Tuesday, March 26, 2013

"Cow Child"

By popular demand, I present a twisted account of love and technology which received no votes in the final round of the national creative writing competition but which nonetheless captured the hearts and imaginations of judges from across the country.

Additionally, I have the great pleasure to introduce my first guest blogger, Ms. Christine Holmes of Peoria, Arizona. Holmes, an esteemed expert on race and sexuality, provides timely analysis of Kheav's essay and answers its most pressing questions by drawing upon her deep cultural understanding of Cambodia after nearly two years of Peace Corps service in Kheav's Cambodian homeland.

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Student’s Name: Kheav Panhasey
School: Sokha Phally High School
Village: Tmey
Male or Female: Male
Peace Corps Volunteer’s Name: Leslie Miles
Student’s Age: 18
Grade: 12
Prompt: What would you do if you knew you would lose your memory at the end of every day?

If I knew I were going to lose my memory at the end of every do, I would go to tell my sweat heart. My sweatheart is a beautiful cow that make me happy every day and she always ride to forest every day to eat grass with her. When I have free time I always go to take her to the club every night and always dance with her and people around there always look to me, when I dance with her but I don’t care about every thing that happened and than we are going to the restaurant to eat hot dog and hot cow that make me very romantic. After a few week ago she has a baby. I know don’t know how she has a baby? Because I don’t do anything to her. I just take her to club and go to the restaurant and one day I drink a lot and I rent a room to sleep but when the morning I don’t know everything that happen at the night. I just sleep and other thing I don’t know.

Next year is best year that my sweat heart born a baby but suddenly I take my sweatheart to the forest to born a baby. but after a few time ago her is born a beautiful child. I’m very happy but I wonder my sweatheart is a cow why her baby is a child? and than I go to the forest and saw my sweatheart and she says that I want to have IPHONE to call to my friend and my family and play facebook with my and also skype and I than I go to the sea and make a new phone from the land and than I take it to her and than she very happy and prefer with this thing and everynight she always plays facebook with her friend and call to her friend and her family on the heaven and than she say that you know the phone code on the heaven and than I laugh and laugh and say that you go to ask the tiger because he know every phone code on the Land and under the Land and tell you how to call to the heaven? and at the evening I always take her to top of the tree to see the landscap and view around the world and very happy and we sleep on top of the tree in this night.

When we get up suddenly we are on the sea that has a lot of big wave and has a big fish want to eat me. and than my sweatheart say that have you got phone and face? yes. I have and also skype I always play internet with my friend in the sea. Oh, I will add you to my facebook and than I ask a big fish that in the sea have a night club? and than he say, yes. I have and also hotel, the fish around the sea always go to dance my club every and at the night I’m busy because we a lot dance my club. and every year we have a lot vistor come from other countries such as USA and Cambodia they are come to my club and restaurant that is in the sea. and in the sea is very interesting. If you have free time you can go with me. After lot time ago I think oh my memory is so crzy and crzy and than I say that do you want to ride helicopter with me it very wonderful and funy you can go to any where that you want to go you can go to the heaven or go under the land.

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A Critical Analysis of "Cow Child" by Christine Holmes

A tale of love and entrapment by 12th grader Panhasey leaves us with two inescapable questions: What were the underlying motives for this gold digging seductress of the forest? And how was she able to produce a human child?

The narrator seems to have been swept up in a burning romance with his new “sweat heart” and unmistakable sweetheart- a social butterfly unaffected by public response to their cross-species relationship. Their love is light-hearted at first: late night clubbing, romantic hot dog/hot cow dinners…blackouts.

With inhibitions thrown to the wind, the young narrator finds himself playing ‘father’ to the alleged cow child. A product of free love and excessive drinking, the child seemed to have not only appeared out of nowhere but to also bear no resemblance to his mother (or her species) which brings us back to “how?” After much speculation, one can safely assume that the child biologically belongs to neither of the lead characters but served as an impetus to accessing the wonders of the technological world through the narrator.

As soon as the beautiful child is introduced, the seductress is all about getting that iPhone to play on Facebook, Skype, and call her family in the sky. Fortunately for her, the unassuming narrator finds this amusing as he laughs and laughs and then, of course, takes her tree climbing.

There could be no greater symbol for this relationship than that of the lovers waking up in the depths of the sea. Even in the face of man-eating fish danger, cow lady asks the fish, “You got phone and face?” Still enveloped in the world of party-going, the couple finds themselves at an international disco for sea creatures only to later take off in a helicopter bound for endless adventures.

Although the narrator was undeniably a tool used for mindless entertainment and facebook, this tainted love also aided in lowering his guard to experience the parts of life he was missing out on. One could argue he has more troubles now than he did to begin with, but…is there ever really a price for true love?

 
Christine and I have birthdays which share a midnight. Here we celebrate together by candlelight.


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