Hobbies and Friends

         " Good morning mama" I said as I walked into the kitchen to my mama making pie. "Hi sweetie" she said as she put the cherry pie in the oven. I knew it was cherry because she made me pick cherries for an hour after schools. Mama says it's good for me to do something after-school so i can stimulate my brain. I told her I already have enough education in my brain already. "It doesn't have to be educational all the time" she said. "It can be fun like cherry pickin" she said as she nodded to the cherry basket. " But for me cherry pickin is not fun." I said as I looked at her like she was crazy. " Well that's why you need to try out different hobbies until you find the right one." she said. " Well how am I suppose to know which one is right?" I asked her. " Trust me you will know whats is right for you when you feel it." she said. It's her answer for everything she doesn't know the answer to. "Mom whats the slope of (3,9), (0,0), and (-1,2)?". Her answer: you will know when you feel it. WHATTTT??!!! So that's what I did for the next month. Every week I tried different things. The first thing I tried was bike riding. That didn't go so well. I bumped into a wall and now I have a skinned knee and a bruised face. The next thing was fishing. I caught a fish but it took me at least an hour and a half. And it was small. So I decided it was going to be boring. I tried hunting, swimming, camping, reading, science experiments, drawing and.............well drawing was kinda fun. It was challenging for me but it was in a good way. But when I entered a drawing contest the month after at my school I won first place and all the teachers were congratulating me but the students were bullying me because they thought I was getting "special" treatment. I also lost my friends. So when I went home crying my mom asked me what was wrong. " IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT. IF YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TOLD ME TO FIND A HOBBY THAT FELT RIGHT I WOULD HAVE NEVER ENTERED THIS CONTEST, I WOULD HAVE NEVER WON IT, I WOULD HAVE NEVER GOT BULLIED, AND I WOULD HAVE NEVER LOST ALL OF MY FRIENDS." and after I told her that I ran to my room, slammed my door and locked it. "Honey they aren't real friends if they aren't your friend anymore just because you won an art contest." she said. " YEA BUT THEY WERE CLOSE TO ANY REAL FRIENDS I HAD." I screamed at her. Ever since we moved here I wasn't able to make friend. " No honey they weren't." she said calmly. I could tell she was drinking coffee. Every time she drinks coffee her voice is  always softer when she drinks her coffee. I started to cry. " Mom, why can't I ever do anything that's both fun and won’t hurt my feelings?" I asked her wiping my tears from my cheek. "I'll answer that if you open the door." she said laughing softly. I unlocked and opened the door. We sat at the foot of my bed.  " Honey I know that you know that you know that drawing is a good hobby for you." she said picking up one of my pictures and showed to me. "For god's sake Joey you can draw a transformer all perfect and stuff." she said. " And guess what? You're only 7 years old." she said. " Yeah when I took art I didn't even pay attention. But I guess I paid attention enough to learn how to draw." I said. " So we both know what lesson you need to work on." she said. I looked at her confused. " Sorry mom I kinda don't know the lesson here" I said. At least i'm honest. She laughed. " The lesson is don't let others bring you down." she said. Ok will to work on after all.

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Publication Date: 01-27-2016

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Dedication:
To my brother Keylen who inspired me to write. To my sister chaniah who inspired this title. To my mom who never stopped believing in me .