It Takes a Miracle by Seymour
“Look at her.”
“She’s so beautiful.”
Mom, mom is that you?
“Let’s put you down to rest.”
“Herald look, she’s smiling at me. She sees me. It’s like she knows me.”
Yes, you are my mom. I have been waiting to see you! Why won’t you answer me mom? Please, I have been waiting for this.
“Alright, Maddy, let’s go to bed. It’s been a long day.”
~6 MONTHS LATER~
“T.V. on.”
“No, Maddy.”
“No television right now, besides there’s nothing good on. All people talk about these days is global warming and how life on earth is coming to an end.”
“I WANT T.V. ON!”
“Maddy, I said no!”
“ON!!!!”
“That’s it. You shouldn’t be walking or talking. You’re too young. I am calling a craftsert. It’s time someone else made the decisions for you. I don’t care how old you are. You’re not normal!!”
Hearing those words come out of my mother’s mouth was the first sign that I was different and not what she wanted.
Then I went to preschool, which wasn’t any better. I wanted to read and not be read to, I wanted to draw and not scribble. And for some reason in this world that I was not used to yet, they didn’t accept that.
Only my father, who worked so hard, seemed to get it. He left in the early morning before I was awake and sometimes he wouldn’t even come back until I was asleep. I often got up before my mother and watched him get ready for work. I was amazed at how he would make his own breakfast instead of using the toaster oven that toasted in thirty seconds (and you didn’t even have to press the button, just say the words and your toast would be made.)
So this was my life. I had no siblings and no friends. I pretty much had no support team. Even my mother, my own mother, didn’t understand me.
When I was thirteen I was already in tenth grade. They just kept skipping me up.
Earth was getting warmer. Everyone could tell. Most people were starting to move off Earth to Jupiter and Saturn because they were scared of the effects of global warming. It never bothered me when other people would talk about it, but for some reason when ever my mother would speak of global warming it would bother me so much. Now that I think of it, it’s very clear why it bothered me. It bothered me because whenever we would get into the subject of global warming, my mom would always have to bring up the fact that one day she would send me to Jupiter, alone, without with her or my dad.
I never took her or the subject seriously until one day she barged into my classroom grabbed me and took me home. I didn’t know what I was more upset about, the fact that she pulled me out of class so abruptly as if someone had died and she couldn’t tell me, or the way she held my arm with an iron grip as if I was her prisoner trying to escape, and not to mention that I now had a hand-shaped bruise on my arm.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Pack your bags,” she said.
“Why, will you please tell me what’s happening!!!” I screamed.
I hated screaming at her, but why wouldn’t she tell me where we were going.
Then it hit me smack in the face. I knew exactly where we were going. She was sending me away to Jupiter and her and my dad would stay here. I stopped putting clothes in my bag.
“If you don’t do it, I will do it for you,” she said.
I picked up another pair of pants and started packing. Going to Jupiter wasn’t really bad. I could care less where I was if I didn’t have anyone to leave behind. What bothered me about it was that my parents were staying here, on Earth.
“What did Larry say?” I asked with a calmer voice.
“It was his idea,” she said
Larry was my craftsert. A craftsert is in a way like a nanny and a butler and a government agent all in one. Their job is to make big life-altering decisions. They basically decide whether or not you or the people around you fit into this crazy world, and if you don’t they send you to Hublergint, a place defined by the government as a peaceful sanctuary designed to help the mentally ill-at-ease to relax and enjoy what little life they are allowed to have. In other words it’s a nut house where all the “socially unacceptable” are sent.
My parents hired Larry when I was really young. He wasn’t really bad until recently when he decided to send me off to Hublergint. He changed his mind, however, and decided to send me to Jupiter instead. The way everyone talks about me you would think that I was some kind of package!
It took me another hour or so to get ready. I knew fighting with my mom wouldn’t be worth it in the end.
“When is dad coming home?” I asked.
“I’m sorry but we don’t have time to see your father,” she said coldly.
I was so mad about not being able to see my dad again that I didn’t even have the energy to argue. I just bit my tongue and walked out to the car. I swung my bags wildly into the car without even bothering to see if my mother had moved away from behind me.
“Maddy,” my mother said to me, “This is no time to throw a tantrum and if you stall any longer we will miss your departure time.”
We started on our way. I was doing fine holding in my emotions until just before we passed my dad’s work. I saw the building rise up in the distance and I knew that somewhere in there, among the many departments and thousands of workers, was my dad. What was he doing? Was he sitting there hard at work, not even thinking twice about the fact that he would never see his daughter again? No, no, no that didn’t sound like my dad. He is probably sitting there thinking of all the good times we have had together and trying not to think too hard or cry. Oh god, I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Mom please stop the car!”
I was crying so much my sleeve was practically soaked, but I ran in regardless of what I looked like. I surprisingly got past the guard. I guess they were scared of me. When I was four they had seen me reciting my times table and division rules while waiting for my dad.
