The Starchild of Third Street

Raul Medina, a thin child with large dark eyes, raced through the city streets.   His limp became more pronounced when he ran.  He had to hurry.  Abuelita would surely scold him for being late.  He tripped on the cracked sidewalk, and upon standing surveyed his pants for dirt or rips.  He had no desire to hear additional tirades for ruining his school pants.  With only two pairs to his name, each had to last for three or four school days before washing.  

At last he arrived at the cleaning plant above which he lived with his mother and grandmother.  Thump a lump, thump a lump; Raul limped up the stairs in haste.  

He opened the door and immediately, the pungent aroma of chiles cooking in tomato broth captured his senses.  The smells accompanied by pans clattering in the kitchen told him that dinner was on the way.  Raul braced himself for what he knew was coming.

“You’re late shouted a thin voice from the kitchen.  Raul approached the kitchen with his backpack carefully positioned to hide the dirt stain on his left pant knee.  The boy knew better than to make excuses.  He simply waited for his grandmother's rant to dissipate and then hugged her.  She in turn, tried very hard not to smile while telling the boy to get himself a snack and begin his homework.

Raul carried his pan dulce and tea to the living room. He set the dishes on the coffee table and plopped down on the tattered sofa.  He looked around the room.  In spite of  sparse worn furnishings, Abuelita managed to create a sense of warmth and comfort by placing colorful embroidered cloths over the tears in the couch and upholstered chair.  She crocheted lace wall hangings to hide the cracks in the walls and no one ever saw a spot of dirt in any room.  He curled his legs under his body and relaxed as he thought about his mother..  She hadn’t yet returned from work.  Mama worked six days a week in the cleaners downstairs.  She usually came home tired.  He knew it because of the red eyes and the way her body drooped, but she never complained.

While the boy ate, his mind drifted.  Raul wanted more than anything else to be an astronaut when he grew up.  He read everything he could about rocket ships and the lives of astronauts spending as much time in the school library as he was allowed.  He watched all the space shuttle launchings on the televisions in the shop windows (the family's old television could only receive one channel).  Raul frowned when he remembered sharing his dream with his mother. 

She, who had long ago lost her ability to hope, sighed while gazing with tired eyes at her young son.  She said to her boy, "Ay, m'ijo.  Tú tienes sueños grandes.  A lo mejor, no tengas tantos sueños.   Entonces no recibirás tantas desilusiones.  (My son, you have big dreams.  It would be better not to dream so big, then you won’t be disillusioned).

Raul learned from that not to share everything in his heart.  Then no one could tear down his dreams.  His mother knew disappointment as a constant companion but not Raul.  He could still hope and wasn't ready to give that up.         

Raul walked with a slight limp because his crooked back made one side of his body higher than the other.  Often cruel children would make fun of him and called him names.  Abuelita told him to ignore their taunts.  Raul never let the bullies know how small they made him feel.  He told himself the other boys had no dreams. They didn't know how to imagine a wonderful future, but he did.  In his private world, this thought was his revenge.

One Saturday morning in early spring, Mama’s boss asked Raul to deliver some draperies to a store in another part of town.  Raul would be paid five dollars (some of which would be needed to pay for a bus ride).  Five dollars was a lot of money for a small boy from Third Street Barrio.  As Raul sat on the bus he imagined what he would do with the three dollars he could keep.  Perhaps he could money to buy a used book about rocket ships and astronauts.  Raul awakened from his daydreaming when he heard the bus driver call out his stop.  Raul walked along the sidewalk carrying the heavy draperies. Something caught his eye.  A window display of a small featured kites of many shapes and colors.  In the middle of all of them stood a large kite fashioned to resemble a rocket ship in flight.  A blaze of red and yellow streamers, suggesting powerful energy flowed from the tail.  Raul wished he could fly that rocket.  He knew that he would take such good care of the kite if it were his, but how could he afford the price?  The sign said ten dollars.  Raul didn't have that much money.  I couldn't tell you how long Raul stood before that window, nor could he.  When time suspends itself, lifetimes fly by in an instant.  

Sometime later, Raul's trance was broken when the crackled voice of an elderly gentleman shouted, "Why don't you come in and buy it?" 

Raul blushed with embarrassment. He hadn't realized that anyone saw him starring at that kite.  He stammered for a moment and then said sadly, "I don't have enough money, sir." 

