Wondering Why . . .

Lieutenant Malcolm Reed knew immediately whose fault it was – this crazy idea that there should be a 'family day', and since Captain Archer had 'thought up' the notion, he would have to go along or be seen as being difficult. Not that he would have to really, in a normal sense, have to do anything particularly 'hard' – only show the 'wedding photograph' of his parents – Father in his Royal Naval uniform and Mum in her old-fashioned gown complete with veil and bouquet – perfectly 'normal'.

Perfectly normal – and particularly difficult . . .

Malcolm didn't have any idea where that photograph – if it existed – was. His father hated having his picture taken.

(As had he – but as a child, he couldn't bully his way around the problem, and was dragged around to be photographed as he was a particularly 'lovely-looking' child. His sister Maddie liked being photographed – so much so that she would dominate any picture that she had the pleasure to be in.)

Reed pursed his lips, thinking of a photograph that had 'pride of place' in his Mum's collection. At first glance it was of a rather healthy specimen of a Philodendron, green – oddly shaped leaves – woody . . . it was only when you looked beyond the plant – behind actually – that you spotted a figure, obviously of a child huddled as to be 'invisible'.

Malcolm's Mum always stated when the photograph was seen, "You hated to have your picture taken". (And she would invariably mention that he would 'pet' the leaves as if it were alive.) Malcolm remembered them as being smooth and perfect . . . and alive. There were very few living things (in his estimation) that attained the kind of perfection that Philodendron had in its chosen role.

When Malcolm began to attend nursery school, and was introduced to wooden puzzles – pleasantly shaped, but only formerly-alive – he marveled at the idea that separate pieces could come together to make a whole. But 'it' was not alive. If you took apart something that 'was alive', and then put it back together again, it was still missing the part of 'being alive'. The sum was greater than the whole of its parts.

From an intellectual standpoint, currently (and as a six-year old who was curious), Reed knew a lot about the human body. His Mum, despite his Father's wishes, had the less than secret desire that he should 'become a doctor'. Malcolm thought that it was 'a very good thing' that he was only obsessive about inanimate objects which had a good chance of 'blowing up', and kept his interest in the 'why' of life as a hobby.

He liked being the Enterprise's tactical officer, and hoped that he would never have 'to sub' for Trip as chief engineer. It would drive him mad as he would be responsible for the entirety of the complex machine that was the Enterprise.

But back to the matter of the photograph . . .

He did have a picture of his family, sans himself – as he had 'taken' the photo. In it, his parents and sister, walking on the Promenade above the beach, his father gazing out to the unseen ocean, his mum frowning at some object on the ground, and Maddie – spotting the camera and 'hamming it up'. Malcolm thought he was perhaps ten years old when it was taken, but he could not be sure . . .

The reaction of his fellow shipmates surprised him – they knew immediately that it was his family. "You look so much like your mom," seemed to be the general consensus, followed by "your dad was older, wasn't he?" That last comment was confusing to the British man, who didn't think that his father looked old – only ill-tempered . . .

That comment set him to wondering if people who grew up in 'America' really were different – most of the other photographs were staged, of smiling people who knew that this would be seen as 'being them'. Should people be only seen and remembered as they wished to be – or as they really are?

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