Beneath the A

Dedicated to you,

who are reading this book right now :)

u Ditthania S

n rya

i

In the midst of dark rows and columns of apartments,

one room still lights up.

The rain adds coldness to the moonless night.

A serious looking boy is still awake tonight.

He isn’t a cheerful child, but today his mood is darker than ever.

Opened books and papers scattered around the table. He squints his eyes, tries to concentrate on the PSLE sample questions, but everything bounces off his mind.

His tiredness is gaining ground.

“I can’t sleep.

A, A, A, A, I must get an A tomorrow!!!”

He screams inside his head.

Every word adds on the ones before, swirling faster and faster, forming a dark cloud seeping out of his head.

Suddenly, he remembers something, something he has never told anyone, not even his parents.

“ I just hope that they will never find out,� the boy mumbles to himself.

He takes out a stack of exam results and flicks through them.

Most are A’s. but, there is one red-coloured C! It is the one he just got, and the one he is scared about.

“Mom and Dad will be angry!

They always want A. Without A, I am a failure.”

Suddenly, he hears a knock.

“Oh no! What should I do? Are they home? Why now?

I am in trouble!”

The boy panics.

He imagines the punishments he will get

Suddenly the door creaks open.

The boy drops his head, expecting his parents to nag him as usual.

But what he sees next makes his heart jumps.

He sees weird looking feet, engulf by dark clouds.

He looks up and screams, “Monsters!!! Don’t come near me!”

He freaks out and runs away, dark clouds hovering around his head and follows him.

He runs and runs,

out of his room,

out of his apartment unit into a dark alley.

Suddenly he trips and falls.

His shirt is drenched in sweat.

His head throbs badly.

Then,

the dark cloud encompasses him completely.

When he comes to his sense, he has lost the track of time.

And the scene around him looks weird.

“Argggh. Where am I?�

“What are they? What’s happening?”

Heaps of weird-looking creatures are groaning around him, competing to catch flying grey balls. It is so chaotic.

Their number grows and they start trampling each other.

They get angrier and shove each other, and push toward the boy.

Oh no! They are going to crush him!

Suddenly, a blue creature appears from behind and shouts, ”Hey guys, look! Go that way! It is more spacious and you can catch those grey balls there!”

The creatures exclaim happily!

They rush toward that direction.

Meanwhile, the blue creature approaches the boy.

“Are you okay?” it asks.

“Thanks for saving my life!” says the boy.

“You’re welcomed. My name is Betaendorphine.

You can call me Beta. What’s your name?”

“I am Boy. Anyway, what are you? What are they?” the boy asks.

“Don’t worry.

They are not going to harm you.

They are noradrenalines, and they are doing their job right now, picking up the thought balls!”

“Why are they picking up the thought balls? And where am I?” says the boy

“Let me tell you a story.....

When you were younger, there were 6 of us, neurotransmitters.

We carry the balls of messages throughout your neurons. And that’s how you can think and grow up.

However, as you grow up, the dull thought balls become a lot, and that’s why the Norad, how we call those noradrenalines, have to be sent here by the central locus. Those norads are in charged of those dull balls.

But...�

“There are just too many of them now. It has become so crowded and chaotic. Instead of working together, now we are competing with each other. There is no way we can fix this mess.”

The creature look into the boy’s eyes and continues, “However, you can fix this.”

One thing that i need you to do is to reduce the brain in creating the grey ball! As they are slowly produced, the rest of them here could catch the ball and travel the message normally

By the way, have I told you that you’re inside your own brain right now?

“How can I be in my own brain?

And how am I going to fix this?

Mom and Dad said I can’t do anything right!

As the boy answers, the number of grey balls increase again.

“Stop!

Please stop beating yourself.

You are creating one grey ball with every negative thought you have. Because you have been so down lately, your brain produces too many of them.�

The boy immediately shut his mouth.

and Beta continues explaining.....

“Beta may be right.

Maybe if I change my perception, things will change too.

If I don’t allow them to scare me, then they won’t scare me anymore.”

As he thinks that, his body starts to glow.

The glow reduces the brain’s production of grey balls and finally the norads catch them all and travel through the receptors happily.

have i told you that they are going back to normal???

Back to the real world,

Lurking from afar, the black cloud suddenly appears.

Holding the dreaded C score sheet, It slowly approaches the unconsious boy

Coming closer, the black clouds transition into 2 figures

They are boy’s parents!

Holding the boy tight to their arms, they slowly wake him “Boy, Ah Boy, wake up! Are you alright??!” they said.

They hug him tightly and he hugs them back.

He confesses, “I am so sorry. I got a C. I studied but that’s what I got. I am so sorry I disappoint you, but what you want from me is really tough.

I am so stressed. Mom, Dad, please help me.

Don’t put too much expectation on me.”

Mom and Dad look at each other. “I know I ask a lot from you... it is because I believe that you can do it. But seeing you like this, being too much pressured, I realize I am too much,� Mom says.

“I will try to be more understanding too,” Dad replies.

“Next time if you don’t understand something, come ask me, okay? Don’t be stressed on your own.”

That night, Mom and Dad realize that they need to understand their precious child. They promise to learn how to be open and care with each other even more.

Express your feeling!

After reading the story, I hope you are aware of the importance of self-care and positive mind for your own happiness. And now, I’d like to invite you to be like Boy!

In the next page, there is a blank page for you to write and fold into an envelope. Let’s express out your feeling to your parents. Tell them what you have been wanting to tell! But don’t forget to be polite :)

Congratulations! You have finished writing it! Take out the envelope below and give the letter to your parents! place it on their favorite place at home!

Circle the words!

Match the number from the definition page (on your right) to the coloum below and see the words that has been used in this books with the explanations! don’t forget to scan the definition page for further reading :)