From The Mostly True Tales BEFORE the Old Brown House A Simple Game of Chicken Sophie May Chin gazed out the window of the glass box on wheels as it whizzed down the long black sidewalk towards the destination of her next adventure… however… this day she was not full of excitement and desire to see things she had not experienced before. Today, it seemed, she had a questions stuck in her brain. This question was born in the part of the brain that tries to make sense of something she saw with her round Chin eyes but could not understand, no matter how hard she tried to think on it. Normally she would ask her Father, the Round Man, but this was not something she felt entirely comfortable talking to him about, MOSTLY because it had to do with him. “You might as well get it out of the front you your brain and talk about it, May.” The Round Man broke the silence of the drive. “What do you mean, Father?” replied the small dog, who was always amazed that she could rarely get anything past him. I can see the question hanging in your brain, waiting for an answer”, stated the Round Man. “Shouldn’t we just try to answer it and get on with our day?” Sophie looked at her reflection in the glass box on wheels. She could not see the question hanging in out of her head, so how could the Round Man see it there? Maybe he had vision that allowed him to see through a Chin’s body and into their brain. This would explain how he knew so much about her thoughts without Sophie opening her mouth. “Well, Father” she started slowly, trying to figure out just the right words to say what was in her heart and brain, “I do not understand why people sometimes seem to be hurtful and cruel for no reason.” “Hmmmm” the Round Man drew his fingers and thumb down the length of his of this beard, stroking it several times, “I will need an example of what you’ve witnessed that created this question, May. “ Well, sometimes I can see peoples stare at you, Father. Sometimes they are not kind, sometimes they make faces or point, or make jokes without you knowing”, Sophie said, somewhat sad that she had brought this topic to his attention at all, “why are they doing this?” “Ah… I see”, said the Round Man, who was not one to hide from any subject, “I imagine that they are looking at me because I am so round… am I correct?” “Yes, Father” May said, almost ashamed for them… and herself. “They point and laugh and sometimes whisper things to each other about you. It makes me so angry that I could woo and bark at them. There are times that I even want to bite at them to make the stop.” “Well, my daughter, I appreciate the fact that you would want to defend me. However, I NEVER want you to lash out in anger or retaliate without just cause”, the Round Man explained, “You see, sometimes peoples are afraid of what is different or of something that makes them uncomfortable. It is a normal reaction for peoples to act out against that which is not like what they see in the mirror. Some peoples stare because they are uneducated and are trying to grasp what they are seeing. Still again, there are peoples that are just cruel and gain a sense of power when they attack someone they consider weaker than themselves.” “But what have you done to them to deserve their stares, Father?” May struggled to understand the logic of what the Round Man was saying. “I’ve done nothing, Sophie… except be different” He continued, “Am I not larger and rounder than other peoples you see?” Sophie nodded her head yes, “Most people believe it is because I eat large amounts and do not exercise at all.” “NOT YOU… you eat no more or less than any other peoples I observe. You and I go on adventures nearly every day you are not gone from the ‘partmint for work or on a task where I cannot accompany you.” Sophie spoke the truth, which made the question in her brain even bigger. “You are right in everything you say” confirmed the Round Man. “But remember, you are not with me every moment of the day… just like those who point and talk are not with me all day either. So they make judgments based on what they think, not what they know. This is where they are uneducated.” The question in Sophie’s brain got a little bit smaller, as this made sense to her. It was still not right that peoples would be cruel to her Father but maybe she understood why a bit more. “This is the way it has been since the beginning of history, May. Peoples who are strong seek out those who are not like them, or weak, and they seek to understand why. If they cannot, they instead brand them different and treat them as lesser beings.” The Round Man understood this from a very personal and very real viewpoint. “I am a very large man who prefers the company of a very small dog to that of other peoples. This makes me different than others who are in my pack. This makes me different… and different is considered, BAD by some peoples.” “Still, that is not fair and it is not right.” Reasoned Sophie May Chin, who no longer had a very large question stuck in her brain but had a very sad feeling lodged in