the coursework my year was never allowed to do. curses!
I have watched
her sometimes away off in the open country, creeping fast as a
cloud shadow in a high wind.
One day I followed her you know. Down the stairs
I crept, quietly, as Jennie must not know about my excursions.
I fear she will tell John you know, and he will lock the woman
up so I can never see her again.
Soon I was out of the house. Opening the gate,
I looked around, and there she was right in front of me! I was
so startled, I nearly lost her. Off she went. Down the garden
path she stalked, and I followed. She twisted left, and veered
to the right, but all this time I stayed close behind her. No
matter where she went, I kept so close, I could almost reach out
and touch her! All this time she never noticed - I am so clever
sometimes!
And then you know, the most curious thing took
place. I was next to the greenhouse when I glanced up into one
of the panes, only to see her leering back at me, her contorted
features twisted into a most frightful grimace. Oh dear! I knew
I should not have followed her -now she was quite angry with me.
I turned to run, and to my surprise she was right there in my
path. How could this woman be both in front and behind me? Round
and round I turned, and still she was there.
I ran and I ran. Through the garden, down the
lane where I had seen her creeping before, and out into the field.
Every time I stopped, I looked around for that ghastly woman,
and there she was. Skulking in shadows, hiding in foliage, wherever
I looked, I saw her, staring and pointing. It was most perturbing.
Then I realised. How silly of me! All I had
to do was creep. So creep I did. Soon I was in the woods - not
even she could find me here. At first I did not notice
the trees around me. You see I was busy creeping as fast as I
could. Yet before long I was compelled to look around me. They
were everywhere!
I gazed at each tree in turn, and noticed that
they were all waving. Some wore smiles, and others grotesque masks
of fury . I have never known trees with such emotion! Some beckoned
me towards them, and others snarled with such a vengeance that
I was scared to go near. One tree beamed so happily that I ran
towards it. My arms out-stretched to embrace its loving boughs.
I felt sure it would keep me safe, even
if John could not.
As I reached to touch it, I noticed the most
horrifying thing. It was covered with a dense yellow lichen. I
drew back to take a proper look, and saw that the whole tree was
surrounded by horrible toadstools. Then I saw. The lichen swirled
headily, twisting and inverting before my very eyes! The toadstools
bulged and contorted. And they glowed - each one with an unholy
luminescence.
That poor tree! The lichen smothered it and
the toadstools strangled it. I could see it weeping tears of despair,
and had to help it. I kicked at the toadstools and tore at the
lichen. I bit at the ivy that garrotted it - not caring about
the foul taste that filled my mouth. I did not even notice that
before long, my hands had become quite raw!
I must have forgotten myself because the next
thing I heard was John's voice, calling me. Oh dear! He had strictly
forbid my exercising, and would be very cross. He said he was
worried about me, but I was too clever. I knew that it was just
one of his plots to take the woman away from me. I would not let
him!
So I crept. Away from John, and deeper into
the woods. Then, do you know, there she was again, right in front
of my very eyes. She wanted me to follow her, and so I did. Out
of the wood, down the lane and back into the house. John thought
he could catch us, but I was too clever! Not even Jennie noticed
my return. To think that the woman was chasing me! All the time
she was just playing. We make such a good team she and I. As I
lay back on my bed I heard John downstairs - plotting with that
spiteful Jennie no doubt.
I turned to the woman.
"Quick, into the paper, or he will
get you! "
She strained and I pushed. I heaved and she
struggled. Soon she was back, rattling her bars and moaning softly
to herself.
If only the top pattern could be gotten off
from the under one! I mean to try it, little by little.
The way in which I attempted to replicate Perkins
Gilman's style was to pay close attention to technical details.
I noted that throughout The Yellow Wallpaper there was
a proliferation of hyphens, and carried this through in my extract.
This technique breaks up sentences and makes them even more detached.
I also kept sentences and paragraphs short, making the narrative
disjointed. It emulates the way in which the main character's
mind flits from thought to thought in a pacey slightly uncontrol1ed
way. The inclusion of exclamation marks il1ustrates the way in
which she makes bold statements with pride and excitement now
the madness had taken hold.
