Kindergarten Playground

It was recess time in that little kindergarten in that little town beside a little lake. As always the little boy looked out longingly into the playground from a window.

There was a little girl playing in the sandbox. She was making a sandcastle using only a pail and a toy shovel. It was a rather impressive sandcastle considering her age, but the little boy was not looking at her.

There was a little boy who was bravely playing on the slide. The moment he reached the bottom he would immediately stand up and make his way up at the ladder and slide down once again. It was quite daring considering the size of the slide and the size of the child but the little boy was not looking at him.

He was looking at another boy who was playing on the swings. The boy was laughing heartily, happily swinging away higher and higher.

The boy looking out from the window sighed.

"It must be fun to play on the swings and go higher and higher," he thought and he continued to look on.

The teacher noticed the boy looking out from the window. He made his way and squatted beside the boy.

"Do you want to go play outside?" the teacher asked, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder.

The boy turned to look at the teacher and then looked down.

"Do you want to play on the sandbox?"

The boy continued to look down and shook his head.

"How about on the slide?"

Again the boy shook his head.

"The swings maybe?"

The boy kept silent.

"It looks like a lot of fun. Shall I take you there?" The teacher held out his hands to the boy.

The boy looked at the teacher's hand. He wanted to reach out for it but he hesitated.

"What if I fall? What if I can't swing as high as everyone else? What if I'm not good enough? What if..."

"Hey," the teacher gently interrupted. "Don't worry. I'll go with you, alright?"

The boy looked at the teacher and into his reassuring smile. He slowly reached out for the teacher's hand.

Hand-in-hand they stepped out into the playground. They went past the sandbox and past the slide until they reached the swings.

"Hold on tight," said the teacher as he sat the boy on the swing. He pulled the swing back a little way and gave it a push. "Now lean forward," he instructed as the boy swung forward. "Now lean back. That's it."

Slowly the boy started to gain momentum. He leaned forward and backward as he was instructed and he too started to swing higher and higher. He let out a the most wonderful laugh like only a child could.