Life Lessons in Kindness

by lilinuyasha

A familiar place

I recall it being a sunny day for some reason. I probably should remember this clearly. It wasn’t all that long ago. He was taking me home from baseball practice. He liked to sit and watch the entire thing. We had a big game that Friday night, our first game of the season, and I was looking to make him proud.

“Hey Dad?” I asked, turning my head to look at him.

“Hey Trey?” he replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Do you think we’ll win?” I asked him, a little bit of worry seeping through.

“You’ll be perfectly fine.” he said, looking over at me, patting me on the chest with his right hand. He looked back to the road, as we stopped at an intersection. “Son, you know there’s no such thing as winning or losing, right?”

“Uh...”

“Sure, you might lose a game, a season, a championship pitch. But the fact remains that no matter what the score is, you’ll always be a winner in my book. You can’t possibly lose when I believe in you.”

“That was really corny, Dad.” I said, laughing. He smiled, chuckling a little bit, too.

“Perhaps so, but I got my point across. I’m just filling in until you get a girlfriend to tell you these corny things.”

“Oh, shut up. I’m working on it.”

“I know. One of these days you’ll get someone as hot as your mom.”

“Um...I’m not sure I...ew. No. just no.”

My dad laughed, putting his foot on the gas pedal. “Oh, you’ll find someone eventually, Trey.”

“I know, but...I wanna meet her now.”

“Time will reveal everything. God will give you someone when the time is right. No sooner, no later.”

“I just...find it hard to believe that anyone could want me with my condition.”

“Hey...” my dad started, turning into our driveway. “Your condition doesn’t make you any less of a wonderful human being, Trey. If she can’t handle how awesome you are with your problem, then she doesn’t deserve you. A real girl would be there with you the entire way through.”

“I guess...”

“No guessing. Come on, let’s see what Mom cooked up today!” he said, unbuckling his seatbelt. I followed suit, and he hugged me as we walked in the front door.
***

I snapped awake, opening my eyes. It was still dark outside. I checked my bedside clock, finding that is was close to 4 in the morning. I sighed heavily, slamming my head back on my pillow, closing my eyes in an attempt to go back to that dream. Those plans were put on hold, however, as I opened them, staring at the ceiling, contemplating life. I started trying to figure out why Fluttershy would have come about. What reason she would have had for being there when I woke up, and gone the next minute. I wondered why and how Sam would intend to mess with her. Was he threatened by her? Was this still part of his malicious nature? Was there a way to summon her, so to speak? So many thoughts raced through my head, unable to place one coherent train of thought. I thought of praying, but ultimately knew I would be too lazy. I closed my eyes again, attempting to drift off into the dream world once again.

***

“Big brother!” my sister shouted. Was it morning already?

“What?” I asked, slapping my alarm clock, which promptly started spewing tuna everywhere. I grabbed one of them, wearing it like a pair of underwear, and headed outside my door into the backyard. That wasn’t normally where my door led to. I guess the house changed while i was gone.

“Big brother, come watch TV with me!” she said, sitting in front of a giant TV screen in the back yard.

“Hand me the remote.” I said. She tossed me a kitten, and I promptly pulled its tail, making the TV turn on in an old fashioned way.

“Ponies!” she said. I obliged, making the cat meow every time I wanted to change a channel. Eventually, the characters from My Little Pony were on the TV. At that point, the kitten bit me. I dropped it out of pain, and it ran off with my tuna, leaving me completely naked. I looked around for some clothes, unable to find any, so I grabbed a giant bowl of popcorn from nearby and put them on instead. When I looked up, my sister was nowhere to be found, the TV was gone, and the backyard was completely empty. I scratched my head, confused. I turned around, trying to survey the scene, seeing Fluttershy sitting by herself, looking up at me with a small smile. I walked over towards her a little bit, getting down on one knee to where we were eye level. I tried to return that small smile she was giving me back. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, retaining that smile. Without even thinking i reached out and gave her a hug. I heard her gasp a little bit, before she rested her head on my shoulder. She was warm...and she smelled good. It was hard to explain. I rubbed her back, swaying side to side.
“Well, well, well...” I suddenly heard Sam’s voice. “What we got here?”

“NO!” I shouted, pulling back, finding that I was now hugging Sam instead of Fluttershy.

“I wonder where she went, Trey.”

“No...”

