The gentle chime of the brass bell announced the end of the day at Hilltop School. Timothy retrieved his backpack from his cubby and made his way out to the line for the school bus. As he stood in line, he heard Claude boasting to Fritz.
"I never have to ask for help."
As Timothy stood in line for the school bus, he thought about the journey home yesterday where Frank and Frank had noticed the picture of the bicycle Claude had.
"Hey, it doesn't have training wheels." commented Timothy.
"I don't need training wheels." Claude proclaimed.
"Training wheels are for little kids." said Doris.
"For Babies!"
"Yeah, Babies!"
Timothy chuckled awkwardly and repeated what Frank had said.
"Come on, Timothy. We're going, now!" called Henry.
"Oh, sorry!"
Timothy sat next to Charles. As the bus began to move, Timothy noticed that Charles looked upset.
"What's wrong, Charles?"
Charles didn't reply at first. He looked at Timothy and then back at Claude and sighed. "I wish I wasn't the smallest in the class. I always have to ask for help to reach things. It always makes me feel like I'm not good enough."
Timothy understood. He nodded. "I feel the same way sometimes, too."
Charles gave Timothy a small smile. "Thanks, Timothy. You're a good friend."
When Timothy got home, he couldn't stop thinking about his bike. Last night he had been preoccupied with hiding Pingy, his huggable toy penguin, from the Franks. Now he was worried that his friends would see that he still needed the training wheels on his bike, he hadn't learned how to ride without them.
"Dad, I want to get better at riding my bike."
"Well, the best way to get better at something is to keep doing it. I'm sure we can go to the park for a while if you want to go for a long bike ride."
Timothy nodded in agreement. Maybe if he practised riding some more, he'd soon feel ready to try and ride without the training wheels. He put his backpack in his room and picked Pingy up off the floor, and gave his stuffed penguin a hug. He then gazed at Pingy and spoke to him.
"Pingy, I think it's time for me to get better at riding my bike. I don't wanna be called a baby by my friends."
After he had placed Pingy back on his bed, Timothy went into the garage and looked at his bike. A little orange one he'd had for a couple of years, when he first started learning how to ride. How to pedal, how to steer, and how to stop. The only thing he hadn't learned yet was how to ride without the training wheels. Two little black plastic wheels attached to his bike on each side of the back wheel on metal brackets. He sat on his bike and pedaled around the empty garage, as he waited for Dad to join him.
A little while later, they reached Hilltop park. They stopped by a sign that showed a map of all the different paths that they could take.
"Let's try a path that's a little more challenging, today. We've already been along most of these easier paths."
"Sure, Dad! Let's go!" called Timothy, eagerly.
Dad got on his bike and rode behind Timothy for a while.
"Timothy, the best way to tackle a path like this is speed. Going slowly doesn't really work. I'm going on ahead, you can catch me up if you need to slow down."
"Okay, Dad!"
Timothy pedaled, but he just couldn't keep up. Something felt wrong, he could normally ride much faster than this. He kept trying, but after a few minutes he felt exhausted and had to stop. He puffed and panted as he sat astride his bike, all by himself. After he had recovered, he pumped his pedals, but his bike didn't move!
"Huh?"
Timothy stopped and then tried again, but still his bike didn't move no matter how hard he pedaled. He looked over his shoulder and saw the back wheel of his bike just spun round and round. The tire groaned noisily, unable to get any grip. The dirt path was muddy, and even though he was pedaling as hard as he could his bike didn't move, he just sat propped up by his training wheels.
"Oh no!" gasped Timothy. "Help! I'm stuck!"
But Dad didn't return. Timothy frantically kept trying to ride his bike, but it still wouldn't budge. No matter how hard he pedaled, the back wheel of his bike kept slipping in the mud.
As Timothy had to stop to catch his breath again, some older boys passed by him on their bigger bikes. Timothy recognized them as Doris' older brothers, Horace, Boris and Morris. He gulped as they looked down at him, they were much bigger than him. The last thing he wanted was for Doris' older brothers to call him a baby.
"Lookit little Timmy-Training-Wheels, here!" chuckled Boris.
