The Scary Giant
Walking to school for the first time with his mother, William was thrilled. He was a big boy now. Mom said that he will love going to school and he could hardly wait. He had been going to pre-school for two years and it was a lot of fun, playing in the school yard, drawing with crayons, and taking a nap even when he wasn't tired.
Today will be a little different his mother said. Today you will start learning things that you will need as you get bigger. "What will I learn mommy?" William asked.
"Well to start you might learn how to spell your name so that others will know you when you write to them." She said. William looked up at her as they walked and asked, "I don't want to write to anyone. I don't know who I should write to anyway." "You can write to your grandpa and grandma. They would love something from you I am sure." She said.
As they came up to the school William slowed down. The building was very big, bigger than the pre-school that he was going to. "Wow, it sure is big mama." Said William. His mother looked at him and said, "When you get older this will seem like a small building to you. Right now everything looks big to you." They walked into the building and William was taken by a teacher to his new classroom. Saying good bye to his mother was a little hard but as he entered the classroom his fears went away. There he saw a few friends he made in pre-school. He went to them and they started to play with the chairs and small desks, moving then around making noises on the tile floor.
After a few minutes their teacher told them to put the chairs in a row and to sit down. It was time to start learning she said. William listened to the teacher and wanted to learn but the other children kept talking until the teacher told them to be still. That’s when the door opened again and in walked another teacher with a boy that looked like a giant to William. He was almost half the size of the teacher. His name was Roger the other teacher told Williams teacher. William couldn't hear anything else because they were whispering now. Williams teacher put Roger in a chair next to William. William looked sideways at Roger. William was afraid of Roger because he was so big. Roger didn't say anything to anybody. He just sat there and once in a while looked out the window next to him.
The day went by and soon the teacher said that the class would be going into the school yard for recess. "Recess?" thought William. "What is that?" when he walked out to the school yard he heard the other children yelling and running around. They were mostly older than he was so he stayed by the door. The other kids in his class started to move out to the yard and soon William also went and started to play with the children in his class. That’s when it happened. William was playing ball with some of the kids in his class when from behind he heard, "Hay peanut. Give me that ball." William turned around and saw one of the older kids from another class. He was bigger than him and had his hands on his hips. "I said give me that ball." He said again as if William didn't hear him the first time.
William stood there with the ball in his hands. The other boy pushed William so hard he almost fell but he held on to the ball. "What are you stupid or can't you speak or what?" the boy said again. "I will knock you in the head if you don't give me that ball." He said a bit louder. That’s when something unexpected happened. The boy felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Roger behind him. Roger was as tall as he was and a bit heavier. "Leave him alone." Roger said to the boy. The boy looked back at William then at Roger. He walked away and never bothered William again. Roger and William became good friends from that day on and always played together at recess. That happened twelve years ago. Today they will be going to college at the same school.
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The Very Young Princess