I’ve always been jealous of people who discover their talents early.
There was this kid in my middle school class named Karen. She drew nature scenes better than anybody.
Anytimetheschoolneeded pictures of flowers, vegetables, baked goods – or even background scenery for school plays – they called on Karen.
Sadly, she left school because the family moved back to their home state.
We often asked ourselves: Why did she have to leaf? Did she branch out into other types of art?
Then, there was the big question: If she specialized in paintingbreadonly,couldshe make a lot of dough?
AguynamedCharliecould swallow air, then burp for up to 45 seconds (we timed him). He saved his most spectacular outbursts for the cavernous auditorium. The sound echoed throughout the seats,andstudentsbrokeinto applause.
Charlie even bet several people that he could recite the alphabet in one burp. He mostly won, but occasionally ran out of gas at “w.”
Dan – who moved out of town in fifth grade – brought his pet parakeet Gertrude to show-and-tell. He asked the bird questions, and Gertrude replied with short answers.
Dan even entered her in the talent show, which Gertrude won by singing “Surfer Bird.” But during that performance, a teacher noticed that the bird’s mouth never moved.
It turned out the real Gertrude had flown away, and this bird was a silent imposter. Dan spent so much time training the parakeet, he became a first-rate ventriloquist.
Thejudgesdisqualifiedthe bird imposter for singing. But they awarded Dan a special recognition for Fowl Sounds.