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Home >> Index Pages >> Informational Pages >> Discount Computer Systems >> News >> Collection of Essays from Scholarship 2006 >> 

Ross Solomon

The Castle
- By Ross Solomon



"I must kill Nazi's, mother!"
"No, my son. you are just not old enough."
"But mother, please!"
"NO! You are not old enough, Ross!"
"Very well..."

A child of poverty, living his entire life solving puzzles with his buddy Chip, Ross had wanted nothing more than to kill the Nazi scum that had invaded a nearby castle only weeks before. They had taken the mind of his older brother weeks before and Ross desired ever so much to avenge his loss. He knew he had what it took, the only obstacle was a terminal showing a black console on the screen at the entrance of the castle. The only people Ross knew of that had access to the castle through this terminal was his brother and mother.

For weeks at a time, Ross would pound commands he thought would grant him access to the Nazi stronghold into the terminal console.
Enter Castle
Access Nazi Fortress

These commands, along with dozens of others, were typed in, but the response was always the same:


Bad Command or File Name

Ross did not understand these words, but he knew that they were not getting him any closer to avenging the loss of his brother's mind...

One day, Ross noticed a window pane with the numbers '3' and '1' gleaming next to the black terminal. Moving in for a closer look, he realized that this window allowed free access to an empty room with thousands of doors lining its walls and a single sign in the middle that read "File Manager." Ross, being only seven at the time, did not understand at all what this meant, but it did not matter.

Opening each door one by one just a crack, Ross peered into each one, hoping that one would lead him to the heart of the evil Nazi stronghold. Unfortunately for him, more often than not the rooms he looked into contained nothing but papers that he was not even close enough to deciphering. "They must be in German," he thought as he would continue on, closing the last door he opened and peering around the shrouded corner of the next. He would do this for a few hours each day, returning home before his bed time so his mother would not become suspicious.

One day, on the morning of a cold winter day only five days before Christmas, Ross peered into a dimly lit room that contained only one sign in the middle that read "Wolf." He walked in and looked at it cautiously before deciding that it would not hurt him to tap the sign, just once.

It did nothing.

"Maybe two taps won't hurt," he thought. At first it appeared as if nothing happened, but then a low rumble began. It grew louder and more consistent until everything faded to red around him. All of the sudden he found himself somehow in a completely different room.

All of the sudden a small pistol appeared in front of him, and, more amazing than that, he knew how to use it! He peered around the nearest corner and saw an unsuspecting Nazi strolling toward his position. Ross darted around the corner and pumped several rounds into the Nazi, who subsequently fell to the ground with a fading German cry.

Worried about his mother being angry at him for missing his bedtime, Ross ran back to the red room he started in and tapped a button on the ground that faded out of the castle and back to the room next to the corridors. He ran out, making note of all of the steps it took him to arrive at the castle, climbed out the Window marked with a '3' and '1,' and arrived home just in time for the clock to strike 9, his strictly enforced bed-time.

"Mother, mother! Guess what!" Ross shouted excitedly to his mom.
"Its time for bed?" She replied. Ross rolled his eyes.
"No! I finally did it! I got into Castle Wolfenstein and there's nothing you can do about it!"

From then on, Ross's mother tried and tried to close off the window to the "File Manager" room, but Ross just kept finding new and creative ways around her blocks until she finally gave up and he was free to kill Nazi's anytime he pleased, as long as it was before bedtime. A few weeks later, Ross's older brother seemed to regain his mind, probably because he had gotten tired of invading the castle for 15 hours a day.


References: | Scholarship 2006 Winners and Participants |

Related Items: | Jason Kao | Ryan Dodge | Richard Evans | Alex Rosolowsky | Eryn Cangi | Andrew W. Leonard | Feleg Tsegaye | Maria Khan | Pierce Schiller | Hang Zhang | Manuel Sosa | Jay Xiao | Tomasz Zarebczan | Zaphod Beeblebrox | Brian Gruening | Ross Solomon | Kyle Romero | Eshcole Peets | Ruth Maynie | Michael Schatte |


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