Ginger Jack
“Why don’t you ever take me with you to the Square,” Ginger Jack asked his mother as she set herself to leave the den.
Mother Fox stopped in her tracks. Clutching tight the hands of her younger daughter, she whirled to him. “I’ve told you before, Ginger Jack. You’re more useful to me at home.”
“But I want to go out with you. You never let me go outside with the rest. Last week, you went with Ruby,” he said, referring to his eldest sister. “And the other day, you went with Emerald,” he continued, referring to his elder brother. And I got so excited because I sensed you were taking us in the order of our birth. And that I would be next .” Ginger Jack’s voice dropped as he uttered his next words. “But today, you go with Sapphire who is younger than I am and now I wonder, why don’t you ever go out with me, Mother.”
Mother Fox gritted her teeth in annoyance. This was not the time for this conversation, she thought. With a resolute stance, she uttered not a word and clutching Sapphire even tighter, walked briskly out of the den.
“Why wouldn’t she take me?” Ginger Jack sobbed quietly to himself. “Did I do something wrong? Why wouldn’t Mother take me?” he muttered again and again.
A dark chuckle from behind had him looking back in fright. But it was only his brother, Emerald, who leaned by the wall and munched quietly on nuts.
“You really don’t know when to stop, do you, Ginger Jack?” Emerald started.
“I wish to be left alone, Emerald, please,” Ginger Jack said, eyeing his brother warily.
Emerald let out a long, bitter laughter. Throwing the last bits of nuts into his mouth, he made his way towards his brother, and for a moment, Ginger Jack was transfixed as he admired his brother. All sparkling white of him. The morning sun seeped through the crack in the den, casting an almost ethereal glow on Emerald as he stalked towards him. Fur so white, he put the purest of snow to shame. Eyes so icy blue, he could freeze the arctic. Incomparably beautiful.
Suddenly struck with a feeling of despair of just how different he was from his brother, Ginger Jack lowered his gaze, just as Emerald nudged him.
“Are you really that dumb, or you’re just pretending to be?”
“What do you mean?” Ginger Jack asked.
“The way you hound mother each time she goes out with us and never you. Can you really not see?”
“See what?”
“See that you’re different!” Emerald yelled in his face. “I saw the way you looked at me. It’s the same way you look at Mom, Ruby, Sapphire and even Diamond,” he said referring to their last brother. “You see that you’re different from us in everything, yet you ask why mother doesn’t take you out with her.”
If Ginger Jack’s heart wasn’t already broken, maybe this would have done the trick. “But...but what’s wrong with the way I look?”
Emerald snickered. “The question should be, what isn’t wrong with the way you look?”
Ginger Jack’s heart broke a little more as he heard this, but his elder brother whose formerly irritated grin had somehow shifted to a malicious sneer, was nowhere done with him.
“And then we move over to your name.”
“That’s alright. I think I get the point —”
“Be quiet!” Emerald hissed. “Mother named us all after precious stones, and you never wondered why you’re the only one named Ginger?” He made a bewildered face at him. “Ginger Jack?”
“I said I get the point!” Ginger Jack yelled and pushed his brother down, wrestling him to the floor. Even in his blinding rage, he knew he was no match for his elder brother who was just as tough as he was beautiful. With a sudden swipe of his brother’s sharp claws on his ginger fur, Ginger Jack howled and scampered to the other side of the room, Emerald’s mocking tsk following him.
“Even in rage, you’re different. Uselessly different,” Emerald spat. Overcome by fury and hurt, Ginger Jack ran past his brother and out of the den, not looking back once.
He ran and didn’t stop. He ran through thickets, thorns and muddied grass. After a while he paused to catch his breath. His paw hurt and his ginger fur looked even dirtier than usual. Glancing around, he discovered that he no longer knew where he was and that’s when he saw it, what looked like a deserted greenhouse hidden among the trees.
He sniffed about him and nudging the termite-eaten wooden door with his nose, stepped inside. The greenhouse was bright but stank of rotting pumpkins and deadening plants. It looked like it whoever owned the place had long since given up on it, Ginger Jack thought. He saw a giant pumpkin and daintily nestled himself atop it, taking his mind back to his brother’s last words as he ran.
“If you had any remorse for the shame your existence brings mother, you’ll never return!”
Am I really that much of a disappointment? He lamented quietly. Maybe if he stayed here long enough, they’ll come looking for him. After all, he was still family, wasn’t he? Weary from his exertions, Ginger Jack closed his eyes to sleep. They were going to come find him soon enough. He was sure of it.
