What did you do for fun back in elementary school? From what I remember, most kids played four-square, tag, or just climbed around like monkeys on the playground equipment. There is one common theme among these games that might not be evident at first, but try and think of it. I’ll wait. What’s that? Oh, you give up? Don’t worry, it’s perfectly natural. I would have given up too.
The common theme is that you have to have your eyes open for all of these pastimes. Well, I guess you don’t have to, but it’s greatly encouraged. Being the little non-conformists that we were, my friend Rachel and I rebelled against these societal restraints by creating our own game. It was something of a cross between Marco Polo and hide and seek, in which one of us would close our eyes and the other would try to stay out of reach, but periodically give vocal clues as to their whereabouts. Thinking back, it was kind of an unfair game, seeing as there was unlimited space for the person with their eyes open to run to, unlike in Marco Polo, where you’re confined to a small space. This proved to be problematic.
On one fine day, we were playing this game like any other. I was a slow learner, so Rachel “caught†me early on. I dutifully closed my eyes and stuck my hands out in front of me. Giggling, I could hear my friend dashing away, so I slowly made my pursuit, changing directions when she said something. At one point, unbeknownst to me, Rachel hid behind the large tree in the center of the field we were playing in and said my name. Unsure of my place in the field, I walked forward, expecting to catch my friend at last. Unfortunately for me, what I caught was much less satisfying.
After running straight into the tree, my left thumb was somewhat dislocated and I had a gash on my right jaw. Since then, I’ve tried recreating the scene, but I’m still not entirely sure how those two injuries happened simultaneously. Needless to say, I’ve become quite a stickler about keeping my eyes open when I’m not safely stationary.
qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq (in honor of the title)
and bri, keeping ones eyes open doesn’t ensure safety. trust me.
you’ll never guess what i use to do in elementary school at recess.