Flush by Carl Hiaasen Journal Entry

Dear Mr. W,

Today in Flush, Noah was unfortunately trapped inside the main setting of the chapter: the women’s bathroom on the Coral Queen. He describes it as basically a closet with barely enough room to sit and do your business. It smelled like a combination of Clorox bleach, bathroom, and Shelley’s tangerine perfume. (Shelley was in the bathroom with him for a short time.) There is an “Out of Order” sign hanging on the outside of the door. In the bathroom there was a sink, and Noah had to brace his feet against it to keep an 85-year-old lady from coming in the bathroom while he was in there.

Noah is in the bathroom while the Coral Queen is open one night. He can hear the noise of the casino - the slot machines and the band. He sneaked on board before the boat opened at 7:00 and stayed in the bathroom for about an hour, I’m guessing, to flush enough times for his plan. Then he made a break for it.

Noah is sort of disgusted that he’s in the “Mermaid’s” bathroom. He’s also nervous about getting caught, but he also knows that his father would be proud of him. I think that knowledge makes Noah somewhat brave. When the old lady started banging on the door, he was confused that she ignored the out of order sign. He was scared when he was being chased by the two bouncer goons and he jumped off the boat.

I’m a little nervous for Noah. At the end of the chapter, Noah jumped off the boat to freedom yelling, “Geronimo!” At first Noah believes he was jumping to "sweet freedom," but then the chapter ends with, “Or so I told myself...” To me that means Noah thinks everything is going to be okay, but later he learned that no, in fact there was going to be a problem of some sort. What that problem is, however, I don’t know.

Sincerely,
Brian 6th Grader