Max is five years old and between his baby sister crying and his older brother getting him into trouble, there isn't much fun to be had.
*WARNING - SPANKING*
I can ride a bike! Well, I can ride a bike for a bit and then I always end up in a bush. Once I crashed into the neighbour's car! But I didn't leave a dent so it was okay.
"P-Please Dad!"
"No Max,"
"But Gregory got one! He can ride them so I can learn too!"
Dad looks up at me from his newspaper. "Max, you need to learn how to ride a bike before you learn how to ride a skateboard. They're more difficult. Gregory has been riding his bike for a long time,"
"But I can learn too! I promise!"
"If you learn how to ride a bike this year, I'll think about getting you one for your birthday,"
That's months away - FOREVER!
I sit beside Dad. He's reading something boring. "Can I go to Gregory's house after school?"
"I don't see why not," Dad smiles at me. "Mum's picking you up though. I'm taking Chris to the town tonight for doing all his Easter homework,"
"Okay," I don't mind Mum picking me up.
Gregory's house has a huge garden! There's a hike in us fence that takes you into the road where his school is. So he only has to get ready 5 minutes before school starts because he just lives across the road. And there's a rhubarb plant growing in his garden!
He also has a massive driveway that leads right onto the street. His Mum doesn't even have a car. So instead, he uses the driveway to practice his skating skills!
"Have fun Max," Mum hugs me on my way out the car. "I'll pick you up later,"
"Okay!" I watch her drive away and go in. Gregory is on his swing.
"Alright mate," he runs up and gives me a handshake. We still haven't made a cool one just for us. We need to.
"Hi," I shrug. "What're you doing?"
"I'm playing on my swing. Watch what I can do!" He grabs the swing and throws it as hard as he can. It wraps around the top bar a couple of times. The older kids always do that to the swings at the park. They wrap them all the way around and we can't use them anymore! It'd really mean and naughty.
"That's cool,"
"Try it," I try, but I can't get it to wrap around. I'm just as big as Gregory is! I know he's older but that doesn't mean he has to be stronger.
"I can do it!" But Gregory is already starting to skate down the driveway. I watch him, and I wish I could do that!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He stops when he's riding past me. "You need to learn how to ride a bike,"
"I know, I can ride it a bit!"
"Yeah but you're only six so you can't. And you can't ride a skateboard,"
I walk up to him. Looking down at the board makes me feel butterflies in my tummy. The bad kind, like before a spanking. Not the good kind, like before a party. "How d'you ride it?"
