series on the same network titled Better Call Saul which ran for at least 5 seasons. While not directly stated, it is probably that like Better Call Saul, Breaking Bad was aired in the United States on the network and was streamed on other countries through Netflix.

question: Summarize the importance of dramatic tension.

answer: Dramatic tension is apparently very important, while the passage does not state its effect on the viewing audience, it does emphasize its importance. The final scene was filmed and aired in a special way in order to preserve dramatic tension. It is notable to point out that filming a scene in a specific manner is something that would only entail the cast and crew, but the unique method it was aired, ensuring that no commercials interrupt the scene, requires that the network and advertisers recognize the value of the scene.

question: Summarize how Better Call Saul started as a spinoff series.


text:
Running from Reality (Copy and Pasted from word)

The day was covered by darkness, the sky a dull gray. Hidden by the ominous clouds, the sun wasn’t in sight. The air taunted of damp grass and fresh rain, even though it never rained. It all looked abandoned, all except for one small boy alone on the swings, relishing in memories there every day.
   *                      *                   *                           *                    *                      *
Small cracks of light, coming through the drapes that weren’t completely closed, were shining in Adabel’s bright emerald eyes. Turning to her side a headache blazed into her brain, spreading  like wildfire. Very slowly, she built up the energy to get out of the, now disheveled bed; whose blankets had become like a trap to her.
The headache was getting worse, but Adabel had become accustomed to living with it. Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at the reflection with disgust etched into her features. She ignored the sight; she didn’t bother to brush out her wavy brown hair… no point in making it frizzy. “I already look bad enough,” she thought to herself while pulling it into a bun. Grabbing a sweat shirt and her keys, she went out into the cool air of the autumn day.
Watching others, she thought of nothing as she walked around her small town. Hoping she would see one sign of kindness, in this world she knew all but too well. She crossed a small bridge over a tiny stream that was probably at one point a beautiful river. Past the woods of the large, practically abandoned park was a beaten down play set for children, including a small slide with a hole punched through the middle and a swing set with only two swings left and the remains of the third. It was as if the wind was carrying sounds of the children of the past that used to play among it.
It all looked abandoned, all except for one small boy alone on the swings.  Adabel hadn’t noticed him until she was two feet in front of him. He was only about ten, five years younger than she. He seemed as though he hadn’t noticed her either, but in reality he was wondering why anyone had come to this old beat down park.
Who is he? Adabel thought as she went to sit on the swing next to the young boy.  She rolled her sleeves down even though they were too long for her arms and only showed the tips of her fingers. Watching the child, she began to push herself on the swing. He looked tired; dark circles had made a home under his dull gray eyes. They looked similar to the dark circles she had. His chestnut brown hair became disheveled in the strong wind.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it is rude to stare?” He said finally looking up at her
“No.” Adabel replied while she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. ”She left me and my dad when I was a baby.”
“I’m sorry.” He said.
“No you’re not, you just regret saying anything about it.”
“No, I understand. My mother died a while back. It’s okay though, I saw it coming, she was depressed for a long while before. It finally got to her, found her hanging from the ceiling fan when I got home from school one day.” He said with a sad smile.
“Who are you?” Adabel asked; astonished at the bluntness he used when talking of his mother.
“I’m Imre.”  He replied extending his hand for a handshake. She took it and shook it lightly. When she went to pull her hand back he held it a bit tighter and grabbed onto her sleeve and rolled it up, revealing many white scars, some fresh and new giving a red tinge on her arm.
Imre loosened his grip and she yanked her arm free. Adabel’s face grew warm becoming red with rage and she stopped the rocking of her swing by slamming her feet on the ground.
“You don’t have to be alone ya’ know,” He told her, “I’m here every day, when you’re ready to talk.”
Without saying another word, Adabel jumped up and started to walk away, pulling down her sleeves as she went. Before she could control herself she was running, tears starting to brew in her eyes, spilling over the brim, making her long eyelashes clump together and blurring the world around her.
And there it was again, the pounding back in her head as she slumped down against the back of her bedroom door. No one had been able to see through her fake smile before. She had always been able to just dismiss people of their concern by saying she was tired and tell them she got cold easily to cover the cuts on her arms. Imre had seen straight through her in the few minutes they had sat together.
Adabel wiped her tears and walked to the table beside her bed, she opened up the drawer and took out an old pocket knife. She had found it in her dad’s old tool box and figured he wouldn’t notice it was gone, and he didn’t.
Adabel’s father, Mr.Jones, was only home for seven hours a day. He would come home wreaking of alcohol and, after he had sobered up, eat something with Adabel and then get some sleep. They weren’t very close, she practically hated him. Always thinking he didn’t care about her at all.
No wonder mom left him. Adabel thought to herself as she took out the knife, running the icy touch of the blade along her wrists. A small trail of red followed in the wake of the blade. Numbness was all she felt. How else was she supposed to know she was alive?
 When she heard a car door slam she ran to her bathroom running the water of the faucet over her arms. The warm water burned her skin, turning it into a field of trees caught in a wildfire, skin blazing and turning raw. Hearing the soft vibrating buzz of the microwave heating up their so-called dinner, she knew her father was almost fully aware now. She heard the thump-thump-thumping of her father’s boots against the hard wooden floors growing louder as he got closer to the bathroom. His soft tapping of knuckles and muffled voice let her know to come sit with him and eat something. She turned the water off, pulling down her sleeves once again, exiting the bathroom, she already felt nauseous at the thought of food. She stared blankly ahead as she sat, making an excuse to not eat, lying saying she wasn’t hungry. As Mr.Jones ate, he talked about his work at the factory and some men at the bar after he left. It was nothing but a murmur to Adabel.
“Adabel!” he yelled as he slammed his hands down onto the table.
“Sorry, I stopped caring a long time ago about that stuff. You can repeat it if you want, but chances are I’m still not going to care.” Adabel muttered bluntly, looking Mr.Jones straight in the eyes.
“Adabel, stop pretending like you don’t have any emotions!” He yelled, louder at her this time.
“It’s not my fault you don’t notice there is something wrong with your only daughter! No wonder mom left you. You’re too self-centered to care about anyone but yourself!” She screamed. A hard force slammed against her cheek, blinding her for a moment in white hot pain. A ringing formed in her ears as she cupped her palm against her face. A dark bruise was already becoming noticeable on the sharp features of her cheek bone.
When they had both began to realize what had just happened they backed away from each other. Adabel ran into her room, slamming and locking the door then collapsing on the bed. Simply listening to the sounds of life around her, she didn’t sleep that night; instead, she stayed awake. She grabbed the pocket knife from her bedside table and climbed out her window. As soon as her feet hit the ground she took off running towards the park.
At least Mr.Jones wouldn’t have to be the one to find her dead, was all she was thinking of when she reached the park. Some random person will wind up finding me and they won’t even care, they don’t even know me. She reasoned to herself as she held the knife against her chest. Of course, it will take a while for someone to notice me, after all people barely ever come here. And as she thought this her eyes fell across the old play set and landed on a solemn figure sat on the swings. She remembered Imre and all he had been through. If she died he would have no one. Letting the knife relax from her grip, she began to walk to him.
“Take this.” Adabel said handing him he knife. “I can’t use it anymore.”
“Thank you. You don’t deserve it anyway. We just need to look out for eachother for a little while. We can be each other’s guardian angel.” Imre said. He was the only person Adabel had ever met that was able to read her like a book.
“You’re right we deserve better.” She said.
A small sprinkle of mist started to drizzle down on them. Adabel smiled as she sat on the swing next to Imre, extending her hand towards him. It began to pour with rain; the pitter-patter of raindrops felt comfortable as he took her hand.
“You’re smiling,” Imre stated watching her features for a hint, to tell if it was genuine, “for real this time.”
“I guess I finally have a reason to smile.”

