NEW DISPLAYS are just part of what’s going on this week at McAlester Public Library. Steve Adams provided photos, newspaper clippings and magazine articles about the life, incarceration and final resting place of Nannie Doss, the much-married female serial killer who met her end not by the electric chair, but by illness, at Oklahoma State Prison in McAlester. That’s on the regular local history display in the lobby (top photo). Next, we take a quick spin down Route 66 for a display about Oklahoma travel. Christopher Elliott created that one. Finally, (bottom photo) there’s an array of new nonfiction in the children’s section, shown in a display created by Krystal Baker.

Many events remain on the schedule through the end of May, including the regular monthly meeting of the Socrates Cafe. This month, Gary Gore has agreed to present the group with a short talk about Plato. Then, the discussion begins. What will be the question? Find out by attending, in the Conference Room from 10 a.m. to noon, on Tuesday, May 29.

Soon we’ll have lots of news for you about Summer Reading Programs for children, teens and adults.  For now, though, we’re lined up like second-graders on a playground, ready for a rousing round of “Mother, May I?”. May we tell you about May events at the library? Mais oui, mais oui.

Today, three events kick off a May filled with eclectic goodness. First, the Bookies meet at 1 p.m. in the Conference Room to discuss Larry McMurtry’s “Sin Killer.” For this Western book, Janice Saaranen has prepared refreshments that include a Western-style plate of brownies. We won’t say what it looks like, but the town of Beaver, Oklahoma has a contest each year to see who can throw them the farthest.

Then at 3:45, it’s Teen Game Time upstairs, where Erin Austin will ride herd over a corral full of youngsters. And finally at 6 p.m., movie lovers will gather in the Whiteacre Room for a viewing of a Disney movie about a girl named Natty Gann. It’s rated PG. There won’t be brownies, but there will be plenty of free popcorn.

Are there more events? No maybes about it. Here they are:

*Tuesday, May 8—Lapsits for children age three and under are scheduled at 10 and 11 a.m. this week and next week. (There will be no children’s programs the final three weeks of the month as Anita Ross prepares to launch another spectacular Summer
Reading Program.) The Teen Challenge at 4 p.m. upstairs is a Pictionary game session. Let the doodles begin!

*Wednesday, May 9—Storytime for children age three and older begins at 10 a.m. in the Whiteacre West, and at the same next Wednesday. Adults meet in the monthly Free Crafts Workshop from 1-3 p.m. in the Whiteacre Room to make giant (and we mean GIANT) paper flowers. Then at 4 p.m. the teen craft group, Creative Corner, meets for a Bouncy Ball craft.

*Thursday, May 10—Game time for teens begins at 3:45 p.m. Then at 6 p.m., the Spring Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma theme “The Worst Hard Time Revisited: Oklahoma in the Dust Bowl Years” concludes. Dr. Kenneth Hada of East Central, author of several books of poetry, will present “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse, a Newbery-winning children’s novel told in free verse. Join us for the big finish of a fascinating series. There will be the usual array of refreshments (perhaps with mayo!) and a door prize.

*Saturday, May 11—Second Saturday Cinema at 2 p.m. features the Martin Scorsese film nominated for several Oscars earlier this year. The PG-rated film is adapted from the book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.” Free popcorn as always.

*Monday, May 14—Arthouse Theater at 6 p.m. in the Whiteacre is a film starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. This PG-13 love story will tug your heartstrings, mayhaps.

*Tuesday, May 15—Friends of the Library will meet for their regular noon luncheon before suspending regular meetings through the summer months. They’ll resume in September. At 6:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, the Night Readers will meet to discuss Arundhati Roy’s “The God of Small Things.”

*Wednesday, May 16—Teen Cooking Class at 3:45 p.m. will feature omelets. Yum! Make mine mushroom and Swiss, please.

*Thursday, May 17—Teen game time begins at 3:45 p.m. upstairs today and for the remaining two Thursdays of the month.

*Monday, May 21—The Teen Book Club will meet at 4 p.m. to discuss “Downsiders” by Neal Shusterman. The Light Readers will meet at 6 p.m. in the Conference Room to discuss “Mark’s Story” by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Ellen Barlow is set
to lead the discussion.

*Tuesday, May 22—The Teen Movie begins at 3:45 p.m. upstairs.

*Saturday, May 26—With Levon Helm’s recent passing, Documentary Matinee at 2 p.m. in the Whiteacre looks at the great rock documentary featuring Helm and his bandmates. It’s rated PG, and (coincidentally) is another Martin Scorsese film.

*Sunday and Monday, May 27-28—The library will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday. Sunday hours will stop through the summer months, and will resume in the fall.

*Tuesday, May 29—The teen Yu-Gi-Oh Club meets upstairs at 4 p.m., and then at 6 p.m. our Film Movement Independent Movie features Stellan Skarsgard in the gripping Scandinavian drama “King of Devil’s Island.” It’s based on real events. Be prepared for plenty of mayhem. This unrated film is in Norwegian, with English subtitles.

That’s a quick look at May. And as the Mayor said, “We’re adjourned.” Hope to see you at the library!

by Carl Luft

“What am I doing?” I asked.

“Going to the future!” said my handsome yet alien companion,
as he circled the ship’s power shaft pulling levers, spinning dials, and
closing contacts.

But should I? Do I have any right to? God! But I need to
know if we humans survive,” I said, the tears beginning to flow again. “The
aliens conquered Earth, wiped out half of Mars colony, and killed my dad. I’ve
got to know if we survive. All those people can’t have died in vain.”

