Don’t Be Dull, Dull Don!

Written by Penny Kao

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Words Counted: 2366

Words in Oxford 3000: 91%

About the Authur

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Penny Kao, who was born in 1986, Taipei County, was

an aborigine beauty of Paiwan tribe of Tai-Tong. She was a

girl who loves singing and dancing, and she had many

experiences of dancing shows. She was a student of English

Department in Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, and

her minor was French. She was fourth year student when

she wrote her first novel, Don’t Be Dull, Dull Don in 2006;

and her English Writing Class teacher was Mr. Smith, who

made her love to write.

Table of Contents:

Chapter I: Don Lee, Done Dully…p 5

Chapter II: Endless Bleeding… p 10

Chapter III: Mom, Nobody Help Me… p 14

Chapter VI: I’m Here If You Need ME… p 19

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Chapter V: Dull Don Turned Into a Hero…p 26

Chapter I: Don Lee, Done Dully!

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“Dull Don, done dully, why is your name Don Lee,

why are you dull and done dully?” a little child sang

out loud, and other were laughing. Don Lee, was the

one who sat silently in the corner, crying. He was a

third year student in elementary school with big,

thick glasses. He was always the last in class, he

moved slowly, thought slowly; therefore his

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classmates called him dull Don. He was too shy to

convey his feelings in words, and he was also too shy

to speak in front of people. Therefore, his

classmates would easily forget of his existence.

“Dull Don! You again! Don’t be in that way!” “Hey, get

out of our way!” “Yup, we don’t mean to attack you,

that’s because you stand right there and we don’t

know that you’re there.” “By the way, what if I don

mean or not mean to do that?” His classmates

looked at each other, laughed and left.

There were more things than that. Don also

cringed down all the activities because he knew

that his classmates did not like him. He did not hate

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them and he accepted that but he thought that if

they were happy, he would feel alright. Therefore,

he was always silent, never showing his expression.

But his impish classmates did not think so; they

like to play pranks on him having fun. “Dull Don, dull

Don, can’t you see? Wow~ now he’s more handsome

without glasses! Dull Don, come on take a guess,

where is your glasses? In whose hands?” One

student said. “No, please, give that back to me,”

Don said. “Hurry up! Guess! Or you’ll never see your

glasses again,” another student said menacingly.

“Yes, and if you guess incorrect, we won’t give that

back to you,” yet another student said, and they

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laughed.

It was not only his classmates who disliked him,

but also his teacher not being nice to him. Once

while he was on the stage and was asked to recite a

text; he could not complete a sentence because he

would have a speech impediment. His teacher lost

her patience, beat his head and scolded him, “Get

down of the stage, you stupid ninny! I’ve had enough

of you.” He was quite used to the kind of unpleasant

things that happened to him, and that happened

everyday.

It was not only the teachers who disliked him,

but also some hard working classmates who always

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got high scores were unwilling to take any notice of

him; excepting for having fun. Who else would want

to be around with such kind of person who was

always having mouth opened, or care about such a

fool’s feeling?

Chapter II: Endless Bleeding

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“Sweetheart, don’t be scared when you have the

nosebleed. It will never help if you’re nervous. Calm

yourself and try to relax. Then face upward, sit

down and nip your nose, take out the tissues to wipe

the blood until it has stopped.” Don easily had a

nosebleed, and he was used to it after he followed

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his mother’s order for many times and was not

afraid of the nosebleed.

