The Sheltered Life of Betsy Parker

by E. David Hopkins

  “I guess not,” Megan replied.

  “Hey, me Bessie! Bessie!” Betsy cried from her play bath.

  “That's right, my darling,” Megan beamed, “You're Betsy. We're talking about you.”

  Twenty minutes later, Betsy had had enough of her splash pool. She held out her hands, and Carl picked her out. He went inside to prepare some lemonade. Soon, he was back with a pitcher and some plastic cups.

  “Oh, that looks wonderful dear!” Megan cried. “Thank you so much!”

  “Thank you,” Betsy mouthed after her mother.

  After they had started drinking their lemonade, a fly fell into Betsy's drink. It started scrambling on the surface of the liquid to keep from drowning.

  Betsy looked at it, gently dipped her finger into her drink, and pulled the fly out, “Don't dwown, fly,” she said, in a comforting, kind of endearing voice. She didn't show the slightest hint of adversity about the insect, nor a trace of hard feelings towards it for falling in. She gazed, with a happy and loving face at the fly, while it was still on her finger, pleased with herself that she had just saved this little bug's life. The fly flew away, and Betsy continued to gaze after it in awe, as it flew into the distance and out of sight.

  After the Parkers had finished their drinks, Betsy proceeded, once more, to run around on the lawn. She ran around and around the perimeter of the back yard in circles many times. At one point, Betsy jumped. “Hey, my bum wiggles!” she called out. She jumped again, felt her buttocks jiggle once more, and made another strong, joyous, giggling laugh. Then, she jumped up and down again and again, many times, as her bum wiggled and jiggled all the while, with Betsy laughing and giggling the whole time.

  Carl watched his daughter and laughed.

  The summer wore on, and Betsy had many more fun outings in her back yard that she had come to adore like a paradise. While Betsy was inside, she occupied herself with solving simple children's puzzles, and playing with toys. When the fall arrived and the weather became too cool for Betsy to play outside anymore, her parents could tell that Betsy missed the back yard and would have to endure all of fall, winter and spring before she could see it again.

  “Oh, don't worry about Betsy,” Carl commented to his wife. “I know she misses going outside, but she has so much fun in the house as well. She is making such progress with her hands and with her vocabulary.”

  Carl and Megan had kept Betsy's crib so that a future baby could use it. They also planned to let the new baby have Betsy's clothes that Carl and Megan had bought for Betsy when she was a newborn baby.

  Before the Parkers knew it, it was February, and the day was approaching when Megan's baby was due. Megan turned to Carl and asked him, “I can feel my baby coming. Could you please nip over to the Nelsons and ask them to come and babysit Betsy like we arranged?”

  Carl put on his coat and shoes and headed next door. When he knocked, Anna and Frank answered as though they had been waiting for him.

  “Megan is just about to have her second baby,” Mr. Parker explained. “Can you come and babysit Betsy?”

  “Of course! We'd be happy to,” smiled Mrs. Nelson. “Congratulations on Megan having her second baby and I hope everything goes well.”

  The Nelsons came to babysit Betsy, and Carl drove Megan to the hospital once again.

  Later that evening, on February 17, the baby was born.

  “Congratulations Megan!” nurse Ken Reynolds beamed. “You have another little girl!”

  “Laura,” breathed Megan, smiling at her baby.

  7 The Teaching Begins

  Betsy was delighted when her parents brought Laura home from the hospital.

  “Look Betsy,” Megan smiled at her. “You have a baby sister.”

  Betsy put down her book 'The Teddy Bears' Picnic' and ran across the hallway to see her new sister.

  “A sisser, a sisser!” exclaimed Betsy, her eyes wide, and a smile splitting her face.

  “Her name is 'Laura,'” explained her mother. “Can you say 'Laura' Betsy?”

  “Lo-wa, Lo-wa,” smiled Betsy.

  Her parents smiled and laughed.

  There were never any abnormalities with Laura Elizabeth Parker. She made it through one month, then two months, then three months with no skin reactions, no food reactions, or any kind of adverse reactions at all. She was normal in every conceivable way, and beautiful and healthy as well.