“It’s alright, Robin,” he said as he turned from the ship’s
controls and put an arm around me. I suppose the pompadour and antique suit
made him look ridiculous to some, but after saving us from the aliens back on
Mars, he looked like a real hero to me. “I’ve set the coordinates for about
thirty-six hundred years in your future. It looks like we’re landing right
now.”

He went to the power shaft, checked some ridiculously
anachronistic gauges, and said, “We’ve materialized on a ship.”

“I thought we were going to Earth?” I asked.

“We probably had a little miss-jump when we materialized
into normal space-time. It’s tricky business travelling through time and
space.”

“I’d better change out of this skirt.”

“Why?”

“I’m not tumbling around in zero-G with a skirt on, you
dirty young man!”

“Old man, actually.”

“You don’t look it.”

“I’m Merlin, remember? The man who ages backwards.”

“That’s just a legend,” I said. “Isn’t it?”

“Robin, I am a
legend!” said Merlin triumphantly. “You’ll be fine in a skirt. I’m reading a
one-G gravity field.”

“Gravity field?”

“Come on Robin! Let’s look around.”

We exited the monolith, and we found ourselves in a
compartment with racks of coffin-shaped containers in it.

“These are cryogenic berths,” explained Merlin. “Only one’s in
use.”

Merlin pulled out his “wand” he twisted the base and waved
it around. “There’s no one else aboard the ship. That’s odd. These cryogenic
berths don’t have automatic resuscitators on them. At least one crewman must be
awake to revive the crew.”

“The doors on these other units look like they’ve been
forced open,” I noticed.

“Get the medical kit off the wall,” commanded Merlin as he
started to key commands on the berth’s touch screen display. “I’m going to
revive this one.”

After a few minutes, Merlin threw open the door. As the
cloud of icy mist cleared, I saw a young man in a flight suit. His eyes
fluttered, and he started to shiver.

“Put the thermal blanket on him,” ordered Merlin.

While there were still ice crystals in his short, blond
hair, his eyes flickered open revealing the most remarkable green eyes I’ve
ever seen. He opened his mouth to speak, and proceeded to vomit on my shoes.

“It’s just cryosickness,” chuckled Merlin. “Think nothing of
it.”

“Yeah, think nothing of it,” I said sarcastically as I
carefully slipped my shoes off.

“I’m Merlin, and this is Robin,” said Merlin, helping the
man out of his berth.

The man was slurring his speech pretty badly, but I made out
a “Where are you from?”

“You first! I’ve told you who we are.”

“I’m Christopher Rogers from Saint Regina,” said Rogers, a
little clearer.

“Where’s that?” I asked.

“You don’t know where Saint Regina is” asked Rogers. “It’s
the sector capital.”

“Where is it from Earth?”

“Earth? You mean like dirt?”

“No, I mean the planet
Earth.”

“Never heard of it.”

“Merlin, you said you’d take me to Earth’s future. What am I
doing here?” I butted into their conversation.

“Future?”

“Yeah, we’re time travelers.”

“No, don’t say that Robin,” moaned Merlin, burying his head
in his hands.

“Time travelers?” asked Rogers. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“Listen to me, Chris,” hissed Merlin. “Your crew’s missing.
You’re all that’s left. We need to find out what happened to your crew…now!”

“They’re gone?”

“Yes! That leaves you in charge. Take us to your bridge,
Captain Rogers.”

“I’m…I’m just a junior Scout.”

“You’re Captain now, Chris,” declared Marlin, gently pushing
him towards the hatch.

As Chris stumbled past the monolith, he did a double take
and asked, “What’s that?”

“Our ship,” said Merlin.

“That little cabinet?”

“That’s just a dimensional causeway to our ship, which
exists in higher dimensions. It’s just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ so to speak.”

“It looks like it’s made of ice.”

“Well, it’s not! Now, get us to the bridge.”

As we walked along the ship’s corridors, I asked Chris,
“You’ve never heard of Earth? You know your planets well?”

“I’m an officer of the Regnum Interstellar Scout Service,”
he said. “Yes, I know my planets.”

“You said you were a Junior Scout.”

“Why were you frozen, Chris?” asked Merlin.

“It’s a long trip to the Oort cloud at sub-light speed,”
explained Chris, “but it’s too close for a hyperspace jump. So, half the crew
was frozen to conserve supplies.”

“Why were you going to the Oort cloud?”

“I don’t know. Its top secret,” said Chris as he opened a
hatch. “Here’s the bridge. Let’s go see where we are.”

The bridge was a small affair, with a massive viewport, from
which could be seen a massive ring of stone and steel hundreds of meters wide.
Around the structure was the starry expanse of normal space, but in the center
was nothing but darkness.

“My God, what is it?” I asked.

Chris looked at the monitor and said, “Looks like a gate.”

“But to where?” asked Merlin.

“Judging by these readings, I’d say hyperspace.”

Merlin explained, “Hyperspace is a collective term for any
reality composed of more than the four common dimensions we call normal
space-time. The interior of my ship is a hyperspace, but it’s not the same
hyperspace your hyperships skip through when they make their faster-than-light
jumps…Chris! Magnify grid delta twenty-three!”

Chris’ hands flew over the touch-screen display, and a large
monitor flickered to life. Crawling up and down one section of the gate was a
horde of many-limbed monstrosities, their crustacean-like bodies exposed

without harm to the frozen vacuum of space.

