ISALC: ESL 382: Computer Applications - Fall 2000
Hatchet: Student Survival Guide

Students give Hatchet author Gary Paulsen a helping hand by adding a Chapter 20 to the novel. Which of these endings do you like best?

• Time to Leave? by Rashed Al-Qamzi
• Brian's Mother by Khalfan Al-Mansoori
• Afterwards of Brian by Tomoko Hayakawa
• My Feeling For My Son by Su Jin Lee
• Brian's Life by Akiko Okada

Brian's Mother by Khalfan Al-Mansoori At night. It was a dark night. I got up from my bad dreams. I saw my son in the dark, and he walked alone, and he was sad, and he was looking at a thing, a light. I could see it. After that he looked at me and said, "Thanks, Mom" and left. When I got up I walked to the window. I said to myself, "I hope everything will go good for my son." I cried and thought about my dream until in the morning.

I walked to his room at 5:00 in the morning to tell him to be ready to travel, but I saw his eyes when he was sleeping on the bed and his eyes were moving about something. Actually I hoped to know what he felt. I thought he was still angry because he had to leave to visit his father. He hated me the day before because he was thinking I hated him and his father because I loved my friend, and he thought I was going to marry him. I woke him and said it was time to travel. He got up and he didn't say anything to me like "good morning" and he didn't give me a smile, so I hated this day. It was a sad day. I was going to miss my son and I had to live alone and he had to travel to Canada where his father was. I tried to get some present for him before he went to the airport. It was hard to figure out some present for him, so I went to my room. I sat on the chair and I tried to find a present for him. Finally I saw my grandfather's hatchet, the kind with a steel handle and a rubber handgrip. I smiled because I remembered his face when he was child and he played outside the house a lot with the hatchet. I thought he would be happy to see the hatchet, so I wrapped the hatchet with a nice paper. It was beautiful. At 7:00 the car was ready to take him to the airport. I waited in the car for my son, but he took a long time. I called him because we would be late for the plane. I waited and waited until finally he came outside without smiling. He closed the door as strong as he could. I looked at him with a smile. I said, "Don't worry. Just one month. After that you can decide anytime to return." He didn't say anything, just looked out the window. After that I turned on the car. When we crossed town to the airport, he was still looking out the window and he was still silent. I had the present for him and I was sure he would like it, because that would surprise him. When we were close to the airport, I took the hatchet from under the seat. I said, "I hope you like it," but he wasn't with me. I said again, "Brian your present is waiting for you." He looked me and I saw in his eyes, "I'm too old to get this present." He took it and looked at it like it was the first time he had seen this thing. It was the hatchet. I said to him "Try it on your belt. See how it looks on your belt." He said no. Actually I didn't care about this word because it was normal for him to say no. I said again, "Try it for your mother." He put it on his belt. It was nice, but I worried if I said it was nice on his belt, he would feel sad, so I kept quiet, and he moved around in the seat. At 8:44 am we arrived at the airport and the time shortened to say bye to my son and be alone. In the airport the time passed faster. I didn't have enough time to say bye to him. I saw him when he boarded the plane and I said, "Bye Brian. Take care of yourself." Before I left the airport, I asked the officers what time the plane would arrive in Canada. They said not to worry. After five hours he would be there. I left the airport, but Brian my son was always in my mind. I thought about him all the way to my house. What was his feeling? Was he happy or mad about me? The house was empty and quiet like nobody had lived here. One day later, I was in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes and some tools. I was thinking about Brian. I dropped a dish and I hurt myself. I ran to the sink to clean my hand. I heard something say, "Ma." I looked around me, but it was nothing. I felt some thing bad would happen but where I didn't know, but why hadn't he called me? That thing was telling me something had happened, so I took the phone to call him. I remembered his father. I didn't want his father to answer the phone. I started to cry because I didn't know what I could do. I talked with myself because I knew something had happened to Brian, and I had to talk to his father. I realized my son was also his son, and he would worry about him too, so I went to the phone to call him. His father answered the phone, "Good morning," and he was happy. "Yes, can I help you?" I said, "I'm Brian's mother." His father asked, "How is Brian?" I was surprised. I said, " He must have arrived there one day ago." Father said loudly, " What yesterday? Oh, no!" And he hung up the phone without "Bye." I walked to the window and stared outside the house I couldn't sleep this night just. I cried and I thought about him. Did he die with the pilot there? I couldn't stop thinking about him. I decided to travel to Canada and see if his father could help me to find out about our son because the airport told me the plane had crashed in the forest, but they didn't know where exactly. I traveled to Canada by car because when I saw a plane I remembered my son. When I arrived at his father's house in Canada I thought he would hate me. But he was happy to see me and he cried about our son. I stayed with him and he knew what I felt about our son, so he tried to make me relax and stop think about it. Even after 20 days, I couldn't say die because I still had some hope to see my son soon. Whatever, I hoped that he was still alive. For month all my life was hard. At night when I was sleeping, I dreamed of my son. It completed the first dream I had seen. In the dream he was looking at me. He said, "Mistake this thing." It was like a light Hatchet. I couldn't see it clear, and he was smiling. He was trying to say something but I couldn't hear his voice. He was gone. I got up to cry. His father came to me from the living room tried to relax me I told him about the dream. He felt happy and said, "Don't worry. Everything is good." After a few days when I was sitting alone in living room, he came to me and told me he wanted to get married again because everything that had happened to our son was our mistake, so he wanted to try to fix up everything wrong. Since that day I was thinking. After that we decided to get married to make our future. After the 40th day we prepared to get married. It was a nice day and our friends came, too. They were so happy because we would get married. On this day the world turned to me to make my dream come true. My son returned to us when we were preparing the marriage. He returned after we believed he had died. On this day we had two celebrations: the first our son returned, and the second the family came together after farewell. We returned to life in one house with a great father and a great son. Return to top

