... which may have been anything from rheumatic fever, asthma or a form of nonparalytic polio. During these first years of his life as he laid in his bed he listened to stories his mother told him of the cholera epidemic of 1832; people buried alive, and entire families dying in a matter of days. At the age of 12 Bram left his home to attend school at Dublin's Rutland Square ... and whose ridicule seemed to bite; buoyant with the joy of life; self-conscious; an offensive egoist envy in his love-making; of supreme and unsurpassable insolence, veiled and shrouded in his fine quality of manner...

• Word Count: 2122
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School