#SOL14 - The Dumb One

"Could we do that?"

I look down at the magazine cover he's reading. An astronaut hovers above the Earth, seeming to stand just above the blue curve of our planet in the blackness of space.

"Hmm, do what?" I ask, leaning closer to inspect the magazine cover.

He looks at me, incredulous, flopping forward on his desk to rest his head in his hands.

"Stand on the Earth like that," a mumble comes from beneath his hoodie, which now covers his face.

"We are standing on the Earth, though."

"No, not like that," he says, lifting his head up to look at me again. He seems heavily weighed down, for a nine year old.

"Well, I don't know..." I begin.

"Well my teacher would know. I think you must be dumb," he turns over on his desk again, looking up at the ceiling. He could not possibly appear more bored with this conversation if he tried.

I fight back a grin.

"You think I'm dumb?"

"Yeah. You don't know very much. My teacher would know if we could do that. I'm gonna ask her when I get back to class."

We talk a little longer about Earth and space, but somehow the gravitas of our conversation doesn't seem to pull him in. By the time I walk him back to class he nearly soars through the halls, happy to be back in the comforting atmosphere of 'the smart one.'