"Having trouble, Timmy?" chuckled Morris.
"No! I, just stopped to rest a while." replied Timothy.
"Sure. We get tired out riding this path all the time." answered Horace, with a chuckle.
Boris and Morris chuckled, too.
"You do?" squeaked Timothy.
"Yeah, you gotta be really big to ride this path without getting tired, little Tim-Tim."
"Come on guys, let's go!"
"Yeah, the world doesn't run on Timmy-time! We got places to be!"
With that, the three bigger boys rode off down the path, laughing and joking as they usually did.
Timothy sighed with relief, but he still had the problem of his bike being stuck in the mud. He turned his pedals again, but still the mud refused to let him go. As Timothy looked over his shoulder again, another bigger boy was behind him on a really big bike. A fox wearing a red shirt.
"Are you alright? You look like you need some help." said the fox.
Timothy gulped as the fox left his bike leaning against a tree trunk and stood behind him.
"Uhh, haha, yeah. I don't know why my bike won't go!"
The fox inspected Timothy's bike and looked up at him with a smile. "It's okay, we can figure this out. Try pedaling again."
Timothy did so, but the back wheel of his bike just groaned as it kept slipping in the mud.
"Hmmm, maybe you just need a push."
"Wait!" protested Timothy, "Um..."
The fox smiled. "I'll be gentle, I promise."
Timothy smiled back. The fox stood behind him and put both of his hands on the saddle of Timothy's bike. Timothy felt the fox lean against him and his bike moved forward a few feet.
"Try again, now." said the fox.
Timothy turned the pedals and his bike moved.
"Hey! It worked! Thanks..."
But then it happened again. The back wheel spun out and Timothy's bike ground to a halt once more, with the back wheel spinning round and round as Timothy pedaled, and pedaled.
"Oh, no! I'm stuck again!"
The fox chuckled and stood behind Timothy, "It's okay. This path is really muddy."
"Is that why it's so hard for me?" asked Timothy.
"Probably."
Timothy's ears drooped. He wasn't big enough. This path was too difficult for him.
"Hey, don't cry. What's the matter?"
"I wanted to get better at riding my bike. I wanted to feel like I was big enough to try and ride my bike without my training wheels."
"Training wheels? Oh, you mean your stabilizers?"
"Huh?"
"That's what those little wheels are called where I come from."
Timothy tried to pedal again but just sat in place propped up by his training wheels.
"Maybe the mud really likes your training wheels. It wants to hug them and never let go."
Timothy giggled. "Yeah! Silly mud, I can't stay here all day pedaling and going nowhere!"
"My name is Robin." the fox introduced himself. "I just moved here from England. I haven't made any friends yet..."
"You have, now! I'm Timothy!"
Robin smiled. "Timothy, huh? Well, I'd love to be your friend."
But then came another question.
"How old are you?"
"I'm in Kindergarten, at Hilltop school."
"Yeah, I'm in fourth grade."
"So, I'm not big enough?"
"No! It's just, well, maybe I'm too big?"
Timothy shook his head. "You're a good friend! You didn't make fun of me, and you helped me just like a grown-up would. I like you."
"You know, Timothy, I kinda like you too."
The fox and raccoon gazed at each other with smiles on their faces.
"You can be my big buddy! I'd love to have a big buddy like you."
"Well, then, let's get you moving again, little buddy."
Timothy giggled as Robin called him 'little buddy' and turned the pedals on his bike again. Robin gave him a push until his bike regained enough traction to move with Timothy's pedaling.
Eventually, they found Timothy's dad near the end of the path, at the lake.
"Hey, I was wondering what happened to you. Was the path too difficult, Timothy?"
"Kinda. I kept getting stuck. But Robin helped me! He's my big buddy, now!"
Robin dismounted his bike and stood behind Timothy. He looked a little apprehensive.
"Don't worry, my Dad's super nice!"
Robin smiled at Timothy.
"Nice to meet you, kiddo. Thanks for helping my little guy."
"My pleasure." replied Robin, with a proud look on his face and a gentle sweep of his bushy tail.
"Would you like to come over to play, sometime?" asked Timothy.
"I'd love to!"
