This story was written based on the following prompts: foster parent and teen, carpenter’s studio, and thankful.
RAE: On the table saw there was a sign reading “do not touch the table saw.”
LINDA: Sixteen-year-old Marisa saw the sign and reached out to touch the saw anyway.
RAE: Because the sign said not to.
LINDA: “Hey! Stop that,” Sherrie, Marisa’s foster mom, said. “Do you want to cut off your hands?”
RAE: “If I got badass prosthetic hands that shoot lasers, maybe.”
LINDA: “Sorry, I make thirty-five thousand a year. I can’t afford that,” she explained.
RAE: “Can you show me how to use the table saw? Or how to make a bookcase?” Marisa gestured to some of the furniture under construction in the studio.
LINDA: “Sure. This is what we do,” Sherrie said as she pulled out large sheets of paper. “You get to start with the boring stuff.”
RAE: Sherrie handed her a sharpie and a straight edge. “Okay. You have 5 2×10 boards. What can you make with them?”
LINDA: “I’m bored,” Marisa complained. “When do we get to the cutting and nailing?”
RAE: “Measure twice, cut once.”
LINDA: “Fine.” Marisa drew a sketch of a bookshelf using the 5 boards and Sherrie was impressed.
RAE: “Did you take woodshop at your old school?” Sherrie asked.
LINDA: “Yes, Mrs. Kim was a dancer and performance artist too…before she got into carpentry. She taught us to not let our imagination be confined by reality.”
RAE: “Jeanette Kim?! Who used to be in the punk band with the chainsaws? I love her!”
LINDA: “How old are you? She’s like a hundred.”
RAE: Sherrie squinted at her, “For your information I’m fifty-two.”
LINDA: “Oh, I’ve been telling everyone that you’re thirty.” Sherrie smiled.
RAE: She handed Marisa a pair of safety glasses. “Ready to make your first cut?”
LINDA: “Really? Awesome! Can I get a car if I tell everyone you’re twenty-five?”
THE END.
Photo Credit: Pezibear, “Table Saw,” 2015