The Race

David: My name’s David. I’m going to tell you all about my best mate, Neil. I met Neil at nursery school. He was totally different from all the other kids in my class. He wasn’t boring, or a mummy’s boy.

David: I liked him straight away.

Teacher: Now now, Neil, calm down. Now, now.

David: Neil did have a bit of a bad temper, but both my mum and my teacher said, 'It’s part of his condition', whatever that meant. My mum even called him 'special' once. Special to me - my best mate. 

Neil: Oi!

David: When we started school, me and Neil were put in the same class. It caused a lot of trouble for my teacher, because Neil kept running around when she was trying to teach us something. He made the class a better place to be in.

Girls: Hi, Neil!
Neil: Hi.
Girls: Are you coming to the park later?
Neil: Yeah.
Girls: Are you coming to the park later … to play football? Are yous coming to the park?
Boys: Yeah.
Neil: I’ll see yous later then, right?

David: Where’ve you been?

David: Once I got blamed for something I never did.

Teacher: David!

David: And got taken to the headmaster. And got told off. And had to sit in the corner of the class for a whole lesson. Neil said he was going to sit with me, and he did. But the teacher got mad, and told him to move back to his seat. He still stayed with me, and got into lots of trouble. That’s what you call a best mate. All through junior school me and Neil were always together. But Neil’s temper to the other kids and the teachers got worse.

Teacher: Look, David’s in trouble for his own reasons. You don’t need to go and get involved. Come on, come and sit down. Neil, I don’t understand why you’re doing this, what’s … what’s the problem?

David: When we were going to secondary school, Neil said I probably wouldn’t want to know him when we got there.

Neil: I’m just saying, we’re not going to be mates forever, you know.

David: Because lots of kids go and meet new mates.

Neil: And you’ll make new mates, in a new school.

David: And I thought that’d never happen, ever.

David: We both went to our new school. And after being there for a bit, they put Neil in a special part of the school, to help him concentrate better, which meant I hardly ever got to hang around with him any more.

David: I did make lots of new mates, but I hardly ever saw Neil. I wondered how Neil was getting on.

Teacher: Right then, Neil, let’s see how you’ve been getting on with your reading, then mate. Very good. Very good. OK, well done, mate, keep it up.

David: Then it was the day of the big race. Everyone would be there, including Neil.

Chatting student 1: Oh my god ... Oh my god , that is so sick ...
Chatting student 2: It’s going to be proper. I can’t, I can’t, move any faster.
Chatting student 1: Is it going to be like six miles or something?
Chatting student 2: Or twenty! I’m just saying ...
Chatting student 1: Ah, here they come.

David: When Neil came over to the field, they started to laugh and say nasty things about him. My mate, who had always been there for me.

Teacher: OK, runners, ready!
On your marks … get set … go!

Song:
Running just as fast as we can
No one can catch me but you
I’ll never leave you alone
Because that’s what best friends do
Say la la la la
la la la la
Say la la la la la
la la la la la
Cause you’re my best mate, in the whole wide world ...