Designer
The young Gabriel always loved to draw.
He loved drawing dresses, or even sketching out whatever came into his view.
Boys his age found him weird. "Why do you even design? It's a girl's job!" The boys teased the young Gabriel. "Or what? Do you wear those dresses to go see your boyfriend?" The boys kept teasing.
Gabriel's hands shakily gripped his paper, ending up crying onto his drawing of a night dress.
He went home to his parents, running into the room of his mother and climbing into her lap. "Mommy..." He sobbed.
The woman stroked his hair gently and held her son close. She was the only one who always supported whatever he came up with. "Your passion for designing only gets them jealous, Gabey." She soothed.
Gabriel squeaked and held her close, then hugging the bump on her stomach. "Can I make baby some clothes? Or a toy?"
"Of course Gabriel." His mother smiled and grabbed her sewing machine and some fabric as well as some cotton. "Ok gabe, I'll teach you how to make a teddy bear."
Gabriel watched with eager bright glossy eyes. This was the one thing his father didn't know he enjoyed doing.
Gabriel designed a teddy bear and began to sow it together, adding some buttons for a finishing touch.
"I did it mommy! I made a teddy bear!!" The young boy squealed in delight, accidentally knocking the glasses off his head.
His mother knelt down to him as she fixed his glasses. "Gabriel, I never want you to be violent... Express your anger and sorrow into your designs, and it will create something beautiful. Whether it be for your brother, a friend, someone in our family or a lover, they'll be amazed and happy to know that the anger this little boy has blossomed into something beautiful." She kissed his nose and walked to her closet. "I had hoped you would have learned to draw. It was my passion too but I decided to sing instead." She giggled softly and gave Gabriel a wrapped box.
He opened it smiling and giggled. "My own book!"
"Yes Gabriel, I want you to sketch and design to your heart's content in there."
Gabriel continued to design things for both his brother and mother. From dresses to plushes, his mother accepted every gift, no matter how badly made the job.
Until tragedy struck.
Gabriel was in the backseat of his parents' car when they got into an argument. He watched in horror as his parents screamed at each other holding his sketchbook and plush bear close.
His father lost control of the car, and spun into a truck, crushing the right side, where his mother was sitting.
Gabriel screamed, as any 10 year old would do, when he saw his unmoving mother. He dropped his treasured items and hugged his lifeless mother. He cried into her dirty hair and refused to leave her side even when the paramedics came over to remove her body.
He was dragged away by his unhurt father, and forcefully given back the teddybear he was going to give his mommy and brother at the hospital when they went for the final ultrasound, their destination before the accident.
He cried into it and held it close. "Mommy... I'll be what you wanted to be..." He sniffled.
His father looked at his young son and frowned. "I dont ever want to hear you speak about your mother again." He growled.
Gabriel was left very shaken from losing the only people who loved him. He did decide to continue designing for his mother, whom he only knew for the short ten years of his life.
When asked at an interview why he designed, he simply answered; "I design for my mom... Even if she'll never get to see and approve them, I know for a fact she's happy. And if she's happy, I'm happy. And I'll always design to make my mommy smile." The one time he would smile, would be then, talking about his passion for designing and his inspiration. His mommy, the reason he ever picked up a sketchpad.
