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b'Choices for you and choices for your characters\\u2026End where you began but make it a good one\\u2026\\n\\nFeature Quote:\\n\\u201cThe thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.\\u201d\\nFrank Lloyd Wright\\n\\nFeatured Poem:Traveling Through the Dark\\u2028By: William Stafford\\n\\nTraveling through the dark I found a deer\\u2028dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.\\u2028It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:\\u2028that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.\\nBy glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car\\u2028and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;\\u2028she had stiffened already, almost cold.\\u2028I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.\\nMy fingers touching her side brought me the reason\\u2013\\u2028her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,\\u2028alive, still, never to be born.\\u2028Beside that mountain road I hesitated.\\nThe car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;\\u2028under the hood purred the steady engine.\\u2028I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;\\u2028around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.\\nI thought hard for us all\\u2013my only swerving\\u2013,\\u2028then pushed her over the edge into the river.\\n\\nFeatured Poetry Writing Prompt:\\nRewrite this poem, or choose another topic where a choice is indicated at the beginning and followed through on at the end. Whether it is for the greater good or for the needs of the few, follow the intentions that begin at the start of the poem.\\n\\nFeatured Short Story: Love is a Fallacy\\nBy: Max Shulman\\n\\nCool was I and logical. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute and astute\\u2014I was all of these. My brain was as powerful as a dynamo, precise as a chemist\\u2019s scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And\\u2014think of it!\\u2014I only eighteen.\\nIt is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect. Take, for example, Petey Bellows, my roommate at the university. Same age, same background, but dumb as an ox. A nice enough fellow, you understand, but nothing upstairs. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Worst of all, a faddist. Fads, I submit, are the very negation of reason. To be swept up in every new craze that comes along, to surrender oneself to idiocy just because everybody else is doing it\\u2014this, to me, is the acme of mindlessness. Not, however, to Petey.\\n\\nOne afternoon I found Petey lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately diagnosed appendicitis. \\u201cDon\\u2019t move,\\u201d I said, \\u201cDon\\u2019t take a laxative. I\\u2019ll get a doctor.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cRaccoon,\\u201d he mumbled thickly.\\n\\n\\u201cRaccoon?\\u201d I said, pausing in my flight.\\n\\n\\u201cI want a raccoon coat,\\u201d he wailed.\\n\\nI perceived that his trouble was not physical, but mental. \\u201cWhy do you want a raccoon coat?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI should have known it,\\u201d he cried, pounding his temples. \\u201cI should have known they\\u2019d come back when the Charleston came back. Like a fool I spent all my money for textbooks, and now I can\\u2019t get a raccoon coat.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cCan you mean,\\u201d I said incredulously, \\u201cthat people are actually wearing raccoon coats again?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cAll the Big Men on Campus are wearing them. Where\\u2019ve you been?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cIn the library,\\u201d I said, naming a place not frequented by Big Men on Campus.\\n\\nHe leaped from the bed and paced the room. \\u201cI\\u2019ve got to have a raccoon coat,\\u201d he said passionately. \\u201cI\\u2019ve got to!\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cPetey, why? Look at it rationally. Raccoon coats are unsanitary. They shed. They smell bad. They weigh too much. They\\u2019re unsightly. They\\u2014\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cYou don\\u2019t understand,\\u201d he interrupted impatiently. \\u201cIt\\u2019s the thing to do. Don\\u2019t you want to be in the swim?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cNo,\\u201d I said truthfully.\\n\\n\\u201cWell, I do,\\u201d he declared. \\u201cI\\u2019d give anything for a raccoon coat. Anything!\\u201d\\n\\nMy brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. \\u201cAnything?\\u201d I asked, looking at him narrowly.\\n\\n\\u201cAnything,\\u201d he affirmed in ringing tones.