The Play Garden was not crowded that day. Only fifteen kids were there. Play Garden was a place for busy parents to leave their kids when they had to work. Most kids were with family on weekends unless their parents had to work on Saturday.
The teacher, Mrs. Carmen, wanted the kids to be away from their computers and video games. She would teach kids about games, nature, rituals, stars and role plays. That day was about nature, everyone had to make something resembling some plant in nature. Most kids went for the famous flower idea, and many decided to find a vase first and put it on the table. George, however, decided to make a tree, a free one, not the ones trapped in vases. He found a dry branch and he made green leaves with the waste papers Mrs. Carmen had given to them. He was excited to see the result of his work, he was excited to see if the result was as he imagined.
“I’ll save this tree,” George thought and smiled, attaching the leaves one by one.
The clock hands came together and pointed at the position of the sun. It was noon and soon parents would be there. Some hurried to finish their work, some were happy that they could stop the work. Ears were sharp to approaching cars, the sound of a horn from a familiar car or the sound of the maids here to pick them up.
When the parents arrived, they shouted the name of the children.
“Sarah,” someone called. She was on her feet before she was called a second time. John didn’t wait to be called, he was standing at the door and he left as soon as he saw his father. Others were mostly the same, either eager to go or they would run when they were called.
“George,” he was called but he didn’t hear it. He had a few green leaves left to save the tree.
“George,” he was called again, this time even louder. This time he heard, but only a dozen leaves were left to attach before he could impress the teacher by showing a saved tree. So he hurried up attaching the leaves while he was half standing up.
The next call came from his father, angry and loud as he was standing at the door. George panicked and turned in the direction of the voice, his shoulder touched the dry tree and the tree turned and touched a vase on the table. The vase fell and smashed on the floor, creating a big mess.
A big mess meant cleaning, and cleaning meant they had to stay there a longer time with George’s father obviously in a hurry. His work had not been done, but after an argument with his wife he had to come and pick up George. The angry and frustrated father lost his temper.
“You idiot, ignorant boy! Are you deaf, or are you just stupid? Look at what you have done. Why are you so weird? Look at the other kids, they all are packed and ready to go and you are still playing with rubbish. From now on, when I call you, you answer; when I say stop, you stop;when I say let’s go, you sit ready in the car…” father shouted in front of the remaining kids and Mrs Carmen. The father apologized to the teacher for his son’s ignorance and the mess he had created.
George sat in the car sobbing quietly in the silent car ride home. He promised to himself that such embarrassment would never happen again. George became an aware and sharp boy from that moment. He obeyed all the laws and he accepted and responded immediately to his parents, teacher and anyone in authority. George never got into any trouble after. After he finished his studies, he found a job in a wood factory. He cut trees for a while and after that he opened his own cutting tree company.
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John the Outsider