Jonathan the Porcupine

            by Sam Pardee

 

            Once upon a time there was a porcupine named Jonathan. Jonathan was a happy porcupine who lived with his parents, Bob and Karen, his dog Erwin, and his older brother, Steven. One day, Jonathan’s mother told him that he was going to have to start kindergarten soon.

                                               

 

            Jonathan was scared to go to school. Steven told him stories about how mean they were at school to kindergarteners. He said they called them “newbies”, beat them up, and stole their lunch money. Jonathan begged and pleaded with his mother not to send him, but she told him “Every good porcupine must learn all there is to know, that’s the way it has been and that’s the way it will be.”

            Jonathan was a smart porcupine and he knew that he couldn’t disobey his mother, so instead of fighting with her about it, Jonathan began to misbehave badly. He set the table the wrong way, didn’t take out the garbage no matter how full it was, and when Erwin wanted to go for a walk, he would slam the door and lock him inside.

            “What on earth has gotten into you Jonathan.” His mom asked him on a particularly bad day after he broke three plates during dinner.

            “I don’t want to go to school!” Jonathan screamed at the top of his lungs.

            Jonathan’s mom thought about it for little while, and a smile slowly spread over her face. “O.K. You don’t have to go to school if you don’t want to, but don’t come crying to me if you end up regretting it.”

                                               

 

            School started the next week without Jonathan, and he was thrilled to not be there. He started behaving better at home and was perfectly content to play with his toys all day. He didn’t mind not knowing his multiplication tables or how to add and subtract. It didn’t bother him that he couldn’t read at all. Life was good.

            After a week of staying home, Jonathan began to get bored with staying at home. He tried to set up a playdate with his best friend George, but when he called his house, there was no one there. Jonathan tried to call his friend Alex also, but no one was home there either. He called all his friends, but there was no answer at any of their houses.

            Jonathan thought that his phone must be broken, but when he asked his mother if there was anything wrong with it, she simply told him, “No, no, the phone isn’t broken. All your friends are at the school, in Kindergarten.” Jonathan was upset that he couldn’t have a playdate with his friends, but he still didn’t want to go to school.

            The next day, Jonathan went to school to pick his brother up early and go to their dentist appointment. He saw all the kindergarteners laughing and having fun in the playground, but when they saw him, they all pointed and laughed, calling him a baby. Jonathan couldn’t understand why all his friends were making fun of him. When he asked his mother, she told him, “They’re laughing at you because you don’t go to school like them. Didn’t I tell you that every little porcupine goes to school?.”

                                      

                       

            Jonathan was starting to get really mad. He didn’t think that he should have to go to school just because it’s what everyone else did, so he just ignored them and went on to his dentist appointment. After the appointment, the lady at the counter told him that he needed to fill out a card with his address so they could send it to him and tell him when he needed his next appointment.

            Jonathan didn’t know how to write his address. He didn’t even know how to write his name. “But don’t they teach you how to write your address at school?” The receptionist asked.

            “No, I didn’t want to and my mommy said that if I really didn’t want to I don’t have to.” Jonathan was defensive about his choice to not go.

            “Well, maybe it would be a good idea if you asked your mom if you can go back to school. You’ll not only learn how to write your name and address, but you’ll also learn a whole lot more.”

            Jonathan thought about it for a long time. He thought about the boredom of sitting at home with no one else there every day, he thought about how he didn’t have any friends ever since they started school, and he thought about all the things that he didn’t know how to do that he wanted to learn.

            The next day Jonathan asked his mom if it would be alright if he went to school from now on. “I knew that you would eventually make the right choice, I’ll call the teacher and we’ll get you there tomorrow.”

            The next day, Jonathan went to school for the very first time. He learned to write his name and no one called him names or put him down. He made many new friends and went home happy.