  She had a patch of light brown hair, unlike the light blonde that Betsy had. Mr. and Mrs. Parker also noticed that Laura was more moody than Betsy had been as a baby. Laura cried more often and didn't smile quite as much. She still smiled frequently, at her parents, at Betsy, and at various pictures and mobiles around the house, but her parents could detect a solemness in Laura that hadn't been present in Betsy.

  By now, it was the middle of May, and the weather was just getting warm enough for Betsy to get out into the back yard once again. Her parents decided it would be good for Laura to get out too. Laura was dressed in a butterfly diaper and a purple and pink striped jumper.

  Betsy was delighted. She cried with joy and ran towards Laura, waving her hands in the air, as her parents were about to head out the door. “You coming Low-ra?” Betsy called. “You'll love it, and I don't want to be the only kid out here!”

  Carl and Megan were elated at how well Betsy was getting along with Laura. Even with Laura being a baby, and Betsy being her three-year-old big sister, it couldn't be plainer that Betsy adored Laura and was always looking out for her. It was as if Betsy had made her very first friend.

  Megan unfolded a towel from the linen closet, set it on the grass and put Laura down on the towel.

  Once Laura was on the towel, she gazed with wide, curious eyes at the grassy lawn. A cricket hopped past and Laura extended her hand to try to feel it. However, the cricket hopped away before the baby could reach it. A hint of a puzzled, disappointed expression crossed Laura's face.

  There were still several cool or rainy days ahead before summer started properly. As often as Betsy and Laura's parents could, they brought their daughters onto the lawn. Betsy sometimes played. Other times, she admired her sister. Laura always lay on her blanket looking around the lawn.

  Carl turned to Megan, “You know dear,” he explained. “Starting this September, I really think it's time we started homeschooling Betsy. She would be starting preschool this coming year, and she needs an education, one way or another.”

  “I agree dear,” Megan replied. “I have been thinking the same thing. I also think that now is the time to call the press about Betsy. It is time to get our story out. We keep talking about doing this but we never actually do anything. I think it's time that we really do something. We can't keep Betsy surrounded in a shell of ignorance from the rest of the world. Already, people around our neighborhood are asking why they never see Betsy. It's humiliating.”

  Even after that conversation, Carl and Megan still did not act on Megan's request right away. However, as the summer wore on, the Parkers were noticing something different about Betsy, something unusual they couldn't put their fingers on. Betsy had never spoken about being lonely, or about her constant lack of attire, but there was beginning to be a bit of a quietness about her, just enough to signal to Carl and Megan that it was starting to dawn on Betsy that she was different, that there was something not quite right about her, but Betsy didn't know what. Betsy was still a happy, carefree, playful little girl, and the change was extremely subtle, but the parents could feel the first signs of an unusual vibe coming from their older daughter. It was so subtle that Carl and Megan knew, that even if others did know Betsy, that the only people who would have been able to notice the change would have been her parents.

  Eventually, it was the middle of August and, especially with school resuming in a couple of weeks, Carl and Megan decided that now was the day to contact the newspaper, before they put it off one more day, then another, then another, like they had been doing, and perpetuating the vicious circle of talking about it
and never doing it.

  Carl picked up the phone and dialled the news station's number. He was nervous about the reaction he would get (The girl who couldn't wear clothes?). Would the news people think he was insane, or that he was trying to be funny?

  “Hello there,” came a man's voice from the other end.

  The time was now. Carl took a couple of deep breaths, made his muscles relax, and breathed. “Hello, my name is Carl Parker. I am thirty-six years old and married to Megan Parker, formerly Willow, and I am calling to report that we have a very unusual daughter that I feel the press ought to know about.”

  “Unusual?” asked the voice. “How?”

  “Well ... she was born normal and healthy; six weeks later, she had an allergic reaction to her diaper and we had to take her to the hospital. Then she had a much more severe reaction several months later. She's a wonderful, charming little girl; she really is. She smiles a lot, loves nature, loves her new sister; she ...”

