Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus: Chapters 7–10

by Dusti Bowling
When her parents take jobs at a western theme park in Arizona, Aven gets caught up in a local mystery — and tries to adjust to a new school.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–10, Chapters 11–16, Chapters 17–26, Chapters 27–39
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. behalf
    benefit that will fall to someone other than yourself
    Mr. Jeffries had apparently learned his lesson and didn’t make any more pleas for help on my behalf.
  2. guillotine
    instrument of execution used for beheading people
    I didn’t have the energy to tell them my arms were chopped off in a guillotine or something like that.
  3. recite
    repeat aloud from memory
    Instead, I recited, “I have an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes malformation of the limbs.”
  4. genetic
    occurring among members of a family usually by heredity
    Instead, I recited, “I have an extremely rare genetic disorder that causes malformation of the limbs.”
  5. contagious
    (of disease) capable of being spread by infection
    The girls looked alarmed. “Is it contagious?” green-tank-top girl asked.
  6. ostracize
    avoid speaking to or dealing with
    I stop for a quick visit with Spaghetti, the poor mutant llama—Spaghetti, who understands how it feels to be ostracized by the other kids.
  7. captivated
    filled with wonder and delight
    I pretend to be captivated by something way off in the distance as I pass by Bob at the gold mine, careful not to make eye contact with him.
  8. insignificant
    devoid of importance, meaning, or force
    I am an entirely insignificant event in the life of this cactus.
  9. opt
    select as an alternative over another
    I opted for the longer, quieter route—anything to avoid more stares.
  10. pang
    a sudden sharp feeling
    I felt a pang of loneliness as I scanned a row of books, searching for an exciting adventure story to take me away.
  11. revelation
    an enlightening or astonishing disclosure
    Back home in Kansas, my great-grandma had gotten me an e-reader for Christmas. That e-reader was like a revelation for me. No more cumbersome pages; I could just slide my toe effortlessly across the screen to turn the page.
  12. cumbersome
    difficult to handle or use, especially because of size or weight
    Back home in Kansas, my great-grandma had gotten me an e-reader for Christmas. That e-reader was like a revelation for me. No more cumbersome pages; I could just slide my toe effortlessly across the screen to turn the page.
  13. excel
    distinguish oneself
    I decided to go back to my book. I excelled at ignoring people.
  14. stammer
    speak haltingly
    I hadn’t thought the guy’s cheeks could get any redder, but they did. “Yeah,” he stammered. “I’m sorry.”
  15. syndrome
    a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
    “Are you making fun of me?”
    “Oh, no.” He barked again. “I can’t help it. I have Tourette syndrome.”
  16. neurology
    the branch of medicine that deals with the nervous system
    The boy cleared his throat, barked and then said, “Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary motor or oral tics.”
  17. involuntary
    not subject to the control of the will
    The boy cleared his throat, barked and then said, “Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes involuntary motor or oral tics.”
  18. amputate
    remove surgically
    “Were they amputated for some reason?” Usually people pretended they didn’t notice my missing arms at all or acted all weird about it like those girls at lunch yesterday.
  19. gape
    look with amazement
    He gaped at me. “What?”
  20. flush
    sudden reddening of the face
    I blushed. My skin is so fair even the slightest flush to my cheeks makes me bright red—I was probably neon right now.
  21. idiopathic
    (of diseases) arising from an unknown cause
    I once Googled “excessive blushing” and found out there’s a terrifying name for my condition: idiopathic craniofacial erythema.
  22. ponder
    reflect deeply on a subject
    “No, I just tell stories like that about my arms. Though, come to think of it, losing my arms in a tornado would be a great story. I can see how a tornado could suck them right up.” I pondered this for a moment. “I’ll have to think of one later.”
  23. cringe
    draw back, as with fear, pain, or embarrassment
    I cringed. “That’s terrible.”
    Connor shrugged. “I think some of them assume I do it for attention, but I don’t care. Most people I meet think I’m doing it deliberately at first.”
  24. faze
    disturb the composure of
    The most popular look I get is the one I like to call the "I'm so cool nothing fazes me, not even your missing arms" look.
  25. blase
    nonchalantly unconcerned
    These people are just way too blasé about it. I mean, come on, you really don't notice my missing arms? Because I can tell you do by how you refuse to look at my torso like the whole sun is sitting on my chest.
  26. scurry
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    Her mom’s head shot up from reading the label on a box of instant oatmeal. She saw what was going on and grabbed her cart and daughter and scurried away.
  27. kiosk
    small area set off by walls for special use
    Connor didn’t have to go through a kiosk or anything like that as he entered the park because admission was free—all the money made was from paying for the many “attractions” we had.
  28. morbid
    suggesting the horror of death and decay
    In fifth grade, I had come to the realization that it was far more productive for me to channel my creative storytelling into songwriting than to only use it to shock people with morbid horror stories about my armlessness.
  29. somber
    serious and gloomy in character
    His expression turned somber, and I was instantly sorry I had asked.
  30. malfunction
    a failure to work normally
    “Oh,” I said. “That’s really weird. Why does it do that?”
    Connor shrugged. “It’s some kind of malfunction in my brain.”
  31. sole
    not divided or shared with others
    Since none of the other kids wanted to pet him, I felt like it was my sole responsibility to improve his ego.
  32. nuzzle
    gently rub or push one's nose or face against something
    I stopped when I reached Spaghetti and nuzzled my face to his.
  33. tarantula
    a large hairy tropical spider with fangs
    Henry just chuckled again and did that same little hand wave like he had when I’d told him I didn’t know anything about tarantulas.
  34. verge
    the limit beyond which something happens or changes
    I led him down the short trail until we reached the old wooden shed. It looked like it was on the verge of collapse—much like several of the other buildings at the park.
  35. brittle
    having little elasticity
    The pages made brittle crinkling sounds as Connor turned them.
Created on Wed Oct 30 20:54:44 EDT 2019 (updated Thu Nov 07 15:42:49 EST 2019)

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