1

Madison McCrary
Writing 2

Everything Has Changed

By Madison McCrary

September 2020. It’s happened again. Another family forced to confront the traumatic and
devastating news of a family member losing their life to fentanyl. A community gathers to mourn
the loss of a son, brother, and a friend.

6 years earlier…[2014]

Baseball practice has just ended. Hayden goes home with his dad, who is the coach of the little
league team. While driving home, they see a police scene by Whitler Park with first responders
attempting to resuscitate a young man. Hayden’s dad, Ward, attempts to distract him by asking
how excited he is to go see the game between the SF Giants and the Kansas City Royals in game
seven of the World Series.

“Are you excited to see Bumgarner pitch tomorrow son? It should be a great game.”

“Yeah I’m really excited, especially since I can wear my new Bumgarner jersey”

“Dad, will that man be okay back there?”

Ward wanted to comfort his son and reassure him that the man would be okay, but with the
upsurge of recent overdoses in the area it's hard to believe that's the truth.

It’s October 29th, 2014 and Hayden and Ward have just arrived at the game. They got there early
to take in and appreciate one of the biggest days in baseball. If the Giants are able to win, they
will have secured three World Series titles in just five years. This was a very special day for
Hayden, especially since baseball has been his passion and aspires to become a professional
baseball player one day. Ward gets himself and Hayden two large hotdogs and root beers to
enjoy while they watch the team warm up and see the stands fill up.

[The game continues]

 2

The Giants were able to hold off the Royals from scoring all the way to the ninth inning, making
them the 2014 World Series Champions.

Hayden and Ward drive home still smiling as they debrief their favorite moments of the game.
Ward looks to his son with such contentment and feels thankful to share these beautiful life
memories with his son who shares his passion for baseball.

Both Hayden and Ward will keep this day close to their hearts and reflect on it as one of their
happiest days they shared together.

6 years later… [2020]

Ward has an incoming call from a random number. He chooses to answer the call.

“Hello, is this Ward Phillips father to Hayden Phillips?”

“Yes it is and who might this be?”

“This is Dr. Montgomery and you must come to the Sutter Hospital on Maple Street, it’s
a very urgent matter concerning the health of your son. We believe it’s an overdose. Please
hurry.”

Ward gets in his car in a frantic craze as he feels his heart sink in fear. He’s been well aware that
Hayden has had his struggles with getting into the wrong crowd and using drugs. Ward tried to
guide Hayden off this path, but was faced with great opposition. As a parent you can only do so
much to help your child especially once they become a young adult.

Ward arrives at the hospital and is given directions to Hayden’s hospital room. He opens the
door to see Hayden in a coma with his girlfriend Ella beside him, along with who he presumed to
be Dr. Montgomery.

“What is this? What happened? What did you do to my son?!?” Ward yells to Ella, who
he had only met once briefly.

“Mr. Philips, please calm down and follow me to another room” Dr. Montgomery says.

Dr. Montgomery and Ward walk into a room a couple doors down.
 3

“Now Mr. Philips, we have examined Hayden and determined his unconscious state to be
in direct effect of a Xanax overdose that was laced with fentanyl. We have stabilized him, but it
is unclear if he will wake up from this state. I am so sorry.”

“ I just don’t understand. I can't comprehend this as reality. I know Hayden has had his
struggles but I thought he was getting better?”

“I know and I am so truly sorry. Fentanly has been everywhere and in everything. Drug
dealers have been using fentanyl as a cheap substitute and it’s been on the rise especially ever
since around 2014.”

A week has passed since Hayden’s overdose and Ward must come to the decision himself since
Hayden’s mother had passed away a couple years ago and his other son was only six years old.
Eventually Ward realizes he doesn't want to make his son endure this pain for his selfish reasons.
Hayden was put off the ventilator, and eventually passed on September 18th, 2020.