title: This amazing short story written by my 13 year old cousin. Maybe a little something someone needs today. Find a reason to smile.

question: Explain how Imre was able to relate to Adabel.

answer: Irme was able to relate to Abadel when he discovered that they both did not have their mothers. Adabel first mentions how her mother had left her and her father when she was a baby. As Abadel thinks that Irme cannot relate, he begins to share his story of when he found his mother hanging from the ceiling fan one day. Irme notices the cuts on Abadel's arms which causes her to run away. It was the first time someone was able to see past her fake smiles.


text:
News

September 3, 2019 | 4:38pm

Virginia Giuffre (now Roberts) in an evidence photo with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell, inside Prince Andrew's London home.

An anonymous man terrified he’s about to be named in court papers related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s alleged child sex trafficking ring is begging a judge not to release his name and identities of others accused — because it could tarnish their reputations, according to a surprise motion filed Tuesday.

Lawyers for the John Doe filed the letter Tuesday — just a day before Epstein’s self-proclaimed “sex slave” Virginia Roberts Giuffre is expected to join her lawyers in court as they continue efforts to unseal thousands of pages of documents related to her civil lawsuit against the dead pedophile’s alleged procuress.

“As a non-party to these proceedings, Doe lacks specific knowledge about the contents of the Sealed Materials,” his lawyers wrote to Manhattan federal court judge Loretta Preska. “But it is clear that these materials implicate the privacy and reputational interests of many persons other than the two primary parties to this action, Giuffre and Maxwell.”

The letter goes on to say a prior judge overseeing the case summarized the still-secret documents as containing a “range of allegations of sexual acts involving Plaintiff and non-parties to this litigation, some famous, some not; the identities of non-parties who either allegedly engaged in sexual acts with Plaintiff or who allegedly facilitated such acts.”

Doe’s lawyers do not say in the papers if he is famous, or what accusations he expects to face in the court papers. His attorneys did not immediately return a message.

Efforts by Giuffre’s lawyers to unseal a huge trove of documents have an anonymous man worried for his reputation.William Farrington
Meanwhile, Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies told The Post he expects Wednesday’s hearing to determine a roadmap for how to deal with the remaining mountain-range of material.

“It’s a whole new set of documents, five to 10 times larger in volume than what has been released so far,” the lawyer said, referring to nearly 2,000 pages of case documents that were made public on Aug. 9 — just a day before Epstein’s death by suicide at a lower Manhattan jail.

Bois said the still-sealed tranche contains depositions from never-before-heard witnesses, but declined to provide any names.

And he said that while his client is planning to attend, he doubts her legal adversary will appear.

“I don’t think Maxwell will come out of hiding [for the proceeding],” Boies offered. The 57-year-old has been virtually absent from the public eye — or New York City social scene — in recent years.

The now-35-year-old accuser Giuffre says she was just a teen when was recruited for sex by Maxwell — daughter of publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell — at Mar-a-Lago resort and sued for defamation when the British socialite called her a liar. The suit was settled out of court in 2015.

While Giuffre has previously testified she was loaned out to Prince Andrew for sex, it’s not clear if his deposition is among the still-secret records.

Giuffre claims she was also ordered to sleep with a rotating door of high-powered men, including the late MIT professor Marvin Minsky, former Maine Sen. George Mitchell, ex-New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, money manager Glenn Dubin and lawyer Alan Dershowitz.

Giuffre, pictured here with businessman Flavio Briatore and model Naomi Campbell, was allegedly ordered to have sex with a host of powerful men.Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
The men or their representatives have all adamantly denied the allegations.

Epstein’s criminal case was officially dismissed last week, following an emotional hearing in which Manhattan federal court judge Richard Berman heard in-person statements from 16 women who say they were victimized by the financier.

The 66-year-old convicted pedophile was arrested in July, and was the only defendant named in an indictment charging him with conspiracy and sex trafficking of minors.

Federal prosecutors have said their investigation continues.

Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately return a message.

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question: What does the text say about the sealed materials?

answer: Virginia Guiffre and her lawyers are trying to unseal thousands of pages of documents related to her civil lawsuit against the deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's alleged procuress. The materials are 5 to 10 times larger in volume that what has already been released. They contain depositions of never-before-heard witnesses, which could possibly include Prince Andrew. John Doe's lawyers say that he lacks specific knowledge about the contents of the Sealed Materials as a non-party to these proceedings, and that he's worried for his reputation. His lawyers said that these materials implicate the privacy and reputational interests of many persons other than the two primary parties to this action.

question: What does the text say about Prince Andrew and Giuffre?

answer: Virginia Giuffre has previously testified she was loaned out by Jeffrey Epstein to Prince Andrew for sex. There is an evidence photo of Prince Andrew, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Guiffre inside Prince Andrew's London home. Despite the testimony and photo, it's not clear if Prince Andrew's deposition will be among the still secret records Guiffre's lawyers are trying to unseal.

question: Summarize what Guiffre alleges she was ordered to do.

answer: Guiffre alleges she was recruited for sex by Ghislaine Maxwell when she was just a teenager. She claims that she was ordered to sleep with a rotating door of high powered men, including former Maine Senator George Mitchell, and ex-New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. She has testified she was loaned out to Prince Andrew for sex. There is photographic evidence of her being at his home with him and Maxwell.

question: What does the text say about Kevin Spacey?


text:
KASPARS ASTAŠENKO (17 February 1975[1] – 20 November 2012[2]) was a Latvian professional ice hockey player. Astašenko was born in Riga, Latvia. Astašenko was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, 127th overall. Astašenko played parts of two seasons in the National Hockey League with the Lightning.

Playing career

Junior

Astašenko began his career in his native Riga with HK Pārdaugava Rīga, competing in both the Latvian top league and later to Russian Superleague before signing with Russian club, HC CSKA Moscow in 1995.

North America

In 1998, Astašenko signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the International Hockey League. After a stint with the Cyclones, Astašenko was surprisingly drafted by Tampa Bay and went on to play 23 regular games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Lightning as well as playing for the IHL's Detroit Vipers and Long Beach Ice Dogs. He later played in the American Hockey League for the Springfield Falcons and the Lowell Lock Monsters.

Europe

He would return to Europe in 2003, with stops at Finland's SM-liiga with Ilves and HPK, back in Russia with Khimik Voskresensk, the Slovak Extraliga with HC Slovan Bratislava, Ritten Sport of Italy's Serie A and the United Kingdom's Elite Ice Hockey League for the Belfast Giants as well as brief spells in his native Latvia and the lower leagues in Finland.

