I felt as if there was a hole in my life and heart. My best friend was ignoring me. He even said that he no longer wanted to be my friend. This hurt a lot. I could not pick between him and Bethany. She was a good friend. It would hurt her if I said that I could no longer be his friend. Why could I no longer have two good friends? I did not know how to solve this. What hurt the most is when I saw Rocco be with the other boys. I did not even play football, as it hurt so much that he would even ignore me in the game.
This meant that I spent more time with Bethany. She had the ability to make me smile. She knew that Rocco no longer was a friend but thought that he would get over it. I hoped that she was right, but as every day went by, this seemed to become less of a possibility. It was good that I had Bethany. We had a lot of things in common. She even wet the bed which meant we could console each other and convince each other we were not weird. She liked the same music and the same films. She seemed also mature for her age. The funny thing was that everyone at school thought that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. This made me laugh until one day when Bethany asked me to be her boyfriend. I do not remember saying yes to this, but now I had officially a girlfriend.
It was strange having a girlfriend. It meant that I was in love with a girl. It should have meant that I was floating on a cloud all the time. I did love Bethany and I enjoyed it when I was with her. We were still too shy to hold hands and do all the smoochy things, but that did not matter. It gave us a new status at school. The only people that did not like it was Rocco and Adrian, Adrian continued to tease and push me when he could. It seemed as if he just liked terrorising me. Rocco on the other hand tried to keep away from me as he could.
One day when I came to school, everyone was pointing at me and calling me a baby. Some were even asking if I was wearing a diaper. I wanted the ground to swallow me. I knew that Rocco told everyone my secret. How could he be so mean that he told everyone that I wet the bed? Did he hate me so much that he wanted to destroy my life? Now it was not just Adrian that was bullying me. Everyone was teasing me. Children could be so cruel.
I was mad at Rocco. I walked up to him during lunch break and asked him how he could tell everyone my secret. He told me that he did not tell anyone and he was doing his best to forget me. I got mad and told him that what he had done was so wrong. I launched into him and let punches fly. I wanted to hurt him and in some way, this will tell him how hurt I was. We were soon in a fight as we were throwing punches at each other. The other children were soon standing around us. In some way, using each other as a punching bag released a lot of frustrations and anger. I knew that fighting was wrong and never achieved anything, but I never did think straight when I was mad.
Bethany broke up the fight and told us we were acting like two toddlers. She looked me straight in the eye and told me that it was her fault that everyone knew that I wet the bed. She confided to a friend that we both had that problem and it was her friend that told everyone. I just stood there and looked at her. I felt so betrayed by Bethany and felt guilty for blaming it on Rocco. This was a bad day. My girlfriend helped spread my secret. I attacked my friend who was innocent, and I even found out that I have done badly in the exams we had.
When I was home, I just slouched on the sofa. I felt as if I lost a friend for good, I felt as if I could no longer trust Bethany. I just wanted to touch the statue and get away from all of this. Mom could see how sad I was and sat down next to me. I started sobbing her as I told her everything. Mom hugged me and told me that I was too young to have a girlfriend. Concerning Rocco, he would forgive me in time. He had always been my best friend, and this was hard to destroy. Time would heal everything. I just needed to be patient. As for Bethany, I would need to forgive her. It took a lot of energy to hold grudges and dislike people. Forgiveness always gave freedom and a chance for a better understanding of each other. Mom could be so wise. She could see there was hope. I needed to believe in what she said, that everything would sort itself out.
For the next few days, I did not speak with Rocco or Bethany. I did not know what to say. I was alone and life was hell as I was being teased about wetting the bed. Adrian had something else he could bully me about. For days he teased me and called me everything from a baby to a diaper boy. He even talked about how I was dressed when I did not wear my school uniform. He would laugh and say that I dressed like a toddler. It was so hard for me to be the butt of his jokes. It was embarrassing and humiliating.
