Light it. Light it. Light it.

Have you ever played a prank on someone, whether it be April fool’s day or just a regular average day?

Now imagine if the person you played the prank on was your very angry, easily frustrated principal.

That is what this gang of 5 kids did. Each year Alaska, the Colonel, and Takumi play a major prank at the school. This year they got Miles (Pudge) and Lara involved and instead of just playing one prank they decided to have a pre prank and when no one was expecting they would have the big prank.   

The plans were laid out for the prank, every possible mistake that could be made had a cover up. They were ready. This was only part of the prank but you’ll have to read the book to find the whole prank.

"'Five,' he said. 'Four. Three. Two. One. Light it. Light it. Light it.'

It lit with a sizzle that reminded me of every July Fourth with my family. We stood still for a nanosecond, staring at the fuse, making sure it was lit. And Now ,I thought. Now. Run run run run run. But my body didn’t move until I heard Takumi shout-whisper, ‘Go go go f***ing go.’

And we went.

Three seconds later, a huge burst of pops. It sounded, to me, like the automatic gunfire in Deccapitation, except louder. We were twenty steps away already, and I thought my ear drums would burst.

I thought: Well, he will certainly hear it.

We ran past the soccer field and into the woods, running uphill and with only the vaguest sense of direction. In the dark, fallen branches and moss-covered rocks appeared at the last possible second, and I slipped and fell repeatedly and worried that the Eagle would catch up, but I just kept getting up and running beside Takumi, away from the classrooms and the dorm circle. We ran like we had golden shoes. I ran like a cheetah- well like a cheetah that smoked too much. And then, after precisely one minute of running, Takumi stopped and ripped open his back pack.

My turn to count down. Staring at my watch. Terrified. By now, he was surely out. He was surely running. I wondered if he was fast. He was old, but he’d be mad.

‘Five four three two one,’ and the sizzle. We didn’t pause that time, just ran, still west. Breath heaving. I wondered if I could do this for thirty minutes. The firecrackers exploded. The pops ended, and a and a voice cried out, ‘STOP RIGHT NOW!’” (pg. 104-105)

Characters and Their Futures

Hi guys!! So I’ve continued reading “Looking for Alaska”, and I am on page 55. So far the book has been pretty boring. Miles, known as Pudge, has arrived at a boarding school called Culver Creek and met Chip, known as the Colonel, Alaska, and Takumi. The richer boarders, known as the weekday warriors, blamed the Colonel for ratting out someone and getting them expelled and to get back at him they duct-taped Pudge and threw him into the lake. 

 

That may sound like an exciting book but really that was 1 page out of 55. The other 54 were very boring. But who knows, it might get better. Maybe. 

Anyway, even though I mentioned three people Pudge met earlier, there are really only two other main characters so far. Alaska and the Colonel. Alaska is from a small  town in Alabama and just wants to move somewhere bigger. She also wants to “teach disabled kids” who have autism. (pg. 53) She is unpredictable though. Odd. No one really gets her, but she doesn’t mind. 

The Colonel is intelligent; he got into Culver Creek on a scholarship. We don’t know yet what his plans are for his future, but I think he will end up teaching history because he can name off every single country in alphabetical order.

We don’t know what Pudge wants to do with his life either. He likes reading biographies and he memorizes famous people last words, so I think he might become a biography writer or maybe a history teacher.