International play

Astašenko played for the Latvian national team in the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2001 and 2006, as well as the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.[3]

Personal life

In 2003, Astašenko was arrested for possession of Heroin in the United States, effectively ending his North American career. After suffering from various addictions, Astašenko died on 20 November 2012.[4][5]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

                                      Regular season        Playoffs
  ------------ ---------------------- ---------------- ---- ---------- ---- ----- ----- ---- --- --- ----- -----
  Season       Team                   League           GP   G
  1991–92      HK Cesis Vendenieki    LAT              12   7
  1991–92      RASMS Riga             CIS-3            5    1
  1992–93      Riga Pardaugava        LAT              20   15
  1993–94      Riga Pardaugava        RUS              4    0
  1993–94      Hokeja Centrs Riga     LAT              21   7
  1994–95      Riga Pardaugava        RUS              25   0
  1994–95      Riga Pardaugava-2      LAT              1    1
  1995–96      CSKA Moscow            RUS              26   0
  1995–96      CSKA Moscow-2          RUS-2            16   6
  1996–97      CSKA Moscow            RSL              41   0
  1997–98      CSKA Moscow            RSL              25   1
  1998–99      Cincinnati Cyclones    IHL              74   3
  1998–99      Dayton Bombers         ECHL             2    0
  1999–00      Tampa Bay Lightning    NHL              8    0
  1999–00      Detroit Vipers         IHL              51   1
  1999–00      Long Beach Ice Dogs    IHL              14   0
  2000–01      Tampa Bay Lightning    NHL              15   1
  2000–01      Detroit Vipers         IHL              51   6
  2001–02      Springfield Falcons    AHL              11   0
  2001–02      Lowell Lock Monsters   AHL              37   2
  2002–03      Lowell Lock Monsters   AHL              47   6
  2003–04      HK Riga 2000           LAT              11   2
  2003–04      Ilves Tampere          SM-l             23   2
  2004–05      Esbjerg IK             DEN              24   3
  2004–05      ASK/Ogre               LAT              —    —
  2005–06      Voskresensk Khimik     RUS-2            2    0
  2005–06      Voskresensk Khimik-2   RUS-3            1    0
  2005–06      HPK Hameenlinna        SM-l             28   2
  2006–07      Slovan Bratislava      SVK              11   0
  2006–07      ASK/Ogre               LAT              17   3
  2007–08      Ritten Renon           ITA              29   3
  2008–09      Ritten Renon           ITA              41   10
  2010–11      Beibarys Atyrau        KAZ              14   1
  2010–11      Belfast Giants         EIHL             14   0
  2011–12      HK SMScredit           LAT              2    1
  2011–12      Muik Hockey            FIN-4            8    9
  NHL totals   23                     1                2    3

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: Kaspars Astašenko

question: What does the article say about Astašenko's professional career?

answer: Astašenko is a Latvian hockey player who started at HK Pãrdaugava Riga before moving to the Russian club HC CSKA Moscow in 1995. He transferred to Cincinnati Cyclones in the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1998 and to Tampa Bay Lightning in 1999, playing 23 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He also played for Detroit Vipers and Long Beach Ice Dogs in the IHL. He then played for Springfield Falcons and Lowell Lock Monsters in the American Hockey League (AHL). In 2003, he moved to SM-liiga in Finland and played for Ilves and HPK before going back to Russia with Khimik Voskresensk. He played for HC Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Extraliga, Ritten Sport in Italian Serie A, and Belfast Giants in the UK's Elice Hockey League. He also featured in Latvia and the lower leagues in Finland. Astašenko played for the Latvian national team in the Ice Hockey World Championships in 2001 and 2006 in addition to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

question: What does the article say about the NHL video games?


text:
MIRANDA is a lazy, purely functional programming language designed by David Turner as a successor to his earlier programming languages SASL and KRC, using some concepts from ML and Hope. It was produced by Research Software Ltd. of England (which holds a trademark on the name _Miranda_) and was the first purely functional language to be commercially supported.

Miranda was first released in 1985, as a fast interpreter in C for Unix-flavour operating systems, with subsequent releases in 1987 and 1989. Miranda had a strong influence on the later Haskell programming language.[1]

Overview

Miranda is a lazy, purely functional programming language. That is, it lacks side effects and imperative programming features. A Miranda program (called a _script_) is a set of equations that define various mathematical functions and algebraic data types. The word _set_ is important here: the order of the equations is, in general, irrelevant, and there is no need to define an entity prior to its use.

Since the parsing algorithm makes intelligent use of layout (indentation), there is rarely a need for bracketing statements and no statement terminators are required. This feature, inspired by ISWIM, is also used in occam and Haskell and was later popularized by Python.

Commentary is introduced into regular scripts by the characters || and continue to the end of the same line. An alternative commenting convention affects an entire source code file, known as a “literate script”, in which every line is considered a comment unless it starts with a > sign.

Miranda's basic data types are char, num and bool. A character string is simply a list of char, while num is silently converted between two underlying forms: arbitrary-precision integers (a.k.a. bignums) by default, and regular floating point values as required.

Tuples are sequences of elements of potentially mixed types, analogous to records in Pascal-like languages, and are written delimited with parentheses:

      this_employee = ("Folland, Mary", 10560, False, 35)

The _list_ instead is the most commonly used data structure in Miranda. It is written delimited by square brackets and with comma-separated elements, all of which must be of the same type:

      week_days = ["Mon","Tue","Wed","Thur","Fri"]

List concatenation is ++, subtraction is --, construction is :, sizing is # and indexing is !, so:

      days = week_days ++ ["Sat","Sun"]
      days = "Nil":days
      days!0
     ⇒ "Nil"
      days = days -- ["Nil"]
      #days
     ⇒ 7

There are several list-building shortcuts: .. is used for lists whose elements form an arithmetic series, with the possibility for specifying an increment other than 1:

      fac n   = product [1..n]
      odd_sum = sum [1,3..100]

More general and powerful list-building facilities are provided by “list comprehensions” (previously known as “ZF expressions”), which come in two main forms: an expression applied to a series of terms, e.g.:

      squares = [ n * n | n <- [1..] ]

(which is read: list of n squared where n is taken from the list of all positive integers) and a series where each term is a function of the previous one, e.g.:

      powers_of_2 = [ n | n <- 1, 2*n .. ]

As these two examples imply, Miranda allows for lists with an infinite number of elements, of which the simplest is the list of all positive integers: [1..]

The notation for function application is simply juxtaposition, as in sin x.

In Miranda, as in most other purely functional languages, functions are first-class citizens, which is to say that they can be passed as parameters to other functions, returned as results, or included as elements of data structures. What is more, a function requiring two or more parameters may be “partially parameterised”, or curried, by supplying fewer than the full number of parameters. This gives another function which, given the remaining parameters, will return a result. For example:

      add a b = a + b
      increment = add 1

is a roundabout way of creating a function “increment” which adds one to its argument. In reality, add 4 7 takes the two-parameter function add, applies it to 4 obtaining a single-parameter function that adds four to its argument, then applies that to 7.

Any function taking two parameters can be turned into an infix operator (for example, given the definition of the add function above, the term $add is in every way equivalent to the + operator) and every infix operator taking two parameters can be turned into a corresponding function. Thus:

      increment = (+) 1

is the briefest way to create a function that adds one to its argument. Similarly, in

      half = (/ 2)
      reciprocal = (1 /)

two single-parameter functions are generated. The interpreter understands in each case which of the divide operator's two parameters is being supplied, giving functions which respectively divide a number by two and return its reciprocal.

