Not Like All The Others

“Not Like All The Others” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Aizere Abish, Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Chemistry and Biology, Pavlodar, Republic of Kazakhstan.

Not Like All The Others

That day I met one person who influenced on my life. It was a hot summer day. I was 11 years old. The local authorities of our city organized a celebration in honor of the 1st of June which was dedicated to the International Children’s day. The event was held in the center of the city, not far from our home. The park was crowded with a large number of people, including adults, teenagers and babies. In the crowd I saw the boy whose age was about fourteen or fifteen years. The corners of his eyes were slightly raised, the face looked a bit flat, and its expression was a bit confused. His behavior was very strange. The boy was swaying from side to side, and his eyes were continuously looking at the sky. It seemed to me that he was far from our world having his head in the clouds. I did not understand the meaning of his actions. At first, I thought that he wanted to attract attention but when I found out the truth I was really shocked and embarrassed. I wanted to know who he was. I was inspecting his behavior very long till my mom saw it. She told me not to look at him because the boy was ill. I learned about that syndrome for the first time in my life. One moment I blamed myself for judging the boy even without knowing him. I felt so sorry for him.

That thought haunted my mind. Why him? I don't understand why some children have fun and enjoy life while there are children who do not even understand what is happening. I heard the squeals of children, the conversations of their parents, everyone was having fun. Alone he stood and stared at the sky waiting for a miracle, so innocent and defenseless. I've never met such a unique kid before. Someone came up to the boy soon, probably the person was his mom. She looked so tired and disgruntled. It was a holiday for children but I haven’t seen any emotions on her face. Many people there were looking at the boy with scorn and distaste. Didn’t they understand that it was not his fault? The people repulsed the boy, showing him that he was a stranger.

The event had been lasting for a long time. The children were all waiting for the contests. The prizes were different: the sport and the logical, musical and creative. The organizers of the competitions picked the funniest, but at the same time practical variants of prizes for winners of all ages and genders.

Parents pushed their children through the crowd to win the biggest number of prizes. Adults quarreled, argued with each other, and the children kept observing the events. The conflict was solved by the conductor. The children, teenagers and even adults were able to participate in contests and competitions. Some of them have won prizes, others got nothing.

After the prize drawing administrators noticed the boy and separately gave him a little notebook with the picture of sky. It was a noble action because everyone in this world deserved happiness.

Many children were dissatisfied with the fact that they had not been given any gifts. The children expressed their discontent as they could, crying, screaming, making noise. Fortunately, when the concert began, they calmed down and forgot about the gifts, but one girl continued acting up. The girl wanted to get that priceless notebook which was presented to the boy. Sure, any parents strive to make their children happy. Although the boy was sick, a woman came up to him and wrested the gift from grasp though it initially belonged to her daughter. The boy was unable to protect himself. He let go of the notebook and smiled, looking at the children. I was indignant at the woman’s action. It was impertinent. The worst thing is that people saw what was happening but did nothing. I wanted to give the boy his notebook back, but I couldn't find the courage to do it. I felt so helpless and useless. I stood and was unable to confront my own weaknesses. It was hard to move. Mom said it was time to go. I felt bad that I didn't do anything. I walked very slowly to the car, deciding whether I would do it or not. At some point I stopped and ran towards the Park, but the boy had already gone. It was too late. He left without a present, I blamed myself for it. In the car, I told my mom why I had run away. She said, "You did something, that's good. If you sat in the car, it meant that you had agreed with the act of that woman". That thought calmed me down. Since that day, I realized that I would never yield to fear and weakness. That mistake would be never made again.