\\n\\nI stroked my chin thoughtfully. It so happened that I knew where to get my hands on a raccoon coat. My father had had one in his undergraduate days; it lay now in a trunk in the attic back home. It also happened that Petey had something I wanted. He didn\\u2019t have it exactly, but at least he had first rights on it. I refer to his girl, Polly Espy.\\n\\nI had long coveted Polly Espy. Let me emphasize that my desire for this young woman was not emotional in nature. She was, to be sure, a girl who excited the emotions, but I was not one to let my heart rule my head. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated, entirely cerebral reason.\\n\\nI was a freshman in law school. In a few years I would be out in practice. I was well aware of the importance of the right kind of wife in furthering a lawyer\\u2019s career. The successful lawyers I had observed were, almost without exception, married to beautiful, gracious, intelligent women. With one omission, Polly fitted these specifications perfectly.\\n\\nBeautiful she was. She was not yet of pin-up proportions, but I felt that time would supply the lack. She already had the makings.\\n\\nGracious she was. By gracious I mean full of graces. She had an erectness of carriage, an ease of bearing, a poise that clearly indicated the best of breeding. At table her manners were exquisite. I had seen her at the Kozy Kampus Korner eating the specialty of the house\\u2014a sandwich that contained scraps of pot roast, gravy, chopped nuts, and a dipper of sauerkraut\\u2014without even getting her fingers moist.\\n\\nIntelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction. But I believed that under my guidance she would smarten up. At any rate, it was worth a try. It is, after all, easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make an ugly smart girl beautiful.\\n\\n\\u201cPetey,\\u201d I said, \\u201care you in love with Polly Espy?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI think she\\u2019s a keen kid,\\u201d he replied, \\u201cbut I don\\u2019t know if you\\u2019d call it love. Why?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cDo you,\\u201d I asked, \\u201chave any kind of formal arrangement with her? I mean are you going steady or anything like that?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cNo. We see each other quite a bit, but we both have other dates. Why?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cIs there,\\u201d I asked, \\u201cany other man for whom she has a particular fondness?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cNot that I know of. Why?\\u201d\\n\\nI nodded with satisfaction. \\u201cIn other words, if you were out of the picture, the field would be open. Is that right?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI guess so. What are you getting at?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cNothing , nothing,\\u201d I said innocently, and took my suitcase out the closet.\\n\\n\\u201cWhere are you going?\\u201d asked Petey.\\n\\n\\u201cHome for weekend.\\u201d I threw a few things into the bag.\\n\\n\\u201cListen,\\u201d he said, clutching my arm eagerly, \\u201cwhile you\\u2019re home, you couldn\\u2019t get some money from your old man, could you, and lend it to me so I can buy a raccoon coat?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI may do better than that,\\u201d I said with a mysterious wink and closed my bag and left.\\n\\n\\u201cLook,\\u201d I said to Petey when I got back Monday morning. I threw open the suitcase and revealed the huge, hairy, gamy object that my father had worn in his Stutz Bearcat in 1925.\\n\\n\\u201cHoly Toledo!\\u201d said Petey reverently. He plunged his hands into the raccoon coat and then his face. \\u201cHoly Toledo!\\u201d he repeated fifteen or twenty times.\\n\\n\\u201cWould you like it?\\u201d I asked.\\n\\n\\u201cOh yes!\\u201d he cried, clutching the greasy pelt to him. Then a canny look came into his eyes. \\u201cWhat do you want for it?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cYour girl.\\u201d I said, mincing no words.\\n\\n\\u201cPolly?\\u201d he said in a horrified whisper. \\u201cYou want Polly?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThat\\u2019s right.\\u201d\\n\\nHe flung the coat from him. \\u201cNever,\\u201d he said stoutly.\\n\\nI shrugged. \\u201cOkay. If you don\\u2019t want to be in the swim, I guess it\\u2019s your business.\\u201d\\n\\nI sat down in a chair and pretended to read a book, but out of the corner of my eye I kept watching Petey. He was a torn man. First he looked at the coat with the expression of a waif at a bakery window. Then he turned away and set his jaw resolutely. Then he looked back at the coat, with even more longing in his face. Then he turned away, but with not so much resolution this time. Back and forth his head swiveled, desire waxing, resolution waning. Finally he didn\\u2019t turn away at all; he just stood and stared with mad lust at the coat.