“Oh God, it’s them!” I screamed.

“What are they?” asked Chris.

“Earth’s gone and the aliens are here!” I cried. “Oh god, I
don’t belong here!”

Unexpectedly, Chris took me in his arms, and said, “Yes, you
do belong here. I don’t know who you are, or where you come from, but I need
you. There’s got to be a reason why you came here.”

I pulled away, but kept my hand in his hand and said,
“You’re right. Merlin will find a  way
out.”

“Right!” shouted Merlin, his hands flying across the
controls. “What kind of reactor do you have?”

“Just a one ton hyper-reactor,” responded Chris.

“Perfect! A hyper-reactor uses hyper-spatial fields to
increase the fusion yield.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m blowing up the ship!”

“What!?” Chris and I asked.

Just then a red and black alien hit the viewport, and began
to beat upon the glass with its pincer-tipped limbs. Its feeler-covered head
twitched malevolently as cracks appeared in the viewport.

“Get back to the ship!” shouted Merlin.

“Come on, Robin,” coaxed Chris, half dragging me behind him.

As we entered the cryogenics room, a klaxon howled and a
mechanical voice boomed, “Thirty seconds to reactor overload! Hull breach on
the bridge!”

“Merlin,” I sobbed.

“Come on, Robin,” Chris demanded. “Open this thing!”

Through my tears, I found my key, touched it to the
monolith, and barreled through the door. As soon as we entered the huge
hemispherical engine room of the ship, Chris observed, “Merlin wasn’t kidding
about it having a hyper-spatial interior. God, it looks like something out of
Jules Verne. We’ve got to launch this…thing.”

“I don’t know how to fly it,” I moaned, still sobbing with
grief.

“I do!” shouted Merlin, running down the dimensional
causeway into the engine room.

“You’re alive!”

“There was a hull breach,” said Chris.

“Did I mention I’m not human?” asked Merlin as he pulled a
lever and the power shaft lit up. “Shame we can’t stay and watch the fireworks!
Point the way, Chris, and I’ll get you back to Saint Regina.”

“Are you kidding? I’m responsible for blowing up a
twenty-seven million credit ship. I can’t go back there!”

“Then welcome aboard!”

“If you’re Merlin, where’s King Arthur?”

“You don’t know about Earth, but you know about Saint
Regina, Jules Verne and King Arthur?” I asked. “Where do you think they came
from?”

“Terra, of course,” said Chris.

“Terra? That’s Earth!”

“I’ve never heard it called that.”

“Does it still exist? Is it…alright?”

“Last I heard it was.”

“So Earth does survive.”

“Because good people, like you Robin, were right where they
needed to be,” said Merlin with a smile.

“Me? You’re the one who just saved this system.”

“But I wouldn’t have been here unless you asked me to take
you here.”

THE END

by Mandie J. Ferguson

Where do I belong?
I’ve never been able to answer that question in the past, but here recently I
think I may have found the answer. It seems in order to the find the answer I
had to lose someone very important to me. I’ll start at the beginning and
hopefully by the end you’ll see how I found my answer.

December 1^st,
2011

I’m with my Grandma and our friend Katcha. We’re going to
Texas for Katcha’s doctors appointment. It’s rare for me to go along on one of these
trips, but today I feel like going out. The trip there isn’t important it’s the
trip home that matters.

It’s around nine o’clock at night as we pull into our
driveway. I run into the house to use the restroom. It seems weird. There’s
still money on the table from this morning. Has Aeron even woken up today? I
come out of the bathroom and hear his voice, but it’s just a whisper. “Mandie…” I look in his room the T.V.’s
on, I shut it off and close his door.

I can’t remember what I do after that I just remember
Grandma telling me something’s wrong with Aeron. I go into this room, touch his
hand and it’s ice cold, his back is stiff, his face slightly purple. I start to
cry suddenly my cries become sobs and I don’t know what to do. I can’t handle
this, but I have to.

The next hour is a swarm of cops and friends. When the
funeral home comes to take his body I can’t watch. My heart is broken and if I
observe this I won’t make it

December 5, 2011

The day of his funeral. There are a lot of people here. I
can’t handle it. I go outside in the bitter cold and smoke a cigarette. This
isn’t real, I think to myself, but I know it’s real.

December 10^th,
2011

We’re in Illinois for the second service. I’m angry at
myself, at Aeron, at the world. Why is
this happening? I don’t have an answer and it makes me angrier. I feel like
I’m going insane. I am, but I have to try to hold it together for my family.

It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around what’s happened. I
try not to think about it. I live with Wendy now. She has a roommate that has
four kids. I haven’t seen them around much, but that’s because Colton and his
friends are still here.

Everyone seems a little crazy. I can understand why, but
some part of me wonders what Aeron would think. I try to sleep, but it doesn’t
work. I end up at the park with Chris. We’re smoking and I forget for a second
why I’m back in Illinois, and then it comes back to me like always.

December 24, 2011

It’s Christmas eve. The kids are so excited. It’s almost
catching, but I’m tired. For the past few weeks I’ve had panic attacks every
day. I miss my Mom and Grandma. I want to go home, but not yet.

December 25, 2011

The kids wake me up early. Everyone’s excited to open gifts.
Watching them makes me feel almost normal. After awhile I start to get a
migraine. I’m panicking, and I wonder what I should do. Chris wants to go to
Savanna to use the money card his dad bought him for Christmas. I ask if I can
go along.

