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                       Ernest HemingwayÕs True at First Blush

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         I have a confession to make.  I have been posting a story.  First I 
called it ÒTorrid TeenÓ.  Then I called it ÒTorrid TeensÓ and finally ÒTorrid 
TweensÓ.  ThatÕs what happens, I guess, when youÕre a con artist.  YouÕre 
never quite sure what to call material youÕre palming off as youÕre own.
         Well, perhaps Òcon artistÓ is too harsh a term.  I mean, I wasnÕt 
trying to do any harm or anything.  But after going to chapel today I finally 
decided to come clean.
         And what a day I chose for it!  Last December I began receiving the 
following story anonymously, from a contact in the publishing world who 
withheld his name.  Today, as I was preparing to confess that this story is 
not in fact by me but was an anonymously written story, that was sent to 
me, I received an important tip.  It came from two sources who withheld 
their names, but I feel their information is reliable.
         The following story, previously titled ÒTorrid TweensÓ, is actually 
titled ÒTrue at First BlushÓ.  ItÕs a story Ernest Hemingway wrote when he 
was a boy in junior high school.  Naturally it isnÕt as accomplished as his 
later work but it is, I think youÕll agree, more interesting than some tale 
about the Spanish civil war.
         So, I present to you, the most recently acquired chapters of ÒTrue at 
First Blush.Ó  Please donÕt think that because IÕm posting this from a 
psychiatric ward has any effect on the veracity of my information about 
this story.  IÕm only here temporarily, until I convince the doctors that I 
really am Jesus Christ.

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Copyright 2001 by Andrew Roller.