SUMMER 2008Eric Burleson
Friends School Mullica HillPeace is a way of life and should be taught to all. If there were peace worldwide, there would not have to be terrorists or wars. “The quickest way to ending a war is to lose it.” The quote comes from George Orwell. In my essay, I am going to incorporate this quote to a time in my life. I am not going to use the real names of the people I am describing.
It was a sunny summer day and Billy was outside riding his roller blades. A couple of houses down lived a boy named John. John and Billy had been friends since as long as they could remember. While Billy was enjoying his roller blades, John came over and pushed him down, and said, “That’s for stealing my game!”
Billy looked at his arm and leg as he watched the blood run down his elbow and his knee. He looked up at John with tears in his eyes, and said, “What are you talking about? I didn’t take your game.”
John looked back at him and said, “Yes, you did. I went to play it, and it wasn’t there. Kenny was over at the time, and he said he saw you take it a while back. He also said that you were not going to tell me you took it, and was going to hide it from me.”
Billy got up and said one more time that he didn’t take it, and also said, “Who are you going to believe? Me, who you have known since forever, or Kenny who you met last year?” Billy walked to his house to clean up his cuts and left John there to think.
For the next couple days, Billy and John didn’t talk to each other. John was with Kenny and Billy was with other friends. John was walking down the street and was about to pass Billy’s house. Billy was out on his roller blades again, and when he saw John coming, he quickly sat down. John just looked at him as he passed by. Billy called out for him to come back. When John came back, Billy told John that he had stolen his game and that Kenny was right. He said he would give it back to him tomorrow when he found it.
John was happy he had found out where his game was, but he was still mad that Billy took it. He said to Billy, “Why did you take it in the first place?”
Billy didn’t answer, but just said, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” John just walked off.
The next day, John went to Kenny’s house to tell him the news. When he got there, he noticed Kenny was playing a game. When John walked in to see what it was, he noticed it was his game. He looked at Kenny, infuriated, and said, “You lied to me. You told me that Billy took the game! Why didn’t you just ask for it? I would have lent it to you! Also, I pushed Billy down, and gave him cuts up and down his arm and leg!”
Kenny was speechless. John took the game back, and ran out to Billy’s to apologize.
On his way there, he thought about why he pushed Billy down, and why he didn’t just talk to him. He said, “If I talked to him, I would have gotten more answers, and he wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
When he got to Billy’s house, he saw Billy out front with something in his hand. He ran up to Billy, and Billy put his hand out, and said, “Here is your game.”
John looked at him and said, “That’s not my game. I found out Kenny had my game. So whose game is that?”
Billy said he went out and bought a new game because he felt bad that he had lost his game. John was puzzled and asked him, “Why did you lie and tell me that you stole my game?”
Billy looked back at him and said, “I would rather end the fighting between us and go back to being friends even if I had to lose. I don’t like to see my friends mad, and I always try to help them even if I have to sacrifice something.”
John said he was so sorry to Billy, and they went back to the store so they could return the extra game.
I thought that this story went well with this quote. This story goes with the quote because, in the story, Billy was kind of in a war with John, and, even if he had to take the blame, he would rather lose the fight/war than lose his friendship with John. The quote reminded me of this time, and, even in the worst of things, you can solve the problem without fighting, and just by talking it out.
This essay won an honorable mention in the Helen Glass Peace Essay contest, which is held annually at Friends School Mullica Hill, which is sponsored by Mickleton and Mullica Hill Monthly Meetings. It is copyright © 2008 by Mickleton and Mullica Hill MMs.
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Last modified:
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 11:55 PM