I feel better in the car, but not normal. I keep thinking
about home. I hadn’t realized that I thought of Oklahoma as home.

January 1^st,
2012

I’ve decided to go home, and it makes me feel lighter. I’m
trying to figure out how I’m going to get back. I talk to Chris and he seems to
understand that I need to go back. It’s a relief that someone understands, but
I’m still worried about how I’m going to get there.

January 6^th,
2012

I’ve called my Grandma and talked to her. We’ve talked about
taking the Greyhound, but that makes me uncomfortable. I can’t fly, I’m too
paranoid to be that far off the ground.

January 7^th,
2012

We’ve decided Grandma Toni will take me to St. Louis to meet
Grandma and Colton. I’m spending the night with her. It’s around one in the
morning I can’t sleep, and am starting to panic. I call Mom. We talk for an
hour and a half. I feel better now, maybe I can get some rest. I end up
watching a movie instead.

January 8^th,
2012

It’s seven in the morning, we were supposed to be on the
road by now. We get out of the house by seven thirty. I enjoy riding with
Grandma Toni it’s calm. I fall asleep. When I wake up it’s ten o’clock.

We make it to St. Louis around two thirty. Grandma Toni
wants to ride to the top of the Arch, so do I, but I can’t handle it. Instead I
sit outside in the grass and wait. I’m coloring a post card for my little
brother. I know I probably look crazy, but I don’t care. My legs are tingly so
I lay down and stare at the tops of the trees.

I notice a kite caught in the bare branches of a tree
nearby.

It’s gray and slightly yellow from age.

I wonder how long it’s been there. Who lost that kite? Did
they try to get it down? I take a picture with my phone. A few minutes later I
see Grandma Toni coming towards me.

Grandma and Colton are finally here. I walk to the parking
garage to find them. It’s cold and I’m tired, but I’m glad to see them. We all
go out to eat then part ways.

January 8, 2012

11:47 p.m.

We’re in Oklahoma and I feel so relieved. We still have two
hours left to go and everyone’s waiting at the house for us. As Colton drives
we listen to music and laugh at his weirdness.

It’s seven minutes past midnight, Colton taps me on the
shoulder and tells me happy birthday.

January 9, 2012

It’s one in the morning and I’m finally home. My friends are
here along with my Mom and Jennifer. I feel better now. As if just being here
with these people, being surrounded by them, has somehow cured me. I can’t
imagine leaving this behind again.

In conclusion, I
figured out where I belong and I know now that I always belonged here. I just
had to experience loss, life, and independence to figure it out.

by John Peabody

It was a cold, dark night. The rain was icy as it hit his
cheek. Lying on top of the garbage truck covered in plastic and lashed to the
frame, he shivered. Only his cheek was exposed to the elements. The rest of the
plastic was covered with mud and filth. The truck made its way slowly around
the prison as it did its rounds. At the guard shack they just waved it through,
not wanting to get soaked in the downpour. He was free, outside the walls! He
couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as the truck moved farther and farther
away.

Miles away from the prison he felt the truck stop; he got
up, unbuckling himself from the frame. Suddenly, the truck turned right and he
lost his balance. His left foot was still fastened to the top of the truck as
he fell over the side. The plastic fell away, and he was getting soaked as he
hung upside down as the truck lumbered on.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” he thought as he was
banging against the truck. The last strap snapped and he went plummeting to the
street. He splashed into a large mud filled pot hole, skinning his knees and
hands. He picked his face up out of the dirty water, and he thought “Why me?”
as he got up slowly. His knees and hands hurt and he was wet and freezing as he
limped off the road.

“Clothes,” he thought. “I have to get out of these grays and
get real clothes.” He stayed off the road in the bushes and trees. He saw a
mini-market through the trees and ran towards it. He fell over a tree branch
and into a thicket of thorns.

“Aaah!” he yelled. He pulled himself up and out as the
thorns tore through his pants and shirt. He felt immediate pain in his left
thumb, and looked at it. In the dull light he could see that it was broken.
“Great,” he thought.

Continuing through the trees, itching and scratching,
thinking “Don’t let it be poison ivy” mumbling “No, no, no” he approached a
blue Honda Civic and tried the door handle. It was open. Excitement shot
through him. “Finally,” he thought, “some luck.” He opened the door and sat
down, leaning over to look into the glove compartment; empty. “Damn,” he
thought, hoping for some cash.

Turning around to check the back seat and looking into a
smiling little face he stifled a scream. “Christ! Someone left their kid in the
damn car. I do not believe this!” his mind yelled. Scrambling like crazy and
throwing himself out the door, cracking his forehead on the frame he tumbled
onto the pavement. Sitting there just staring in unbelief as the door shut, and
hearing the baby laughing saying “Da da,” he slowly got up.

Limping off around the back of the mini-mart he decided to
check the dumpster for anything of value. He pushed a box up against it and
climbed up. Looking inside it was hard to see so he climbed up a little onto
the edge. Forgetting about his broken thumb and grabbing on, which hurt like
hell, he lost his balance, and fell drowning in the dumpster.

“OW!” he said. Moving around, feeling cuts on his legs from
broken glass in the dumpster. “Aaah, what next?” he thought to himself slowly
and painfully climbing out of the dumpster.

