Ryden Oneshots

A Mitten Love Story

Not too many years ago, just outside of the big and bustling city of Chicago, there lived a little boy named Pete.

Pete was a very smart and very interesting little boy, but this story is not about Pete. This story is about Pete’s mittens.

Pete had a pair of mittens. They had been knitted from the softest wool of the nicest colors. Even though they weren’t the same color, they were a matched pair, and just like every matched pair, they had names.

Brendon was the right mitten. His colors were bright and loud, because Brendon liked it when people paid attention to him. “Oh, what a bright and happy-looking mitten,” people exclaimed when they saw him, and that always made Brendon smile.

Ryan was the left mitten. His colors weren’t as loud as Brendon’s, but they wove together in a beautiful pattern, because Ryan liked to make people think. “Oh, what an interesting-looking mitten!” people exclaimed when they saw him, and that always made Ryan smile.

Brendon and Ryan went everywhere together. If Pete wore Brendon on his right hand, then he wore Ryan on his left hand. If Pete put Ryan away in the drawer where all the outside clothes lived, then he put Brendon away in the drawer too. Brendon and Ryan liked being in the warm, dark drawer with their friends Spencer the Scarf and Jon the Hat, but they liked it even better when Pete lifted them from the drawer and put them on his hands and took them out into the world.

Outside in the cold, Brendon and Ryan had jobs to do. They kept Pete’s hands warm, and they held onto the handlebars of Pete’s bike, and they greeted other mittens when Pete met other little boys. Brendon and Ryan loved their jobs, and every time Pete clapped his hands, Brendon and Ryan said “hello!” to each other with big, happy smiles, because they loved being together too.

It wasn’t very often that Brendon and Ryan got tired of each other’s company, but when they did, it was easy to spend time with other friends. Spencer the Scarf and Jon the Hat were made from many different bits and pieces of wool - some of the wool of which Ryan was knit had been woven into Spencer’s fringe, and some of the wool of which Brendon was knit had been woven into Jon’s pom-pom. Spencer and Jon were good friends to Brendon and Ryan, and after talking to them, Brendon and Ryan were always happy to talk to each other again and spend time with each other when Pete took them out of the drawer.

Sometimes Pete took Brendon and Ryan to football games, where they clapped and cheered and waved over Pete’s head with all the other mittens raised in the air. Sometimes Pete took Brendon and Ryan to the underpass, where they steadied Pete’s hands as he spray-painted pretty words and pictures onto the grey concrete. Once, Ryan got a smudge on purple paint on the side of his thumb. Brendon thought the streak of purple looked nice on Ryan, but he dutifully helped Ryan scrub at it until there was no more than a hint of purple smeared across Ryan’s wool.

Sometimes Pete used Brendon and Ryan to help him make snowmen in the big field behind Pete’s house. Brendon and Ryan loved rolling the snow up into balls and helping Pete lift them high into the air. Pete would find two skinny sticks of wood for the snowman’s arms and put Brendon on the end of one stick and Ryan on the end of the other. Brendon and Ryan liked being snowman hands. They liked everything about being mittens together.

~*~

One bright, cold day, Pete went out into the field, crunching through the tall snow. “I’m going to make the biggest snowman ever!” Pete said, and Brendon and Ryan were very excited. They did their best to keep Pete’s hands warm as Pete gathered up snow to make the snowman’s body. They did their best to keep Pete’s fingers warm as Pete sculpted the snowman’s head. They did their best to keep Pete’s wrists warm as Pete searched for sticks to make the snowman’s arms.