The man, a small withered gentleman of Asian descent, beckoned him in.  He had a white beard covering his chin and long white hair bound in a braid at the base of his neck.  He bowed politely and reached out a hand to Raul.  “Son”, he said softly with a gentle voice, “My name is Sheng Wong.  I am a kite maker and the owner of this shop.  If you would like to help me from time to time, I would gladly pay you for your trouble, and then you can buy all the kites you like.” 

Raul knew that he should have asked permission of his family before accepting, but like many dreamers, he quickly put aside practical considerations, and accepted the offer.  The two shook hands.  Then Raul remembered his unfinished business, said goodbye and left.

Raul found time to spend a few minutes now and then at the kite shop without telling his grandmother.  Mr. Wong showed Raul how he arranged the papers and wood to fashion flying fantasies that might float on breezes off every hill in the city.   Raul tried to memorize each step.  When Mr.  Won handed the newly completed kite to Raul, the boy held it as if he carried the future of Earth in his hands.  Mr.  Wong observed the boy and smiled.  Then Raul would wrap each kite carefully as instructed and place it on a shelf in the store room.  He always looked to Mr. Wong for approval when he finished. 

Before long Raul  spent more time at the kite shop, and Abuelita began to worry.  Her nagging ceased having an effect on the boy.  She discussed her concerns with her daughter, who told Raul he must come directly home after school.  The boy explained about Mr. Wong and argued that he was old enough to come home when he pleased.   That earned him extra chores under Abuelita’s stern supervision.   Raul would need to spend an hour each day before dinner vacuuming the living room, dusting the furniture, and whatever else Abuelita decided.  When his mother and grandmother went to bed that night, the boy removed a torn brown wallet from his backpack.  After he counted twice to be sure, Raul let a grin spread across his face.  He had earned enough money to buy the kite. 

The next day Raul risked more scolding by returning to the kite shop.  After putting his money on the counter he told Mr. Wong in a quiet voice that he couldn’t come any more because his family worried about him.  Mr. Wong smiled, and told Raul not to worry. “My friend, you must always respect and honor your family above everything else”.  He also said that he and Raul would meet again.  Mr. Wong handed the Kite to Raul, and said, "Goodbye until next time".  The boy raced home.

Raul showed Abuelita the kite he had earned.  Although his grandmother wanted to scold the boy for disobeying again, she resisted when she saw the sparkle in his eyes.  Later, Abuelita and Mama promised that he could take the kite to the park the following weekend. 

During that week the dreams began.  In sleep Raul saw himself in an astronaut training program.  He wore an orange uniform.   The first night he sat strapped into a simulated space ship while a machine simulated the effects of weightlessness.  Many sensors attached to his body measured his responses.  Raul felt slightly nauseated when the simulated vehicle spun around.  Raul knew the somewhere beyond the training center was the ship. If he passed all the tests, he would travel to distant worlds on that vehicle.   He willed himself to pass.

Towards the end of that week of dreams Raul received his orders.  He would piolet the ship.  Even in his dreams, the elation was beyond measure.   Raul met the captain of his ship, an older man whose face her never saw.  He taught Raul how to manipulate the many buttons and switches on the control panel.  Animated by the magic of his dream world, Raul learned everything he needed to know in one session.  By the end of the week Raul knew in his dreams he was ready to fly the ship.  

On Saturday, Raul went to the park to fly his kite rocket.  He laughed when the ship sailed on the winds and became smaller and smaller as he lengthened the string.  For two hours (or maybe more) Raul became an astronaut flying his ship through space before he returned to help Abuelita with chores.  Raul entered the apartment chattering about his kite and how it flew through the air.  Abuelita smiled and handed him the broom.  

While he cleaned, Raul imagined traveling to another galaxy where he maneuvered a large ship through space.  He barely heard when Mamá returned from work. Abuelita had to shout at him to set the table for dinner.  Raul listened to the two women gossiping about the lives of their neighbors from a distant portal, one that connected his family’s world to that of his dreams.  If the women noticed him in reverie, they didn't mention it as they continued chatting about this one and that.  

Later, when the dishes were washed and put away, Raul asked to be excused to prepare for bed.  He took a shower, brushed his teeth, and then he carefully put away his clothing.  He spent a few hours reading his favorite book about space travel.  He had left planet Earth long before he shut off the lights.