Torn and bleeding he headed up the alley behind the mini mart.
The rain slowed, and then stopped. “Finally!” he thought to himself. He stopped
at the first yard he came to, looking up and down the alley to see if anyone
was around; it was clear as far as he could see. He grabbed the gate to open
it, and was knocked backwards, falling and slamming his head on the ground.

“Ooof,” he said. “Electric fence! Jesus, who has an electric
fence?” he thought, holding his head, laying there for a minute looking up at
the stars peeking through the clouds. “What the hell was I thinking?” he
wondered. “I am in so much pain. I wish I was in my bunk,” he thought. He got
up slowly, rubbing his head. He limped down the end of the alley, looked around
and stepped into the street. He found the sidewalk and started down through the
neighborhood.

Seeing a garage door held open with a bucket and thinking he
could slip under it easily, he checked to see if it was clear, and started
wiggling under the door. “I can do this, no problem. I can fit under this door
simple. God’s a good God.” Halfway in, he got stuck and panicked, flailing
around, he kicked the bucket out and the door fell down on his foot. “Mmmmmmm!”
he yelled, trying to muffle his scream. He pulled and pulled. Finally he tugged
his foot free, but his sock and shoe stayed outside. “Why me?” he though as he
stood up in the dark garage with one bare foot.

He slowly felt his way around as his eyes adjusted. He found
the door to the outside, and slowly opened it and looked out, listening
intently; nothing in the yard, no noise. The back porch light made it easy to
see. He saw the back gate. No electric wiring this time, thank God. He shuffled
to the gate as he heard the chain unraveling. As he limp-ran to the gate he saw
the dog on the chain coming around the corner of the house. It jumped at him,
and caught the back of his shirt in its teeth. The chain tightened and the dog
stopped. He pulled away with a last surge, and his shirt tore completely off of
him. He got up and ran to the gate.

He was still trying to catch his breath as he walked down
the back alley and saw the dog chewing on his shirt. “I can’t take anymore of
this,” he thought. He was in so much pain he could hardly think, not to
mention, move. A car pulled into the alley from one of the side streets and
parked there. He stopped and stared and started laughing. The car was faced
away from him, its trunk towards him. He giggled as he slowly shuffle-limped to
the car.

The car’s occupants were unaware of his presence behind
them. He reached the car and started banging on the trunk. Both front doors
flew open, and he was caught in the beam of two flashlights. The light revealed
a pathetic, sad, soaked, muddy, bloody, cut, bruised man wearing only a pair of
gray, mud stained, bloody pants that said “inmate” up one side, and one shoe.
He was smiling and holding his arms in front of him with clenched fists. He
continued to smile as he said softly, “Please?” and the two police officers
were more than happy to cuff him and put him in the back of their car to take
him back where he belonged.

Short Story Contest Announced

Four winners have been named in McAlester Public Library’s annual short story and essay contest for adults. The contest is held in conjunction with National Library Week, this year April 8-14, which highlighted the theme “You Belong @Your Library.”

The theme of the contest was “Where Do I Belong?” Each entry, in addition to meeting requirements for length and presentation, had to reflect that theme. Prizes of $50, $25, $15 and $10 were provided by a grant from the J.G. Puterbaugh Foundation.

Linda Pope of McAlester submitted the winning entry, a personal essay titled “A Moving Story.” Second-place went to John Peabody, a student in Ruth Askew Brelsford’s JBCC writing class, with a humorous short-short story titled “Where Do I Belong?”

The third-place entry was submitted by Mandie J. Ferguson of McAlester, whose diary-style essay was titled “Realization: Where I Belong. And fourth place went to another JBCC writing class participant, Carl Luft, whose science fiction story was titled “To the Future Where I Belong.”

“We had more entries this year than ever before,” said Head Librarian Christine Sauro. “We’d like to thank everyone who submitted an essay or story. One of the judges said it was very difficult to decide between the submissions, and scoring was very close.” Members of the library’s Night Readers book club served as judges. The winning entry is published below. Other prize winners will be published in subsequent posts.

A Moving Story

by Linda Pope

I was a newlywed living in Dallas, Texas when my husband
turned to me one evening and sweetly said, “Honey, for me to climb the next
rung in my career, we will quite likely have to move once or twice or even more
in our lifetime; so, where would you like to live?” Though he posed that
question over twenty-five years ago, I can vividly recall my immediate
response. Without batting an eyelash, I emphatically asserted, “Don’t take me
to Houston, Texas. Even though I’ve never been to Houston, everyone tells me it
is very humid there. I don’t do well in places with high humidity. For certain,
we don’t belong in Houston, Texas. Additionally, my Oklahoma family members say
I’m too much of a city girl to ever like living in Oklahoma City so I don’t
believe we belong there, either.” Not wanting to appear overly obstinate or
have my young husband think of me as a demanding shrew, I quickly added that
any place on the globe he wanted to live, other
than those two locations, would be just fine with me. He nodded as if in
agreement with me and I breathed easier knowing that I would never, ever have
to worry about relocating to either Houston or to Oklahoma City. And life
continued.

Now, what I didn’t know at the time is that God was
listening in to that conversation. My emphatic declaration to never move to
Houston or Oklahoma City must have made him belly laugh out loud because it
soon became obvious that God had other plans for us. Can you guess what
happened next? Within a year my husband, normally a very reserved,
low-key-kind-of-guy, came bounding in the house with the joyful exuberance of
Tigger the Tiger announcing he was up for a promotion. He detailed all the
marvelous reasons we should accept this new job opportunity before sneaking in
the fact that it meant leaving Dallas, quitting my job, and moving to the
dreaded, humidified city of Houston. Initially I was horrified; but, when I saw
the childlike joy he had at that moment, there was no way I could have demanded
my own way and said no to his new career opportunity. Instead I swallowed hard
and agreed to the move.

