The Trouble with Being Ordinary

     They had been separated from their parents when they were very young, and so they had each depended upon the other two to survive. They wandered around for weeks, picking up scraps they could find. Then one day they discovered Mystery Island, and they found a home where they lived happily. The three brothers built a strong bond, having overcome these obstacles together.

     The three brothers did almost everything together, with a few obvious exceptions. They ate together, they played together, they read together, they did just about anything you could ever think of together. They were inseparable, and everyone assumed that that was just the way it would always be.

     They lived in a secluded Neohome on Mystery Island, and they didn’t often go out and explore the other lands. You could say they were too afraid (none of them were very brave) or you could just say they were lazy, and were perfectly fine where they were. But for whatever reason, the fact was that they didn’t really know anything other than the comforts of their own homes. And they liked it that way.

     But one day, a dark cloud passed over the happy island of Mystery. Only figuratively of course, as the sun was always shining on Mystery Island. But that day, something changed for those three brothers.

     One thing that needs to be mentioned is that these brothers were almost identical. All were a rather plain color red, and they all shared the features that a Gelert does tend to share with another Gelert. They had never really cared about looking different. They were happy with the ordinary color of red.

     But that very same day, Tomas and Robert were lying around at home, bored. Harry had run off to look for his pet Lucky the Ona, who had hidden away somewhere earlier. None of them were really worried, as Lucky often hid himself. None of them knew why; that was just the way he was.

     It was getting dark, and they knew Harry would be back soon. Sure enough, a minute later Lucky came running in, shrieking wildly, and Harry came trotting in right behind him.

     Tomas noticed that he had something in his mouth. He didn’t know what it was, but it looked like a... broom of some sort? Well, it was a brush on a wooden stick. But it was too small to be a broom...

     “What is that?” Tomas asked.

     “Dunno. I found it in the bushes when I was searching for Lucky, and I thought it looked kind of cool,” Harry responded.

     “Hey, you don’t know where that’s been, Harry. Or what it does,” Robert said, backing away from Harry and the mysterious object.

     “Calm down, Rob; it’s nothing bad. I think I’ve heard about these things. I think they’re called... Baint Prushes, or something.”

     “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Tomas started to laugh. Soon, Robert joined him, while Harry just looked annoyed. Then, his face lit up.

     “Wait, I know! They’re called Paintbrushes...”

     At that, Tomas and Robert stopped laughing, and instead looked at the object in shock. While they hadn’t been outside their own home very often, they all knew what a paintbrush was. They weren’t actually sure that it existed, but they had certainly heard of them.

     “A paintbrush? You found one of those?” Robert exclaimed excitedly. “I thought those were just a myth! Well, what are you waiting for? Try it!”

     Harry hesitated. “But... you guys don’t have paintbrushes...” he said uncertainly. He obviously was intrigued by the paintbrush, but he was scared at the idea of taking on a different appearance then his two brothers.

     “So? Give it to me. I’ll paint it on you.” Robert grabbed the paintbrush from Harry, and without a moment’s hesitation, began to glide the brush over Harry’s fur smoothly.

     The change was apparent immediately. Within the minute, Harry had transformed from the ordinary red Gelert... into a baby. All of a sudden they couldn’t even recognize him, and he no longer looked the third brother.

     “Cool!” Robert exclaimed.

     But Tomas wasn’t so sure. The three brothers had always been the same. The same color red. Now, that wasn’t true anymore.

     He had read stories in books about how when one changed on the outside, they often changed on the inside as well. They became self centered, obsessed with themselves and immersed in their own vanity.

     What was going to happen?

      ***

     The next day was the 18th, which was the only day in which the brothers went out and actually explored Mystery Island. They never went very far, but it was farther than they would go any other day.

     “Are you guys ready to go?” Tomas asked, excited. This was his favorite day of the month.

     He was still a little jealous of Harry, but he realized that just because Harry had changed on the outside, didn’t mean he had changed on the inside. They were still three brothers, side by side. Still, Tomas couldn’t help but feel more of a brotherly affection for Robert at the moment.

     “Hold on, hold on, I’m coming!” Robert said impatiently. A second later he walked out, followed closely by the new Harry.

     “Ready?” Tomas asked. The two others nodded.

     With that, they set off, side by side.

     The first place they went was always the market, as all three of them had a rather large obsession with food.

     When they got there, Tomas couldn’t help but notice that Harry looked a little uncomfortable walking next to the him and Robert, and started to walk ahead a little bit.

     “Hey Harry, wait up!” Robert called out to him. But Harry didn’t slow down.

     Tomas also noticed that people everywhere were staring at them. This was odd, because they were all so ordinary; there wasn’t really anything to stare at.

     With a sigh he realized that that wasn’t true anymore. Still, just because Harry was now out of the ordinary, it didn’t mean that they had to stare.

     “Why are they staring at us?” Robert whispered to Tomas.

     That’s when the light bulb clicked over Tomas's head.

     “They’re staring at us because we’re with Harry. I bet they’re wondering why someone who’s as... cool looking as him is hanging out with Gelerts as ordinary as we are. And he’s buying it. That’s why he’s walking out.” Tomas felt as though a giant cloud had passed over them all, even though the sun was shining as it always did. “I knew this was going to change everything.”

