January 10th, 2012

9:30 a.m. 

Wednesday 

Rorkesburg

The bright sun rose over the peaceful neighborhood of Red Leaf Way: a suburban area filled with many upper and middle class families. It’s located outside the main city, and considered the safest place for those who want to start a family. All buildings in this zone are maintained on a monthly basis. 

A small family lived inside of a two-story white cottage, consisting of two adults and a two-year old toddler known as David. They were known as The Lavinzos. Jerald and Marian are the parents of this young tiger cub. The father is a Computer Technician that worked at Rorkesburg Technical Support: a company that is based in the city, and requires its employees to either drive to work or take the local bus. 

Following his second birthday, they scheduled an appointment with their son’s pediatrician since they were noticing some strange behaviors from him, such as: avoiding eye contact, struggling to learn, and being sensitive to extremely loud noises. In which he covers his ears and whines.

David’s pediatrician accurately diagnosed him with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), based on the information provided by his parents. Jerald and Marian were surprised to hear about this, and were unsure of how to react to it. The medical practitioner told them with a smile: “While your son looks normal on the outside, he’s entirely different on the inside. Please be gentle with him. He’s a unique kid amongst many others like him, and I’m sure he’ll grow to be a nice boy. If he’s treated well enough.” 

Both of the parental guardians made a promise to take care of their beloved son, no matter how different he was compared to everyone else. 
The tiger cub awoke from his peaceful slumber, due to sunlight streaming through the main bedroom windows that were partially covered by curtains. He looked around his room while holding onto the bars of his crib. David then picked up his red stuffed t-rex plushie, giving it a gentle hug. This little one was currently donned in light-blue footed pajamas. 

“Buongiorno Norbert, it’s a wonderful day!” said the tiger cub with a slight Italian-accent. 

The accent was passed down from his father’s genes, since he was born into an Italian family that links back to the nineteen-twenties. His grandfather and grandmother are both native Italians. 

Marian walked into the room, smiling at her little boy who was standing inside the crib. She picked him up and looked towards him. David would stare at his mother for a moment, before looking back at his plushie. The mother chuckled at him, not minding it. She was in her light-gray yoga pants and pink long-sleeve shirt, along with pink slippers.

“Good morning, my precious little cub! Are you ready for some delicious pancakes?” She asked.

“Yes mama!” said the tiger cub as he stared at his mother’s long and flowing dark-orange hair. 

“Wonderful! Especially since it’s your favorite type of pancake: Chocolate Chip!” Marian said. 

The mother carried her son to the dining room, making her way down the stairs as the scent of fresh pancakes pervaded throughout the house. David held onto his dinosaur plushie while waiting to arrive at his destination. Jerald would take a sip from his coffee mug, as he watched his wife enter the dining room with their beloved boy. 

“Buongiorno, bambino mio.” said Jerald.

“Buongiorno, daddy!” the tiger cub said as he looked below his eyesight before directing his attention to a small plate of pancakes that sat on his high chair tray. They were cut into small squares for the boy to eat. David picked up his fork, but was holding it wrong. The mother went over to him and gently said “Not like that, like this.” as she repositioned his fingers.

“Ooh, like this?” David asked as he did his best to mimic what his mother was telling him, only to get it wrong.

“Not quite sweetie, like this.” said Marian as she repositioned his fingers again. “That’s how you do it.

“Thank you!” said the tiger cub as he began eating his pancakes with his fork. “Bellissimo!”

The husband got up from his seat at the dining room table, and turned on the radio station. It was currently playing some classical music. Jerald switched it over to Classic Italian Hits: a popular music station based in Italy. An Italian woman was speaking over the radio before playing the next song. 

“Buongiorno, this is Musica Italiana Classica. It’s a beautiful wednesday in Roma Capitale, wake up to the classica! This is twenty-four point five, and up next… Curoe Saldo!” said the radio caster. It was an energetic song played with an accordion and an acoustic guitar, it was about romance and the importance of having a steadfast heart to keep your love steady. 

“Beautiful song, is it not?” asked Jerald in his Italian-accent.

“Of course it is, however… I am concerned about finding a daycare for our son. I want David to learn, make friends, and even play with other children his age. It’s already difficult, since many don’t understand him.” said Marian.

“Don’t worry mio caro, we’ll find a place for him. My father always reminded me to think positively, and that it’ll get me through any situation.” said the husband as he kissed her on the cheek. 

“Jabiano was certainly a wise man,” said his wife. 

“He certainly is, and now he’s a grandfather to our beloved boy.” said Jerald as he glanced at his son, who had finished his plate of pancakes. “Good boy, you finished your breakfast! Would you like your papa to bring you a drink?”

“Yes papa!” said David who looked at his father for five seconds before staring back at his plushie. 
“One moment, my boy.” said the father. 

David watched as his dad went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle filled with a cold and refreshing white liquid, which had a rubber nipple attached to the top of it. He’d bring it to his cub and placed it on the high-chair tray. The toddler happily grabbed the bottle and began drinking down the milky substance. 

Marian looked at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was nine forty-five. Which meant that her husband needed to head off to work soon.

“Honey, you should get ready. It’s almost time for work.” said his wife.

