Her Fleece Was White as Snow | Teen Ink

Her Fleece Was White as Snow MAG

September 29, 2009
By zachroyal PLATINUM, Johnson City, Tennessee
zachroyal PLATINUM, Johnson City, Tennessee
33 articles 4 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I Am but Mad North-northwest: When the Wind is Southerly I Know a Hawk from a Handsaw"
-Hamlet


Never had a room been so quiet as when Mary Singer told the class she had
One week to live

Like an eleventh-grade fog,
Her red-colored cheeks and half-turned smile
Made us all think maybe she was kidding
She was always one to kid about everything;
The set of her eyes sparkling like the age

Yeah, three weeks ago she and I went out to her ­favorite coffee place
Somewhere uptown,
Brimming with capitalist, red-cheeked decay

You might say I hated the place

Maybe it was too prominent,
Maybe too contrived and too fake,
Or maybe it was just too real for me to appreciate

She grew up in the straightest of conservative homes:
Church of Christ philosophy,
Southern hospitality,
Dinners at home,
Three prayers a day,
Dad at the head of the table

Her parents gave her a Bible name hoping it would give her some padding

Still, there in that moment, sitting with her in that
Latte mocha hell;
Her legs sprawled out over the arm of the chair
So that the eminence of the room cradled those same
Deep green eyes, the windows to her world,
Same raised brow and half-cracked smile,
I don't know that love is exactly the right word but,

Same foggy Mary
She had that way of pulling me in,
Even convincing me to buy some iced chocolate coffee,
Pretending we were actually there to grind up coffee beans,
Well,
Maybe,
Like we didn't see something more in each other,
Like we didn't see through that fog.
She had just told me about how she puts on this facade for so many people she surrounds herself with
And how she was so happy she didn't have to around me.
She said she was so glad to finally be honest with someone,
Not to have to impress me.
She said, “I just don't know about this religion stuff anymore.”
Still with that crooked smile.
And such was the shift I felt from how I remember her from my childhood
I can distinctly picture that afternoon
She came running up to me in the hallway after school
When we were ten.
She had with her a white card, extended arms, a hop in her step, and that same half-turned smile.
It was all made to show God's love for me
No more, though no less, love
I don't think love is the right word exactly

Such was the shift of how I placed her on my
Preeminent scale of family dinners,
Love philosophy,
Measured in prayers per day times religious propaganda per person
They were kings and queens of
Pure, white motive
And she held
Grayscale on the salted throne of independent variables

There when we were ten, she held my hand and walked away
Stepping backwards, becoming more full in my eyes,
Backing into the snow outside the building
Sinking through any footstep or shifty eyes
In the cold, light floor
We would not break lights,
Mine gray, hers white as snow

So when she told me
She no longer played in the snow, kissed her mom,
Believed in Santa, God, or the Easter Bunny
Honestly,
It saddened me to hear that she didn't
Play in the snow anymore,
She didn't channel the white playfulness of the
Occasional winter snow day
Like I had so thoroughly etched into my stories
My best memories of her were in the snow
At the pond by my house
Sitting in the white forest
Watching geese slide across the frozen tracks that winter chills
Had all but breathed for us on the water
And here, now, I knew that the breath of our childhood had ended
Soon we would forget about our coffeehouse chats
Like we had forgotten how to play in the snow
We would forget our broken homes like we had forgotten how to breathe,
Forgotten how to love.
I don't think that love is the right word, exactly, but …
It's weird, almost every day after she told me what she believed,
We always ended up talking about religion
How she kept Bible verses on her wall to make her parents feel secure,
Never closed her eyes during prayers,
Wrote poetry during church services.
Sometimes it was hard to tell why she did everything she did.
Just fed up with pressure, I guess.
She always talked about how it really upset her that she never saw her dad cry in front of her.
Said he was too prideful.
A chauvinist.
I don't really know, I usually just sat there and listened to her.
Within a couple of days, I went over to her house
She introduced me to her parents as her boyfriend and
I found myself smiling her half-cracked smile
I immediately found myself putting on my own little facade
White-collared, chin up, tie my shoelaces,
No,
Wait,
These are penny loafers
Yes sir, it's true I played shortstop on the varsity team in high school,
Yes, ma'am, the mission trip to junk town, BFE, insert third-world country here was an incredible success
I had learned all of my lines from Mary and she grinned at me from across the table as I sat over my salad and peach cobbler.
You could say that courting her in her front parlor on this warm autumn evening was a capital triumph
She would have said the same, I'm sure
In that same sarcastic manner
She had such a way with words but she would never admit that she did.
I think that's what made them so beautiful
Even as she told all of us in class that she was going to die in less than ten days, she said it in such a way that would have made you want to die too
You know, her parents weren't half as bad as she would have told you they were
I kind of had this backwards respect for them, to be honest
Felt bad sometimes after we had been making out in the basement while they thought we were playing hearts.
Maybe we were.