\\n\\n\\u201cIt isn\\u2019t as though I was in love with Polly,\\u201d he said thickly. \\u201cOr going steady or anything like that.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThat\\u2019s right,\\u201d I murmured.\\n\\n\\u201cWhat\\u2019s Polly to me, or me to Polly?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cNot a thing,\\u201d said I.\\n\\n\\u201cIt\\u2019s just been a casual kick\\u2014just a few laughs, that\\u2019s all.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cTry on the coat,\\u201d said I.\\n\\nHe complied. The coat bunched high over his ears and dropped all the way down to his shoe tops. He looked like a mound of dead raccoons. \\u201cFits fine,\\u201d he said happily.\\n\\nI rose from my chair. \\u201cIs it a deal?\\u201d I asked, extending my hand.\\n\\nHe swallowed. \\u201cIt\\u2019s a deal,\\u201d he said and shook my hand.\\n\\nI had my first date with Polly the following evening. This was in the nature of a survey; I wanted to find out just how much work I had to do to get her mind up to the standard I required. I took her first to dinner. \\u201cGee, that was a delish dinner,\\u201d she said as we left the restaurant. Then I took her to a movie. \\u201cGee, that was a marvy movie,\\u201d she said as we left the theatre. And then I took her home. \\u201cGee, I had a sensaysh time,\\u201d she said as she bade me good night.\\n\\nI went back to my room with a heavy heart. I had gravely underestimated the size of my task. This girl\\u2019s lack of information was terrifying. Nor would it be enough merely to supply her with information. First she had to be taught to think. This loomed as a project of no small dimensions, and at first I was tempted to give her back to Petey. But then I got to thinking about her abundant physical charms and about the way she entered a room and the way she handled a knife and fork, and I decided to make an effort.\\n\\nI went about it, as in all things, systematically. I gave her a course in logic. It happened that I, as a law student, was taking a course in logic myself, so I had all the facts at my fingertips. \\u201cPoll\\u2019,\\u201d I said to her when I picked her up on our next date, \\u201ctonight we are going over to the Knoll and talk.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cOo, terrif,\\u201d she replied. One thing I will say for this girl: you would go far to find another so agreeable.\\n\\nWe went to the Knoll, the campus trysting place, and we sat down under an old oak, and she looked at me expectantly. \\u201cWhat are we going to talk about?\\u201d she asked.\\n\\n\\u201cLogic.\\u201d\\n\\nShe thought this over for a minute and decided she liked it. \\u201cMagnif,\\u201d she said.\\n\\n\\u201cLogic,\\u201d I said, clearing my throat, \\u201cis the science of thinking. Before we can think correctly, we must first learn to recognize the common fallacies of logic. These we will take up tonight.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cWow-dow!\\u201d she cried, clapping her hands delightedly.\\n\\nI winced, but went bravely on. \\u201cFirst let us examine the fallacy called Dicto Simpliciter.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cBy all means,\\u201d she urged, batting her lashes eagerly.\\n\\n\\u201cDicto Simpliciter means an argument based on an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore everybody should exercise.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI agree,\\u201d said Polly earnestly. \\u201cI mean exercise is wonderful. I mean it builds the body and everything.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cPolly,\\u201d I said gently, \\u201cthe argument is a fallacy. Exercise is good is an unqualified generalization. For instance, if you have heart disease, exercise is bad, not good. Many people are ordered by their doctors not to exercise. You must qualify the generalization. You must say exercise is usually good, or exercise is good for most people. Otherwise you have committed a Dicto Simpliciter. Do you see?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cNo,\\u201d she confessed. \\u201cBut this is marvy. Do more! Do more!\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cIt will be better if you stop tugging at my sleeve,\\u201d I told her, and when she desisted, I continued. \\u201cNext we take up a fallacy called Hasty Generalization. Listen carefully: You can\\u2019t speak French. Petey Bellows can\\u2019t speak French. I must therefore conclude that nobody at the University of Minnesota can speak French.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cReally?\\u201d said Polly, amazed. \\u201cNobody?\\u201d\\n\\nI hid my exasperation. \\u201cPolly, it\\u2019s a fallacy. The generalization is reached too hastily. There are too few instances to support such a conclusion.