by Red Wolf"Does that hurt?"
Shinji turned to the speaker, looking down to see it was a small girl in a Hello Kitty t-shirt. He was never any good at guessing the age of children, tending to place them in age groups according to maturity and behaviour rather than appearance. This girl was short, so he figured she must be young.
"Does what hurt?"
"The earring in your eye." The girl pointed at the ring he wore through his left eyebrow. It was more ostentatious than he would have preferred, but barbells were fiddly and had a tendency to migrate if he wore them for too long.
Crouching at the child's eye level, Shinji smiled. It was a question only a child would ask. She had asked if it hurt now, not if it hurt when it was done, he liked that distinction. He nodded to the studs the girl wore in her ears. "Do they hurt?"
The girl shook her head.
"Neither does mine. It's the same as your ears, just in a different spot."
"What about that?" This time the girl pointed to the tube he wore in his ear lobe.
"That doesn't hurt either."
Smiling the girl reached out and put her finger through the tube. "Cool." She giggled and skipped back to her mother, waving as she went.
As Shinji walked away he heard the child telling her mother that she'd just put her finger through his ear. The mother chastised the child for lying and returned to her discussion with a sales assistant.
Shaking his head, Shinji wondered if the pair really were related. The child had showed more insight than her mother had, with any luck that skill would survive the educational system, but he wouldn't put money on it.
15 Minute Ficlets — challenge #85: painful
Published Babble Horde — 26.12.2004
Published FictionPress — 31.12.2004
fiction | original fiction
Sweet, sad too. Nice moment. Can you write, say, one of these every ten minutes? I'm going stir crazy here, there is no custom and we're now watching Kylie on TOTP
::passes out from mental anguish:: — via LiveJournal — posted by Pheral at 14.01.2005 13:10 AEST |
::passes out from mental anguish:: — via LiveJournal — posted by Pheral at 14.01.2005 13:10 AEST |
Definitely, its so sad some of the things young innocent minds can be trained to think, and to hate.
You got a deal with Kylie, i shall campaign mercilessly for The Bill, and then i'll give up and go kick thier assess instead. Good luck with the family.
For gods sake, somebody call the goddam line!!!
::glances at chopsticks:: — via LiveJournal — posted by Pheral at 14.01.2005 13:11 AEST |
You got a deal with Kylie, i shall campaign mercilessly for The Bill, and then i'll give up and go kick thier assess instead. Good luck with the family.
For gods sake, somebody call the goddam line!!!
::glances at chopsticks:: — via LiveJournal — posted by Pheral at 14.01.2005 13:11 AEST |
To break the boredom you could call the Netgear call centre that diverts to India and have a chat to the lads there. I hear the weather in Mumbai is quite pleasant this time of year — via LiveJournal
— posted by Red Wolf at 14.01.2005 13:11 AEST |
scalpe....
::slides slowly off seat:: — via LiveJournal — posted by Pheral at 14.01.2005 13:12 AEST |
::slides slowly off seat:: — via LiveJournal — posted by Pheral at 14.01.2005 13:12 AEST |
Makes me think of Spike's little diatribe about mindless automatons and school in Buffy S6. You're quite right — they teach kids not to think, not the other way around. Pity, that — via LiveJournal
— posted by Willa at 14.01.2005 13:13 AEST |
It is a shame. But last sections of our culture are geared at crushing individuality and free thought and instilling mindless conformity in its place.
Fuck that for a joke, I like diversity, the world would be dull indeed if everyone was the same — via LiveJournal — posted by Red Wolf at 14.01.2005 13:13 AEST |
Fuck that for a joke, I like diversity, the world would be dull indeed if everyone was the same — via LiveJournal — posted by Red Wolf at 14.01.2005 13:13 AEST |
Personally, I don't think public schooling is as evil as many people make it out to be — there are many teachers and classes who do teach kids to think. The frustration probably comes because schools really have three functions: teach kids general knowledge, teach kids how to live in their country's dominant culture, and teach kids how to think. Sometimes these functions get in each other's way, and various teachers will favor one over the others.
Anyway. I like the little conversation, and I like Shinji's attitude toward judging kids' maturity levels. He's right; age isn't always a particularly helpful characteristic.
And the last sentence is a run-on. You should have a period between her mother had and with any luck — via LiveJournal — posted by Elizabeth Culmer at 14.01.2005 13:14 AEST |
Anyway. I like the little conversation, and I like Shinji's attitude toward judging kids' maturity levels. He's right; age isn't always a particularly helpful characteristic.
And the last sentence is a run-on. You should have a period between her mother had and with any luck — via LiveJournal — posted by Elizabeth Culmer at 14.01.2005 13:14 AEST |
The problem with the educational systems certainly isn't the teachers in most cases. The bulk is caused by politicians screwing over schools, demanding that shiny new subjects be taught without providing funds or training and moronic parents who blame teachers for their own shortcomings amongst other things.
Fixed the punctuation gaffe — via LiveJournal — posted by Red Wolf at 14.01.2005 13:15 AEST |
Fixed the punctuation gaffe — via LiveJournal — posted by Red Wolf at 14.01.2005 13:15 AEST |
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Sorry about inflicting Kylie on you, but honestly, we didn't want her either. If I keep her in Australia (gagged and bound, of course) will you kill the bastards who destroyed The Bill?
Still got another of these to do, but currently only have a lame idea kicking about in my head. Muse has apparently buggered off to escape dealing with my family for extended periods of time — via LiveJournal — posted by Red Wolf at 14.01.2005 13:10 AEST |