Night Creature Crescent Moon Chapter 13 Free Essays

â€Å"What kind of curse?† I managed. â€Å"Oh, not a real curse.† Mrs. We will write a custom essay sample on Night Creature: Crescent Moon Chapter 13 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Beasly laughed, veiny white hand pressed to her concave breast. â€Å"Just extremely bad luck. Or maybe insanity.† Insanity? Well, this kept getting better and better. â€Å"You’re talking about Adam?† She cut me a quick, sharp glance and I shrugged. â€Å"I read some before I came here. He was in the army. Flipped out.† â€Å"So they say.† Her lips went prim. â€Å"But I wasn’t referring to him.† I resisted the urge to shake her until all the secrets spilled out. Mrs. Beasly was the type of woman who wouldn’t talk if you pissed her off – kind of like me. I’d bet my next hot shower that the info she would impart couldn’t be found in any book. Instead, I held my breath and I waited. After another glance around the echoing, cavernous library, she lowered her voice until I practically had to crawl over the desk to hear her. â€Å"Suicide.† The word seemed to slither across my neck like Lazarus. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Both Adam’s father and his grandfather.† I frowned. No wonder Adam had escaped to the army. â€Å"The police were certain it was suicide?† â€Å"They both†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused, uncomfortable. â€Å"Well, there’s really no other way to say this except straight out They blew their heads off.† â€Å"Both of them.?† She nodded. â€Å"There was an investigation. But the angle of the gun pretty much told the tale. The sons were always suspect, of course.† â€Å"Sons?† â€Å"Adam’s father was a suspect for his father’s death, and Adam for his.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"The police thought there was money.† â€Å"But there wasn’t?† â€Å"Not only are the Ruelles cursed with insanity and sons, but everything they touch†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She spread her hands. â€Å"Turns to shit,† I muttered. Her mouth pruned again. â€Å"If you must be vulgar.† I must. ‘They’re land-poor,† she said. â€Å"The mansion, the swamp. Keeping that in the family takes a lot of money.† â€Å"Why is there a mansion near the swamp anyway?† I asked. That had always bugged me. â€Å"The first Ruelle came to Louisiana from France by way of Canada.† Acadian. I thought so. â€Å"Those people, the Cajuns, they kept to themselves, but the Ruelles even more so. They bought that land for a song, and they refused through centuries of bad luck to let it pass out of the family.† I’d never understood the obsession with land, but wars had been fought, countless lives had been lost, over just that. â€Å"Was there any indication of why the senior Ruelles killed themselves?† I continued. â€Å"A note?† â€Å"Nothing.† â€Å"I’d like to read the articles on those deaths, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I glanced at my watch. First I needed to pick up my film. â€Å"I’ll find them for you,† Mrs. Beasly said. I can make copies. A dollar a sheet.† â€Å"That would be great.† I handed her ten dollars. ‘I’ll leave them at the desk. If I’m not here, someone will be. What’s your name?† â€Å"Diana Malone.† She gave me her English teacher stare. â€Å"I’ve never heard of the Ruelles having Irish relatives.† â€Å"Wrong side of the blanket,† I said. â€Å"Hush-hush.† For an instant I thought she might refuse to help me, and why? She was a librarian, paid to impart information. What difference did it make who I was? I guess not much, because she pocketed the money and said good-bye. I hurried outside, surprised at what I’d learned. However, the real surprise awaited me at the photo shop. I paid for the prints, anxiously drew them from the envelope, men nabbed the clerk and shoved one under his nose. â€Å"What happened?† Since he was about ten years younger, four inches shorter, and twenty pounds lighter than me, he got that deer in the headlights look as his prominent Adam’s apple began to bob. â€Å"I†¦ uh†¦ what?† â€Å"There’s nothing here.† â€Å"But – † He peered at the picture. â€Å"There is.† â€Å"I don’t mean the swamp, the grass, the trees. There was something there.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I don’t know!† I practically shouted. â€Å"That’s why I took the picture.† The kid appeared more confused than ever. â€Å"You took a photo of something, and it isn’t on the print?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"That’s impossible, ma’am. If there was something there, it’d be,† he pointed to the lovely picture of nighttime in the swamp, â€Å"there. Unless it was a vampire.† He snorted at his own wit â€Å"No, wait, that’s a mirror. Vampires don’t have a reflection. It’s werewolves that don’t show up on a photograph.† I frowned, blaming the shiver that passed over me on too much air-conditioning for a steamy autumn day. â€Å"What did you say?† My voice must have alerted the kid to the fact that I was not amused, because he stopped snickering and retreated behind the counter. Like that would keep me from following him if I wanted to. â€Å"Werewolves don’t show up on film,† he repeated. â€Å"And you know this why?† â€Å"I’ve lived in New Orleans all my life,† he answered, as if that explained everything. â€Å"There’s no such thing as vampires or werewolves.† â€Å"No?† he murmured, the word taking on a faint French twist. †Maybe you should spend some time alone in the Quarter after midnight. Or walk through the swamp under a full moon. You know why there are no cemetery tours after dusk?† â€Å"People get robbed.† â€Å"Sure they do. And the dead also rise.† I stared at the young man who’d seemed so harmless, almost shy. Now he just seemed nuts. â€Å"Ooookay.† I backed toward the door. â€Å"The only way to tell if a wolf is a werewolf is to shoot it with silver.† â€Å"Makes sense,† I said. â€Å"Thanks for the tip.† Was this guy for real? I fumbled with the door, got it open, and fled into the heat â€Å"Not going back there,† I muttered. Even if they hadn’t screwed up my pictures. It was only a coincidence that my photos showed nothing but grass, and werewolves didn’t show up in a photo. Because there was no such thing, no such thing, no such thing. And maybe if I clicked my heels together three times I’d be in Kansas and not in the middle of this mess. I was tempted to try, but I was fresh out of ruby slippers. Instead I bought new film, telling myself the airport X-ray machines had ruined mine, then headed for the swamp. Not until I’d parked in front of the mansion did I remember the articles I was supposed to pick up at the library. A rumble of thunder in the distance turned my gaze to the west. Huge, dark clouds billowed on the horizon. Looked like we were in for a doozy of a storm. Since I was used to wussy Midwestern thunderstorms, rather than Southern hurricane-force winds, tomorrow seemed as good a time as any to return to town. Besides, if I dug out some soap, I could take a shower right in the front yard. Considering