Although Miranda is a strongly typed programming language, it does not insist on explicit type declarations. If a function's type is not explicitly declared, the interpreter infers it from the type of its parameters and how they are used within the function. In addition to the basic types (char, num, bool), it includes an “anything” type where the type of a parameter does not matter, as in the list-reversing function:

      rev [] = []
      rev (a:x) = rev x ++ [a]

which can be applied to a list of any data type, for which the explicit function type declaration would be:

      rev :: [*] -> [*]

Finally, it has mechanisms for creating and managing program modules whose internal functions are invisible to programs calling those modules.

Sample code

The following Miranda script determines the set of all subsets of a set of numbers

     subsets []     = [[]]
     subsets (x:xs) = [[x] ++ y | y <- ys] ++ ys
                      where ys = subsets xs

and this is a literate script for a function primes which gives the list of all prime numbers

    > || The infinite list of all prime numbers.

    The list of potential prime numbers starts as all integers from 2 onwards;
    as each prime is returned, all the following numbers that can exactly be
    divided by it are filtered out of the list of candidates.

    > primes = sieve [2..]
    > sieve (p:x) = p : sieve [n | n <- x; n mod p ~= 0]

Here, we have some more examples

    max2 :: num -> num -> num
    max2 a b = a, if a>b
             = b, otherwise

    max3 :: num -> num -> num -> num
    max3 a b c = max2 (max2 a b) (max2 a c)

    multiply :: num -> num -> num
    multiply 0 b = 0
    multiply a b = a + (multiply (a-1) b)

    fak :: num -> num
    fak 0 = 1
    fak 1 = 1
    fak n = n * (fak n-1)

    itemnumber::[*]->num
    itemnumber [] = 0
    itemnumber (a:x) = 1 + itemnumber x

    weekday::= Mo|Tu|We|Th|Fr|Sa|Su

    isWorkDay :: weekday -> bool
    isWorkDay Sa = False
    isWorkDay Su = False
    isWorkDay anyday = True

    tree * ::= E| N (tree *) * (tree *)

    nodecount :: tree * -> num
    nodecount E = 0
    nodecount (N l w r) = nodecount l + 1 + nodecount r

    emptycount :: tree * -> num
    emptycount E = 1
    emptycount (N l w r) = emptycount l + emptycount r

    treeExample = N ( N (N E 1 E) 3 (N E 4 E)) 5 (N (N E 6 E) 8 (N E 9 E))
    weekdayTree = N ( N (N E Mo E) Tu (N E We E)) Th (N (N E Fr E) Sa (N E Su))

    insert :: * -> stree * -> stree *
    insert x E = N E x E
    insert x (N l w E) = N l w x
    insert x (N E w r) = N x w r
    insert x (N l w r) = insert x l , if x <w
                       = insert x r , otherwise

    list2searchtree :: [*] -> tree *
    list2searchtree [] = E
    list2searchtree [x] = N E x E
    list2searchtree (x:xs) = insert x (list2searchtree xs)

    maxel :: tree * -> *
    maxel E = error "empty"
    maxel (N l w E) = w
    maxel (N l w r) = maxel r

    minel :: tree * -> *
    minel E = error "empty"
    minel (N E w r) = w
    minel (N l w r) = minel l

    ||Traversing: going through values of tree, putting them in list

    preorder,inorder,postorder :: tree * -> [*]
    inorder E = []
    inorder N l w r = inorder l ++ [w] ++ inorder r

    preorder E = []
    preorder N l w r = [w] ++ preorder l ++ preorder r

    postorder E = []
    postorder N l w r = postorder l ++ postorder r ++ [w]

    height :: tree * -> num
    height E = 0
    height (N l w r) = 1 + max2 (height l) (height r)

    amount :: num -> num
    amount x = x ,if x >= 0
    amount x = x*(-1), otherwise

    and :: bool -> bool -> bool
    and True True = True
    and x y = False

    || A AVL-Tree is a tree where the difference between the child nodes is not higher than 1
    || i still have to test this

    isAvl :: tree * -> bool
    isAvl E = True
    isAvl (N l w r) = and (isAvl l) (isAvl r), if amount ((nodecount l) - (nodecount r)) < 2
                    = False, otherwise

    delete :: * -> tree * -> tree *
    delete x E = E
    delete x (N E x E) = E
    delete x (N E x r) = N E (minel r) (delete (minel r) r)
    delete x (N l x r) = N (delete (maxel l) l) (maxel l) r
    delete x (N l w r) = N (delete x l) w (delete x r)

[1]

title: Miranda (programming language)

question: What are the most important parts of Miranda and how do they work?

answer: Functions are most important to Miranda. They can be passed as parameters to other functions, returned as results, or included as elements of data structures. What is more, a function requiring two or more parameters may be “partially parameterized”, or curried, by supplying fewer than the full number of parameters.


text:
  "In 1999 a woman in the UK, Sally Clark, was convicted of murdering her two children. They had both seemingly died from SIDS (more commonly known as cot death), an unexpected but natural cause of death.

  One of the main pieces of evidence against her was the testimony of a Professor and expert on child-abuse. He used the probability of one child (in a family with no known factors that might increase the chance of SIDS) dying of SIDS (1 in 8543). He then squared this fraction to get the probability of BOTH children dying from SIDS being about 1 in 73 million.

  The jury saw this number as the probability of an innocent explanation and, since it was so low, found her guilty of the murders. Unfortunately the professor who testified was not an expert on probability and miscalculated. The jury also did not understand the meaning of the statistic being calculated and drew the wrong conclusions from it.

  In this series of lessons we will look at why this probability of 1 in 73 million is both wrong and irrelevant to the case. We will also look at how probability could have been properly used in this case."

This is the introduction to a series of lessons on probability.This case will frame the students' work on probability throughout the unit and not one student will ask "when am I ever going to use this?"

There are many options on how open or closed a project this is. Because I was short on time (being interviewed) I first asked them if they could spot any problems in the probability (useful for showing progression) before working in quite a closed manner, as a class, through section 1**.

Section 1 - Improbable events never happen

Introduce expected frequency of events. After students understand the general concept and are able to calculate the expected frequency of different events. Get them to work on the questions below:

  The probability that both babies in a family of two will die of cot-death is 1/73'000'000.
  There are about 340 million families with two children in the world.
  1) How many families would you expect both babies to die of cot-death?

  The probability of winning the lottery is 1/14'000'000.
  About 7.5 million people play the lottery each week
  2) How many winners would you expect to get:
  i) Each week
  ii) Each month
  iii) Each year
  iv) In 10 years

  The probability of being born with 11 fingers or toes is 1/500.
  3) What other information do you need to estimate the number of people in Bristol who were born with 11 fingers or toes?

  4) Look at your answer to question 1. How is it related to the court case mentioned earlier? Does the answer to question 3 help you decide whether the woman was innocent or guilty?

  5) Since the probability that both babies in a family of two will die naturally is 1/73'000'000, does that mean that the probability that both were murdered is 72'999'999/73'000'000? Explain why/why not?

I then got students to discuss question 4 in pairs before sharing with the group.
Concepts to get across:

-   Probability is an estimate of frequency and whether something will happen or not depends a lot on the number of trials.
-   Probability can not say for certain whether she is guilty or not as unlikely events do happen (though we can't be sure that's what happened here).
-   The 73 million outcomes will include mostly families where neither child has died or a single child has died.

