91热爆

By Rose Heiney

Read by Chris Brett

Christopher was having a difficult day!听 He鈥檇 been at his new school for five weeks now and he was having trouble settling in.听 It鈥檚 not that it was a bad place. The teachers were nice.听 The other children seemed alright.听 It鈥檚 just that it was all a bit 鈥� new.听 And when you鈥檙e a shy sort of person, a lot of new can be quite frightening.听 Christopher was even worried that none of the children in his class liked him because he was so shy!

Still, there was plenty to be pleased about.听 It was Friday, and there were homemade smiley face potato waffles for lunch, which was wonderful news.听 Christopher loved the school canteen鈥檚 smiley face potato waffles. They made him feel as if his lunch was cheering him on!听

Better still, it was double maths that afternoon.听 Maths was Christopher鈥檚 favourite subject. He was good at it, and it made him proud that he could do maths when some children found it a challenge.

Just as Christopher was settling down to his lunch and thinking happy thoughts about adding and subtracting, his class teacher, Miss Barnes, came into the room.听 She clapped her hands.

鈥淏oy and girls! Quiet please!鈥� she said. 听鈥淎s soon as lunch is over can we all please get our coats and gather next to the school mini bus ... for our trip to the ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND!鈥�

A huge cheer went up from the children.听 What a treat!听

But not for Christopher. He鈥檇 forgotten all about the trip to the adventure playground. If there was one thing he found more scary and confusing than new-ness, it was the outdoors.听 Outdoors was cold, wet and muddy - all the things Christopher hated.听 He much preferred the warm, dry and clean indoors.

When they reached the adventure playground, all the children rushed off the bus, chattering excitedly.听 But Christopher straggled behind.听 All the other children looked so confident and happy and enthusiastic.听 He was scared of heights and didn鈥檛 like being hustled and bustled by the other children. He felt very lonely.

鈥淐hristopher,鈥� said Miss Barnes, 鈥淚 know you鈥檙e frightened, but sometimes when we push through our fear and try something new we can learn wonderful things about the world.听 Please try to join in 鈥� just a bit!听 You might find you like it!鈥澨� Christopher was not convinced.听

By now all the other children were playing a tree-climbing game.听 One by one, the instructor was strapping them into a harness.听 Then, they were climbing a rope ladder to a platform at the top of a tree, from where they could wave down at their friends.

Christopher was frightened.听 The tree was really high!听 And the rope ladder looked wobbly and unsafe!听 What if he fell off?听 And worse still! 听What if he did manage to get to the top, and waved down and he didn鈥檛 have any friends to wave back at him?听 That would be terrible.

Soon, everyone had climbed the tree except Christopher.听 It was decision time!听 He was going to have to risk climbing the rope ladder, or risk everyone laughing at him for being scared.

Next thing he knew, the instructor was helping him into the harness. Christopher stood at the bottom of the ladder. His legs were shaking.

鈥淕o on, Christopher!鈥� whispered Miss Barnes. 鈥淵ou can do it! 听Just take it slowly! 听One step at a time.鈥�

But he couldn鈥檛 do it.听 He was too scared.听 It was too high.听 His legs were like jelly. 听He felt all alone.

He stared at the tree trying not to panic, when all of a sudden he noticed something - a pattern in the bark of the tree which looked exactly like a smiley face potato waffle!听 It was right there - cheering him on!

Christopher smiled back, and with an almighty burst of courage, heaved himself up the ladder - one step, two steps, three steps - and right up onto the platform at the top of the tree.听 It felt good!

Then, he looked down nervously and a giant cheer went up from his classmates and a round of applause which seemed to go on forever.听 So they did like him after all, and they were rooting for him!

Christopher stood up triumphant!听 This might have been a tiny little adventure for the other children, but for him it was a HUGE adventure.听 By pushing through his fear and climbing that tree, he鈥檇 learnt that, sometimes, things that seem scary aren鈥檛 nearly so scary after all.听 And that while maths would always be his favourite subject, perhaps a little more time in the outdoors, with the other children, might not be so bad after all!

听