Tomatoes and Marigolds
My sunhat served two purposes: to protect my fair skin from being burned and to hide from the world. The brim flopped down in front of my face and I felt that if I couldn't see the neighborhood kids looking at me, they must not be. While they all ran through the streets in swimsuits with popsicle juice running down their chins, tanned skin soaking up the last rays of summer, I sweat under my long sleeves and long pants and large floppy hats hiding my red hair and fair skin from the dangers of UV rays and toiled alongside my mother in our front lawn organic vegetable garden. I wasn’t just the freak on my street, not just the freak of my grade, I was the freak of my entire school.