  “Sir, you're stalling. Please tell me what's unusual about her.”

  Carl took another deep breath and mustered his courage once more. At that point, he noticed that he had never told the news man his daughter's name.

  “Her name is Betsy,” Carl explained. “She is three-and-a-half years old, and she's ...”

  He was feeling really stupid and silly now. He drew another breath, formed the words in his mouth and blurted out, “She-has-a-life-threatening-allergic-condition-that-prevents-her-from-wearing-any-clothes.”

  Then, Carl exhaled fast and deeply out his mouth.

  After this announcement, there was a minute of silence.

  “Sir,” asked the man on the phone at the end of the long pause. “Are you okay?”

  “I'm okay,” he assured the news man, “and so is my wife. We've been wanting to let the news know for a long time now, but we've never actually gotten around to doing it.”

  “Have you had your mental health assessed?”

  This question cut Carl to the quick. “I don't need my mental health assessed!” he cried. “Even the doctor at the hospital contends that my wife and I are both sane, loving parents. Dr. Derek Crown confirmed that this is what is wrong with Betsy. He let us keep his business card. If you want proof that I am not lying, and not insane, you can call him yourself.”

  “I will have to call him,” the man's voice continued. “Every time there is a medical case reported in a newspaper, the journalist must consult any doctors involved; both to obtain consent to disclose medical information, and to obtain a reliable source to ensure the story is not a hoax. My name is Smith Charles, by the way. If you ever want me over the phone again in the future, my extension is 2 at the end of the news station's regular phone number.”

  “So you will put it in the paper?”

  “After I have consulted your doctor, yes,” Smith replied. “If what you say about your daughter is true, a news story will give the public a chance to know about your daughter, and, hopefully give her at least a bit of compassion.”

  “Will my family and I be coming to the news station, or will you be coming here?”

  “Well, I don't see how you're going to transport your daughter if she's got no clothes on. We will come to your house to do a quick interview, and take a few pictures. Please have your daughter stand behind a couch or something so that we don't see all of her. Where do you live?”

  “9635 82 Street.”

  “We're thinking that we will bring Dr. Crown with us to take part in the interview if he's available,” explained Smith. “Would that be all right with you?”

  “Yes, yes, of course it would.”

  “Good, well I had better be going now. See you in about an hour.”

  “Goodbye, Smith Charles,” and the two men hung up.

  “How did it go?” Megan asked her husband after Carl had hung up. “Is there going to be a news story?”

  “Yes, there is,” Carl smiled. “The news guy was really shocked for a bit, and couldn't believe I was telling the truth. But I managed to convince him that this is real, and they'll be over in about an hour.”

  “Oh, that's wonderful,” Megan smiled.

  An hour later, there was a knock at the door. Megan got up from the couch to answer it, as Betsy came hurrying to the door, “Who is it?” she cried. “Is that the Nelsons?”

  The people on the other side of the door saw Betsy running up, just as Megan was opening it. They all smiled and laughed at this cute, pleasing sight, as the child ran down the stairs and onto the landing.

  The crew at the other side of the door consisted of a total of three people. One was the news man Smith Charles (he had his name pinned onto his shirt), another was a woman, tagged as 'Martha Lawrence,' apparently a partner or co-worker of Smith Charles, and the third was Dr. Derek Crown from the hospital.

  “It's such a pleasure to see Betsy so happy, healthy and growing so well,” smiled Dr. Crown. “She seems eager to meet us too.”

  “She is,” Carl smiled back. “We have two daughters now, by the way. Laura was born just last February. There is nothing unusual about Laura.”

  “Oh, that's wonderful,” smiled the doctor.

  “Please,” Carl smiled. “Feel free to remove your shoes and come on in.”

  The three guests removed their shoes and made their way up the stairs, into the living room. The two news people started setting up their equipment.

  When the camera was ready, Smith Charles directed Betsy to stand behind the couch.