So at her funeral, when they had me stand in line with the family and shake hands with every friend, relative, and old couple from church who came up to me forcing back tears;
When her youth pastor told me what a model Christian she was;
When I looked at the picture of her and me on top of her closed casket;
When her parents said that they were just happy she was in a better place,
I just couldn't bring myself to tell them that she didn't believe in that
That she believed her better place was rotting in the ground with what was left of her body
To her parents, I would be telling them that their daughter was burning eternally in some lake of sulfur and the white-collared, Protestant boyfriend I had become to them had done nothing to help.

It hit me there in that moment that she was gone.

And I wanted even then to wake up next to her again, take her back to that snow-covered lake where the geese sang to her, call her voicemail to hear her voice one more time, rip off the lid of that casket and see that glowing white face and heavy green eyes one more time, wonder where in this eternal ­discourse she actually had ended up
I told everyone I was crying because I realized she was gone,
But really I was crying because I was afraid, somewhere, she was still alive
Her mom held my hand and her dad put his hand on my shoulder
He said if I ever needed anything to let them know. That I was part of the family.
I couldn't tell them.
Her mom was praying. Her dad was already past the point of fighting his tears. He said he wished he had cried in front of Mary. He felt like she didn't know him. His tears fell like drops of a 17-year-old champagne. Saved for the right company, opened and emptied alone. He said that she would see him cry when he saw her in heaven.
I couldn't. I just couldn't.
Her mom gripped my hand tighter and smiled at me through her glossy, hopeful green eyes.
She said she knew that Mary loved me.
She said she knew that God loved me too.
I don't know that love is the right word exactly.
Her dad felt me tense and squeezed my shoulder.
He said that he was honored that Mary was with such an honest and genuine person as me before she died.
I couldn't.
His words – honest, genuine, died.
They stung like green eyes falling pale.
They stung like the thought of lying in the ground forever.
He said I was like a son to them.
I had completely deceived them. I am disgusting. I felt sick.

The sun was shining through the window and the glare off our picture frame had blocked out my eyes
Everything here looked as white as snow
I saw our picture, casket, mom, dad, cross, love, people, people, white discoloration

I could feel her half-cracked smile behind me now

Never had a room been so quiet as when I realized that Mary Singer had no more time here with anything.
No static noise,
No more snow-covered lakes,
Or geese, or religion, or memory, or family, or funeral
Still there was nothing that lit up a room
Like that half-cracked smile she always had
Her mind, her words, her body,
Her fleece as white as snow.
It was beautiful,
And nothing for which to be ashamed.
“Mr. and Ms. Singer,
I think I need to talk to you.”



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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 21 comments.


on Jan. 28 2016 at 12:35 pm
theblondechick GOLD, Kingsport, Tennessee
14 articles 0 photos 104 comments

Favorite Quote:
I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life.
And I am horribly limited.
-Sylvia Path

Hey! I think we live remotely close to one another! How cool is that! Anyway, great poem. Very well-written. Very sad. Congrats on getting in the magazine! Happy writing.

on Mar. 5 2012 at 2:12 pm
LoveWriting01 BRONZE, Urbandale, Iowa
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down."

--Abraham Lincoln

I dont really know what to say. This piece seems so real it makes me wonder if this really happened to you. I loved it. Good job.

Ekf07 GOLD said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 6:21 pm
Ekf07 GOLD, Huntersville, North Carolina
16 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
“The expert at anything was once a beginner.All writers are crazy. So never mind what the editors, your family and your critique group tells you. Submit your manuscripts and keep submitting until you get an offer. Then you can be crazy, with a payc

OMG i cried. You put great detail and emotion in this peice and it made me feel like I was there.

wonderful job!


on Aug. 1 2011 at 7:42 pm
singergurl12 GOLD, Jacksonville, Florida
15 articles 0 photos 190 comments

Favorite Quote:
Fairy tales are true, not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.

This piece is very good- it almost seemed like a free verse, but I'm glad you put it under realistic instead. I really liked how you used imagery to let the reader picture the scenes. Another good thing I noticed was how you repeated "her half-cracked smile" throughout the article, it gave a real sense of voice. Great work, and keep writing!

on Dec. 8 2010 at 7:43 am
Jsullivan BRONZE, Huckleberryfinlane, Michigan
2 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Cancer...Cancer is in everything, the food, the water even the household items." (By: My grandfather)

WOW! I enjoyed reading this. It was quite descriptive!

on Nov. 7 2010 at 12:47 pm
Hope_Allie SILVER, Las Cruces, New Mexico
9 articles 3 photos 53 comments

Favorite Quote:
Words. Solitary groups of letters, added together to express on page your emotion. Love in ink. Pain in pen.-Paul Putman

gawsh there r seriously no words to describe how utterly grand this piece is! i know exactly how Mary felt...im glad i have my Friend to b honest with like she did...... 

