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 Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:46 pm
Ah, a change of topic. She'd been stuck subbing for magic classes for so long she'd almost forgotten there were other classes. Today she was subbing in what was termed "speciality" classes. It sounded kinda like gym class.
For her student, Sarah had set up a sort of obstacle course. It started off with a wide balance beam low to the ground. Then a narrower one that was a step up higher. Then there was a ramp to an even narrower beam about head level from the ground. She was sitting on the pads under this last beam waiting for her student to arrive.
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 6:07 pm
Today, Anoki had left the apartment a half an hour before he needed to, determined to be early. Then Myung-Ki had gotten into a fight with a passing D-Tech, and Anoki had to take the snarling dragon off and calm him down. Only a steak from the cafeteria and the promise of a new sparkly had done it, and that had taken the entire half hour.
At least he wasn't late, he thought, coming in with his hand firmly on Myung-Ki's collar. But he was already tired, and a bit worried at how the dragon would react to a new person.
Myung-Ki wasn't particularly happy to have been dragged away from a fight, but the steak was good and sparklies were better. He eyed the teacher with disdain... but did not react otherwise. This one didn't' look too bad.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Anoki let Myung-Ki go. "I'm s-sorry if I'm- w-we're- late, Miss. Then he finally got a look of the room. "Is all th-this just for m-me?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:14 pm
Sarah eyed the dragon as it came in, the boy having a firm grip on it. Well, at least she wasn't having to do anything with the dragon. Those beasts weren't something she was fond of. Smiling at the boy, she reassured him. "Right on time. I'm Dr. Walker and, yes, it's all for you. Notes from one of your instructors said that you had a good sense of balance, so I thought we'd test that in a bit more depth today."
"Your dragon can find a spot since it won't be doing anything today." She stood and walked along the length of the course to the start. "Starting you off easy and then the bars get narrower as you go along. There's pads under the last one in case you fall. You'll be going through the whole thing three times. The first to get a grasp of it and get comfortable, then the second at a quicker pace, and the third even faster. So don't feel rushed the first time through it."
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Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 9:31 pm
Anoki nodded his understanding. Now that he thought about it, his last class of this sort involved him climbing a bunch of boxes. This looked similar, but harder. Good. He was ready for a challenge.
"B-be good and stay h-here," he told Myung-Ki, hoping the dragon would listen to him for a change. If not, he wasn't sure what he was going to do.
Eying the teacher again, Myung-Ki snorted and curled up against the wall. He didn't feel like challenging this one. Yet.
"Thank y-you," he murmured, turning back to the teacher. Aside from being more difficult than the last one, this class looked like fun. "I start h-here?" he asked, standing in front of the lowest beam. He was itching to start, but it was best to make sure he knew what he was doing first.
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Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 10:26 am
Sarah was relieved when the dragon curled up. Maybe the thing would fall asleep. She smiled and nodded at Anoki. "Yes, right there." She fetched the clipboard and stopwatch she'd brought, though she wasn't going to time him this time around. "Whenever you're ready."
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:34 pm
Anoki nodded, adding a "yes, m-ma'am," in case the teacher was like Raven and insisted on verbal answers. After that, it was just him and the beam. He stared at it for a couple moments, took a deep breath, and hopped up onto the first beam.
And about one second later, fell off.
Though he landed on his feet with no trouble, Anoki frowned and looked at the beam. It didn't look uneven, or slippery. If anything, he guessed that he just misjudged his balance. Still, it was annoying, and not a good impression to make on this new teacher.
"Can I t-try again, p-please?"
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Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 8:35 am
Sarah nodded, smiling to try to put the boy at ease. He seemed rather nervous. She didn't think she looked scary... and she's had the fortune of not running into many of the teachers around here yet. But she'd heard some stories...
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 3:11 pm
Anoki let out the breath he was holding and tried to get onto the first beam again. After thinking about it for a moment, he decided that he'd tried to jump too high last time, and had come down wrong. This time he went with a lower leap, and landed on the beam with a minimum of swaying.
