Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Concept of Lucy- Part 1


Strange as it sounds, the image of Lucy started for me as a hand knit sweater, made with that multi-colored, really soft, expensive yarn; well, expensive by my standards. I found it at Wal-Mart for about $4.50 a skein, or whatever they call them, and they are smaller than normal skeins, so that sweater probably cost around $75.
 
It was like the camera angle pulled back from that sweater, and this young girl, Lucy, was wearing it. She had gorgeous long blond hair and Daniel’s blue eyes. She was holding a paperback copy of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and waiting at the trailer park’s entrance for the school bus.

I saw her get on the bus, the faceless driver greeted her, and she sat down directly behind him. Ah, I thought, there’s a big clue to Lucy’s character. The bus driver likes her because she’s quiet and doesn’t cause problems, but high school is an agony for Lucy because she’s too shy to make friends. Lucy is more comfortable with adults than with kids her age.

I think Lucy’s background runs something like this; her mom was diagnosed with the cancer that would eventually kill her when Lucy was only about 8, Jaime was 7, and Daniel was 15. Mom taught Lucy all the “female arts;” baking and embroidery and weaving potholders, and Lucy was very emotionally attached to Mom, as was Daniel. 

As Mom got sicker and needed more care, and as a firefighter, Dad worked 24 hour shifts, they decided to let Daniel stay home and home-school so that he could take care of Mom and the girls. Lucy was so miserable being away from Mom, they decided to let her stay home also. Jaime, who I’ll deal with later, was made of an entirely different yarn.

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