An Egg Full Of Thorns
At birth, a person's heart is as smooth as an egg.
For as long as Alex can remember his sister had been mean to him. But he didn't know why. Their father's housekeeper took care of them everyday. Her name was Miss Nein. Alex sister Natalie would always pick on Alex and blame him for anything bad that would happen but Alex did know that as long as he didn't complain about Natalie picking on him, nothing really bad would happen to him.
Bit by bit thorns began to grow on his heart. Their father worked late almost every night, so he didn't spend much time with Alex and his sister. Natalie always monopolized what little time their father spent with them. Alex could only get his undivided attention when they had their nightly story time. Alex wanted to talk to his dad about the way Natalie acted. Every night when his father asked if he had a good day, Alex always wanted to tell him the truth. But he was afraid that the truth would just disappoint his father so he never said a word.
One day when Miss Nein went shopping and left Alex and Natalie alone, Alex finally fought back, in a 3-year old fashion, and that day he found out where their mother had gone. Apparently according to Natalie Alex was the cause that their mother had died. He didn't really understand what his sister was saying, or what dying really meant. But he did understand the last words his sister said, "And daddy hates you too!!!" and thorn after thorn grew on his heart. That day Alex closed up his heart. ("And daddy hates you too!") because of his doubts and fears, Alex couldn't talk to his father and because of his silence, Alex's father came to have his own doubts and fears as well. "Does Alex hate me?!" but as usual, Alex's father was tired and distracted and decided it was probably nothing. So he just let Alex go.
It didn't seem like much, but it was just the beginning. After a while, they barely spoke to each other (and Alex barely spoke at all) and the distance between the three grew greater and greater. All three bore their share of the blame. Alex shut himself off completely because he believed that his sister and father hated him, his father kept himself too busy to really pay attention to his children because he couldn't face the grief he felt after losing his wife, and even Natalie who was trying to hurt Alex only did it because she so desperately loved and missed her mother. They all were driven to do what they did by love but this love was being twisted, little by little and the saddest of them all was Alex's mother watching over them from above. By the time he was 5, Alex had become the little brat and loner who Kara would soon meet.
One day a friend at work gave Alex's father tickets to a big dinosaur exhibit, so the family went to the big dinosaur show. It was quite remarkable for them to do anything together, other than visit their mother's grave. While they were there Natalie saw a gift shop and wanted something from there. So Alex's father let Alex pick out two items that he liked from the gift shop since Natalie was also getting two items. Alex picked out two stuffed dinosaurs, Alex was very happy that day. But he never told his father and his father never knew. On the way home, his father tried to cheer Alex up. He thought joking around would make him smile, so he pointed to two large gas tanks and told Alex that they were actually dinosaur eggs. But Alex believed him and when he told his friends, they laughed ("Daddy lied to me?") and Alex's pain and confusion grew deeper and deeper as more thorns continued to grow upon his heart.
The story of how Alex opened up to his father is a story that began when Alex met a certain girl and it shows how such a huge misunderstanding can be resolved with just a little love and hope. Alex's heart may grow more and more thorns throughout life but, as more thorns grow one day there will be so many, the heart will become sooth and round again. Truly, that's what will happen. Then everything will be okay again.
-Adapted from Kodacha-
ct.
At birth, a person's heart is as smooth as an egg.
For as long as Alex can remember his sister had been mean to him. But he didn't know why. Their father's housekeeper took care of them everyday. Her name was Miss Nein. Alex sister Natalie would always pick on Alex and blame him for anything bad that would happen but Alex did know that as long as he didn't complain about Natalie picking on him, nothing really bad would happen to him.
Bit by bit thorns began to grow on his heart. Their father worked late almost every night, so he didn't spend much time with Alex and his sister. Natalie always monopolized what little time their father spent with them. Alex could only get his undivided attention when they had their nightly story time. Alex wanted to talk to his dad about the way Natalie acted. Every night when his father asked if he had a good day, Alex always wanted to tell him the truth. But he was afraid that the truth would just disappoint his father so he never said a word.
One day when Miss Nein went shopping and left Alex and Natalie alone, Alex finally fought back, in a 3-year old fashion, and that day he found out where their mother had gone. Apparently according to Natalie Alex was the cause that their mother had died. He didn't really understand what his sister was saying, or what dying really meant. But he did understand the last words his sister said, "And daddy hates you too!!!" and thorn after thorn grew on his heart. That day Alex closed up his heart. ("And daddy hates you too!") because of his doubts and fears, Alex couldn't talk to his father and because of his silence, Alex's father came to have his own doubts and fears as well. "Does Alex hate me?!" but as usual, Alex's father was tired and distracted and decided it was probably nothing. So he just let Alex go.
It didn't seem like much, but it was just the beginning. After a while, they barely spoke to each other (and Alex barely spoke at all) and the distance between the three grew greater and greater. All three bore their share of the blame. Alex shut himself off completely because he believed that his sister and father hated him, his father kept himself too busy to really pay attention to his children because he couldn't face the grief he felt after losing his wife, and even Natalie who was trying to hurt Alex only did it because she so desperately loved and missed her mother. They all were driven to do what they did by love but this love was being twisted, little by little and the saddest of them all was Alex's mother watching over them from above. By the time he was 5, Alex had become the little brat and loner who Kara would soon meet.
One day a friend at work gave Alex's father tickets to a big dinosaur exhibit, so the family went to the big dinosaur show. It was quite remarkable for them to do anything together, other than visit their mother's grave. While they were there Natalie saw a gift shop and wanted something from there. So Alex's father let Alex pick out two items that he liked from the gift shop since Natalie was also getting two items. Alex picked out two stuffed dinosaurs, Alex was very happy that day. But he never told his father and his father never knew. On the way home, his father tried to cheer Alex up. He thought joking around would make him smile, so he pointed to two large gas tanks and told Alex that they were actually dinosaur eggs. But Alex believed him and when he told his friends, they laughed ("Daddy lied to me?") and Alex's pain and confusion grew deeper and deeper as more thorns continued to grow upon his heart.
The story of how Alex opened up to his father is a story that began when Alex met a certain girl and it shows how such a huge misunderstanding can be resolved with just a little love and hope. Alex's heart may grow more and more thorns throughout life but, as more thorns grow one day there will be so many, the heart will become sooth and round again. Truly, that's what will happen. Then everything will be okay again.
-Adapted from Kodacha-
ct.