Because He's Blind

Before the Principal had begun to speak, the only other sounds in the large auditorium were the whispers of confused children. This, being such a large place built with walls made specifically for the purpose of letting every sound available seem extremely audible, let each comment be clear as day, so long as you could sort out who was who. It only took two coughs to gather the attention of the hall. It might have taken more, had the students known what was coming, and disliked the thought of sitting here, rather than class, but, almost everyone was paying close attention to what was happening next. The unknowing aura of the situation had a way of doing that. If you cared to take a look and stretch your neck trying to get a look at who was talking, it would be rather hard to tell, even then. Nobody was actively turned towards one another. The whispers were unspoken comments between each other, not to one or two people in particular. If they were a back and forth between two children shooting different guesses as to what was happening, they kept not only their eyes, but their bodies directed to the official looking man on stage. If you were up there at the moment, and had made speeches to this bunch before, like the principal was now, you would be bewildered at the rapid attention given this time. His mind flashed a few times to prior announcements. Nobody had listened. He smiled and chuckled. This sudden burst of sound caused an immediate reaction. It was now perfectly silent. If someone had tried to make a comment about the principal's polka dot tie, they would have been picked out quickly. Nobody did, however.

"You never cease to surprise me." He started stepping closer to the microphone and opening his stance as if to welcome them all like a close friend or a relative. "I think this might be a record for lowest decibels in a room at this school, and we have been open for quite some time now. What was it, close to one hundred years at this point." he paused again, letting his opening speech sink into the crowd for a second. A few kids towards the front could be heard asking what a decibel was, and a short, not quite correct answer could be heard in turn. "We have gathered here, to congratulate a special person in this room-" he was cut off by a person from the left wing.

"Is it your birthday?" asked a boy, clearly a prankster. Lucus remembered him from one of the whisperers outside. One of those kids who manages to disrupt the classes of even the best teachers for a poorly crafted joke. "Because if so, happy seventy something birthdays." This was followed by the quiet clap of a high five. Not too many people laughed, but it was a considerable amount. The principal cleared his throat, carrying on.

"I'm sure you have all heard from word of mouth or seeing yourself, but recently, there was a large fire. Nobody died, thankfully, however if this was a story, you could only find one person in the middle of it all. He would surely be the protagonist." a few people had realized what this was for at this point, and there were, one or two audible groans from the stands. The loudest of them was from the same area as the comedian armed with witty jokes. They were pretty quiet, but you could still hear them. "You may know who I'm talking about. He performed a very heroic act of bravery, when left by a substitute in the classroom. She had believed it to be a drill, however this is no excuse for her actions. She left a child in potential harm that could have gotten him killed. Nonetheless, not only was he able to find his way out of the fast spreading flames on his own, but he was able to rescue an elementary school child, left behind in the commotion. When he could have escaped the other way, he chose not to, in favor of risking his own life for a boy he had never met. For that, I applaud him, and hope he can continue to set a good example for many more students to come." He paused, letting people clap. It was grand and Lucus was taken back once more. Ben grinned and elbowed Lucus, who was still in shock proudly.

"Great job, Lucus! I didn't know the whole story! You're a hero." Whispered Alicia shaking his shoulder. This snapped Lucus back to reality and he grinned ear to ear.

"May I please call Lucus- Just Lucus to the stage? Let's keep it going guys. Let's welcome our hero!" Hero. Lucus had never been called a hero before. He was usually treated with disdain, for being the blind guy, the extra, the burden. This felt new. It felt good and his heart was practically beating out of his chest. Ben pushed him up encouragingly and Lucus stumbled forwards. Each step to the staircase up to the stage felt like he was flying. His feet felt so light, like he might go up high and never come back down. It was as if the wings of the doves that visited the garden had suddenly gifted their wings to his shoes. He never wanted to come back to earth, but he forced himself to fall so that he could make his speech. The floating feeling didn't go away just yet, however. He was still touching the cotton candy clouds of pride, unable to force himself any lower. Each cheer was a gust of wind pushing him to fly closer to the sun and he did. Going back was out of the question. Gone, that was, until someone raised their hand to speak. He didn't wait. He called out when the clapping died down.

"He's only getting this because he's a blind freak! If any of us did that, we would be sitting at our desks right now, wondering how we would make up so much work!" The bird's gift was made of wax, and Lucus had flown too close to the sun. He fell, as if in slow motion. The pitted feeling of his stomach and pride thumping to the bottom of his stomach felt unbearable. Who was this kid to take it away?