The Secret Of The Hat
Eddward Holmes was a normal boy just like any other in the 1st grade, normal, except for the fact that he was smarter and just a bit stronger. He had always liked the thought of adventure and excitement and one day hoped to become a famous professor of Archeology or a detective. They were smart and always got to do dangerous things. He was a joy to have in the school. Surrounded by all the other boys and girls, he felt important when asked a question. He played games with the others as though he was just as strong as they were and never tried to be mean. He was always very polite. Unfortunately, not all good things last long.
There was a first grade field trip to a high school one day. The teachers were all talking and didn't notice that their first graders had all disappeared yet. Some of the high school students had challenged them to a game of Dodgeball out on the rocky field that was usually used for practicing football. There was other sets of first graders with them from nearby schools who were to play with the other first graders. The high school students were the bullies of the school and had said that they were just going to teach them how to play. One of the high school students was a young man named Joey Watson.
Joey Watson was one of the roughest people in the school. He had bullied his way up so his grades looked good, but he wasn't all that bright. He had figured it was going to be an easy day for target practice on these punks.
When Eddward finally caught up to the rest of the classes, he was shocked at how many children were already beaten up by the big red balls. The teachers were not far behind him.
It didn't take long for his leadership skills to kick in. "Mrs. Tompkins, Mr. March, please remove the injured students to the nurses office. Mrs. Jewel and Mrs. Hubert, see if you can get a hold of some ambulances, this doesn't look like it's going to be good. Mr. Leth, please see if you can prevent more students from entering the game. I'm going in." The teachers all stared at the young boy with the gap in his teeth and his dark black hair all shagged forward. He was surprisingly brave for a first grader, and definitely a take-charge kind of kid. The teachers ran to do as the boy had asked for it made the most sense.
Young Eddward grabbed balls and used them as shields as he dragged his fellow first graders off of the battle field. Some would have broken arms, some legs, but thankfully that seemed to be the worst of it. After a while only Eddward was on the field with all the high schoolers staring at him with bright red dodge balls in their hands.
"Hey, shrimp, looks like your about to become dead meat. Any last words?" Joey loved to tease littler kids.
Eddward just smiled as he grabbed the only Dodgeball on his side of the court. "Bring it."
Everyone averted their eyes as they thought the little boy would get pummeled. Miraculously all the dodgeballs missed him as he just stood there. "What the heck?"
"My turn." Eddward shot the balls as fast as he could, as hard as he could, taking special care to aim them so that they would bounce back at him after hitting the older teens. Soon there were only two boys left. Eddward and Joey. Eddward didn't wait for the shot, he threw it right at Joey's stomach and walked away as the boy fell to the ground.
He was walking off of the field when Joey shouted, "I'm not done with you yet, you little brat!" Eddward turned in time for the ball to hit him square in the face and for him to crack his skull on a big rock. "I win."
Thankfully the ambulances had arrived and the teachers brought Eddward to the ambulance first as he had the most damage. When he woke up he was all alone in a hospital bed with tubes and wires attached to him. He had read some medical books and understood the majority of what was going on. He had a migraine and yet, he knew that he wasn't really resting his head on anything. His head felt numbed. The last thing he remembered was the big large dodgeball coming straight for him. He couldn't remember anything else, before the dodgeball hit, or after. Any other memories were from the day before the field trip and beyond that. "What happened?" His voice was weak and quite mature for a young boy.
"Ah, good you're awake. Your parents were quite worried about you young man. You played a game of Dodgeball and your opponent was a sore loser, I'm afraid." A young doctor had come in, and he gently explained it as best as he could to a young boy. Apparently, Eddward had been out cold for two whole days. A big part of his skull was broken, and would likely never be able to mend, so they did what they could to help him. Unfortunately, he now had a bandage around the majority of his skull to keep his brain from falling out, for the hole was that big.
Eddward was now timid and afraid of many things, but he couldn't understand why. He simply thought about what the other children would say and asked "Can I have a hat to hide the bandages, please?" The doctor nodded and gave him a few hats to choose from. He chose a black hat with some white stripes down the side. It was long and looked kind of like a sock. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Your parents are going to move you closer to here so that we can make sure you have the proper medication for your… head. How does that sound?"
"Do you know where I'll be moving to?" His eyes were filled with wonder. He had always wanted to move to somewhere quieter than the big city he lived in.
"Yes, a little town called Peach Creek. You should be fine there. There are a lot of children around your age there and plenty of things for a creative young boy like you to do."
It didn't take long for Eddward to get settled in. On his first day he met a boy who could eat a television and his scheming friend, both of whom shared similar names. The three quickly became fast friends known as the Ed boys, or the Eds, though they were more commonly known as Ed, Double D, and Eddy. Double D, or Eddward, vowed never to show or explain what happened that day to anyone, and always kept his hat on his head, even to this day.