p.s. keep it up kay =)


on Sep. 19 2010 at 11:33 pm
Woww..Amazing. So deep and genuine and sincere and heartfelt. Sad, or maybe that isn't the right word(:  Keep writing, your really good ^^

on Sep. 17 2010 at 6:50 pm
DiamondsIntheGrass GOLD, Martinsville, New Jersey
14 articles 1 photo 278 comments

Favorite Quote:
Worry is simply a misuse of the imagination.

love the feeling in it, but i gotta say, i don't really understand it.  why he keeps saying "don't think love was exactly the right word" and the end when he needed to talk to them or anything... i don't get it.

katie-cat GOLD said...
on Apr. 2 2010 at 8:22 pm
katie-cat GOLD, McClellandtown, Pennsylvania
13 articles 0 photos 163 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Look after my heart, I've left it with you."- Edward Cullen
"To love another person is to see the face of God . . ."- Les Miserables
"Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her out and let her scream." - Mark Twain

This was really wonderful.  When I was reading I felt like I was there.  The emotion and the feeling you put into this piece was genuine and beautiful.  You have a special talent.  Never let it go.

on Apr. 1 2010 at 7:34 pm
elfiewrites BRONZE, Hillsdale, New Jersey
3 articles 0 photos 114 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The seat of knowledge is in the head, of wisdom, in the heart."~William Hazlitt
"Be yourself, everyone else is taken."

I love this! It is so sad, but so well-written! I am so happy this made it into the magazine because you totally deserved it! If you get the chance, may you please comment on my work as well? Thanks so much

liy_g BRONZE said...
on Apr. 1 2010 at 11:09 am
liy_g BRONZE, Madera, California
1 article 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You want to know someone? Heart mind and soul? Ask him to tell you about when he was born. What you get wont be the truth; i will be a story. and nothing is more telling then a story."
-'The Thirteenth Tale'

i felt a deep, raw emotion throughout this poem, and despite wonderfuly descriptive words theres a frankness about the narrarator that make this poem what it is. 

Drewboa SILVER said...
on Mar. 9 2010 at 9:39 pm
Drewboa SILVER, Southlake, Texas
5 articles 0 photos 2 comments
Excellent work, zach. The second time through, I read more into it--and you really do have something special here. Innocence and half-cracked beauty and double meanings everywhere. The story itself just resonates--a real heartbreaker. This is one that I will not forget.

on Feb. 18 2010 at 5:16 pm
juicyfan6 BRONZE, Mount Laurel, New Jersey
1 article 0 photos 46 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." - J.K. Rowling

This is sooo sad but well written. Good job. :)

FeatheredCap said...
on Feb. 5 2010 at 12:41 am
FeatheredCap, Fall City, Washington
0 articles 1 photo 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources." -Albert Einstein

I was in tears at the point when her father started to cry. I haven't seen my own father cry, i don't think many people have, actually. Its just so easy to relate to, it makes one think about what they would do in a situation like Mary's. Well done :)

mads942 SILVER said...
on Feb. 2 2010 at 7:13 pm
mads942 SILVER, Houston, Texas
6 articles 0 photos 24 comments
Oh my goodness that was wonderful. Very sad though, and not sadness like petty earthly things but very deep.

on Feb. 2 2010 at 5:38 pm
SilverLuna SILVER, _________, Washington
8 articles 0 photos 229 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Come fairies take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame.".... W.B. Yeats.
"Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss." - Douglas Adams

Wow, this was amazing. I thought this was great! Keep writing!

on Feb. 2 2010 at 7:45 am
SaraRoxsHerSox SILVER, McVeytown, Pennsylvania
7 articles 0 photos 85 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Brochacho!"

Wow! I really love this poem/story. I'm so impressed! You should definitely keep on writing!

on Jan. 26 2010 at 7:50 pm
TxDragon BRONZE, Saratoga, California
1 article 0 photos 61 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Come and Take it!" -citizens of Gonzales, Texas, when the Mexicans tried to take away the cannon used to defend their town.

That was a really great story. So many kids today stop believing in God because of all the modern stuff, ipods, innappropriate tv shows. It's so sad to think that some kids die not believing that they have eternal life with Christ .

on Oct. 22 2009 at 9:16 pm
bestdayever<3 BRONZE, Littleton, Colorado
2 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Take a chance and never let go. Risk everything, lose nothing. Don't worry about anything anymore. Cry in the rain and speak up loud. Say what you want and love who you want. Be yourself and not what people want to see. Never blame anyone if you get hurt because you took the risk and you decided who was worth the while

o my goodness!!! What a amazing story... so sad :( but i loved it! This is an amazing story!

on Oct. 15 2009 at 9:23 pm
LeslieAnn BRONZE, Midvale, Utah
1 article 0 photos 47 comments

Favorite Quote:
\\\\\\\"Dream as if you\\\\\\\'ll live forever, Live as if you\\\\\\\'ll die today\\\\\\\" \\\\\\\"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain.\\\\\\\"

I must say you almost drove me to tears. A lot of what you mentioned touched home for me and I am greatly impressed. Keep up the great writing!