Racquel Fox

October 29, 2014

English 2
Powers of Responsibility
All was silent in the backyard except for the wind whistling through the
lonely oak tree in the middle of the grassy yard. Lennie didnt understand. George
knew that. Only being four years older than the eleven-year-old, he still knew. But
still, they kept on playing out in the open field where their problems seemed to
shrink smaller and smaller by the minute. Lennie loved to cradle the white rabbits,
whose fur was velvety to the touch, in his robust arms, but the rabbits loved to run
free in the vast grass. On numerous occasions, attempting to contain them in his
arms, the rabbits would writhe in pain as he inadvertently snapped their thinboned legs. Even so, the two companions played on and on in the outdoors. George
pushed his inevitable fate as far out of his mind as he could, until the thought was
nothing a mere sliver in the grand scheme of things. That is, until the nurse came
outside the tattered screen door.
Boys, you should come inside now, she said in what she struggled to come
across a hopeful tone, but the crestfallen look on her face told George otherwise. He
felt his stomach fall through the barren earth as he took his first couple of footsteps
towards the swinging door.
Every step George took up the worn wooden stairs seemed like ten, and he
was starting to feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. He and Lennie sat
down on the paisley-patterned couch close enough to touch Aunt Clara. The old
cuckoo clock on the wall seemed to shake the rickety house from top to bottom as it

sounded. The tulips, Aunt Claras favorite, from everyone in town had begun to wilt,
almost as if they could tell something terrible was upon them as well. So frail and
tired, the look on her face told George that she would not be alive much longer.
Lying in her small iron-framed bed, her eyes shut as she slept, she already looked
dead. Georges legs grasped the chair as if it was a life raft and he was stuck at sea
during a swirling storm.
George, Claras unsteady hand beckoned him toward her bedside. As he
walked the few short strides to kneel down next to her, George was not ready for
what she was going to tell him. She mustered up the energy to prop herself up on
the needlepoint pillows.
George, you have to take care of him. He cant do it all by himself, she told
him earnestly. George averted his eyes from her soft face as she spoke the words
that he had been so apprehensive about hearing. Sweet as Lennie was, George
wasnt sure if he could manage both Lennie and himself.
The first time George met Lennie, he knew that he was peculiar. Georges
mother and father had just lost their lives in an automobile accident, and the only
person who would take him in was the family friend Clara. Little did George know,
Clara was already taking care of another young boy whose parents had died; her
nephew Lennie. Lennie was blithely fumbling with his fingers and had a serene
smile plastered on his face.
Hi there, whats your name? George attempted to make conversation.
Lennies look of pure contentment was now replaced with a look of bewilderment.

Uhh.. Well.. Uhh.. Lennies eyes darted around the room as he racked his
brain for an answer.
Dont tell me you dont know your own name, George scoffed as he began
to dread becoming a part of this new family.
No sir, I do know my name! I know it, and its.. uhh.. George started to wish
he had never asked the question.
Um.. my names.. Lennie! My names Lennie! Lennie beamed as he nodded
assuredly to George. George shook his head as he started to come to the conclusion
that Lennie was either going to be a nuisance or a dear friend to him.
Aunt Claras breathing slowed until the pace became disturbingly slow, and
eventually nonexistent. To Georges dismay, Lennie still didnt understand the
gravity of the situation like George did. George understood that he and Lennie no
longer had a guardian and that he was now Lennies guardian. The thought sent
prickles down his spine and caused a pit to form in his stomach.
I will, Clara, I will, he promised as a single tear rolled down his ruddy cheek
and onto the floor. He knew he had to prepare for the inevitable rigors that now
defined his life and future.