Jerald looked at the clock for confirmation and his wife was right, it was almost time to go. He’d chuckle to himself as he got on his brown winter coat, grabbing his small suitcase which contained his tools. 

“Thanks for the reminder, my beautiful flower.” said Jerald as he went over to his son and gently ruffled his head while he finished the rest of his milk. “Be good while I am gone, okay my boy?” The toddler looked at his dad for a moment before looking back at his plushie, nodding in response. 

The father waved goodbye to his wonderful family and headed out the door, making sure to grab the car keys while on the way. Marian smiled to herself and said “That’s my husband…” as she then looked towards her little boy that was putting his empty milk bottle on the high-chair tray. 

“How about we read your favorite book?” the mother said to her. 

The little tiger cub stared at his mother for a few seconds before looking back at his plushie, nodding enthusiastically as his ears perked up. 

“Yes mama!” said David in his Italian-accent. “Bellissimo!” 

“Alrighty then. It’s story time!” said Marian as she picked up her boy and carried him to the living room, placing him down on a t-rex themed carpet. She then grabbed a small red book from the living room shelf, which was titled ‘Mr. Rex’s Shopping Trip’. It was a short book for young children, which had plenty of vivid pictures. 

“Yay, I love that book!” exclaimed the tiger-cub. The little boy stared at the red tyrannosaurus rex on the front cover, who donned a black fedora with a black tie. 

The mother giggled a bit as her son toddled over and sat beside her, watching as the pages of the book were being opened by her hands. She then began to read the story aloud to her little boy. 

Mr. Rex was traveling along a grassy forest path, heading to the store to buy some groceries for his family. 
On his list were three items: eggs, steak, vegetables and milk. It was a very simple list for a small family like his.
The carnivorous dino arrived at the grocery store, and grabbed all the items he needed. He was thinking about buying some cookies and other tasty desserts, but he wanted him and his family to eat healthy.

Then he got his items checked out at the register, and made sure to pay the correct amount of stone coins in order to pay for his groceries. Heading back home, in order to cook his family a delicious and delectable meal to enjoy. 

The End

When his mother had finished reading the story to her son, he began to clap rapidly since he enjoyed reading it to himself while it was being read to him. Marian gently rubbed her son’s back, giving it a gentle pat as the little tiger let out a small burp.

“Excuse you, little man!” said the mother as she chuckled.

“Hehehehe!” said David.

“What do you want to do now, David?” Marian asked.

“I want to watch Dino Rangers!” said the tiger cub who was staring at his dino plushie. 

“Okay, but only a few episodes!” She replied. 

The mother went over and grabbed the television remote, turning on the flat-screen they had mounted on the wall. She then changed the current channel over to Italian Kids Cartoon. David’s favorite show was playing, which is called “Dino Heroes: Eroi di Neolithia. 

It was a children’s cartoon that taught important morals while also giving a small lesson in the Italian language, with action scenes involving the main cast stopping bad dinosaurs from destroying the city of Neolithia. There are two sets of subtitles utilized, which display English and Italian translations on screen. It was for those who didn’t know other languages and wanted to enjoy the show.

The young tiger cub sat down in front of the tv, holding onto his dinosaur plushie as he watched the opening introduction to the show. His favorite character was the Blue Ranger, also known as Sapphire Stegosaurus. 

Marian went into the kitchen for the time being to do some cleaning, wanting the area to be clean before she cooked up some lunch for her little boy. She didn’t want her family walking around into an area filled with germs upon every surface area that is touched. 

***

After an hour of cleaning the kitchen, the mother heard her phone ringing from inside the left pocket of her leggings. She sat down at the dining room table and answered it. 

“Hello, who is this?” She asked.

“Hello Mrs Lavinzo, you’ve been invited to a company banquet that is hosted by Rorkesburg Technical Support. We hope to see you there at five-thirty p.m. tomorrow.” said the male caller. 

“That’s wonderful, can my son come too?” Marian asked. 

“Sorry ma’am, this is an adult-only event. We hope to see you there.” said the caller.

“Oh… that’s too bad, alright then.” She replied as she ended the call. 

David toddled into the kitchen while holding his dinosaur plushie, wondering about what was happening. He looked below his mother’s eyes, and said to her “Who was that?” Marian put her phone away and looked over at her son. Her lips curved downwards, she hated having to tell her little boy about this. 

“I’ll be going to a company banquet, but… you can’t go,” said Marian.

“But… but… why?” asked the tiger cub as he looked at his plushie.

“It’s an adult-only event…” said the mother.

“Why?” the toddler inquired.

“Sometimes, we adults need time to ourselves.” said Marian as she ruffled her boy’s hair. “I’m sure you would’ve behaved if kids were allowed. But don’t worry, we’ll find you a babysitter to watch you.”

“Who?” asked David.

“I’ll have to find someone honey,” said the mother nervously. 

She didn’t know many of the neighbors, and only trusted a select number of people to babysit her son. Marian got out her phone, and went through the list of contacts that were in the ‘Babysitter’ category. 

There was an option to write side-notes next to the contact name, for the sake of recording down important information like house address and so forth. There were only five people on this list, which wasn’t very long. 

TO BE CONTINUED