the heat index of the last couple days, the idea had too much merit to pass up. I locked my camera and photos in the trunk with the gun, then hurried inside and grabbed what I needed, along with my gris-gris. â€Å"When in Rome,† I murmured as I shoved it into the pocket of my pants. I left the zombie-revealing powder behind, afraid the stuff would disintegrate, or worse, if wet. The sky opened up when I stepped onto the porch. Though the rain was warm, steam rose when the drops hit the ground. I dragged off my jeans, socks, shoes, and through an acrobatic maneuver managed to slide my bra from beneath my tank top. Then I walked into the storm. I was drenched in an instant, my top and underwear plastered against me like a size 4 Lycra bodysuit. Quickly I made use of the soap and the shampoo. Needles of rain washed everything away; rivulets of water ran down my face so fast, I could barely see. When I was done, I continued to stand under the clouds, lifting my hands to the sky as I let nature cleanse me. Deesse de la lune. My eyes snapped open. Slowly I turned a circle in the yard. Why did I keep hearing those words murmured in French as if they were the whisper on the wind? Was I losing my mind? I frowned at the Ruelle Mansion. Did everyone who lived in that place eventually eat lead? Refusing to be spooked, I stalked to the porch, rubbed the towel over my body, and stepped into my jeans. I lifted my head, glanced toward the swamp, and saw someone watching me. The rain beat down; the mist drifted up. I had a hard time focusing, but there was definitely a person, a man, leaning against a cypress tree about a hundred yards from the house. Spanish moss hung from the branches, nearly touching the ground, obscuring his face. But the outline of the body was familiar, as were the hair, the jeans, the bare chest. â€Å"Adam?† He didn’t answer. â€Å"I’m sick of this,† I muttered. I was going to confront him, ask all my questions, and demand answers. Tossing the towel on the porch, I headed into the storm. The figure didn’t move as I approached. He seemed wilder somehow – his eyes brighter, his hair more tangled, his body tense as a stalking beast Without the shirt, skin slick with rain, I could see every ridge, every curve. He wasn’t wearing his bracelet. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him without it Why was he here? Did he want the same thing that I did? Mindless sex until I couldn’t remember the questions anymore? I reached the edge of the yard, the cusp of the swamp, and still he waited. Lightning flashed; water ran into my eyes. Impatiently I swiped at my face, and when I looked again, he was gone. Had I seen him or only wished that I had? And why would I wish? The police wanted to talk to Adam Ruelle about strangling the life out of someone. I shouldn’t go near the man, let alone lust after him. Though he disturbed me hi ways I didn’t want to examine, had scared me more times than I wanted to count, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that Adam had killed someone with his bare hands. I’d felt those hands on me, and while they’d been desperate, urgent, and rough, they hadn’t been violent However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be. Beneath the tree I found the slight indentation of a bare foot in the dirt Then another and another, leading deeper into the swamp. I wasn’t crazy. He had been here. I should turn back; I might get lost and wander for days. But I followed the tracks anyway. Why I was so obsessed I had no idea. The man was a mystery, and I liked my life neat. Perhaps that explained my difficulty believing in the paranormal. The paranormal didn’t make sense, hence the name. I hated things that did not make sense. I was obliged to make sense of them. After a half an hour of traveling at a pretty fast clip, the trail petered out. I paused, ears straining, eyes searching. All I saw was the swamp in the rain; all I heard was that rain coming down. Then I smelled the faint, acrid scent of a cigarette. As I blinked the water out of my eyes, my gaze was caught by what appeared to be a roof on the other side of a slight rise. I had no choice but to head in that direction, even when my bare feet sank to the ankles in muck. I pulled them out, wincing at the disgusting sucking sound they made popping free of the greenish-brown goo. Luckily, once I hit solid ground, the rain washed away the slime. I topped the hill and stared at the shack, which seemed to have sprouted from a bayou. The building resembled something straight out of The Beverly Hillbillies III: Elly May Does Louisiana. â€Å"Good title for a porn flick,† I murmured, peering at the figure on the porch, one that could put pornographic thoughts into the mind of any woman. A shirtless Adam Ruelle leaned against the railing, smoking as he watched the storm rage. I glanced at the swamp, suddenly tempted to go back, A flicker of movement somewhere in the depths had me hurrying into the slight valley, stopping at the edge of the overgrown front yard. The instant I appeared, Adam’s attention fell from the sky to me. He took one last draw on his cigarette, then flicked the thing into the grass, where it hissed as the ember met rain. He walked slowly down the steps and across the ground, stopping so close, the heat of his body battled the chill of mine. I half-expected steam to rise from my soaked clothes. His gaze wandered over me; desire rolled across his face like thunder rolls across the sky. His eyes locked on my breasts, and I glanced down, my face heating at the sight I’d removed my bra, spent nearly an hour in the rain. Being topless would be less suggestive than wearing the soaked tank, which outlined the weight and fullness, seeming to accent the thrust of my nipples, magnifying the darkness of the areola. He reached out, the tanned skin of his hand stark against the white shirt as he cupped one breast gently, almost reverently. Testing the weight, he skimmed a single thumb over the tip. I opened my mouth to ask†¦ something, and he yanked me against him. My breath caught, the sound both fear and excitement. I tilted my head, an offering, and his lips captured mine. Our tongues met; his tasted of smoke and I liked it, which only showed how far gone I was. I’d never cared for cigarettes, but when Adam smoked them, I could only think of how I’d feel if he wrapped his beautiful lips around my nipple the way he wrapped them around a cigarette and suckled. His arousal rubbed against me. My hands flitted over his skin, kneading the muscles, learning the curves and the dips. I couldn’t think, could only feel both his desperation and my own. I should have protested, pulled away, but I didn’t. From the moment I’d first seen him we’d been headed for this. I could no more have stopped what was about to happen than I could have stopped the moon from growing larger with each passing night. He lifted his head, glanced into the trees, frowned. I tangled my fingers in his hair; then I frowned, too. He’d been out in the rain as long as I had, yet his hair was almost dry. How to cite Night Creature: Crescent Moon Chapter 13, Essay examples

