Where I live: cities

Read by Kevin Harvey

It was nearly the end of the school day, and Mr Jones was writing 4W’s homework up on the board. “Remember!” Mr Jones said, “I’d like you all to write something about living in a city. Why you like it, and why you wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.” 

The classroom bubbled with excitement and chatter, and Kyle watched as all his friends talked noisily about the places that they loved. Kyle felt his heart sink deep in his chest. He hated living in a city. In fact, he couldn’t think of one thing that he liked about it. “Sir,” Kyle said. “There’s nothing I like about living in a city. It’s not fun or exciting.” The classroom went quiet. “Ah,” Mr Jones said, “That’s not true. There are so many interesting places to visit, so many wonderful things about living in a city. You just have to look closely.”

Kyle didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to look closely, and he didn’t want to listen to Mr Jones. You see, Kyle had lived in this city for eight whole years, and he was certain, more than anything, that he would never find a single thing that he liked. Kyle wished more than anything that he lived somewhere else: somewhere hot, like Greece, or Spain. Somewhere that had lots of different people and lots of different things going on.

The next day, which was Saturday, Kyle sat down at the kitchen table and tried to do his homework. He thought about what Mr Jones had said, about looking closely, but when Kyle got up and stared out of the large kitchen window all he could see were thick, grey clouds. “Typical!”  Kyle thought. And all he could think of were the bad things about living in a city: it was noisy, there was rubbish everywhere and it never stopped raining.

Kyle began to feel very frustrated. “It’s no use!” Kyle said, putting his head in his hands. But he knew that if he didn’t get his homework done, then he would be in serious trouble with Mr Jones. “Mu-uuum,” Kyle shouted. “What is it, love?” Asked Kyle’s mum. “Mr Jones has asked us to write about why we like living in a city, but I can’t think of anything. I hate it,” said Kyle. Kyle’s mum smiled. “Come on!” she said. “I’ll show you why living in a city is so great.”

Kyle and his mum climbed to the top deck of the bus. Kyle liked to sit right at the front, so he could pretend he was the one driving. “That’s another good thing about living in a city,” said Kyle’s mum. “You can get a bus or a train anywhere.” Kyle shrugged. He liked buses and trains, but they weren’t exciting.

Kyle’s mum pressed the bell, and the two of them got off the bus. Kyle was certain that his mum wouldn’t be able to change his mind. After all, he’d lived in this city for eight whole years and he’d never seen anything exciting.

Soon, they were standing on a busy street, crammed with shops and market stalls. Kyle stopped at one of the stalls selling vegetables. “What’s this?” Kyle asked the African grocer. He was pointing to something that looked like a large potato. “It’s a yam. It tastes delicious boiled, or you can cook it in a spicy soup.” “Wow,” Kyle thought. He’d never even seen a yam before. Kyle moved on to the next stall, which was full of brightly coloured material. “What’s this?” Kyle asked the Indian woman. “It’s a lovely colour.” The woman smiled. “It’s a wedding dress. On their wedding day, a lot of Asian brides like to wear something red and sparkly.”

Kyle’s eyes widened. There were so many things he hadn’t seen before. He didn’t even feel like he was in his own city. Kyle felt like he’d been transported to a different world. “What would you like to do now?” Asked Kyle’s mum. “We could go to the cinema, or for pizza, or we could go bowling?” Kyle was spoiled for choice. “You see,” laughed his mum. “That’s another good thing about living in a city. There are so many things to do, and everything is so close by.”

Kyle hadn’t thought about this before, he didn’t realise how lucky he was to have so many things to choose from. “I’d like to go for pizza,” Kyle said, finally.

Kyle and his mum walked back towards the bus stop, but just as they got there it started to rain. A car drove past, right into a puddle and splashed them both, but Kyle just laughed. He didn’t mind so much anymore. “I can’t believe I’ve lived here for eight whole years,” he said, “and I never realised just how great it is before!”

Kyle's City was written by Danielle Jawando