Dr. Jack Vather was one of the world’s most successful surgeons until a botched surgery and a divorce left him with nothing. His son, Max still lives with him, abandoned by his mother who fled the country to marry Jack’s stepbrother and to avoid paying child support. In a struggling economy, Jack looks for ways to support himself and Max. The days are harder with Max home from school during the summer and still too young to find work. During the days that Jack is out looking for work, Max attempts to keep the house together by vacuuming and making porridge, oddly the only thing he knows how to make. He learned early that that porridge was a forgiving recipe and by adding water (basically making gruel), he could stretch their dollar. While cleaning the house, Max discovers a clog in the vacuum. He opens up the bag of the vacuum to discover a dying petunia that seems as if it were left for safekeeping. The find is certainly curious and Max adopts the new plant and plants it outside. It becomes his newest project and he exerts all his emotion and energy into caring for the plant.
Marilyn, a middle-aged widow sees Max outside caring for his plant one day. Jack is out looking for a job and she strikes up a conversation with Max and offers to teach him more about gardening. During the day when Jack is off, Max goes to Marilyn’s home to learn, bringing seeds and plants home to help transform the dilapidated façade of the home he shares with his father. He soon plants vegetables and fruits as well, surprising his father with foods that differ from the regular porridge.
Jack feels helpless that he is unable to find a job when his boy has managed to deliver something new to them without a job.
Max introduces Jack to Marilyn the next day. Marilyn lives comfortably with what her husband has left behind and Jack confesses to how difficult life has been. He tells her that he’s thought about bringing Max to an orphanage or a foster home and finds it difficult to wake up in the morning since his life began to fall apart.
Marilyn convinces Jack that Max needs a father in his life when one parent has already abandoned him. She tells Jack that he can take some time off looking and maybe he’ll find fulfillment with the time he spends with his son.
Jack agrees to stop the job search temporarily and allows Max to take him under his tutelage to learn about gardening. Jack clears out a large chunk of the backyard to expand the garden and they slowly start to see the fruits of their labor.
Without Jack’s knowledge, Max sells picked fruits, vegetables, and herbs from the garden to sell (even in small quantities) and begins to bring the profits home to his father, slowly but surely giving Jack some hope both mentally and financially to optimistically get back on his feet.
No comments:
Post a Comment