I wrote the attached story, “The Path,” in 1985, for an American Literature class assignment. I was a 10th grade junior high school student at the Beaver Country Day School, in Chestnut Hill, MA.

The assignment was to write a short story in the style of either Hemingway or Faulkner. I chose Hemingway because I had been devouring his novels for a semester, particularly The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms.

If you are a Hemingway fan, here it is, for your reading enjoyment. It’s probably the best short story I ever wrote, or possibly ever will write. I guess I peaked as a writer at age 15.

Beaver was a wonderful school that really celebrated creativity and enabled kids to explore their interests. Today it is an even more amazing school – perhaps the most high-tech, creative and inspiring learning environment for kids that I have ever seen in fact. It should be the model for all junior high school and high school education in the USA.