Tag

To an adult there are many important things in life, many worries and troubles, many duties and responsibilities, hardships and trials. A young child is blessed that they are ignorant to this. To a young child there is only tag.

Zach was one such child. He was crouching in the dirt, his hair streaked with dust and blood, his t shirt torn, and his sense of safety gone. To him there was only one important thing: It.

Flash back to only twenty minutes earlier. Zach is leaning on a brick pillar, near a classroom. His friend Ben is sitting on a bench nearby. They are watching each other. Ben is counting backwards under his breath. The air is tense as he reaches ten. Then nine, then eight... and finally zero. In an instant Zach is flying along the school path, warnings of ‘Don’t Run’ flashing under him. Ben is up and following faster than he had suspected. Up ahead a group of six or seven girls are standing. Zach elbows them out of the way and charges onwards, ignoring the rude screeching from behind. He darts around a corner and the chase continues.

Stan is inside. He is nervously glancing out the classroom window. He tries to focus on his book, but his mind wanders. Outside there are hurried footsteps, and screeching. Stan ducks instinctively as the sound closes in, but it’s too late, and Ben has seen him. Stan watches in horror as Ben stops and walks slowly up to the door. As the door knob turns Stan flies to the opposite side of the room, knocking a few chairs over on the way. Stan flings himself through the second door and hurriedly slams it behind him. He scans the room quickly and spots a teacher walking closer. Stan ducks under an art desk and waits. He can see Ben glaring at him from behind the closed door as the teacher approaches. Stan views the teacher take out some papers and mumble something under her breath. The teacher gets up and turns back to the classroom she came out of. Stan gets up and runs out the back exit, catching a glimpse of Ben’s face disappear from the door. He is safe, for the moment.

Zach looks around and bends down to sip from the water fountain. He thinks he is safe; it has been five minutes since he was seen by Ben. Zach hears a shout:

“Behind you! RUN!”

Zach swings his body around. Ben is only five metres away and running, Stan is exiting a nearby building. Zach begins to flee, water from the fountain splashing over him. Zach trips over and scrapes his knee badly. He can see Ben grinning madly as he reaches out. Zach cries out in terror, and Stan leaps, knocking Ben over and saving Zach. Zach stares in awe.

“You saved me,” Zach says, his gaze not averting from Stan. Sra begins to run, and Zach notices Stan mouthing something to himself. “Oh-no,” says Zach in realisation, “He got you.” Zach sprints away in horror, leaving Stan by himself.

Ben is waiting in a line in front of the canteen. It’s risky, but he can’t run any more without some sustenance. He pays for an ice-cream and begins to eat it quickly. He doesn’t think Stan will find him. He is wrong.  Stan is sneaking through the crowd, unseen by Ben. Ben is overconfident from his victory and fails to notice him as he draws near. Ben drops his pop stick into a bin, and is suddenly face to face with Stan. Stan lashes out, and Ben in panic kicks him. Stan gasps and grasps his knee in pain. Ben ignores the shouts from a teacher and runs, knocking Stan over to the floor. Stan tries to get up, but a crowd has formed around him.

Meanwhile, Zach is watching. He had hidden inside the bushes, and was dirty and dusty. When Stan had gone after Ben he had been glad, but now he felt worried. The Rules declared the if the tagged person was forced to leave the previous tagged person reverted to It. Ben had known this, why did he attack Stan? Zach watched as Stan was taken off to the sick-ward, and Ben began to count under his breathe. Zach slowly crawled deeper into the bushes, so he would not be visible from the outside. He felt a pain in his back, turned around and saw a sharp stick and torn his shirt and scraped him. Zach cursed under his breathe. He could see Ben had stopped counting and was talking to a few younger students. Though Zach couldn’t hear him, he knew he would be asking where he had gone. Zach turned around and exited the other side of the bushes.

Jon is a young child, and has only just begun year one. He is sitting on a seat, eating his vegemite sandwich. He doesn’t really want it, but he might starve before home time if he doesn’t eat it. He stares in awe as he sees older people walk past frequently. He doesn’t have any friends, and is laughed at by other because of his large ears and small nose. People call him a ‘freak’ and ‘stupid’, which makes him feel very sad. Jon is biting into the sandwich when Ben walks up. Jon is amazed; a much older student wants to talk to him!?

“Have you seen a tall black-haired kid with glasses and a pimple been past here just now?” asks Ben.

“I, I, I...” stutters Jon. Ben frowns. “Ye-yes,” says Jon pointing towards the library. Ben grins to himself and walks off. Jon is angry now, Ben did not even say ‘thank you’!

Ben stormed off to the library, grinning madly. Zach wont be able to escape now! Ben opened the door, and looked around slowly. He caught a glance of Zach in the non-fiction section. Ben slowly moved forwards. There was only one exit from the library, and if he was careful Zach wouldn’t be able to use it. Ben walked towards the history section, then ducked behind the filing cabinet. He could see Zach creeping towards the door. He had him right where he wanted him.

Zach gasped in horror as he saw Ben sprinting towards him. He had become trapped because of his own ignorance. Now he would pay. Zach ran towards the exit, but there was no way he could get there in time. He poured all his effort into his legs, stretching that little extra... Suddenly a hand grabbed him. Zach flinched and turn around to see a teacher he didn’t recognise holding him and Ben. Ben stretched over to touch him, but couldn’t quite reach, and was met from a glare by the teacher.

“Why were you two running in the library!? You know it is strictly forbidden!” asks the teacher in an icily cold tone.

“He was trying to bully me!” cries out Zach in a pitiful voice. The teacher lets go and turns to Ben.

“Were you...” she begins. Zach runs. The teacher turns again and Ben brakes free and chased. The teacher screeches at them but it makes no difference.

Zach runs out of the library barging past several younger kids, Ben following closely behind. Then Zach hears a scream and turned around. Ben is lying on the grass holding his arm, which is broken in an odd angle. He can see Jon staring angrily at Ben.

“You should always say ‘thank-you!’” says Jon, oblivious to Ben’s pain. Ben staggers up, and Zach runs. After a moment Zach glances back to see if Ben is following him and sees that he is. In this instant Zach trips over a tree root, and falls head first into the dirt. He cries out in pain and fear as he sees Ben approaching, holding his arm in pain, but grinning madly. Zach can feel blood trickling down his head as he turns to face Ben.

“You fool. You always have to take everything too far don’t you?” Zach says coldly.

“No, I have never taken it too far, this is just the beginning. You are the fool now,” replies Ben through gritted teeth. Ben and Zach glare at each other and Ben grins. Ben lunges forward, barely missing Zach’s arm as he recoils.

“Duh, I think your both fools,” says the voice of someone who has to think carefully about each word. Zach and Ben turn and stare at the older boy who said it, neither which recognise him. The older boy stares back, and suddenly Zach and Ben begin to laugh.

“Friends?” Ben offers.

“Friends!” Zach confirms. Zach and Ben laugh again, and stagger off to the sick ward together as the bell rings. But neither touches the other, because they both know tomorrow is a new day, and one will be It again. And both know that that is how it should be.