By;
Jessica Singleton
" I lost a world the other day. Oh find it SR. for me. " - Emily Dickinson
" If you are really good and do your best, then you to can be a real boy. " - Pinocchio
Wooden Hope
1
Chi got out of the coach with one suitcase and one toy bear. He was tired from his journey. Life was as empty as a bag of air sometimes. It can make your shoulders feel like they are caring at least 100 pounds though.
Chi's life had changed in the blink of an eye. His parents died two months before his journey. There was no warning. Life just walked up and knocked on his door one night and it took away his family. There was nothing he could do. A social worker told Chi that he could live with his great uncle Michael. Michael was the only family that Chi had left. But Chi did not know his uncle.
Michael walked up to his nephew and he shook his hand.
" So you are my great nephew. I have only heard about you in letters. This must be your toy bear. Someone will come from the house and they will attend to your things. You can leave them there on the porch. "
Chi looked at his feet in silence. Michael had started to turn around towards the door but he stopped when he saw the look on Chi's face.
" Chi what is the matter? Are you okay? "
Chi would not make eye contact with Michael but you could see the tears that he held back.
" This is all I have. I lost everything in my life. I never had much anyway. Monkey Pickles goes everywhere that I go. He makes me feel safe. I do not want to leave him outside. I'm afraid that he will not be there when I come back out here. Someone might forget him and then he might disappear too. "
Michael was not used to children. He ran the city morgue. Most of the people that he saw were already dead. Michael lived in an old Victorian house with his wife. They traveled a lot and they lived in silence. It had been years since Michael had seen a child. He realized that he was talking in a serious tone and that he was an old man compared to this boy. This child was his family. Chi had lost his parents. Michael made himself smile. This was new. Dealing with the living.
" I am sorry Chi. Forgive me. I am not used to talking much. Life is slow these days for me. You are home now. If it would make you happy then you can bring in your own things, into the house. That is fine. I will tell everyone that we will not disturb Mr. Monkey Pickles is it? Tell me why do you call him that name if he is a bear? "
" I love Pickles. They are my favorite food. I always wanted a monkey. So I call him Monkey Pickles. .. "
" Oh I see. That is nice. No problem then. Come into the house. Tell me about yourself. I want to know what you like to do."
" I like to read. I do not have a lot of books but I like to read. "
" Read.... I have a grand library in my home. Those books are a little older then you but you can look. Just do not lose or tare them up."
" I would never tare up a book. Thank you though. "
" What is your favorite book ?"
" It is a tie between Oliver Twist and Pinocchio . The book about the toy puppet that wanted to be real. And the other book is about an orphan boy who is always lost among the rest of the world. Everyone around him is bad and he is always finding a way to survive."
" That is nice. "
They went into the house.
Chi was a thin boy that looked like he two years younger just because of his size.
Chi's days were spent wondering around the house. Then he found the library one day.
Chi found a book by Mark Twain. It was about two little boys who were fun to read about. Tom and Huck.
One day Chi found a stray cat wondering around outside.
Chi ask his aunt if he could have the cat as a pet.
She was fond of cats and she loved her nephew like he was her own son. So she said yes.
Chi named the grey stripped cat Twain. One night Chi stayed up late reading more adventures about Tom and Huck. When he finally got around to turning out the lamp, Twain jumped into bed with him. Twain became his best friend.
The next morning when Chi woke up, he smelled something yummy. His aunt Carroll was making fresh biscuits and they were covered with honey and grits. Warm milk with ginger was served with the biscuits.
Chi's aunt said Happy Birthday to Chi.
Chi did not expect much. He was not used to anyone celebrating his birthday.
That night when Chi finished his dinner, his aunt brought out a cake for his birthday. Chi did not know that cakes came in chocolate. Chocolate was a bean that made tiny candies. Carroll said it was a birthday cake.
Then his uncle gave him two boxes to open.
One box had a toy puppet made of wood. It looked like his favorite story book character.
The second box, had a sweater and a new pair of pants.
That summer Michael had to take a train out of town for business. When he came home from his travels, he brought back a few gifts for his wife and his nephew.
Carroll got a scarf and necklace. Chi got a box of books for his own age group and a wooden toy ship.
Chi had never had more then one toy at a time. This was neat.
Twain got a can of cat food.
Chi lived a long , healthy and happy life.
The END
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