Chapter Three

Of course I hadn’t been able to convince Dad to let me go down to the Cities, but over break Brad had been able to stay at an old friend’s house. I visited often, and I even went there on Good Friday to be with them, even if I don’t really celebrate Easter or anything. With my family, there was no option of ever going to church. The closest I got was watching The Da Vinci Code on TV.

“I’m going to go out and do some errands. Be good,” Brad said, kissing my forehead.

“Yeah, like she’d ever get in trouble,” Mike said, punching my shoulder with his huge, tan fists. We were sitting on his couch watching an old classic, Matilda, which was almost over. I never get tired of watching it.

After the movie was finished I went to Brad’s room and started practicing the violin. I hadn’t really expected people to be listening to me, but Mike was there clapping when I finished with my song.

“You’re really good. Have you ever thought of going professional?” he asked.

I laughed. “No. I don’t have time, what with high school and everything.”

“Is it really that hard?”

I made a face. “I’m not as smart as you were. I have to work to get a three point oh, and you barely had to do anything to get a four point oh. You’re a genius.”

It was Mike’s turn to make a face, his blue eyes cringing. “I am not a genius. I was just drilled in study techniques.”

“Yeah, so you’re now a genius.”

“You’re a genius on the violin.”

I changed the subject by glancing at his blonde curls and saying, “You need to get a hair cut. The way you’re going, people will mistake you for a hippie.”

He ran his hands through his hair. “Do I really need one that bad?”

“Yes.”

“Lunch is ready!” his mom called, instantly stopping our conversation.

“Race you?” he asked.

I laughed. “You’ll win. You’re so huge you look like you’re on steroids.”

“You’re so small you could be part mouse,” he countered as he let me go first.

“Stop arguing you two,” Molly, Mike’s mom, chided.

“Aw, c’mon Mom, we don’t really mean it. We’re just messing around. Right, Katie?” Mike asked, enclosing me in a bear hug.

“Can’t- breathe- going- dark,” I joked. He laughed and let go, but not before messing up my hair. Molly rolled her eyes and waved for us to sit down at the table.

I started digging in right away, and Mike laughed. “Do you even eat at your house? You’re always so hungry when you come here.”

It took me while to come up with a reply, but finally I said, “I never really have the time except over breaks, and that’s really only when I come here isn’t it?”

“What could you possibly be doing?” Tyler, Mike’s dad, asked.

“Homework,” I lied smoothly. There was no reason for them to find out what I was actually doing, was there?

After dinner I help with the dishes, as a way of paying them back for letting me stay there whenever Brad was home, even though I knew that they didn’t mind.

“So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?” Mike asked casually.

I shrugged. “I might go for a walk. I don’t really know this neighborhood yet.”

“Do you want me to go with you? You never really know what can happen, especially on break,” he offered.

I shook my head and replied, “No, I’m good. I’m not going very far anyway. Just around the block, so I can see what streets are close to here.”

“Okay then. I have a project to do anyway. When do you plan on being back?” he called as I was slipping my shoes on.

“I don’t know. Maybe in about an hour. You have a park near here, right? Bennett park. I was thinking about going there,” I called back.

The sky was clear, thankfully, so I was able to go out without wondering if I had to have taken my umbrella.

I was right. Bennett park was only a few blocks away from his house, and I walked there with ease, knowing that only a few people would be there after they took away some of their playground equipment.

The flowers were amazing. There were flowers of all colors, all blossoming. Their fragrance was loving and kind, lulling me to sleep. I instantly thought of a song that could describe it, but without my violin I couldn’t play it out. Sitting down on a bench, I closed my eyes and listened to the birds sing.

“The air is clear today, isn’t it?” I heard a voice ask. Opening my eyes, I saw an old man standing in front of me, smiling lightly. He had a cane, and his back was bent. “May I sit down next to you and share this memory with a stranger?”

“Of course. Please, sit and rest,” I said, scooting over.

He sat down and sighed. “That’s much better. I should have listened to my daughter. She said I shouldn’t have went here, that it was too much for my body at this point. But I couldn’t resist seeing the flowers.”

I nodded. “We don’t get these naturally by my home.”

The old man laughed. “Sure you do. You just don’t stop to watch them bloom.”

I laughed along with him. “You’re a strange man, you know that?”

“My name is Henry, by the way. Tell me, young girl who calls me strange, have you ever just stopped to wonder how everything in nature has beauty? The color of the flowers, the waves of the water, they all come from nature, and yet humans must destroy it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I admitted.

“What do you think you’re doing every time you spray your lawn with a weed killer? Or every time you drive two blocks because you twisted your ankle a week before and it still hurts a little bit?” He was entirely serious.

“I don’t really do that, but I guess when my friends do that they’re killing the grass as well as the weeds and stuff like that,” I replied, not really sure if I was right or not.

He laughed. “That is exactly correct. Good job. You know, before cars and factories there was no such thing as pollution. The flowers were able to bloom without worrying about the toxic air destroying them.”

I had no way of replying to that.

He continued with: “Let me ask you this. In a few decades all of the coastal countries will be covered with water at the rate we’re going at, and all of the cities will be covered with smog and pollution if we don’t do something. Would you rather have your children or your children’s children deal with it then, or would you rather have them not worry about it and do the work for them?”

“I would rather do the work for them,” I replied instantly.

“Then will you help me with my project?”

I stopped in my tracks. Help? What was his project anyway?

He smiled, seeming to sense what I was thinking. “I’m a scientist who specializes in global warming, Henry Nelson, and what I want to accomplish before my life is over is to help people realize what we’re doing to the Earth, to our home. I need a student, someone smart who will help me. I am very pleased to meet you.” Henry put out his hand for me to shake.

I was thinking after he said all of that, ‘Hey, you can do this. You may not be the smartest in the bunch, but what else will you do with your life? Why not help others? That’s the best way to spend it.’

And that’s how I met my mentor.

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[Looouise]

This is a really good story :]