He paused, only moving when he was sure he was steady. The first beam was really too easy; he could have run across it without difficulty, but he walked anyway just to make sure of his footing. He took the next step as a small leap as well, and wobbled a little more on his landing, but didn't fall.
The next bar was a little bit trickier. He probably could have run along it as well, but he was glad to be taking it at a walk for starters, and even more glad that he didn't have to jump to the next level. The ramp was a different sort of challenge, but as long as he was walking and not running, he was okay.
He halted before continuing to the narrowest bar. Not because he was scared of falling; heights bothered him less now than they did when he was younger. But more because he was scared of making a mistake. Unsure, he looked back at the teacher, hoping for some kind of advice.
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Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:12 am
Sarah had walked alongside the course with her student, watching as he seemed to take the challenge fairly easily. He seemed confidant on the first bar and still at ease on the second. The ramp was where it seemed he started to get nervous.
Smiling up at the boy, she gestured to the pads underneith the bar. "These will cushion you, if you fall..." She stated, thinking that might be why the boy had paused. "Just take it slow." Though this was the narrowest of the balance beams, it was still hand-width.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 8:36 pm
Anoki gulped and nodded. He was a little disconcerted that she thought he was scared of falling, and almost wanted to correct her. But she probably wouldn't appreciate it. Most people didn't, so Anoki stopped trying and learned to keep quiet.
He put one foot on the ramp and tested it to make sure it wasn't about to break underneath him. Of course it wasn't, he scolded himself, the teacher wouldn't let that happen. His steps up the ramp were slow and steady, but in his usual gait and with minimal hesitation. He slowed down even more for the topmost beam, swaying once or twice, but managed to make it to the end without falling off.
Which led to a new problem. "What now, Miss?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:54 pm
Sarah smiled as Anoki completed the first run of the course. "Very good!" She gestured towards a pad situated at the end, thicker than the others, reaching almost waist-level on her. "Now you can jump down for a soft landing." She'd tested this pad a few times... all to make sure it was a good soft landing pad. And it was. Very soft, indeed.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:43 pm
Beaming with pride, Anoki nodded at the teacher... but as she spoke, the smile faded a bit. He wasn't afraid of falling, but he wasn't so comfortable with heights that he felt like jumping from them. She said it was soft, but would it be soft enough? He couldn't help but flash back to falling off the bookcase and breaking his wrist when he was younger.
But in the end, he knew that he had to do what the teacher said. Taking a deep breath, Anoki shut his eyes and jumped off the beam, trying his best to land on his feet. He did, almost- his knees wobbled and eventually buckled underneath him, but the landing was painless. As soon as he was sure he was safe, he opened one eye, then the other.
"Do I... d-do it again n-now?" he asked uncertainly.
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:10 pm
Sarah eyed the boy for a moment. Perhaps she should've come up with a different way of coming down. But nothing in his file had even hinted about the boy having a fear of heights. Perhaps it was a recent thing. Or he was just nervous with being with a different teacher. Some students didn't handle changes well.
"Yup! This time I'll time you, but don't rush it too much. I want to see how much more confidant you'll be the third time through."
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Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2010 10:20 pm
She didn't seem too upset with him. Anoki stood up and nodded, walking back to the start of the course. Before starting, he looked it over again, trying to remember the tricky parts. He had to be careful with balance in the beginning. The first part was pretty easy. The next step was another one he had to be careful for, and then more easy walking. The ramp wasn't too hard as long as he got started well. He needed to be a little slower on the top, because it was easier to slip and mess up. And then jump off the top. Now that he'd done it, he felt pretty good about doing it again.
"Do I st-start, or wh-when you t-tell m-me?" he asked, not wanting to mess up even a little. Asking for information was better than not asking and making a silly mistake.
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:22 am
"Whenever you're ready." Sarah answered. She'd walked back to the beginning with him and got her stopwatch ready to time the boy as he went through it the second time.
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