Harris and Me: A Summer Remembered

Although the protagonist has only been on the farm for two weeks, as the chapter opens, it is beginning to feel like an eternity and like “any concept of an outside world [is] lost” (46). The day starts like any other: getting into trouble. Harris and the protagonist play Cowboys and Indians, and the protagonist reveals that he hides a six-shooter under his bed. Harris surprisingly shows no interest in using it for play, and he instead leads the protagonist towards where he is hiding a butcher knife. The protagonist warns him against it, and Harris complains about the existence of rules. Harris uses the knife to chop wood off some willow trees, which the boys use to fashion some arrows.

Soon, the protagonist realizes that Harris does not intend to shoot inanimate objects, but rather aims for the pigs, cows, and horses. He hesitates at first, but upon remembering the attacks he suffered from Vivian the cow and Ernie the rooster, he agrees. They begin shooting the arrows at the pigs and chickens, either missing or barely hurting them. With one arrow remaining, Harris shoots and accidentally hits Buzzer the lynx. Buzzer and Harris end up in a tussle which is only stopped by the sound of