Rhinos At Recess Novels & Stories

3rd Person POV After the basketball game, everyone exited the gymnasium and the school altogether to head home. Harrison and Rhett were still topless, only sporting their flag capes and basketball shorts. Since it was spring and they were recently surrounded by hundreds of bodies, they weren’t cold at all as they stood outside the school. “Here comes your girl,” Rhett said, nudging his chin in a certain direction. Harrison followed his eyes and saw his sister trotting up toward them. “Hey, twinny!” he greeted with a smile and his arms open wide.

Recess, is what you say in Americanized–Nigerian montessori schools where big men send their children to learn history and French and Poetry. For us, it is break-time. That obnoxiously short, time-racing period between late morning and early afternoon when teachers decide it is time for you to breathe something that does not include a totally irrelevant part of the human anatomy, a set of increasingly confusing mix of numerals, or a language you speak everyday but never seem to grasp completely. Was that tasking?...sorry.

Rowen sat close to me, and I ended up leaning against him as we all ate, and chatted. Eventually we went to check out the games to play. Ross, Rowen, Jax, and Colby wandered off to play horseshoes, leaving Melissa, Molly, Lexi, and me to do our own thing. I stopped at the face painting to watch the teenage girl painting a butterfly on the face of a girl pup. It looked really good, and the pup was extremely excited about it.

“Tyler and Ruby sitting in a tree . . .” I looked over towards the other girls in triumph. Only to see that they were all clutching at their sides in laughter and pointing at me, joining in with the cruel chant. It felt as if the world was spinning round and round. The playground scenery whizzed past my eyes, in fast circles, merging in a blur of mixed colors. Just as I was about to run off and cry, I heard the school bell ring. A sign that recess was over. Everyone made their way back inside.