Geral was born in hospital when his mother was 33 years and 7 months old. As she held him in her arms, his father walked out of the room, and she never saw him again. She was in such a stupor, that she forgot the 'd' that she meant to be at the end of her son's name. Originality became her new lifestyle after she decided to raise a son named Geral. She quit her elementary school teaching job and started her own business of growing potted plants and shaping them to look like people with green bushy heads.
Geral was home schooled, and when he was six years old, his mom had a girl, who she named Aria. Aria learned to make Geral her sole source of entertainment, companionship, and survival. The three traveled always and mainly lived in hotels with ground floor lounge bars. Aria's favorite food were pickles, and Geral's were pretzels.
When Geral was 12, a woman named Cady saw him and Aria walking down a big city sidewalk, looking for their lunch. She decided to take full responsibility for their lives, while their mother was pawning treasures that she picked out of dump sites along the highway. Cady asked the kids questions and led them to some government agencies, promising them safety and good things. At the end of the day, they were driven to a large new house on the edge of a town called Cottleville. They wore new clothes and laid in new beds. There was a closet full of new, unopened games and toys. There was a pantry and a refrigerator full of every kind of food except pretzels and pickles... The air in the house was colder than they were comfortable with, so they protected themselves with layers of clothes. Cady and her husband were settled in the first floor of the cavernous building, far away enough for Geral and Aria to ignore as they roamed the rooms of white. They had been content, but within two days, became infinitely bored and began to miss their mother.
She didn't think of her children until the sun set on the desert horizon, when she realized she hadn't eaten dinner with them and didn't even know where they were. She peeked around their temporary lodging and asked the clerk, but nothing... 'Those brats,' she thought, 'Is this their idea of a joke?' She watched talk shows on the hotel TV and smoked on the bed, until she fell asleep. Her empty head and disconnection from reality were a result of the culmination of everything she had been through, and she wasn't done yet. She woke at dawn. She sat up on the silky, warm bedding, glaring at the dim yellow glow behind the thick curtains. She thought of the kids and said, "God damn..." She walked the streets all day, visiting the places she imagined they would go, calling out their names. An older woman, witnessing her in need, offered her help. "No," their mom said, more embarrassed than concerned. She missed them, realized how much she loved them, then loved them more. Night fell and she found herself in front of a calm blinking police station, staring at it intently, elusive plans slipping through her mind grasp. Slowly, she made her way to her quiet room and rested her head.
Aria and Geral rode quietly in the back of a roomy, deep blue SUV, playing with each other's hands, as Cady drove them to their new schools, talking cheerfully to no one about their happy futures. They glid past ranches and fields, bright gold under a powerful sun. Aria went into the administration office with Cady and Geral and waited while he was enrolled. The damage came when Geral was commanded to stay, and Cady led Aria away. "You're going to your own school with nice kids just like you!"
"Errrrrr-Aah! Nnnnnnnhhe!" Aria pleaded and pulled. Geral's face tensed, and he tried not to cry.
Geral calmed as he acquainted himself with the classroom. His eyes were caught by a girl sitting in the back row. She had long straight black hair. 'Lucy' was written on her name card in bold black marker. She seemed to have a supernatural quality, distinct from from her surroundings and classmates. Geral was the last student to enter, so he sat in the front row. Lucy paid fervent attention to the lesson, while Geral divided his between the teacher and everything else.
They walked together after school to Lucy's bus stop. Neither could think of something good enough to say to the other. They were silent. Geral hung around and waited with her, but this made her uncomfortable, and he left after a few minutes of ground-staring. Her bus would take her home to Rose Hill, and he was to return to Mist Vale.
Geral arrived at Aria's school, and she ran at full speed to embrace him, then empty her thoughts onto him. She told him every detail of her day. She said it made her feel like the baking ham she had watched through a round-cornered rectangular window in the oven at their grandmother's house. Or maybe like one of those mythical pigs stuck through with a skewer, eating an apple, rotating slowing behind a butchery window. Anyway, she was happy now to be hanging on Geral's arm again. Although, she uneasily sensed something had happened to him at school and he was distracted. They had missed their buses on purpose and trekked toward the place where they slept in the opposite of a hurry.
Aria always kicked off her shoes before stepping on the white-tan carpet, not out of cleanliness or respect for her guardians' rule, but because she liked the feel of the bristly fibers between her toes. Geral usually stomped right on in remaining defiantly shod. Sometimes he kept his sneakers on until wanted to put his feet up on his bed. Wearing shoes in this house felt right to him, since baring his feet would contradict the fact that he felt uncomfortable and not the least bit at home.
The End
to be continued . . . .
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