Night Creature Crescent Moon Chapter 13 Free Essays

â€Å"What kind of curse?† I managed. â€Å"Oh, not a real curse.† Mrs. We will write a custom essay sample on Night Creature: Crescent Moon Chapter 13 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Beasly laughed, veiny white hand pressed to her concave breast. â€Å"Just extremely bad luck. Or maybe insanity.† Insanity? Well, this kept getting better and better. â€Å"You’re talking about Adam?† She cut me a quick, sharp glance and I shrugged. â€Å"I read some before I came here. He was in the army. Flipped out.† â€Å"So they say.† Her lips went prim. â€Å"But I wasn’t referring to him.† I resisted the urge to shake her until all the secrets spilled out. Mrs. Beasly was the type of woman who wouldn’t talk if you pissed her off – kind of like me. I’d bet my next hot shower that the info she would impart couldn’t be found in any book. Instead, I held my breath and I waited. After another glance around the echoing, cavernous library, she lowered her voice until I practically had to crawl over the desk to hear her. â€Å"Suicide.† The word seemed to slither across my neck like Lazarus. â€Å"Who?† â€Å"Both Adam’s father and his grandfather.† I frowned. No wonder Adam had escaped to the army. â€Å"The police were certain it was suicide?† â€Å"They both†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She paused, uncomfortable. â€Å"Well, there’s really no other way to say this except straight out They blew their heads off.† â€Å"Both of them.?† She nodded. â€Å"There was an investigation. But the angle of the gun pretty much told the tale. The sons were always suspect, of course.† â€Å"Sons?† â€Å"Adam’s father was a suspect for his father’s death, and Adam for his.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"The police thought there was money.† â€Å"But there wasn’t?† â€Å"Not only are the Ruelles cursed with insanity and sons, but everything they touch†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She spread her hands. â€Å"Turns to shit,† I muttered. Her mouth pruned again. â€Å"If you must be vulgar.† I must. ‘They’re land-poor,† she said. â€Å"The mansion, the swamp. Keeping that in the family takes a lot of money.† â€Å"Why is there a mansion near the swamp anyway?† I asked. That had always bugged me. â€Å"The first Ruelle came to Louisiana from France by way of Canada.† Acadian. I thought so. â€Å"Those people, the Cajuns, they kept to themselves, but the Ruelles even more so. They bought that land for a song, and they refused through centuries of bad luck to let it pass out of the family.† I’d never understood the obsession with land, but wars had been fought, countless lives had been lost, over just that. â€Å"Was there any indication of why the senior Ruelles killed themselves?† I continued. â€Å"A note?† â€Å"Nothing.† â€Å"I’d like to read the articles on those deaths, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I glanced at my watch. First I needed to pick up my film. â€Å"I’ll find them for you,† Mrs. Beasly said. I can make copies. A dollar a sheet.† â€Å"That would be great.† I handed her ten dollars. ‘I’ll leave them at the desk. If I’m not here, someone will be. What’s your name?† â€Å"Diana Malone.† She gave me her English teacher stare. â€Å"I’ve never heard of the Ruelles having Irish relatives.† â€Å"Wrong side of the blanket,† I said. â€Å"Hush-hush.† For an instant I thought she might refuse to help me, and why? She was a librarian, paid to impart information. What difference did it make who I was? I guess not much, because she pocketed the money and said good-bye. I hurried outside, surprised at what I’d learned. However, the real surprise awaited me at the photo shop. I paid for the prints, anxiously drew them from the envelope, men nabbed the clerk and shoved one under his nose. â€Å"What happened?† Since he was about ten years younger, four inches shorter, and twenty pounds lighter than me, he got that deer in the headlights look as his prominent Adam’s apple began to bob. â€Å"I†¦ uh†¦ what?† â€Å"There’s nothing here.† â€Å"But – † He peered at the picture. â€Å"There is.† â€Å"I don’t mean the swamp, the grass, the trees. There was something there.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"I don’t know!† I practically shouted. â€Å"That’s why I took the picture.† The kid appeared more confused than ever. â€Å"You took a photo of something, and it isn’t on the print?† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"That’s impossible, ma’am. If there was something there, it’d be,† he pointed to the lovely picture of nighttime in the swamp, â€Å"there. Unless it was a vampire.† He snorted at his own wit â€Å"No, wait, that’s a mirror. Vampires don’t have a reflection. It’s werewolves that don’t show up on a photograph.† I frowned, blaming the shiver that passed over me on too much air-conditioning for a steamy autumn day. â€Å"What did you say?† My voice must have alerted the kid to the fact that I was not amused, because he stopped snickering and retreated behind the counter. Like that would keep me from following him if I wanted to. â€Å"Werewolves don’t show up on film,† he repeated. â€Å"And you know this why?† â€Å"I’ve lived in New Orleans all my life,† he answered, as if that explained everything. â€Å"There’s no such thing as vampires or werewolves.† â€Å"No?† he murmured, the word taking on a faint French twist. †Maybe you should spend some time alone in the Quarter after midnight. Or walk through the swamp under a full moon. You know why there are no cemetery tours after dusk?† â€Å"People get robbed.† â€Å"Sure they do. And the dead also rise.† I stared at the young man who’d seemed so harmless, almost shy. Now he just seemed nuts. â€Å"Ooookay.† I backed toward the door. â€Å"The only way to tell if a wolf is a werewolf is to shoot it with silver.† â€Å"Makes sense,† I said. â€Å"Thanks for the tip.