Two years later … [2022]

It was Ward’s twelfth school assembly of the year thus far. He has been advocating for
awareness of the fentanyl epidemic and giving warnings to the youth in his area. Ward shares his
intimate story of the loss of his son Hayden when visiting the schools. At first the process was
very emotional for him, but as he continues advocating to children and teens everywhere, he
feels great strength and knows the importance of his work.

In his presentation, Ward gives the audience the grave details of the epidemic and how many
lives have been lost from fentanyl. Afterwards, he explains a list of possible solutions
policymakers can make to prevent these tragedies.

Ward gives an emphasis on a harm-reduction approach versus the use reduction approach. He
outlines the importance of placing liability on the producers of the drugs and giving them far
harsher penalties for their actions. In addition to that, providing test kits at clubs or events would
also reduce the chances of an overdose and stray people away from buying from dealers that lace
their product. Along with that, equipping the healthcare system with more accessible routes of
treatment for individuals would also be beneficial.

Ward has made this his life's purpose now. He wants to spread these messages as far as he can to
save as many lives as he can and to prevent more families from having to deal with the
heartbreak he will feel forever.
 4

Translating Genre’s

The article Addressing the Fentanyl Threat to Public Health, has the genre of a peer-

reviewed academic article, and for my translation I choose to make it into a short story. An

analysis of the article is important before diving into the specifics of the translation. The

academic article Addressing the Fentanyl Threat to Public Health by Richard G. Frank published

in The New England Journal of Medicine, is an informative piece regarding the fentanyl

epidemic currently sweeping through the United States. Frank outlines how fentanyl overdoses

have risen exceptionally, specifically since around 2014. Frank explains fentanyl to be a great

threat to America's health, and that it is vital for policymakers to create solutions to help solve

this problem. A main objective in the article is defining the difference between use reduction

solutions versus harm reduction solutions. Frank advocated for the implementation of harm

reduction solutions, meaning policies that would “make illicit markets more transparent,

strengthen incentives for drug suppliers to avoid introducing fentanyl into their products, and

increase the likelihood that overdoes can be reversed” (Frank & Pollack, 2017b). Overall, these

solutions would take away the harm of drug use with the hopes of decreasing the rates of

overdoses. From this, I translated the article into a short story that depicts the life of a young boy

named Hayden that has a close relationship to his father, Ward. The story establishes their bond,

but unfortunately takes a despairing turn of events that ends with Hayden losing his life due to a

fentanyl overdose.

To effectively create a genre translation, I closely researched reference texts of the short

story genre and utilized the class readings in Writing 2. After fully examining the article, I found

helpful short stories to use as reference texts to better understand the genre. The short stories I

referenced were Likable by Deb Olin Unferth, Sticks by George Saunders, and Miracles by Lucy
 5

Corin. The common theme in these short stories was their ability to effectively wrap up a

storyline in a short text. Each story sets up some background information, or they would just

jump into the storyline. Overall short stories can look very different with each individual author

having a different perspective on how they wish to tell their story. In short stories, or at least in

the three I've examined, short stories keep the reader intrigued with an amount of mystery to the

story. I used this idea and applied it to my opening statement to my story. The statement makes

the reader interested and wants to know more about how the story ends up that way.

Additionally, the short stories I’ve read usually make the reader reflect on life in some way. This

could either be emotional or philosophical, or anything of that sort. Since my article already has

a sad tone, I continued that tone into my short story. The story is very heartfelt, but in a sad way

since it deals with a great tragedy. I appreciated this tone because I feel it would make the reader

form a connection with the characters in a different way than a happy story would. While

creating the translation, I utilized the two class readings. The first reading I revisited while

making the short story was Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What were you

thinking? by Sandra L. Giles. I found this reading to be helpful for the organization of the short

story and what goals and topics I wanted to address. I utilized the “process note” to explain the

topics. After completing this note to the reader, I reflected on my story. My letter addressed each

topic I included in my story. Overall this helped keep my story on track and focused. The second

reading I applied to my process was Looking for Trouble by Catjerine Savini. This reading was

also helpful in its own way of helping me articulate and process the important problem or theme

for the story. The message is to show how this epidemic affected families and advocating for

solutions that will hopefully, if enacted, would be effective. It could also serve as a way to warn

people of the dangers of the drug market today and that you should not trust street drugs. This
 6

particular reading helped me find those questions to reach deeper for, and helped keep my

purpose for the short story.