Only a few short months later, I found myself sandwiched in
a packed-to-the-gills, mid-sized car with our family cat and pound puppy from
Plano, Texas driving solo to Houston, Texas. My husband had wisely gone to
Houston several weeks ahead of me in order to find us temporary housing and get
settled into his new job. Smart man. It was taxing both physically and
emotionally for me to finish packing up our Dallas home without his help and
then load up the car with our two pets and all the myriad of small items
professional packers tend not to pack. It took nearly five hours to pack the
car; but, in the end, everything from floorboard to ceiling, fit perfectly into
our 2-door Buick. Though the sun was shining brightly in Dallas that summer
morning and the sky nearly cloud-free, my disposition was far from sunny. As I
backed the car out of the driveway that was no longer mine, my face was quite
wet from both the sweat pouring off my brow and the stream of tears pooling
from my eyes. Nevertheless, with true grit, I wiped away the sweat and tears
and pointed myself south in hopes that Houston wouldn’t be as awful as my
Dallas friends had intimated it to be.

It was a very long drive from Dallas to Houston. The cat
caterwauled the entire time. The louder he got, the more I turned up the volume
on the car radio. Only two hours into our trip to Houston, a horrible stench
began to waft from the back of the car where Andy-cat’s traveling compartment
was perched. When the car’s air conditioning system could no longer keep me
from gagging, down came the windows. Miraculously nothing but the coolness of
the air conditioner blew out the lowered car windows. Our sweet pound puppy,
Sugar, was at least happy with the fresh air blowing up her nostrils and her
floppy ears flying back in the breeze. I, however, was not so happy. The closer
I got to Houston, the more oppressive the air became and the skies became dark
and foreboding. It was evident that a major storm was brewing.

There was a major storm brewing in my mind, too. Not being a
very good navigator, I was terribly afraid of getting completely confused in
the complexities of Houston’s highway system or possibly getting caught in
unfamiliar territory in the midst of a summer downpour. Alas, there were no
cell phones in those days. The radio station loudly broadcasting the strong
possibility of tornados forming in the very areas I was driving through did
little to calm my growing fears. The closer I got to Houston, the tighter my
hands gripped the steering wheel and the more I prayed, “God, just get me
there. Please, oh please, Lord, just get me there in one piece.” Well, God as
faithful. I know for certain it was His amazing grace that led me to my new
home. It was late afternoon before the pets and I pulled into the apartment
complex my husband had located us to, but we made it in one piece. Raindrops
began to splatter against the windshield just as I pulled into the first empty
parking space I could fine. For the next three days it rained cats and dogs and
hurricane force winds blew ferociously about us. We remained safely tucked
inside our apartment, however, and I was happy knowing that I was again beside
my husband and where I belonged. And, life happened.

We lived a total of four years in Houston. Thanks to the
fact that most places we went were air conditioned, Houston’s climate proved to
not even be an issue I even had to contend with most days. In fact, our family
not lonely survived in Houston, we actually thrived in that city. Just about
the time we moved into our lovely 3-bedroom house with the large backyard, I
discovered I was with child. Our son was born about ten months after we moved
into our Houston house and our daughter was born nearly three years later. I
was very grateful and only too happy to be a stay-at-home mom and fill my days
and nights both cuddling and chasing after toddlers and pets. With both my
children being born in Houston, truth is that Houston will always hold a special
place in my heart.

We also belonged to what I affectionately called a “small
church of 24,000 people.” Our church certainly helped confirm the idea that
everything in Texas is big. It’s easy for one to feel like a small fish in a
pond that size, but church became my home-away-from-home. My husband and I
connected first with God and then with some amazing people who, like us, were
raising little ones, too and wanting to grow spiritually and mentally. And,
along with our children, we grew.

After living in Houston for a few years, my husband’s work
took us to Clearwater, Florida. On the drive to Florida I distinctly remember
saying, “Thanks, God. At least we are not moving to Oklahoma City!” I think God
must have belly laughed again. We were barely settled in Florida when the
company my husband had been with for 25 years suddenly lopped off a whole
division. Overnight my husband was suddenly without a job. We had no idea what
we would do or where we belonged. It was one of those defining moments in life
when we could have been consumed by fear, but we instead believed god to show
us where we belonged. God was and is so very faithful. Within three days of
losing his position, my husband got a call from another engineering firm and
was hired over the phone. Suddenly we were on the move again and, not so
surprisingly, now headed towards living just north of Oklahoma City. Once again
I believe we made God belly laugh. Something was different this time, however.
I had moved to a place of trusting god to lead us in all things and this time I
belly laughed with God.

We’ve been in Oklahoma for over a decade, now. Admittedly,
I’m thankful God overrode my declarations and moved us to both Houston and
Oklahoma City. We were blessed in both locales. My faith in God since moving to
McAlester, Oklahoma has moved me to even higher levels of joy and peace. I now
laugh joyfully at all the places God has taken us and am assured that wherever
we move in the future, I belong to God and He will be with us and life will
happen.

THERE WAS A ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’ READING ROUNDUP last Saturday at the Pittsburg County Expo Center, as

representatives of McAlester Public Library manned a booth with free candy, giveaways and lots of books, books, books.

