Chains II: the Links Holding the Chains
By La miseria y la muerte and Invader Alex
Chapter 2 - Bwother
After the week was over, Brad's mother and father were expecting the hospital to call and say that Tuck was dead. They called, but they did not bring news of grief. They simply said that Tuck was making a lot of progress. Then they called the next day and said that he was better, and they kept calling and their spirits had a sudden lift. In what seemed like no time, his parent's had called the priest back saying that Tuck could be baptized in a church, and then his father reassembled the baby's crib and everything seemed real again. Then one day, they received the life-changing call.
"The baby has been excellent." The doctor said, "It's as if God is looking down on him. You can take Tucker home tomorrow."
And so it happened. The brother that Brad was told he did not have came home in a basket that following day.
"Brad," His mother said, "this is Tuck, your brother." She introduced the two, even though they had already met.
Brad looked in the basket. "Mom," He said, "is he going to live with us now?"
"Yes. He's part of our family now." She answered him.
No baby, however, can totally recover from an illness that quickly, or even completely. Tuck still had to take medicine every day. That medicine made him weak and sleepy, and he never truly took in enough of his mother's milk. He grew to be pale and skinny, such an awkward baby. No one thought Tuck would ever grow independent. He was thought to be incapable of talking, feeding himself or crawling, nonetheless walking, all of these skills that most of us take for granted that we have learned with ease. No one ever thought he could carry on life by himself. And maybe that would have been true if he had not had an older brother.
Brad had already taken in very much independence for a three-year-old. He knew what he had to do and when he had to do it. He had traits of responsibility that do not grow on most of us until we are twice as old as Brad was. He had the potential to take on a greater responsibility, and he took it on his own needy brother.
If Tuck was left alone for a short amount of time, he would cry. He couldn't stand being by himself; he depended on so much. Brad became a parental figure in Tuck's eyes. He showed Tuck books, games, toys and all sorts of things that kept the baby happy for hours at a time. In fact, it was Brad that helped Tuck along the first time he crawled, and it was Brad that held Tuck's hand as he first walked. It comes at no surprise that when Tuck uttered his first word, it was 'bwother'. Brad had beaten out all the odds. He taught his brother the things that people said it would be impossible for him to learn. Tuck grew to love his brother so much, that it was a tragic moment for the both of them when Brad went to his first day of preschool.
"Brad, it's time to go." Mr. Magoy said.
"Go where?" Brad asked.
"For the hundredth time, it's your first day of preschool today."
"Bwother." Tuck, just barely a year old, unsteadily crawled over to Brad and grabbed at his pant's leg.
"I'm leaving Tuck, ok?" Brad released himself from Tuck's grip.
"Bwother." Tuck said again.
"I have to go now, bye Tuck." Brad said as he and his dad walked out the door.
Tuck stared at the closed door. He had been left alone for the first time in his life. Though he was yet to know it, braving out loss would become something he had to do very often in his life.
"Bwother," Tuck said again.
Mrs. Magoy picked him up off the ground. "Come on sweetie, mommy's going to make you some formula."
As time went on, Tuck and Brad spent less time together. Brad made friends in preschool, and he spent most of his time with them. So it came that Tuck no longer depended upon his 'bwother'. Tuck became much more independent, by his second birthday he could walk in and out of rooms with ease and he could chew and digest food like a normal person. That baby, whose parents heard that he would die within a week, grew to be just like any other baby at the age of two. But we must switch our focus for a moment and talk about Brad.
Brad was adventurous from the start. With his friends he played cop games, alien hunting games, anything that involved action. He wanted to run and chase people down, jump over fences and catch the bad guy. He always took on the roll of the hero whose life was filled with action. One thing was for certain, Brad didn't want to waste one second of his life doing anything boring. Which is probably where his friendship with Matthew started.
Matthew was very much like Brad. He enjoyed the action, the adventure, but to him it was all make-believe. Aliens weren't real, monsters weren't real, they were just games to pass the time with. Still, Brad and Matthew would spend every day together. If there was something to do, Brad and Matthew were there. Whether it was a TV show repeat or a new game to learn, they did it together.
But their friendship, in the future, would be almost forcibly silenced. But for now we will continue on our story about Tuck.
Tuck soon approached the age of four when he entered preschool. The teachers did not expect much from him, due to the diseased condition he had as an infant. However, would you believe, that Tuck was, in fact the first person in his entire preschool to learn the alphabet? Soon after, he was the first to learn to count. Then, he became the first to memorize all seven colors of the rainbow. The teachers were stunned. Tuck was a genius.
They contacted his parents several times. "Mr. Magoy," they would say, "I think Tuck belongs in a much more prestigious preschool."
Tuck's father would just look at his son. He couldn't believe it. "Tuck's just a boy," He said, "and in his condition, he's just where he belongs."
"I seriously think that this young boy is a genius. He belongs somewhere else."
"I can't afford a fancy school. I'm just a guy in a small town. This isn't the kind of stuff for me or my kids."
