Play While You Can

A Story by K. A. Munn

Short True Story

Misbehaving at Windsor Hill Elementary meant sitting on the wall. The wall was simply a small, lengthy wall that ran along the side of the playground to keep the smaller children in. A small portion of this grand separation was dedicated to the "troublemakers" who were forced to sit and watch all the other children play. This is where I sat most of the time at that school, because for some reason everything I did ended up at the wall. Now, there were many reasons why I was put there: being too loud, not concentrating and distracting others, as well as playing too rough. It seemed to me that I couldn't do anything without it putting me up on the wall.

Almost every single recess I sat there, frustrated and confused beside my kindergarten teacher. She would sometimes speak to me, although I refused to speak back. She wouldn't look at me when she spoke, she stayed focused, and although I can no longer remember what her words were, I remember the look of her face. Gentle and wrinkled, aged with exasperation and longing. I didn't understand this at the time, but looking back I understand the facial expression of my memories.

There was one moment at the wall I remember the most though, where she had just dismissed another kid off the wall to go run and play, but she kept me up there on the wall. She watched him run away and I saw something different, a type of desperation my young eyes had never experienced. In one glance of a side angle I witnessed a whole kaleidescope of emotions, pain, frustration, anger, regret, loss, hopefulness, and more than anything, the greatest look of longing I'd ever seen on anyones face. I even recognized something was wrong at the time, for I forgot all feelings of anger towards her and felt most sorry for her.

I traced her vision and saw her looking at all my classmates, playing, painting the perfect picture of youth. Laughter sprinkled the air, making it ripe and sweet, a youthful dessert that she couldn't taste, but was allowed to remember its tantalizing flavor. In that moment, her eyes softened, and for the first time in which I could remember, she looked right at me for a while and for once, let me off the wall early without any further word but,

"Play while you can."