فصل بیست و سوم

Chapter 23

“Look out! Here comes the monster!” screamed a chubby fourth-grade boy. “It’s the monster from outer space!” “Aaaah! It’s so ugly!” yelled his skinny friend.

“Don’t let it touch you!” warned a girl with pink glasses. “Or you’ll turn into a monster too.” Bradley ran at them. They scattered and regrouped, like pigeons.

He sat down to eat his lunch.

“It sure is a stupid monster!” shouted a third-grader.

After lunch, Bradley sat at his desk—last seat, last row. He didn’t look at Jeff. He didn’t look the other way, either, at the chart full of gold stars. And he didn’t look straight ahead, at Mrs. Ebbel. He didn’t look anywhere.

It was time to see Carla again. He took the hall pass from Mrs. Ebbel and walked out of the classroom.

He hated Carla. He didn’t want to make the same mistake with her that he had made with Jeff. He realized Claudia was right. Carla didn’t like him. That was just her job.

She was waiting for him outside her door. “Hello, Bradley,” she said as she held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to see you today. I appreciate your coming to see me.” He walked past her and sat down at the round table.

She sat across from him. She was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with two triangles on it, one red and one blue.

“Did you make a list of topics to discuss?” she asked.

“No, you’re the teacher.”

“So?”

“So you’re the one who has to say what we talk about, not me. That’s your job!” “Well, let me think,” said Carla. “Are you sure you can’t think of anything?” He shook his head.

“I’m surprised. I thought you would have come up with a lot of interesting topics. Well, in that case, we’ll have to talk about school. Shall we start with homework?” “Monsters from outer space,” he replied.

“Hmm?”

“Monsters from outer space,” he repeated. “You said I could pick the topic. I want to talk about monsters from outer space!” “What a wonderful topic!” said Carla.

“The only way to kill them is with a ray gun,” said Bradley. “Regular guns, or even hand grenades and atomic bombs, won’t kill them. You need a ray gun.” He stood up and pretended to shoot a ray gun, making a noise that sounded like a cross between a machine gun and a horse.

Carla put her hands up to protect herself. “Don’t shoot me,” she said.

“You’re a monster from outer space,” he told her.

“No I’m not. I’m a counselor.”

He stopped firing. “Do you believe in monsters from outer space?” She shook her head. “No. But I do believe there are other types of creatures living in outer space. I just don’t believe in monsters. I believe that Earth is just one small planet in a gigantic universe. I think there are billions of other planets with trillions of other kinds of creatures living on them. Some are real stupid and others smarter than you or me. Some are bigger than dinosaurs; others, smaller than ants. But out of all those creatures, I don’t think there is even one monster.” “Not even one?”

“No,” said Carla. “I think everyone has ‘good’ inside him. Everyone can feel happiness, and sadness and loneliness. But sometimes people think someone’s a monster. But that’s only because they can’t see the ‘good’ that’s there inside him. And then a terrible thing happens.” “They kill him?”

“No, even worse. They call him a monster, and other people start calling him a monster, and everyone treats him like a monster, and then after a while, he starts believing it himself. He thinks he’s a monster too. So he acts like one. But he still isn’t a monster. He still has lots of good, buried deep inside him.” “But what if he’s real ugly?” asked Bradley. “What if he has green skin, and only one eye in the middle of his face, and three arms, and two hands on each arm, and eight fingers on each hand?” Carla laughed. “You and I might think that’s ugly,” she said, “but that’s just because it’s different from what we’re used to seeing. On that planet, that might be considered beautiful. You may have just described a handsome movie star.” Bradley laughed.

“On that planet, they probably would think I was ugly, because I don’t have green skin and I have two eyes.” Bradley shook his head. “No, they might think I was ugly, but not you.” “Why, Bradley,” Carla said with astonishment, “that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Thank you.” He blushed. He hadn’t meant it the way it came out. “I don’t want to talk about monsters anymore,” he mumbled.

“Okay,” said Carla. “I think we had a very good conversation, don’t you? You picked an excellent topic.” For the rest of the session, he colored. He took a green crayon out of Carla’s large box of crayons and tried to draw the creature from outer space that he had described. He was able to draw the three arms, and six hands, but he had trouble fitting eight fingers onto each hand.

He looked up. “Carla?”

“Yes, Bradley.”

“Can you see inside monsters?” he asked. “Can you see the ‘good’?” “That’s all I see.”

He returned to his picture. He drew a black eye in the middle of the creature’s face. He drew a red heart inside the creature’s chest to show all the “good” that was there.

“Well, how does a monster stop being a monster?” he asked. “I mean, if everyone sees only a monster, and they keep treating him like a monster, how does he stop being a monster?” “It isn’t easy,” Carla said. “I think, first, he has to realize for himself that he isn’t a monster. That, I think, is the first step. Until he knows he isn’t a monster, how is anybody else supposed to know?” Bradley finished coloring and showed his picture to Carla. “He’s a movie star on his planet,” he said. “Everyone loves him.” “He’s very handsome,” said Carla.

“You want it?” asked Bradley. “I mean, I don’t want it anyway, so you can have it.” “I’d love it!” said Carla. “Thank you. In fact, I’m going to hang it on the wall right now.” Bradley watched her tack it up. He almost told her she wasn’t allowed to put holes in the wall, but he changed his mind.

It was time for him to go back to class.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you next week,” said Carla. “I hope you have another wonderful topic for us to discuss.” He started to go, then stopped and turned around.

“Yes?” she asked.

He put his hands on his hips and stared at her.

“Did you forget something?”

He stood and waited.

Her eyes suddenly lit up. She held out her hand and said, “I enjoyed your visit very much. Thank you for sharing so much with me.” He stretched his mouth into a half smile/half frown, then hurried out of her office.