It was so hot in September. After having two

gymnastic classes, Don felt dizzy and began to have

a nosebleed. He used his hands to cover his nose

but somehow the nosebleed leaked out from his

hands. All of his tissues were used up, and he still

could not stop bleeding! “I could feel the warm

blood flowing back into my throat,” Don thought

covering his nose, all his blood filtered out from his

hands down his shirt. “Could you… give… give me

some tissues?” Don tried to clam himself asking his

classmate, Debby, though he knew that he must

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scared her. “Ahhhhh!! Why does he bleed so much

blood? His shirt is all of red for the blood!! How

scary!! The girls in his class ran away and shouted

loudly. “Ah, please don’t leave… hey… please, it’s

nothing. I just want some tissues, and… and…

everything is going to be alright... please… just

some tissues…” Don begged, but when he

approached them, almost everybody ran. The boys

in his class also cried, “Oh my gosh, it’s so

disgusting! Get away! Get away!” At that moment,

he was helpless and sad. His tears welled up in his

eyes and ran down his face. His classmates hid

further away from him because he looked much

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more dirty, disgusting and dull.

After a while the teacher came and called Don’s

mother. Don sat in the Health Center, facing

upward and waited for his Mom to arrive.

Chapter III: Mom, Nobody Helped Me…

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On the way home, Don was quiet and thinking;

sometimes his tears ran out from his eyes. He just

wiped them quickly worrying that his Mom would

see. When they got home, Don’s Mom helped Don

bathe. Don looked at his Mom and thought, “My

Mom is always nice to me, and she is so mild and

attentive. It is so nice to stay home… Yes, not like

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in school… I don’t want to go to school anymore…”

He thought of the days that he was bullied by his

classmates. After his Mom helped him put on his

pyjama, Don could not help it and began to cry. He

cried and asked, “Mom! Why… why didn’t anybody

want to help me when I have a nosebleed… woo…”

His mother was also sad about his apathetic

classmates, and it was so hard to answer anything

to him. What was she supposed to say to her baby

to make him feel better?

“But on the other hand, I don’t want it to

happen again,” his Mom thought. After thinking, she

said, “Sweetheart, they didn’t help you because

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they’re so young, they don’t know what to do about

it. They went away because they have never seen so

much blood before and they were afraid. Well,

after that you realize how much you need other’s

help, don’t you? From now on, if you know that your

classmates need help, don’t be afraid, just go and

help them. If you face something that you can’t

handle, go to your teachers or the adults to solve

the problem. Remember, my sweetheart, don’t care

about what they have done to you, just be yourself

and try your best to help other people, Okay? Could

you promise Mom that you can do that?”

Don nodded without any hesitation, and gave his

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Mom a big smile. His mother felt so sad and thought,

“my kind boy.” “That’s my good boy,” Don’s mother

said, and placed her hand on his head, “Good night,

Mom.” “Good night, my sweetheart. Have a nice

dream.” She smoothed the comforter, adjusting it

carefully about Don’s neck, and kissed him.

There was a sigh from the bathroom. The red

on Don’s uniform made her cry. She washed his

uniform feeble; at the same time she imagined her

son helplessly lying face up in his seat and his eyes

were full of tears, not knowing what to do with his

endless nosebleed. “I don’t understand why they’re

so cold? Is it so hard to hand over tissues? Does it

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cost a thing to care about other people? That’s my

son, my baby, how could you…” She was anxious

about how her son’s life would be and could not help

being weep. Her tears fell into the basin, which was

mixed blood and water; while her son that she

appeased was sleeping so well.

Chapter IV: I’m Here If You Need Me

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The next day, Don went to school as usual, and

was used to his classmates played tricks on him.

Sometimes the kind classmates talked to him just

in a couple of sentences, and that could make him

feel happy all day. Though his mother was not so

happy about his son’s complacence, but she smiled.

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The weather was turning coldly; the heavy rain

had rained for many days. When the rain is over,

the sky cleared up that day. There was a small pool,

which accumulated rain near by the school on their

way home. There were many polliwogs swimming in

the small pool. The small pool was dug for

transplanting a tree, about four feet deep. It was

replaced of rainwater for many days, about now it

was stuffed with garbage. Many students were

passes by there would approach the putrid pool and

trying to catch the polliwogs. Every little child was

pushing and shoving over approaching toward the

small pool. Debby, the class leader of Don, was in

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the crowd, too.

