Chapter 21: Being different

[May/June/July 2373 AD – POV Timotheus Mellark – District Twelve]

In May we had realized that Ruth's and Rue's birthday were on the same day, June 11th. My baby sister had decided right away to celebrate together with the other girl, whom she loved almost like a sister, and preparations had been initiated. Mr. Jones had offered a large barn and furniture, while the Mellark bakery was going to provide drinks and food; in addition, I had organized transportation for the guests. Ruth was extremely charming and popular, and besides practically everybody in her own class and some from Rue's class, some kids from other classes and even some favorite teachers were invited. Above and beyond that, I had been able to pick up some sacks with special flour from the farm.

My first action on Monday morning, right after breakfast, was to drive my car to the bakery headquarters, where I knew I would find Peeta. I opened the back door and drove my car close, and when I had alerted my brother, we unloaded the sacks of flour I had with me. He opened each of them and took a handful of the content out, and he seemed to like it:

"Tim, I will certainly work with the flour starting today. How much more do you think there is?"

"I have seen maybe five or six sacks like that, from each kind. If we need more, we might need to encourage the farm to grow more, but that might require some money they do not have."

"They are not one of those modern and rich farmers, right?"

"Not, they are not. If you find out that this type of crop is something you want to stick with and get in larger quantities, we may have to invest in that farm."

"Okay, if this proves to be good, I guess that's what we will do. I am sure that Dad and Uncle will approve; I should know more in a few weeks, and I will let you know."

Just before I left I also mentioned the idea of the birthday party, and he gave me the number to call to get it set up; the company's catering manager would handle that.

On the big day – Monday, June 11th 2373 AD – Ruth was very antsy when she got up. She had been awake since four or so, and of course she had come to me to cuddle, so that I had been the first one to congratulate her. She was now nine years old and as cute and charming as ever.

I had taken the day off so that I could properly help with preparation and execution. When the bus came for the kids, I got into my car and guided the driver to the school. Once the school bell rang, a happy crowd of children came running out, and Ruth was the first one running in our direction, with Rue at her side. Within minutes the bus was full, with almost all of the pupils in Ruth's class, some from Rue's class, and a few from other classes, of course including Primrose. As Rue would have struggled with so many kids around her, I asked her into my car, and she was grateful for the option.

I had the bus follow my car and thus guided it to the farm. A team from the bakery's catering service had already arrived, and they were preparing a lunch buffet. Soon the kids were storming out of the bus and into the barn. The weather was a little bit nasty today with occasional sprinkles, but the inside of the barn was dry, of course.

The interior had a corner with a small stage cordoned off, and the two birthday girls were in that section. All of the guests had been warned before about Rue's condition, and so far they behaved and kept their distance. Ruth was on her legs most of the time talking to other children, until the lunch bell was sounded. The crew Peeta had sent had set up a buffet with hot dishes for lunch, and a cake buffet was going to offered later during the afternoon.

As soon as the buffet was opened, there was a rush, and queues formed quickly. However, the team had organized the buffet in a way that four queues could be served at the same time, so that the wait times were very moderate. Rue's grandparents and I had our seats close to Rue and Ruth, at a table closest to the small stage, and I only helped myself to food once I had seen that everyone had a full plate in front of them. A couple of separate table had drinks of all kinds, mostly various fruit juices and soda, and I expected to have a mess soon. However, the ground was just compressed soil, and the tables and were wooden ones without cover, so that this would not really matter.

After everybody was full, Rue's grandfather stood up and spoke for a few minutes, with a late welcome to everybody. I believe that he had wisely decided to talk after lunch rather than having everybody waiting while being hungry.

Once he was done, Rue and Ruth stood up together, and they thanked all of their friends for coming. At the end Rue added a few words of her own:

"You all know that I am different. My body is behind the growth curve a lot, and I have those special odd ears, eyes and teeth. I cannot easily have people close to me, with a few exceptions. I just wanted to let you know that I do like to have people, and in particular good friends, close to me, but for some reason my body does not allow me to do so. A few years ago I lost my mother, and just a few months ago I also lost my father and sister. Fate lead me here, to my grandparents' farm, with a lot of open space around. And fate also had me meet the Mellark family. For a reason I do not know and do not fully understand there are specifically two family members my body accepts as friends – my best friend Ruth, who is like a sister to me, and my best friend Timotheus. Both of them have been extremely kind to me, and I not only feel comfortable and safe with them, being with them also keeps my nightmares down. If I had not recently lost my family, I'd feel better here than I felt at home, specifically as you at school, both teachers and co-students, have shown a lot of patience for me, all trying your best to keep your distance from me. Of course, nonetheless I would barely have survived the first few weeks of school here without Ruth. I have to admit that Ruth treated my like her little sister at first, and although I am five years older than she is, I immensely enjoyed that. Ruth, you are the best big sister I have ever had – thank you so much; I love you!"