You could also go in to relative frequency here. This may help students understand where the 1 in 8543 statistic might have come from.

Section 2 - Dependent and Independent Events

Here you need to go in depth about the difference between dependent and independent events. Pupils need to be able to distinguish between the two, have some understanding about how the outcome of one event can change the probability of other events (e.g. if it rains today I am less likely to hang my washing out) and how to draw a probability tree from conditional probability problems.

What does this have to do with the case? Well, the probability of 1 in 8543 can only be squared if the death of the two children are independent events (otherwise the probability of the second death would be a different fraction). The causes of SIDS is not entirely known, but it is highly plausible that there could be genetic or environmental factors that would be common to the two children. This would mean that if there were a SIDS death in a family, then further SIDS deaths would be more likely than otherwise.

Students can work on these questions to see this in action*:

  1a. The probability that a family's first baby will die of cot-death is 1/8543.
  If the first baby dies of cot-death, the probability that the second will also die of cot-death is 1/442.
  If the first baby DOES NOT die of cot-death, the probability that the second will die of cot-death is 1/11002.
  Draw a probability tree to show this information.

  b. What is the probability that:
   i. Neither child dies of cot-death?
   ii. One of the children die of cot-death?
   iii. Both children die of cot-death?

  c. Using the number of families in the world with two children from the previous lesson (340 million), calculate how many families would you expect both babies to die of cot-death?

  d. Why might the probability that the second child will die of cot-death be affected by whether the first child has also died of cot-death?

Section 3 - Further Conditional Probability

Now we get in to Bayes' theorem and the real reason why the 1 in 37 million statistic is simply irrelevant to the case:

[]

As seen in question 5 from section one, the probability of 1 in 73'000'000, even if it were correct, is not the probability of innocence. It would instead be the probability that if you picked any random family of two children, both children would have died AND the cause of death was cot-death. This is not appropriate to use in this case because we already know that both children died.

Again, pupils could first work on standard conditional probability questions until they are comfortable with the function and usage of the above formula. Then pupils are going to calculate the probability that both children have died of cot-death GIVEN that both children have died. They can also compare this to the probability that both children were murdered GIVEN that both children have died:

  The probability that both children in a family of two will be murdered is 1 in 10 million.
  1. What is the probability that both children will die of cot-death OR murder (use the probability calculated in the previous session).

  2. What is the probability that both children have died of cot-death given that both children have died of EITHER cot-death OR murder?

  2. What is the probability that both children have been murdered given that both children have died of EITHER cot-death OR murder?

  3. How do these two probabilities compare?

  4. How does this change your view of the case?

  5. Does this help you decide whether the woman was innocent or guilty? How?

Wrapping it up

A great way to recap all of this would be to get the students to prepare a letter to send to the judge of the case explaining the ways in which probability has been misused in this case and in what ways the calculations could be improved upon.
What is particularly great about this is that when they are done you can compare their letters to the letter written by the The Royal Statistical Society voicing their concerns (here) or the more specific letter written by Professor A.P. Dawid (of the R.S.S.) for her (successful) appeal (here)

Comments and Thoughts

*Although many of the figures used above are directly from the court case, and some are estimates based on other data I was able to find online, some of the data is currently unavailable and therefore is made up and should be used purely for illustration purposes.

**How I would prefer to run it:

-   Start each class recapping previous work and ideas on the case
-   Introduce the topic of the lesson and work on standard questions of that topic
-   Ask students: "how this topic might be related to the case? What data would we need to apply today's skills to this case?"
-   Give them the data they ask for and let them do the calculations.
-   Ask students: "How does this new information change your view of the case? Does this help you decide whether the woman is innocent or guilty? Why?"

There are many other problems with the probability used in the case including (but definitely not limited to):

-   Some environmental factors were included in the calculation, which make the probability of cot-death less likely, but many other factors in this individual case (which could increase the risk of cot-death) were not included.
-   Cot-death is not the only alternative cause of death to the theorised double-murder, but the probability of these other causes of death were not included.
-   The study where the 1 in 8543 figure came from was not intended for use in a criminal trial and instead is looking at possible causes of cot-death. It does not, therefore, directly apply to this case.

I thought for some time about the ethics of using a real, living person's tragedy as the basis for a Maths lesson. However, since this particular miscarriage of justice is due solely to the misunderstanding of basic probability by many of the involved parties, its use to encourage a better understanding of this topic seems appropriate. I wouldn't want to involve this in a quick and easy pseudo-context question. Instead it should be handled with the importance and gravitas it deserves.

Here are some other links about this case:

-   Wikipedia
-   UnderstandingUncertainty.org
-   Berkeley University - This one is my favourite. Though it is more complex than some of the others, it has a lot more information about the lack of data in some areas and the assumptions that need to be made in order to make the calculations work. Interestingly, this paper argues that the probability of double-murder is much higher (over 99%) than stated in any of the letters endorsed by the R.S.S. (the point still stands, however, that statistics, if used in court at all, should be verified and reviewed by professionals).
-   Bad Science

question: Summarize the problems with the concept of probability as used in the Sally Clark case.

answer:
The Professor and expert of child abuse who was called to testify against Sally Clark for murdering her two children used the probability of one child dying of SIDS (cot death), which is 1 in 8543 to suggest that the probability of both Sally Clark's children dying of SIDS is about 1 in 73 million. This conclusion is incorrect according to the writer of the passage.
The writer gave a few reasons why this is wrong. Firstly, he believes improbably evens do happen. Also, there are about 340 million families with two children in the world, hence the ratio of 1/73,000,000 is inaccurate. He also believed that the 73 million as stated by the expert would assume that this number includes families where neither child has died or a single child has died. There is also the fact that the causes of SIDS are not wholly known which might give rise to the possibility that genetic or environmental factors might be at play.

question: Was the judgment in the Sally Clark case reversed due to the error in the calculation of probability?


text:
UPDATED: March 1, 2017 2:00 p.m. EST
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

WASHINGTON – On February 20, 2017, Secretary John Kelly signed a memorandum implementing the president’s Executive Order entitled “Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements,” issued on January 25, 2017. This document is designed to answer some frequently asked questions about how the Department will operationally implement the guidance provided by the president’s order.

Q1. What is CBP currently doing as part of the construction of the wall?

A1. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is taking immediate action in response to the president’s executive order. The Border Patrol is conducting an operational assessment, which will identify priority areas where CBP can build a wall or similar physical barrier on the border where it currently does not exist. Locations near El Paso, Texas, Tucson, Arizona, and El Centro, California, have also been identified where we will replace areas where the fence or old brittle landing-mat fencing are no longer effective.

CBP is leveraging years of U.S. Border Patrol’s institutional operational knowledge and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ border infrastructure construction subject matter expertise to “construct a physical wall or similarly contiguous and impassable physical barrier” in the vicinity of the U.S. border with Mexico.

CBP is directly soliciting industry input for conceptual wall design(s) with the intent to construct multiple prototype(s). The primary purpose of this effort is to develop design standards for a border wall that may be constructed along the southwest border with Mexico in support of USBP operational requirements. Any and all prototypes will be designed to deter illegal entry into the United States. Wall design and construction award timelines for prototype construction will be expedited to meet immediate U.S. Border Patrol operational needs.

Q2: Why is CBP seeking to construct prototypes?