That night in his bed, Raul dreamed he put on his space suit and helmet and climbed aboard the ship He strapped himself strapped into his seat while his body heart raced with exilleration excentuated by the rumble of the rocket's powerful engines.   As the control tower counted down, the ship  ignited, and the ship lifted off the earth.  Lift-off was as thrilling as Raul always imagined it would be.   His stomach did flip-flops as the forces of gravity fought to maintain its control on the departing vehicle.  Raul theought felt as though he turned inside out.

The ship rumbled through earth's atmosphere.   Raul watched his planet become smaller and smaller in the view screen.  Soon it resembled one of the world globes present in every classroom.   After leaving Earth's gravity field, the astronauts in the ship unbuckled themselves and luxuriated in the sensations of weightlessness.  Raul pretended to be a super hero while flying through the tiny cabin of his ship.

Raul awoke the next morning feeling exhilarated and desiring to return to the park with his kite.  After attending church with Mamá and Abuelita, he was given permission to spend a few hours at the park.  While he was flying the kite and dreaming of space trips, the kite fell and found its way into the jaws of a playful dog.  The dog, thinking only of play, and not of broken dreams, shook the kite violently with his head.  When he was done, the kite lay broken and shredded on the ground.  Raul  stared at the broken toy with his mouth open.  He could not move.

 In that moment Raul’s stature seemed to shrink.  His eyes glazed over with the same dull look of despair that his mother often had, but only for a moment, for when he looked up he saw Mr. Wong standing in front of him with a smile on his face and a large package in his hand.  “I thought that it was time to give you this", he said.  He spoke softly and handed the package to Raul.  "It is a gift, and none too soon, I might add.  Please enjoy your new kite"

 Raul tore open the wrapping.  He beheld inside the brown wrapping paper a kite in the shape of large star with a comet-like tail.  Its orange, red and yellow papers shimmered like twinkling light when the kite moved.  

Raul’s face came alive with excitement.  He almost forgot to say, "Thank you", but he did remember at last.  Mr. Wong bowed in reply, and Raul bowed back.  Mr. Wong said that he had to go and that he would be seeing Raul again very soon.

That night in his dreams, Raul saw the destination of his ship for the first time.   On his view finder was the star, the very star that Raul had held in his hands that afternoon.   This time, however, it wasn't made of paper and string.  Its twinkling was nearly blinding, but nevertheless,  Raul's eyes remained transfixed on the screen.  

Each night after that, when Raul slipped into the deep sleep where dreams reside, the ship drew closer and closer to the star system.  He learned that the star was called, "Arcturus" as was the  the planet where they would land.  Each night the excitement in the dream grew until at last the day came for touchdown.  

At first the sensation of reentering gravity felt uncomfortable.  Raul thought he would explode, but gradually his dream body grew accustomed to the newly added weight.  As Raul stepped out of the rocket, he saw a group of beings approaching.  The majority of them wore short white robes with sashes that twinkled like their sun star.  As the group neared, Raul saw that their leader was his friend, Mr. Wong who held up his hand in salute to the crew.  "Welcome to the Arcturian Order of Kite Makers" said Mr. Wong.  You will work with us as apprentices to learn our trade and then share what you have learned with your world.  We are looking forward to our lessons together" In his dream, Raul knew he had found his home and smiled as he followed the kite makers to their city.

When Raul awoke the next morning, and stretched.  He smiled, and decided not to share this with anyone. 

The Library Gnome

Mrs. Thomas, the librarian looked once more at her watch.  She sighed.  “Quitting time at last!”  She opened the drawer below the counter where she had locked up her purse.  A large aspirin bottle fell to the floor.  “Oops, empty.   I’ll have to stop and pick up some more on the way home.”  She rubbed her forehead in the exact spot where the pain usually began.  As she shut the lights and locked the door, she almost thought she heard movement amongst the shelves.  She turned the lights back on and searched for the source of the noise.

“I am over-due for a vacation,” she said in a hoarse whisper to herself.  She closed her eyes and imagined relaxing on the white sands of a tropical beach.  She pictured the damp salty air washing over her face while she watched the sea roll in and out.  “Ahh, no shelves, no books just the breeze and me.”

The library opened at ten o’clock the next day.  Mrs. Thomas nearly arrived late.  She had forgotten to bring the new bottle of aspirin and had to return home to fetch it.  “Surely, I’ll need it,” she thought.

She unlocked the main doors and cautiously entered.  “Well, everything’s in place, but then, it usually is.”  She put away her personal items and waited for the library regulars. 

