Monastery life and getting into trouble

     From then off, Charles got used to life in a monastery.
     He learned to always show respect to a monk and refer to them as "Father." I didn't take much time for Charles to learn that.  He had trouble with morning prayer.  Although Anglicans are not much different from Catholics. Both are Christians and use the Bible. But Catholics practice many rituals such as private confession while Anglicans use general confessions which are said as a group in public.
      So Charles was uncomfortable gathering with other boys to read from the Bible or say the rosary. But he went along and eventually became accustomed to morning prayer.
     Charles found the classes to be challenging. He was smart, but the monks demanded a lot more of him and other students. So he studied harder and became a better student.  The monks noticed and encouraged him to get even better.
     The trouble came on the weekends when there were no classes, but boys were expected to study.  One Saturday, Charles and his friends got mischievous. They had been playing soccer and were energized.
    

They all enjoyed playing soccer and sometimes one of the monks would play with them.  It was funny because the monks wore sandals and often their sandal would fly off when they kicked the ball. They all had a good laugh and the game would pause while the monk retrieved his sandal and slipped it on again.
     But this time the game was different. They had been playing hard and, before they knew it, they were wrestling on the ground.  Charles was more muscular than the others so he dominated. Then one boy was slammed into the ground and cried out.
"Owww! Owww!" the boy screamed. "My side hurts!" Everything stopped and some of the boys tried to help their classmate to his feet. "Oww! Leave me alone!"  Either someone squeal or the monks heard the yelling and several of them came running to the scene.  They cleared the boys away and examined the injured boy. One of the older monks said to call paramedics and they quickly arrived. They examined the boy, then carefully put him on a stretcher, rolled him into a paramedic van and drove away.
      The older monk demanded to know what happened. All the boys talked at once but the monk took each boy separately and heard their story.  Then he ordered the boys to go to their rooms. Charles talked a lot to his roommate who had not been there.  At supper, the boys were very quiet.  Before the end of the meal, the older monk appeared and announced that the injured boy had a cracked rib.  Everyone who had been there felt guilty.
      The next morning, the monks took the boys separately and asked who had slammed their classmate to the ground.  No one admitted but Charles knew it was not him and told the monk that repeatedly.  The monk said all the boys on the soccer field would be held responsible.

     Later that day, the monks returned and said it was decided that the boys would be confined to their rooms for a week except for morning prayer and classes. Their meals would be brought to their room and they would eat alone. Charles did not object and for a week, he did not see his classmates except for morning prayer and classes.
     Eating alone made him admit to himself that they were all at fault for round-housing. He felt very guilty and alone.  He was so lonely that he even cried a little.  It was an enormous relief when the week was over.
     For a time, Charles was very well-behaved and just concentrated on his studies.