A2: Prototyping is an industry-tested approach to define the best solution when considering a new product or methodology. Through the construction of prototypes, CBP will partner with industry to identify the best means and methods to construct border wall before making a more substantial investment in construction. The prototypes will inform the final design standard which will likely continue to evolve to meet USBP’s requirements. Any and all prototypes will be designed to deter illegal entry into the United States.

The Border Patrol is in the midst of an assessment of the southern border to identify operational requirements to inform wall design decisions.

Q3. What does the operational assessment include?

A3. CBP is considering the following factors:

-   The current state of southern border security
-   All geophysical and topographical aspects of the southern border
-   The availability of federal and state resources necessary to achieve operational control of the southern border

This analysis will inform DHS’s strategy to obtain and maintain operational control of the southern border.
The executive order directs DHS to produce a comprehensive study of the security of the southern border within 180 days.

Q4. Do you have the funds to construct the wall?

A4. CBP has identified funding to begin immediate construction and is working with the Administration in these efforts.

Q5: Does the Alternatives to Detention program fall under the umbrella of “catch and release” policies being abolished?

A5: No. The use of Alternatives to Detention, including the use of ankle monitors, will continue on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the officers on the ground.

Q6: What are ICE’s priorities under this executive order?

A6: Under the executive order, ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of immigration law may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.  ICE and CBP priorities are realigned consistent with those set forth in section 5 of Executive Order 13768.

Q7: Will ICE deport people for driving without a license, since it’s often an immigration-related issue?

A7: All of those in violation of immigration law may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.

Q8: What is the new goal for ICE’s detention capacity?

A8: Although detention space may be limited at times, ICE is committed to arresting and processing all removable aliens. ICE agents and officers will make individualized custody determinations in every case, prioritizing detention resources on aliens subject to expedited removal and aliens removable on any criminal ground, national security or related ground or for fraud or material misrepresentation.

Q9: What is ICE planning in terms of obtaining additional detention centers or bed space? Have any contracts or RFPs yet been drafted? How long will it take to obtain additional bed space? How much will it cost per bed/day? Where will they be located?

A9: Following the issue of this order, ICE has already increased its detention capacity by approximately 1,100 beds.

To support the further need for increased detention capacity, particularly along the Southwest Border, ICE is currently defining contracting requirements. A list of potential detention locations is under review, which would supply additional beds.

Q10: Will ICE still be hiring the 10,000 officers called for in the executive orders?

A10: ICE is currently developing a hiring plan.

Q11: What is the 287(g) program and how will it be used by ICE?

A11: The 287(g) program allows local law enforcement agencies to participate as an active partner in identifying criminal aliens in their custody, and placing ICE detainers on these individuals. Removing criminal aliens from our communities produces a higher level of public safety for everyone. To strengthen the 287(g) program, ICE field leadership has begun examining local operational needs and liaising with potential 287(g) partners and will collaborate with CBP in these efforts. Existing 287(g) applications are also undergoing an expedited review process.

Q12: Are 287(g) officers now going to do ICE’s job?

A12: The 287(g) program, one of ICE’s top partnership initiatives, enables state and local law enforcement agencies to enter into a partnership with ICE, under a joint memorandum of agreement. The state or local entity receives delegated authority for immigration enforcement within their jurisdictions.

Q13: When will 287(g) task force agreements be available to local jurisdictions? Will these new task force agreements be modeled after the previously canceled task force model?

A13: ICE and CBP will be  is developing a strategy to further expand the 287(g) Program, to include types of 287(g) programs, locations, and recruitment strategies.  To strengthen the 287(g) Program, ICE field leadership has begun examining local operational needs and liaising with potential 287(g) partners and will collaborate with CBP in these efforts. Existing 287(g) applications are also undergoing an expedited review process. To support the training needed for existing and new 287(g) partners, ICE is updating the 287(g) training curriculum.

Q14: How will ICE accommodate an immigration judge in each of its facilities? How about asylum officers?

A14: ICE is working with the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to review current procedures and resources in order to identify efficiencies and best practices to improve the system. Most dedicated detention facilities already house immigration courts and have enough space to accommodate asylum officers. ICE is also seeking to increase the use of technology, mainly through the use of video teleconferencing, in locations with insufficient space or staffing.

Q15: What are you doing to reduce the reach of violent crime and transnational criminal organizations?

A15: To better target gang members responsible for violent crime and transnational criminal activities, ICE has notified field leadership to immediately assess and, if possible, realign resources to support Operation Community Shield.

Q16: Could USCIS customers be affected by the policies on the detention of aliens seeking admission pending a final determination of their inadmissibility and deportability, including eligibility for immigration relief?

A16: The policies are consistent with INA provisions that mandate the detention of certain aliens seeking admission and allow for the exercise of discretionary parole authority only on a case-by-case basis, and only for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit.

Q17: The Secretary’s memorandum outlines certain situations where CBP and ICE may release an alien detained under section 235(b) of the INA, who was apprehended or encountered after illegally entering or attempting to illegally enter the United States. One of the situations is where the alien obtains an administratively final order granting relief or protection from removal or DHS determines that the individual is a U.S. citizen or an alien who is a lawful permanent resident, refugee, or asylee; or holds another valid immigration status such as Temporary Protected Status or a valid non-immigrant visa.

A17: The guidance is effective upon the establishment of a plan to surge immigration judges and asylum officers to process recent border entrants, and the establishment of appropriate processing and detention facilities.

Q18: How does the expansion of expedited removal account for those who may be eligible for immigration benefits?

A18: The Secretary’s intentions regarding expedited removal are under development and will be set forth and effective upon publication of a notice in the Federal Register.

Q19: How soon will DHS make changes to more closely align its use of the expedited removal authority with Congressional intent?

A19: DHS is working to issue appropriate parameters in which expedited removal in these kinds of cases will be used.

Q20: Is it true that DHS is going to make the threshold for meeting credible fear in asylum cases more difficult to meet?

A20: The goal of DHS is to ensure the asylum process is not abused. Generally speaking, to establish a credible fear of persecution, an alien must demonstrate that there is a “significant possibility” that the alien could establish eligibility for asylum, taking into account the credibility of the statements made by the alien in support of the claim and such other facts as are known to the officer.

Asylum officers are being directed to conduct credible fear interviews in a manner that allows the interviewing officer to elicit all relevant information from the alien as is necessary to make a legally sufficient determination. In determining whether the alien has demonstrated a significant possibility that the alien could establish eligibility for asylum or torture protection, the asylum officer shall consider the statements of the alien and determine the credibility of the alien’s statements made in support of his or her claim and shall consider other facts known to the officer, consistent with the statute.

The asylum officer shall make a positive credible fear finding only after the officer has considered all relevant evidence and determined, based on credible evidence, that the alien has a significant possibility of establishing eligibility for asylum, or torture protection.

Q21: How will the enhancements to asylum referrals and credible fear determinations under INA section 235(b)(1) affect the work of USCIS?

