You Can Do It!

To begin with, his tooth hurt. A lot.

And then in the middle of class Linden touched his sore cheek, and he accidentally made a big, loud noise that sounded like . . . a duck quacking. Everyone started laughing at him. Except his teacher, Mrs. Lee, who said his parents could expect a call tonight.

All this made it hard for Linden to concentrate on the lesson. Mrs. Lee went around the room asking everyone what they dreamed of being someday.

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“Maybe a duck?”

Everyone started laughing again. Linden liked it when he made people smile, but Mrs. Lee was not smiling.

He couldn’t wait until the bell rang So he could walk home with his big brother, Tony.

Tony tried to cheer up Linden on the way home.

“Hey, Linden. Why don’t you go out for a long pass just like I taught you?” Tony called out as he pulled the football from under his arm. The  ball spiraled through the air in a perfect arch and landed in Linden’s arms with a soft thud. Linden waved the ball proudly. “Maybe  someday Ill be as good in sports as you are,” he said to Tony as they continued to walk home. Linden knew his brother hoped to become a football player when he grew up. Tony could already throw a football so far and high, you might as well pack a snack to eat while waiting for it to come back down.

Tony playfully punched Linden’s arm. “That’s cool, little brother, but remember what Mom and Dad always tell us…”