"But he has so much potential!" His teacher pleaded.
Mr. Magoy took a look at Tuck while he was sitting there and playing with blocks. Maybe just by coincidence, or maybe by Tuck's genius, the blocks faced upward and spelt Dad. "I'm sorry," Tuck's father said, "but I can't give that to my son."
Was it right of him to say this? Was it right of him to discard any thought towards his son's future and education?
No, of course it wasn't.
He could not afford what his son needed, and he did not wish to dwell on the fact that he could not provide for him. He never admitted to his own incapibilities and faults. Which is, I'm afraid, a characteristic so many of us have.
Tuck entered Kindergarten, but not without many a phone call and letter saying that Tuck should skip right to first grade. Mr. Magoy nearly laughed at the idea. Kindergarten is too much of an important grade, he told them and they still pushed, but nothing came of it.
Most parents see their child as the brightest star in the sky or the most deserving child on Earth. However, with Mr. Magoy, he saw Tuck as just another boy, but with Tuck's medical records and knowledge, that was far from the truth. Tuck's father had done a much worse thing than overestimating a child; he had underestimated a child.
Like most unrecognized geniuses, Tuck's mind failed itself. Which is such a shame because Tuck easily could have changed the nation, maybe the world. The knowledge was Tuck's, but the opportunity was not. But his teachers decided that he needed to be taught something extra, before he lost his talents completely. He couldn't keep going like he was. So the school, once again, contacted Tuck's home. Luckily, this time they reached his mother. She thought that the idea was excellent, and she wanted Tuck to go as far as he could. She consulted and persuaded her husband and they finally reached a comfortable center point. If Tuck stayed in his own grade and within school hours, they could teach him a little bit extra. So it came to be, as of decision by his teachers, that he would learn one more thing before anyone else - reading.
They could have taught him addition, subtraction, world history, anything they thought fitting. But they taught him reading and it shaped this story.
Tuck's mother was still not contempt with Tuck's learning status. She insisted upon Mr. Magoy many times that Tuck went further still. And, every time, he refused. He simply said that Tuck couldn't learn more and didn't need to learn faster. He was far too precautious of overwhelming his son.
And so it continued like that in the Magoy household. Tuck's mother pushing for him to go further and Tuck's father stopping them and keeping him behind. An endless argument in a vicious cycle.
And what of Tuck, caught in the center of all this? His future undecided? How hard and sorrowful must his life have been? Though it pains me to say it, this is just the beginning.
By La miseria y la muerte and Invader Alex
Chapter 2 - Bwother
After the week was over, Brad's mother and father were expecting the hospital to call and say that Tuck was dead. They called, but they did not bring news of grief. They simply said that Tuck was making a lot of progress. Then they called the next day and said that he was better, and they kept calling and their spirits had a sudden lift. In what seemed like no time, his parent's had called the priest back saying that Tuck could be baptized in a church, and then his father reassembled the baby's crib and everything seemed real again. Then one day, they received the life-changing call.
"The baby has been excellent." The doctor said, "It's as if God is looking down on him. You can take Tucker home tomorrow."
And so it happened. The brother that Brad was told he did not have came home in a basket that following day.
"Brad," His mother said, "this is Tuck, your brother." She introduced the two, even though they had already met.
Brad looked in the basket. "Mom," He said, "is he going to live with us now?"
"Yes. He's part of our family now." She answered him.
No baby, however, can totally recover from an illness that quickly, or even completely. Tuck still had to take medicine every day. That medicine made him weak and sleepy, and he never truly took in enough of his mother's milk. He grew to be pale and skinny, such an awkward baby. No one thought Tuck would ever grow independent. He was thought to be incapable of talking, feeding himself or crawling, nonetheless walking, all of these skills that most of us take for granted that we have learned with ease. No one ever thought he could carry on life by himself. And maybe that would have been true if he had not had an older brother.
Brad had already taken in very much independence for a three-year-old. He knew what he had to do and when he had to do it. He had traits of responsibility that do not grow on most of us until we are twice as old as Brad was. He had the potential to take on a greater responsibility, and he took it on his own needy brother.
If Tuck was left alone for a short amount of time, he would cry. He couldn't stand being by himself; he depended on so much. Brad became a parental figure in Tuck's eyes. He showed Tuck books, games, toys and all sorts of things that kept the baby happy for hours at a time. In fact, it was Brad that helped Tuck along the first time he crawled, and it was Brad that held Tuck's hand as he first walked. It comes at no surprise that when Tuck uttered his first word, it was 'bwother'. Brad had beaten out all the odds. He taught his brother the things that people said it would be impossible for him to learn. Tuck grew to love his brother so much, that it was a tragic moment for the both of them when Brad went to his first day of preschool.
"Brad, it's time to go." Mr. Magoy said.
"Go where?" Brad asked.
"For the hundredth time, it's your first day of preschool today."