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cKnow any more fallacies?\\u201d she asked breathlessly. \\u201cThis is more fun than dancing even.\\u201d\\n\\nI fought off a wave of despair. I was getting nowhere with this girl, absolutely nowhere. Still, I am nothing if not persistent. I continued. \\u201cNext comes Post Hoc. Listen to this: Let\\u2019s not take Bill on our picnic. Every time we take him out with us, it rains.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI know somebody just like that,\\u201d she exclaimed. \\u201cA girl back home\\u2014Eula Becker, her name is. It never fails. Every single time we take her on a picnic\\u2014\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cPolly,\\u201d I said sharply, \\u201cit\\u2019s a fallacy. Eula Becker doesn\\u2019t cause the rain. She has no connection with the rain. You are guilty of Post Hoc if you blame Eula Becker.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI\\u2019ll never do it again,\\u201d she promised contritely. \\u201cAre you mad at me?\\u201d\\n\\nI sighed. \\u201cNo, Polly, I\\u2019m not mad.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThen tell me some more fallacies.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cAll right. Let\\u2019s try Contradictory Premises.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cYes, let\\u2019s,\\u201d she chirped, blinking her eyes happily.\\n\\nI frowned, but plunged ahead. \\u201cHere\\u2019s an example of Contradictory Premises: If God can do anything, can He make a stone so heavy that He won\\u2019t be able to lift it?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cOf course,\\u201d she replied promptly.\\n\\n\\u201cBut if He can do anything, He can lift the stone,\\u201d I pointed out.\\n\\n\\u201cYeah,\\u201d she said thoughtfully. \\u201cWell, then I guess He can\\u2019t make the stone.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cBut He can do anything,\\u201d I reminded her.\\n\\nShe scratched her pretty, empty head. \\u201cI\\u2019m all confused,\\u201d she admitted.\\n\\n\\u201cOf course you are. Because when the premises of an argument contradict each other, there can be no argument. If there is an irresistible force, there can be no immovable object. If there is an immovable object, there can be no irresistible force. Get it?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cTell me more of this keen stuff,\\u201d she said eagerly.\\n\\nI consulted my watch. \\u201cI think we\\u2019d better call it a night. I\\u2019ll take you home now, and you go over all the things you\\u2019ve learned. We\\u2019ll have another session tomorrow night.\\u201d\\n\\nI deposited her at the girls\\u2019 dormitory, where she assured me that she had had a perfectly terrif evening, and I went glumly home to my room. Petey lay snoring in his bed, the raccoon coat huddled like a great hairy beast at his feet. For a moment I considered waking him and telling him that he could have his girl back. It seemed clear that my project was doomed to failure. The girl simply had a logic-proof head.\\n\\nBut then I reconsidered. I had wasted one evening; I might as well waste another. Who knew? Maybe somewhere in the extinct crater of her mind a few members still smoldered. Maybe somehow I could fan them into flame. Admittedly it was not a prospect fraught with hope, but I decided to give it one more try.\\n\\nSeated under the oak the next evening I said, \\u201cOur first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam.\\u201d\\n\\nShe quivered with delight.\\n\\n\\u201cListen closely,\\u201d I said. \\u201cA man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he replies that he has a wife and six children at home, the wife is a helpless cripple, the children have nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no shoes on their feet, there are no beds in the house, no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming.\\u201d\\n\\nA tear rolled down each of Polly\\u2019s pink cheeks. \\u201cOh, this is awful, awful,\\u201d she sobbed.\\n\\n\\u201cYes, it\\u2019s awful,\\u201d I agreed, \\u201cbut it\\u2019s no argument. The man never answered the boss\\u2019s question about his qualifications. Instead he appealed to the boss\\u2019s sympathy. He committed the fallacy of Ad Misericordiam. Do you understand?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cHave you got a handkerchief?\\u201d she blubbered.\\n\\nI handed her a handkerchief and tried to keep from screaming while she wiped her eyes. \\u201cNext,\\u201d I said in a carefully controlled tone, \\u201cwe will discuss False Analogy. Here is an example: Students should be allowed to look at their textbooks during examinations. After all, surgeons have X-rays to guide them during an operation, lawyers have briefs to guide them during a trial, carpenters have blueprints to guide them when they are building a house. Why, then, shouldn\\u2019t students be allowed to look at their textbooks during an examination?