My dad was busy, I could see, but I didn’t have time to waste.
“Dad!”
“Maddy what are you doing here?”
“Mom’s sending me to Jupiter. I just thought that I’d say goodbye,” I said.
He looked as if he didn’t agree. Maybe he would tell my mom that there was no way I was going. He grabbed my hand and took me out to the car where my mom was.
“Can I talk to you?” My dad said as he approached my mom.
“Look something has gone terribly wrong.” My mom said.
“The world is…”
They both turned and looked at me.
“Maddy please get in the car,” My mom said.
I got in the car and they finished talking. In the end my mom won. I was still going to Jupiter. Nothing had changed except the time. I said goodbye to my dad; although I was mad at him for not standing up to my mom and stopping her from sending me away.
To get to Jupiter we had to travel through the T-tube (which stands for transportation tube). It is a very long tunnel, so long that you could probably fall asleep on the way; however, its not very peaceful because the sound of the car as it travels at light speed is so loud that even with the special protection headphones there is not much quiet time.
I had never actually taken off before, just seen other cars disappear into its black vortex. Now driving through the tunnel that takes you into space, I had forgotten all about where I was going.
All I had seen were pictures of space. I had never actually seen it with my own eyes. It was absolutely amazing!
At last we arrived on Jupiter! It wasn’t much different than Earth from afar but as we got closer smaller details began to reveal themselves among the clutter of this new planet. It almost seemed richer than Earth, like a picture perfect world you would see in a family sit-com. My excitement quickly turned to exhaustion as we docked into the Ramone de Jordine which was the section or dormitory living quarters that would serve as my new home. My parents, rather my mother, had arranged for me to attend the Latuse School, a place where well-to-do families such as my own could send their children until a future date could be arranged for them to make a permanent home on Jupiter. It wasn’t horrible really. At least they weren’t just dumping me here.
As we connected to the loading dock a man appeared wearing a stiff red uniform and a funny looking hat with a yellow plume on top. He looked like a royal guard. He informed us that he was Charlie Sanchett the fourth, assistant overseer of all student actives. I have to admit I was rather disappointed. I was expecting him to be the headmaster’s son or at least someone interesting who felt that it was their absolute duty to greet the new members and help them to get settled more as a favor rather than a chore. My mother, however, was thrilled and practically kissed him when he offered to show us to my new room.
The room was very nice and I probably would have enjoyed it more had I not been thinking about how soon my mother would be departing back to Earth. God, it really was depressing me. Even with all her nauseating critiques and her lack of appreciation and understanding, I was really going to miss her. What if I never saw her again?
Before I knew it she was bustling around the room collecting her belongings. She and I had met the headmaster and everything was settled, meaning she had pawned me off to some strange school which promised to keep me safe until my parents returned, or until Earth exploded, which-ever happened to be first. He, the headmaster, or Headmaster Charleston as the shiny plate on his desk so boldly stated, invited my mother and I to join him for dinner in his apartment. My mother, however, insisted that she was flattered by his offer but that she must be getting home, or as she stated it “my Earthly duties beckon.” This I know was a lie because as it stood my mother was not currently employed, my father would not be home for several hours, and as far as I knew my mother never engaged in any such chore as cooking or cleaning. She preferred, rather, to stand back and order others to make the house spotless and the meals fresh and warm.
“Good bye, Maddy, dear. I will keep in touch. Be safe and don’t cause any trouble.”
That was it. That was all she said to me. I walked back to my room and sat on the bed, which was extremely comfortable. I must have dozed off because I was awakened by a knock on the door followed by a, “Dinner time, Miss.” I rolled over.
“I will be there in a minute.”
I listened to the foot-steps travel to other neighboring doors and then fade down the hall. When I was sure the halls were empty I left my room and found my way to the dining room. I was sure that I was lost until I heard loud chatter coming from down a nearby passageway. I followed it and sure enough I was led to a large room with a high arched cathedral ceiling. Dinner was nothing special, and I had the pleasure of dining alone at one of the far tables.
The next day at school I couldn’t believe it. People didn’t care how smart I was compared to them. They would actually smile at me in the hallways. I even made a friend. His name was Matt. So things began to look up in my life on Jupiter. I was able to take a class on mind control, a concept that had only been a rumor on Earth. I was getting pretty good too. I began to think this was my chance! I was my own force, free to roll and do as I pleased. They looked up to me here; I mean for once in my life people actually appreciated what I knew. So I started doing things, little at first like helping out at the nursing homes.
All these things felt really good, and with time I started feeling like I had power. It wasn’t really a power; it was more like a really good feeling. I felt that I could do things to help people that would make them happy. It was like I was super. Still, there was something missing, something that I had to save. It took me a while to figure out what it was, but soon I knew…. saving the world would be easy. All it would take was my mind, but saving my family would take the strength of a miracle.
Monday, March 26, 2007
