By;
Jessica Singleton
" Hope is thing with feathers -
that perches in the soul. -
and sings the tune without the words.
And never stops at all.
And sore must be the storm ,
that could abash the little bird,
that kept so many warm. " - Emily Dickinson
Winter Garden
1
Once upon a time, there lived a kind old man. He was a tailor by trade. He made mens shoes in the villiage near his home. The kind old man had a hobby of cutting word into figures and puppets.
He owned a beautiful cottage house in the woods. Outside of his cottage house was a beautiful white garden. The garden made the world look like winter year round.
The garden was planted by the man's wife before she died ten years before.
Only white flowers and white pumpkins grew.
The old man loved his life but he was older. He wanted to move into the city and retire. He wanted to live near his son.
So the older man sold his home to a younger man who had his own son.
2
" Get out of the car and do not play with anything. We are only here to look. I want this house. I do not want you messing anything up with all your nonsense. Do I make myself clear? "
The small boy looked to young for his age. He was very pale and that gave him angelic features. The boy was short and thin too. He looked like clay animation cartoon from a vintage creepy show of freaks. In his own way he was beautiful and perfect. Even if the world around him did not notice.
The boys name was Henry. Henry never met his mother. He assumed that he did not have one at all.
His father was a serious man that never smiled. By the time , Henry thought to say yes or anything, it was too late again.
His father was irritated that Henry had not responded in time.
His father was grunting something as he got out of the car.
The elderly man was walking towards them. He looked older then time. The elderly man's name was John.
John was a tall thin man who smelled of new leather and coffee. He had kind eyes.
John smiled at the boy. No one ever smiled at Henry. Henry blinked but his attention was caught by the wooden puppets that hung on the wall.
The older man turned to see what Henry was looking at. He smiled and said to the boy,
" Those are my hobbys. I guess all I need is a talking cricket. haha... No but would you like one? I have so many. They pile up anymore. I have a lot to move from my shop and home. I have a son that is about your dad's age. "
Henry smiled and shook his head.
John took the three puppets off the wall.
One had on red painted cover alls, one had a silver button, and one puppet had a funny hat.
" You can have your pick."
Henry looked them over but the one he liked the best had red pants. So he picked the one on the end.
Henry's dad walked up to them.
" I am so sorry. You do not have to give him toys. He is 13 years old not five. He knows better and he has a room full of toys. Really this is not needed. I am so sorry. "
" No ... no... No trouble at all. The boy was helping me out. I ask him to take some of this old junk off my hands. Look at me... I'm in my 80's and I still play with stringed puppets. I do not think they have an age limit. Do they Henry? "
" Yes. "
" Yes, did you just speak? I cannot get one word out of you the whole way here. Then you talk now."
John smiled at the boy and said, " I cannot imagine why. Fall makes everyone sleepy. When I am sleepy, I do not talk either. "
Henry knew what the old man was getting at. He was not talking about fall.
They walked into the back of the shoe shop to a desk. The man gave Henry's dad Bill a map and directions to the old house.
They agreed to meet there.
Bill drove behind John and they went to see the house.
Bill apologized for the garden. It had grown wild through the years.
The paperwork did not take long at all. The house was their new home.
Just like that in a blink of an eye.
It was cleaned for them. Henry went to his new room. He put his puppet with his teddy bear.
Henry had an old bear that he could not live without. Now he had two friends.
The bear's name was Mustard. Only because Henry loved Mustard. Henry sat and stared at his new puppet for about an hour. What would he name it?
Finally, Henry pretended that Mustard suggested the name, Pencil. Mustard told Henry it was because the puppet was made out of pencil wood and it already had been colored in.
Bill ordered pizza for them. When Henry came downstairs with his new puppet, Bill ask his son to take his toy away from the table.
" That belongs in a toy box , when you're not playing with it. I have told you about that crap at the dinner table. Take him back. "
Henry shook his head no.
Bill stood up and he grabbed the puppet. He threw it out the front door into the yard.
" When you're done eating, then you can go get him. If you still want him. It may rain. I would not want that junk getting messed up. This will teach you to do as you are told. "
Henry took a big bite of pizza. Then he got up from the table and he went outside to sit in the yard with his toy. Henry sat on the ground with the puppet and he rocked back and forth.
Bill waited until it was dark, then he went into the yard, and he picked up his child and the toy to bring them back into the house.
Henry's body was small and light. So he looked more like a toddler, then a teenager.
Bill looked like he did not know how to feel guilt. So he felt anger. He took off and then came home drunk.
3
Henry's dad stayed out of the house from then on out. He was never home.
Henry was a sad little boy. He did not like being yelled at. So he did not like it when his father came home. But Henry felt alone and he wished that he had someone to talk to.
So Mustard and Pencil went to the garden with Henry. They drew faces on the pumpkins...
Then they had their own family.
When it was dark and the moon was in the sky, the dark teal leaves looked like Sapphires.
Henry stayed out later and later, until he got sick.
Henry was so weak that he could not get out of bed.
No one cared.
No one except Pencil and Mustard. They talked to the boy on and off again.
Finally one night the boys father came home.
He ask Henry if he needed anything?
Henry ask for his teddy bear.
Mustard was across the room.
Henry's dad started to yell again.
" You are not a child. Why do you think that you need a teddy bear to sleep with? Would you act your age. Most boys your age are into girls by now."
Henry was too afraid to cry. So he hid his face under the covers.
Bill went to bed and left Henry alone.
The next day Bill took Henry into town, to see a doctor.
The doctor gave Henry the medication to make him feel better and to heal him.
Henry got better and he was happy.
With Henry's dad out of the house and away from the mail box, Henry got the mail out.
One day Henry got an envelope from a woman who claimed to be his mother.
Henry could not figure out why, his father was keeping him from his mother. Mother's were supposed to be good things.
So Henry wrote the woman back.
Henry's letter was in crayon.
Henry drew pumpkins on the bottom of the paper.
Henry wanted his mother to know that he existed too.
Then when Henry's mom found out that the boy was sick due to his father's lack of being around to watch him, she gained full custody.
Then Henry had a mom.
She really did care about him.
Henry was never yelled at again.
And Henry was allowed to have Pencil and Mustard at the dinner table.
The End
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