Pictures

the latest draft of the stories An Unfair World and Jigsaw. please tell me what you think.

Michelle was crouched in a corner, spreading out photos on the floor one by one until she sat in an organized circle of faces and memories. She would gloss over each of these windows, paying special attention to the smiles. Every so often, she would adjust the photos, putting each corner in perfect line with one another. She stood and brushed off her pink shorts. She turned in every direction, each time looking down at what she had done. Everywhere she looked there were smiling faces, all looking straight back at her. She twirled faster, arms spread out to either side of her. Her blonde pigtails followed suit. Something as simple as photos brought back her spirit. The bright spark that had been so dim was reignited in the child.

Max hadn’t seen her in such a good mood in so long, he couldn’t help but to be drawn into her warm bubble. He took her by the waist and lifted her up as high as he could, spinning her until he became dizzy. Michelle, still in his arms hugged him tight.

Max thought that if he had known what kind of joy this girl would have brought him he would have become a part of her life much sooner instead of waiting until he was all that she had left.

And Michelle was indeed alone before Max came to her rescue. Her mother was the love of Max’s young life. Her name was Jess and she was once bright and cheerful, and she loved her daughter more than anything in the world, but with a single shot, that light was snuffed out. She was all Michelle had.

Max put her back on the floor, placing her by the now scattered pictures. His gaze shifted from the blonde child to the spread of photos. One, in particular, showed a familiar scene to him. In this little window was a younger Max, beside him, was the young Jess. Her blonde curls fell over her shoulders and her bright green eyes stared at Max through the photo; Max smiled, gazing back at those bright green eyes. The photo was taken after the last day of middle school. Max and Jess had first met that year. Max could remember their first meeting. In those days Max would sit in the back of the classroom, minding his own business. Most people would pay no attention to him, and he liked it that way. No one bothered him, and he could stay in his own world. There were a few, who would spread rumors about him. One of his favorites was that he had been in juvenile detention multiple times for sadistic behaviors like beating cats and shanking his mother. None of these rumors were true however. He was, however, known for a short temper. He had been in his fair share of fights in defense for the few friends he had. He had never been to jail, he loved animals, and he never shanked his mother. Max was a smart kid. In his spare time, he liked to write.

 Jess, on the other hand, was popular and known for wild behavior, staying out all night, partying, and anything else that would earn her prestige amongst the high school students. One day, max had forgotten one of his stories in the classroom. Unbeknownst to him, the popular Jess sat at the same seat as him.

At the end of school that day, Jess rushed to find the writer. She caught him just before he left school. “Wait! Hey, wait up!”

The voice rang down the hall behind Max. He dismissed it however, assuming the voice was calling out for someone else.

“Max? Max Bishop?”

He stopped and turned, shocked that someone had been looking for him. “Yeah, that’s me.” To add to his shock, he had recognized the girl as the popular Jess. What could she have wanted with him?

She caught her breath and pushed her blonde hair away from her face, “You’re Max Bishop, right?”

Max nodded, not knowing what else to do.

“I’ve been looking for you.” Jess dug through her backpack, “I think this is yours.” She pulled out a collection of papers.

Max looked at the papers, it was one of his stories. “Where did you get this?” he asked while shifting through the pages.

“I found them on my desk.”

“Well, thanks I guess.” Max began to walk away.

“It’s good.” Jess followed him.

“You read it?” Max let her catch up.

“Yeah, I really liked it too. The idea of the hero working behind the scenes and getting none of the glory is sad, but the fact that he can accept it because he’s proud of who he is however, is wonderful.”

They stopped walking and faced one another, “I didn’t think you would be one to read.” Max said.

“I don’t blame you; most people don’t know that side of me.” She gave a smile. “I would love to read more. Do you have other stories?”

“Yeah, I’ve got plenty.” Max couldn’t help but to be drawn to her piercing eyes, “you want me to show you?”

“That would be great!”

Max had never seen someone so excited about his work before. He was both happy and wary. He thought, maybe this is some kind of trick. Why else would Jess want to talk to him? Despite his thoughts, he kept staring at her eyes.

“Is something the matter?”

Max snapped back to attention, “No, nothing, it’s just, well you have beautiful eyes.”

Jess began to giggle.

“Oh s**t! That sounded weird, didn’t it? I didn’t mean to be creepy, but they are pretty and�"“
“It’s fine” jess smiled, “Thank you.”

Max could feel the heat rising to his face. He turned away to hide his embarrassment.

“So, what about those stories?” Jess inquired.

“Right,” Max regained his composure, “How about I bring some for you tomorrow?”

“That would be great.”

Max pulled himself away from the memory. He shifted his attention to Michelle. While he was reminiscing, she had been gathering the photos. “What do you plan to do with them?” Max smiled as he added his photo to the collection.

Michelle smiled, and headed towards the stairs with Max following close behind. Michelle took the collected photos to the living room. She rushed around to find paper, scissors and glue. Her eyes were beaming with determination.