“NO!” I shouted, springing up in my bed, breathing heavily. I looked from side to side, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. No Sam, no Fluttershy. I put my hand over my heart, feeling it racing. My alarm clock buzzed shortly thereafter. I slammed it with my fist, throwing my covers off, getting dressed to meet the day.

“Good morning!” my mother told me as I made my way downstairs.

“Morning.” I said. “You off to work?”

“Yep.” she said, grabbing her purse. “I wasn’t expecting you to be up!”

“I’m full of surprises.”

“I know. Be sure to make yourself some breakfast. Remember, you do have an appointment with Dr. Holgein in a little over two weeks. Don’t schedule a band practice then, dear.” she added, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. She opened the door, putting one foot out before looking back at me. “I love you, Trey.”

“I love you, too, Mom.” I said, giving her a small smile.

“Make sure Sarah gets to her bus safely. I should be able to pick her up after school. Thanks again.”

“No problem. Have a great day at work!”

“You too, sweety.” she said, closing the door. I checked my watch. Sarah should be bouncing down the stairs any minute now...

“Big Brother!” I heard her shout.

“Speak of the devil!” I said.

“I’m not the devil...” she said, giving me puppy dog eyes.

“I know. It’s a slang phrase.”

“What’s slang?”

“Derivatives of Vernacular language.”

“...what?”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah!” she said, excitedly sitting down at the table. I opened the microwave, seeing a couple of Toaster Strudels in there.

“Oh, come on.” I said, taking them out of the microwave and popping them into the toaster. “Sarah, it’s the decoration pastry again!”

“Decoration pastry?”

“Doodle Strudel?”

“Um...”

“Your favorite.”

“Oh! Yay! I’m going to draw you and I watching TV!”

“Oh...” I said, smiling a little bit. “I hope you have enough icing.”

“If Pinkie Pie can do it, so can I!”

“I wish you luck, Sugarcube.”

“Hey, that’s what Applejack says!”

“So it is.” I smiled, blushing a little bit.

***

“We’re home!” I heard my mother shout as she and Sarah came trudging in the door. “Sarah got you something!”

“Oh? For me?” I asked, hopping off the couch, where I had just spent the majority of the day watching ponies.

“Yeah!” Sarah shouted, running over to me, hugging my legs. “Look!” she added, handing me a picture.

“Oh!” I said, trying to figure out exactly what I was looking at. “What is it?” I asked, knowing that it’s a question kids don’t mind, but adults feel annoyed at.

“It’s you and I watching TV together!” she said, beaming up at me with her childish, innocent smile.

“Looks like it’s going on the fridge, then, huh?” I said, petting her head.

“There’s not any room...”

“Of course there is!” my mother said. “We’ll just have to take something down!”

“But...” she said, getting really sad. “I want Daddy to see these when he comes back!”

Another awkward silence hung in the air. It was simultaneously heartwarming and terrifying that she still didn’t have a concept of mortality. Then again, you can’t expect much from a 6 year old.

“Oh, honey...” my mother said, bending down, extending her arms. Sarah let go of my legs and gave Mom a big hug.

“Daddy can already see them!”

“But how?”

“Heaven has lots of TV screens where he can watch us from. He sees all your drawings on the fridge!”

“Oh! That’s really smart! Let’s take down the one about our dog!”

“Alright, honey.” said my mother, smiling at her. Our dog, Noodles (It was her idea), had passed away two years ago of old age. My sister seemed to still be under the impression that it ran away. “Let’s take it down. Put it in your room so we don’t lose it, alright?”

“OK!” she said, watching as the new photo of she and I was magneted front and center. “Yay!” she shouted, as soon as it stayed. It was adorable watching her get so happy over such a small thing. She ran to her room with her other picture. My mother smiled at me.

“She really does love you, you know.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know why you’re being so nice to her recently, but you need to be that way with everyone.”

“Am I not?”

“Not really, no. You’re great in the house, but...you’re kind of rude and short tempered with other people.”

“Whatever.” I said Gruffly.

“That. Right there. What happened to the respect you showed your sister?”

“Sarah left.”

“That doesn’t mean your attitude has to.”

“Well...sorry.”

“Trey...”

“What?”

“...I miss him too, you know. You’re not the only one suffering.”

I just stared at her, unable to formulate a proper sentence to respond.

“There!” my sister said, walking back into the room. “All done!”

“Good. Now, what do you want for dinner tonight, Sarah?”

