#13 DAWN

In the beginning we see that the narrator, a thirteen years old boy named Ramsey and his mother are placed at the bus station. Ramsey is worried about who is going to sit next to him on the bus and his mother is obviously stressed too. Besides buying a lot of unhealthy snack and soda despite she’s really strict about stuff like that, she gives her son a bear hug before he goes on the bus even “They weren’t a hugging kind of family” (p. 94). Later we discover it’s because she knows something he doesn’t.

Unfortunately for skeptical Ramsey its only one free seat left in the bus and the girl who sits besides have a look he’s not familiar with. It’s kind of funny how he thinks about her black clothes, her nine earrings and black Doc Martens as if it makes her a bad person. But it turns out that she is kind, funny and she even cares strongly about the environment. It all starts with the switched tapes and Ramsey discovers that Dawn listens to noises you can hear in the woods. First he can’t hear anything at all, but then Dawn says “Ya just ‘av ta listen mate. Closely, like” (p. 98) and he starts to hear things. And I have to say this, I’ve been living in England for a couple of week and been there many times and visited English friends (besides we learn British English on school) and that’s a pretty extreme accent she got there sometimes. My experience of British accent is that they speak very clear and almost a little snobby. But I haven’t been in North England so it could be from there.

Anyway, Dawn treats him as an equal and keeps amaze Ramsey about the traveling and her personality. They have a special connection and becomes friends despise the differentness’s between them like the age and life-experiences.  But eventually they reached North Bay and had to say good bay. After a couple of days there with he’s grandma, only his dad is coming from home this time. They are having a separation.

Ramsey is feeling like a fool because no one told him and one night he is running away to take a bus to Dawn in Vancouver, he’s convinced that she will solve his problems. It’s on the bus terminal he sees the tape with the noises from the woods and a personal note from Dawn in his backpack. He listens to the tape one more time and finally he understands the tape, he listens. The tape it’s about life, to be able to look around you and enjoy living like Dawn did. To listen how everything actually fits together if you “let” them and take time to listen carefully. That’s why Ramsey could hear the music without the earphones.

And the title Dawn for the short story? Dawn is of course a new beginning for Ramsey. She learns him to see things differently just before he needed it most.