Pimple on the Nose

“Nooo!” screamed Asha as she saw a huge pimple(痘) on her nose. She didn’t have time to cover the pimple as she was running late to school. She gobbled her breakfast, grabbed her bag and got into her school bus just in time. As soon as she entered, kids started laughing. Nobody was willing to make her sit beside them. Even Anita, her bus mate acted a bit differently with her.

Asha was lost in thoughts. A new thought popped in her mind every second. Once she thought “Great! As if homework and exams were not enough, I have to worry about my pimple as well.” The next minute another thought popped in her mind. “I am tired of using that face wash. I still wonder how I agreed to use that horrible thing! How can…” Mr. Shetty, the bus driver said “Asha, do you want to miss the class?” Asha was so lost in her thoughts that she did not even notice that everybody had got down the bus except her.

She did not want to step into the campus. She thought, “What will my teachers think? What will my friends think?” After some time, she gathered courage and entered her class expecting that she would be laughed at.

It was a very hard day at school for her. As soon as she got home, she hugged her mother tightly. As she did so she felt all her worries were not even a dot in front of the warm and loving hug.

Later that day, she went to the supermarket with her mother. While coming back she heard people commenting on her pimple. A small child cried, “Daddy! My cherry is on her nose! Get it for me.” She heard some boys murmuring, “If she would have been in our school, she would definitely be chosen as the joker in the dance.”

Asha wondered why people cared so much about her appearance.

Finally it was time for bed story, and mom asked her to choose a book.

Her mother asked her never to judge a book by its old cover but to pay attention to the details.

Bullying (欺凌) is a problem in many schools and people often talk about how to deal with it. But I see bullying occur in ways that others often fail to realize. One thing that I have happily discovered is that a bully (欺人者) fears nothing more than when the victim responds by being nice. A bully’s existence is based on being cruel, and it is a shock to receive kindness as payback.

I once experienced bullying during middle school. I met my bully — let’s call her Kristy my first day of art class. I loved art, but Kristy quickly made me sick of it.

When I entered the art room that first time, I found a scat at a table and sat next to Kristy. Before I even had a chance to introduce myself, she looked at her friend and said, “Let’s move.” I politely said, “Hi, I’m Ann.”, but she replied, “Well, Ann, I’m Kristy, and my friend and I moved tables because we didn’t want to be near you.” That was my first snakebite.

For the next few days I tried to avoid Kristy, but that only worked for a while. She began to make fun of everything about me: my hair, what I wore, the way I talked, and how I created my art. Then I decided to attempt the impossible-I was going to make Kristy my friend.

“Kind words are short and Easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” Mother Teresa once said. I began to respond politely whenever Kristy threw a nasty (恶意的) comment my way. One day, Kristy looked at the picture I was drawing and said:

“Ann, I have to tell you, this is the ugliest picture I have ever seen. I mean, what is it?”

“Well. Kristy, I think it’s really beautiful, and this blue paint I am using reminds me of that pretty shirt you wore yesterday. You looked so beautiful in it.”

Kristy looked shocked at my kind words.

So our friendship started on that very day.

Last week, I was reading a book and had just come to the most interesting part when my little brother, Tex, rushed into my room.” Look at these cool paper airplanes I made!” Tex exclaimed, throwing one directly at my head.

Annoyed, I asked him for some peace and quiet so I could continue reading “Ooh! I want to read!” said Tex. He climbed onto my bed and eagerly asked if I could read the book out loud to him. I replied that I didn’t want to read out loud.

Sensing my bad mood, Tex decided to cheer me up. He dashed out of my room and returned a minute later, dumping a basket full of stuffed animals all over me. “A teddy-bear picnic!”

“No, Tex, not today.” I got up, dragged myself to the living room and flopped into the chair, feeling grumpy (暴躁的).Tex stood in the doorway, a disappointed look on his face.

Although’1,knew Tex was just trying to help, I couldn’t shake off my bad feelings. Just then, my friend Ollie arrived, excitedly holding a brand-new basketball. He suggested that we head to the park and try it out.

Feeling too absorbed in my bad mood, I sighed and told Ollie that I was too busy being in the world’s worst mood to do anything at all. Curious about my annoyance, Ollie asked what had happened. I told him Tex had interrupted my reading and for some unknown reason, it had put me in a really grumpy mood. Ollie then mentioned that when he was in a bad mood, he liked to move his body.

“I’d love to move, “I said. “To a tropical island!”

“Not that kind of move!” Ollie said “T move my body. You know, skateboard, basketball, go for a walk, and do jumping jacks. Exercise makes me feel better. Come on!”

I sighed, thinking that exercise was the last thing I wanted to do in my grumpy state. But Ollie’s words echoed in my mind, and I realized that maybe he was right.

Unwillingly, I agreed to go to the park with him.

As the sun began to set, we made our way back home, tired but happy.