Of course you are! Don't be Silly

Dropping his school bag loudly on the wooded table in the sitting room was Edward's way of announcing his presence to Papa, but Mum wish he wouldn't do such a thing because every time he did so, there would be another scratch added to the growing collection made by his father and his questionable experiments.
As the old adage says,"like father like son," some things don't change.

Today, Papa was busy listening to an audio recording of Robertson's report on the latest case. It had something concerning two armed robber who couldn't find money in the house they broke into, so decided to become murderers instead. It was a mess of thing.

Edward liked it when Papa took him along to the laboratory for the purpose of teaching, not helping, that was Uncle William's job. The two had a system worked perfectly for visiting Mummy filled in occasionally when Uncle William was unable to leave his flat, but it didn't run as smoothly. It was an unspoken and indescribable way of how Uncle John knew exactly what and how much Papa wanted to see, then would describe it with the upmost precision.

Papa heard his son come in and was listening for the usual routine of sounds. First, the school bag landing with a thud on the table, then multitasking between the biscuit jar opened and getting a cup of juice, finally with snack in hand Edward would come sit on the sofa. Yet none of that happened today, instead his son just flung himself on the sofa and face planted in the pillow with a muffled groan. This intrigued Papa, he stopped the recording and sat straight. Something wasn't right.

Reaching out until his hand brushed Edward's shoulder, then signed in British Sign Language, "Don't you want your biscuit and juice?" He shook his head sadly and cupped his hands within Papa's and signed,"I don't feel like it".

He nodded with understanding, but didn't release hands with his son, "But you always take a biscuit when you come home from school. Something unpleasant happened in school today judging by your lack of appetite and overall unhappy state. Tell me about today at school Edward."

"Papa, are we normal?" Edward signed into father's hands. For a boy of almost ten, this wasn't the typical question every parent would hear their child ask. Papa contemplated the question for a moment before signing back for clarification, "We? Are we normal?" His son signed with much eagerness, "Yes! Us two. Are we?".

So he then continued on, "It's an interesting question. It depends on how you look at it, Edward. There are various possible answers to this question you ask."

"But that's precisely my point!" Edward immediately responded with emphatic signing,"you can't see! I can't hear! Are we not normal then, Papa?"

He nodded his head slowly, now he knew the kind of answer his son was seeking.

"Where did you get this idea of 'normal' come from?" Papa leant forward and faced his son squarely- only missing his eyes by a few inches off to the right, it certainly was becoming more interesting, not at all what he had expected.

-0-

"From some classmates. They saw us together at the park with Mum the other day when we were helping you and Uncle John with work. I saw their faces and pointing today. They didn't look nice at all, and even left me a note in my notebook. I found it at the end of the day." He fished out of the pocket a crumpled piece of paper scrawled with some unkind words and sighed. Trying to fight against the urge to cry again, he continued on, "It made me angry, but I couldn't do anything about it. All the boys went home already, I wanted to punch them over and over to make them take back what they wrote, make them say they're sorry and mean it. It's not fair!" Edward finished dejectedly and placed the paper in his father's palm.

Papa's blood started to boil slightly, and he fingered the note gently. He and mum would have an interesting topic for their nightly discussions tonight no one should behave in that manner to anyone. Regardless of circumstances, it was far from being acceptable behaviour.

"I'm glad they left because if you had started a fight then it would have created a very big problem for you and the school. Now, back to your original question, I will answer it with this cliché phrase: 'what exactly is normal?' Everyone's definition of normal is different, even the dictionaries cannot define it exactly the same."

The young child pondered his papa's question, "'normal' really doesn't mean anything, does it? Papa could see a long time ago, but that was when he first moved to Baker Street and was considered 'normal'. Being 'normal' didn't give him any super powers, but being different didn't give it to him either. What does it matter if I am deaf and my papa is blind? We still look like everyone else, and even if we didn't, it doesn't matter."

At last his son replied,"It doesn't matter if we're different, a person is a person no matter how small+"

"Yes, that is correct. Don't worry about those who wrote the note, they're not worthy of your thoughts if they will only make you angry."

"You're right Papa!" We are normal." Edward beamed with happiness, the hurt and anger his classmates gave him was receding quickly.

"Don't be silly, of course you are and always will be. Now come, I have a new experiment at the morgue. Let's go check its progress and meet your mother. We have an outing with the Watsons me my coat please."

**Truman Capote's novel "In Cold Blood". It is a true story. The author spoke with family, friends, and police/court as he wrote the account. It is an interesting novel with a good thought at the end. I just suggest you read it or at least the synopsis.

+Quote taken from Dr. Seuss.