Mrs. Thomas looked at the calendar on the checkout stand.  “Tuesday the third; I expect Mrs. Findlay will come in today.  Sure enough, just then, in walked the older woman, her back curved downward as if she carried an unseen burden.  She deposited two books in the book drop and walked towards the French literature section.

Mrs. Thomas braced herself wondering when it would begin.  Her right hand fondled the aspirin bottle while the left hand shook in anticipation.  This time, she hadn’t long to wait.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Thomas,” squeaked Ms. Findlay’s crackled voice, “the pages are in this book are blank.”

The librarian popped two aspirin and rubbed that spot on her forehead. “She groaned and startled the older woman.  ” Not again!  I really do need a vacation; a long vacation.”

Mrs. Findlay decided not to get any books that day and walked out the door at a brisk pace.  Twice, she looked back over her shoulder and mumbled something to herself.

The empty book rested on the counter in front of Mrs. Thomas.  The librarian broke out in a cold sweat behind the checkout counter.  All her muscles contracted.  Her face looked pinched and her brows knitted tightly over her eyes.  Two customers had already asked if she felt well, and she admitted to one of them that she didn’t.

She didn’t hear the muffled munching sounds from the fairy tale section of the children’s books.

In the afternoon fifteen minutes after school dismissal, the boy came in with his mother.  She spoke to the pale librarian about a library card for her son while he wheeled himself to the children’s books.  He started to reach for a book and then stopped.  “Hello, he said looking between “The Elves and the Shoemaker” and “Santa’s Elves”. 

Two shiny yellow eyes squinted back at him.

“Get out of here,” growled a raspy voice. 

“You’re not very polite,” scolded the child.  Didn’t your mom teach you any manners?  You should say hello back.  What are you doing there anyway?” 

“I said, get out of here.  Are you deaf?”

“No, that’s not my disability.  Don’t you see?  I’m in a wheelchair because I can’t walk, but my hearing works very well.   I can’t reach the top shelf.  Would you do it for me?  I want to read the book about Snow White.  I saw the movie last week.”

“Kid, I’m a gnome.  We aren’t nice to humans.  We scare humans, play tricks on them.  Why aren’t you afraid?  Boo!”

The boy laughed softly so as not to be shushed by the librarian.  “You’re silly.  And you’re not scary either.  Why do you want to scare people?  That sounds mean to me.  You must not have many friends.”

“I scare people because that’s what gnomes do.  I don’t want any friends.  Now, leave me alone!”

“Do you live here in the library?”

“Yes, right here.  Now get lost.  It’s my bedtime.”

The boy continued undaunted by the gnome’s attempts at rejection.  “Do you know that you have ink smeared all over your face?  I wash my face when it’s dirty.  Mom makes me.  Doesn’t your mom make you wash up when you’re dirty?”

“No.”

“Anyway, my name’s Billy.  What’s your name?”

“Grimflix.  Now, weren’t you leaving?”

“Hi, Grimflix.  I’m glad to meet you.  I never met a gnome before.  Will you get that book for me now?  Otherwise, I’ll call Mom to get it for me.  You’ll like her.  She can get grumpy like you, but she’s really very nice.  I bet you are too.  Mommm…”

“Shhh, don’t call her.  Grownups don’t like magical creatures.  They don’t believe in us which makes us disappear; very unpleasant business.  I had to leave my last library because of a nasty encounter with a grownup.  Here, take your book and go away.”

“Bye Grimflix.  I’ll look for you the next time we come to the library. 

Grimflix growled at the boy and then curled up behind “The Giant Book of Elves and Gnomes.”  Before long, his quiet snoring blended into the shuffles of feet and whispers of children.

Later, Mrs. Thomas wondered if she could safely take another dose of aspirin.  She stared once more into the empty pages of “The Complete Works of Honore de Balzac” and “A Tourist’s Guide to Paris”.  She shook her head and just kept mumbling, “Why me?  I’ve been a good person.”

Meanwhile, in the fairytale shelves of the children’s books, the library gnome chuckled and whistled two verses of “Frere Jacques” before he swallowed the word, “Paris”.  His full belly rumbled.

Two weeks later, Billy and his mother returned to the library.  A new librarian stood behind the desk.  Billy hardly noticed.  He rolled over to the children’s books and called, “Grimflix, where are you?  I want to show you something.”

Grimflix’s face popped out of a tall book with the word, “castle” half hanging from his mouth.  He glared at Billy then sucked in the rest of the word and swallowed.

