Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Purposefulness (Purpose in Life) (05/25/06)
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TITLE: The Porpoise of Life | Previous Challenge Entry
By Deanna Gjovik
05/30/06 -
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“Hi! My name is Hoiman Feingold. Whatcha’ name?”
“I’m Kathy Smith...did you say your name was Hoyman?”
“No, it’s Hoiman.”
“But...that’s what I said!”
“No! You said ‘Hoyman’, I said ‘Hoiman’, H-E-AH-M-A-N...Hoiman!”
“Ohhhhh...Herman!!”
“Yeah...Dat’s what I said!!”, he replied . “ Want some Matzo Bawl Soup?”
Thus began my friendship with “Hoiman“.
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One day while sipping some soup, Herman asked me, “Hey Kath, whatcha poirpuss in life?”
“Huh?”
“Whatcha poirpuss?!”
“Well...I’ve...I’ve never had a porpoise...but, I like watching Flipper. I have a dog, if that’s what you want to know.”
“Not Poipuss, Meshugeneh…Poirpuss! P-U-AH-P-O-S-E!! Poirpuss!”, he said laughing and choking on his soup.
“OHHHH! PURPOSE!”
“Yeah...Dat’s what I said!”
“ I don’t know. I guess I’m too busy worrying about passing algebra! Do you know what your ‘poirpuss‘ is?” I emphasized “poirpuss” to make it sound as NY as possible.
“Nah...not yet. My Bubbeh says we all gotsa poirpuss in life. Maybe we won’t figya it out till we’re oldah. Hey, maybe my poirpuss was to meet you and teach’cha howda speak prawpa English!”, he snorted some soup out of his nose as he laughed.
“You’re gross!” I said, disgusted at the sight of soup dripping from his nose. “My grandmother says the same thing. Isn’t that weird? You’re Jewish, I’m Christian, but our grandmother’s both say we have a purpose in life.”
Herman laughed. “No….you think there’s a per-puss in YOUR life, and his name is Flippah!” He emphasized “per-puss” to make it sound as Midwestern as possible.
Herman and I had never acknowledged our religious differences until that moment. I didn’t know much about Jewish people and he wasn’t accustomed to being friends with a Christian girl. I was aware that his Bubble wasn’t too happy with this fact either, and had overheard her referring to me as his “goy friend” once. When I asked him why she called me his “girlfriend” he proceeded to laugh and explained to me that “goy friend” and “girlfriend” were two very different things, and that he really needed to start some “prawpa diction“ lessons with me. I appreciated his honesty, and he apologized for his grandmother’s rudeness. But, I had reassured him that my grandfather probably would feel the same way if he knew I had befriended a Jewish boy. Our Grandparent’s prejudices didn’t stop the fact that we were friends.
“I suspect,” he said, “that my ‘per-puss’ will have someting ta do with serving God. But I dunno. I get kinda confused about awl dat stuff.”
“Yeah…Our pastor talked about our purpose as believing in Christ. The bible says that when the Jewish people asked Jesus what they must do, to do the works of God, Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He sent”. Our pastor emphasized that having a personal relationship with Jesus, and believing Him is what our purpose is.”
“Hmmmm….vary inta-resting.” He didn’t say anything more than that, and I didn’t want to push it any further. But, I didn’t feel like he was insulted with what I had said. It felt good talking to my friend about my faith.
“Ya know, I have an uncle who’sa Christian….well, he’s a Messianic-Hebrew. No one in da family will tawk to him. I still do, when I can, but my Bubbeh kinda forbids it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“What? That my uncle is a Jew for Jesus!?”
“No! That your Bubbeh forbids you to talk to him!”
“Oh…yeah…well, dat’s how she is. It sounds like ya have a betta idea of what yoor poipuss is, than I do.”
There was an awkward silence.
He broke the silence.
“Oi! What’s dat?!” I looked out to the horizon to see what he was yelling about. To our astonishment, there was a school of porpoises frolicking in the surf!
Herman and I looked at each other with smiles on our faces.
“Looks like your ‘pore-puss’ in life came lookin’ for ya, Kath!”
“Naaahhhh Hoiman", I said taking his soup, "I tink it’s lookin' at you!”
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Whom have I in heaven but You?
And earth has nothing I desire besides You. (Psalm 73:25 NIV)
The work of God is this: to believe in the one He sent. (John 6:29 NIV).
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Your characters engage in some lively and natural dialogue. Well done.