Tony, the Human Wasp. Short audio story narrated in American English.

Tony set off for home again without having eaten. As usual, one of the older boys had taken his packed lunch, threatening to give him a good hiding. On his way, Tony stopped at the park and sat on a bench, trying to control his anger. As he was a sensitive and intelligent boy, before long he had managed to forget it, and was busy enjoying the plants and the flowers. He suddenly saw a wasp flying about among the rosebushes, and it gave him a bit of a fright.

While getting away from the roses, a thought came into his head. How is it that something so much smaller than himself could frighten him like that?

That was just what he needed to do himself, against the older boys!

He spent a while looking at the insects, and by the time he arrived home he had a good understanding of the wasp's trick; it was fear. A wasp could never fight a person, but everyone was so afraid of its sting that they left the wasp in peace. So Tony spent that night wondering what his 'sting' could be. He tried to think of what frightened those bigger boys.

The next day, Tony seemed like a new boy. No longer did he walk with his gaze on the ground, nor did he look away when people spoke to him. He was confident, ready to face up to anyone, with his mind on his new role of frightening people, and on his back he carried a backpack full of 'stings'.

The boy who stole his packed lunch that day ate an extremely hot sausage sandwich. The sausage was so spicy that he ended up crying and coughing. Never again did he want to eat anything belonging to Tony. Another older boy wanted to hit Tony, but this time Tony didn't run away. From memory, he told him the phone numbers of his parents, his teacher, and the boy's own mother,

-"If you hit me they'll all find out, and you'll be severely punished,"

Tony told him, looking at the boy so determinedly and bravely that the boy left him alone. Another bully wanted to take one of Tony's toys. Instead of giving him it in fear, Tony gave the boy a small card written by a policeman he knew. It read

-"If you rob this boy I’ll come after you and I'll even lock you up."

The tactic worked.

Just like Tony had been afraid of their beatings, those big kids too were afraid of many things. On one occasion, a bully hit him a couple of times, and Tony had to be brave and carry out his warning. The bully got such a fright that from that day he preferred to protect Tony.

So, in the end, Tony became like the wasp he'd seen. Without even having to sting anyone, he frightened them, and ensured that no one would mess with him.