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Speech
Jenny, A True Story

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This speech is based on a non-fiction book, Letters to Jenny, by science fiction/fantasy author, Piers Anthony.


Jenny daydreamed as she dressed for school. As she brushed the tangles out of her long flowing chestnut brown hair, she thought about today. She could hardly wait to show her painting of the unicorn family to Mrs. Anders. Jenny's art teacher had said she had real talent and wanted Jenny to take extra art classes. Jenny smiled, as she thought of this.

Then, with a sigh, she remembered the math test. She had forgotten to study again. Jenny hated math. Why couldn't life be like the fantasy world of her favorite author, Piers Anthony? Interrupting all of these thoughts, in walked Smokey, one of the family's eleven cats. As Smokey meowed for attention, Jenny bent to gently stroke him. Reaching for her glasses, Jenny remembered her busy day and finished dressing for school. A few minutes later, she was waving goodbye to her mother.

A few hours passed. It was 4:00 P.M. and Jenny's mother, Linda, was at work, concentrating on a puzzling computer problem. Annoyed, she reached for the insistently ringing phone. Was it her boss again? As she picked up the phone, something about the voice at the other end frightened Linda. "Something terrible has happened," said the policeman at the other end. One moment, Jenny had been skipping happily on her way home from school. The next, she had been struck down by a drunk driver and was being taken to the nearby hospital.

At this very moment, hundreds of miles away, Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth fantasy series was working quietly in his Florida home. He had no idea how his life was to become intertwined with those of Jenny and her family.

Time passed. Now, it was February 1989, three months after the day of Jenny's accident. Jenny lay in her bed in Acute Care and from the fog of her coma, she could sense the nurses and doctors, her parents and occasional other visitors. She knew they were there. Maybe, if she worked really hard, she could get people's attention and talk to them a little bit. Somehow, Jenny wasn't sure it was worth it. None of this was fair!

Her mother was reading a letter to her. What was she saying? "Dear Jenny, Your mother told me that you were in an accident and were in the hospital. I am Piers Anthony, the author of the Xanth series of fantasy novels." Piers Anthony was writig to her! Jenny laughed, for the first time since her accident. Yes, she would work at it. She would try to get better. Wait a minute! Her mother was reading something else. "I'm going to put you in my next story." He was even asking if Jenny wanted to be an ogre or an elf in the story. Of course, she wanted to be an elf and she would make sure her mother understood that.

As Jenny laughed, her mother smiled and laughed, too. Since the accident, she had been gloomy and desperate. It might be a long, hard road to climb, but she would have her little girl back.

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