Sticks and Stones

A Story by Nexus

Jimmy Cornswallow was a bully....

Little Jimmy Cornswallow was a bully.
He spent his every waking moment pushing kids in the playground, stealing their lunch money, and giving them wedgies. And after a hard days work, he would go home to his grandmother, who would always be waiting for him with the most tasteless drink anyone could ever hope to find.

�Drink it all up!� she would say. �It makes your bones big and strong!�
�But Grandma, I hate this stuff! Can�t I have something with a bit of taste to it?�
�You�ll drink it and like it!�
And so he would drink, and gag on its rather sappy taste, and drink again until it was all gone. Though he loved her dearly, he always thought it was child abuse to make someone drink something so vile.

Of course, it did not take long for Jimmy to start thinking that he had had enough. Being the smart little bugger he was, he woke up in the middle of the night and made sure to switch out �grandma�s special juice� for regular old water as she slept comfortably. The next day, his grandmother didn�t have a clue as to what had happened, and seemed to be quite surprised as he instantly drank it without complaints, a look of refreshment upon his face.

Unfortunately for Jimmy, the more this went on, the more brittle he seemed to feel. His joints popped and creaked constantly, and he had to stretch regularly to feel comfortable. Being young, he didn�t understand how truly unusual this was, and simply went on his merry bullying way, kicking sand in peoples faces and pulling them off the jungle-gym.

It was only with the meeting of a new girl to the playground did he truly understand. Walking across the street to where his �territory� sat, he began to notice her taking over almost immediately, doing much of his work for him but with a fiercer attitude.
Jimmy was outraged.
�Hey!� he shouted. �This is my turf! Beat it!�
�Beat it? No way, loser!�
�Loser? You�re the loser you�you girl!�
�Ohhhh�sticks and stones may break my bones, but word will never hurt me!�
The girl then pushed Jimmy hard, and as he hit the ground, he heard a crack that seemed to be louder then any noise any of the other children were making. He felt his bones reeling, twisting, and contorting. He had never felt so much pain. He could only look up at the girl, his face bright red as she pointed and laughed, rubbing salt in his immense wounds.

Months past, and in that time Jimmy was restrained to his bed. His grandmother would bring him a bowl of soup and a glass of her special juice everyday, which he would gladly drink now that he knew the consequences. Finally, one evening she sat by his bedside and began to talk.
�Jimmy, do you know why this happened to you?�
�Because I didn�t drink my juice?�
�Well, yes, but there�s a bigger reason. Why do you think I make you drink that juice?�
�Err?�
�Jimmy, you�re not like any normal child�.lets just say your attacker was on the right track.�
Jimmy still didn�t understand.
�Oh, good grief Jimmy, sticks and stones are your bones! I made you 5 years ago out of twigs and rock after losing my dearest and only son! I�m a witch!�
Jimmy just couldn�t seem to take this news in, and simply sat there with his mouth agape. It took quite a few minutes for him to come to his senses.
�So that drink you tried to give me was��
�A special plant fertilizer, yes. You have to drink it everyday, or your bones would wither, break, and decay.�
Jimmy simply wanted this all to be a dream. �You�re joking right?� he asked, the words escaping his lips before he could stop them.
�Nope it�s all true. Haven�t you ever wondered why I water you everyday with the garden hose? Or why you�ve never seen any of your x-rays? You�re a genuine Pinocchio!�
The thought of this made jimmy scream in perpetual terror.

Jimmy was soon strong enough to go outside again, and to everyone�s surprised, seemed to have changed. No longer was he the bully, pushing kids in the sand and stealing whatever he thought was of value to him. He had gone from �ruthless tyrant of the playground� to �timid crazed boy who rocks himself back-and-forth in the sandbox� in a few short weeks. He avoided everyone and everything that he felt was a danger to him, and most importantly, he drank his "special drink" everyday, just to make sure he stayed nice and strong.