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThere now,\\u201d she said enthusiastically, \\u201cis the most marvy idea I\\u2019ve heard in years.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cPolly,\\u201d I said testily, \\u201cthe argument is all wrong. Doctors, lawyers, and carpenters aren\\u2019t taking a test to see how much they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different, and you can\\u2019t make an analogy between them.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI still think it\\u2019s a good idea,\\u201d said Polly.\\n\\n\\u201cNuts,\\u201d I muttered. Doggedly I pressed on. \\u201cNext we\\u2019ll try Hypothesis Contrary to Fact.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cSounds yummy,\\u201d was Polly\\u2019s reaction.\\n\\n\\u201cListen: If Madame Curie had not happened to leave a photographic plate in a drawer with a chunk of pitchblende, the world today would not know about radium.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cTrue, true,\\u201d said Polly, nodding her head \\u201cDid you see the movie? Oh, it just knocked me out. That Walter Pidgeon is so dreamy. I mean he fractures me.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cIf you can forget Mr. Pidgeon for a moment,\\u201d I said coldly, \\u201cI would like to point out that statement is a fallacy. Maybe Madame Curie would have discovered radium at some later date. Maybe somebody else would have discovered it. Maybe any number of things would have happened. You can\\u2019t start with a hypothesis that is not true and then draw any supportable conclusions from it.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThey ought to put Walter Pidgeon in more pictures,\\u201d said Polly, \\u201cI hardly ever see him any more.\\u201d\\n\\nOne more chance, I decided. But just one more. There is a limit to what flesh and blood can bear. \\u201cThe next fallacy is called Poisoning the Well.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cHow cute!\\u201d she gurgled.\\n\\u201cTwo men are having a debate. The first one gets up and says, \\u2018My opponent is a notorious liar. You can\\u2019t believe a word that he is going to say.\\u2019 \\u2026 Now, Polly, think. Think hard. What\\u2019s wrong?\\u201d\\n\\nI watched her closely as she knit her creamy brow in concentration. Suddenly a glimmer of intelligence\\u2014the first I had seen\\u2014came into her eyes. \\u201cIt\\u2019s not fair,\\u201d she said with indignation. \\u201cIt\\u2019s not a bit fair. What chance has the second man got if the first man calls him a liar before he even begins talking?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cRight!\\u201d I cried exultantly. \\u201cOne hundred per cent right. It\\u2019s not fair. The first man has poisoned the well before anybody could drink from it. He has hamstrung his opponent before he could even start \\u2026 Polly, I\\u2019m proud of you.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cPshaws,\\u201d she murmured, blushing with pleasure.\\n\\n\\u201cYou see, my dear, these things aren\\u2019t so hard. All you have to do is concentrate. Think\\u2014examine\\u2014evaluate. Come now, let\\u2019s review everything we have learned.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cFire away,\\u201d she said with an airy wave of her hand.\\n\\nHeartened by the knowledge that Polly was not altogether a cretin, I began a long, patient review of all I had told her. Over and over and over again I cited instances, pointed out flaws, kept hammering away without letup. It was like digging a tunnel. At first, everything was work, sweat, and darkness. I had no idea when I would reach the light, or even if I would. But I persisted. I pounded and clawed and scraped, and finally I was rewarded. I saw a chink of light. And then the chink got bigger and the sun came pouring in and all was bright.\\n\\nFive grueling nights with this took, but it was worth it. I had made a logician out of Polly; I had taught her to think. My job was done. She was worthy of me, at last. She was a fit wife for me, a proper hostess for my many mansions, a suitable mother for my well-heeled children.\\n\\nIt must not be thought that I was without love for this girl. Quite the contrary. Just as Pygmalion loved the perfect woman he had fashioned, so I loved mine. I decided to acquaint her with my feelings at our very next meeting. The time had come to change our relationship from academic to romantic.\\n\\n\\u201cPolly,\\u201d I said when next we sat beneath our oak, \\u201ctonight we will not discuss fallacies.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cAw, gee,\\u201d she said, disappointed.