I want to share three stories from my life. Just three stories.
All of them happened during my high school years.
One of the best times of my life—so far. Yes, I'm only 24, so there's still a lot ahead, but let me tell you.
When I was in high school, being immature, I felt invincible. I was one of the top students in class, and at the same time, I was also one of the most mischievous.
Honestly, I don’t regret my mischief; I wouldn’t do those things now, but I still enjoy recounting them, and I hope to bring a smile to your face with them.
The Skeleton in Science Class
Like in the movies (and real world), our school was lucky enough to have a skeleton for the natural sciences class.
The catch was that we didn’t have a lab, so the skeleton was moved from classroom to classroom for lessons with the teacher.
We had named him El Flaco (in English "The Skinny" , but let call it Skinner)and he was usually placed near a window that overlooked the courtyard where morning assemblies were held.
I don’t know who came up with the idea, but we decided to hang Skinner from the top floor where our classroom was.
In the afternoon, we sneaked out through the window that led to the courtyard, grabbed Skinner, and set him up in position.
Honestly, it looked really bad, but we couldn’t stop laughing.
The next day, no one realized that Skinner would be presiding over the morning assembly until, "coincidentally", the Principal walked into the courtyard and saw him.
No one could hold back their laughter; the Principal looked like she was possessed by the devil himself.
The morning meeting had to be canceled, and the witchhunt began. It took them two weeks to find us, and we all got two days of suspension.
At home, I was grounded pretty harshly.
I knew what I had done, but maked it with my friends at that moment was far more rewarding. I wouldn’t do it now.
That’s how we hung El Flaco.
Baseball in the Courtyard
The famous school courtyard couldn’t have been more than 100 square meters; all the action happened there. Physical education classes, assemblies, and even lunch took place in that space.
I remember that the Industriales (the local baseball team) were having a great championship season, and baseball became the focus among my friends.
So, why not hold a championship between classrooms?
We usually played what is now known as Baseball 5 (in Cuba, it was called "4 corners"), but this time, we were stepping it up.
Everyone brought their bats, we got some balls, and play ball! We kicked off the tournament!
All of this was done without the knowledge or organization of the teachers or school administration.
The tournament was going smoothly until the final game.
One of my friends, who was quite stocky and strong, hit the ball that nobody wanted.
It flew through the window of the Principal’s office (how could it be that during the improvised tournament, nobody had done this before, and it happened in the last game!!??).
We had been too lucky!
The baseball flew into the principal’s office, landing on her desk, shattering the glass and causing a commotion that alerted the entire school.
Time to Run, guys!
We dashed back to our classroom, tossed the bats and gloves out the window, hid the balls as best as we could, and held in our laughter.
The result was the same as with Skinner. Suspended! My second suspension in a year. My parent can't believed.
In my country, high school is practically mandatory (so you can’t get expelled)
The Flying Chickens
This anecdote happened a year before the previous ones.
My sister told us they would be having a lesson about Birds in their Sciences class.
Knowing the content of the lesson, one of my friends suggested that we make the chickens fly.
One of the claims in the lesson was that chickens couldn’t fly (which we all know). The teacher just kept repeating that statement without explaining why.
The plan: To grab the janitor’s chickens, take them up to the tree by my sister's classroom, and place them at that height—about 10 meters up.
It took us a while to get the chickens up there. We finally realized that with a rope and a cloth bag, we could do it faster.
Since we had escaped from our class, we only had 45 minutes to pull it off. My sister was watching from her window and knew what she had to do.
Class time came, and everything went as planned.
My sister later told us that the teacher had to end the class because the students couldn’t focus with the flying chickens.
Then we saw the Sciences teacher asking the principal if that could even be possible.
The Principal, who saw us laughing, had discovered our mischief.
To our surprise, we didn’t receive any punishment; instead, the principal started laughing with us. That was the only time this happened, we can't belivied that.
During that time, I pulled a lot of pranks; only my grades saved me. The truth is, I enjoyed every single one of those moments.
I didn’t know, but after finishing high school, life would change.
Many of my friends emigrated, others moved far away, or pursued careers very different from mine -such is life-
Everyone has taken their own path and lives in different situations, but despite everything, we remain friends and family.
Those pranks brought us together, creating a bond that has withstood the test of time and distance.
I’m not encouraging you to act mischievously or go against the rules; I’m just saying that sometimes it’s okay to do so, and above all, cherish your time with your loved ones.
Now I’m a completely different person with more maturity (We were a mess back in those days), but I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t lived and done those things.
Be happy with what you do, and if you do it with friends, even better.
There are still many stories to tell; three years provide plenty of material. For now, it’s your turn.
Do you have a story that you cherish from your high school days? Do you regret not having done something? What would you tell your grandchildren about this stage of your life?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Read you soon!
If you enjoyed what you read, I’d like to recommend these previous posts:
The Timeline
Race for Glory
And Old Fortress- La Fuerza
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