Another YouTube Fairytale: Matt's Life In Hope Square; Book 1

Chapter 6 - Being A Hope

Matt stood outside the orphanage. For the first time, he felt nervous. Afraid. He decided to go to Mr. Brown's house; the man in Hope Square who had all the books. Matt asked to borrow Alice In Wonderland, since Virgil was borrowing the science book that Jack helped him make. 

Matt was hugging the book, hoping it would give him something to read if he needed it. From what he'd read in the very few books Hope Square had, he knew that schools taught things like science and math, which he was excited for, and then things like reading and writing, which he was also excited for. 

What he was scared about were the behavioral teachings. They were doing the community a service by taking the children of Hope Square and teaching them how to be proper Hopes. But Matt wasn't a proper Hope. That's why he was nervous. Because no matter how curious he was, no matter how badly he wanted to learn what they were trying to teach him, that would always leave him a step behind. 

Matt, only 6 years old, opened the door. 14 children were already in there, waiting to start. "Ah, Matthew!" It was Tyler, the man from before. Matt saw that Virgil was sitting at an empty table, while all the other students sat on the floor. Virgil turned towards Matt and nodded towards the empty spot next to him. 

But Matt wanted to be right front and center, so that if he had a question, the teacher would see him first. So Matt walked right past the table and sat right in the front row. 

"I think this will be enough for a first class. Remember, tell your friends that the mayor is offering this service for free, so they don't need to worry. Anyway, I'm your teacher, but I don't think a fancy 'teacher name' is required, so you can all just call me by my first name. Tyler." He said. "I've set up a schedule for our classes. First, we'll have simple exercises in how to act like... and think, like a Hope." He looked right at Matt, in a way that clearly showed that he thought Matt wouldn't notice. He did. "We'll follow that up with reading, writing, and then we'll have a short discussion about what we've learned so far. Then we'll have a short snack break where you kids can relax, and finally, we'll cover math and science. Then you kids can go home and tell your parents..." He stopped. "Or Jack, what you've learned today." 

The class mumbled with excitement. "Okay! If that works for everyone, let's get started! We'll start with a few basic exercises." Tyler said. He pulled up a blackboard that Mark let him use for classes, and a hint of chalk, before drawing a bird's eye view of a back alley. 

"So, you're being chased down this alley by two men with knives. And you get cornered against this wall." He said, tapping where the wall was on the board. "What do you do?"

The kids at first lit up with excitement, as they all tought they knew the awnser, but Matt had a second of thought before he slowly raised his hand. Virgil, tucked in the back at the table, leaned a bit closer, wanting to see what Matt would say. Tyler wanted to give Matt a chance to give the right awnser, so he picked on him.

"It depends." Matt said. He was doing his best to think like a Hope, but he needed all the information first. "Where are the two men in the alley?"

"Um..." Tyler trailed off. A few of the other kids started nodding, so Tyler went with it. "Good point, Matt! If you don't know where they are, you don't know which way to..." He trailed off, cueing another student to finish his sentence. 

"Run!" Another student said. "You don't know where to run!" 

"Very good!" Tyler said. He turned back to the board and drew two circles in the alley. "These circles are the two men. So, which way do you go?"

Matt raised his hand again. 

"Yes, Matt?"

"Where are we? Are we behind them, or in front of them?"

Tyler drew and X right against the wall and pointed to it. "You're the X. Right here. They have you cornered. So where do you run?"

Matt snapped his fingers. This time, he knew he had it. Tyler saw that he understood and picked on him again, this time knowing he'd give the right answer. 

"Climb the wall." He said. "They wouldn't be able to follow me." He felt so proud to get the answer right. 

"But how would you know you could climb the wall? You wouldn't have time to test it out." 

"I would look at the wall first and see if there were any rocks I could latch onto." 

"And if it was too dark to see anything?" 

"I'd use my sense of touch. And even if I couldn't, they wouldn't be able to see either." 

Tyler sighed. "Does anyone here know the correct answer?" 

No one said anything. All the children stared at Matt, worried that they would mess up as bad as him. They all stared into their laps. Wanting to just get on with it, Virgil slowly raised his hand, but not very high.

"Yes, Virgil."

"Run around them." He said flatly. "Then just keep running until you get back to Hope Square."

"Good. That's the correct answer. Trying out different alternatives will take up valuable time that could be spent running. So what does a Hope do?"

"Run back home!" The class answered together. Matt didn't say anything.

"Matt? What does a Hope do?" Tyler asked. Matt stared into his lap, twisting his fingers around. Virgil was leaning over his chair, waiting intently for an answer.

Matt looked back up. "I don't know what YOU would do, but I would look around first. See all the ways I could escape and consider all of them. If there was somewhere I could hide without them noticing me, then I would go there. If I was in a place where I could easily loose them, I'd run them in circles until I did. And if the wall looked or felt climbable, I would climb the wall. That's what I'd do."

Tyler pursed his lips together. "I'll need to talk to Jack after school."