RIGHT CHOICES, RIGHT FRIENDSHIPS

“Hey Maxie, come on. It’s getting late,” Mrs. Markle said.

“Mom, I don’t want to be on time. I don’t want to be there at all.”

“Now Maxie, we asked you before signing up for the workshop.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me that it was residential. Plus people go to the same residential programme year after year. Nobody will let me into their gang, I will be a bigger joke than ever,” wailed Maxie.

“Little pixies can be nice, just give them a chance. Besides all pixies have pointed ears.”

“Maybe during your time. All the other pixies are going to make fun of me. And my ears are not just pointed, they are huge. They are so huge, that you could see them from the other side of the city. I can’t hide my ears when I sleep.”

“Don’t be silly. You don’t have to hide your ears Maxie, you look pretty. You are a cute little boy with cute little ears.”

“Well, you are wrong about the little ears part.”

“Well, I find them cute and so will the people who matter to you. Don’t mind the haters, they will always exist. Now get in the car. Your father already loaded your suitcases.”

Maxie wailed along the way but obeyed and got in the car. He sat in the backseat, cross with himself and everybody else.

He had big ears and he knew it, bigger than most pixies his age. They stuck out like daggers, daggers he hid under his cap during the day. But he could not sleep with his cap on. They hurt his neck. He had to remove them. And then, all the other pixies would see his giant ears sticking out and make fun of him. He felt tears form in his eyes. He wiped them off vigorously. If there was one thing he was not going to do, it was weep like a baby. He looked out the window.

“Now, Maxie, you will be a good boy, won’t you. We don’t want to hear about any fights or such okay,” said his mom.

“If the other pixies are nice,” said Maxie.

“Is this about the ear again. Maxie, you look good. It is only you who thinks that your ears aren’t cute,” said his dad.

“No, dad. So do the twenty odd students from summer camp last year. All of them thought that my ears were the size of an elf.”

“You still have to be good because we won’t be driving mid-camp to pick you up,” said his dad.

“But,” started Maxie, but was cut off.

He was crosser than ever.

They reached the gates and Mr. Markle parked. They got down and Maxie dragged his large suitcase over to the front desk. His parents walked with him to the front desk.

“Maxie Markle,” Maxie said.

“The busy lady in the front desk looked through the record in the log book and passed over a notebook for his parents to sign. They dutifully signed, kissed Maxie and walked back towards the car.

 “Good boy,” they mouthed as the car moved away.

Pixies started to stand in groups and talk and catch up with each other. Nobody took any notice of Maxie, they all had their own gangs, the kind of thing that Maxie was afraid of.

Maxie chose a corner in the waiting room and sat inconspicuously, waiting for the lady to complete the signings and sending off of parents before she got down to allotting rooms.

Another pixie, clad in a beautiful purple dress walked over to him.

“Hi, I am Linda,” she said sitting next to Maxie.

“Hi, I am Maxie,” he said scooting over.

“This is my first time in this camp. Have you been here before?” she asked with big beautiful eyes.

“Um, no. This is my first time here too. But I have been to other camps before,” he said.

“That’s nice. I am a little scared.” 

“Well, don’t be. As long as you fit in, there is going to be no problem. You seem young, so there will be many your age who are here for the first time as well,” he said with a small sigh.

“Let’s hope I fit in then,” she said, with an invisible sigh as well.

The lady started to call out rooms. Girls first. Linda’s name was called.

“Bye, hope to see you soon again,” Linda said dragging her suitcase along.

“Bye,” waved Maxie. 

Soon, Maxie was allotted to a room as well.

He walked into the room allotted to him. There were three other pixies already in the room. They stood near one of the beds and spoke, laughing loudly on occasions. Again, nobody took any notice of Maxie. 

He didn’t bother either. Two stupid weeks and he would be out of there. He had many friends back home. He could always go back to talking to them, once he was home. 

He was lost in his own thoughts and he suddenly bumped into another pixie.

“Hey, watch where you are going freshy,” he said.

“Sorry,” said Maxie and quickly collected his thoughts. He walked over to the bed with his name tag on it and put his suitcase down.

He just sat there. He wanted to talk to some of the other pixies, but he was afraid. 

“Finally, when he saw the gang of five turn to just two, he walked over to them and tried to introduce himself.

“Hi, I am Maxie,” he said.

“Well, everybody’s got a name don’t they,” said one of them.

“Don’t be rude Ash. Hi, I am Rocky,” said the other one.

“Hi,” Maxie smiled not knowing what to do next. This was all one big mistake. 

There was an awkward silence, and then Rocky broke it. 

“Oh, we were just going to go around and look at what we missed over term. Do you want to join us?” asked Rocky. 

Maxie could see the rest of the gang glare at him from the door. He didn’t want to put Rocky in any trouble, so he said, “No, I need to unpack first.”

“Okay, join us if you get done soon,” said Rocky, trotting over to join the rest of the gang.

Maxie went back to his bed and sat there wondering if Linda was able to make friends.

He sat there until the dinner bell was rung. He slowly got off bed and walked over to the dining hall. He didn’t know where to sit. He found an empty table by the end of the room and sat there as other people with nowhere to go, filed in next to him. They all ate in silence. Maxie went back to his room slowly. He dreaded removing his cap. He desperately didn’t want to. But he would look equally silly sleeping with a cap on. 

He waited for the others to go to bed. He undressed and sat on the bed pretending to look at a cartoon in a magazine that he had brought with him. He had his cap on though it didn’t match his night dress. The others filed into bed one by one. He waited for the warden to switch off the light before he removed his cap. 

The warden came along finally and saw Maxie sitting on his bed. 

“Maxie, you have to lie down for me to switch off the lights,” she said.

Maxie glared at her and lowered himself.

“Maxie, you forgot to remove your cap, you silly little boy,” she admonished.

He saw that all eyes were now on him. He took his hands to the cap slowly and removed the cap. His giant ears stuck out and a ringing laughter went through the room. Maxie turned red in the face and pulled the blanket over his face. He could no longer control himself, he cried soundlessly. 

Once he was out of breath, he saw that all the others were sound asleep, and why wouldn’t they be, they weren’t hurt. He got out of bed and walked to the door.

He didn’t want to be on the room anymore, it suffocated him. He noiselessly left the dorm and walked to the pond. He walked slowly to the pond and found a shadow there. He moved away swiftly before the pixie noticed him. He didn’t want to get caught and his parents to be called. 

He heard sobbing noises. He didn’t know who it was but the person could not be a counsellor. The sound belonged to somebody much younger. 

He walked over to the bench and peeped. He found Linda sitting there, sobbing into her hand-kerchief.  

“Linda!” 

Linda sat up with a start, then relaxed a little after seeing that it was Maxie.

What are you doing here, sobbing late into the night?” he asked.

“What are you doing here?” she asked drying her eyes.

They looked at each other.

“Okay, fine. Everybody laughed at me, so I came here,” she said finally.

“What, why?” he asked. 

“You won’t laugh?” she asked.

“Of course, I won’t” he said.

She removed the cap of her head and her ears were just as big as Maxie’s.

She looked at him. He just silently removed his cap too. She was shocked for a second, then smiled.

“Now I know why you are here. You want to hang out?”

“Yes, I do.”