"I'm going to name
this turkey
Big Bird,"
my mother proclaims
as she slides
the turkey pan into
the waiting oven,
kicks the door shut,
and sets the timer
for two hours.
"It's so huge,
I could barely
carry it home!"
I've just arrived home
from picking up some
forgotten ingredients
from the grocery store.
Considering how
crowded it was, and how
empty the shelves were,
my mother's weirdness
is really only serving
to exasperate me
at this point.
"This isn't
Sesame Street,"
I sigh
as Matty giggles
from somewhere behind me.
"And it's a turkey,
not an ostrich."
"Big Bird isn't
an ostrich!"
my mother protests
quite loudly.
"He's an...
Um..."
"A turkey?"
Matty fills in
hopefully,
resulting in
a grin from my mother
and a playful glare
from me.
"Jeez,
I'm feeling
so attacked
right now..."
I groan
sarcastically,
throwing my hands up.
"Too many girls
in the kitchen -
I can't take it!"
"Hey,
it's not our fault
you can't handle
all this!"
says my mother,
striking a pose
that nearly causes
Matty to
topple over
from laughter.
Despite myself,
I can't help but
join in.
Times like this,
when I don't
have to worry
about how I'm perceived
by others -
when I can truly
be myself
instead of hiding
behind lies -
are when I am
most convinced
that life can't be
all that bad.
It's when I can
laugh
and be at ease
with my own identity
and enjoy
a careless holiday
away from the stress
of the outside world.
Even when my mother
discovers
two hours later
that she had forgotten
to turn on the oven
when putting Big Bird
into it,
it's that much easier
to laugh at her
bewildered expression
as she pulls the
raw turkey out
and then promptly
drops it.
It makes me
all the happier when,
as we finally sit down
to our turkey-less dinner,
Matty suddenly blurts out:
"I'm really thankful
that I met both of you.
I don't know
what I would have done
if I hadn't..."
And somehow,
even if just
for these few moments,
everything is
all right
at last.
×
Heyyyy sorry I didn't update this yesterday - I had a lot of shit going on and didn't feel to great, so.... Yeah.
I'm not really sure if I'm going to be able to keep up with posting this every day for much longer, because I have stuff to deal with and not as much time to write. I'll try, though. If I end up going MIA for whatever reason and don't update for a bit, please don't hate me or whatever. I need to get my shit together, tbh.
Anyway, this chapter is absolute bs and makes me cry every time I read it. These nerds, I swear... These dumb nerds....
If you guys liked this chapter, I would love if you would vote and leave me some feedback! It would be much appreciated c:
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Misalignment | ✔
Ficção Adolescente"There are a million shades of grey between their black and their white - but no one ever cares to see them." In a world with a limited view of gender, Cam Shills struggles to come to terms with their identity as neither male nor female, a shade of...
