Word: Hortatory

               

hortatory

[hawr-tuh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee]

adjective

1. urging to some course of conduct or action; exhorting; encouraging:

a hortatory speech.

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               “Are you sure this is safe?”  Joel said loudly.

                “Sure, sure.  It’s perfectly safe.”  Henry replied.

                “Really?  Cause I read before that people get hurt really bad riding these.”

                “Where’d you here that, buddy?”

                “Internet.”

                Henry sighed.  He knew letting his son on the internet without supervision would lead to things like that.  His mother said he could use the independence, but Henry was well away of the dangers of the internet, especially for an eight year old boy.

                “I told you that you can’t believe everything you see on the internet.”  Henry said.  “Riding a bike is perfectly safe.  The most you’ll get is a scraped knee and hands.  Besides, you’ve got those neat training wheels.  You’d have to actually want to fall with those on.  The only way you’ll fall with those on is if you trip getting off.”

                Joel twisted around and looked at the small wheels in question.  Somehow he seemed to be unconvinced.

                “Are you really sure?”  He asked again.

                “Completely.  It’s easy too.  All you have to do is put your foot on the pedal and push.  Once you’re pedaling, it’s easy.”

                “I don’t know.  It doesn’t look very steady.  It won’t fall over while I’m riding, will it?”

                “Only if you stop pedaling before you’re ready to stop.  Trust me, it’s really easy.  I used to do this all the time when I was your age.”

                “Really?”  Joel looked at his father with an almost confused look on his face.  Henry could only imagine the boy was having more trouble imagining he was once eight years old more than anything. 

                “Yup.  I rode my bike all around town just about every day.  In all that time, I never got anything worse than a few scrapes.  And even then, I didn’t get them very often.”

                Joel still seemed unsure.  He looked at the front wheel of the small bicycle, still wondering how two thin wheels could keep it upright. 

                “Look, you see people riding bikes all the time right?”

                “Uh huh.”

                “So you know they work.  The only difference is the size of the bike.  All you have to do is pedal and you’ll be fine.  Besides, I’ll be right here just in case something does go wrong.”

                “Okay, I guess.”  Joel said hesitantly. 

                He took a deep breath and put both his feet up on the pedals at once.  The bike tipped, but the training wheels did their job and keep him from falling. Joel looked up at his father with an expression that combined panic with a smug, “I told you so” quality. 

                “See, dad?”  Joel said.  “I did what you said, and I fell.”

                “But the training wheels kept you from hitting the ground.  Look, you made a simple mistake.  I did the same thing when I first started out.  When you want to start, you have to keep one foot on the ground, and one foot on the pedal.  Then you push off and start pedaling with both feet, get it?”

                “I think so.”  Joel said with a furrowed brow.

                “Good.  Now, try again, and don’t be afraid.  You won’t get hurt, I promise.”

                Joel tried again, this time following Henry’s instructions.  Slowly but surely, he started to ride his bike.  It was at a slow, shaky pace, but he was moving forward.  Henry cheered and applauded his son’s accomplishment.  When Joel finally stopped, he looked up at Henry with wide, excited eyes.

                “Did you see, dad?  Did you see?  I did it!”

                “Good job, buddy. Now you just have to keep practicing, and soon you’ll be a real pro.”

                “You mean that?  Really?”  Joel asked, now very excited by the prospect.

                “Sure, no sweat.  I’m sure you’ll be able to do all kinds of things with a bike when you really know what you’re doing.”

                Joel was clearly already thinking of some of the things he could be doing.  Henry had no doubt it mainly consisted of stunt and BMX type things, rather than simply riding around town.  He couldn’t exactly say he was thrilled with either prospect, but he could deal with them when they came up.

                Instead of riding around more, Joel hoped off the bike in an effort to run to Henry.  As he did though, his foot caught on one of the metal supports.  He let out a yelp and hit the ground.  As Henry rushed to check on his son, he couldn’t help be find what just happened a bit funny.  He didn’t actually say anything about that though.

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Ah, the first bike ride.  A right of passage for the parent as much as for the child.  I'm sure every father out there knows what this is like.  Maybe not exactly like this, but just the nature of teaching a child to ride a bicycle in general.