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There once lived a boy named Nick Bluwup. Nick lived with his mom and dad in a luxurious, gigantic seven storey mansion. "It's kind of small, but I guess it'll have to do 'till we get more green paper", he always complained. He was very rich but complained that he was poor. He went to the richest school his parents could find, and was just itching to get the most expensive car he could find when he was sixteen. He never obeyed his parents, and he never listened to his teachers at school. No one liked him because he treated everyone like he did ants (I won't tell you what he did to ants, because there might be some society for the protection of ants out there trying to get me after I tell you). He did have one friend though, if you could call him a friend. His name was Fred, and he was the school bully.
One day when Nick went to school though, he found it a little different. Everyone was acting really wierd. He tried to act meaner than usual to scare them off, but the boys just laughed and smacked each other on the back, and the girls just giggled. The only person that was his usual self was Fred. He came in late, hardly said a word to anyone, and thumped down onto his seat like he always did. Nick said a brief "Hi" but there was no response. Well, no response that anyone else could hear, but Nick heard the unspoken "Hi." The teacher started with her usual "Hello children", but even in her voice there was a brief tinge of unusual despair, for a moment. Nick whispered to Fred and asked him if he thought there was anything strange going on. Fred just shrugged.
The day went normal until Nick suddenly realized what the excitement was all about. He got to the substitute class for Chemistry since Chemistry was closed for awhile and found out that Chemistry had had a surprise opening! Nick was actually going to have to stay in. Nick normally just played outside during Chemistry, and made sure that no one, not even the teacher told his parents. He treated all teachers the same: he would ignore them, and would always be ready to threaten them with his size if he had to. He hated Chemistry because of all the rules. In fact, everyone thought he had more right to be the school bully than Fred did, so they secretly called him "Bull Boy." Today the whole school was waiting expectantly for Nick. They had a little something for him. It was a free trip to the principal's office.
Nick's face was red with fury as he sat down. He knew that the class had known about the unexpected change of plans and not told him. He was thinking of a way of revenge when class started. The teacher, Mrs. Culumo, came into the room and tripped on a string tied to her desk and chair, and fell down hard onto her chair. Immediately she jumped back up. She looked around with suspicion while holding up a hard, cold stone that had obviously been placed on the seat. Her glaring eyes came to rest on Nick while the class doubled over in laughter. "Nick, you go to the Principal's office straight after class, ok?"
Nick looked up with a surprised, questioning face, and innocently asked, "What?"
"Nick, you placed this little contraption on my seat, and everyone in the class knows it! Isn't that right class - did any of you do it?"
"No, of course not, Mrs. Culumo", came the monotonous voice in response.
"There you go now, so go on to the Principal's office after class, you hear Nick?"
Nick raised himself up to his full height, a 2" higher than the teacher and said, "No." He sat down as if to rest his case.
The teacher suddenly looked a little pale and hastily said, "We will settle this after class." Everyone sighed, knowing that nothing would come out of it.
The teacher started telling the kids the safety rules, and made sure they were all listening. She told them where the fire extinguisher was, where the eye wash fountain was, and where the shower was. She told them never to taste, smell, or touch chemicals unless directed. She told them to wear safety goggles, and made all the girls tie their hair back. She told them never to mix chemicals they were not told to mix. She droned on for a good 20 minutes and finally said, "Now class, make sure you do not break any of these very important rules, and we should have a very fun, safe, and happy time today! Did you all understand the rules? Any questions?"
The class, half asleep, droned back, "Yes Mrs. Culumo. No, Mrs. Culumo", though not having a clue of what she just said.
They started with mixing some chemicals. They mixed "Chemical #1" with "Chemical #2", and the mixture would become hot. Then they would mix in "Chemical #3" and it would turn cold. The teacher explained the whole thing to the class of how to do it, but Nick didn't listen to her at all. He took "Chemical A" and mixed it with "Chemical #2" and suddenly, before he could mix in "Chemical H," there was a huge BANG! BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG BANG! The whole class was under their desks in one second. The teacher was immediately there with a fire extinguisher spraying the whole desk and choking one and all. Obviously, this was her first real explosion. The BANGs stopped finally, but by then, all that was left was a choking, panicked-stricken class and a stunned looking boy named Nick. The teacher stood there with her usual every-hair-in-place look shattered, and replaced with a I-am-going-to-faint-right-now sort of look.
Suddenly, the class started chanting, "Nick Blewup, Nick Blewup! Mr. Blewup, Mr. Blewup!", trying to get the most out of this abnormal occasion. The teacher quickly silenced them and then glared at Nick and said in a stern voice, "Nick, you are going to pay for the damage because of your deliberate disobedience and unattentive nature in this class, you understand?"
The class eagerly waited for the confrontation, but there wasn't any, much to the teacher's surprise.
"Yes, Mrs. Culumo, of course", Nick said in a very sober voice. The class had never thought he had emotions, but he suddenly looked like he was about to cry.
The teacher noticed this and then softly said, "It's ok, Nick."
Nick suddenly started to cry. It was soft at first, but grew consistantly louder. Then he cried in a most agonizing way. It sounded as if his heart was going to rip apart with the pain. The emotions he hadn't shown all these years suddenly flooded out of him. He ran outside and there he cried and cried and cried, for a full fifteen minutes.
Finally he came back and actually apologized to the teacher and all the students in the class for the way he had acted all these years. He started with a humble, "I'm sorry Mrs. Culumo for the way I've treated you." Then he looked to the class and added, "and all you guys too. I'm sorry for being so dumb and thinking I was so smart. Will you forgive me?"
The teacher hugged Nick and said, "Of course Nick! of course!" But the class had a different sort of response - silence. Was he actually saying sorry? Was this the same kid? They knew this was not the normal Nick Bluwup. They they finally answered slowly, "We forgive you Nick. We're sorry too. Will you forgive us for trying to be mean to you?"
Nick stuttered, "Y-y-you m-mean you, you want me t-t-to forgive y-y-you? Well, ummm, well, uh, of c-course! Of course!"
Then Nick made the greatest desision of the day - he asked God to forgive him, and he became a Christian that day.
There was a great reunion with the whole class, with Mrs. Culumo, and with Nick's new Heavenly Father. Nick was changed totally, he started making friends, until he became Mr. Social. He started really studying, and got to be the top student in the class. He became the most kindest, gentlist person in his block, and everyone liked him. He was later said to be the most dramatic change-around that Mrs. Culumo had ever seen in her 19 years of school teaching. But the part that was really special for God and for Mrs. Culumo, was that when Nick grew up, he became a missionary in South America, in the exact place where Mrs. Culumo was born. Nick told her later that it was her Christian faith that he had been touched by, which started the whole change.
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