David's Tantrum

David Stands in the classroom.
The world floats around Him like coloured balloons.
He holds on tight to the strings
Keeping them together.

Around Him words pass by
Sparkling in the air,
Then fading like shooting stars
He only glimpses some of them
Before they are lost below the horizon.

From somewhere in the room, his name passes by;
The woman with the red hair is making words again.
The words leave Her mouth and shatter in mid air;
Only the fragments reach him
The jumble of bits and pieces frighten and confuse him;
He is losing the connections.
Panic begins to rise in him,
Filling his stomach with a million wriggling worms.
He has let go of the strings and the balloons are drifting away.

By now there are hands on him,
Pushing and pulling.
The pressure of their touch is unbearable.
He begins to struggle, arms and leg flail.
The world is spinning by,
A thousand broken fragments.

It is a long time before the balloons return to him
And he can hold on to their strings again.

Later his teacher washes away frustration with coffee
"You can't control that boy ! I only asked him to sit down"