After that speech there was silence in the barn, and even Ruth did not know what to say. Once a few minutes of silence had passed, one of the kids shouted out:

"Hey, everybody is different!"

"I have red hair, and I am always told that I am different!" came from a girl in the back.

"I am different with my skin patches" a girl with very dark skin offered. Her skin color was even darker than Rue's, and when she raised her dark hands, one could see a few patches of white skin in between.

"When I drop something again, my Mom says I am really different" a boy shouted out, and some of his friends laughed.

"When I grew up in District Four and a friend came to visit from Eleven, with dark skin, dark hair, and dark brown eyes, I told him that he was very different" a blonde recalled.

"And when I tell friends that I actually like to go to school, I am being told that I am different" my sister Primrose said. Lots of laughter around.

"I am left handed, and I am always told that I am different" came another voice from the back.

"I usually go to church on Sundays with my parents, and some of my friends say I am weird and different" an older boy offered.

"And I play with dolls while my sister plays with toy cars and such, and lots of people say that we are different!" a boy's voice from the back called out.

A pale girl from Primrose's class, her name was Isabella as I knew, and Prim had mentioned once or twice that she was known as 'clumsy Bella' at school, offered her own statement: "I am different, too. When I walk around, I usually manage to hit something. I stumble upon almost anything, and I know most of the lamp poles in my street by first name."

Indeed, she had been at our home to study with Prim a few times, and it was really incredible; she sometimes managed to stumble and fall even when she just went to the bathroom. Yet, she was a very nice girl.

Finally I had something to add, too: "I am an adult and I do not drink or eat anything with alcohol in it. Quite a few people call me different, too."

There were more of those examples offered, and when they ran out, Rue was in tears, and I knew her well enough by now that she was extremely touched. Ruth hugged her, and eventually Rue spoke again:

"You all are so… wonderful, and I am honored to have you as friends. Thank so much, and I just wish I could hug every single one of you!"

A few hours later the cakes were offered, and there was a large birthday cake for each of the girls, individually and lovingly decorated by Peeta himself. Both cakes had the girl's name and the age nicely written on it.

At the end of the day everybody had had a great time, and the bus got the guests home. I lingered for some time, and just when I was taking my leave to also get home together with Ruth and Primrose, Rue came again, hugged both of us and said: "Ruth, Timotheus, thank you for such a great day."

I had the next weekend free and spent it on the farm again and when I was in bed with Rue on Friday evening, she told me:

"Tim, I need to tell you something."

"What is it, my dear?"

"When I spoke to everybody on my birthday, I told them that Ruth in particular helped to get me through the past weeks and months."

"Yes, and this is correct, isn't it?"

"It sure is, but you helped me much more than she did."

"But what did I do?"

"Being with you gives me so much comfort, and every weekend you spend here on the farm is a time I cherish. But while I could openly talk about the way I feel about Ruth, seeing her like a sister, I somehow hesitate to talk to others how I feel about you. I am not sure what some others might think when I tell everybody that I enjoy your presence so much and even have you in my bed on a regular basis."

"Oh, good point."

"I could claim that this is only because of my nightmares, but I don't want everybody to know about my nightmares, and it also would not be really true."

"It's not true? I thought that you don't have nightmares when you are with me?"

"Well, sure I don't, but it's not the main reason."

"What do you mean?"

"The main reason I like to have you in my bed is not that I don't get nightmares, its because I like it so much. I can't imagine a better place and way to sleep than with and on you, and I feel so incredibly comforted and happy and wonderful when doing that. Thank you."

I had no idea how to respond to that. Wasn't that just like the feelings I had found in myself last time, too? Something like the best way to sleep and to wake up? Why did we feel like that for each other? Was she expecting a response? All I could think of was to hold her tightly and press a kiss on her forehead, and before long I deducted from her breathing that she was asleep.

