Perhaps it's just me, but I can't live with some secrets. When I was a young boy, my parents tried to push me towards better grades; however, all was for not. I went by, narrowly passing each class, without a care until I became a sixth grader. Our late Teacher, Mrs. Milkie was a tough woman. Her stern, but grandmotherly concern for her students made me understand why she was so hard on me. My grades were by far the worst, but she never cut me some slack.
When it came down to it, I may have been held back a year; altering what is now my future. But when I was a younger, being held back you were stupid, and I didn't want that on my reputation. Besides, chubby immigrant boy was enough. Towards the end of the year, Mrs. Milkie instituted a reading challenge to all her students; where we would accumulate points based on the total number of pages of all the books we read.
At first, I wanted to approach it honestly. I may have been a crappy reader, but I certainly not an idiot! I never got through that book's first few pages on that first night. The next day, and I don't know what came over me, I grabbed three random books with confidence. When it came time to review the books with a teaching assistant, I would tell her I read these books: having skimmed there outsides and ins, of course.
To this day, I don't know why my teacher believed me. The perfect lie, my ultimate sin left me with 4000 + pages and a passing grade. Class of '00. Maybe she finally cut me some slack, maybe she felt sorry for me.
Years went by, and new troubles covered up the old. I let it grow inside me, this monster, unaware that it was eating away at me. My morals and sense of right from wrong had evolved since then. Looking back, I see my kind actions as compensation for past wrongs.
A few nights ago, while reminiscing old TV shows on youtube with a friend it struck me. I remembered.
And now my plan for the summer is to actually read books until they accumulate to that vast number of pages.
"I do not fear death or hell. I will embrace it, with arms as wide as my unburdened smile.. "
Books:
Warriors of Virtue by: Robert Tine, based on the screen play by: Michael Vikerman and Hugh Kelley pages:
BYTE SYZE · Thu Jun 07, 2007 @ 07:42pm · 0 Comments |