Celeste+Simmons　李笑

Jake was an awkward child. When he was born， he was small， pale， and thin. As he grew， his physical make-up1） became part of his identity.

He was okay with the school work. He was an average student. He did his homework and tried to do his best. But there was one part of the school day that he hated more than anything： P. E. class.

Every day， there was a new sport that they had to play， and every day it was the same result. He would find another sport he couldn't play every single day. One of the most embarrassing moments of P. E. class was when they picked teams. One by one， the team captains would select who they wanted to be on their team. Jake was the last kid， every time. He never got picked. The students snickered at it. Jake almost became numb2） to the whole experience.

The next day， he went to school like usual. This day seemed to be like every other day. When it came to be the hour of the P. E. class， he took the long walk as he always did. He noticed that the normal P. E. teacher wasn't there that day. They had a substitute teacher.

"Hi， kids. I'm Mr. Johnson. I'm going to be filling in3） for Mr. Glass while he is out. If someone wants to suggest something that we should play for the hour， I'm open to suggestions，" he said.

All of the boys started yelling out answers. You heard the typical answers of baseball， soccer， football， etc. Nothing was new. Since Jake was standing at the end of the line and wasn't talking to anyone， he raised his hand. No one else was even paying attention to Jake.

Mr. Johnson saw his hand. "Do you have an idea？" He asked Jake.

"Yes， I do. I want to do something different. Let's play King of the Playground，" Jake suggested.

"Tell us how to play. That could be a fun game，" Mr. Johnson replied.

Jake explained the rules to everyone. "It's similar to hide and seek and freeze tag4）. The challenge of the game is to keep the flag while everyone is trying to steal it. You can't be tagged out， unless the flag is in your hand. There are no teams， since everyone is playing to be king." He kept them interested as he went into more details.

He told them that you have to get to the top of the playground playset with the flag， before getting tagged out， then wave it and say， "I'm King of the Playground！"

Everyone's face lit up. Everyone wanted to be king！

Mr. Johnson nodded his head in agreement. "That sounds great. Let's play！" Mr. Johnson went to get the flag from the supply closet. Then， everyone followed him outside to the playground.endprint

On the way out， several kids were patting Jake on the back for his great idea. Other kids were trying to form an alliance with Jake so that they could get the upper hand. Jake felt like a celebrity. Everyone was talking to him now. It felt great！

At the playground， Jake devised5） a strategy as he watched the jocks6） tag the slower kids. Jake crept around to the playset， slowly， taking his time. His strategy was to be unseen， to be ignored， as they always had done. He stayed low， like a wild cat stalking7） its prey.

One by one， the kids were tagged， leaving only two kids left to play， and Jake. They were running as fast as they could toward the playset， while Jake reached the platform on the back side. No one noticed that he was now inside the tube slide. They were too busy running around！

The last two kids were racing for the top on the steps that went up into the playset. Just then， the holder of the flag threw it， so that the other boy wouldn't tag him out. He threw it to the top of the steps of the playset！ Jake quickly came out of the tube slide， lunged8） for the flag， and grabbed it. The boy closest to the flag reached out for it， but it was too late. The second boy just stopped and stared. Jake took three steps onto the platform and yelled， "Jake Flynn is King of the Playground！"

It had finally happened！ Jake won a game！ He was good at something！ No one had noticed him as he crept over to the playset. No one had paid attention！ The one thing he hated allowed him to win in the end.

As all the kids went inside， everyone was laughing and talking about how much fun it was. They were all smiles9）. Even Jake， King of the Playground.

杰克是個(gè)笨拙的小孩。他出生時(shí)身形瘦小，膚色蒼白。隨著他慢慢長(zhǎng)大，這種體格成了他的一部分特征。

他在學(xué)業(yè)方面表現(xiàn)還可以，屬于成績(jī)中等的學(xué)生。他做家庭作業(yè)，并盡最大的努力做好。但是，每天的上學(xué)時(shí)間里，總有一段最讓他討厭，那就是體育課。

他們每天都必須玩一種新的運(yùn)動(dòng)，每天的結(jié)果也都一樣——他又會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一種他不會(huì)玩的運(yùn)動(dòng)，天天如此。體育課上最令他尷尬的時(shí)刻之一就是他們挑人組隊(duì)的時(shí)候。隊(duì)長(zhǎng)們會(huì)一個(gè)接一個(gè)地挑選自己想要的隊(duì)員。每次杰克都是被挑剩下的那個(gè)。他從來(lái)都沒(méi)有被選中過(guò)。同學(xué)們對(duì)此暗中譏笑，而杰克對(duì)這種經(jīng)歷幾乎都變得麻木了。

第二天，他像往常一樣去上學(xué)。這一天似乎要跟以往的每一天一樣度過(guò)。到了上體育課的時(shí)間，杰克像以往一樣走著這段讓他覺(jué)得十分漫長(zhǎng)的路。他發(fā)現(xiàn)原來(lái)的體育老師這天沒(méi)在，有另一個(gè)老師代替他上課。

