Sparky Hooves

Rocky was on the patio, crying. Some of his schoolmates had been picking on him, as they did quite often. Nothing upset him more. But no matter how much he told them, shouted at them, or threatened them, they wouldn't stop. An older boy, who had seen all this, came over and said:

"If you want this to stop you'll have to be like the little bull, Sparky Hooves. Should I tell you his story?"
"Yeah!" said Rocky.

"Sparky Hooves was a fighting bull. His field was next to the farmer's house and Sparky could see through the farmer's window. One day Sparky stood next to the house, watching the farmer's telly, and they were televising a bullfight. Sparky realised that this is what lay ahead of him, and so he spent the rest of his life preparing for that day, the day of his fight.

Soon that day arrived. When Sparky entered the bullring, he was jabbed in the back. It was very painful, and Sparky felt like his blood was boiling, screaming for revenge. But he knew exactly what he needed to do, and he remained still. Soon the bullfighter appeared, trying to provoke Sparky, swishing his cape in the air. Sparky felt like sticking his horns deep into this stupid guy, but he swallowed his anger, kept still, and waited.

No matter what they did, trying to provoke him with jabs, waved flags, and red capes, Sparky kept still. After some time, the crowd started whistling and booing. It got so bad that the bullfight organisers decided to change the bull. This had been the most boring bull anyone could remember.

So Sparky Hooves was returned to his field, and allowed to live out his life in peace. Never again did they put him in a bullring, because everyone knew that he would provide no amusement".

"Yeah, but what does this have to do with me?", asked Rocky.

"Well, everything, my friend. They took Sparky to a bullring because they wanted to have fun at his expense. The more he would have responded to the provocation, the more they would have enjoyed themselves, and they wouldn't have stopped until the thing was finished.
The same is happening to you when they make fun of you. They enjoy it because they see how angry they make you. But if you did what Sparky Hooves did, not reacting to anything, they'd get bored and look for someone else to pick on, someone who provides more amusement".

Rocky believed none of it. However, in the next few days, he gradually tried to put this advice into practice. At first it wasn't easy, but as Rocky kept to his plan, the bullies got bored with him. In a few days they found more interesting things to do than pick on Rocky.