Words Of a Feather

Riiiiiing!

The bell rang

The children pushed their chairs down, dashed from their tables, and hit the road, Jack

They sprinted faster than lightning until their legs didn’t know what the words “slow down meant”

It was finally recess, a chance to relieve oneself and take a break

Yes, it was the first day of school for these lovely, rotten first graders, but so what?

It was time to be free, to be young, to be reckless

The children pushed each other down the slides

The recess yard was empty, but that left it for opportunity

The kids played hopscotch, tag, ball games, and more

Some simply say on the sidelines and drew

A couple of them were lucky to get their grubby hands on the hula hoops

Each one made of flimsy plastic with vibrant colors and little balls inside for the kids’ amusement

Shake! Shake! Shake!

One kid grabbed a hula hoop and spun it around her arm

It was out of control and she was the best “hula-hooper” in the world

Suddenly, disaster struck harder than lightning

This girl hit another female classmate!

The hula hoop girl didn’t notice until a teacher stormed over and told her to apologize

This apology was the most sincere apology in her 6-year-old life

Afterward, the “wounded” girl accepted the apology

Most shocking of all, she proceeded to play with the girl who attacked her

These who girls would play for the rest of the day and for most of their grade-school lives

To my first friend in grade school, Savannah Hopkins