  “But why?” Betsy asked, in a voice that indicated she knew she was being told to hide herself, but she obeyed.

  “You'll have to respect Betsy,” Carl explained, hurt that his own daughter was now, verbally, being treated as though merely being in this world was unacceptable. “She has never been told to stand out of sight of anyone before.”

  All the same, the news people positioned the Parkers in a way they felt was the most picturesque. They had Carl stand on the left side of the couch, Megan stand on the right side, and had them put Laura, who was in her cuddle-seat, down on the couch in front of Megan. The end result was Carl and Megan in full view, Laura visible on the couch, with only Betsy's face poking out from behind.

  “So, please describe your daughter's medical condition in as much detail as you possibly can,” said Smith.

  Carl and Megan, together, told Smith the complete story from Betsy's birth, her first rash, their finding that practically nothing could touch her skin, the doctor's reaction, and how they had come to cope with the situation and the difficulties surrounding it all these years. Part way through, they had Dr. Crown come to the front and join the family, and he explained how it was unquestionable that this was, indeed, what was wrong with Betsy, and how, for once in his career, he had been unable to tell the parents what to do.

  “Betsy?” asked Martha, when all this was over. “What do you like to do?”

  “I like to weed pick-tue books, I like back yard, I like to dwaw, I like my toys, I like my animals, I love my sister Laura.”

  “That's wonderful,” beamed Martha.

  She bent down to the tripod that they had set up, and took a picture, with the family still standing in the same position in which they been when the news crew first made their set-up.

  “And how is your younger daughter, Laura?” asked Smith.

  Once again the parents, in turn, told the news crew of how they'd had another child so that Betsy would have at least one other kid to play with, that Laura had shown curiosity about her surroundings on the lawn, including the cricket that had hopped across the grass, and how she had not yet been sick in any way.

  At the end of all this, Martha spoke up once more. “Anything more you would like to add?”

  Carl and Megan thought for a moment. Then Carl said, “No, I think that will be everything.”

  “Then let me take one more picture, just before we leave,” smiled Martha. “Say 'cheese' everybody. One, two...”

  “THREE!!!” Betsy cried, and ran o
ut from behind the couch. Before Martha could stop herself, the camera flashed, and the entirety of Betsy was caught in the picture.

  Carl and Megan burst into peals of laughter. “Wow, that should help get the message out about the kind of girl Betsy is,” Carl commented.

  But the news crew were not laughing. “We'll have to retake the picture, this time having Betsy standing behind the couch,” Martha explained. “Either that, or not take it at all. We can't put pictures like that one in the newspaper.”

  Not only did Martha insist on not publishing that last picture, she proceeded to open her camera, pull the roll of film out and throw it in the garbage. She opened her purse, picked a new roll out, and put it in her camera. “Do you want a picture?” she asked.

  Realizing that Martha had just thrown away the first picture, in which the parents were standing on either side of the couch, with Betsy standing behind, he reluctantly agreed, so that the paper could show at least one picture of the family.

  She re-posed them in the way they had been when they took the first picture, told Betsy very firmly to stay put, and took one more picture.

  “There,” she said. “I think that will be everything. Come on, Smith. We'd better be on our way.”

  Smith turned to the parents. “Thank you for calling us out,” he grinned. “The story should appear in the newspaper within the next few days.”

  “Bye bye now,” Dr. Crown waved.

  “Bye!” waved the parents.

  “Bye! Bye!” Betsy called.

  ***

  When Betsy's first day of homeschooling arrived, Megan brought an alphabet book into the living room. She opened the cover and showed Betsy the first page. It had a giant 'A' on it.

  “That's an 'A' Betsy,” Megan smiled. “Can you say 'A'?”

  “Yeah! Ai!” the child beamed.

  “It makes the 'Ah' sound.”

  Over the next hour, the mother and daughter worked through the book one letter at a time. After making Betsy say 'Z' Megan took a break, and served Betsy some milk and cookies.

  As Betsy was having her fill, Carl came up the stairs with a newspaper.