David arrived at the school gate, brown leather sandals and satchel unmarked, marking him as the new kid.
Three boys approached. In a line they stood. A line of boys each called David. The first David stepped forward, all scabby knees and dirt scuffed face. He slapped the new David on the back and said “welcome to my school. Do you have conkers? For they are my tribute”. New David fumbled the stiff openings of his satchel and reached inside. With reluctance, he brought forward a large shiny conker and handed it to First David.
Second David stepped forth from the line of Davids, as first David stroked his tribute. He patted New David on the head and said, “I really hope you’ve got a frog. Because I keep frogs.” New David gulped. He did indeed have a frog, it had been a leggy tadpole yesterday so was only newly frog. With hesitation, he reached into his satchel and passed the frog to Second David.
Third David stepped forward and clapped his hands. “I need string. Do you have string?” With unwillingness, New David felt in his satchel and pulled out the string he had spent the summer collecting.
Together the three Davids considered New David and his satchel of treasures. Putting their uncombed heads together, they muttered. Third David seemed to have a lot to say.
After what seemed far too long, the three Davids reformed their line and set off back to the playground. Over his shoulder, First David shouted “come on Fourth David, there’s another David starting today”.
Another classroom exercise. Was handed the character name “David”. The piece is a fail in terms of getting to know a rich and rewarding character, but I had a lot of fun riffing on the days when name selection was smaller and there was a good chance there were five of you in a class with the same name.
I welcome comments (below). However you may want to consider them simply a message to me, as they will not be published.
Ursula Hoult 