Reading Aloud

Dear Mr. Bourne,

Sometimes, things work out way better than for which you bargained. Which is great. And obvious. Everybody knows this. Although I have to say, there was one time this happened to me, and although it was a minor occurrence in the grand scheme of things, it will forever stick in my brain and be a happy memory that’s pleasant to relive.

My classmates and I were sitting in Mr. Stone’s class in a circle, opening The Tiger Rising to read aloud Chapter 6, I believe. There were some students who were already assigned roles to read, but there were also two more characters being introduced in this chapter, whose parts evidently also needed reading aloud. The part for which I volunteered was the sassy southern mother. After I volunteered, I remember Mr. Stone saying, “Just go for it. Have fun with it and give it your best shot.” And after I read one of my parts, the enthusiastic and encouraging stares I got from all of my classmates were unbelievable as I vaguely heard Mr. Stone jump up and down and yell in excitement for my apparently perfect embodiment of the sassy southern mother in the novel.

That was a fun class, and I guess they may have been right, as attitude is something I most definitely do not lack.