"Bwother." Tuck, just barely a year old, unsteadily crawled over to Brad and grabbed at his pant's leg.
"I'm leaving Tuck, ok?" Brad released himself from Tuck's grip.
"Bwother." Tuck said again.
"I have to go now, bye Tuck." Brad said as he and his dad walked out the door.
Tuck stared at the closed door. He had been left alone for the first time in his life. Though he was yet to know it, braving out loss would become something he had to do very often in his life.
"Bwother," Tuck said again.
Mrs. Magoy picked him up off the ground. "Come on sweetie, mommy's going to make you some formula."
As time went on, Tuck and Brad spent less time together. Brad made friends in preschool, and he spent most of his time with them. So it came that Tuck no longer depended upon his 'bwother'. Tuck became much more independent, by his second birthday he could walk in and out of rooms with ease and he could chew and digest food like a normal person. That baby, whose parents heard that he would die within a week, grew to be just like any other baby at the age of two. But we must switch our focus for a moment and talk about Brad.
Brad was adventurous from the start. With his friends he played cop games, alien hunting games, anything that involved action. He wanted to run and chase people down, jump over fences and catch the bad guy. He always took on the roll of the hero whose life was filled with action. One thing was for certain, Brad didn't want to waste one second of his life doing anything boring. Which is probably where his friendship with Matthew started.
Matthew was very much like Brad. He enjoyed the action, the adventure, but to him it was all make-believe. Aliens weren't real, monsters weren't real, they were just games to pass the time with. Still, Brad and Matthew would spend every day together. If there was something to do, Brad and Matthew were there. Whether it was a TV show repeat or a new game to learn, they did it together.
But their friendship, in the future, would be almost forcibly silenced. But for now we will continue on our story about Tuck.
Tuck soon approached the age of four when he entered preschool. The teachers did not expect much from him, due to the diseased condition he had as an infant. However, would you believe, that Tuck was, in fact the first person in his entire preschool to learn the alphabet? Soon after, he was the first to learn to count. Then, he became the first to memorize all seven colors of the rainbow. The teachers were stunned. Tuck was a genius.
They contacted his parents several times. "Mr. Magoy," they would say, "I think Tuck belongs in a much more prestigious preschool."
Tuck's father would just look at his son. He couldn't believe it. "Tuck's just a boy," He said, "and in his condition, he's just where he belongs."
"I seriously think that this young boy is a genius. He belongs somewhere else."
"I can't afford a fancy school. I'm just a guy in a small town. This isn't the kind of stuff for me or my kids."
"But he has so much potential!" His teacher pleaded.
Mr. Magoy took a look at Tuck while he was sitting there and playing with blocks. Maybe just by coincidence, or maybe by Tuck's genius, the blocks faced upward and spelt Dad. "I'm sorry," Tuck's father said, "but I can't give that to my son."
Was it right of him to say this? Was it right of him to discard any thought towards his son's future and education?
No, of course it wasn't.
He could not afford what his son needed, and he did not wish to dwell on the fact that he could not provide for him. He never admitted to his own incapibilities and faults. Which is, I'm afraid, a characteristic so many of us have.
Tuck entered Kindergarten, but not without many a phone call and letter saying that Tuck should skip right to first grade. Mr. Magoy nearly laughed at the idea. Kindergarten is too much of an important grade, he told them and they still pushed, but nothing came of it.
Most parents see their child as the brightest star in the sky or the most deserving child on Earth. However, with Mr. Magoy, he saw Tuck as just another boy, but with Tuck's medical records and knowledge, that was far from the truth. Tuck's father had done a much worse thing than overestimating a child; he had underestimated a child.
Like most unrecognized geniuses, Tuck's mind failed itself. Which is such a shame because Tuck easily could have changed the nation, maybe the world. The knowledge was Tuck's, but the opportunity was not. But his teachers decided that he needed to be taught something extra, before he lost his talents completely. He couldn't keep going like he was. So the school, once again, contacted Tuck's home. Luckily, this time they reached his mother. She thought that the idea was excellent, and she wanted Tuck to go as far as he could. She consulted and persuaded her husband and they finally reached a comfortable center point. If Tuck stayed in his own grade and within school hours, they could teach him a little bit extra. So it came to be, as of decision by his teachers, that he would learn one more thing before anyone else - reading.
They could have taught him addition, subtraction, world history, anything they thought fitting. But they taught him reading and it shaped this story.
Tuck's mother was still not contempt with Tuck's learning status. She insisted upon Mr. Magoy many times that Tuck went further still. And, every time, he refused. He simply said that Tuck couldn't learn more and didn't need to learn faster. He was far too precautious of overwhelming his son.
And so it continued like that in the Magoy household. Tuck's mother pushing for him to go further and Tuck's father stopping them and keeping him behind. An endless argument in a vicious cycle.
And what of Tuck, caught in the center of all this? His future undecided? How hard and sorrowful must his life have been? Though it pains me to say it, this is just the beginning.