Have you ever been embarrassed in front of a few hundred people? Did you pee your pants? Was the fire department called? Was all this on your birthday? Erik didn’t know the answers to these questions until now. Let me tell you the story…

It was an amazing day for a birthday. The sun was out; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Erik could smell the freshly cut grass coming from his neighbor’s yard. Today was no ordinary day. Today was Erik’s 10th birthday. It was June 21st to be exact. Erik was having a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese. None of his friends would be there. Erik didn’t have any friends. None of the kids in his 4th grade class liked him. They usually referred to him as “fatty,” “piggy,” or “tubby.” You see, Erik was 450 pounds. He wore sweat pants everyday. Sometimes he didn’t shower. Or, brush his teeth. Anyway, today his cousins, aunts and uncles would meet
him and his parents at Chuck-E-Cheese.

When they got there, all you could smell was pizza. The thought of it made Erik hungry. His parents saw the rest of the family and went to talk to them. Erik said hi briefly, then he went to the tubes were he could see some kids crawling around inside. He crawled up not noticing that he barely fit. Today he didn’t want to think about anything bad. He just wanted to focus on having fun. He was crawling toward the slides when all of the sudden he got stuck! He tried to move forward and backward but he couldn’t! The he felt a hand push on his butt.

“Move it fatty,” a boy’s voice said.

“I can’t,” said Erik, “I, I think I’m stuck,” he mumbled. “Could you go get someone to help..” Erik was cut off by the boy’s laughter,

“ Ha! You’re stuck?” The boy mockingly asked, “That’s why fat kids like you should stay home and eat chips!” The boy started to crawl away,

“Wait!” Erik called after him, “don’t leave me!” But, the boy had already crawled away. Erik heard him telling another boy,


“Hey, there’s a fat kid stuck in the green tube over there!”


Then, Erik didn’t hear them anymore. He started to cry. Then he realized that he had to pee. Erik had a bladder problem so he couldn’t hold it. He looked down at the growing stain on his pants and cried even more. Then a blond girl with pigtails heard him crying and crawled over to him,


“What’s wrong?” She asked, “Are you ok?”



“No,” Erik sobbed, “I got stuck in here and now I cant move!”



The girl chuckled.



“Go away if your going to laugh at me too,” he moaned.



“I’m sorry,” she said, “I wasn’t trying to laugh but it’s a little funny.”



Erik just looked away. The girl could tell he was hurt.



“Well, I’ll go get my mom and she can help you,” Erik looked up and smiled as the girl crawled away. Minutes later the blond girl was back. He heard a woman’s voice call from the little window,



“Are you all right?” She asked,



“No,” Erik said, “well yeah I’m ok but I’m stuck,”



“ Don’t worry sweetie I’m going to get someone to help you,” said the blond girl’s mom,



“Madison , you stay with him until I get back.”




“ Ok mommy,” said Madison, “ by the way, I’m Madison.”




“I’m Erik,” said Erik gloomily. He went on to explain to her about today being his birthday. He also discovered that Madison went to his school and she was in the 3rd grade. Then Madison’s mom came back. The next few hours were a blur. Madison’s mom had told a worker what happened. The worker announced over the intercom system that someone’s child was stuck. Erik’s parents ran to the green tube that Erik was stuck up in the air. By this time every single person in the place had gathered around. The fire department was called and they literally had to cut and pry Erik out of the plastic tube. Erik was so humiliated. But through all this embarrassment, Madison stayed by his side. She talked to him through it all. She even told the other kids to shut up when they laughed at Erik. Erik never had a friend but he liked the feeling of having one. Eventually Erik was out of the tube and Madison was the first person to hug him. Then his parents and family ran over and hugged and kissed him. Erik and Madison exchanged phone numbers and became best friends.



….Well that was 15 years ago. Erik and Madison stayed friends and eventually got married. They now have two kids, Samantha and Erik Jr. Everyday Erik and Madison teach their kids the importance of friendship and that you never know when you could meet your best friend.