When translating pieces of work into different genres, it is important to consider how an

audience can change as well. The article has a very straightforward language that does not overly

complicate the ability to understand the author. Therefore, this article can be easy to understand,

making it open to all readers of any background. Although, to gain access to The New England

Journal of Medicine, one must be a part of an institution that would give them access to the

website. Hence, this would affect the audience by making it only available to those that are a part

of an institution that pays for the subscription or they must pay for it themselves. Additionally, it

would be likely that the reader has an interest in reading academic articles. Another aspect of the

audience for the article would be an individual that is intrigued by the topic of fentanyl related

overdoses. This idea can be applied to the audience for the short story. With short stories, the

audience is likely interested in escaping into a world of mystery and reading the extent of a story

in a shorter amount of time compared to a long novel. These individuals perhaps do not have

time to read in a longer amount for one story and instead they appreciate shorter, more concise

material. The common thread in these audiences is their interest in sad stories that depict the

realities of the world. Although the audience of the short story does not yet know the full story,

they are intrigued by the idea of a family member losing their life to a fentanyl overdose.

Likewise, in the article the author grabs the attention of the audience by explaining the rise in

overdose. Each audience continues to read due to their attentiveness to the topic.

The example of my genre translation from an academic article to a short story can be seen

as adequate due to it falling in line with the criteria of a short story while keeping the key

takeaways of the article Although while in the process of the translation, it did present itself with
 7

some challenges. With short stories, a writer has a lot of creative freedom on how they want their

story to turn out like. A main theme in each story is that the storyline is wrapped up and leaves

the reader to reflect on certain topics. My short story leaves the reader to reflect on the

heartbreaking story of losing a family member, specifically from fentanyl. It can make someone

think of their own solutions to the problem as well, and become more aware in general of the

dangers of drug use. Additionally, since short stories can address an array of topics, readers can

oftentimes specifically look for a story that resonates with them or they can relate to. The

opening statement to my short story gives a preview as to how the story ends, therefore anyone

interested in such a topic would keep reading. This ideal is applied to any other short story

writers create. It is the idea that a short story can be any topic the writer wishes to expand more

about, leaving readers the opportunity to find stories that interest them. With that being said,

while translating into a short story it is important to carry on the key takeaways from the original

genre, in this case the academic article. The short story very clearly communicates the main

points from the article, specifically the article's point of the rising overdose numbers. I applied

this idea to the story with the introduction of overdose in Hayden and Ward’s immediate

surrounding area in the year 2014. Along with that, at the end of the story Ward decides to

advocate to youths about fentanyl overdose in his area by traveling to schools and giving

warnings about using drugs. Ward in the story puts an emphasis on harm reduction policies that

could help ensure less overdoses, which is a key point in the academic article. The greatest

challenge I faced while writing the translation between an academic article and the short story

was how I was going to apply the main points of the article in a storyline between a son and

father. Although after considering the reading Reflective Writing and the Revision Process:
 8

What were you thinking?, the process note the author conveys helped me exceptionally with my

organization of the short story and how I wanted the storyline to relate to the article.

Altogether, the genre translation from an academic article to a short story helped me

understand the creative process different genres must undergo in order to reach a certain

audience or convey key ideas.

Bibliography
 9

Frank, R. G., & Pollack, H. A. (2017). Addressing the Fentanyl Threat to Public Health.

The New England Journal of Medicine, 376(7), 605–607.

https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp1615145

Deb Olin Unferth | Likable. (n.d.). http://muumuuhouse.com/dou.fiction2.html

Sticks. (n.d.). https://www.unm.edu/~gmartin/535/Sticks.htm

Corin, L. (2011b, October 7). Miracles - Tin House. Tin House.

https://tinhouse.com/miracles-by-lucy-corin/