     Robert sped up to catch up with Harry.

     “Hey, Harry. Don’t tell me you’re actually trying to avoid us because we’re not... colored like you are,” Robert said.

     Harry looked at him with his new big puppy dog eyes. He was silent for a moment. Then, he said, “It’s just... well... you guys are so... ordinary.”

     “You were too until a day ago, and you never seemed to care!” Robert screamed. All of a sudden the market was silent, and everybody was watching them.

     “Look, I know there’s nothing wrong with being ordinary. But they don’t.” He indicated the crowed around them. “So while we’re here, could you guys please just... stay a step behind? I’m going to go hang out with them.” He pointed towards a group of baby Gelerts that looked just like him.

     From where he was, Tomas heard everything perfectly. He didn’t want to believe it, though. Had this whole transformation really changed him so much, so quickly? Was this the same Harry that had been the third member of the trio since they were only little boys?

     “Harry... you can’t be serious,” Robert said, laughing half-heartedly. Both he and Tomas both desperately wanted this whole thing to be a joke.

     But Harry wasn’t joking.

     “I’m sorry, Rob. It’s... just until we get back home.”

     Robert didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, slowly, he looked Harry in the eye and said, “You’re no longer our brother.”

     There was noticeable hurt in Harry’s eyes, but he looked around and didn’t say anything.

     “I’m sorry,” was all he said, once again.

     With that, he turned his back to his two brothers, and walked over to where a bunch of other baby Gelerts was playing with some sort of ball. They welcomed him right away, and all of a sudden the world started turning again. Now that the show was over, the town’s people started walking and talking once more. And nobody paid attention to the two ordinary Gelert brothers that were left behind.

     Tomas and Robert looked at each other, and there eyes were glistening with unshed tears. But they decided to be strong, and not let it get to them. They were still two brothers, at least. And nothing would ever change that.

     Still, despite himself, Tomas’s heart filled up with hatred for his brother. He wondered how he could such a horrible thing. Imagine, ditching his own brothers who had been with him through thick and thin, just because he was lucky enough to become something other than ordinary!

     What he especially did not understand was how such a change could occur so quickly. Just last night the three of them were laughing and playing with Lucky, and now... Harry didn't want anything to do with each other.

     He looked at Robert. At least he still had him. But it just wasn't the same.

     “Robert?” Tomas nudged his brother, “Promise we’ll never do that to each other?”

     Robert just nodded. So with that, the two of them left Harry behind and began to walk down the road.

      ***

     Although there was still a sadness that hung between the two remaining brothers over what the other one had done, they still managed to have a good time together. Still though, they couldn’t help walking a few feet apart from each other, as that was the space Harry usually occupied.

     When they got home, Harry still wasn’t back.

     “Probably still out with his ‘new friends’,” Robert said, his voice filled with disgust.

     “Let’s go sit outside; maybe it will help calm us down,” Tomas suggested.

     The two of them walked out to the little backyard area that they had set up. For a while, none of them spoke. They just sat there, looking out at the setting sun.

     But they were both wondering the same thing, asking themselves the same questions. ‘Where is our brother?’, ‘Was he really ashamed of us?’ and, ‘How are we all going to live under the same roof?’ Neither of them had any of the answers, and so they looked to the horizon, as if it could provide the answers.

     A while later (they weren’t keeping track) they heard the door slam shut, and they knew that there was only one Gelert it could possibly be.

     “I say we ignore him,” Tomas whispered to Robert.

     Robert nodded, and they continued to sit there, staring blankly out in front of them, looking but not really seeing anything. They knew Harry would find them out here in a second, and then they weren’t really sure what was going to happen.

     Sure enough, in no time the glass door had slid open. Neither Tomas nor Robert turned to look at their brother. What was there to see, anyway?

     “Hey guys...” Harry said uncertainly.

     Tomas wasn’t in the best of moods, so he said, “Go away,” rather rudely.

     “Look, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. It was stupid. I let the whole ‘me having a new appearance’ thing get to me, and I shouldn’t have. And you guys are my brothers, no matter what. So, uh... that’s why I did something.”

     Tomas still didn’t turn around, but Robert was more curious, and so he turned to look at his brother, though his eyes were still cold.

     Then, what he saw shocked him.

     Robert tapped Tomas on the shoulder. “Tomas, seriously, turn around.”

     So he did, and his mouth immediately fell open at what he saw.

     His brother, Harry, was no longer a baby. No, instead he was the same color red that he had been until last night. The same color red as his other two brothers. The same, ordinary color red.

     “What... what happened?” Tomas broke the silence.

     “Well, you guys were right. I was being a jerk today, and I’m really, really sorry. I realized that being ordinary isn’t such a bad thing, and well... if you guys are going to be boring old red, then I want to be boring old red too. I bought a red paintbrush on the way home and painted myself. Good thing they’re so cheap...”

     He was rambling now, but Tomas and Robert jumped down and hugged their brother, who was no longer different, who was no longer special. He was just their brother, and you know what? That was good enough.

     Sometimes, it wasn’t so bad being ordinary.

The End