Jump Rope
Little Varian had finished his chores, and so was allowed to go play. He headed towards Katie's house as she was by far the nicest kid in Old Corona. When he got there he saw Katie and her mom Jennifer twirling a jump rope for Pamela.
"Hey, Varian. Wanna learn how to play a game?" Katie asked him. Varian nodded shyly.
"We're going to sing a song, and Pamela is going to act it out. Listen." said Jennifer.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around." they chanted. Pamela spun around.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground." Pamela slapped the ground.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, reach up high." Pamela raised one fist.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the sky." Pamela lifted both hands up.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, bend down low." Pamela bowed.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch your toes." Pamela reached and touched her toes.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, go to bed." Pamela marched as if going up stairs.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, rest your head." Pamela laid her head on her hands and pretended to snore.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the lights." Pamela mimed blowing out a candle.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, say 'good night!'" they concluded.
"Good night." Pamela drawled.
Varian clapped his hands. "Wow, that was really good!" he exclaimed.
Pamela smiled ever so slightly. "Well, it's not like it's hard." she said.
"I bet you could do it now, Varian. C'mon." she handed the rope to Pamela and dragged Varian into the center.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around..." the girls began. Varian hopped and spun.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground..." Varian tried to slap the ground, but was too slow. He barely managed to jump the rope.
"Teddy bear, teddy bear, reach up high..." Varian copied Katie, feeling a bit more confident about the moves. Unfortunately, just as he was really getting into the spirit, David came ambling over. Sometimes it seemed like David's life goal was to antagonize Varian. He couldn't be as obvious about it when grownups were around, but he still knew a few ways to get under Varian's skin.
"What are you doing?" David asked.
"Playing jump rope. You're welcome to join us." Jennifer offered, even as Varian silently shook his head 'no.'
"No thanks. Jump rope is for girls and babies." David sneered.
"Is it?" Varian asked timidly, tripping over the rope and scraping his knee. "Ow!" Varian cried.
"Did you hurt yourself? Come inside, I'll get you bandaged up." Jennifer spoke soothingly.
"Never knew you could get hurt playing a baby game." David said snidely.
"Varian's hurt and all you can do is make fun. That's mean! And it's not a baby game!" Katie retorted.
"Is too." David argued.
Pamela sighed. "And here it comes..." she muttered.
"Is not!" Katie countered.
"Is too." David insisted.
If Varian strained, he could hear their argument even as he sat inside. Jennifer wiped his knee with a wet cloth, then placed a bandage around it. "This should stop the bleeding." Jennifer told him. "You're being brave."
Varian nodded, but he didn't dare look at his knee and how the blood seeped through the bandage.
"Let's go back outside. I'm sure you're anxious to play with your friends." Jennifer smiled. Varian longed to tell her that David was the farthest thing from a friend you could possibly be, but he feared what David might do in retaliation.
"Is not a billion times!" Katie hollered.
"Is too a billion more times!" David yelled.
"My goodness. You kids haven't been arguing all this time, have you?" Jennifer looked a little stern. "Katie, you know that's not polite."
"Yes, mommy." Katie looked sheepish while David had a smug 'I win' grin on his face.
"Now that everything's settled, why don't we all jump rope again?" Jennifer offered.
"I have to go home and do something manly, to make up for watching a baby game." David announced.
"Mom!" Katie was not pleased with David, who was walking away grinning.
"Let it be, Katie. David's just voicing his opinions. You like jump rope, and that's fine. And it's not a baby game." she added to Varian's immense relief.
"You're right mommy. We can just play and have fun no matter what 'some people' say." Katie was quick to cheer up. "C'mon Varian. I'll teach you another song. This one's called 'Hot Pepper'." Katie explained the song, and Varian jumped along, no longer worried about acting like a baby.
The End
I like imagining how village life was for Varian, growing up before he got a reputation as a (sometimes) dangerous alchemist. As it gets closer to Thanksgiving, I keep my readers in my thoughts and prayers. I just heard that one reader's grandfather is sick with covid and leukemia, so of course I will pray for his recovery.