Village Shepherd

Philip first realised there was something odd about himself when he was quite young. He remembered the incident well. He was out in the park with his Mum, playing on the swings when he overheard two ladies talking. They were right over on the edge of the park, but Philip had been blessed with very acute hearing.

"Just look at that poor little chap," one of the ladies was saying to the other. "What a handicap to go through life like that."

"Oh! Dear me, yes," replied the other. "Poor kid."

Philip didn't really understand what they were talking about, but he was interested in this "poor kid", so he looked round. There were no other children in the park, and he realised that the ladies were looking straight at him. He didn't take much notice at the time, being absorbed in the swing, but later on at bedtime he asked his mother what a "handicap" was.

His mother frowned, and asked him where he'd heard that word. When Philip explained, his mother grew very upset and angry and gathered him in her arms and told him not to worry about silly people who didn't know what they were talking about, and that there was nothing at all wrong with him. Then Philip knew he must be odd in some way.

He realised how, soon after he started school. One of the other children asked him when he'd been hung on the clothesline by his ears, and whether it had hurt. At home the child's parents had been discussing Philip hanging by his ears, so the child wanted to know from Philip what it felt like. Philip felt angry and pushed the boy, who fell over and hurt his knee. After that the other children gathered round, and they soon started laughing at his ears and pointing to them and jeering at him.

That evening Philip looked at himself carefully in the mirror and realised that his ears were quite large, and that they stuck out from his head at right angles. "Don't you worry," said his mother, comfortingly. "I love you, and anyway, Prince Charles has ears just like yours, so perhaps you're from Royalty."

The next time the children started to pick on him, Philip retorted that he was from Royalty and that Prince Charles was probably his uncle, but that only made the children laugh at him even more. Worse, they started calling him a liar.

After that, Philip kept himself to himself. He kept away from the other children and became know as a weirdo and a loner as he grew up through the school. He spent a lot of time playing fantasy games on the computer, because it was great and he could do that alone.

When he moved onto High School at the age of twelve, Philip was already quite tall. It stood him in good stead, especially when some of the older boys tried to bully him. Philip growled at them and punched one of them on the nose and made it bleed. They left him alone after that, but kept taunting him from a distance, and the taunts were always about his ears. Philip tried not to care, but it hurt him deep inside.

By now, Philip was used to being lonely, but he gradually became angry and morose as well, and people started to become afraid of him as his reputation for using his fists grew. Philip was glad. That was just as he wanted it.

Then a new girl started at the school. Amanda was stunning and nice with it, and she soon collected a crowd around her of both boys and girls. She quickly became the most popular person in school.

Philip ignored her until one day his sharp ears overheard her discussing the latest fantasy game. Philip was amazed, because as she spoke, it was clear Amanda knew what she was talking about. He slid a little closer, and hung about on the edge of the group, wanting to hear, but not wanting to be part of the crowd.

But suddenly Amanda pushed her way out of the crowd until she was standing beside Philip. "I want to be your friend, Philip Marsh," she announced. Philip gaped at her with his mouth open, and waited for the roar of laughter. He was sure she was mocking him, she had to be. But nobody laughed. Rather there seemed to be a kind of breathless hush. "Huh!" snorted Philip rudely, not trusting her at all, and he started to walk away as quickly as he could.

But Amanda kept up with him. They walked until they were clear of the crowd, then Philip flopped down onto the grass at the edge of the school field. "Why don't you go away and leave me alone?" he muttered.

"Because I like you," replied Amanda.

"Well that's a first," Philip said, cynically. "'Cos nobody else does." But he soon found himself responding to Amanda as she talked about fantasy games, and as he listened, so he began to warm to Amanda. By the time they had been chatting together for an hour, Philip began to feel he really had met a friend for the first time in his life.

It was the start of a new life for Philip. As his friendship with Amanda grew, so Philip began to come out of his shell. Because he was with Amanda, he seemed to be accepted by the other youngsters as well, and he suddenly realised what a wonderful feeling it was to be part of the crowd. But he still wasn't quite sure whether this brilliant new life would last. Somehow or other he kept expecting something to burst the bubble.

One day he said to Amanda, "How come you like me? Nobody has ever liked me before, well, except my parents, and they don't count. When people look at me they see a freak with huge flappy ears like an elephant. How come you don't mind all that?"

Amanda was surprised. "I've never noticed your ears," she exclaimed, and she leant over to have a good look at them. But somehow, Philip didn't mind. Then she continued, "I suppose they are quite big, but that's why you hear so well. I've never met anyone before who can hear like you. Why, if I'm right over the other side of the school field and I whisper, you can pick it up. No-one else can do that. Anyway, who cares about ears? That's just silly. You and I like the same things, and I just like hanging out with you, that's all. Anyway," she added, "have you never noticed that I'm a bit weird, too?"

"You?" said Philip, "never! You're the most popular person in school."

Amanda laughed. "Only because I don't allow my weirdness to get in the way, so nobody else bothers about it either. I bet you haven't even noticed it, have you?"

Philip shook his head, and Amanda spread her fingers. For the first time, Philip noticed a thin web of skin between each finger. he took her hands, and gazed at them wonderingly. "You see?" said Amanda. "All the kids used to call me Froggy or Fishface, but I refused to feel hurt so I just laughed along with them. Then they forgot, and nobody really notices now."
Philip brought her hands to his lips and kissed them gently. "I love you," he whispered, "and I don't care about your hands. And do you know, for the first time in my life I don't care about my ears, either. I know now that it's the person that matters, and anything else is just - silly!"

And they both laughed.