I needed a little longer to get to sleep, and thought about her words for some time. Why did I feel like she did, and why did I enjoy her company so much? It could not be sexual attraction; her body was not developed at all, and I certainly was not a pedophile. But wait, I also spent a lot of time with my sister Ruth, and her body was about the same size. While I knew that most boys and young men did not really enjoy spending so much time with their younger sister, if they had any, that was clearly different for me. Between a brother and a sister, this was acceptable, though, at least according to what my mother assured me, and it was totally all right for me. So, with Rue, I had adopted her as little sister, and she had adopted me as big brother? That explanation made a lot of sense, as her grandparents seemed to share a similar view, me spending so much time with Rue was at least easier to explain. With that kind of conclusion my brain finally seemed to be happy, and soon I started to dream as well.

This night, at least one of my dreams was partially still in my memory when I woke up, and while I could not memorize all of the details, I knew that it had been about Rue and me, but with an older Rue, one who had a body with at least some indication of female curves. In the dream, I had not even touched her, but I clearly recalled how wonderful she had looked like, being barefoot and clad in a white dress and with rays of sunshine reflecting from dress, skin and hair. I thanked God that this was only a dream; I would not feel comfortable to have Rue with such a developed body in my bed, as my thoughts would certainly go in directions they should not go with a young teenage girl, and I did not think that her grandparents would allow me to share a bed with her any longer once she started puberty and started to show female curves.

One week after Rue's and Ruth's birthday there was another appointment with Dr. Aurelius, and I was asked to join Rue and her grandparents once again. After the examination and some conversation he had good and bad news for us. The good news was that Rue was overall showing signs of being healthy, and that it was obvious that life of the farm was good for her. The bad news was that her brain waves had not improved much, and the psychologist hinted that it might be related to the daily long school bus rides in addition to school. There were not a lot of options, of course. The grandparents would not be able to find the time for home schooling, and neither did they have the financial resources for a private teacher. Rue herself had an idea, though:

"Tim, your mother likes me, doesn't she?

"She sure does, yes."

"Do you think that she'd allow me to stay a few days per week at your home? From there, I could walk to school, you know, with Ruth and Primrose."

"You know, she'd love that, and not only her. Ruth would be totally excited about that, actually."

"But you do like the farm life so much, my dear" Mrs. Jones objected.

"Oh Grandma, only for a few days a week; can't we try how this works out?"

"Please keep in mind that your 'Konfirmandenunterricht' starts soon!" her grandfather reminded her.

"Yes, but that's going to be on Wednesdays, right? So, can I be with Tim and his family from Monday to Tuesday and on the farm for the rest of the time?"

"You'd have to have clothes to change and some other stuff in both places, but Ruth would love to help get you a few more things; I don't see why that should not work."

Dr. Aurelius chimed in now:

"Actually, that sounds like an interesting idea. If all involved agree, I recommend to find out how this works out. Normally I am not in favor for a child to change between two families frequently, but in this situation, this might be good."

Her grandparents were still not fully convinced, but we decided to experiment at least until the summer holidays started, all hoping to find a solution to make life for Rue a little bit easier.

A few weeks later, when I visited the farm again, I had Peeta՚s reports on the special flour available. My brother had been quite happy with the samples, and I told Rue and her grandparents:

"It just so happens that there is an issue to talk about, or rather a business proposal; it is about the flour from your special grain, from the emmer, einkorn, and triticale. My brother Peeta, the baker, has used some of the samples, and he likes it a lot. He asked me negotiate terms to get larger supplies on a regular basis for his bakery, and I would like to find out what you can deliver."

Mr. Jones scratched his ear and carefully replied:

"This sounds really good, and we are very happy that somebody finds it useful. I would love to grow more of that, and we certainly have the fields to use, too, but we would have to invest some money upfront, probably much more than we can currently afford."

"I understand that," I responded, "and my brother and my uncle agree that we would be willing to invest in the farm if you guarantee us almost exclusive access to the special flour. You could keep delivering to the few delicatessen you already have as customers, but we would not want you to provide any to other bakeries, for instance, but only to us. If you are willing to do that, we want to do a business and investment plan together with you, and our company is ready to pay whatever we decide the initial investment to be, plus some premium as an incentive. For instance, if you need some machinery and additional hands, we are going to pay for them, and they can also do some other work in parallel."

"We may be talking about quite some money, son" Mr. Jones warned me.