† Was this guy for real? I fumbled with the door, got it open, and fled into the heat â€Å"Not going back there,† I muttered. Even if they hadn’t screwed up my pictures. It was only a coincidence that my photos showed nothing but grass, and werewolves didn’t show up in a photo. Because there was no such thing, no such thing, no such thing. And maybe if I clicked my heels together three times I’d be in Kansas and not in the middle of this mess. I was tempted to try, but I was fresh out of ruby slippers. Instead I bought new film, telling myself the airport X-ray machines had ruined mine, then headed for the swamp. Not until I’d parked in front of the mansion did I remember the articles I was supposed to pick up at the library. A rumble of thunder in the distance turned my gaze to the west. Huge, dark clouds billowed on the horizon. Looked like we were in for a doozy of a storm. Since I was used to wussy Midwestern thunderstorms, rather than Southern hurricane-force winds, tomorrow seemed as good a time as any to return to town. Besides, if I dug out some soap, I could take a shower right in the front yard. Considering the heat index of the last couple days, the idea had too much merit to pass up. I locked my camera and photos in the trunk with the gun, then hurried inside and grabbed what I needed, along with my gris-gris. â€Å"When in Rome,† I murmured as I shoved it into the pocket of my pants. I left the zombie-revealing powder behind, afraid the stuff would disintegrate, or worse, if wet. The sky opened up when I stepped onto the porch. Though the rain was warm, steam rose when the drops hit the ground. I dragged off my jeans, socks, shoes, and through an acrobatic maneuver managed to slide my bra from beneath my tank top. Then I walked into the storm. I was drenched in an instant, my top and underwear plastered against me like a size 4 Lycra bodysuit. Quickly I made use of the soap and the shampoo. Needles of rain washed everything away; rivulets of water ran down my face so fast, I could barely see. When I was done, I continued to stand under the clouds, lifting my hands to the sky as I let nature cleanse me. Deesse de la lune. My eyes snapped open. Slowly I turned a circle in the yard. Why did I keep hearing those words murmured in French as if they were the whisper on the wind? Was I losing my mind? I frowned at the Ruelle Mansion. Did everyone who lived in that place eventually eat lead? Refusing to be spooked, I stalked to the porch, rubbed the towel over my body, and stepped into my jeans. I lifted my head, glanced toward the swamp, and saw someone watching me. The rain beat down; the mist drifted up. I had a hard time focusing, but there was definitely a person, a man, leaning against a cypress tree about a hundred yards from the house. Spanish moss hung from the branches, nearly touching the ground, obscuring his face. But the outline of the body was familiar, as were the hair, the jeans, the bare chest. â€Å"Adam?† He didn’t answer. â€Å"I’m sick of this,† I muttered. I was going to confront him, ask all my questions, and demand answers. Tossing the towel on the porch, I headed into the storm. The figure didn’t move as I approached. He seemed wilder somehow – his eyes brighter, his hair more tangled, his body tense as a stalking beast Without the shirt, skin slick with rain, I could see every ridge, every curve. He wasn’t wearing his bracelet. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him without it Why was he here? Did he want the same thing that I did? Mindless sex until I couldn’t remember the questions anymore? I reached the edge of the yard, the cusp of the swamp, and still he waited. Lightning flashed; water ran into my eyes. Impatiently I swiped at my face, and when I looked again, he was gone. Had I seen him or only wished that I had? And why would I wish? The police wanted to talk to Adam Ruelle about strangling the life out of someone. I shouldn’t go near the man, let alone lust after him. Though he disturbed me hi ways I didn’t want to examine, had scared me more times than I wanted to count, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that Adam had killed someone with his bare hands. I’d felt those hands on me, and while they’d been desperate, urgent, and rough, they hadn’t been violent However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t be. Beneath the tree I found the slight indentation of a bare foot in the dirt Then another and another, leading deeper into the swamp. I wasn’t crazy. He had been here. I should turn back; I might get lost and wander for days. But I followed the tracks anyway. Why I was so obsessed I had no idea. The man was a mystery, and I liked my life neat. Perhaps that explained my difficulty believing in the paranormal. The paranormal didn’t make sense, hence the name. I hated things that did not make sense. I was obliged to make sense of them. After a half an hour of traveling at a pretty fast clip, the trail petered out. I paused, ears straining, eyes searching. All I saw was the swamp in the rain; all I heard was that rain coming down. Then I smelled the faint, acrid scent of a cigarette. As I blinked the water out of my eyes, my gaze was caught by what appeared to be a roof on the other side of a slight rise. I had no choice but to head in that direction, even when my bare feet sank to the ankles in muck. I pulled them out, wincing at the disgusting sucking sound they made popping free of the greenish-brown goo. Luckily, once I hit solid ground, the rain washed away the slime. I topped the hill and stared at the shack, which seemed to have sprouted from a bayou. The building resembled something straight out of The Beverly Hillbillies III: Elly May Does Louisiana. â€Å"Good title for a porn flick,† I murmured, peering at the figure on the porch, one that could put pornographic thoughts into the mind of any woman. A shirtless Adam Ruelle leaned against the railing, smoking as he watched the storm rage. I glanced at the swamp, suddenly tempted to go back, A flicker of movement somewhere in the depths had me hurrying into the slight valley, stopping at the edge of the overgrown front yard. The instant I appeared, Adam’s attention fell from the sky to me. He took one last draw on his cigarette, then flicked the thing into the grass, where it hissed as the ember met rain. He walked slowly down the steps and across the ground, stopping so close, the heat of his body battled the chill of mine. I half-expected steam to rise from my soaked clothes. His gaze wandered over me; desire rolled across his face like thunder rolls across the sky. His eyes locked on my breasts, and I glanced down, my face heating at the sight I’d removed my bra, spent nearly an hour in the rain. Being topless would be less suggestive than wearing the soaked tank, which outlined the weight and fullness, seeming to accent the thrust of my nipples, magnifying the darkness of the areola. He reached out, the tanned skin of his hand stark against the white shirt as he cupped one breast gently, almost reverently. Testing the weight, he skimmed a single thumb over the tip. I opened my mouth to ask†¦ something, and he yanked me against him. My breath caught, the sound both fear and excitement. I tilted my head, an offering, and his lips captured mine. Our tongues met; his tasted of smoke and I liked it, which only showed how far gone I was. I’d never cared for cigarettes, but when Adam smoked them, I could only think of how I’d feel if he wrapped his beautiful lips around my nipple the way he wrapped them around a cigarette and suckled. His arousal rubbed against me. My hands flitted over his skin, kneading the muscles, learning the curves and the dips. I couldn’t think, could only feel both his desperation and my own. I should have protested, pulled away, but I didn’t. From the moment I’d first seen him we’d been headed for this. I could no more have stopped what was about to happen than I could have stopped the moon from growing larger with each passing night. He lifted his head, glanced into the trees, frowned. I tangled my fingers in his hair; then I frowned, too. He’d been out in the rain as long as I had, yet his hair was almost dry. How to cite Night Creature: Crescent Moon Chapter 13, Essay examples

