What I Love Most

by Stephen Stanford

It was a school day and Jamie was playing with his friends in the playground.

Soon the bell rang and the children hurried into class.

“Good morning children!” said Miss aloud as the children settled into their seats.

“Morning Miss!” replied the children together loudly.

Then Miss wrote something on the chalkboard.

‘What I love most…

“I’d like each of you to tell me what you love most.” asked Miss.

Jamie sat quietly and smiled as he watched the other children stretching their arms as high as they could and frantically shouting their answers.

“Shhh!” cried Miss “One at a time please!”

Molly was first to raise her arm.

“Ice-cream Miss” she shouted “What I love most is Ice-cream!”

Lucy, Emily and Samuel said that they loved Ice-cream too.

The children argued over which was the nicest flavour as Miss wrote

‘Ice-cream’

on the chalkboard.

Jamie sat quietly and thought about the ice-cream his Dad had bought him in the park at the weekend.

It was the biggest ice-cream he had ever seen and had lots and lots of coloured sugar strands on it.

It took ages to eat and was really cold but it was very tasty.

“Mmmm!” he thought licking his lips.

Jamie loved Ice-cream.

Next, Joanne raised her arm.

“Bugs Miss!” she giggled “What I love most are creepy crawly bugs!”

David and Simon agreed that bugs were pretty cool.

Some of the children made creepy crawly hand gestures and tried to scare the other children.

They cringed as Miss wrote

‘Bugs’

on the chalkboard.

Jamie sat quietly and thought about the bugs that he and his Mum had discovered in their garden at home.

There were spiders, ants, ladybirds and lots of other tiny creatures but his favourite were caterpillars.

They each had lots of legs and crawled very slowly.

His Mum told him about how caterpillars eventually change into butterflies.

Jamie loved bugs.

Alan raised his arm next.

“Football Miss!” he yelled “What I love most is football!”

Tommy Ryan and Rachel agreed. They often played football together after school.

The children taunted each other about who was the best team while miss wrote

‘Football’

on the chalkboard.

Jamie sat quietly and thought about when he and his Dad play football in the playing field.

He thought about how he usually scores lots of goals and that his Dad said he was a brilliant footballer.

Jamie loved football.

Hannah waved her arm in the air excitedly.

“Ice-skating Miss!” she yelled “What I love most is ice-skating!”

Rhian and Catherine joined in, equally excited.

All three had gone ice-skating together recently and had really enjoyed it.

They chatted to each other about it while Miss wrote

‘Ice-skating’

on the chalkboard.

Jamie sat quietly and thought about when his Mum had taken him ice-skating.

The floor of the ice-rink was very cold and slippery and they had to wear special shoes called ice-skates.

Some people fell over but Jamie remembered how his Mum held his hand tightly with one hand and held onto the wall with her other hand.

He thought about how they didn’t fall over, not even once and that his Mum must be a very good ice-skater indeed.

Jamie loved ice-skating.

Next to raise an arm was Richard.

“What I love most, Miss, are dinosaurs!” he roared “T-Rex is my favourite!”

The children screeched and roared dinosaur noises at each other and some imitated dinosaurs and chased each other around the classroom.

Miss told them to sit back down then wrote

‘Dinosaur’

on the chalkboard.

Jamie sat quietly and thought about when his Dad had taken him to the Natural History Museum.

There were lots of different things to see including skeletons of Dinosaurs.

They were massive and some were taller than houses.

His Dad had told him that Dinosaurs don’t exist anymore but had lived millions of years ago.

Jamie loved Dinosaurs.

Emily raised her arm next.

“What I love most Miss,” she said “is going to the cinema.”

The children chatted about their favourite films as Miss wrote

‘Cinema’

on the chalkboard.

Jamie sat quietly and thought about the time his Mum had taken him to the cinema.

There were hundreds of seats and the screen was huge. It was a million times bigger than the TV at home.

He thought about how everyone went quiet when the lights dimmed just before the film started.

He giggle to himself as he remembered some of the children kept chatting and their Mums and Dads kept saying “Shhh!” to keep them quiet.

Jamie loved the cinema.

By now everyone except for Jamie had told miss what they loved most.

Miss looked at him then asked “What do you love most, Jamie?”

Jamie thought about all the things he loved.

He thought about tasty ice-cream that his Dad had bought him in the park.

He thought about the tiny bugs he discovered with his Mum in the garden.

He thought about how he played football with his Dad and that his Dad said he was a brilliant footballer.

He thought about when he and his Mum went ice-skating and that his Mum held his hand tightly so that he wouldn’t fall over.

He thought about when his Dad had taken him to see the Dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum.

And he thought about when his mum had taken him to see a film at the cinema.

“Well?” asked Miss “What do you love most?”

Jamie slowly raised his arm.

“What I love most” he said thoughtfully “are…”

“my Mum,”

“and my Dad.”