Record Date: October 30th, 2007
Port Orange. A Florida town with acres of orange groves and thousands of orange grove farmers. Arnold “no, not the golfer” Palmer was one of those farmers. Palmer lived nearly his entire life in Port Orange, with the exception of his 6 month stay at Volusia County Jail. Palmer was a compulsive shoplifter, and was caught by Florida authorities after his most expensive theft. Palmer stole appliances from a local Target Super center which valued over $8,000. His behavior was fairly tame in prison, because Palmer had been used to living the small, farmer life at home. Stealing gave Palmer a sort of rush he had never experienced. He could not explain it to his family, his friends, or any one else. When he was sentenced in late 2006, he seemed to disappear from the world. He took a leave of absence from work, from home, and it seemed from life. After Palmer came back, his social skills were not what they used to be. Palmer returned to work and to the same boring old lifestyle he lived prior to the conviction. In his mind, the only thing that had changed was his title. He could now be considered an “ex-con” and that thought miffed him.
The day before Halloween was unlike any that Palmer had ever experienced. He wallowed in self-pity and described life as a bottomless pit of muck and despair. While working in his assigned area on the orange grove, his thoughts drifted to his 4-year old daughter who lived miles away in the Tampa area. He imagined her giggling and running around in a princess, or high-school musical costume. This image killed him. As he nodded off, his head went numb from a gunshot to the head and he fell backwards onto the dry grass below him. The grass moistened with the pool of blood left underneath Arnold “no, not the golfer“ Palmer.
Tampa. The colossal crime-ridden metropolitan area where no police officer sleeps. The city is rarely quiet at night, with bar fights, gang rivalries, and club openings all occurring at this time. Officer Marvin Petrillo was out patrolling his assigned area when he received a disturbance call on Martin Luther King Boulevard near the College Hill Memorial Park. Immediately upon arrival, Petrillo spots the problem.
5 comments:
I found this piece rather confusing, and it should have more detail into the man's life. Why was he living the farmer's life? why did his daughter live so far aaway, why did it kill him to think about her running around in a little costume giggling and etc. I don't know maybe just a few details would have helped richen the story, otherwise it was a good piece, much like the others
You created a really interesting story line but you could have put some more detail into the man's life. You only describe a little instant in the man's life and really don't explain that much about him.
I feel this chunk was rather abrupt and didn't really give a view of the characters the way The Day Before Halloween (the chunk posted beforehand) did. I'd like to hear more about this farmer and his life, more instances in which he was shoplifting, his little daughter, etc.
I like how the story seems to shift from what is happening in Port Orange to whats happening in Tampa. It reminds me of what's done in movies often.
i really like the story line, but i agree that by adding more detail you can make things more clear.
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