Background:"I don't know what I'm writing, what I'm doing. I'm not even writing, I'm thinking these words, stray thoughts scribbling out to you. I don't know what this is. I don't know. It's a life story, by me, age eighteen... the important parts anyway."
To elaborate, Lost at Sea's narrative is a bit odd. It takes place from Raleigh's point of view, but she elaborates in a very strange way. It's as if she's having a conversation with the reader rather than telling story, and she's simply trying to come up with the details off her own head. Events are told out of sync, and Raleigh has a way of explaining things in the vaguest way possible. Regardless, she does have a background, albeit very vague.
Raleigh's story does not begin with her being born, or with her parents. According to her, she was born a very normal child. She does not talk much about her parents, or even mention their names for that matter. They divorced when Raleigh was in middle school. Her mother is a woman who worries about her image, and although Raleigh lives with her she has no idea what she does for a living. After the divorce, her mother went on to find a very successful job and became very financially successful. The only time she mentions her father is during a flashback. Raleigh describes him as an "emotional hobo", and that he was a better father than he was a husband.
The story begins, supposedly, with her best friend. Her name was Claire, and they met during the third grade. Raleigh doesn't remember how they became friends. Claire was everything Raleigh wasn't. She was confident, faster and stronger, a leader. They would always play outside with their "boy activities". Claire would always leave, and Raleigh would always follow. They were both from two different worlds, but Claire never resented Raleigh. She accepted her. And Raleigh was always willing to tag along.
Things were weird for Raleigh back then. Around the same time, the people at the school took her out of class and told her that she was gifted. They put her in the class with other kids, ones that the teachers told her were put there in order to make her feel better. They met once a week, and she states that it was probably her favorite class. It really put her in a weird frame of mind. She thought she was special, and it took her a long time to see how much it "totally fucked her up."
Her childhood was simple. By middle school, however, things started to fall apart. In grade six, Raleigh was put into another gifted class. However, this class was much larger. And there were real gifted kids this time, no fake ones. Raleigh wasn't special any more. What could have been interpreted as a new way to interact, a way to relate to others, Raleigh saw something else. She was resentful. Age eleven and she was completely disillusioned.
Grade eight came. The marriage between her parents was falling apart, and worse of all Claire had to move away. Raleigh has never truly forgotten about her former best friend. While she has a terrible memory, she somehow manages to remember just how long it has been since she's last seen Claire.
The marriage was over by the following summer. Her father moved to California. Her mother was at an impasse. During the summer before high school, Raleigh's mother took her on a trip to Mondestro, California, to stay at her Aunt's. Once they came back, things began to pick up. Her mother found a new job and financial success. She paid for a new house, a new Mac, everything. More importantly, it put Raleigh in Sturton Academy, a private school.
Raleigh found that she had broken from her old life almost overnight. The friends she had at the time were cut off. Raleigh stopped talking to them, and soon she fell out of contact. Raleigh went through Sturton Academy, quiet, unnoticed, with few friends. That was until her eleventh grade English teacher told her to visit a writing forum on the internet.
Everything changed. And that's when she met Stillman.
Raleigh never divulges much about Stillman. She says that he's a couple years older, in university and American. She met him from that very same forum she was told to use. They started to talk, both on the internet and on the phone. They talked about everything, and Raleigh didn't have to worry about messing up. Raleigh felt safe. They were talking for over a year before it happened. Raleigh was graduating, and Stillman had invited her to stay over with him in California. And Raleigh, trusting him fully, agreed.
So Raleigh lied to her mother and told her she was going to see her father. She bought a ticket. Raleigh thought her time there would be perfect.
And it was. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. From the moment she got there to the Up until when she had to leave, where Stillman dropped her off at the train station but couldn't stay because he had to work. Until she found a letter in the bag of her suitcase, addressed to her from Stillman. As she found it, Raleigh found herself crying, sobbing so hard that she completely forgot about her train. That letter threw her out to sea without a life preserver.
Raleigh / Lost at Sea / Not Reserved
To elaborate, Lost at Sea's narrative is a bit odd. It takes place from Raleigh's point of view, but she elaborates in a very strange way. It's as if she's having a conversation with the reader rather than telling story, and she's simply trying to come up with the details off her own head. Events are told out of sync, and Raleigh has a way of explaining things in the vaguest way possible. Regardless, she does have a background, albeit very vague.
Raleigh's story does not begin with her being born, or with her parents. According to her, she was born a very normal child. She does not talk much about her parents, or even mention their names for that matter. They divorced when Raleigh was in middle school. Her mother is a woman who worries about her image, and although Raleigh lives with her she has no idea what she does for a living. After the divorce, her mother went on to find a very successful job and became very financially successful. The only time she mentions her father is during a flashback. Raleigh describes him as an "emotional hobo", and that he was a better father than he was a husband.
The story begins, supposedly, with her best friend. Her name was Claire, and they met during the third grade. Raleigh doesn't remember how they became friends. Claire was everything Raleigh wasn't. She was confident, faster and stronger, a leader. They would always play outside with their "boy activities". Claire would always leave, and Raleigh would always follow. They were both from two different worlds, but Claire never resented Raleigh. She accepted her. And Raleigh was always willing to tag along.
Things were weird for Raleigh back then. Around the same time, the people at the school took her out of class and told her that she was gifted. They put her in the class with other kids, ones that the teachers told her were put there in order to make her feel better. They met once a week, and she states that it was probably her favorite class. It really put her in a weird frame of mind. She thought she was special, and it took her a long time to see how much it "totally fucked her up."
Her childhood was simple. By middle school, however, things started to fall apart. In grade six, Raleigh was put into another gifted class. However, this class was much larger. And there were real gifted kids this time, no fake ones. Raleigh wasn't special any more. What could have been interpreted as a new way to interact, a way to relate to others, Raleigh saw something else. She was resentful. Age eleven and she was completely disillusioned.
Grade eight came. The marriage between her parents was falling apart, and worse of all Claire had to move away. Raleigh has never truly forgotten about her former best friend. While she has a terrible memory, she somehow manages to remember just how long it has been since she's last seen Claire.
The marriage was over by the following summer. Her father moved to California. Her mother was at an impasse. During the summer before high school, Raleigh's mother took her on a trip to Mondestro, California, to stay at her Aunt's. Once they came back, things began to pick up. Her mother found a new job and financial success. She paid for a new house, a new Mac, everything. More importantly, it put Raleigh in Sturton Academy, a private school.
Raleigh found that she had broken from her old life almost overnight. The friends she had at the time were cut off. Raleigh stopped talking to them, and soon she fell out of contact. Raleigh went through Sturton Academy, quiet, unnoticed, with few friends. That was until her eleventh grade English teacher told her to visit a writing forum on the internet.
Everything changed. And that's when she met Stillman.
Raleigh never divulges much about Stillman. She says that he's a couple years older, in university and American. She met him from that very same forum she was told to use. They started to talk, both on the internet and on the phone. They talked about everything, and Raleigh didn't have to worry about messing up. Raleigh felt safe. They were talking for over a year before it happened. Raleigh was graduating, and Stillman had invited her to stay over with him in California. And Raleigh, trusting him fully, agreed.
So Raleigh lied to her mother and told her she was going to see her father. She bought a ticket. Raleigh thought her time there would be perfect.
And it was. It was perfect. Everything was perfect. From the moment she got there to the Up until when she had to leave, where Stillman dropped her off at the train station but couldn't stay because he had to work. Until she found a letter in the bag of her suitcase, addressed to her from Stillman. As she found it, Raleigh found herself crying, sobbing so hard that she completely forgot about her train. That letter threw her out to sea without a life preserver.