Poem: "The People Who Aren't Happy for You"
This poem came out of the January 2024 Crowdfunding Creative Jam. It was inspired by a prompt from Dreamwidth user Dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "Street Angel" square in my 1-1-24 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by zianuray. It belongs to the Foster Fiasco thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"The People Who Aren't Happy for You"
[Friday, September 25, 2015]
Torrin was busy handing out
full safety kits for the students
who couldn't go running around
with the whole puzzle hunt but
could answer questions at a desk,
and to adults picking them up for
students who weren't at school.
Several educational consultants
had come by to get safety kits
and activity packets for the kids
they were coaching at home
for whatever reason, so
that was a good thing.
Other adults were watching
the students as they worked
through the puzzles and prizes.
Not everyone was happy, though.
One of the volunteers kept glaring
at him, and Torrin didn't know why.
She was skinny with long brown hair,
and she wore a mustard-colored top
under her Neighborhood Watch vest.
Several of the watch folks had come
to his anti-protest to talk about some of
the local resources, like stashes of food,
tools, and other emergency supplies.
"Is there a problem?" Torrin said. "I'm
following all the rules that I was given."
"The problem is that I have spent
the last three years working on
safety issues, while everyone else
dragged their feet," she said. "Then
you just breeze in here and suddenly
everyone's paying attention to you!"
"Well, I know some folks who
helped me with this," said Torrin.
"What's your program? Maybe
I could give it a boost too."
"Oh, never mind," she said,
and then flounced away.
That was one less problem
that Torrin had to worry about.
He focused on handing out kits
and making a list of kids who
could use one but weren't
connected with this school.
Ms. Mustard kept coming back
to glare at him, but Torrin ignored it.
He had his hands full with the project
that he had volunteered to do here.
Sometimes he saw her talking
to other adults, though, and that
might turn into something more.
So far, nobody else had come
over to bother him about it.
"Attention-seeking brat,"
she muttered, stalking past.
"That sounds like the pot
calling the kettle black,"
Torrin said, lifting his chin.
He hung out with supervillains,
so she didn't really scare him.
The next adult to drop by
was much more appealing,
a mixed-race man dressed
in a Public Safety uniform.
Torrin liked Public Safety Aides.
They worked in all kinds of places,
from police to fire departments to
folks who taught Bom Bom Bunny
at the local community center.
If you needed something, you
could rely on them for help,
plus they always knew about
area hazards and resources
like the storm shelters.
"Hi, I'm Torrin," he said.
"Can I help you with anything?"
"I'm Han Lopez and I serve
as a Public Safety Aide here,"
he said. "I really admire the kits
you've made. Is there any chance
that I could get you to expand on
this project? Maybe share a list
of contents so that other people
could replicate what you're doing?"
"Sure," said Torrin. He reached
under the table for a packet. "I made
a list of the items in the kit, including
substitutions for hard-to-find things
like Microfyne. I only got that because
a family friend knows the makers and
they donated some scraps. There's
also a list of children's rights."
Han accepted the packet and
then flipped through the pages.
"This looks great," he said, smiling.
"My organization is always looking for
new ways to teach people about safety."
"People are welcome to use this, as long
as they give me credit for it," said Torrin.
"Flip to the back, there's a permission form
and some legal information on the last page."
"Excellent," said Han. "Thank you so much
for sharing this. I hope it helps lots of kids."
"He would have done more good by
working through an official group than
this cowboy nonsense," said Ms. Mustard.
Torrin rolled his eyes. "I literally just did that
by giving Han an outreach packet," he said.
"There's nothing wrong with me starting
the project all by myself, though."
"Teandra, knock it off," said Han.
"Torrin has been very helpful, and you
are not the only person with good ideas."
She huffed at them and flounced off again.
"That's her name, Teandra?" said Torrin.
"She didn't bother to introduce herself."
"Teandra Leane, she works with
the neighborhood watch," said Han.
"She isn't half the street angel
that she likes to think she is."
"Yeah, she's not happy about
anything, and that's kind of
aggravating," said Torrin.
"Don't worry about the people
who aren't happy for you,"
Han said quietly. "They
probably aren't happy
for themselves either."