What I see
An abandoned greenhouse with decaying pumpkins and a fox stop one of them.
What I Feel
Gloominess. Desertion. Abandonment.
My entry to Pic1000.
Jhymi🖤
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I've never written a story from an animal's point of view before. Well, I think I attempted something similar during my childhood days - those 'once upon a time' stories. But I guess they count too, right?
When I read the first and second paragraphs of this story, I immediately concluded that Ginger Jack was a fox. "Ginger Jack" - Jhymi gives the best names to her characters. But then, I continued reading and… "Emerald and Sapphire?" and my curiosity was piqued. “Jhymi’s definitely cooking something.”
This line instantly reminded me of Nick Wilde, the fox from Zootopia, a cartoon I watched a long time ago.
This is fantastic, Jhymi! You are so good. What's more impressive is that this is your first time writing from an animal's perspective, and you nailed it. Well done! 🌹🌹
I feel sorry for Ginger Jack, really. He craves acceptance and equality with his siblings, but seems out of place.
Will Mother Fox come to find him? After all, he's family... I have so many questions, Cat. But I guess it’s up to me (the reader) to give answers to them.
🌹🌹
Yeah, those "Once upon a times" definitely count. Although even then, I preferred reading about them to writing on them.
You see it right? I don't know how the name came to me but the moment I wrote it out, it seemed the perfect name for a fox. Glad you caught that.
I may or may not have a teeny crush on the Fox in Zootopia. Lol. Guy's aura was out of this world.
I'm glad you enjoyed reading, Kitten. I try to improve every day as a writer, branching out and trying new things. Seeing just how far I can go. So, knowing that you felt this was good has spurred me on. Hope to keep improving, my dear reader. And I hope Ginger Jack doesn't have cause to be in disappointment as well.🥰🌹
Poor Ginger Jack. His beautiful chestnut fur that that darkens to a light gray gives him a unique feature. Not conforming to the norm in a family group is a dynamic that haunts all species of animals. Instead of a loving and protecting attitude, the mother who's supposed to be inclusive with unconditional love creates the separation among siblings and furthers Ginger Jack's low self image.
Your story has a deep abiding moral that spreads across time. Division instead of inclusiveness has torn not only families but society apart as some are not willing to embrace others' uniqueness. Just imagine if Ginger Jack's mother would have taken a different approach and highlighted her son's uniqueness on her outings. I hope Jack's mother does come and reassure him of his place in the family.
Thanks for sharing. A thoughtful read I enjoyed. Take care.
!LADY
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Hey, friend. It's so beautiful to have you here. And even more so that you enjoyed the story, howbeit a tale not so joyful. I think it's something happening in real time. A sibling discriminated because he or she is different and parents that do nothing to make that child feel included.
It's the kind of thing that I somehow felt this picture represented. And so, the story came to mind. I'm hopeful as well that Ginger Jack's mother's maternal instincts can call onto her to pick her son up and give him the love he deserves. Thank you for reading, dearest.🌺
Yes, @jhymi. Real life application. The cause of many sibling rivalries that spill over onto adulthood and never resolved. If only there were a playbook for parents. Thanks so much for your engagement. I appreciate it, and it was a pleasure reading you as always.
Take care and have a good weekend.
!LADY
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A great story and after I read it I thought: Let's go and pick up Ginger Jack. What a mean sibling he has. It's unhealthy to stay in a den with such a group. I am not sure if a mother who raised him would act like that because foxes are social and very intelligent. Would an animal think about the "shame" brought over them because of the looks of a child? That for sure is very humanlike and unlike the mother fox in this story, humankind will not recognize this if they treat their child this way.
It's strange how we talk a lot about it but cannot change how we feel. Discrimination among siblings happens quite often and it happens among animals as well (horses, dogs.. all kick at those who look different to protect the group. It's part of instinct and the way to survive.). Thank you for sharing this great story.
I must admit, the picture painted by the fox did something to me. The longing he felt was palpable, practically oozing from the image and so, this story came to mind. I've seen things happen. Discrimination on a particular sibling because he or she is somewhat different from the rest.
But yeah, Ginger Jack deserves all the love he can get. He is beautiful as he is and I hope Mother Fox can remember that. I'm super glad you enjoyed the story. I certainly relished writing it.🌺
This was difficult to read -- poor Ginger Jack, talk about kicking someone when they're already down! Emerald was very cutthroat, you did a wonderful job with portraying them. I also love the way the foxes were named after gemstones. Ginger Jack is cute and unique!
Thank you for sharing! 🙏