The Boy and the Volcano

Long, long ago there lived a very little boy that loved to laugh and smile. He was so happy! Every morning when he awoke, he would look out his bedroom window and see what he thought was the most wonderful thing in the world…the big volcano. His big volcano! He loved the volcano and always wanted to be near it.
When he was very little he loved to crawl around on the big volcano. He would crawl up and down and up and down until he was so tired that he would curl up in a soft shady spot and fall fast asleep. Even as he slept, he could hear the sweet sounds of the birds singing him a lullaby and feel the breeze softly rustle his hair as the tall grass gently stroked his face. He loved to play among the trees and smell the pretty flowers. It was a place that made the little boy very happy…well most of the time.
Sometimes, however, the little boy would be crawling around on the big volcano when he would hear a sort of rumbling sound. At first he would not pay attention to it. Then he would hear it again. The next time it would be a little bit louder and sometimes he could even feel the volcano shake beneath his little feet. This would make the boy scared and he would crawl away from the volcano and hide until he no longer heard the loud rumbling.

As the little boy grew bigger, he still loved to play on the big volcano. He would run up and down and up and down the big hills of the volcano and he would swing from the branches of the big trees. After playing very hard for a very long time, the boy would often sit under the big trees and snuggle up with the big volcano. He would sometimes even close his eyes and drift off to sleep. He could still hear the sweet sounds of the birds singing him a lullaby and feel the breeze softly rustle his hair as the tall grass gently stroked his face. This still made him happy, but he was a bit more cautious. The low rumbling and shaking of the big volcano seemed to happen quite often now.
One day the boy was running and playing on the big volcano when he tripped and fell smushing a small bush beneath him. While he was lying on the ground, he began to hear the rumble and it was getting louder. The ground began to shake and the boy could hardly move when all of the sudden a great big lava rock spewed out of the top of the volcano. As the rock hit him, the rumbling seemed to shout, “Stupid!” The boy ran and hid. As he rubbed his little head, the boy could feel the volcano rock burning deep inside his stomach. The rain drops that poured from his eyes were not able to put out the fire.

Over time, the boy continued to play on the big volcano, but his smile began to fade away. The big volcano was always throwing lava rocks at the boy now. Every time a rock hit the boy, he would hear a loud rumbling shout, “You’re stupid!” or “You’re an idiot!” Sometimes if he was too loud or if he tried to ask the volcano a question, all he would hear as the lava rocks came crashing down was, “Shut up you stupid boy!”

The boy tried so hard to be good. He was so careful when he ran up and down the volcano and he was extra careful if he swung on the branches of the big trees. He wanted to please the big volcano and it hurt, it hurt so badly, when the volcano’s lava rocks hit him. They burned deep down in his stomach. The raindrops that fell from his eyes did not sooth the pain. Even when the volcano was quiet and calm, the boy could still feel the burning deep down in his belly. He never seemed to smile anymore.

At nighttime the boy would often dream about running and playing on the big volcano. He would see himself as a little boy laughing and smiling as he ran up and down and up and down the big volcano. He could hear the sweet sounds of the birds singing him a lullaby and feel the breeze softly rustle his hair as the tall grass gently stroked his face. He would almost smile as he woke up, but then he would feel the burning deep inside of him and the thoughts of the smile would fade away. There would be raindrops on his pillow.
As the boy grew even bigger, the lava rocks burned even hotter inside of him. Sometimes he would feel the lava rocks burning so hot inside of his belly that they would rise up and try to spew out of his own mouth. The boy tried so hard to keep the lava rocks inside. Whenever he felt them burning extra hot and rising up, he would do everything that he could to keep them from spewing out.

He would stand up tall and clench his fists so tight as he held his arms down straight and very close against his sides. He would hold his mouth closed as tight as he could and he would clench his teeth and put his head down so that his chin almost touched his chest. He would try to stay like this as the fire burned deep within him. As the lava rocks rose up, his face would become a shade of dark red because of the glowing embers. He would clench his mouth closed so tightly, but as the rocks built up inside of him, the boy could not always keep the ava rocks inside.
As hard as he tried, sometimes they would spew out of his mouth with an ugly rumble that shouted “Stupid!” or “Idiot!” the rocks would hit his brother or sister, his friends and sometimes even his mom. It hurt when the lava rocks came flying out. It hurt when he saw the lava rocks hit other people. The big volcano continued to throw rocks at the boy. Lots of them. They hurt the boy when they hit him and also when they spewed out of him. The boy never smiled anymore.

One day at the boy’s little sister came running into the room with a big smile on her face. Before he could even try to stop it, a big lava rock came flying from his mouth and hit his little sister on her small head. Her smile faded quickly and he watched as the raindrops began to pour from her eyes and then she ran and hid.

The boy looked out of his window and saw the big volcano looming above. It did not make him smile anymore. It only made the lava rocks deep inside of him burn hotter. He went out to the big volcano and started to climb. He hardly noticed as the rumbling started beneath his feet. The lava rocks began to spew from the top of the volcano. A big
rock came crashing down on the boy and a loud rumble shouted, ”Stupid!” This time the lava rocks were not going to hurt the boy. Instead, the boy caught the rock in his hand and with all his might he threw the rock back at the volcano as he shouted, ”I am NOT stupid!” The “Idiot!” rock came crashing down, but the boy threw it back and shouted, “I am NOT an idiot!” The big volcano threw many more lava rocks, but the boy continued to throw them back. “I AM smart!” “I am NOT a baby!” “My words ARE important!” “I am NOT bad! I AM good!”

The lava rocks finally stopped spewing out of the big volcano. The boy sat down underneath a big tree and noticed something for the first time in a very long time. The fire burning deep inside his stomach was finally gone. The boy leaned back against the big tree and closed his eyes. Once again he thought he could hear the sweet sounds of the birds singing him a lullaby and feel the breeze softly rustle his hair as the tall grass gently stroked his face. Quietly the boy whispered, “I am not stupid!” … and then the boy smiled.