A missing chapter from the novel "The Catcher in the Rye". Fanfic. |
Deleted Scenes: The Catcher in the Rye So sometimes when I'm real buzzed, and this is especially true when I'm in unusual places like Mr. Antolini's house, I kindof tend to have some goddam crazy dreams. And the thing about dreams is you never know when they're gonna come, and even when you do, chances are you won't even remember them in the morning. But this one, boy, this one was something, I'll tell ya that. I think the more strange or important a dream is the easier it might be to remember. That may be wrong, but it's just my theory. Anyways, so i was sleeping at Mr. Antolini's, and this dream just comes out of no where and hits me like a ton of bricks. It starts off all happy like. I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, and I think I mentioned this earlier, I'm just being the catcher in the rye is all. All the little children are just sort of playing around, and im just saving them all from falling off the edge. Like I said before, it's really all I can see myself doing when I'm older, so it started off happy. But as time went on things started to change. The kids started coming faster. Kids of all types. Fat, skinny, tall, short, sad, happy, real, phony, all alike. They just kept coming to the edge faster and faster and every time I'd save them but I was getting real tired you know, because I smoke, and smoking really bothers your endurance ya know? Anyways, they just kept coming, every second getting faster as if it were some sort of game. And not only were they just falling off by accident or anything, but they all just started walking, then running, then sprinting to the edge, and every time I'd have to stop them and push them back. Then they just started coming too fast, sprinting as fast as they could, eager to fall off the edge, wanting to fall off the edge, making my only goal in life seem meaningless. And then, I just sort of broke down, started crying, I know it's not very manly, but that's what I did. But I still kept saving them all. And then, I saw a kid I recognized. I saw my brother Allie standing right in front of me. I looked at him, needless to say extremely surprised considering he died and all, but instead of running off the cliff he just sort of stood there. And at the same time all the oncoming kids who I was about to save stopped too, like they were frozen in time. "What are you doing, Holden?" Allie asked with that gentle, peaceful, voice he always displayed. I didn't really know what to say back, and I didn't much like having tears in my eyes in front of my younger brother, I wouldn't want him to think I was a big wimp, so I sucked in my frustration and thought of a good response. "Well I'm saving these kids from falling off the edge. It's what I do Allie. It's all I've ever wanted. To protect kids like you. To be the catcher in the rye." I explained. "You can't do that Holden." Allie said to me. "You can't save these kids forever, just like you couldn't save me. We're going to come faster and faster as the days go by. We want to go off the edge, and in the end, nobody can prevent that. You have to let us go Holden. You can't be the catcher in the rye anymore." And just like that time un-froze, and the hundreds of children including Allie ran off the edge, and there was nothing I or anybody else could do to stop it. |