Physical Fitness in Aviation

Table of Contents Abstract Background Human Factors Importance of Physical Fitness Maintaining Fitness Conclusion References Abstract Movement is one of the most essential aspects of human life which help in driving the economy of nations. Unfortunately, gaps in human performance usually lead to mistakes which mostly end up in accidents. Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Physical Fitness in Aviation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research has shown that physical fitness of a person reduces chances of a person getting sick since it improves the immune system of the body. Regular exercises have been proofed to increase stamina and body strength thus enabling a person to work for long without getting tired. On the same point, a physically fit person is able to avoid abdominal and back pains associated with sitting for long. In conjunction with that, sharpness of the mind increases when one engages in phys ical exercises regularly thus enabling the person to deal with critical situations effectively besides enhances being alert incase of any emergency. It is depicted that, physical fitness of the entire plane crew highly affects their actions and performance because of the close relationship between physical fitness and human factors in aviation. Since plane crew has little time to access exercise equipments, ways are suggested through which they can be creative and use what they can access in their places of destination to keep their bodies physically fit. Background Many plane accidents that occur today have been associated with the human mistake as opposed to mechanical failure of the craft. Pilots make mistakes of judgment either due to loss of concentration or lack of alertness which leads to the pilots being unable to respond quickly and efficiently when they are required to do so (Salas Maurino 2010). On top of that, the body functioning of a human being highly determines th e degree of responsiveness that the same person will exhibit in any given situation, and this in the end, determines the results that should be expected. While human beings most of the time like to work very much, overworking the body can lead to fatal outcomes which would have been prevented if proper attention was given to the body. Aviation is an aspect that highly depends on the judgment of the people on the crew and the pilot for any outcome therefore, necessitating the importance of one to be careful with the health state of their bodies (Stolzer, Halford Goglia 2010). The human factors which seem minute to some extent are very vital when it comes to aviation because they influence the decision making process of people on whose care the aircraft is entrusted. Advertising Looking for term paper on aviation? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Besides, it has been noted that physical fitness has a far reaching impact on the h uman factors. If one does not have enough exercises for example, the probability of fatigue increases and this may hinder the degree of alertness of the person and this might be a cause of accidents (Rink, Hall Williams 2010). On top of that, it should be noted that the aviation crew does not engage in any active activity and they work for long hours in some cases making their bodies weak therefore their vulnerability to stress and tiredness increases. The correlation between accidents and human factors is therefore very high and many of these accidents can be prevented if attention is paid to human factors. In conjunction with that, the relationship between human factors in aviation and physical fitness of the people involved is very direct and these calls for quick address to help in controlling accidents (Salvendy 2012). Human Factors Human factors are defined as the process of relationship between human beings and the machines with which they work on, the interpersonal relatio nship amongst people, the way people interact with the environment and how they carry out procedures of their duties. It should be noted that, human behavior is also included in the human factors since to some extent it affects the performance of a person (Hoeger W. Hoeger S. 2011). Despite people being very health and perfectly trained, there occurs mistakes that sometimes cause financial losses as well as deaths and these mistakes can be traced back to gaps in human performance caused by otherwise preventable human errors. Furthermore, extreme workload has been known to adversely affect performance, while low levels of workload also encourage laziness meaning that the right amount of workload is essential for maximum output. The most important person in the airplane is the pilot and efforts have been made anciently to ensure that besides being very highly qualified, pilots receive regular training to ensure that they are at their best at all times. But it should be noted that t he airplane crew does not work each person in isolation rather they work as a group and therefore group performance also should be taken into consideration. This has generated interest in coming up with ways of incorporating the group relationships, teamwork and leadership as part of human factors during trainings to enhance cooperation and communication among crew members thus, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness (Salas Maurino 2010). Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Physical Fitness in Aviation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In coherent with that, an effective human factors management should be incorporated in the company processes like training, vacations, quality management and various investigations. This will ensure that at least every member of the company will have a chance of undergoing a refreshing course regularly. It is important to note that, human factors are influenced by several factor s which range from the environment that one is operating in to the physical body state of the person involved. Noise, heat, extreme cold and sometimes vibration are some of the environmental factors that increase the chances of human errors if one is exposed to the same. Unfortunately people have no power over some environmental factors because they are natural but their effects can be controlled by taking precautions in advance and training people on what steps to take incase they are faced with various environmental situations (Carayon 2011). On the same note, it is known that the body works in a systematic way and it does so depending on some factors like the day and night, food times, and other social aspects. Disturbances of the daily body routine affect the biological functioning of a human being making the body ineffective to some extent and this leads to the problems of misjudgment or