Open Handstand Practice

[Millicent Abernathy]

Open after Tayla!

Millicent hadn't expected to miss her friends from school. They'd never really been friends, after all - more like people who played with her out of obligation. But she hadn't had to introduce herself to them; they'd grown up together, and as such were familiar with each other's odd quirks and habits. Like a week-old air freshener, they didn't notice them any more. Here, Millicent felt as if her whole soul was on display. She wanted to ask the girls to play with her - but what if they thought her games were silly? They were at big school now. Did that mean she had to grow up right away?

Feeling restless, she decided to take a walk across the great lawn. It was chilly, but the sun was shining and the ground was dry. When she came to a quiet spot between two trees, she shrugged off her jumper, spread it out on the grass, and attempted to do a handstand. She was a bit out of practice and toppled over after just a second, but she was sure she could get the hang of it again if she practised for a little while.

 

[Billie River]

Billie was walking through the great lawn, her head in the clouds. The only thought she had was about her brother, Lachlan. She missed him dearly and felt so out of place at this big school. The thought of her brother made her feel a bit lonely, having no one to talk to can do that to a person. Billie continues to walk across the great lawn not knowing where she wants to go. Soon she spots a girl just before she topples to the ground after an attempt of a handstand. Billie hadn't done one of those before, she's seen people try at her old schools but has never attempted to do it herself. As the feeling of lonliness grew heavier Billie made up her mind and decided to make at least one friend at this school and decided to approuch the girl.

Walking up to the trees the girl was at, Billie smiles her warmest smile as an attempt to look as friendly as possible. Not used to making introductions, or starting a conversation Billie kept to a simple start,

"Hi, I'm Billie, Nice to meet you."

 

[Millicent Abernathy]

Millicent was half way to the ground on attempt number two when somebody suddenly spoke to her. She stumbled forward to avoid falling on her face. Once she'd regained her balance she turned around, her cheeks so red that her freckles disappeared. "Oh. Hi," she said. Had the girl come to laugh at her for falling over? Or was she just being friendly? "I'm Millicent." She looked friendly, although that didn't necessarily mean she was. "Do you want to do handstands with me?" Millicent ventured after a second.

 

[Billie River]

Noticing Millicent’s hesitation Billie replies,”I would love to do handstands with you but... I don’t know how.”

Just to prove her point, Billie walks over to Millicent and try’s to do a handstand but undoubtedly fails and lands on her side, “Phew, how do you do that?!”

 

[Millicent Abernathy]

"Really?" said Millicent. She'd never met anybody who didn't know how to do a handstand. Before she could offer to demonstrate, Billie made a valiant attempt that ended much the same way hers had a minute earlier. Millicent laughed, not unkindly. "Don't worry, it takes practice. I used to be able to do really good ones, but now I'm rubbish. Put your leg forward like this, and then, like, roll onto your hands. And try to keep your legs straight in the air." She did another handstand then, managing to hold it for a good two seconds before landing back on her feet. She grinned. "OK, you try again."

 

[Billie River]

Billie followed Millicent’s instructions, lifting her legs up, rolling onto her hands and then keeping her legs straight. It seemed to go well at the beginning but half way through she started to topple over and landed, once again, on her side. Giving a grunt of annoyance, Billie stood back up and brushed herself off. It was getting a bit hotter in her jumper that she took it off and discarded it wear Millicent did to hers.

“Could I see you do it again? I don’t think I have the technique right.” Billie was slightly embarrassed that she never got to learning this difficult manoeuvre but she knew she was having fun all the while.