Not Like everyone Else
By Mapu
Disclaimer: Veritas: The Quest belongs to Touchstone and the ABC Corporation.
Six year-old Nicholas Zond sat in the circle with eleven other first grade children and his teacher, Miss Bugia, on the first day of school. The little boy had been looking forward to starting his classes for weeks, the prospect of spending five whole days of the week playing with other kids and learning new things had sounded fantastic.
The teacher smiled warmly at each of the children and Nikko returned her smile with a shy one of his own, Miss Bugia seemed nice, she sat cross-legged on the carpet with the kids and she smiled a lot.
"Ok, children, I'm very happy to have all of you in my class and eager to get to know you all, so let's start by each of you telling the class something fun you have done with your parents. Cindy we'll start with you," Miss Bugia said, patting the little blonde girl to her left on the head.
Cindy beamed at the teacher and bounced up and down in excitement as she told the class. "I have a new kitten! My Mommy bought him for me. He's orange with … "
Story after story followed, each one featuring momentous events in each child's life like trips to the park, playing with pets or going to sporting events. Nikko began to feel increasingly uncomfortable as his turn approached, he didn't have any pets, and he couldn't remember the last time, or any time, his parents had taken him to a park… the closest he could remember was the Central American jungle and they had only gone there to find a buried artefact.
Suddenly it was his turn, and Nikko discovered he had nothing to say.
"Come on, Nikko, there must be something interesting you've done lately," Miss Bugia encouraged him.
Nikko shrugged his thin shoulders. "Well, my Mom took me to Egypt with her last month, and a week ago we found a lost tomb…" Nikko trailed off as the other children began to giggle. He looked up at the teacher, Miss Bugia wasn't smiling anymore.
"Now, Nicholas, there is no need for tall tales. Tell the class something true."
"But, it is true. We went to Egypt to look for the tomb of …"
"Nicholas Zond!" Miss Budia snapped, the soft voice gone, replaced by a harsh tone. "Six year-old children do not discover mummies in Egypt. You will not tell lies in my classroom, young man. Is that understood?"
Disheartened, Nikko nodded.
"We are still waiting, Nicholas, tell the class something true that you have done recently."
Nikko was so angry he wanted to cry, but wouldn't let the teacher see how upset he was. He said the first thing that came to mind. "We went to the park and then my Dad bought me a goldfish." Nikko lied.
The smile came back to Miss Bugia's face. "There see, Nicholas, telling the truth is not so hard is it?"
"No, Miss Bugia," Nikko muttered.
He wasn't sure he liked his teacher anymore; her smile seemed cold and hard now.
He had travelled all over the world with his parents and been to places that no other person had seen in centuries, but was only now understanding that it wasn't usual for a kid to live like that. This was just how his life had always been, but as the rest of his age-mates in the class circle continued with their stories a realization came to him.
My parents are not like the other Mom and Dads.
Finita