Madison Banks

From the way Madison hears it, the day he was born was pretty hot – sweltering in fact. It was so bad that his moms always joked that he had had enough of heat and that was why he was born early. Paris and Dakota were two of the happiest moms in the entire world; the last time they had been that happy had been when their other son, Austin, had been born. But there was something...strange with Madison, they both noticed. He wasn't advancing like other children, he seemed to struggle a lot with his motor skills, and when he did start developing them, he was very shaky. Of course they took him to the doctor as they noted all of this until they found out that Madison had cerebral palsy. When she had been pregnant, Paris had gotten an infection; she hadn't thought anything of it, the doctors hadn't thought anything of it, because it was just the flu. Unfortunately no one had thought of how it could work on Madison. It was fine, they said, this changed nothing. They would help Madison get everything he needed to be successful. Even when it turned out that he developed seizures because of it, they kept pushing forward because this was their baby. Madison didn't really seem to have much issues outside of his body being a bit different or the seizures cropping up; he was a healthy, happy baby and toddler. Eventually, though, his moms began to realize there was an issue with him and Austin. Austin seemed to be struggling a lot with having a baby brother who needed special care and was acting up. Paris and Dakota began to look into the idea of adoption; maybe Madison couldn't be the little playmate they hoped he would be for Austin but they could find a right fit. The problem with that, though, was while Dallas was the perfect playmate, it was towards Madison and not Austin. Dallas had fallen in instant love with this little toddler that had trouble walking and he was going to be best friends with this kid for the rest of their lives.

Madison had himself a built in best friend from that day forward. No matter where he went, Dallas was usually close by and helping him with anything he needed – even when he had to go to his own school, he always made sure Madison was settled. Eventually, though, as Madison began to grow older, he blossomed. He still struggled with his cerebral palsy, but he became this sweet and charming young kid. Teachers loved him because he was that right amount of exasperation that made the days go by, other kids loved him because he was never too much of a teacher's pet. Madison was this all around likable kid that people found themselves drawn to. If you weren't his friend, you at least knew to let him be. No bullies touched him because not only was there overprotective big brother Dallas around, but also to do something like that would mean that you'd be ostracized from school life. Madison didn't do much with this power. It was nice to have friends, but he genuinely just liked having friends. Who wouldn't like friends?? His school years went by relatively easy, his health aside, and it was where he discovered that had a passion for performing. Soon enough, he begged his moms to put him in acting classes, in singing classes. For the longest time, he was content – his teachers said that his singing was some of the best that they had heard in awhile and he seemed to be genuinely good at acting. But as he began trying for parts, he found a hurdle; the people putting on plays and musicals seemed hesitant when he showed up. They said that roles might have been a bit difficult and Madison could see their point sometimes. He preferred those people over those that cast those that he thought were really inferior to his skill, but they were able bodied.

Of course he still tried. He was raised on a diet of "if you put your mind to it, you can do anything". But no parts came in or they were small parts where he felt like he was being pushed to the side. In an attempt to remain with something he considered his passion, he began changing his college courses to reflect working behind the scenes with theater. There were more opportunities there, it seemed, and he found he did well enough for lighting. Once he graduated, he managed to slip into a theater and quickly became something of the lead lighting operator. It wasn't the dream he wanted, but he was still getting to do something in the place he loved.

The rest of Madison's story is explored in the To the Moon, Through the Stars story, Move the Stars.

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