“Not you again, kid.  What do you want this time?”

“Look, Grimflix.  Yesterday was my birthday.  Lots of friends came to my party.  I’m six now.  I got my own library card.  Do you have a library card too?”

“Kid, I don’t check out books.  I eat them.  I live in the library because I eat words.  Go away.  It’s my lunchtime, and I have a craving for castles and giants.”

“You eat books?”

“Just the words, kid.  That’s what library gnomes do.  Now, if you please, I am really hungry.  The number book I had for breakfast just didn’t fill me up.”

"But Grimflix, if you eat up all the words, soon we won’t have any more stories.”

The gnome lifted up his pointy chin to get a better look at Billy’s face.  “So what?” he shouted.  “I don’t care!  No one cares about me anyway.  Why should I care if you don’t have stories?”

The new librarian looked at Billy and put her forefinger to her mouth.  Billy’s mother gave him a disapproving look.  He started to protest that he didn’t say anything when he had a great idea.

“Grimflix,” he said softly, “have you ever had a birthday party?”

The gnome looked at him without speaking. 

Billy went on not seeming to notice the silence.  “My friends and I could give you a party.  We’ll make you a special birthday book with delicious happy words in it.  When you finish the words, we’ll make some more.  What do you think?”

“Could I have chocolate cake and ice cream? 

“Yes, three flavors of ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream.  We’ll add a piñata filled with candy and lots of balloons.  Would you like balloons?”

“Yes, red ones.  I want red balloons.  When will you bring me my birthday book?”  Grimflix didn’t want to act too excited, but no one had ever given him a birthday party.  “Could it be today?”

“Well, Grimflix, you will have to be patient.  Mom always says that to me.  My friends and I will have to make your book first.  I’ll be back in two weeks.”

Billy didn’t return in two weeks.  Grimflix had just finished eating all the words in the preschool books when he heard his name.  He looked into the eyes of a new child, a boy about the age of Billy.  Brown eyes flashed at yellow ones as if light swords battled for supremacy of the galaxy.  The new boy rocked back and forth on his two legs.   The two stared at each other for a few moments until the boy remembered what he had come to say.

“Billy told me to give this book to you.  He is very sick and can’t come back to the library, but he wanted you to have this birthday book.  We all helped him make it”

The boy held out a book made of lined papers stapled together.  The words inside had been written in wavy pencil strokes by children’s hands.

The gnome grabbed the book and scurried behind the shelves to munch in peace.  He loved the words, “red balloons” and “chocolate cake” the best.  While residue from the word, “chocolate” still smudged his face, he found more words at the end of his book.

“Dear Grimflix.  I am sorry I couldn’t come to your birthday party.  I have to stay in bed a long time because I got sick again.  If you ever get out of the library, come visit me.  I will put more words in your book.  Love, Billy Ortega:  23310 Basal St.”

Library gnomes rarely ever leave their libraries, but Grimflix really wanted to taste more of Billy’s delicious words.  “It’s just for the words and nothing else,” he assured himself.  So one evening around midnight, he slipped out of the library clutching his birthday book in one hand.  He made sure he closed the door behind him.  Then he began the search for Billy’s house.  When he found it at last, Grimflix slithered through an open window. 

The door to Billy’s room stood ajar.  The night light flickered when Grimflix entered.  The gnome rushed into the shadows out of habit to escape his enemy, the light.  Billy’s arm was attached to a tube that connected to a sack filled with liquid.  Drops from the sack flowed through the tube into Billy’s arm.  The sleeping boy clutched a folded piece of paper.  Grimflix saw the writing.  It said, “New Words for Grimflix.  The Gnome grabbed the paper.  On it Billy had written, “Best friend, happy, smile, gnome, companion.”  Grimflix took the paper and gobbled the words.  He tried his best to keep a smile from spreading across his face.  When he failed to do so, he wiggled between two books on Billy’s table and went to sleep still grinning.

Thus it was that Grimflix went to live with his friend Billy Ortega.  He lived in Billy’s bookcase where he curled up each night with his special birthday book.  Every morning, Billy filled the book with new and interesting words.  Sometimes he made whole stories for the gnome’s entertainment and growing appetite.  In the afternoon, the gnome told Billy stories about enchanted forests.  Some of those stories went into his birthday book.  Billy told his mother that when he got better he wanted to be a writer.