Poxed
“Duke Harold Cunnings.”
What a name. I’m intelligent, was this an intelligent name? I thought so I changed my name to this as soon as I was old enough to know how. At the age
of twelve I got the legal tendencies sent through to change my name from Tom Richards to Duke Harold Cunnings, my parents couldn’t disagree
because in all honesty they weren’t really my parents.
Those people, those elegant people with the misfortune to not be able to bear a child, took me in as their own at a very young age. Before long I became
to realize the truth behind my broken family. All the obvious signs were there. I didn’t look anything like my parents and I was much more intellectually
balanced everything in their genes just told me I was different. So to show my rights as a human being I discovered the truth and became Duke Cunnings.
My parents, yes come on now just cause I was smart didn’t mean I was heartless, still loved me and I returned their love. I felt sorry for them and realized
that if I became a normal child it would make their lives perfect, and having people indebt to you for making their lives perfect couldn’t really be a bad thing.
I joined junior high school, rather than being the nerd who had the entire school figured out, I chose to act as the kid who would be popular and never have
a boring night. Before long I had this skill down pack. Being popular sure wasn’t as hard as all those teenage high school movies made it out to be,
but I was too cool to watch those.
They’d say Duke was on top of his game. I was getting A’s and B’s, by choice. I was being introduced into sports, which I had actually taken a liking too.
Another thing I had taken a liking too was girls. I was young and never did anything than give a girl a quick peck on the lips but it was thrilling to know the
experience. It didn’t hurt that I wasn’t bad looking. By the age fourteen I had grown to a nice average height, one of the tallest in my class at the time. My fluffed
hair was light to dark brown depending on the given sun light, and my eyes were always a soft hazel.
I had many friends. We often enjoyed going bowling together and while they bowled I thought about things effecting our environment and how the human race
could be improved. My parents told me I had potential, I had the potential to be anything I put my mind too. They had high hopes I’d become a doctor or
maybe even a lawyer. I had my eyes set on president. Hell you could never dream too big.
It wasn’t until that fateful day that my life fell apart. If I believed in luck I would have said that that was the unluckiest day of my life. All I remember was that
my mom and I were on our way to soccer practice, she had become one of those soccer moms who did anything she could for the team. We were
running late, legally she was correct in her traffic laws. She pulled into the intersection with the complete right of way. However the man in the stolen car being
chased by the cops didn’t care.
Everything happened so fast. His car rammed into the side of ours, he was sent flying through the windshield and my mother was instantly killed with what
the doctor’s told me was a fatal laceration to the head. I was luckier, I hate that word but since there isn’t a better one it’s the word I’ll use. I was luckier because
I was on the opposite side of impact. I suffered from two broken leg bones a broken rib and a small gash into the side of my head.
My dad felt ease knowing the man who was driving the other car was killed instantly, but it wasn’t enough grief slowly over came him. There was no way
a man in his status in the suburbs could handle being a single dad and try to go into the dating game. His justifiable logic slowly took over. I assume he came
to the conclusion that I was adopted and I wouldn’t need his support much longer, so he killed himself. Maybe it was cruel to think of it like that, but I couldn’t
come up with any other reason why. I just laid in that hospital bed and waited for my deep wounds to heal.
Before I had the time to bring together my expected goals for the near future a man I came to admire presented himself to me. We inspired in deep
conversation about human life, and how amazing it would be if there were people out there who exceeded the limitations of the everyday person. My imagination
began to soar. Finally I came to the point where I wanted to know more about this man who had so much to offer to the world. His name was Rupert Stanfield,
a very professional name I thought. His organization was huge. Mr. Stanfield went on to tell me how he owned many hospitals and how he was traveling the world
to see how they were getting along and treating the patients. Apparently I was the patient recommended for this hospital’s check up because I was the one
in the most pain. It must have been a slow season cause I wasn’t in much pain at all.
Too add to my excitement Mr. Stanfield said he was opening a base close to where I lived and when I got out of the hospital he said I could do an internship there.
I exploded with joy. Finally I could move on with my life, I was slowly beginning to forget what had happen just three weeks ago. Then to help pass the time away
while he was gone he gave me a form to fill out. He said that if it met with the requirements I’d be qualified for a special internship.
And so I preceded the task with pen and paper; I answered the questions.
Quote:
“My Name: Duke Harold Cunnings”
The name wanted.
“Age: 16”
I just turned sixteen a month ago.
“Birthday: June 9”
“Gender: Male”
“Hair Color: Brown”
Really I didn’t see much purpose in this other than they would want someone without odd hair dye such as green or blue.
“Eye Color: Hazel”
Maybe it had something to do with my background.
“Skin Color: Caucasian”
Maybe they weren’t accepting minorities because of an image.
“Height: 5’ 11” ”
Really I was 5’ 10” but I knew that because of my broken legs I would in crease slightly in height. Plus what really was one inch?
“Weight: 130 lbs”
This was an average weight for someone my age that played sports.
“Blood Type: O+”
I didn’t know that until after the accident. This was probably for health issues. Maybe I’d be entering a scientific department.
What lead next struck me as the most odd. They were asking me to describe my personality. Honestly I didn’t see any other reason for them to know
that rather than possible placement with peers so we could work efficiently together. I went about describing myself as a person who likes to work with
people. I held my intelligence as my highest factor strength. I also stated I was very logical and enjoyed to mingle with the “in” crowd. From what I stated it
sounded like I just wanted to be a normal sensible adult.
Finally on this long list of information needed they wanted to know my likes, fears, and dislikes. If I hadn’t gone through what I did just three weeks ago I
probably would have felt uneasy about sharing that kind of information. Giving anyone this upper hand over you could be cause for trouble. I disregarded my
well being and began to write an list with explanation of my likes, fears, and dislikes.
I reviewed my list and summarized it in my head.
“What I liked.”
I liked to read and learn because it tied me to the earth. I enjoyed playing sports because I felt alive when I did. I loved to solve various puzzles to test my
knowledge with others. I was one of the few who loved writing papers. I loved to look my best and I loved to eat healthy. Above all else, I loved working and
getting to know many different types of people.
“What I disliked.”
These were useless tidbits of information I thought made me more human. I chose not to be around cats because of my allergies to them. I hated being weak
and sick. I hated when I wasn’t treated equal. I dislike people who weren’t willing to learn.
“What I feared.”
This spot was the shortest of all. I just experienced the worst. There wasn’t much I feared anymore. So I simply put: “I fear, fear itself.”
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I was done. And I couldn’t wait to show Mr. Stanfield my accomplishment. Hopefully I would meet his recommendations for this special internship.
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