JASON BELL'S LESSON  

continued from page 2

 

              

      I woke up feeling completely rested, but like there was something missing. And then I realized what that was. That was my Mom and Dad. Edward didn't have any parents, and as hard as his Grandma tried, she couldn't do for him what a mom and dad do for me, and, well, it just felt like as Edward I had a kind of hole in me, even though I could do lots of great and exciting things.     
      Then I went all soft again. I saw how brave Edward has to be. I made a little resolution that if I ever got back to my own body, I would never forget what I'd felt, and I’d always appreciate the guy's courage and talents.     
      And I thought that if Edward could be that brave, then as long as I had to be him, I could, too! After all, there wasn't any guarantee that I ever would be Jason again! It was entirely possible now, that I might never become the 2nd baseman for the San Diego Padres. I might have to live with a grandma, and take care of myself a lot of the time, till I was grown!       
      I found a little tool box under the kitchen sink and hammered back into place some of the loose boards on the front of the house after breakfast, just to do something a little usefull. Then I left for my walk back to school. I walked very slowly, so as to get there just before the bell, thus avoiding the playing field in the morning.     
      But at Exercise Period, wouldn't you know it, Mr. Johnson had us play softball. My worst nightmare was coming true.    
      Jason Bell was first captain. Jimmy Peters was second. As I had feared, I was chosen last. And as I had feared, the game started late because neither team wanted to take me at all.     
      Oh, how I wanted to disappear! But what can you do ?     
      It was Wednesday, and we had an extra-long gym period. I wanted to die. And Jason—whom I had once been, the creep!—never missed a chance to make fun of me.     
      He especially did it when girls were walking by. He had Sally  Beam laughing at me. I've always had sort of a secret crush  on her. Whatever I'd been learning about caring, as Edward,  Edward had not been learning as me.       

      In the 5th inning I was playing second base and Jason was up at bat. He hit a line drive into right field. By the time the fielder got it, Jason was heading straight toward me. His face had a vicious look on it. He was screaming. Everyone was staring at me again. That guy really was such a jerk!
      Then suddenly, I realized again what I'd forgotten for a moment : "That's me! I'm really Jason Bell! That’s how I’ve been behaving all these years!"     
      The horror I felt at that thought was the last thing I felt before Jason crashed into me. He really plowed into me straight on! The whole area around second base went up in another cloud of dust. I fell over, a sharp ache blasting its way through my guts. For a minute I even blacked out .     

     And then, there I was. Not on our school field anymore, but in that other, grassy place. And there before me was the Spirit of Baseball once again, bats over his shoulder and still chewing away at his wad of gum    
      "Learn anything, kid?" he asked, without looking at me.    
      I began to cry.    
      "I've been such a creep all my life!" I bawled. "I want to die."     
      "You don't gotta die, son," said the Spirit of Baseball. "Now you can live! You're a fast learner. Now you're ready to be a baseball player—if that's what you still want to be."     
      "But I can't be," I protested. "Much as I respect Edward now , I'll never be a baseball player if I'm in his body the rest of my life!"     
      "Look down, kid," said the Spirit, smiling. I did. Instead of Edward's protruding belly, I saw my own lean one. I realized that I felt light and springy, too.     
      "Hey, I'm me!" I shouted. Only minus the creep, I thought.    
      The Spirit of Baseball was beaming at me now. I’ll always remember that last smile of his— like a rising sun.     

     The next instant, I found myself back on our field. Edward was lying there, groggy.     "Come on, Edward, I'll help you up," I told him.     
      He pulled back, thinking I was going to trip him or something .     
      "No, really,” I said. “I really will help you.”      
      “ I'm sorry I've been such a jerk all these years," I said as Edward finally took my extended hands.  
      Edward looked at me hard. "Do you really mean that?" he asked .    
      Time seemed to stop as I saw clearly before me the person I’d just been, for a day that had felt like years. Below me, hands locked in mine, he was waiting to see if he really could trust me. I looked back sincerely and nodded. Then I pulled hard, and he struggled, and together we got him to a standing position.    

      Now I'm helping Edward at baseball two days a week. Oh yeah, and he's helping me at math. OK, so he'll never be professional athlete, and I'll never be a math professor, or a science-fiction writer or a computer whiz or a maker of paper mache' worlds.     
     And in some ways we'll never exactly be best friends like Bradley and me are. But thanks to the Spirit of Baseball, for both Edward and me now, life is a whole new ball game.                                

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