“Mac and Cheese! But the Spongebob kind. They taste better.”

“That’s the third time this week.” my mother said, exasperated.

“Can you put sausage in it?” Sarah asked, putting on her puppy dog eyes.

“Why not?” my mother said. I rolled my eyes, heading upstairs to my room.

***

“Great pass!” my dad said, throwing the baseball back to me.

“Eh. It’s kind of what I have to do.”

“Yeah, but not a lot of people have that strength and accuracy.” he said, shaking his hand. “That kind of hurt.”

“Sorry.” I said.

“No problem. I think I’m done for the day, though. I have some work I need to take care of. I have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I understand.” I said, removing my glove. We walked back toward the front door together, him giving me one of those fatherly side hugs typical of parents and siblings. He opened the front door, stepping inside. Chocolate, our first dog, came bounding full speed towards us. He jumped up to my dad, licking everywhere he could. My dad got down on one knee, petting him, saying things like “Good boy!” in a baby voice. I pet him once, before heading back up to my room, putting my gloves away. I needed to prepare. The big game was only three days away. The season opener against the defending champions of our league. I was ready to win, no matter what it took.

***

“Trey! Dinner!” I heard my mother shout from downstairs.

“Blegh. Mac and cheese again? Does Sarah even know she’s getting spam and not sausage in there?” asked Sam.
“She doesn’t need to know.”

“Whatever.” he added. I closed my laptop, heading downstairs to the kitchen, for the weekly massacre of Spongebob’s friends and family.

“Alright, Sarah, let’s hear a prayer.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” she said, imitating Pinkie. “Dear Lord...thanks for the Mac and Cheese and sausage. Help everything at school go well tomorrow, and help Big Brother get job!” she added. I opened one eye, glancing curiously at her.

“AAAAAAAAAmen!” she finished. “Can I have some mac and cheese now?”

“Sure thing, Honey.” My mother said, scooping her some genocide on a spoon.

“Thank you!” she said, grabbing her own spoon, happily smacking away on the tears and anguish of Bikini Bottom.
“So what was that about a job?” I asked, looking at my mother.

“Mommy said if you don’t get a job she’s kicking you out of the house!” said Sarah. I glanced over at my mother, who had a mortified expression on her face.

“That was a phone call, dear, and I was frustrated. Trey’s not going anywhere.”

“Yay!” Sarah said, going back to smacking on her food.

“That being said, Trey, I do want you to get a job. Either that, or start doing more things to help out around the house. Babysitting just isn’t enough.”

“Where can I even go? I don’t have a car to drive anywhere.” I said, piling my plate high with my own serving of mass murder.

“Tomorrow, I’ll take you around town to apply somewhere. Like a restaurant. Fast food, anyway. I don’t want you being a waiter. Don’t work at a gas station either. I don’t want you getting held up.”

“That doesn’t happen all that often.”

“Still, it worries me. We’ll go search for jobs tomorrow. You’ll apply. Most of these are within walking distance, you know.”

“Yeah...” I said. I wasn’t ready to walk a mile to the local sandwich shop. Too exhausting.

“Don’t be so lazy, Trey.”

“Thanks, Mommy! This tastes really good in my mouth! It’s so creamy!” said Sarah.

“That’s what she said.” I muttered. my mother sighed, facepalming.

“Who said what?”

“Nothing, Sarah. Trey just made another bad joke.”

“Oh. Ok!” she said, taking a big gulp of milk.I smiled to myself, taking a bite of dinner. I wasn’t ready for the day that lay ahead of me tomorrow. But in the end...it was probably necessary.

Author's Note:

Glad to bring you another chapter. Feel free to leave me some comments telling me what I can work on. I love knowing what I can improve as an author.

And yes, religious life is essential to the family. It's just a story. You don't have to be religious to understand the context of the story. religion only plays a minor part, so don't downvote this story only for that reason.

Comments

[Flame-LoneWolf]

She tossed me a kitten, and I promptly pulled its tail, making the TV turn on in an old fashioned way.

I obliged, making the cat meow every time I wanted to change a channel.

A pussy of many talents, I see. I may be getting a kitten (or two) in a little while, so I'll try and look into one that's at least half as talented as that one.

Anyway, other than a few instances where a word should've been capitalized, great chapter! (the Spongebob genocide attacked my sides) Looking forward seeing "you" get a job.