An Important Lesson

by Karl El-Koura

It was now Bradley's turn.

Half the class had already gone, announcing their future to Miss Lee in certain voices that left no room for doubt.  I want to be a doctor.  I'm going to be an astronaut.  His sixth-grade class was packed with future lawyers and dentists, movie stars and writers, presidents and prime ministers.  And what about him; what did Bradley Thompson want to be?

He didn't know.

But it was now his turn, and he stood up slowly and walked to the front of the class.  You announced what you were going to be, Miss Lee asked a couple of questions ("Why a racecar driver, Billy?"), everyone clapped and you went back to your seat.  Half the class had gone through the routine already; no one had broken with the script.

He stood at the front of the class, his hands clasped behind his back, his body rocking slightly, his eyes fixed on the floor.

"Well, Bradley?" Miss Lee said, her voice calm and soothing.  "What do you want to do when you grow up?"

Who knew?  He was only eleven.  What the hell did he know?

A doctor, say a doctor.  No, no, he was too dumb to be a doctor; everyone knew that—the class would just laugh at him.  A stand-up comic?  If he said that, they'd expect him to be funny for the rest of the year ("Tell us a good one, Bradley, let's hear a good one!").  A teacher, that's perfect, say a teacher.

And then the words came out:

"I want to save the world."

No one laughed at him, not yet; they just sat behind their desks with their big white eyes staring at him.

"Save the world from what, Bradley?" Miss Lee asked, her voice betraying the amusement she felt. 

He shrugged helplessly.  Why had he said that?  Was it too late to say something else?

"I—I don't know, ma'am.  I don't know why I said that."

This time they laughed.  His best friend Matthew was chuckling, Samantha was giggling, and Billy was snickering.  Well, Billy was always snickering, no matter what—but the rest of the class was laughing at him.  Even Miss Lee seemed to be enjoying this.

"Can I start over please?" he asked, hardly able to breathe anymore and praying for the red and hotness to leave his face and neck.

"That's okay, Bradley," Miss Lee said, still smiling.  "You can go back to your seat now."

That day after school, Billy and his gang gave him the beating of a lifetime.  They made fun of him as they kicked him, calling him names and telling him to save himself.  But he hardly heard them, rolled up in a tight ball and with his hands around his head.

Besides, he deserved the beating.  It was a stupid thing to say, "I want to save the world."  But he learned his lesson and he never said anything like that again.  And no one laughed at him anymore, and no one beat him up, and he lived happily ever after.