Author's Note: This is my POV piece using the book "Here Today" by Ann M. Martin. The first section was taken from the book (pages 195 to 197) from Ellie's point of view, and I used this text to change the point of view to Doris's view. Please leave feedback!
Ten minutes later, the five Dingmans, some of them groggy, were seated at their kitchen table. Doris wore an apron and walked around the table, serving doughnuts as if she were Lorna the waitress.
"Isn't this nice?" she said.
Ellie looked out the kitchen window at the dreary day. A fine drizzle was falling, and a mist had set in. She peered at the thermometer outside the window. Forty-two degrees. And she shivered. But she had to agree that sitting around the kitchen table with her family, a plate of doughnuts, and Kiss leaning against her legs, was very nice indeed.
"It's great," said Marie, her mouth full of chocolate doughnut. "Can we have doughnuts every morning?"
"Well, hon, I don't know about that. I guess it will be up to your father."
"Up to Daddy? Why?" asked Marie.
"Yeah, why?" echoed Albert.
Before Doris answered, before any words left her mouth, Ellie felt her own mouth go dry. She set her half-eaten doughnut down on her plate and looked all around the kitchen-- at the cupboards with the chipped green paint, at the plate shaped like a fish that had been hanging over the doorway for as long as she could remember, at the section of counter between the oven and the refrigerator that the Dingmans had called the Messy Corner-- but she couldn't look at Doris. Ellie let her eyes droop to her plate again, to the remains of the doughnut and waited for Doris's answer.
"Why?" repeated Doris. "Well... because-- because of my exciting news!" Doris pushed her chair away from the table. She stood up and began to speak. As she spoke, she moved around the table standing behind each of the Dingmans in turn, her hands on their shoulders. "I've been doing a lot of thinking," Doris said. "That's where I've been the last couple of days. I needed to think."
"I can think in our house," said Albert.
Doris removed her hands from Albert's shoulders and leaned around to look into his eyes. "Well, I couldn't," she said. "Not about this."
She moved on to Marie. "It's hard to know where to begin."
"Begin at the beginning," said Marie, tipping her head back and smiling at Doris.
And Ellie thought, She doesn't know. Marie doesn't know that this is bad news.
"It's even hard to know where the beginning is," said Doris. "I think the beginning was a long time ago. Maybe before you were born. But the thing is... what I've been thinking about..." Doris drew in a deep breath and moved on to Ellie. "The thing is... life is short." (195-197)
Ten minutes later, the five Dingmans, some of them groggy, were seated at the kitchen table. I bustled from place mat to place mat, serving doughnuts the way some women wear their makeup-- to cover what was coming.
"Isn't this nice?" I said, maintaining the act. Man, I'll make it to "The Ed Sullivan Show" without a problem with this kind of performance!
I continued to whirl around the kitchen, a tornado of doughnuts, OJ, and sticky hands. Only a few more hours and this will all be over, I thought. Although, doughnuts won't repair anything at this point-- I have already made my way out of this life.
"It's great," said Marie, her mouth full of chocolate doughnut. "Can we have doughnuts every morning?"
"Well, hon, I don't know about that. I guess it will be up to your father."
"Up to Daddy? Why?" asked Marie.
"Yeah, why?" echoed Albert.
I paused, unsure of how to start. Utterly shamed. Oh well, it's not like I'm gonna see them again....
"Why?" I awkwardly repeated. "Well... because-- because of my exciting news!" I stood up, and confidently pushed my chair away from the table. I began to speak. As I started, I moved around the table standing behind each of the Dingmans in turn, my hands on their shoulders. "I've been doing a lot of thinking," I said. "That's where I've been the last couple of days. I needed to think."
"I can think in our house," said Albert.
I removed my hands from Albert's shoulders and leaned around to look into his eyes. Motherly enough, right? "Well, I couldn't," I said, fairly irritated on the inside-- Why does he have to be so stubborn? "Not about this."
I moved on to Marie. "It's hard to know where to begin."
"Begin at the beginning," said Marie, tipping her head back and smiling at me. Ugh, that ugly, toothy, smile... she doesn't know. She doesn't know what's coming. They don't know what's coming.
"It's even hard to know where the beginning is," I replied. "I think the beginning was a long time ago. Maybe before you were born" Heck yeah, before you were born! Your birth made everything ten times worse! "But the thing is... what I've been thinking about..." I drew in a deep breath and moved on to Ellie. Ellie knows. She always knew. D*** it, I have created a monster that has outsmarted me. "The thing is... life is short."
Analysis: When this story is being told from Ellie's point of view, you as the reader feel pretty badly for Ellie-- from her point of view, she is being abandoned by her mom who had never stopped to care for her in the first place. Ellie has pieced together from her mother's actions in the past months that this is bad news-- "She doesn't know. Marie doesn't know that this is bad news." We also interpret, from Ellie's point of view, that Ellie is disappointed with her mother's lack of care-- "but she couldn't look at Doris." Once the view changes to Doris's interpretations, we see that Doris cares a lot about herself-- "I have already made my way out of this life."-- more than she cares about the upcoming of her kids. The changes were made from Ellie to Doris because both are very different characters. Ellie almost has a motherly instinct to her because of Doris, who is busy out in the world trying to "accomplish her dreams."
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