\\n\\n\\u201cMy dear,\\u201d I said, favoring her with a smile, \\u201cwe have now spent five evenings together. We have gotten along splendidly. It is clear that we are well matched.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cHasty Generalization,\\u201d said Polly brightly.\\n\\n\\u201cI beg your pardon,\\u201d said I.\\n\\n\\u201cHasty Generalization,\\u201d she repeated. \\u201cHow can you say that we are well matched on the basis of only five dates?\\u201d\\n\\nI chuckled with amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons well. \\u201cMy dear,\\u201d I said, patting her hand in a tolerant manner, \\u201cfive dates is plenty. After all, you don\\u2019t have to eat a whole cake to know that it\\u2019s good.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cFalse Analogy,\\u201d said Polly promptly. \\u201cI\\u2019m not a cake. I\\u2019m a girl.\\u201d\\n\\nI chuckled with somewhat less amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons perhaps too well. I decided to change tactics. Obviously the best approach was a simple, strong, direct declaration of love. I paused for a moment while my massive brain chose the proper word. Then I began:\\n\\n\\u201cPolly, I love you. You are the whole world to me, the moon and the stars and the constellations of outer space. Please, my darling, say that you will go steady with me, for if you will not, life will be meaningless. I will languish. I will refuse my meals. I will wander the face of the earth, a shambling, hollow-eyed hulk.\\u201d\\n\\nThere, I thought, folding my arms, that ought to do it.\\n\\n\\u201cAd Misericordiam,\\u201d said Polly.\\n\\nI ground my teeth. I was not Pygmalion; I was Frankenstein, and my monster had me by the throat. Frantically I fought back the tide of panic surging through me; at all costs I had to keep cool.\\n\\n\\u201cWell, Polly,\\u201d I said, forcing a smile, \\u201cyou certainly have learned your fallacies.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cYou\\u2019re darn right,\\u201d she said with a vigorous nod.\\n\\n\\u201cAnd who taught them to you, Polly?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cYou did.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cThat\\u2019s right. So you do owe me something, don\\u2019t you, my dear? If I hadn\\u2019t come along you never would have learned about fallacies.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cHypothesis Contrary to Fact,\\u201d she said instantly.\\n\\nI dashed perspiration from my brow. \\u201cPolly,\\u201d I croaked, \\u201cyou mustn\\u2019t take all these things so literally. I mean this is just classroom stuff. You know that the things you learn in school don\\u2019t have anything to do with life.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cDicto Simpliciter,\\u201d she said, wagging her finger at me playfully.\\n\\nThat did it. I leaped to my feet, bellowing like a bull. \\u201cWill you or will you not go steady with me?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI will not,\\u201d she replied.\\n\\n\\u201cWhy not?\\u201d I demanded.\\n\\n\\u201cBecause this afternoon I promised Petey Bellows that I would go steady with him.\\u201d\\n\\nI reeled back, overcome with the infamy of it. After he promised, after he made a deal, after he shook my hand! \\u201cThe rat!\\u201d I shrieked, kicking up great chunks of turf. \\u201cYou can\\u2019t go with him, Polly. He\\u2019s a liar. He\\u2019s a cheat. He\\u2019s a rat.\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cPoisoning the Well ,\\u201d said Polly, \\u201cand stop shouting. I think shouting must be a fallacy too.\\u201d\\n\\nWith an immense effort of will, I modulated my voice. \\u201cAll right,\\u201d I said. \\u201cYou\\u2019re a logician. Let\\u2019s look at this thing logically. How could you choose Petey Bellows over me? Look at me\\u2014a brilliant student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an assured future. Look at Petey\\u2014a knothead, a jitterbug, a guy who\\u2019ll never know where his next meal is coming from. Can you give me one logical reason why you should go steady with Petey Bellows?\\u201d\\n\\n\\u201cI certainly can,\\u201d declared Polly. \\u201cHe\\u2019s got a raccoon coat.\\u201d\\n\\nFeature Story Writing Prompt:\\nCreate a modern Day version of \\u201cLove is a Fallacy.\\u201d What is the modern day \\u201craccoon coat?\\u201d How would this story be different in today\\u2019s terms? How arrogant can your narrator be? What choices will your characters make in action and conversation? Start with your ending at the beginning and tie it all together at the end.\\n\\nIf you are an author in search of readers or have comments about our show, contact us:\\nramblingverser@storyinstitute.com\\n\\n615-431-WRIT (9748)\\n\\nRemember to Imagine, Enhance, & Grow Your Stories @ www.storyinstitute.com'