Recess.
Recess and I were the best of friends and the worst of enemies.
Exploring, flipping, sprinting.
It's where I learned my neatest tricks.
Tying my sweatshirt around my waist and looping the arms underneath the high-bars so that I could spin around and around like a water-wheel.
I learned cats-cradle.
I learned how to be a champion at POGS with my super metal 'Slammer.'
Sometimes recess was what I avoided the most.
I faked stomach aches in second grade so often that the nurse started to call home in worry.
Often I simply didn't like the cold.
At times I had no one to play with.
I loved recess but I barely liked it too.
Much of the equipment from the early 90's is buried deep in landfills, I'd assume. Deemed unsafe. ... Probably was...
I can remember my favorite one: the geometric dome, commonly known by kids as the 'spider-web' or the 'bubble." Such gentle, soft-sounding names for what it really was. A structure of cold, welded bars that towered above me and could cause injuring beyond "nurses-room" repair.
But to climb, hang in, swing upside-down, or simply sit on the top where you could see the whole of the playfield, thats where you would have found me.
I barely liked recess today.
My friend Lyza and I played on the spiderweb. And we would jump off and land in the pea-gravel, laughing, and wheezing, and eager to climb and jump again. It didn't even hurt that bad if you fell.
One cloudy day, we were jumping and climbing. After one ordinary jump, Lyza let out an excrutiating "yelp" and grabbed for her eye. Then the tears. I sprinted over; it felt like running in waist-deep water. That feeling of running in pea-gravel. "What's wrong?" She reluctantly released her hands from her red, splotchy, tear-streaked face. A little pebble had found its way and stuck to the white of her eye. "Get help!" she screamed.
I ran.
As fast as you could run in what felt like waist-deep water.
Kids zig-zagged in front of my path, unaware of the accident that had just occurred.
"Duty, duty!!"
"Yes, Megan?" (unconcerned.)
"Lyza has a pebble in her eye!"
"Excuse me?"
"Lyza has a PEBBLE in her EYE!!!!"
(silence. then.....)
"Don't be a tattle-tale, Megan."
The duty turned around. Blew the whistle. And began to walk inside.
I felt like a was stuck in a vortex of unexpected guilt. Kids were dashing around me. I was frozen. Tattle-tale? TATTLE-TALE? It wasn't a tattle-tale! It was a rescue mission and I had failed my friend.
I could see her still hunched over by the spider-web. I was almost embarrassed to go back over there. I walked over, shoulders hung low. I reached for her hand and threw her arm over my shoulder. We sulked inside together. The tattle-tale and the pebble-eye.
Epilogue: Lyza was okay. The nurse removed her pebble and I eventually graduated from Primary School and never had to see that duty again. I also lost touch with Lyza for many years, but now we are friends on Facebook. I don't know if she still remembers this incident.
I really enjoyed your first and last lines. I could hear you talking to yourself in the story and could really connect with the anger and sadness when you felt you had failed your mission. I also like how you ended the writing with both you and your friend having nick-names.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about your mixed feelings toward recess. You mentioned so many wonderful things about recess, but I felt unclear about why you would go to the nurse to get out of recess. Was it just because of the cold and no one to play with? You seem to have had some very strong feelings about getting out of it.
Like my question, I would love to hear more about your mixed feelings toward recess. As a teacher, I would worry about a student who chose not to go to recess some days. I would also wonder what would change day by day to make a child love recess some days and hate recess other days. Writing more about this could actually be very helpful to other teachers who read your work. It would give us an insight into a new perspective about recess and reasons why students might choose to get out of it.
I enjoyed reading your personal story! I'm glad you reconnected with your friend. I'm curious is she remembers the story. :)
Thanks for sharing!
Amy
Megan,
ReplyDeleteYour post this week really drew me in! I read the title and wanted to read more. Your descriptions of the playground equipment in the 90s had me laughing. The spider dome was totally dangerous. I could also vividly picture the pebbles that made you feel like you were walking through waist-deep water. The descriptive language throughout really allowed me to visualize the story you were telling.
At my school, we are in charge of recess duty during our last recess of the day. I was laughing when I read how the interaction with the recess duty went because kids really do love tattling. I looked at it from a teacher perspective, not a student who needed help badly!
Like Amy, I think it would be great if you could add some details about your mixed feelings towards recess. Was there an experience (other than the pebble-eye and tattle-tale) that made recess your enemy? Was there a wonderful experience you can recount? I think adding some more details would help support your awesome title even more so than it already does!
Great job!
Megan