Simon, Smaller by Hasinah Abdul-Rahman

Simon, smaller

By Hasinah Abdul-Rahman

Characters:

Simon: 3rd grader who is sad that he isn’t as tall as the other guys in his class.

Chase: A bully that goes to the same class as Simon

Mrs. Tallman: The third grade teacher

Mike: A student that goes to the same class as Simon

Simon was so small

He wished that he was tall

He couldn’t reach the top shelf

He couldn’t play basketball

One day, Simon was playing at the playground before school started. Simon wanted to play basketball, but he was too short. He was playing alone on the sand box. While he was playing, some of the other students came over. “Only babies play in the sand box”, said Chase. Chase and his friends laughed. This made Simon feel even smaller. He thought to himself, “Why can’t I be tall like the other guys?”

At 8:00, the students went inside for class. To their surprise, the Mrs. Tallman had brought in the classes new pet hamster. “Class, we have a new pet! His name is Skipper.” Said Mrs. Tallman. Everyone in the class was excited. “I will let one of you feed Skipper.” Simon raised his hand. “Sure, Simon. Go ahead. The food is on the shelf right there.” said Mrs. Tallman. Simon got up to feed Skipper. When he got to the shelf, he was too short to reach the food. He reached and reached, but he was just too short. The class started to laugh at Simon. “It’s okay.” Said Mrs. Tallman. Mrs. Tallman got up and passed the food to Simon. He fed Skipper, and then he sat down. Simon felt even more sad that he couldn’t be taller.

Simon felt left out

All day long he would pout

He wasn’t like the other boys

It’s all he would think about

Later that day, everyone was playing outside. Simon was playing alone once again. Suddenly, he heard the teacher scream, “Help! Skipper has escaped!” Skipper had escaped while Mrs. Tallman was trying to clean his cage. The children tried to catch him, but it was too late. Skipper had ran under a gate. The students tried to get under the gate to catch him, but they were all too big. Simon just stood in there because he was still sad about being small. But then Simon thought, “Maybe I can fit under the gate.”

Simon was right. He was the only one who fit under the gate. Simon got under the gate, and he caught Skipper. When he brought him back, everyone was happy. “Hooray for Simon!” said Mike. Everyone was congratulating Simon for what he did. Simon felt like a Hero. “Thanks Simon, you really helped out a lot!” said Mrs. Tallman. Then, Simon knew that being small isn’t bad. He knew that if he was tall like the other guys, that he wouldn’t be able to save Skipper. Simon felt happy about being short for the first time.

Simon was so small

He wanted to be tall

But Simon was a hero,

And that wasn’t bad at all!