"The Sidewalk" By Steve Allen

English 6
“The Sidewalk” By Steve Allen
Short story paragraph # 1

        This story is about a strange, but intelligent boy named Seventy. Seventy comes up with a plan to outwit a certain person known around town. His name was Nick. He had a strong gambling habit, and Seventeen knew it. In this way, he took advantage of his knowledge, and used Nick to win $25 out of him. His plan was to buy some cream of chicken soup, and splash it over a freshly cleaned cement square. After doing this, he would ‘accidentally bump’ into Nick, start conversing, and then run into the spilled soup. Now this is where Seventeen’s wits start supporting his sneaky plan. Seventeen started speaking of how daring Nick is. Speaking to a friend, Seventy says, “This guy’ll kill you. He bets on anything. Funny thing is, he usually wins,” and “I’m telling you, there’s nothing this guy won’t bet on” This shows admiration, and is supposed to make Nick feel confident in himself. It is meant to make gambling seem like a positive, and brave act.