Library staffers Janice Saaranen and Ellen Mills served on a committee to plan the event, and helped come up with the

Western theme. Summer Reading Program worker Lori Lynn Turman came with a cowboy hat that couldn’t be missed,

and Children’s Librarian Anita Ross was on hand with loads of information about summer programming.

It’s a downpour of activities in April at McAlester Public Library! Gushing rivers of book discussions are fed by babbling movie tributaries. A reservoir of computer, tax and math assistance adjoins a refreshing pool of crafts, contests and book sales.

Christopher Elliott is planning a display to mark the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Even though the giant ocean liner obviously didn’t belong on the bottom of ocean, unfortunately that’s where it wound up, and we have all the books and movies you could want to detail that tragic voyage.

We know you’re often awash in information overflow, but if you can add just two more droplets to your internet stream, we’d like you to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. We’re McAlester Library (@McAlestrLibrary) in the Twitterverse and on Facebook, search for McAlester Public Library.

Where do you belong? The theme of National Library Week April 8-14  is “You Belong @Your Library!” and we couldn’t agree more. To celebrate, we’re awarding prizes to four entrants in our yearly Short Story/Essay Contest. The theme of the contest was “Where Do You Belong?,”  and entries were brisk this year. Look for winning stories right here on the library blog, McBook, soon.

Also in April, library staff will be hosting a booth at the Baby Fair, where parents can sign up for library cards, children can hear a storyteller, and families can learn all about summer reading programs. The theme for the fair is “Giddy-Up Go” and we hope you lead your horse to this particular creek, and make him drink besides.

But the big event, the high dive if you will, is the annual Friends of the Library Book Sale April 20-21 at St. John’s Gym, 300 E. Washington. The early bird sale Friday at 6 p.m. costs $5 to attend. On Saturday beginning at 8 a.m., admission is free. You can get great bargains on high quality books and movies, and help keep library programs afloat!

And lest you begin to sink under the waves, we now give you a nice, dry listing of events:

*Tuesday, April 3—The Teen Yu-Gi-Oh Club met at 4 p.m. in the mezzanine meeting room.

*Wednesday, April 4—Computer Tech Anthony Smart begins another month of free computer classes with Basic Computing at 5 p.m. in the Whiteacre Room. Another Basic class follows on April 11, plus there’s Computer Security April 17 and Computer Maintenance April 25. Call 918-426-0930 to register.

*Thursday, April 5—The Bookies meet at 1 p.m. in the Conference Room with leaders Darlene Rising and Janice Saaranen to discuss Lisa See’s “Dreams of Joy.” Look for Chinese food on the refreshment table. Next month the group will discuss Larry McMurtry’s “Sin Killer.” Teens meet for Game Time upstairs at 3:45, and continue with the event every Thursday this month.

*Also Thursday, April 5—At 6 p.m., Henry Fonda stars as Tom Joad in the unrated movie adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic “The Grapes of Wrath.” The movie special is in conjunction with “Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma,” which continues this month with the theme “The Worst Hard Time Revisited: Oklahoma in the Dust Bowl Years.” You are welcome to attend any movie or book discussion in the series. Pick up a brochure with all the details at the front desk, or check the website at www.mcalesterlibrary.net.

*Saturday, April 7—It’s Baby Fair all day long, so “Giddy-Up and Go” to the Pittsburg County Expo Center and say hi to us at the McAlester Public Library booth! Also on this and most every Saturday, volunteer tutor Grover Walker is on hand from 9:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to help with math problems.

*Monday, April 9—Last day for free tax help! AARP volunteers will be in the Whiteacre Room from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to help you file your state and federal taxes. It’s first-come, first-served. Then at 6 p.m., the Whiteacre is transformed into a screening room as Arthouse Theater gets underway. See Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt in an R-rated edgy dramedy about what happens when a high school beauty tries to recapture her glory days with an old flame. Free popcorn!

*Tuesday, April 10—The Teen Challenge at 4 p.m. features “book spine poetry.” See Teen Librarian Erin Austin for details.

*Wednesday, April 11—Crafts, crafts everywhere! First, the adult Free Crafts Workshop group will meet at 1 p.m. in the Whiteacre to make tin can herb gardens. Then at 4 p.m., teen crafters will meet upstairs to make book origami. (You can help our crafters with supplies. We put out calls for community help on our website, and this month we’re asking for donations of printed tin cans, such as El Pato sauce, or anything colorful, without paper labels.)

*Thursday, April 12—Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma is a wonderful reading and discussion program from the Oklahoma Humanities Council. Dr. Lewis Parkhill, always a favorite with our participants, will be here to present the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Now in November” by Josephine W. Johnson, at 6 p.m. Plus, we’ll enjoy a light supper and award a door prize.

*Friday, April 13—Announcement of winners in the “Where Do I Belong” Essay/Short Story Contest.

*Saturday, April 14—Second Saturday Cinema at 2 p.m. in the Whiteacre features Kermit, Miss Piggy, Jason Segal and Amy Adams in a great family movie. It’s rated PG and we’ll have plenty of free popcorn.

*Monday, April 16—The Light Readers will discuss Frank E. Peretti’s “This Present Darkness” when they meet at 6 p.m. in the Conference Room. Ellen Barlow leads this group.

