The story behind the story……………
This particular story is based on a tale told to me about the son of a friend of mine, a little boy whom I have known since he was born. Over the years I have heard a number of different stories about this young man and his antics, so without further ado, I give you…………
‘The free spirit’……….
“I am a free spirit”, announced Calvin, proudly as his mother gazed at him with loving exasperation, whilst waiting for him to get his shoes on, gather his school bag and get to the door ready for school.
“Free spirits don’t follow timetables, we don’t follow rules and we don’t…..”
“Oh”, interrupted his mother, hastily. She really was not in the mood for a treatise on the benefits of being a ‘free spirit’. “That is interesting, what do you suppose would happen if we all became free spirits?”
At this Calvin’s, face lit up as his mind drifted imagining all the glorious possibilities of a world full of ‘free spirits’.
What would he do if could truly wander through it as a ‘free spirit’?
No school?
Or school only when he felt like it.
No homework?
Or just the homework that interested him.
No set meals?
Or just the snacks that he liked and when he liked
No timetable?
Or just his perfect day to let his mind wander and soar without the tiresome interruption of teachers talking, trying to teach him something.
No boring shops?
Or just the ones he wanted to go to
No money?
Or just being able to have what he wanted from the shops he wanted
This all seemed perfect.
“Ahem”, interrupted his mother again, “We still do need to get to school”
As she gazed at her son, an idea began to take root. “I must admit I really like the idea of being a ‘free spirit’. I think I will try it tomorrow and see what it is like.”
“Oh“, said Calvin, “That does sound exciting, what will you do with your day as a ‘free Spirit ‘?”
“Absolutely, nothing”, beamed his mother. “I shall have a day completely to myself. Have my breakfast at lunch time, lunch at tea and wander as free as a bird”
This all seemed perfectly feasible to Calvin until he thought a little more and remembered that tomorrow was a Friday, which was a school day admittedly but it just so happened Friday was one of his ‘days’. All sorts of exciting things happened on a Friday and he needed to catch up with his friends to find out about the party and the band he wanted to start up.
None of this was going to happen if his mother was going to be ‘swanning’ around as a ‘free spirit’.
His mother could see from her son’s face that he was giving her ‘proposal’ some serious thought and that he was perhaps a little perturbed by the idea of her being a ‘free spirit’.
“I tell you what, Calvin”, she said gently, “Why don’t we find a day when we can be both be ‘free spirits’.”
As Calvin’s face lit up at this possibility, his mother then said, “But in the meantime, we still do need to get to school.”
Janice Taylor
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