The Inventor of Oz

Introduction

Life for Theodora T. Bridges was that of any other poor college kid. You see, she lived on the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington. Her mother lived in Seattle with her newest trashy boyfriend. Her father in Spokane with her twin little half-brothers and their mom.

Theo wasn't close to her mother, Jennifer Smith. Not after Jen lost custody of young Theo when she was three. Although when Theo turned eighteen and tried to make contact with Jennifer, her mother told Theo to fuck off and to stop trying to sell her mortgages.

Her father was a kinder man, the result of having to grow up too fast. Theo was the product of a summer fling, but he took complete responsibility for his mistakes and found out very fast her mother would not take care of her. He fought for her. He fought for her hard, but he couldn't do it alone. He often left her at his parent's house for hours, if not days at a time.

Now, what I'm not saying is that he didn't love her. He did. But as a single father at the age of twenty, he had a lot on his plate and his mind. He worked three jobs to support the two of them, and still, he ended up moving back home where his parents could watch Theo more regularly and he wouldn't have to pay rent.

Theo's grandparents didn't quite know what to do with her. She was the result of their son's bad decisions as a teenager, but moreover, she was proof that their son wasn't the good little Christian boy they raised.

Abstinence until marriage. That's what they had taught. Then he ruined it all.

Let's just say they were much happier when the boys were born.

Their mother came along when Theo was ten. Her father had been back into the dating circuit for a while, but this woman was going to stick. Three years later her twin little brothers were born. It was around then that everything changed and Theo's life took a u-turn back to the 'Christian family' dynamic.

Suddenly her grandparents were softer towards her and her dad, who married the woman of his dreams. Although the woman wasn't quite sure what to think of her either, proof of her husband's previous mistakes.

Theo was always proof of her father's mistakes. A red stain on a sheet. Not a child in need of love and attention in order to grow. Not a child at all. Her father's mistake. Her mother's daughter. Those were the things her grandparents whispered when they didn't think she could hear, let alone understand.

Her father was never there, pulled away with work and trying to get them on their feet. And then when he was there, years after it was important, he was with his real family, not his mistake.

And so, Theo grew into a very independent young woman, lost in the pages of books that would never leave her. Books of science and adventures. Books of history, math, and language.

She was quiet and soft-spoken, preferring to be alone than in the company of other people, although I suspect it was because she preferred to be alone over the company of her grandparents, or little brothers.

She worked two summer jobs all her years in high school, saving enough for college, where hopefully she could recreate herself. Where hopefully she could live her life out of the shadow of her conception.

She worked so hard, so, so hard, and she made it. When that envelope came in the mail, it said she was accepted. Accepted to Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington.

She moved in on-campus and worked her way through almost two semesters of college.

But then a winter storm in the middle of February came the likes of which you could only get in Eastern Washington.

And Theodora T. Bridges' life was turned upon its head once more.