SUPER NINGNING

Summarized by: JAYROME KRYLLE B. ENRIQUEZ

There was once an elementary school student named Ningning. She wishes to be fast. So that
her classmates will let her play patintero* with them. She will go ahead and pass beyond her classmates
reach. Home base! All her teammates will jump around her as she scores another for the team. Instead
of playing she watches the game alone, under the tamarind tree. She wishes she was strong. So, Junie
and her friends will not push her out of the line in the canteen or trip her on her way to the restroom.
Instead, she brings crackers to school and eats alone inside the classroom. And when she needs to go to
the restroom, she makes sure that the corridors are clear and the rest room is empty. She wishes she
could fly. So that she can fly away when they talk behind her back. Instead, she just cries quietly in a
corner. Ningning said to herself that she needs are powers like those she read on a book, the stories that
her grandfather had told her, and the movies she had watched with her father. “Since I wasn’t born with
powers, that means I have to find an amulet, look for an insect or a person who can give me powers. I
can start my search here in school” said Ningning to herself. A while later she headed out to the school
yard where she found ants. “An ant can carry things up to more than fifty times its body weight. But ant
bites are itchy and painful.” Ningning changed her mind. As she turned around, she spotted Erica, her
classmate, staring intently at the grass. She approached her and noticed she was sobbing. Erica said she
had lost her earing. Ningning then helped her find it in the grass. She was then hugged by Erica when she
found her earing. She then went to the laboratory, hoping she could find an amulet. Instead, she opened
the door to a messy room. In the middle was a very bewildered Tonton. So, she helped him clean the
room. She then went to the library to look up magical beings and creatures in books. She was almost
there when she heard muffled cries behind the utility door. It was locked from the outside. When she
opened the door, a little girl fell out with feather dusters, dustpans, and brooms. She then brought her to
the clinic and stayed with her until the girl’s brother came. Homer, her classmate was the girl’s brother.
They then became good friends after what happened. “Gotcha, Ningning!” Homer shouted and ran fast.
Ningning ran past Homer. But Homer kicked up more dirt as he gained momentum and beat her to base,
the towering tamarind tree. Both collapsed in laughter as Erica and Tonton mimicked their close race.
She looked at her friends and thought she did not mind losing and being called the “it” all the time when
playing with them. They then ate their snack under the tamarind tree. It feels lick having a picnic as they
shared food and cracked jokes. When going to the restroom, Erica always accompanied Ningning. Since
then, Junie and her friends didn’t bother her anymore. Since then, Ningning forgot all about her search
for super powers. “I don’t need super powers. I already have super friends!” she said.