The Tale of Young Jack.

A dark parable exploring a world without second chances or reformation.

PRIMARY TEACHER:

(Delivered directly to audience)

OK. Are we all ready children? All sitting comfortably? Good. Today's tale is.....Jacks Big Whoopsy. This is a very important story, so I want you to pay close attention to it. I'm going to be asking you questions afterwards, so, no nodding off, yes, I'm looking at you (Making direct eye contact with one audience member). No excuses as we've just had nap time. OK. Here we go.

(Clears throat and takes in a deep breath, begins the story with great animation and energy. As the story progresses as should the teachers level/intensity of emotion. Should start off fairly light and playful, but the tone of the delivery/atmosphere should grow increasingly darker and more menacing by the page. As if the teacher is literally trying to scare and intimidate the children in front, who are the audience)

Our story begins with young Jack,
Who wore upon his head,

A hat.
Striped patterned it was,
With the letters N.Y stitched across.

With the hat jack wore a hood,
Needless to say this young man was upto no good.

From his mouth foul words did spill,

Sacrilegious slang such as,

Yo bruv that's sick,

and Ill.

Learnt from a particular kind of music of the time,

When all those like Young Jack,

Followed the treacherous trends of,

Grime.

He smelt of a certain scent,

Very pungent indeed,

For Jack had contracted an awful addiction,

To a certain green plant,

Known as weed.

This plant could not be picked from the garden,

Instead Jack had to venture to see a man named Tezza,

Who had prior,

But was pardoned.

Though Tezza's prices were too high,

And Jacks pocket money too low,

For he only had what he begged,

Stole,

And borrowed.

Jack thieved from his mum,

Dad,

Uncle and Aunt,

Yet still didn't have enough money to buy this plant.

He began to shiver and shake at the knees,

Feenin madly,

He shouted,

“Low it fam! Itz jus a cuppa P's!”.

Meaning he was just a couple of coins short,

Never the less Tezza wasn't having any of it,

As being too lapse was the reason,

He was first caught.

“Listen Rude Boy, you pay or you walk away”,

Tezza proclaimed with a firm tone,

Much to Jack's anger,

Who even went as far as to offer him,

His phone.

Alas Jack only had 3G,

Which we all know,

Is sadly the epitome,

Of poverty.

But having got the 252 all the way from Collier Row,

There was no way Jack was going to return home,

Without being stoned.

“Jus give manz da food!”,

Jacks anger elevated,

As Tezza's lack of empathy did too,

Clearly neither men,

Were in a good mood.

The conflict grew and grew,

Until Tezza pulled a knife,

“Listen little man, I suggest you back up,

Unless you want to lose your life!”.

In sight of the blade Jack pulled a gun,

An old pistol he'd found in a skip,

Which was dumped by some older boys,

While on the run.

Jack had never hurt anyone before,

So his hand began to shake,

He never meant to pull the trigger he screamed,

“Honestly! I swear! It was a mistake!”.

Though the bullet never hit Tezza,

He was the lucky one,

Instead with the shaking the bullet was sent in a different direction,

Towards an innocent family,

Out having fun.

Dear Amy and Alan having a gentle stroll with their newborn baby,

Neither saw the bullet come,

But it certainly left them both crazy.

For they once had a beautiful baby boy,

Alas unfortunately that misguided bullet,

So abruptly took away,

That joy.

All stood in shock,

And horror,

Tezza dropped his knife and run,

But poor young jack,

Was frozen stiff,

Still holding the gun.

“What have I done?”

“What have I done?”

Taken a life and ruined three.

His own,

Amy and Alans,

Who could have possibly foreseen?

When young Jack left his loving home it was a sunny day,

Neither him nor his parents could have predicted,

The sky’s would soon turn grey.

As neither could poor Amy and Alan and their recently deceased offspring,

No comfort could be given,

No words,

No guidance,

No consolation,

No offering.

Amy resented Alan,

Alan resented Amy,

A vicious circle,

They went round and round,

Entangled in maybe's.

Maybe this wouldn't have happened if Tezza wasn't given a second chance,

Maybe this wouldn't have happened if we did judge people on a first glance.

Back and forth they went,

To and throw,

No solace was found,

Except the fact there could be an end to their suffering,

If they decided it was their time to go.

To be reunited with their beautiful baby boy,

The one that cemented their life’s together,

With rock hard concrete joy.

Now that strong foundation had crumbled away,

Of course neither of their faults,

Yet still,

Together they decided they no longer wanted to stay.

In a world filled with danger and uncertainty,

It began with one death,

But unfortunately,

Ended in three.

One by accident,

Two by choice,

The other life in question,

Young Jack,

Now hear my voice!

Bellowed our beloved prime minister,

Who did declare,

This tragedy will never happen again,

As long as I'm given a chair.

And this was the day the revolution begun,

The day this great country was cleansed,

Of anyone with a knife,

Or Gun.

Unfortunately for Jack,

His mistake was too grave,

Which meant,

No coming back.

He was banished to a far,

Far away land,

Where there was hardly any sun,

Which meant no chance of a tan.

Aged only thirteen,

An unlucky number,

Just as unlucky as poor jacks,

little blunder.

This place was known as the 'Blind Spot',

Because this was where nobody wanted to look.

To this place all the naughty people were thrown,

Regardless of their age,

Social status,

Or,

Skin tone.

There would be no more second chances,

The government did proclaim,

Which meant no chance of redemption,

Only forever living in shame.

And to this dark place they were condemned,

Every singe person who ever did offend.

Although Jack never meant to wander down the wrongful road,

He wasn't mindful enough of his steps,

Which misled him into the darkness,

Where he found himself alone with regret.

So take a lesson from young Jack here,

And abide by the rules,

Because if you don't,

You too might find yourself alone,

With all the ghosts and the ghouls.

With no chance of escape,

There you must stay,

You see,

At least here,

You're given the opportunity to play.

But make sure you play safe,

Because as we've already learnt,

What happens when you poke a fire,

Well,

You get burnt.

So smile and be respectful,

And don't be like Jack,

Let's avoid that pitfall.

Because it's a long,

Long,

LONG,

Drop!

As the Blind Spot,

is where,

YOUR,

Story,

Stops.

Pause. Big Smile.

OK. So, there we have it children. Jacks Big Whoopsy. What do we......No, no, now, now, C'mon, no crying, no crying, C'mon, let's discuss the story. What have we learnt from young Jack? (Beat) I mean, I think the ending's pretty self explanatory, but, I want to hear what you think the moral of the tale is. (Beat) Actually, there are many moral's to this story. Lots to learn from it. So.......C'mon then.........Well. Firstly.....I said stop that! STOP THAT! No crying! NO CRYING! What did I just say! LISTEN! You're not listening to me! If you carry on then I will have no choice but to send you to the head master! And you know what that will mean. You don't want to end up like Jack, do you! No? Well then, QUIET. (Pause) That's better. That's a good class.