One day Adrian decided to treat me like a punching bag once again. He started hitting me and calling me names. I did not fight back. Every punch added to the pain and agony that my body was going through. I tried not to collapse to the ground as I knew that he would just start to kick me. As usual, everyone was standing around and cheering at the violence. This was until Rocco intervened and told Adrian to leave me alone. I was shocked as I saw Rocco throw punches and it was obvious that he was a better fighter than Adrian. I always considered myself a pacifist but at the same time, I was tired of being the victim. Soon, it was both Rocco and me hitting Adrian. I could see that Adrian was in pain. It looked as if he would have a black eye. I looked Adrian straight in the eye and told him that his bullying days are over
After the big fight, I was walking home with Bethany. I told her about the fight and how confused I was when Rocco helped me. I did not know if this meant we were once again friends or not. I soon got the answer as Rocco caught up with Bethany and me. He was very silent as we walked and even when we sat in the park. Then he asked us both if we could forgive him. He explained he was very foolish, selfish and jealous not to believe that someone could have more than one friend. Bethany also wanted to be forgiven for telling her friend that I wet the bed. This all ended up in a group hug and all three of us agreed we will be the best of friends, like the musketeers!
As we sat outside the park, Bethany told us that since we were best friends, she wanted to tell us her deepest secret. “ I do not think you will believe this,” she started, “This is my second childhood. You see, I was an old woman that was so tired and had lots of health problems... One day, when I visited the church, I was thinking about how happy my childhood was, and I had no problems. I was thinking this when I touched a statue. The statue somehow sent me back in time… to my childhood. So you see, this is my second childhood.”
There was silence and Rocco started laughing. He told Bethany that she had a good imagination and that he was not falling for it. I could see the despair on Bethany's face as she looked at me for support. I could also understand Rocco. Who would believe in such a story? I was silent for some time and then told them that it happened to me as well. Rocco was silent this time as he could see that we were both serious. After some time, he just said that stranger things have happened. What stranger things? I think this was his way of telling us that we could believe what we wanted. I doubted that he believed us, as he quickly changed the subject.
As for me, I was in a strange mood. Bethany experienced the same as me. She was also a time traveller. It was very brave of her to tell her story. Mom could also see that I was in another world and asked me what I was thinking about. Then I decided to tell her the truth. She nodded her head as she heard about me touching the statue and being sent back in time. When I was finished, I asked her if she thought I was insane. Mom smiled and said that she heard old ladies at Church tell how magical the statue was. She thought that my story was unbelievable. However, she knew that I believed in it and that was good enough for her. Then she hugged me and told me that I had a choice to make, did I want to stay where I was or return to my normal self. She was right. I had several chances to touch the statue, but never took advantage of them,
The next day, I was with Bethany. I know that I was very young, but in a way, I did love her. It was puppy love and that was good enough for me. We started talking about time travel and how it was like being a child again. It was not as fun as we thought. It had its own special troubles and challenges. I told Bethany that the only reason I did not touch the statue again was because of her and Rocco. We also joked about that as children, we did not have to visit the doctors so many times. We discussed if we should touch the statue and agreed that we would do it the next day. When the statue transported us back to the future, we would find each other and get married. It would be like a fairytale. We would live with each other and be happy forever!
That night, mom could see that I was deep in my thoughts again. I told her that I would touch the statue the next day. I would be sent back to the future. Mom still did not know what to believe but decided to play along. She warned me that it may not work, and if it did, it could not be the same future that I knew. Mom explained that I most definitely did things the second time around than I did during my first childhood. This could be like a chain reaction that would change the future. I could see the logic. What would my life be like in the future? How different would it be?
The next day I went to Bethany's house. She was not home, but her mom said she left a message for me. Bethany wrote that she would go early and touch the statue as we would have to be alone when she has done it. She also wrote that she loved me.
So I went to the Church which was empty. I walked slowly to the statue as my heart was beating quickly. The time was here when I could return to my normal life. I closed my eyes as I reached out to touch the statue…..
I could not do it!!!!
I ran out of the church and was so disappointed with myself. What would Bethany say when she was back in the future and realised that I did not keep my part of the deal. I could not touch the statue as I did not want to go back. Being a child was hard and full of problems, but I was happy for the friendships and being Mom’s boy once again. I was even starting to like school.
I was crying as I walked home. I was so selfish and chicken for not doing what Bethany and I agreed. How would she ever forgive me?
As I walked through the park, I saw Bethany sitting and crying. When she saw me, she jumped up to give me a hug.
She didn’t want to touch the statue either
The End
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