Teaching Tales

Adam

Parents and Fellow Teachers: This is a story meant to be discussed with your children and or students. What could Adam have done differently? How would you resolve this situation?

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Adam

         Adam swung back and forth, tasting the moving air. The air smelled of summer and freedom. The wind blew fingers through his short black hair. His blue uniform shirt puffed open and closed as the currents swept through. Adam arched his back and let his legs touch the sky before he pulled them back to pump once more. He pushed his legs back and forth, over and over, higher and higher.

         The chains at each side of him felt cold and hard against his hands. They were strong metal chains, secure and safe. His hands held them tightly as he climbed higher into the sky.

         Ping. A grape flew by. It was aimed at him he knew. Another one hit his back. It didn't hurt. Two more flew past him landing in a squish on the ground.

         "Please, God, let them grow bored soon," Adam whispered. "Soon they'll leave me alone. If I just ignore them . . . "

         "Ow!" Adam cried out. That grape had hit the back of his head. The knot in Adam's stomach began to grew hard with aggravation and the first sparks of anger.

         "Leave me alone," he cried out silently. His legs pumped harder as if he might be able to climb out of his tormentors' reach if only he could swing with a little more diligence and speed.

         Another grape soared through the air. Adam saw it plop onto the ground. The grape was burgundy purple and fat.

         The juvenile snickers behind him grew closer as his tormentors came nearer. Adam had figured it was Jeff and his gang, trying to see if they could make him cry again. One of them reached forward and grabbed the right side of the swing. As the boy yanked at it, the swing came to a crooked stop.

         "It's my turn," said the gravelly voice of Jeff, his chief tormentor. Adam glared at Jeff, the popular -- Jeff, the boy who picked on him every time the teachers turned around - the one who was always pushing him, taking the ball away when it was his turn, stealing the candy bar his mom gave him for after school.

         Anger grew even stronger inside his belly as Adam stared at the golden haired, big-boned, handsome Jeff. The larger boy roamed Adam's every nightmare. He haunted his sleep -- Jeff, who could do no wrong when a teacher was around, Jeff, who wore politeness like a mask that could be taken off and on at his convenience, made his life a walking torment.

         Anger twisted itself larger in Adam's belly. It wrapped itself into a hard, gnashing teeth kind of fierceness, and then it heaved Adam out of his swing. Adam stood up and glared at Jeff. The whirlwind of grievances inside him, the stored up vengeance, was assailing him with such currents of restlessness and power; it was sweeping through every pore of his skin. Adam's body felt packed with it, explosively full of its energy.

         "What you staring at?" sneered Jeff.

         The fuse lit. Adam's forward lurch propelled his head into the soft belly part of Jeff. Adam rammed Jeff with the force of a year's accumulated hurts. The breath expelled from the tormentor's lungs. Adam watched Jeff fall to the ground. The thump as he landed hard brought a smile to Adam's face.

         Adam stepped away as the other boys gathered around Jeff. They peered down at him as he lay there, pale and struggling for breath. They heard the little "uh, uh" sounds as he fought to inhale. They reassured him that he'd be all right.

         Adam ignored them. Once more he sat down on the swing. He clasped the metal chains on each side. His hands were sweaty, but the cold, hard metal made the chain feel secure and safe. His legs kicked forward, then back, and he began to pump until the wind breathed a sigh as he swung by. Adam arched his back and then he let his feet soar him once again into the sky.

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