A21: The Secretary’s memorandum outlines several points:

-   The director of USCIS shall ensure that asylum officers conduct credible fear interviews in a manner that allows the interviewing officer to elicit all relevant information from the alien as is necessary to make a legally sufficient determination.
-   The director shall also increase the operational capacity of Fraud Detection and National Security (FDNS) and continue to strengthen its integration to support the Field Operations Directorate (FOD), Refugee Asylum and International Operations (RAIO), and Service Center Operations (SCOPS), consulting with Operational Policy and Strategy (OP&S) as appropriate.
-   The USCIS director, CBP commissioner, and ICE director shall review their agencies’ fraud detection, deterrence, and prevention measures and report to the Secretary within 90 days regarding fraud vulnerabilities in the asylum and benefits adjudication processes, and propose measures to enhance fraud detection, deterrence, and prevention.
-   The asylum officer, as part of making a credible fear finding, shall determine the credibility of statements made by the individual in support of his or her claim. This determination should include, but is not limited to, consideration of the statistical likelihood that the claim would be granted by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).
-   The asylum officer shall make a positive credible fear finding only after the officer has considered all relevant evidence and determined, based on credible evidence, that the alien has a significant possibility of establishing eligibility for asylum, or for withholding or deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture, based on established legal authority.

Q22: How does the memorandum address the processing and treatment of unaccompanied alien minors at the border?

A22: The Secretary’s memorandum instructs the USCIS director, CBP commissioner, and ICE director to develop uniform written guidance and training for all employees and contractors of those agencies regarding the proper processing of unaccompanied alien children, the timely and fair adjudication of their claims for relief from removal, and, if appropriate, their safe repatriation at the conclusion of removal proceedings. In developing such guidance and training, they shall establish standardized review procedures to confirm that alien children who are initially determined to be “unaccompanied alien child[ren],” as defined in 6 U.S.C. § 279(g)(2), continue to fall within the statutory definition when being considered for the legal protections afforded to such children as they go through the removal process.

Q23: Is it true that in cases of UACs who travel to the U.S. to reunite with a parent, if a parent is identified by ORR as an appropriate guardian, that parent could also be prosecuted for possibly having their child smuggled into the U.S.?

A23: Correct. The parents and family members of these children, who are often illegally present in the United States, often pay smugglers several thousand dollars to bring their children into this country. Tragically, many of these children fall victim to robbery, extortion, kidnapping, sexual assault, and other crimes of violence by the smugglers and other criminal elements along the dangerous journey through Mexico to the United States. Regardless of the desires for family reunification, or conditions in other countries, the smuggling or trafficking of alien children is intolerable. Accordingly, DHS shall ensure the proper enforcement of our immigration laws against those who—directly or indirectly—facilitate the smuggling or trafficking of alien children into the United States. This includes placing parents or guardian who are removable aliens into removal proceedings, or referring such individuals for criminal prosecution, as appropriate.

Q24: How might the allocation of additional resources and personnel to the southern border for detention of aliens and adjudication of claims affect USCIS personnel?

A24: The screening of credible fear claims by USCIS and adjudication of asylum claims by EOIR at detention facilities located at or near the point of apprehension will facilitate an expedited resolution of those claims and result in lower detention and transportation costs. Accordingly, to the greatest extent practicable, the director of USCIS is directed to increase the number of asylum officers and FDNS officers assigned to detention facilities located at or near the border with Mexico to properly and efficiently adjudicate credible fear and reasonable fear claims and to counter asylum-related fraud.

Q25: How does the Secretary’s memorandum address the use of parole authority, as set forth in INA section 212(d)(5)?

A25: The memo notes that the statutory language appears to strongly counsel in favor of using the parole authority sparingly and only in individual cases where, after careful consideration of the circumstances, parole is needed because of demonstrated urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit. It states the practice of granting parole to certain aliens in pre-designated categories in order to create immigration programs not established by Congress has contributed to a border security crisis, undermined the integrity of the immigration laws and the parole process, and created an incentive for additional illegal immigration.

Therefore, the USCIS director, CBP commissioner, and ICE director are directed to ensure that appropriate written policy guidance and training is provided to employees exercising parole authority, including advance parole. These employees should be familiar with the proper exercise of parole under section 212(d)(5) of the INA and exercise such parole authority only on a case-by-case basis, consistent with the law and written policy guidance.  Notwithstanding other implementation guidance, and pending further review by the Secretary and additional guidance from the Director of ICE, the ICE policy directive establishing standards and procedures for the parole of certain arriving aliens found to have a credible fear of persecution or torture shall remain in full force and effect.

Q26: The implementation guidance references rescinding all previous immigration enforcement memos. Does this include the ICE and CBP memorandum on sensitive locations?

A26: No, the sensitive locations guidance remains in effect for both ICE and CBP.

Q27: Is DHS going to being immediately sending Mexican nationals and individuals of other nationalities who traveled through Mexico to the U.S. back to Mexico while they await the outcome of their removal proceedings?

A27: DHS will continue to work with the Mexican government and the Department of State to determine how to best implement this guidance. However, consistent with the law and U.S. international treaty obligations, CBP and ICE personnel shall, to the extent appropriate and reasonably practicable, return aliens described in section 235(b)(2)(A) of the INA, who are placed in removal proceedings under section 240 of the INA—and who, consistent with the guidance of an ICE Field Office Director, CBP Chief Patrol Agent, or CBP Director of Field Operations, pose no risk of recidivism—to the territory of the foreign contiguous country from which they arrived pending such removal proceedings. We will work with the countries involved to ensure proper coordination on the safe and humane return of their nationals.

Q28: Do these memoranda affect recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)?

A28: No.

question: Summarize the focus of this article.

answer: The text is seeks to answer some frequently asked questions about the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency following the president's Executive Order entitled "Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements" that was issued on January 25, 2017.

question: What is the U.S. Customs and Border Protection doing as part of the construction of the wall?

answer: The CBP is taking immediate action in response to the president's executive order, including an operational assessment that will identify priority areas where a physical barrier can be built on the border. The CBP is working with the U.S. Border Patrol's institutional operational knowledge and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' border infrastructure construction subject matter expertise to "construct a physical wall or similarly contiguous and impassable physical barrier" in the vicinity of the U.S. border with Mexico.

question: What are ICE's current priorities?

answer: Under the executive order, ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. ANyone in violation of immigration law may be subject to immigration arrest, detention, and possible removal from the United States.

question: What is the Customs and Border Protection Agency's current budget?


text:
Day 1

I wake in the morning, content and comfortable under the warm covers of my bed. I have a whole week away from work, and I honestly cannot remember the last time I felt so relaxed. I have cut myself off from the world, just for a few days, just so I can have some well-deserved time to myself. I think I deserve that much.

I dreamed of Jennifer last night. It was the best dream I have had in a long time, in fact, I think it may be the only dream I've had in a long time; most of my nights are filled with nothing but empty space and darkness. I wonder where she is… travelling, most likely, but who knows where?

After a good few hours lying in bed, I finally manage to pull myself out from under the heaps of quilts and cushions and head to the kitchen. I allow myself to indulge my craving for waffles. I bathe them in syrup and eat them as if they are about to be taken away from me. My mind wanders back to work, but I quickly shut out the thought, I dare not let thoughts of work interrupt my stress-free holiday.

I make my way to the bathroom; I could really use a nice, hot shower. As I flick on the light switch I notice the room is unnaturally cold. All of the heating is on, and had been left on all night… how could it be cold? It doesn't matter. A shower will soon fix the issue. I take a look at myself in the mirror. My reflection stares back at me. There is something indeterminably odd about my appearance; I don’t quite look like myself. I move away from the mirror a few steps. My reflection stays still.

