Sebastian

In the corner of the gym rests a long, rounded stick. Duct tape circles in increments. A tuft of orange yarn on top. Meet Sebastian.

Sebastian came along in response to the alarming lack of shoulder flexibility in some of the girls. His purpose is simple: grasp the stick with both hands, raise it above your head and pull it behind you with straight arms, then roll it back over. Your hands hold on the duct tape markers. The closer the markers, the more flexibility demanded of your shoulders.

My boss came up with the idea of naming the stick. She thought it might entice the girls to want to use it. One practice, they scribbled their name suggestions and Greg read out loud the options. The most popular names were placed in a hat and the winner drawn at random. Sebastian won. That was my name. You can see I'm making good use of my writing degree.

Next, Sebastian was to be sent home for a week at a time with the girls deemed most dire. I believe this is when my boss added the orange yarn as hair, because the girls complained loudly. Laurel ended up taking him home, and then maybe Amy, and then at some point he was passed to a Level 3 and went underground for a while.

Now he hangs out behind the freezer. He looks forlorn. So I took him out the other day and instructed the girls to use him as one of their stations. Every little bit helps, right? And they did use him. For a bit. Then I looked up from watching front handsprings and saw one of the girls swinging him around as a sword. He can't catch a break.