Felix – Introduction

Giselle’s story…

Giselle pushed through the doors of the auditorium, hugging her first place trophy to her chest.  She’d done it!  She’d actually done it! 

“Giselle!” a male voice called out.

With a groan, she turned to look, then nearly sagged with frustration when she saw Richard heading towards her.  Then she remembered that Richard was her boyfriend and she should actually be happy to see him.  So why did she merely feel irritation at his intrusion during this precious moment? 

“Where have you been?” Richard asked as soon as he was beside her. 

Giselle started walking again but she twisted her body slightly so that she could stuff her trophy into her backpack.  “Oh, I’ve been…um…” she didn’t have an explanation for him. 

“What’s that?” he asked. 

Hurriedly, Giselle zipped her backpack closed.  “Just…something I won.”

Richard stopped walking and stared at her.  “What did you win?” he demanded, his tone belligerent now.  HE glanced over his shoulder at the doors to the auditorium and saw the other students coming out.  “Did you…participate in that geeky competition?” he asked, his tone revealing his feelings towards the math competition. 

Giselle bit her lip, wishing that she could have rushed out of the school.  She looked through the windows and caught her mother waiting out front along with the other parents.  This was the after school procedure for any of the students who participated in after school activities. 

“I like math,” she replied, angry that her tone sounded defensive instead of confident. 

Richard snorted.  “Yeah, I know that you like math, but,” he leaned forward, whispering so that only she could hear him, “don’t hang out with those guys!” he hissed.  “And definitely don’t advertise your math brain.”

Giselle looked at Richard, stunned that he felt like that.  “Why wouldn’t I advertise that I’m good at math?” she asked.  “I like math.  And…,” she was more than slightly hurt by his words, but she tried to hide it. 

“And what?” he snorted.  “You don’t want everyone to know you’re a geek, do you?”

Giselle looked around, self-conscious now.  She saw the football players who were lugging their post-game equipment down the hallway as they too made their way towards the line of cars outside the front doors. 

She refocused her attention on Richard, ignoring the more attractive boys.  The football players wouldn’t give her a second glance, she reminded herself.  They were the big, tall, impressive guys in school.  Well, they were impressive on the football field.  She’d discovered that they weren’t very impressive off the field.  Okay, there were two football players that were smart.  They were both in her advanced math class, but she didn’t wear the short skirts or the tight tops, so the football players ignored her. 

“I don’t think that being good at math is a geeky thing,” she finally replied.  She watched Richard’s features carefully.  Sure enough, she recognized the flash of revulsion in his eyes.  It was there for only a moment, then gone.  But it was enough for Giselle to step back, stunned by his feelings.  “You disagree?”

Richard shrugged and shifted his backpack on his shoulder.  “I just think that math is a male thing.  Girls shouldn’t be good at math.”

His comment didn’t make any sense.  “Why not?”

“Because math is just…male!” he asserted firmly.  “Men don’t like girls who are good at math.”

Giselle stared at him, hurt and shocked by his sexist comments.  “So…in other words, you don’t find me attractive because I’m good at math?” She turned towards the doorway, ready to get away from this person who was supposed to be her boyfriend.  Why wasn’t he happy for her?  Why wasn’t he high-fiving her as she’d seen so many of the other boys do during football practice when someone made a good play on the field? 

“Giselle, wait!”

She didn’t wait.  She pushed through the heavy, metal doors and looked frantically for her mother.  Giselle knew that her mother would be here.  She was never late.  Also, her mom knew that the math competition was today and would be eager to hear the results. 

“Giselle, you’re making this into something bigger than it is.”

She spun around and glared at Richard.  “I am?”

“Yeah!” he asserted impatiently.  “You’re being irrational when all I did was tell you my opinion.”  He moved closer, about to put his arm around her shoulder.  “If you could just…maybe tone down your math stuff a bit, then there’s no issue.”

