Collector Personality

Sunday Scribblings
Read other Sunday Scribblings here.

It was a rather large, pink object with shiny, smooth surfaces that reflected her small face as she stared into the toy store window. She pressed her face against the glass and place her hands against it as if to balance herself. At age five, Suzuki, didn't have many wants but when she saw that pink piggy bank, she knew at once she wanted it for her birthday. Her parents said it was too expensive for something so useless. She could have save her money in any old jar around the house. Instead, Suzuki got a color pencil set for her birthday. Suzuki felt very disappointed and took those color pencils and drew all over the livingroom's white walls. She was grounded for a week but that didn't stop her from wanting the piggy bank.

When she was six, Suzuki asked for the piggy bank again for her birthday but got a set of paint and brushes instead. Suzuki once again felt very disappointed. She painted her bedroom walls a bright purple. Then she proceed to painted her parents white bedroom walls with bright pink shapes of piggies in neat little patterns. She was grounded for a week and her bedroom walls were not repainted like her parents.

When she was seven, Suzuki, once again asked for the piggy bank for her birthday but all she got was a magic marker set. Suzuki, tired of her parent's ignorance, took those magic markers and drew all over the door of their white refrigerator. Her parents sent her to her purple bedroom to think about what she had done.

That same year, her brother, Porki, was born. Suzuki thought he looked like a piggy and gave him that nickname. Her parents just pretend not to notice as they were too occupied with their family's new addition. Suzuki's bedroom was half turned into a nursery with the purple walls repainted to bright blue. They moved her bed against the wall which means she can no longer see outside the window. Suzuki got mad and drew a white chalk line all the way toward the doorway - chalks which her parents gave her for her eighth birthday - dividing the room in half. The line was drawn over the dark blue carpet and could not be completely removed, leaving a faded white line. Her parents were furious and punished her by sending her to sleep in the downstairs guestroom which was almost the size of a closet. The very next week, Suzuki's parents decided to move Suzuki to that room. When Suzuki came home from school, she founded all her things in that room - her bed, her toy box, and all her clothes now in a tiny closet. The room has no windows and the walls were decorated with dark green paint. Suzuki felt isolated. She took her color chalks and drew her discontent all over the walls. Her parents simply let her be as they soon forgotten she was even there.

When Suzuki turned nine, she did not asked for the piggy bank nor anything else. She knew her parents wouldn't have heard her anyway. Suzuki decided she simply does not care and refused to speak with her voice. She ate her meals in silence and often would reply with shakes or nods to her head. Her parents were far too busy getting Poki into grade school to notice. Suzuki received a paper mache kit for her birthday. She decorated her brother's crib, covering most of the crib's white wooden panels with papers. She also painted his nickname, "Porki" all over it in various colors. All this while her brother was still in the crib. Porki was laughing the whole time and was half wrapped in paper. Her parents sent her to her new bedroom without dinner and she was not allowed in her brother's bedroom unless her parents were also present.

On the eve of her tenth birthday, Suzuki received a one hundred dollar bill from her grandparents from her father's side. She was so excited but her parents thought it was too much for a child her age and had taken it away from her and instead they gave her a typewriter which was so old, that the letters were get stuck when she typed. Suzuki took the typewriter and threw it out the livingroom window which landed on the neighbor's cat. The cat survived but Suzuki got sent away to school in Japan where she attended 14 hour classes each day for six days a week. There, Suzuki finally learned to filtered her mind onto paper. She also realized that piggy banks were silly things and she soon forgot about them as the grueling schedule forced her to concentrated on her school work. She went home every eight months but as usual Suzuki barely spoke at all, mostly staying in her little bedroom and daydream.

When Suzuki turned sixteen, her brother sent her a birthday gift with a note written by her parents as Porki was only eight years old. Suzuki didn't care what it was as she was glad someone remembered her birthday. In that brown box with brown wrapping paper, wrapped in plastic bubble wraps, was a big, shiny pink piggy bank with its little tail and tiny eyes. The exact one that she had wanted. Suzuki was so happy but when she took it out of the box, she found it was broken in half. One half fell and broke into pieces as she held the other half in her hand. Suzuki thought this was karma as she had not been behaving herself to received this gift. Suzuki was not disappointed because, at last, she got what she always wanted. She glued the pieces together and displayed it on her writing desk. Every birthday, her brother sent her a piggy bank of various sizes and colors. She would sent him hand-written letters and small tokens. Suzuki felt content every time she stared at her piggy bank collection. Every shiny one makes her smile knowing it was sent by her brother.

10 Post A comment:

paisley said...

i loved that... she was such a well meaning girl.. i just wanted to shake her parents.. they were so blind... what a gift she found in her brother tho'....

Becca said...

I loved this story...so clever and creative, with such good characterization. I agree with paisley though...sure wanted to shake those parents!

But at least she got her "collection" of piggy banks :)

tumblewords said...

Very creative! Lots of layers and energy in this piece!

MissMeliss said...

Very creative. Love that her brother saw what her parents didn't.

Jo said...

This is a well-conceived well-written story -- I loved it. What awful parents but what a great brother.....

gautami tripathy said...

Parents can be so insensitive at times. Siblings are great. They understand you.

Great post.

Yolanda said...

I loved this . I also really like the new look of the header.

Patois said...

How lovely that, even with such horrid parents, a wonderful woman and a wonderful man were formed.

Frances said...

Your imagination is rich and fertile.
Your greatest collection is your own art!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring,
Frances

lissa said...

You are all very kind in your comments. Thanks for reading and commenting.

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“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”
Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor, best known for his Meditations on Stoic philosophy, AD 121-180)