Pieces of a Puzzle

What a Day

It had been a good day for my friend, Tom. He got a note from his crush that said Yes, or I Do, or something of a good kind. His math teacher, whom he loved like a child loves his mother, gave him back a very tough test. He had prevailed through its intensity and gained an A. He was particularly skipping about it all. I tried to hold back my laughter as he began to actually skip. He tended to have normal days. That was a good life. It sucked, for him, when it had to come to an end.

We were helping Mrs. Houston move a large table down the hall to her new room. We had stayed after school to do it. We both grabbed at the ends and began to walk. It was kind of a heavy table so we took a break or two. We had to stop for a third time when Tom said he had to tie his shoe. I was fine with it, running out of breath myself. So, we sat the table down and Tom bent down to tie his shoe. As he was going down, there was loud RIP! The sound had charged through the air like a buffalo. Every teacher in that hall had heard it loud and clear. Tom didn't seem to be getting back up any time soon. I walked around the table to Tom's end to see what had happened. There was a tear from Tom's left pants knee to his crotch section. I held back any thought of laughter as I saw the horrified look on Tom's face. He still had both shoelaces in hand. Neither of us could believe it but...we just had to.