Giselle pushed his arm off of her shoulder.  “I’m ‘being irrational’?” she mocked.  “I’m not being irrational, Richard,” she snapped, not waiting to give him time to respond.  “I’m smart.  And apparently, being smart threatens your masculinity.  You’re asking me to be less, simply because you can’t handle me being more.”

“It doesn’t threaten my masculinity,” he snarled and pulled back.  “My masculinity is just fine!”

“Is it?”

He stepped back and shook his head.  “You’re just a girl who doesn’t know how to be feminine.”  His lips curled into a sneer.  “Men like me want a woman who is soft and sweet,” he told her, then let his eyes drift down over her figure.  “Such a waste.”

Giselle lifted her chin defiantly.  “If you can’t handle me, all of me, then we’re done, Richard!” And she turned, heading for her mother who was sitting in her car just a few feet away.  By the end, of that short walk, she was running, trying to hide the tears.  When she dove into the car, she whispered, “Please hurry!”

Her mother turned and looked at Giselle, then at Richard who was still standing on the sidewalk, glaring.  “What happened?”

“Please?” she whispered, trying to ignore the trembling in her chin.  She wasn’t going to break down here.  Not with Richard watching her and looking like he wanted to argue with her.  There was no arguing with a boyfriend who wanted her to change.  She would never change her whole personality or hide her intelligence in order to make a man feel stronger!

Felix’s story…

“Where are you?” Felix muttered, pushing through the briar bushes and shuffling the pine needs out of the way.  “I know you’re here somewhere.”

After several more minutes of searching, Felix finally found the source of the chirping.  Very carefully, he lifted the baby bird into his glove covered hand, then looked up at the tree.  “Is your momma up there?” he asked, then spotted the birds’ nest.  It was pretty high up.  He didn’t hear any other chirping, indicating other baby birds in the nest, but that didn’t mean much.  He was pretty far away. 

Off to the right, he saw a bird flying overhead.  She was circling and chirping at him.  “Is that your momma?” he asked, cradling the baby bird against his chest.  He looked down at the bird, knowing that the terrified bird couldn’t understand him.  He made a snap decision and looked around. 

“I don’t know if this will help, but I can get you back to your family.”  With one hand against his chest, he jumped up and, with his hand protected by the glove, grabbed onto the lowest branch, then pulled himself up.  It took a great deal of power, but he felt the rush of endorphins as soon as he perched on the branch.  Looking up, he grabbed the next branch, then the next, getting up into the tree top.  It took about fifteen minutes, but he finally reached the bird’s nest.  With a careful hand, he placed the still-chirping bird into the nest with the other two birds. 

It took him only a moment, then he moved lower, away from the nest. 

But when he was about five feet from the nest, he paused and looked out.  From way up here, he could see for miles!  Felix wasn’t afraid of heights.  In fact, he loved being this high up.  It was…exhilarating!  If there was some way to live here, Felix would do it.  HE could happily live in the trees, high up near the clouds.  The danger and the view…it was all a rush.  The wind blew and the top of the tree swayed slightly, adding to the danger.  He imagined the wind blowing harder and the tree top breaking off.  What would he do if he started tumbling to the ground?  HE looked out and smiled, thinking about jumping to the next tree, grabbing onto the branches just like a monkey would do.  Yeah, monkeys had it good.  They lived in the trees, way high up, away from…Felix looked down, seeing the pathetic hotel where he lived with his family.  The roof looked rough, as if it needed new shingles.  He’d already repaired the dock, but maybe he could do something about replacing some of the shingles that weren’t attached any longer. 

Sighing, he glanced at the highway and the parking lot.  Everywhere he looked, there were things that needed to be fixed.  He loved working with his hands.  And so far, he’d figured out how to fix everything that had broken.

Felix sat on the uncomfortable tree branch, watching as his father stumbled out of the tree line.  He was drunk.  What was new?  His father was a royal bastard, taking all of the money earned by the casual hotel guests, spending it on booze.  He hated the man and vowed that he would never, ever, be like his father!