fatigue. Physical fitness of a person is another determinant of how effective one can be and contributes largely to the human factors. A physically fit person is less likely to be stressed and thus, cause mistakes as compared to a person who does not engage in exercises. Importance of Physical Fitness A person who is physically fit is intellectually and physical ready to take up any task that is assigned to him and will have the energy to keep up with the requirements of the task at hand. On top of that, it has been noted that physical fitness does not only improve ones physical condition but also the mental and the health conditions. Actively involving one’s body in exercises improves the mind‘s ability to endure the daily stress that one goes through in the course of work. Additionally, regular physical exercises decrease the chances of having heart attacks, certain types of cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol (Salvendy 2012). This increases the chances of the crew flying the entire flight without falling sick and not jeopardizing the lives of all the people on board. Advertising Looking for term paper on aviation? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In conjunction with that, engaging in regular exercises has been proved to increase energy and strength making people more capable to carry out physical activities better. In this light, people involved in aviation should also exercise regularly to increase their energy and stamina therefore, allowing them to fly for long hours without feeling bored and fatigued. Furthermore, trying to loose weight by just dieting, is straining the body because the body loses water and muscles in the process thus weakening the body. On the contrary, physically fit person is able to loose weight without loosing water and thus, remain strong while at the same time decrease the amount of fats in the body. It is therefore healthier to loose weight by exercising regularly instead of trying to diet. On top of that, the plane crew most of the time is not involved in physically challenging activities and are therefore prone to gain weight and fats (Stolzer, Halford Goglia 2010). If this is left unchecked i t will lead to body weaknesses and some diseases that are associated with a lot of fats in the body thus, reducing the productivity of the crew besides reducing their readiness to taken on duties as and when they come especially emergencies. On the same note, people flying planes are mostly seated and this in the long run will lead to straining of the abdominal and back muscles. Regular exercises that are meant to improve physical fitness also help in strengthening the abdominal and back muscles thus, making the seating more enjoyable making the crew able to remain active throughout the flight without feeling back pains. Similarly, exercises have been known to improve the immune system of a person besides improving the brain functioning. Good immune system enable one to avoid diseases which otherwise would have reduced the effectiveness of the person (Carayon 2011). On the same note, by increasing the brain functioning exercises help to improve mind sharpness thus, a person can be alert incase of any emergency thus being able to handle the situation effectively besides reducing chances of dementia and Alzheimer’s diseases. It is important to note here that, regular exercises help in improving the sleeping habits of a person because it helps in the relaxing the muscles. People who engage regularly in exercises sleep continuously without waking up in the middle of the night which enables them to wake in the morning feeling fresh than those who do not exercise. This will work well for the plane crew who always are involved in long flights and therefore need a good rest whenever they have time to rest. In addition to that, during exercises some chemicals are released in the brain which helps in reduction of depression feelings, anger, anxiety and stress. These feelings are known to make people to be antisocial and moody as well as hindering good cooperation and fluent communication within the company. Therefore, for improved moods and interrelationships within the company, exercises play a great role and should be advocated for (Rink, Hall Williams 2010). The plane crew need to work as a group since everybody has a role in ensuring a smooth and successful flight and if people start working as individuals the success of the flight might be hampered. Moreover, happiness and output of a person increases when one is physically fit than when the body is unhealthy. This also improves the interactions of people with others in the work places and reduces the chances of people being angry because conflict resolutions become easy. Additionally, flexibility of a person improves when one exercises regularly and this is important especially for pilots whose coordination is required to be efficient during flights since they have to operate many things (Salvendy 2012). Pilot’s decisions during a flight depend on rational evaluation of the available alternatives and speed of acting giving safety maximum emphasis and it relies to a great er extent the ability of the pilot to take risks. On top of that, the attitude towards risk enables a pilot to assess risks that they may be facing as a flight and make decisions while they remain calm and collected. These characteristics are improved when one is involved regularly in exercises. Maintaining Fitness Before engaging in any activity, one has to determine the right amount of exercises that are healthy for the body. Crew members require a little bit engagement in exercises because they do not engage their bodies in active programs. Healthy management of the body is also very important for pilots who have long hours in job and only have minimal time off duty. Taking a walk in a layover hotel or using the resource available there and take good use of the hotel environment is a good idea because sometimes the hotels might not have equipments for exercises (Salas Maurino 2010). Although some hotels are situated in an environment that is not suitable for one to walk around, some may have stairways which can help in aerobics since one can take a walk on the stair cases. As much as exercises are good for the physical fitness of the body, some situations do not allow for outdoor exercises and crew members should avoid taking the risks of going out. Winter is very cold and chances of accidents occurring are high and this can involve the crew members thus, they should avoid going out. On top of that, it is advisable for the crew members who always get themselves in hotels that do not have training facilities to have their own training equipment so as to improve their chances of training. Unfortunately, when one carries around training equipment only light and portable equipment can help but when they are used properly they will along way to help. However, due to inability to know whether training facilities are available at the layover hotel that one may book during their days off, creativity is important as it helps in coming up with ways of using the av ailable facilities and resources to exercise (Carayon 2011). Conclusion Pilots and all crew members are involved in duties that require their body to be physically fit besides demanding that they be strong and remain active or else put all the people in the plane on risk of being involved in accidents. It is therefore important that physical fitness be observed as these highly influences the human factors that have been broadly depicted as the highest cause of accidents. More importantly, aviation companies should find a way of incorporating physical exercises in their programs such that their members can have a chance of exercising as this improves output besides reducing chances of accidents. References Carayon, P. (2011). Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Hoeger, W. K., Hoeger, S. A. (2011). Principles and Labs for Physical Fitness. Stanford: Cengage Learning. Rink, J. E., Hall, T. J., Williams, L. H. (2010). Sch oolwide Physical Activity. Champaign: Human Kinetics. Salas, E., Maurino, D. E. (2010). Human Factors in Aviation. Waltham: Academic Press. Salvendy, G. (2012). Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics. Hoboken: John Wiley sons. Stolzer, A. J., Halford, C. D., Goglia, J. J. (2010). Safety Management Systems in Aviation. Farnham: Ashgate Publishers. This term paper on Physical Fitness in Aviation was written and submitted by user Makenzie U. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term

Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term Do-gooder Is Not a Positive Term By Maeve Maddox A reader questions the positive use of the epithet do-gooder: One use of the language that disturbs me is the use by my local paper of the term â€Å"Do-gooder† [to refer] to people who are indeed doing good deeds by helping or contributing.  However the only definitions I have seen for the term appear to refer to those who are trying to do good, but do so in unrealistic or wrong means. I feel the current use is not considering the older, perhaps archaic, usage. The OED does list one example of the noun Do-Good to mean â€Å"a person who does good,† but the only citation given is dated 1654 and the usage is labeled obsolete. In subsequent usage, the nouns do-good and do-gooder have not been intended as compliments. These OED examples from the 1920s reflect the pejorative usage: 1923 There is nothing the matter with the United States exceptthe parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods. 1925   He could not stand them- no decently constituted American can- nor the uplifters and do-gooders who rule us to-day. The Web offers numerous examples of do-gooder in headlines that introduce stories that make it clear that the term is meant in a positive sense: Ebola-stricken doc described as driven do-gooder Africa [has become] the hottest continent for A-list do-gooders like Bono and Brangelina. Salvation Army honors Mon Valley do-gooders Brooklyn Do Gooder Awards to honor community service The misuse of do-gooder to mean â€Å"one who does genuine good† may have gone too far to reverse. If that’s the case, it’s unfortunate. We need a word that describes a person who acts according to his own idea of what doing good is without considering the consequences that might affect the recipients of the supposed good. For example, a corporation or celebrity might think that giving free shoes and free shirts to every person in a poor village is an excellent way to do good, whereas in reality the act would create worse poverty for the village cobblers, weavers, tailors, and seamstresses. English has other words to describe a person who tries to improve the lives of others. Philanthropist is an obvious choice, but many speakers might share the difficulty of the Wizard of Oz when he tries to use the word: Back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called philaer, philaer, yes, er, Good Deed Doers. Ruling out philanthropist as too difficult to pronounce, we still have benefactor, humanitarian, altruist, and social reformer. And, perhaps, â€Å"Good Deed Doer.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with Heart7 Tips for Writing a Film ReviewHow Verbs Become Adjectives

How to Write a Response Essay to an Article

How to Write a Response Essay to an Article How to Write a Response Essay to an Article Essays are mainly done in schools. They begin in the junior schools. Per level of education, different essays are done from the simplest to the complex ones depending on the level that one is in. Different essays are written for different reasons or are normally given under different instructions. Some of them are merely about creative writing while in others one has to do a research. This is where one does a research then after that they draft the essay depending on the research that they came up with. There are other essays that are done however. Essays that tend to respond to a certain article. The teacher gives the students an article then they are asked to answer the question asked in the article in an essay form. Such essays are response essays. The students will just read the article and they will answer according to how they feel mostly it is written in first person. Some of the students are not familiar to the essays so the teachers have to teach the students even if in college how to write a response essay to an article. The teachers mainly insist on the first part of the introduction that the students should read the article and understand it. They should read it at first for the first understanding. This is because this is where their response will be based. They will answer the question depending on how they will understand the article. The second thing that they should do is that they should now read the article thoroughly. Therefore to ensure that they understand the article and they will give the right response, they should read the article a number of times. As they read the article they should be able to make some notes that will help them in their response. They should be able to get some impressions as they tread the article and they should be able to put them in a way that they will help them in their response. Write as many points as you can depending on the impressions that you will get. Then after that, write an outline of those impressions. This will help you know whether you have the right impression or not. After writing the outlines then explain them on the basis of the article that you have. This way you will have the evidence that supports your work. After you have all this work then go ahead and draft your response essay. Whatever you will write then is the best that you could have therefore do not feel ashamed of what you have written. After the writing now you can submit the response. At writing company you can get professional response essay writing help from experts. Custom response essays written from scratch!

