Hector was a young boy with many dreams. He hoped dearly to become a successful, well-off adult with a loving family. He yearned to be a fireman, like so many boys his age. However, Hector was a rebellious boy. He would disobey his parents and teachers solely to irk them. He flaunted their rules, believing them to only be conditioning and mind control.
One day, Hector heard a teacher say, "Don't run with scissors." Hector thought this was a silly rule. There were many things more dangerous to run with, like knives and flaming batons. Bedsides, scissors were safe as long as they were closed. So Hector grasped a pair and set off at a lively pace.
"Hector, don't run with scissors!" pleaded his teacher, Mrs. Wright. Hector laughed and continued running, assured in his safety. He bounded out of school and around the neighborhood, followed from a distance by his astonished classmates.
Then Hector tripped on a skateboard which lay across the sidewalk. He flew forward and landed on the scissors. They eviscerated his stomach and went all the way thorough to his spine. He screamed in agony and attempted to rise, but he could not move his legs.
Susie Jamieson, four years of age, observed all this from across the road. She began to run to Hector, desiring to help the miserable boy. Unfortunately, Susie did not look both ways before crossing the street, and thus was struck by a motorcar and killed instantly.
Mrs. Wright and her class stood nearby. The teacher turned towards her students and shook her head.
"This is the fate of those who do not follow the safety rules."
An ambulance was called, and Hector was taken to the hospital. It was determined that he was suffering from multiple lacerations and paralysis from the waist down. "Woe is me!" he cried. "For to be sentenced to life in a wheelchair, that is my fate, and all of my own doing! I should have heeded those older and wiser."
Hector's mother died before she could see his school graduation. He spent his years working at a series of low-paying secretarial jobs, never becoming a fireman as he had dreamed of in his youth. No woman ever loved him, either disgusted by his handicap or his childhood recklessness. Hector died when he was 39, bitter and alone.
All little boys and girls should obey their elders.
