My Dad and the Flat Earth :: Personal Narrative Profile

My Dad and the Flat Earth   Today my start out tells us the earth is flat. He sits us down, the five of us, sits us down on the couch in the living room and tells us the earth is flat. Its not like he says, Boys. The earth is flat, and accordingly walks away. Its not like that at all. What he does is he takes the time to explain it to us. Even gives us visual aids. His hands become the earth. With his hands out forward us he shows us the exact shape of the earth. Its not flat, really, but saucer shaped. Almost bowl shaped. He shows us with his hands. His fingers bend up some and his thumbs bend in towards each other, so that his hands make a kind of bowl.   Where do we live? my oldest brother Sam asks. Here, says my father. in the bowl. Really?   Yeah, he says, with total confidence. Look. He starts pulling his slightly cupped hands upward towards the ceiling, slowly. He doesnt say anything as he performs this move. He wants us to watch it for a while. He doesnt l ook at his hands, he looks at us. Our reaction. We dont react.   This is how the earth moves, he says. it travels constantly upwards. Upward? says Len, my other older brother. Yes. Upward.   Towards what? Its me asking this time. I figure its my turn to speak. My father looks at me for a moment and I think hes angry. Im sorry I asked the question. Then this weird smile comes across his face and Im not sorry anymore. straight Im nervous. About my father. The thought occurs to me that my father has lost his caput and that this strange half-smile is the half-smile of a madman.   Thats a very good question, Rand. It is? A very good question. It shows youre using your mind. Losing my mind? Why? Using, she says. Oh. Using. The earth travels upwards but its not important where. It isnt? I was confused. He had just said that it was a good question, now he seemed to be saying it wasnt. No, he answers. What is important is what the earth moves in relation to.