Unwanted child - стр. 20
The boy sitting next door was the fastest to finish his treat and impatiently started looking around for something interesting to occupy himself. When he noticed his neighbour eating leisurely, he decided to help him by shoving his spoon into his food container. Theodore was a little taken aback by this insolence, and in response to the boy's actions, he snatched the spoon from his hand and threw it far away from him. It flew a few metres, then landed with a distinctive sound on the floor and disappeared under one of the chairs of another group of children, who were a year older than Theodore's classmates. The little boy straightened up, stretched his neck and turned his head in the direction of the flying cutlery, trying to spot it. Then he waved his arms and wailed with all his might: ‘Ah-ah-ah-ah! Sp-o-o-o-o-n! My sp-o-o-o-o-o-n!’
The dining room had been noisy enough up to that point. But when the boy shouted his short phrase to the whole floor and began to scandalise, shouting unintelligible sounds, the group of children seemed to revolt. His little tantrum became like a call to action for the rest of the kids. Some started throwing food scraps at each other, others started shouting loudly, others started running around the tables and hiding under them. However, for the tutor and the canteen workers, who were used to working in similar conditions, these antics of the new pupils were not something out of bounds and unexpected. They began to pacify the overexcited group, putting them back in their seats, playfully suggesting that they finish their meal and wait for the others. Finally, when the children had settled down and most of the food had been eaten, Mrs Donova led everyone in an orderly fashion to the common room to prepare the children for sleep and restore their previously spent energy.
The children lined up in front of the escalator in rows of two. Some of them held each other's hands. The carer pressed a button on the side of the escalator to change its direction. Unlike similar mobile structures in shopping centres, this one had the slowest speed for safety reasons.
When they reached the first floor, the group made their way to the door, which had a sticker of a crescent moon with a sleeping baby on it. Theodore was one of the last to enter, along with the girl who had sat at the same dinner table with him earlier. Of course, none of the children were planning on falling asleep. They all wanted to play and have fun. And when they saw their cots, they decided that this room was just part of another entertaining game, like the one the boy who had thrown a tantrum in the dining room not long ago had started playing. His name was Eric, and he seemed to have forgotten all about the unpleasant incident. The boy chose a cot for himself, confidently climbed on it and began to jump as if on a trampoline. This boy was a peculiar leader of the group. Not afraid of anything, brave and self-confident. Once again, he came up with an idea for fun that the other children were eager to support when they saw it in practice.