Jane and Neville walked to the neighborhood playground. They climbed onto the jungle gym and then went onto the bridge. They moved around, making the bridge swing back and forth.
Some familiar boys came by, and one of them pointed at Jane. "Ah, it's the retarded monster," he yelled, and then both boys ran away laughing.
"What was that about?" Neville asked.
"There have been times when other kids picked on me and they ended up getting hurt by my magic. I didn't mean to hurt them. Some kids are scared of me because of that, but some of them pick on me anyway. I'm not sure I can fault them too much for thinking I'm a monster though."
"It wasn't you're fault. Children usually can't control their magic very well, especially not when upset."
"Thanks. That makes me feel somewhat better."
"Just out of curiosity, what does retard mean?"
"Retard is a mean word for mentally disabled people. It basically means stupid or freak."
"I'll be right back," Nellie said. He jumped down and ran up to the boy who called her that and punched him in the face.
The boy looked shocked, but he didn't fight back, and neither did his friend. They just ran away.
Jane looked around. She was glad that there were currently no adults here.
Neville headed back toward Jane.
"Thanks, Neville," Jane said, with a smile.
Jane, her mother, and Neville were on the ground in Jane's backyard. She and Neville were helping her mother plant flowers.
The flowers that Neville was planting, unexpectedly grew an inch taller.
"Well, you've certainly got a knack for plants," Jane's mother said.
"Do I?" Neville said. "I think that's just ordinary magic."
"Well, I've never been able to do that," Jane said.
Jane was walking her bike out of the shed when she was approached by Neville. "Neville. I was about to go for a bike ride. Want to come?"
"Um… I don't have a bike, and I don't know how to ride one anyway. I've seen you and your dad use them, and I thought they looked cool, but I don't understand how you keep them from falling over."
"It's just something you learn how to do. Do you want me to teach you?"
"Sure."
Jane explained, to the best of her ability, and then she slowly rode her bike around, so he could see. She then got off and handed it to Neville.
Neville got on the bike, carefully placed a foot on the peddle, and started slowly peddling. The bike soon started to tip over
Jane grabbed the handlebars, stopping it. "It often takes multiple tries to get it right."
They tried again and again. Eventually, Neville managed to do it for seconds, while Jane couldn't keep up with him, and then the bike suddenly tipped over.
Jane ran up to him and got down beside him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Neville said. "I think I'm only a little hurt. I sure am clumsy though."
"Are you? You were able to do it. I remember having trouble when I was learning, and I started out with a bike with training wheels. Maybe I should ask my dad to help."
"Maybe. What are training wheels?"
Neville road for a bit, before he almost ran into a street post. Jane's father, who was running beside him, quickly grabbed it.
Neville road the furthest he'd ever gone and Jane's father couldn't keep up. He was really doing it.
Jane and Neville arrived at the park and got off their bikes. They could go for bike rides together now because Neville's grandmother had been so impressed that he learned how to ride a bike that she bought him his own (Actually she paid Jane's father to buy him one because she didn't know anything about bikes.)
The boy that Neville had punched was there, along with his friend. He looked at Neville, scared.
"I'll leave you alone if you leave us alone."
The boys didn't say anything. They just ran off.