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Tristan
Adam Coddington	May 8, 2000
Sophomore Year Major Paper	Final Edition
The sun has already fallen, and the ground once painted with the various colors of bountiful nature now lies dormant under the heavy mask of nightfall. Candlelight lazily drips on a yellow sheet of paper. As a man lays his signature down upon his document, he hears a knock at the door. He stands up, and walks over toward the door. Looking through the window aside the door he sights upon a man, aged near as many years as he, but wearing clothing much more worn than he. He supposes he is a pauper from the nearby town and opens the door reluctantly. "Sir, may I have shelter here for the night?" the man outside the door asks. "Why would you try lodging with me? There is an inn in the town." "All quarters of the inn are occupied." "Do you have any money to offer in exchange?" The man inquires not willing to listen to the man any longer. "I have little to offer; only the clothes on my back and the labor I can provide." "There is little," he pauses to yawn, "work to be done here tonight." "But sir..." the pauper says, only to be interrupted by the man. "No," he says and slams the door in the man's face. he walks over to the desk he was previously writing upon, but stops to hear a question from his waking fiancee. "Tristan, who was at the door?" "Only a man asking for shelter." "Why did you turn him away?" Delores, dear, I do not wish to lodge a man within my own home for free," he says. She looks at him scornfully. Slowly, she drifts into slumber The next morning Delores wakes to a beautiful morning. The sun shines upon all living creatures with great intensity. Tristan had left the house early this morning to do business in town, as he was every morning. Her sister Callista, who she hadn't seen in over four years, was going to come over for lunch in less than an hour. Delores tries to get the house ready for company, and just as she lights the fireplace, a knock arrives at the door. She walks over to the dark wooden door, and gently opens the door to the outside world. "Callista, welcome!" she says as she hugs her sister. Callista and Delores look nothing alike, if you had seen them walking down the street together you would not have realized their relation. "So, how are you and Tristan?" "Oh, well we are to be married this June, but that's why you are here." She pauses and looks at the floor as if the words she were looking for were engraved there. "I want you to do something for me." "Anything." "I want to make sure he is the right man for me." She looks up at her sister and thinks about how she is going to say this. "Last night he would not allow a man to sleep in our home without pay, which leads me to think he is greedy. And just two weeks ago a beggar asked him for change. He denied it to her. It's not like hundreds of beggars roam the countryside. When one comes into town you should at least give him something. I would not want to spend the rest of eternity with a man who is greedy." She pauses for a moment. "This is what I want you to do." During an hour of debating and planning, they decide on a plan for the next morning. Later that day, Tristan arrives home expecting to be greeted by his loving fiancee, finish the paperwork of the day and go to sleep. When he walks into the house, it is strangely quiet. He searches around looking for Delores, but she is not to be found anywhere. The only evidence of where she could be is a letter that lies upon a table at the door. He reaches over nd picks up the letter, tears it open and reads thou it. "Well, she is staying with her sister for the night, and will be back by noon tomorrow. I miss her already! How can I bear an entire night without her?" He walks to the desk where he sings the paperwork in the usual fashion. He goes up to sleep at the usual time. Next morning, as usual, he goes to do business in town. When he rides through the meandering streets of the town he thinks about only one thing, how much he wants to see Delores. He pines for just the sight of her. But almost to work, other thoughts invade his mind. He walks up the first step of the twelve-stepped staircase to the open doors of his workplace, and a woman, dressed in very worn clothing, walks up to him. Having never met Callista he does not recognize her. "Sir, could you spare some change so I could eat?" the woman asks. But Tristan was already in a dreadful mood. He ignores the woman and passes her by.. "I might have considered it if she looked the slightest bit like Delores," he thinks, and soon forgets about the woman's very existence. "He may have an avarice soul. He did not even spare me a thought," thinks Callista After work Tristan awl down to his coach slowly. As he steps into the coach, a very familiar woman steps close to him. "May I take this coach with you?" the woman pleads. "My husband will be deathly mad if I arrive home too late." "Ma'am, although I do wish I could help you, I live far outside of town and wish to be home as soon as possible to be with my fiancee. I did not see her last night and I miss her dreadfully. I do apologize, but I do not wish to lose a moment with her." He waves her farewell and begins his journey home. "He does love her! If I tell Delores that he turned me down both times she will surely leave him! Do I tell her or not?" She spoke loudly, and disturbed a nearby newspaper salesman, who gives her a look meaning both "be quieter" and "what are you talking about" in synergy. Callista walks away toward her sister's house, and debates on what to do When she arrives, Tristan was already home. Two knocks on the door are answered by her sister Delores and Tristan. Tristan is shocked and confused when he sees her standing at the door, and was about to say something, but Delores interrupts. "Tristan, meet my sister Callista." She motions toward Callista and smiles. Meanwhile, Tristan looks even more bewildered and almost falls down. Delores was about to ask how Tristan acted towards her in town, but Callista responded first. "He was a perfect gentleman. He gave me change and he allowed me to ride to the 5th street." Tristan looks even more perplexed now. He does not remember doing any of those actions, but he does remember her. "Well, I have to check the oven, dinner is nearly ready to be served." Delores says. As she walks out of the room, she sees them begin to talk. "Why did you lie to her back there?" he asks. "Because I could tell that you love her, that is really what she wants to know. She asked me to make sure you weren't greedy, but under that she was really just trying to see if you were a secure person to be with. And, I can tell you that you are, but you must change your ways, or she will leave you." "Thank you," he pauses, searching for something more to say, but Callista speaks first. "Don't say anything more. Tell your sister I love her, and I will be at your wedding. I don't want to get any more involved in your relationship." With that, she opens the door behind her and leaves. Delores walks into the room, and before she could say anything, he tells her that he loves her.

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Adam Coddington
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