As Michelle searched for the tools she needed, Max looked back at the pile of photos. He picked them up. He flipped to a birthday. There was a candle in the shape of a three on the cake. Michelle’s face was illuminated in the darkness. Beside her was Jess. The candle light was caught in her eyes. They seemed so happy. Max remembered taking the photo. He recalled how much fun they had. Next he found a Christmas photo. Michelle and Jess were still asleep When Max put on a Santa suit. When Michelle came into the living room, her sleepiness disappeared, and she raced to see Santa. The picture was taken with Jess on one of Max’s knees and Michelle on the other. That was Michelle’s third Christmas. Next was an Easter. Michelle had on a rosy sundress that draped to the ground when she crouched. Jess was wearing a matching robin’s egg blue dress. Michelle carried a colorful basket, filled to the brim with eggs in pink, blue, green and purple. Max recalled making the Michelle’s Easter basket the night before. They smiled while filling it with Reese’s eggs, jelly belly jellybeans, M&M’s and small toys. The next he found was their last Fourth of July. Michelle and jess stood together, holding sparklers and watching the beautiful sparks fly out. The bright sparks illuminated their faces, each bright and smiling. That day, they spent the night watching the fireworks until Jess and Michelle had both fallen asleep on Max, Jess laid her head on his shoulder, and Michelle laid hers on his lap. He pulled out another photo.

This time, the photo was of himself, Jess and Michelle outside of a daycare. Jess was holding Michelle. The two girls’ blonde hair was blowing in the breeze. Max stood beside them, and yet seemed to still be distant. This was the first time he met Michelle.

“It’ll be fine, you’ll love her.”

Jess and max were on their way to the daycare. It had been two short years since Jess had learned she was pregnant. And Though he helped her through the pregnancy, he almost never saw the child. He was not sure whether he should or not. He always thought that he was one who should stay away from children, afraid that his more violent nature made him far from kid friendly.

“Are you so sure about that?” Max frowned and looked out the window.

“Just trust me, alright?”

“I do trust you.” Max gave in, “Alright, I’ll just see what happens.”

They arrived at the daycare, and Michelle was asked to fill out some paperwork with the teacher.

“This will only take a minute.” Jess walked over to the desk.

Max was left at the mercy of screaming children and suspicious mothers. He felt their stares. Their quiet whisperings were like pounding drums in his head. He had felt so out of place and so distant from the world of this daycare. He was close to leaving when a little girl took his hand and pulled him to a corner where a little round table sat. The girl took her place at one end and Max, not knowing what else to do. She handed him a piece of paper and some crayons before returning to her own paper. Max felt even more glares than before. He stared down at the blank paper. For the moment, he had forgotten everything about how to draw.

Max saw get out of her chair and walked over to him. When she reached him, she put the purple crayon in his hand and moved his hand across the paper, making a shaky and odd line.

When the girl sat back down, he continued to draw. While drawing he noticed that this little girl chose the quietest and most isolated spot in the room. The other children seemed to run around, playing together and ignoring her. Max wondered why this was. Before long, he had realized that he had been drawing Jess to the best of his abilities. As the realization hit him, Jess walked up to the table. He got rid of his drawing.

“Ah, so you two seem to have hit it off quite nicely.”

“What do you mean?”

“Max, this is Michelle.”

Max snapped back to the present when Michelle raced towards him. She had found all she needed to begin her next project of the day. Eager to begin, she took the scissors to the first photo of herself. She cut out her image, being sure not to snip off a piece of herself. She glued the photo at the very center of her poster board; each following photo was cut out, and glued around her. By the time she had finished, the collage seemed to look like she did earlier when surrounded by those smiling faces.

After her project finished, she was worn out, almost ready to drop. Max seeing this said, “I think it’s time for bed now, what about you?”

Michelle’s mouth opened wide for a yawn as she nodded in agreement.

When Max picked her up, a last photo fell from the couch. Being careful not to drop Michelle, he bent over to pick it up. In it, Max was pushing Michelle on the swing set. Her blonde locks were flying back from her smiling face. The sun was setting behind them. A chill filled the park that day. The two had found a friend in one another, and that made their lives far better than they were. Jess was absent from the photo. She was taking the picture. It was her idea to go play in the park. She kept Michelle out of daycare and had max skip school with her. They spent that whole day out and about. Visiting the zoo, going out to eat, and going shopping. Jess decided she would pay for the whole day. Despite Max’s curiosity, he kept himself from asking why. The park was the last stop. They stayed until the purple haze of twilight covered the park. The grass was deep violet, the trees a dim blue and just enough sunlight remained to create a soft pink hue. Max was carrying Michelle to the car when Jess turned to him, “Max?”

He looked back at her, “What?”

“Can you promise me something?”

“Depends on the promise; I don’t do anything involving children and small animals.” The two laughed.

She composed herself once again, “Can you promise to be the one to take care of Michelle if anything happens to me?”

“Of course I will.” Max didn’t want to question it.

Max was pulled out of his memories when Michelle shifted in his arms. “Shh,” he bounced her a bit before heading to her room. “There, there. No need to fuss.” His voice was low and sweet. They reached Michelle’s bedroom, where he put her in bed and tucked her under her purple blanket.

He kissed her forehead, “Goodnight Michelle, I love you.”

“I love you. Sweet dreams.”

Max took one last look at the photo, smiling, and placed it on the night stand.

Author's Note

please tell me what you think!