Chapter Text
Harley remembered her first day of first grade. She was so excited that she picked out the outfit she was going to wear on her first day. She even laid it out at the end of his bed the night before. So when she got up in the morning her outfit was there ready. It was newly bought overalls, and a striped shirt.
Morning arrived, and Harley jolted up excitedly ready to get dressed in her new outfit, but the outfit was not there.
Where did it go? She thought
She exited her bedroom and saw her dad walking down the stairs.
“Pa, Do you know where my overalls are?” Harley asked
“I think your mom has them sweetie” her dad replied as he headed towards the kitchen
Just then her mom appeared out of the multipurpose room with something hidden behind her.
“Hi sweetie. Mommy have a surprise for you” she greeted
She pulled out his overalls from behind her. Which was now decorated with ribbon tied into bows around the straps, and some flower patches sewed onto the front pocket of the overalls.
“Do you like it?” she asked
“It’s nice, but I liked it the way it looked before” Harley explained
“But you will look cuter now Harley dear. This is the first day of school, and you do want to make an impression. You are a girl after all. Now get dressed, and I’ll tie up our hair” her mother directed
“Okay Ma” Harley replied, taking the overalls to her room to get changed.
She didn’t really like the addition of the frilly flower patch sewn onto the front pocket of the overalls, and she really didn’t think that the ribbons did the outfits any favor either. However, she knew that her mom was so happy about it, and she didn’t want to make her mom sad by saying that she didn’t like it at all. So Harley reluctantly put on her tampered overalls that she was so excited to wear earlier. She looked in the mirror and frowned before leaving her room.
The moment Harley got to school. She undid the ribbons on her straps, and tucked them into her pockets. However, she can’t really do anything about the flower patch sewn onto the front pocket on her overalls. Hopefully the stitches wear off over time, fall off in the washer, or when she’s playing.
Emotions soiled by simple editions to the garment.
20 years later
Harl woke up to the sound of the busy city. Cars honking at the traffic, and mechanical noises blaring from below him. It was a normal occurrence when you live above a carwash and an auto shop.
He got up from bed to start his morning routine which included brushing his teeth and getting dressed. He pulled out his usual outfit which is a red button up shirt, denim overalls, and brown work boots. His shirt pocket was stained with ink from a broken pen that he carried in there. His overalls had some paint stained on the left side, and there’s a fabric patch sewn on the other leg to cover up a rip. Not to mention that the clasp on one strap of the overall broke off, and he can’t clip it to the button. Leaving one side of his overalls to hang down.
It didn’t matter to Harl, because he liked it that way. He got to wear what he wanted. He took one look at the mirror and smiled before heading out the door.