her heart. “You are kind and gentle, fair and smart, and you are my Father.” “Thank you, dear… but I am also different,” Replied the Round Man. “Today our adventure will take us to the boyhood home of someone who dared to be different, someone who dared to stand up against others who had different ideas and beliefs, someone who made peoples free.” “And who is this peoples”, asked May, “and will he get to meet me today?” “His name is Lincoln and you will not meet him. He lived long ago, long before you or your Mother, or your Mothers Mother, or your Mothers Mothers Mother were born. We will see where he lived and how he lived as a boy. He lived a very simple life on a farm in a very remote area of the country. At that time there were no lights except the Sun, Moon, fire and candles. Later in his life, Mr. Lincoln would be made leader of all he could see, and much more. He was called President of the United States and his power stretched all across our country.” The Round Man seemed to know quite a bit about this Lincoln fellow, considering he had never met him before. “Mr. Lincoln would see that a great injustice had spread across the land. This was a time when peoples could own other peoples and made them personal property.” “This is not true”, demanded May, certain that her Father had told the tale incorrectly. She could not imagine this was possible that peoples could own peoples. A Chin would never own another Chin. The Very First Chin had made all creatures free to roam the earth in their own heads, not as property to others. It was as if peoples were placing people in Mills, like the one Sophie had come from before the long drive to the Pet Store where the Round Man had found her. It was as if they caged peoples for no other reason than to keep them and own them. Why… these peoples were no better to each other than they were to Chin in the Mills. Sophie felt sad for the entire peoples population in the history of the peoples world. “It was long ago, child”, the Round Man continued, “Lincoln was leader during this time of unrest when peoples battled peoples for the right to keep and own others. That happened right here in this world around us. One day, Lincoln decided that enough was enough. Too many peoples were fighting, too many peoples were being owned and too many peoples were being cruel to each other… so he woke up one morning and decide that all peoples were free and that no peoples would ever be able to own each other again. Not very long after his decision was announced peoples stopped fighting, all owned peoples were made free and everyone started to treat each other better. “ Sophie nodded her head, “This Lincoln was smart as a Chin. Where is he now, Father?” “After he set all the peoples free, after he stopped all the fighting, after he made sense of what was wrong and fixed it… some very confused peoples who didn’t want change and didn’t understand why it was better, well they shot Mr. Lincoln and made the light behind his eyes go dim”, explained the Round Man, sadly. “OH NO,” cried out the small dog. “How could they?” The Round Man pulled over the glass box on wheels to the edge of the black sidewalk and picked up the black and white dog, holding her tightly and looking in her big round eyes. “Because, my fur daughter, sometimes peoples are cruel for no other reason than because they choose to be. There is no other explanation than that, I’m afraid. This is why Mr. Lincoln had the light behind his eyes go dim, this is why peoples could own peoples, this is why Chin sit in puppy mills and this is why some people cannot accept that others are different. So they are cruel to make themselves feel complete.” The Round Man waited a moment, then he pulled the glass box on wheels back out onto the black sidewalk and continued their adventure. Neither the man, nor the Chin, said much on the remaining moments of their drive to the place of their adventure. May finally spoke as they pulled the glass box on wheels off the black sidewalk and onto a gravel road, pulling up in front of a grand building with flags waving in the wind and statues everywhere the eye could see. “Peoples are not exactly what I believed them to be, Father.” Her Father replied, “Not all peoples are the same, May. Some Chin are black and white… some Chin are white and black… some Chin are brown and white… and some Chin are even black, white and brown. Not all Chin are the same. All we can do is have a good heart and a better thought for all creatures and hope our outlook, our vision for life and our good thoughts, will guide others to be more like us and less like those who do not or will not be tolerant.” The Round Man took a deep breath and patted his child on the back. Then he reached over and picked up her bright pink lead, attached it to her paisley collar, put his keys in his right pants pocket, opened the door and stepped out of the glass box on wheels on to the gravel.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 20:14:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015