I feel my heart begin to thrum in my chest, like it is trying to break free of my rib-cage. My throat has gone dry, and I struggle to catch my breath. None of that matters though. I stare at my reflection, and my reflection stares back. In horror, I watch as my mouth utters the words ‘you did this, you son of a bitch’ and the words actually come out. My reflection pulls a gun from somewhere out of the frame and aims at the roof of its mouth. I pull the trigger.

I see my brains erupt from my skull, and fall out of frame; then comes the blood. I watch it creep out from under my hairline and trickle down my forehead and into my eyeballs and my mouth. I can almost taste the bitter tang of copper on my tongue.

This isn't real.

It can’t be happening.

I close my eyes, and when I open them, my reflection is just me again. Just me. I stumble into the shower and attempt to wash away the memory of what I saw.

Later that night, when I return to bed, I don’t dream as usual, but the darkness that comes with sleep is illuminated by flames, and the light shines on a mass of faceless corpses.

Day 2

I wake up with a headache. My sleep was uneasy, and I woke up several times during the night. I decide to give the bathroom a wide berth for a while; I have a certain, understandable reluctance to visit that particular room today.

I decide to make waffles for breakfast again, in the hope I can find some solace in repetition and routine, and somehow kid the world into believing I wasn't disturbed by what I witnessed. Maybe I just imagined it, maybe I was still dreaming. Like any of it matters. I choke down some aspirin with breakfast and the pain in my head subsides somewhat, but it still lingers there, hidden away behind my eyes.

I know I’m going to have to go to the bathroom. It has to happen at some point. It might as well be now. I slowly open the door, and it responds with a frustratingly eerie creaking noise. I flick the light switch, expecting the worst, but the room is warm, and just like that my anxiety is gone. Still; I haven’t forgotten the mirror hanging from the wall. I make the conscious decision not to look; I will not feed a delusion, or a hallucination, or whatever the hell it was. I turn on the shower and step in, letting the hot water smother me.

By the time I’m finished, everything seems to be back to normal, my fears have subsided at last. I think about Jennifer again, maybe I should give her a call? It couldn't hurt, it might even help… No, I promised myself just a few days free of stress. Jennifer could wait a few more days.

I step out of the shower and unthinkingly look into the steamed up mirror. The image isn't clear, but somehow, that makes it all the more horrifying. I can see myself swinging. A makeshift noose is tied around my neck and I am drifting lazily, side to side. As the condensation clears, the image becomes more and more visible, and more and more grotesque. My face is puffy and disfigured, and purple, my eyes crusty with dried blood. There is bile dribbling from the corner of my swollen mouth and my lips are cracked and dry, the noose itself is digging into my neck and ripping at the flesh there, I notice that the rope is red, stained with my blood.

This isn't real. It CAN’T be real.

I smash my fist into the glass and hear it shatter before I feel the impact. I pull my fist back and throw it at the mirror again. I repeat the motion, over and over, until I am lying on the bathroom floor among the shards of glass, panting, wheezing; breathless. My knuckles are bleeding, but I don’t feel any pain. I’m too in shock to feel any pain.

I manage to pull myself from the bathroom floor, and when I do, I make the decision to call Jennifer. I need her now more than ever. The phone rings, but no-one answers. I try several more times, but in the end I just leave a message. I hope she calls back. I need her to call back.

Sleep. The nightmares are worse tonight. I can see the faces of the corpses now, but I wish I couldn't  I can hear screaming, loud; as if it someone has their mouth pressed against my ear, and is wailing at full volume. The worst part? I can’t wake up. No matter how bad it gets. I cannot wake up. Please… I’m begging you. Let me wake up.

Day 3

Being able to open my eyes is a relief, but only temporarily. The room is swaying. Everything seems to be out of place. Maybe I am just disorientated, or maybe everything had moved, I honestly cannot tell. I am struggling to tell if this is even reality at all, I am awake, but maybe my mind has lingered in the realm of dreams. More like nightmares.

I stumble to the kitchen, and smash several objects on the way, when I finally sit down, the sensation does not die. The thought of food repulses me. Even waffles makes me feel sick to the stomach, I know that if I even try to eat a bite I will immediately throw it back up. I try calling Jennifer again, but I only reach her answer message, where is she? I run my hands through my hair, I have a headache again, and my throat feels drier than it ever did. I grab myself a glass of water, and do my best to drink it, although finding my mouth seems to be something of a challenge. The water helps moisten my throat, but my headache persists, even after I have swallowed an excess of painkillers.

I don’t want to. But I know I have to… it is the only thing that could hold the answer to whatever is going on here, but oddly, I feel strangely eager to see my reflection again, I know he will be waiting for me, like an old friend…

There is another mirror in the hallway. I will have to do it.

My reflection seems normal for a moment, but it doesn't take long for that to change. I watch as I pull a knife from my pocket and bring it to my throat. I slowly slice at my neck, and the blood pours out, spurting, shooting in every direction. My reflection stays standing still, as if nothing had ever happened. I return its dead stare. Then, I hear myself speak, with a rasping, guttural, gurgling voice- a voice which only a man with a sliced throat could possess.

“You did this to me- to us- to yourself.”

“How have I done this?”

“You cursed us.”

“I don’t understand, what have I done to deserve this?”

“You don’t remember, do you?” I hear myself say, “that must be nice- ignorance truly is bliss- allow me to throw light on our situation- we are living a cursed life, we feared death and so we sold our soul so that we could live, but you do not make a deal with the devil lightly, for he will always have the upper hand.”

“What do you mean?”

“You live a normal life until the moment you are most happy, most content, when you feel as though there is no fault with the world- and that is when it starts- that is when the nightmares begin, that is when we appear, and we will not go away until you end it all. If you do not do so, things only get worse, the visions will grow more lifelike with every passing day, the earth will begin to tremble around you, all of your senses will betray you, the people you love most in this world will die, and they will burn, and they will suffer, until you have nothing left in this world, nothing but the vapid darkness of death. Then, once you have killed yourself, you are reborn, and the cycle begins again, but you won’t remember. You wished for immortality- you have it.”

“I never wanted this!”

I see my dead eyes stare back at me with contempt. I realise that there is only one option. I call Jennifer one last time, and leave her a message.

“I’m sorry.”

I open my medicine cabinet and take all of the pills I have. I fill another glass with water and begin to swallow them, by the handful, until there are none left. I walk slowly to the mirror, and look at my reflection. I am overwhelmed with self-pity, even though I know I don’t deserve any, and I begin to cry. But it doesn't last long. Soon, I can feel the room slipping away. I watch as my reflection begins frothing at the mouth, and I see my eyes roll to the back of my head. As I fall to the floor I embrace the cold arms of death and promise myself that in my next life I will remember, I will prepare myself for the worse, but I know as life slips away from me that I am only kidding myself, and that salvation is nothing but a fantasy.

title: Reflection

question: What does the text say about the narrator's hallucinations?

answer: The narrator sees himself commit suicide in the mirror, and his image on the following days is of a hanged man. His image blames him, saying "you did this to us." His senses become stranger, everything starts to sway after a night terror. His image in the mirror speaks to him after cutting his throat, saying the narrator made a deal with the devil for immortality. The visions will get worse and worse until he kills himself. He will be reborn then to suffer the same fate again and again.

question: What does the story say about unrequited love?