While she rushed to catch the polliwogs, she

tumbled into the putrid pool, which was full of mud.

“Ahhhh,” Debby screamed. The children around the

pool were taken aback by hearing the screaming.

“What happened?” a student asked. “I don’t know, it

seems somebody has fallen down.” Another student

answered. “Look, there she is!! Who is she… oh my,

is she Debby?” “What?!!” They saw Debby

struggling in the pool. A smelly scent was swept

around by the wind and spread out. Everybody

smelt and felt disgusting. May of them ran away and

said, “ohhh, what a nasty smell!!” “Ohhhhh, I want

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to throw up.”

Don looked at the scared face of Debby in the

putrid and dirty pool. She was standing right in the

pool and did not do anything and did not speak. She

also could not climb up to the ground. But there was

nobody wanted to help her, and he thought about

the day that he had the experience with his

nosebleed. “Remember, my sweetheart, don’t care

about what they have done to you, just be yourself

and try your best to help other people”, his mom’s

words ran to his mind, giving him encouragement to

pull Debby from the pool. The girl he saved was in a

so bad dilemma that he could not even recognize.

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She was the most beautiful girl who always wore

a glowing uniform, so proud and never even looked

at him at once, and now was crying so disappointedly.

The other students looked at her from head to

feet, thinking about what a dirty girl. They moved

backward and worried that they would get dirt if

she contacted them. They had forgotten that she

was their class leader, and how many contests she

had won.

Only Don departed from his normal behavior,

taking off his white shirt quickly and wiping dirt

from her face or in her hair. He took out his

favorite handkerchief for her to wipe her tears.

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The handkerchief was his birthday present, which

was given to him by his mother. He never used it

before; but now it was just like a duster in Debby’s

hand. Debby looked at Don’s eyes and said with

appreciation, “thank you, Don.” That was the first

time she spoke to him. “It’s nothing. You’re,

welcome,” Don said gently with broken words.

Other children around them were impressed by

what Don had done. They approached Debby and

Don, some of them helped Debby to take her bag,

and others gave Debby comfort. A row of children

walked to Debby’s home, hand in hand, under the

sunset.

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Chapter V: Dull Don Turned into a Hero

A few days later when Debby’s mother went to

the school president, Don was cited for bravery in a

morning rally. Debby was asked to go on the stage

to share the experience, in which Don had helped

her.

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“I fell into the pool, and nobody wanted to help

me, and, most of them just ran away from me…

while Don helped me, I was really very disgusting.

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Nobody wanted to get close to me… But Don did. He

didn’t leave me alone… He was there… He took off

his shirt, and, and wiped the dirt for me…” Debby

wept, “I’m so sorry, Don. I ask myself why I was so

rude to you… I repent my folly, Don. Please forgive

me… And, and thank you, you’re really very kind,

thank you very much… Thank you…”

All the students were silent. Their hearts were

warm like lying under the sunshine. Jealous, envy,

nitpickings, discontenting to life, careless and

imprudence, all disappeared in a moment. They had

love, beauty, kindness, peace and righteousness in

their heart. They could help anybody just like Don

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had done.

Since that day, nobody had ridiculed Don, and

nobody had called him “Dull Don”. Although he still

had a nervous stammer, everybody listened to what

he had said patiently. The teacher was kind to him,

too. Gradually, he had begun to know other

classmates, and they also approached playing with

him.

Facing totally different situations of good or

bad fortune, he was so happy that he did not have

to remember what they used to do to him.

Definitely, the happiest person had been his

mother. She had such an angelic and ingenuous son,

who could finally open his heart and be ready to

accept the world.

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Prologue

Don Lee, who was the last in class with thick glasses,

was a third year student in elementary school. He moved

slowly, thought slowly; therefore his classmates called him

dull Don. One day, he had a nosebleed and all his tissues

were used up. He soon covered his nose, all his blood

filtered out from his hands down his shirt…

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