Buddha's Story

A young Autistic boy learns the hardships of the world.

It’s before school and I’m gathered by the library with a group of my friends. My sister is standing nearby with a group of her own. One of my friends, I can’t really remember his name, makes a joke and they all laugh. I laugh with them but they stop suddenly and stare at me. I think they want me to make a joke of my own, I do, and my friends begin to snicker. I smile because I enjoy entertaining people. My sister watches me from where she stands, I don’t know why but her usually calm face not seems to be distorted by worry. I look back at my friends and try to make another joke and again they laugh. A short girl, whose name I can’t remember either makes a joke of her own this time, “What an idiot!” and she jerks her thumb in my direction. I laugh along with everyone else. I’m glad we’re all getting along well together. Hoping to keep everyone laughing I do a silly dance that I had made up on the spot. A tall boy in our group rolls his eyes and shoves me. I laugh and give him a little push back; I too enjoy a good wrestling match. His eyes darken suddenly and he puts his finger in my face and threatens to break my nose. I laugh but before I can make another jest my sister is suddenly by my side, this time she looks angry. “What’s your problem man?” “Your brother is my problem! Unless you want to bring him home with a jacked up face, I suggest you keep him away from here. We don’t like freaks hanging out with us.”

I don’t understand what is going on. We’re all friends here so I don’t know why my sister is getting so upset. We were just playing around and it is all in good fun. She quietly slips her hand into mine and pulls me away to stand with her own friends. Standing on her toes, she hugs me until I feel like my lungs could burst and my ribs crack. “Don’t worry, Buddha.” The way she says my nickname, Buddha, is so soothing. I tell her I don’t understand. Why would she take me away from my friends? With a sigh she explains to me that those jerks aren't really my friends and that I should stay away from them. “They don’t understand that even though you’re Autistic that you’re just a normal person too.” Oh. That explains things. My heart contracts as I realize what she is saying. Like everybody else they don’t understand me. They don’t understand my odd sense of humor. They don’t understand my obsession with puzzles and figuring things out. They don’t understand me and I don’t understand them. I get tunnel vision briefly as I always do when I realize how alone I am. To be Autistic is to be in a world all alone where nobody can reach you. Not even a beloved sister. 

Author's Note

what do you think of the dialogue?
is it made clear that the boy doesn't understand normal social cues?

Reviews

[SRMarx]

This is a good story. I think overall it is well-written. I'd maybe think about adding dialogue between Buddha and the sister. You might be able to give them more depth and have the story give bigger impact. I think you do a good job showing that the boy doesn't understand social cues.

[VictorSimones]

I liked the overall story something to keep in mind would be to add the element of whether the character is a boy or girl because it throws off the rhythm of your story. You make it clear that the individual does not understand social cues.

[Marie]

The dialogue is good, but you ned to start a new paragraph everytime there is a new speaker. It is obvious from the beginning that he doesn't fit into what's "normal".