Case analysis( Global business) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Case analysis( Global business) - Essay Example As a result, the price of ENTel was one of the less price paid for any telecommunication firm across all the developing countries. Furthermore, the privatization of ENTel resulted in legal duopoly as this would allow two companies to manage the entire telecommunication services. Later on, certain more subsequent events have changed the Argentina telecommunication industry. Sprint offers a wide range of wireless as well as wireline communication services to its customers including business and government users. The ‘Sprint’ tradition started off with the establishment of Brown Telephone Co. by Cleson Brown in the year 1899. With the introduction of long distance service, Sprint was able to seize the opportunity with offering its customers the long distance services; that was way back in 1986. In the year 1990, the company went global with its global subsidiary forms to market the international public data network services. In the year 2004, the company merged with another leading telecommunication firm Nextel leading to Sprint Nextel which aims to be no one in customer experience. As of now, Sprint is going to market its EVO 4G in Argentina. This analysis is done to evaluate its probability of success in Argentina. This would be done evaluating the company’s success in US, product attributes and the prospective barriers which can on the way to success. A conclusion would be fetched from the entire analysis. As in US, at the end of the year 2010 the organization has catered over 48.9 million customers. The organization is known for its impressive success in developing, engineering as well as introducing innovative technologies. The company is the first national carrier in US to come up with wireless 4G service, providing mobile data services, prominent brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Assurance Wireless Boost Mobile. Furthermore, the company has also offered instant national as well as

SCHOOLS & SOCIETY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

SCHOOLS & SOCIETY - Essay Example NECAP clearly ‘represent critical learning targets for literacy and numeracy† (maine.gov). The NECAP covered the following states: New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. According to the department of education website, its main objective is to assess reading, writing and mathematics from grades 3-8. The third document is the Common Core Standards which is actually a set of core academic standards for mathematics and English Language Arts. Unlike NECAP, literacy in the following areas were also addressed by the core standards: history/social studies, science and technical subjects. In fact, Maine has already been implementing this set of core standards since last school year. The first document is Maine’s Initial Certification Standards. The document is in a pdf format and serves as a quick reference for those who are interested in acquiring teacher certification in Maine. The document is only two pages long but contains precise requirements (teaching skills) tha t a person must possess to become a teacher. There are 10 general objectives with specific details on how to accomplish the objectives aforementioned. There is no subject area mentioned because this document is a general reference for all entry-level teachers. The objectives do not only cover skills but also expected behavioral outcomes. For example, the ninth objective states that teachers must be aware of their legal and ethical commitments. The general objective is further elaborated by defining five abilities that they must possess to show their commitment. One of these abilities include â€Å"maintaining confidentiality in their dealings with parents, students, teachers and school personnel† (MICS). An interested applicant would surely find the document very helpful because the expectations are stated clearly. The NECAP (also known as Grade Level Expectations) is important in assessing the performance of students from grades 3-8. The NECAP results are part of the Stateâ €™s Accountability Standards that is integrated under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The GLE covers reading, mathematics and writing. The document that was browsed was NECAP Mathematics, which fully states the desired learning outcomes that each grade level must attain. The document is in pdf format and thirteen pages long, which requires familiarity with teaching concepts in mathematics education. Teachers who are math majors can fully benefit from reading these set of guidelines developed for the state of Maine. The last document is Common Core Standards of Maine which was promulgated by Public Law 647, â€Å"An Act to Adopt the Common Core State Standards Initiative†. This set of core standards is applicable to Kindergarten to grade 12, which includes â€Å"rigorous grade-level expectations in the areas of speaking, listening, reading, and writing to prepare all students to be college and career ready, including English language learners†( Common Core mai ne.gov). So the standards have been implemented last year for mathematics and reading. The document is sixty-six pages long and in a pdf format. Teachers can greatly benefit from the standards because it illustrates the standards for each grade level. Furthermore, teachers can use the standard to help them plan their lessons and teaching strategies so learners can comply with the given standards. Similarity of Documents All three documents are crucial to