Childhood Experience Essay, Research Paper

Strange Days

?School is about to start, I wonder if James is going to be here today,? David thought as he sat in his desk toward the rear of the room. He stood up and walked to the window at the back of the room. Looking outside through the window, David saw the large baseball field. Looking beyond the field he noticed the row of houses where James lived. The door to James? house opened and David saw James running to school. David went back to his desk and entertained himself with the calculator in his desk. The principal started to speak over the intercom, giving the announcements for the day. Then, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited and school began. School has now officially started.

The teacher had Jill hand out some worksheets. After everyone had a copy, the teacher began to explain the work with the help of the overhead projector. James poked David on the shoulder. David looked over and saw James with an innocent look on his face. David poked back. The frequency increased as well as the intensity. The constant tapping forced David to go to the next level. He whipped the ruler out of the shelf in his desk and wielded it like a deadly weapon. The metal edge gleamed in the fluorescent light and a war cry was heard in the distance. James became solemn and with a grim look on his face, withdrew his ruler as well. A fierce battle erupted between the two titanic forces. Both knew that there would be only one survivor. David?s weapon ?Devastator? was fending off the incoming attacks with a ferocity seen only in wild beasts of a time long ago. Then, due to a lapse in concentration, a critical blow passed the defenses. David?s leg was stung by his powerful foe, but only motivated him to fight harder. With surprising speed, he lashed out and the fine edge of the mighty weapon hit the target with intensity. James immediately dropped his weapon and grabbed his bloody stump of a hand.

?Jeez! Son of-? James started to exclaim, only to be interrupted by the teacher who had materialized by the two warriors.

?Give me the rulers, guys,? Mr. S said.

?Um?it won?t happen again,? David replied hopefully.

?That?s what you guys always say.?

The weapons were handed over and the battle was over?for now.

The time quickly passed, and it was lunchtime.. The class was led to the other end of the school to the large room filled with square tables and blue molded plastic chairs. One of the most strictly enforced rules at the school was that only four people were allowed to sit at a table. If a student attempted to sit at a table already at its theoretical maximum occupancy the lunchroom guards would immediately rush to the scene to carry out order. The person responsible for the outburst of activity would then be the subject of death threats or other such things by the lunchroom guards. After eating lunch at these tables, David walked back down the same hallway and left the building for recess.

After a short period of time, David and James found themselves standing by the North wall waiting for something exciting to occur. Some people were using the playground equipment, some were playing soccer, and a few kids were throwing plastic dinosaurs at each other. David and James were soon joined by Reuben, the other member of the gang. About thirty feet away from them, David saw Joey pass by a tree and reach down for the most common playground weapon?a stick. Possession of such a weapon was a serious offense, and the officers roaming the ground noticed him about the same time. David saw four guards chasing after Joey, and threatening him with their stun guns. David pointed Joey out to the others and then the action started. All four guards sprinted toward Joey. When they were about ten feet away, Joey realized something was happening and looked behind him. Once he saw them closing in on him, he tried to run. He was too late. He was guided back to the wall, and searched for other weapons. Joey, being small and quick, managed to escape from the guards, pushing one of them to the ground. He saw his stick on the ground and picked it up as he was running away.

David, James, and Reuben were all watching the commotion, and noticed that Joey was heading straight for them. James being the biggest of the three grabbed Joey by the shoulders and shoved him against the wall. Joey grunted and seemed confused. Then, for good measure, James slammed him into the wall a couple more times.

?Did you guys see America?s Funniest Home Videos last night? That was sooo funny!? Joey exclaimed.

?Yeah, but what do you think you were doing? You were going to attack us, weren?t you?? James accused.

?Yeah, don?t try to lie,? David warned.

At that moment, the bell rang and Joey was released as everyone ran to the doors.

Class resumed and Mr. S handed out the papers for spelling. It soon became two o?clock and Mr. S announced to the class that they were all going to the gym to play kickball. David didn?t like this news at all. He enjoyed playing sports with his friends, but didn?t like playing in an organized fashion at school. The class walked to the other end of the school, past the cafeteria, and into the cavernous gym. The room had an orange carpet decorated with red and green lines, blue circles, and a strip of gray that followed the perimeter. They weren?t forced to play the game, so David and James went to the other end of the gym. There wasn?t much to do in the gym, because the equipment was held behind a locked door. A number of mats were stacked on the side of the room, and a thick blue mat was propped up against the wall with a bungee cord. An urge grew inside David until he couldn?t control himself any longer. Like a crazed monkey on a caffeine high, David started to race across the gym. He suddenly collided with the large blue mat and was bounced off onto his back.

?Wow, that didn?t even hurt. Cool!? thought David.

The remainder of the time spent in the gym was used mainly for running headfirst into the mat.