Afterwards of Brian by Tomoko Hayakawa I'm Brian. I am thirty-three years old now. I will talk to you about my story after I was rescued from the lake. I took a good rest after I was rescued from the lake. My mother made a lot of delicious meals for me. My dream that my mother was cooking in the rich smells of the kitchen came true and my mind was full of home and the smell from the food. I gladly ate every meal; however, I could not eat much, because my stomach had shrunk from my eating habits in the lake.

Can you imagine what I am doing now? I live in the forest, and there is a lake near my house. I built a log house by myself and live alone there happily. The reason why I decided to live in the forest is that I felt uncomfortable with my life in the city. When I was sixteen years old, my mother began to live with the man who was in the station wagon with her It was very uncomfortable for me to live with them and I couldn't stand it. Certainly I had been looking forward to going back to my house when I was left alone in the forest and the city had everything and every convenience to live, but I changed and I became this new Brian. I am strongly confident that I am be able to do everything by myself if I observe what is happening and react to it thoughtfully. That strong confidence came from my valuable experience ------ how to make a fire, get a food, make a shelter and survive by myself. The situation of my life in the lake at that time was featured in newspapers, magazines, and TV programs and I became famous as a brave boy who survived alone on the lake. That is also one of the reasons why I decided not to live in the city. Actually I live in the lake alone now, but I am not lonely, because some people, especially boys, who have heard about my story visit my log house. In that case, I warmly welcome my guests to my log house and they stay with me several days and experience the life on the lake. They pay me about 20 dollars a day. I sometimes visit the city and buy something to eat or necessities with that money. I tell my guests about my experience when I was thirteen years old and teach them that we should think positively and stay on top of things as Perpich had told me. Many animals live near my log house now, but I am not afraid of them. I have realized that animals don't hurt and don't want to bother me, because I had learned it by coming across the bear and the wolf before. It is very enjoyable to live in the forest and I can learn many things from nature. This life near the lake is very suitable for me. I can do everything by myself. I had a hard experience by the accident of the airplane; however, now I live here happily. Return to top

My Feeling For My Son by Sujin Lee I am Brian's mom and thirty eight years old. I live in Hampton, New York with Brian. I divorced my husband a few months ago, because his character was diametrically opposed to mine. My ex-husband has visitation rights, so he can see Brian just in the summer. Then Brian comes back to New York. Usually I am sorry about this. I know Brian hates this situation.

This summer Brian had to see his father, so I took him down to the airport. Before he left I wanted to give him some gift, because recently he talked with me very little. I thought he was angry with me, but I didn't know what had happened with him. Also I was anxious about whether he had seen me and my boyfriend or not. One day I was in a station wagon with my boyfriend. Also that day Brian went out with Terry. I think he went to the Love Hill by bicycle. The Love Hill is their favorite place. It is located near the shopping mall where I was. From that day he said nothing to me. I was so worried about it. My boyfriend's name is Tom. We are of the same age and colleagues at work. He is very nice and kind. I think he can be not only Brian's good father, but also my good husband. I knew it would be difficult for Brian to accept this situation. After his trip, I was going to introduce Tom to Brian. I prepared a hatchet as a present for him. I thought it was a necessary thing, because my ex-husband stays in the woods. The place is dangerous. I wanted to give him the gift with a smile. However while we were going to the airport, we just talked a little, and he just stared outside. When I gave him the hatchet, his expression was not good. I was anxious about whether he would take the hatchet or not. He took the hatchet without saying anything, and he got on the plane. I felt bitter, so I cried. I want to be a good mother, but I'm not good for my son. I was so sorry. I expected he would call me when he arrived. I waited for his call, but he didn't call. I hesitated to call him, but I didn't want to call his father. At first I felt bitter, but later I felt anxiety. After 3 days my ex-husband called me about Brian. He said Brian hadn't arrived there. I was so surprised. I informed the police. They dispatched a search party. For a few days I cried too much. I believed he was alive, but it was also bad. There it is just woods. If he was alive, he wouldn't have enough food, and there were lots of wild animals. I couldn't sleep. Also Tom was worried about Brian. I felt bitterness against my ex-husband. Two days ago a policeman told me they had found my son! I was so glad. I went to see Brian in the hospital, and his condition was not so bad. After he was examined in the hospital, I tried to cook some food that he liked. He ate a little bit, but I couldn't force him to eat more. My ex-husband came to New York for a week. I think Brian was happy with him and me, but I can't reunite with him. Yesterday he returned to his home. Last night, I saw Brian looking at some pictures of the forest which he gotten from the search team. I was worried if he was troubled by nightmares. I don't know the details, but I think his character has changed a little bit. He talks a lot and laughs the same as before. He has told me lots of happenings in the forest about animals and berries and fires. I told him about Tom already. At first he didn't accept Tom, but he understood me. I'm going to introduce Tom to Brian tomorrow. Return to top

