Muirkirk Road (first short story - 1995)

(class assignment)

The year was 1969. I was a first grader, flaxen-haired and blue-eyed. Like other first graders, I was apprehensive about attending school all day long. Adrift in a sea of faces, I often longed for the security of home. Many of my new classmates had brown skin, something I had seen before, but only at a distance. Mom referred to these people as "Negroes" or "blacks." The black kids lived on Muirkirk Road, in old houses and trailers. Fascinated with them, I quickly became friends with several of the girls in my class. But I was particularly taken with Bruce Morgan, the class clown. He was the most popular kid in our class, winning his many fans during recess with his impressions of Motown stars. I both envied and admired his talents.