Metacognition

Has Brent finally accepted his mistake? Advancing further into Runyon's recovery, he finally talks about his feelings toward his suicide attempt. Ultimately giving up on his excuses of why he did it he finally regrets his decision of hurting himself, as well as his family. "I kept thinking about it. I was in the bathroom and I had the gas can and the matches and I sat on the toilet. That's when I should've stopped it." (Page 105). His first signs of regret. This shows he is ready to accept his mistakes and carry on with his life learning from his mistakes. Though it still seems he is not yet ready to leave that part of him go. He plays the senario over and over again playing different scenarios of how that day could of played out. "I could have taken it off and gone back outside to play basketball with Craig... I could of just lit a little part of me on fire." (Page 105). Though we all live in the third dimension where time is continuous, a trip to the fifth dimension is what he needed.

I too have regrets. Getting in trouble with people, having fights and even making choices about what I should've eaten to not make me sick later. All those experiences had made me stay awake at nights thinking how it could've gone if I had done this or said that. As the times of mischievous Manuel have passed, I don't have to worry about getting into trouble for doing something bad or affecting myself or someone for acting out. Though now, as I have grown and matured, I spend sometimes wondering how an action would've affected my grades in classes and tests, more importantly in the PSATs and more important life decisions.

Brent, being only fourteen years old, might have not grasped the fundamental importance of how hurting one self can severely impact the future. Now having finally understood that his decision of hurting self was unwise, he will be thinking of recovering and learning from his mistakes. Maybe after all living in the fifth dimension wouldn't be that bad.