As Brooke continued her anger-filled life, something spoke to her in the most unexpected place possible: the 9th grade math final. The multiple choice question read: What is 1 (one)? A) A prime number, B) A lonely number, C) A single item, D) An integer, and E) All of the above. Brooke lazily evaluated the answers, when she realized: She was one. The number, that is. Alone and a single item and prime. She quickly chose E) All of the above, and flipped the page. All day the number one haunted her. The boy in front of her in the lunch line had a jersey with number one. The afternoon announcements said "Our Lacrosse team is #1 in that state!" The sidewalks were filled with single people, hurriedly headed home or to work, no groups stood anywhere.
At Sherwood Park, a single swan swam alone in the serene scene of Waterbury Lake. Brooke cried silently for his single life. He was one, as she was. But suddenly a second swan appeared, with 2 babies. They paddled together and started a slow tour of the lake with these new baby animals.
Maybe one doesn't always have to be a lonely number, or even person.
Brooke stopped by Alfonso's pet store on the way home, intent on buying a baby chick or duckling because of the swans she had seen. But when she walked toward the "Easter" display, a small pen of piglets caught her eye. The sign read "Clearance pigs-$20." Brooke knelt down and a tiny pig trotted over to sniff her. She had the bluest eyes Brooke had ever seen, reminding her of the bright checked dress Dorothy wore in the Wizard of Oz. "Hello Dorothy," Brooke whispered, and internally resolved to always protect her. She realized she had been there several minutes and coincidentally, that she had no money, and was about to ask the manager for an IOU when he said "If you want the pig, you're going to have to take a job here." He seemed to be kidding, but Brooke's eyes lit up and she responded "Oh yes! I've always wanted a job!"
She left the store with a beautiful piglet in her arms and hopes of responsibility in her life. After the arson of Forever 21, Brooke was worried that no opportunities would arise for teenage workers in this small town, but the serendipity of choosing Dorothy had indeed been most fortunate for her.
Veronica Adams gulped when she saw the pig, she almost started yelling until she saw Brooke's smile. She remembered how important that smile was to her, how it made her feel like a millionaire, and she hadn't seen it in awhile. She knew to restore their relationship, she would have to bend. And the pig was rather cute, even if she did hate all living things.
Brooke sat the pig down, barely a foot long, and it cantered over to her mother's feet. Veronica felt its soft bristles and saw its blue eyes. "She's got bonnie blue eyes, sweetheart. What a beautiful animal." Brooke said proudly, "Her name is Dorothy."
Later that night, Brooke sat in her room coaxing Dorothy to drink from her bottle because she was slightly to young to be eating proper pig food yet. Veronica Adams quietly knocked and asked "May I come in?" She did, quietly closing the door behind her. She sat down timidly at the end of the bed, observing the feeding. She saw frustration in Brooke's eyes as she cared for her pet, but true love. Motherhood instincts were obviously going to help Brooke as she cared for this pet.
Veronica said "Sweetheart, I just want you to know that we all love you. You have never been alone or abandoned. It's just been messed up, okay?" And with that, Brooke began to cry and curled up in her mother's arms, for the first time in long time.
No comments:
Post a Comment