Page 103 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

The Making of a Man
“There comes a time,” the Mouse Queen explained as she untangled Reggie from her apron strings, “when a young mouse must prove himself.” (I know, I know, Queens don’t have aprons, but work with me here. This is a MOMENT OF IMPORT. A rite of passage. The boy’s being booted out.)
Standing alone in the full light that filtered into the clock from the brightly lit landing, Reggie cringed and waited, hiding in the corners and shadows where he had grown up. In fact, he tried to slip back into the folds of his mummy’s skirts, but a not-so-gentle kick of her size elevens nudged him back to stand alone, on his own. And alone is how he felt.
Imagine being the last one to stand on stage and quote your poem before the entire school, after everyone else had done theirs and no one has made a mistake. And now you are up there, before the principal and everyone – parents, teachers, classmates, and even the janitor! And for the life of you, you cannot remember how your poem begins. That’s how Reggie felt. Except that for him, the school bully was
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