What is the story of my life

Her despair

Helen began to realize that she was different from others. She noticed that her mother and her friends did not use signs when they wanted anything. They moved their lips. Sometimes she touched their lips. She could not understand. She moved her lips without result. This made her angry. She screamed and kicked till she was exhausted. She knew she hurt Ella, her nurse, and was sorry. But this feeling did not prevent her from repeating the naughtiness when she failed to get what she wanted. Companionship with Martha

In those days Martha, the daughter of their cook, and their old dog, Belle, were her constant companions. Martha could easily understand her signs, and Helen could make her do what she wanted.

Martha was submissive and let Helen have her way, Helen was strong, active and unmindful of consequences. She always had her way. They spent a great deal of time in the kitchen, doing several activities. They fed the hens and turkeys. One day, one big turkey snatched a tomato from her and ran away with it. They took a fresh cake and shared the whole of it with the turkey. She was quite ill afterwards.

The guinea-fowl like to hide their nests in long grass. Helen felt too great delight in looking for them. When she wanted to go egg-hunting, she made signs to Martha, who understood her and went with her. When they found a nest, Helen would never let Martha carry the eggs home. She would make it clear to her by signs that she might fall and break them.

Making ready for Christmas was always a delight to Helen. They gave her and Martha tidbits to keep them quiet and out of the way. But they allowed them to grind spices and pick over raisins. But she was neither interested in the ceremony nor curious to look for her gifts in the morning.

Helen and Martha loved doing mischiefs. One afternoon, they were sitting on the veranda steps cutting out paper dolls. When they were tired of this amusement, Helen cut Martha's hair. Then Martha cut off one of Helen's curls. She would have cut them all off, but Helen's mother came there in time and stopped her. Belle

    Belle was an old dog. She was Helen's other companion. She had been a great hunter, but now she was old and lazy and liked to sleep by the open fire rather than to play with her. Helen tried hard to teach her sign language, but Belle was dull. Sometimes she would quiver with excitement, and then she became perfectly rigid, as dogs do when they paint a bird. Helen did not know why Belle acted in this way, but she knew that the dog was not doing as she wished. She would box her. Belle would go to the opposite side of the hearth and lie down again.

Catching fire

There were several incidents of those years that Helen could recall clearly. One day she spilled water on her apron. She spread it out to dry before a fire, but the apron did not dry as quickly as she wished. So, she went closer to the fire, and threw it over the hot ashes. The apron caught fire, and Helen made terrific noises. Her old nurse came to her rescue. She put out the fire. Helen was saved, though she burnt her hands and hair.

Using a key

By now, Helen had learned to use a key. One morning, she locked her mother in a room, where she had to remain locked for three hours. She kept beating the door, but Helen laughed and did not unlock the door. One day her mother sent her to give something to her teacher, Miss Sullivan, she went upstairs. She gave to Sullivan what her mother had sent her. Then she closed. The door and locked Miss Sullivan in. She hid the key and would not tell where it was. Her father used a ladder and rescued Miss Sullivan through a window.

Her father

Several times Helen was puzzled to find her father holding a sheet of paper before his face. She would put on his glasses and imitate her. It was years later that she learned that he had been editing one of the newspapers.

    Her father loved her. He was devoted to his home. He was a great hunter too, He was very hospitable and seldom came home without bringing a guest. He had a big garden where he raised watermelons and strawberries. He brought ripe grapes and berries to her. He was a famous storyteller, and after she had acquired language, he used to spell into her hands his funniest anecdotes.

She was in the North, when she heard the news of his death. He had died after a short illness. For the first time, Helen had personal experience with death.

Jealous of younger sister

 Helen had a doll which she called Nancy. She had many dolls that talked, and cried, opened and shut their eyes. But she loved Nancy most, who was also a helpless victim of her outburst of temper. Nancy had a cradle, and Helen spent an hour or more rocking her everyday.

Helen had a young sister, too, whom she regarded as an intruder. She constantly sat in her mother's lap. Helen felt jealous of her.

One day, she found her younger sister sleeping in the cradle. She was angry and overturned the cradle. The little girl might have been killed if her mother had not caught her as she fell. Later, Helen began to love her, and the two were always together.