*Tuesday, April 17—The Friends of the Library will meet for their regular noon luncheon in the Whiteacre Room. Then at 6:30 p.m., the Night Readers will meet in the Conference Room to discuss Chris Cleave’s “Little Bee,” with yours truly as group leader.

*Wednesday, April 18—The Teen Cooking Class will meet at 3:45 to stir up some White Chili. Yummy!

*Thursday, April 19—It’s another “Let’s Talk” movie special, with a film set during the Great Depression. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway star in this transformative film about famous outlaw lovers. It’s rated R, and we’ll have free popcorn.

*Friday, April 20—The Teen Magic: The Gathering Club will meet at 3:45 p.m. upstairs. And then at 6 p.m., don’t forget the book sale at St. John’s Gym.

*Saturday, April 21—Book sale at 8 a.m., St. John’s Gym. Be there! Or be all wet.

*Monday, April 23—The Teen Book Club will meet at 4 p.m. to discuss “This Brave Balance” by Rusalka Reh.

*Tuesday, April 24—Socrates Café, in the Conference Room, begins at 10 a.m. with a presentation about Socrates himself from participant J. Michael Matkin. Then we’ll enjoy our brunch and discuss a question from one of the group members. It’s a great way to meet new, interesting people and learn to “agree to disagree.” You should attend.

*Also, Tuesday, April 24—The Teen Movie begins at 3:45 p.m. See Erin for details.

*Thursday, April 26—Dr. Trisha Yarbrough will present “Whose Names Are Unknown” by Sanora Babb at 6 p.m. in the Whiteacre Room, as “Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma” continues. This novel was rescued from obscurity by the University of Oklahoma Press after being overshadowed in 1939 by Steinbeck’s masterpiece. Learn the fascinating story about the book by attending.

*Saturday, April 28—The Documentary Matinee at 2 p.m. features a 2011 PG-13 rated film about a chimp raised as human. The film will be available for public showing only until May 2, so see it while you can!

*Monday, April 30—The First-Run Indie Movie this month is “Before Your Eyes,” the story of Turkish Kurd orphans who plot to revenge their parents’ murder. This unrated drama will be presented with English subtitles.

In addition to all this, Miss Anita has all her regular children’s activities every week. Check at the front desk for a calendar.

Hope to see you at the library!

Provide Dust Bowl Insight

The personal letters and magazine articles of Caroline Henderson, Oklahoma Panhandle homesteader, were gathered into a volume called “Letters from the Dust Bowl” and edited by longtime “Let’s Talk About It, Oklahoma” scholar Dr. Alvin O. Turner.

Insights from that book will be the focus of discussion Thursday night at McAlester Public Library, when Dr. Carol Humphrey, history professor from Oklahoma Baptist University, will give a scholarly presentation on the book as part of the LTAIO reading and discussion program, sponsored by the Oklahoma Humanities Council.

Events begin at 6 p.m. in the Whiteacre Room, and the public is invited to attend. Free refreshments and a door prize will be part of the evening. Local funding for LTAIO is provided by Friends of the Library and the J.G. Puterbaugh Foundation.

As part of “The Worst Hard Time Revisited: Oklahoma in the Dust Bowl” theme, participants read a variety of literature, view documentaries and movies, and hear from humanities scholars. Books, services and other materials are provided by the OHC with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Inasmuch Foundation. Participants may attend one or more, or all, sessions of the series.

Dr. Humphrey’s interest in history is apparent in her lively discussions on, among other topics, the press’s role during wartime. Previously, she has spoken here about Thomas Paine, Early American presidents and Latina literature.

She has received numerous awards for her papers through the American Journalism Historians Association. She also has served as a manuscript reviewer for various journals and publishers. She is the author of numerous published articles as well as seven books on topics such as the Revolutionary War, The War of 1812, and the role of New England Newspapers during the American Revolution.

Dr. Humphrey is the historian for the Shawnee chapter of Habitat for Humanity. She is also an active member of First Baptist Church in Shawnee where she is a member of the sanctuary choir and works as the church clerk.

For more information on this or any other library program, call 918-426-0930.

Mark your calendars for April 5-7, when the Festival will be highlighted by Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey.

Poet Natasha Trethewey was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. She is the author of three collections of poetry: Domestic Work (Graywolf Press, 2000), Bellocq’s Ophelia (Graywolf, 2002), and Native Guard (Houghton Mifflin, 2006), for which she was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. She is also the author of a book of creative non-fiction, Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Georgia, 2010).

Also featured will be Norbert Krapt, Indiana Poet Laureate.  He received his M.A. in English from Notre Dame and also his Ph.D. in English and American Literature, with a concentration in American Poetry. He taught at Long Island University  1970-2004, where he is now emeritus Professor of English, was Poet Laureate 2003-2007, and directed the C. W. Post Poetry Center. He twice served in Germany as a Senior Fulbright Professor of American Poetry, at the Universities of Freiburg and Erlangen-Nuremberg. He was also a U.S. Exchange Teacher at West Oxon Technical College, England.

In June of 2008, he was appointed to a two-year term as Indiana Poet Laureate, in which capacity he plans to continue his efforts to reunite poetry and music, try to bring Indiana poetry to TV and radio, give readings and talks in libraries and other venues, and visit schools to share with students his enthusiasm for reading and writing poetry and prose memoir.

A stellar lineup of 54 authors will be reading from their work. You may visit www.ecuscissortail.blogspot.comto see author biographies, find hotel information and learn of many other events and details of the festival.