“嗨，孩子們，我是約翰遜先生。我會(huì)在格拉斯先生外出的這段時(shí)間替他上課。如果有同學(xué)想對(duì)這節(jié)體育課我們?cè)撏媸裁刺峤ㄗh，那我非常愿意接受。”他說(shuō)。

所有的男生都開(kāi)始大聲回應(yīng)。你能聽(tīng)到那些常見(jiàn)的回答，如棒球、足球、橄欖球等，沒(méi)一個(gè)有新意的。杰克由于站在隊(duì)尾，也沒(méi)有跟任何人說(shuō)話，于是舉起了手。其他同學(xué)甚至都沒(méi)有注意到他。

約翰遜先生看到了他舉起的手?！澳阌邢敕▎?？”他問(wèn)杰克。

“是的。我想玩一些不同的東西。我們來(lái)玩‘操場(chǎng)之王吧?！苯芸私ㄗh。

“給我們講講怎么玩，這估計(jì)是個(gè)有趣的游戲?！奔s翰遜先生回答。

杰克給所有人解釋了規(guī)則?！斑@個(gè)游戲類似于捉迷藏和冰凍追人游戲。它的難點(diǎn)就在于，要在所有人都努力偷走旗子的時(shí)候保住旗子。就算被別人拍到也不會(huì)出局，除非旗子在你的手里。這個(gè)游戲不分隊(duì)，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人玩游戲都是為了成為操場(chǎng)之王?！苯芸死^續(xù)講了更多的細(xì)節(jié)，他的話令大家興趣盎然。

杰克告訴他們，必須要在被拍到而出局之前拿著旗子到達(dá)操場(chǎng)游樂(lè)設(shè)施的最高處，然后揮舞旗子大喊：“我是操場(chǎng)之王！”

所有人都精神為之一振，人人都想成為操場(chǎng)之王！

約翰遜先生點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭表示贊成?！奥?tīng)起來(lái)很不錯(cuò)，我們來(lái)玩吧！”約翰遜先生去用具貯藏室里取來(lái)了旗子。然后，所有人都跟著他到了外面的操場(chǎng)。

在去操場(chǎng)的路上，好幾個(gè)孩子都因杰克的這個(gè)好主意拍拍他的后背。其他的孩子也設(shè)法跟杰克結(jié)伴，以便能占得上風(fēng)。杰克覺(jué)得自己像個(gè)名人，現(xiàn)在所有的人都在和他說(shuō)話。感覺(jué)太棒了！

在操場(chǎng)上，杰克看著體育好的同學(xué)拍到那些比他們跑得慢的孩子，想出了一招。他慢悠悠地悄悄繞到游樂(lè)設(shè)施區(qū)，并不著急。他的策略就是不讓自己被看到，讓自己被他人忽略，就像以往同學(xué)們經(jīng)常做的那樣。他放低身體，就像野貓?jiān)谧呓墨C物一樣。

一個(gè)接一個(gè)地，孩子們都被拍到而出局了，除了杰克，只剩下另外兩個(gè)孩子在玩。他們以最快的速度跑向游樂(lè)設(shè)施區(qū)，而杰克此時(shí)已經(jīng)到達(dá)了后方的平臺(tái)。沒(méi)有人注意到他現(xiàn)在正藏在管狀滑梯里。他們都忙著跑來(lái)跑去！

最后剩下的兩個(gè)孩子都在通往游樂(lè)設(shè)施的臺(tái)階上快速地沖向最高處。就在那時(shí)，拿著旗子的孩子把旗子扔了出去，這樣另一個(gè)男孩就沒(méi)法讓他出局了。他把旗子扔到了游樂(lè)設(shè)施臺(tái)階的最高處！杰克迅速?gòu)墓軤罨堇锍鰜?lái)，猛地沖向旗子，抓住了它。最靠近旗子的男孩伸手想要去搶，但為時(shí)已晚。另一個(gè)男孩就只是停下來(lái)看著。杰克跨過(guò)三個(gè)臺(tái)階爬上了平臺(tái)，大喊：“杰克·弗林是操場(chǎng)之王！”

終于如愿以償了！杰克贏了一場(chǎng)比賽！他還是有所擅長(zhǎng)的！當(dāng)他躡手躡腳地到達(dá)游樂(lè)設(shè)施上時(shí)，沒(méi)有人看見(jiàn)他。所有人都沒(méi)去注意他！這件曾令他討厭的事情讓他最終贏得了勝利。

當(dāng)所有的孩子走進(jìn)教室時(shí)，每個(gè)人都邊笑邊談?wù)撝@個(gè)游戲有多么好玩，他們都笑容滿面。就連杰克這個(gè)操場(chǎng)之王也是如此。endprint