Torrin laughed. "Yeah,
that's a good way to put it."
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear separately.
"The People Who Aren't Happy for You"
[Friday, September 25, 2015]
Torrin was busy handing out
full safety kits for the students
who couldn't go running around
with the whole puzzle hunt but
could answer questions at a desk,
and to adults picking them up for
students who weren't at school.
Several educational consultants
had come by to get safety kits
and activity packets for the kids
they were coaching at home
for whatever reason, so
that was a good thing.
Other adults were watching
the students as they worked
through the puzzles and prizes.
Not everyone was happy, though.
One of the volunteers kept glaring
at him, and Torrin didn't know why.
She was skinny with long brown hair,
and she wore a mustard-colored top
under her Neighborhood Watch vest.
Several of the watch folks had come
to his anti-protest to talk about some of
the local resources, like stashes of food,
tools, and other emergency supplies.
"Is there a problem?" Torrin said. "I'm
following all the rules that I was given."
"The problem is that I have spent
the last three years working on
safety issues, while everyone else
dragged their feet," she said. "Then
you just breeze in here and suddenly
everyone's paying attention to you!"
"Well, I know some folks who
helped me with this," said Torrin.
"What's your program? Maybe
I could give it a boost too."
"Oh, never mind," she said,
and then flounced away.
That was one less problem
that Torrin had to worry about.
He focused on handing out kits
and making a list of kids who
could use one but weren't
connected with this school.
Ms. Mustard kept coming back
to glare at him, but Torrin ignored it.
He had his hands full with the project
that he had volunteered to do here.
Sometimes he saw her talking
to other adults, though, and that
might turn into something more.
So far, nobody else had come
over to bother him about it.
"Attention-seeking brat,"
she muttered, stalking past.
"That sounds like the pot
calling the kettle black,"
Torrin said, lifting his chin.
He hung out with supervillains,
so she didn't really scare him.
The next adult to drop by
was much more appealing,
a mixed-race man dressed
in a Public Safety uniform.
Torrin liked Public Safety Aides.
They worked in all kinds of places,
from police to fire departments to
folks who taught Bom Bom Bunny
at the local community center.
If you needed something, you
could rely on them for help,
plus they always knew about
area hazards and resources
like the storm shelters.
"Hi, I'm Torrin," he said.
"Can I help you with anything?"
"I'm Han Lopez and I serve
as a Public Safety Aide here,"
he said. "I really admire the kits
you've made. Is there any chance
that I could get you to expand on
this project? Maybe share a list
of contents so that other people
could replicate what you're doing?"
"Sure," said Torrin. He reached
under the table for a packet. "I made
a list of the items in the kit, including
substitutions for hard-to-find things
like Microfyne. I only got that because
a family friend knows the makers and
they donated some scraps. There's
also a list of children's rights."
Han accepted the packet and
then flipped through the pages.
"This looks great," he said, smiling.
"My organization is always looking for
new ways to teach people about safety."
"People are welcome to use this, as long
as they give me credit for it," said Torrin.
"Flip to the back, there's a permission form
and some legal information on the last page."
"Excellent," said Han. "Thank you so much
for sharing this. I hope it helps lots of kids."
"He would have done more good by
working through an official group than
this cowboy nonsense," said Ms. Mustard.
Torrin rolled his eyes. "I literally just did that
by giving Han an outreach packet," he said.
"There's nothing wrong with me starting
the project all by myself, though."
"Teandra, knock it off," said Han.
"Torrin has been very helpful, and you
are not the only person with good ideas."
She huffed at them and flounced off again.
"That's her name, Teandra?" said Torrin.
"She didn't bother to introduce herself."
"Teandra Leane, she works with
the neighborhood watch," said Han.
"She isn't half the street angel
that she likes to think she is."
"Yeah, she's not happy about
anything, and that's kind of
aggravating," said Torrin.
"Don't worry about the people
who aren't happy for you,"
Han said quietly. "They
probably aren't happy
for themselves either."
Torrin laughed. "Yeah,
that's a good way to put it."
* * *
Notes:
This poem is long, so its notes appear separately.