Hula Hoop Exhibition

Twenty-four hula hoops lay in tidy rows on the pavement.  Each hula hoop encircled an eager first-grader waiting for the PE teacher to blow his whistle.  Parents crowded around the edge of the pavement waiting for the exhibition to begin.

On the end of one row, Isaiah, nervously chewed on his knuckles.  Lots of people were watching and he didn’t want to be the first one to drop his hoop.  Once he had kept it going for 15 seconds, but his was still one of the first to touch the ground.  Maybe if he tried putting one foot in front of the other that would help him rock better.

At the teacher’s command, Isaiah picked up his green hula hoop and held it in both hands.  “Tweeeet” went the teacher’s whistle and 24 hula hoops began spinning.  Shortly thereafter the first ring hit the pavement, then another and another.  But Isaiah’s hoop kept right on spinning.

The teacher called out, “One minute!” but Isaiah’s plastic ring kept its orbit.  He heard the teacher yell “Two minutes!” and still he kept that hoop flying.  Isaiah couldn’t keep the grin off his face.  He was doing it!  And just when he checked to see if anyone saw how well he was doing, the ring slipped down over his knee and fell to the ground.  Never mind…he had figured it out!