Brian's Life by Akiko Okada I am Brian Robeson, a camping instructor. I work at the camping company called "Survival." My job is teaching people how to camp without electric things and how to survive in the forest without utilities that you use in daily life. For example, you can't use a lighter or stove to make fire. I love camping because I had a great and serious experience in my childhood.

Let me tell you what happened to me. I had an airplane accident twenty years ago. By a miracle, I made a crash landing on the lake and I was lost in the forest. I had to live alone in the forest, but at that time I had no idea about living. I had never thought about living because my mother cooked dinner for me and when I needed water, I just turned on the tap, and when I needed food, I just went to the store to buy the food. However, these things didn't work because I was in the forest. What could I do in the forest? Since that time I have put my experiences into my job as a camping instructor. This is a program called "Serious Camping," and people who want to go camping or live and try as primitive people, they go camping with me and I teach them how to camp. But this program is different from other camping. You can't use electric things and utilities that you use in daily life. We camp for a month. It is very serious camping. There was a story that I and eight campers went camping and survived for a month. When we got to the forest, the campers seemed confused. Of course they were confused because they didn't have anything. By luck they wore clothes and had a hatchet. People usually think camping needs a sleeping bag, a tent, a lot of food, and extra water, but I told them they didn't need these kind of things. I also told them they had to bring a hatchet because it was a key to survive in the forest. Some people thought I was a strange person. The first day of camping we had already had a big problem. We needed fire to get warm. We needed a fire, but how could we make one? When I was in the forest, I had the same problem. But I realized I could make fire with the hatchet. First I made sparks with the hatchet, and brought them to the paper. But it didn't work because I didn't give it oxygen. I told the campers that they needed papers, sparks, and oxygen to make fire. We also had to make a shelter to protect our bodies, and to live. The daytime temperature is different from the night. That's why we needed a shelter. What we did was we found a cave which was covered with rock and put some tree branches against the rock. It was simple. The next big problem was we felt hungry. We needed some food. In the forest there were no humans, but there were some animals and birds, and they ate nuts and berries. When I was in the forest I ate raspberries. I told the campers that they could seek food from nature. Instead of eating berries, they could eat fish from the lake, but they had to make a spear to catch fish. From my experience, I made a spear with a hatchet. My spear was divided into two blades, so it easily got fish. I told campers how to make the spear as I did. The campers had to eat food to survive, so they ate raspberries and fishes, but the fish are not enough to live, so they decided to hunt, They hunted some birds with spear, but it was not easy to hunt. The birds were quick to fly, so I told them that they could attack from the rear. I tried it when I was in the forest. Then they tried to attack the birds from the rear. Finally it worked. By getting food and cooking the food, the campers survived. Time went on. During the camping time, some people wanted to quit because it was unbearable to them. Sometimes it was hard to get fish and birds, and the campers were sick of it. Some people got sick from the lake water. The water made them sick. When I was in the forest, I had the same problem because I drank too much water from the lake. All the campers were used to living today's modern life, so it was hard for them to live in the forest. Some people cried because they had a fear about losing food. Every day they had to get food, but sometimes it didn't work. That's why they had the fear. However they had teamwork. When some people couldn't get fish, other people helped them, and some people guided other people though their problems. They gave their cooperation. By helping people, they made new friends. The campers survived with their teamwork. Today people can get whatever they want. Life is much easier. I think it is important to live with nature. People should be appreciative of nature because it helps people even today. For example, we can't live without trees because we need them for making houses. By using them, we can live on the earth. We can't live without nature. I am proud of my job and I am thankful for the airplane accident because I learned how to survive. Today, we waste the a lot of nature. For example, we cut the trees a lot and we are losing the trees now. I hope people can have a chance to know how important the nature is. I think this camping is a chance for them to know. So, would you like to join us? Return to top

Created by: krauss@lclark.edu
Updated: 11/3/00