Level Two. Brave.

Level Two. Brave.

By Michelle Lloyd.

New One was happy that it was the weekend, finally he had a whole two days off school. As he walked down the hall from his brightly painted bedroom, thoughts of breakfast, games, and objectives for what to do with the day… filled his mind but it was as he got to the top of the stairs that he heard something blood curdling. It was horrific! It was bad, it was scary and it was dad’s scream.

New One stopped for a second. It was not a sound he often heard. His dad was tough, he was brave, so what could have happened? New One approached the stairs with trepidation. He had to admit something, and that was that he was a little apprehensive of the situation. Not at all brave did he feel but still he went on to find out what had happened.

He made his way down those stairs on that Saturday morning like an expert at well… getting down stairs, he did it with style, with caution and with fear in his heart for what had made his dad scream like that.

On having got downstairs New One walked straight into a bit of morning madness. His dad did not look happy at all. Red faced, and yes New One on closer inspection could see a tear streaming down his cheek, his angry expression was in place and he was holding out his thumb in a very odd way. New One thought his Dad looked like one of those people who in a film had their thumb stuck out because they were trying to call for a taxi ride but New One did not think that was an appropriate time to comment about that.

Morning was said to New One but all he was concerned about was what had gone on without him.  ‘Are you crying?’  He asked his dad with concern and startled curiosity.

No and yes were the responses which came from both dad and mum respectively. The No was from dad and the yes was from mum. ‘I am not crying.’ New One’s dad was adamant.

‘No, you are being very brave.’  New One’s mum said to his dad but she did not sound like she meant it.

On seeing New One’s look of anxiety his mum smiled and explained. The door had been left open for a minute that morning and a bee had flown in, dad had decided to do his Insect Expert bit and get rid of it but it turned around and stung him instead.

Thinking about it and helping to console his dad, New One felt a different sense of brave fill him up. His dad had always been a brilliant example of bravery to him and that had been true for many situations but on this occasion New One felt that he had learned that he could be brave too. He had been worried when that noise came up those stairs but he had handled the situation with calmness and yes, bravery. As he tried to make his dad smile through his albeit brief sadness, the same way that he had done for him so many times before, New One felt a new kind of bravery of his own.