I liked that he called me 'son' and I told him: "Mr. Jones, our family runs a big baking enterprise, and we own about a dozen stores, plus we deliver bread to a few other stores on a regular basis. Let's make this plan and find out, and then we will see if this is going to work or not."

"I like it" Mrs. Jones chimed in. "I know that my husband loves to work with the special grain types, and if this is finally going to pay off, this is good enough. Besides, your bakery chain has quite a good reputation, and if you think that this is going to work out, we trust you."

"I do trust him, too, Grandma!" Rue added.

"Okay, let's work on a business plan next week. I will have somebody make a draft, and then we can go over it soon. Before we go on to the second issue, let me ask one more question: If we agree and forward you some money, could you still seed more of those cereal variants this year?"

"Of course," Mr. Jones nodded. "If I get some machines and a few people let's say no later than end of July, I can get some large fields prepared properly, and seeding time is September to November. The crops will slowly grow over the winter and have the main growth period in spring, with harvest in mid to late summer next year. It just takes that long, I am afraid."

"Of course, that's nature, but I am glad to hear about it. Peeta will have to be patient, and I will make sure to have a plan ready in a week."

One weekend later I did indeed have a business agreement printed, and as the terms were quite generous, the Jones signed that right away, once Rue had approved. Indeed, her grandparents were farming people and not well versed in contracts, and they were also not very good in financial stuff. On the other hand, Rue was extremely smart, and her grandparents had already started to consult her on all kind of financial topics. A few days earlier, I had heard, they had negotiated with a fertilizer supplier, and Rue had struck a better deal than expected. Obviously, dealing with a girl who looked like she still was in elementary school but understood financial details like a skilled adult was something which got people quite confused. In addition to that, as Rue openly admitted, few people were able to look her directly in the eyes without getting somewhat distracted by her feline pupils.

Rue explained a few details in the contract to her grandparents, but there were no complaints from her side. Our family believed in fair business deals, rather than the cutthroat deals some competitors tried to achieve. Long term, we were sure, our way was better for business, above and beyond providing a better feeling.

On this weekend, I stayed at the farm again for two nights, and the warm and clear summer nights invited to stay awake longer than usual. Rue and I were not really night people, but on Saturday night, or maybe more like very early Sunday morning, we both woke up, as Rue had had a somewhat troubling dream, not quite a nightmare, but still not good. She hurried to the bathroom to splash her face with cold water, and when she got back, she did not want to get back to sleep right away; thus I suggested:

"You know what, we can go outside and do some stargazing if you want."

"Oh yes, please, let's do that!"

I grabbed a large blanket and we sneaked out of the room and out of the house. Only Rex, who was outside, noticed us, but he was quite happy to see us. We found a nice place on a bench with a good view around and specifically up, got down, and I wrapped the blanket around both of us.

There was not a single cloud visible, and out here, far enough from the lights of the city, many stars were visible. We could even see the milkyway, though not as clearly as one could see it from the hills, and the view was amazing. Rue seemed to enjoy it as much as I did; she snuggled as closely against me as she could under the blanket, and I could feel her soft fur covered feet move along my legs. Eventually I said:

"It would be really great if we had some polar lights as well, but of course this is not going to happen around here."

"Have your ever seen polar lights?"

"Actually, yes, I have. A few years ago my twin cousin and I traveled to northern Scandinavia, and we saw some. They were not quite as colorful and impressive as those in the 'Skyrim' game, but still nice. Talking about polar lights, do you know what causes them?"

"I read about it, yes. They are also called auroras, and they happen when the solar wind hits our planet. But I do not know the details, really."

"Wow, this is already more than most people know. Yes, the solar wind has ionized particles, and when they hit our planet's magnetic field, they are deflected along the field lines. As the magnetic field is centered around the magnetic poles, the field lines are concentrated around the poles and are almost vertical in those areas, which makes the solar wind particles get focused there. When they hit molecules in our atmosphere, light can be emitted."

A lot of people would have looked at me, lacking full understanding of my rather technical explanation, but Rue just nodded, and somehow I knew that she actually understood; she was really a very smart girl. We watched the stars for another our or so, mostly in silence, before we went back into the house and into bed for a few more hours of sleep.

[Author's Notes: Did you get the mentioning of clumsy Bella from 'Twilight'? I loved to write the section on the birthday party and many of the kids being 'different'. It's like the very true statement: 'Everybody is a foreigner, almost everywhere in the world'.]