“In the Zone,” Friend, Jan. 2011, 44–45
In the Zone
Thou shalt not idle away thy time (D&C 60:13).
Aubrey stared at the television. She had been watching her favorite channel for so long, she had almost stopped blinking. She knew she needed to do her chores, but she couldn’t pry her eyes away.
Whenever she watched TV her dad teased her, saying that she was “in the zone.” When Aubrey was in the zone, she felt stuck. She didn’t like that feeling at all.
Aubrey heard Mom enter the house and walk into the living room.
“Hi,” Mom said. “I didn’t think that anyone would be watching the TV. I’ll just use the DVD player in the other room to watch my class video.”
“OK,” Aubrey muttered without looking away from the television.
Aubrey was so proud of her mom for going back to college to earn the degree she hadn’t completed when she was younger.
Suddenly Aubrey remembered that the DVD player in the other room damaged discs because it was broken. “Oh no!” she thought. “I need to stop Mom before she puts her DVD in the player.”
But she couldn’t take her eyes away from the screen.
“Get up!” Aubrey tried to urge herself. But she remained motionless.
A few minutes later Aubrey heard Mom yell, “The DVD player scratched the disc!”
Aubrey quickly turned off the TV and ran to the other room. She saw Mom staring at the TV screen. Because the DVD was scratched, it kept skipping. Mom looked like she was going to cry.
“Oh, Mom, I am so sorry!” Aubrey apologized. “I should have told you that this DVD player is broken.”
“I needed to watch this today. I have a test on it tonight,” Mom said.
Aubrey thought for a minute. Then she said, “I can help you study. I’ll quiz you with the flash cards you made.”
“Thank you, Aubrey,” Mom said.
That afternoon, Aubrey spent several hours helping Mom study for her test. When Mom left to go to class, Aubrey said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help Mom do well. She was waiting at the door when Mom came home.
“How did you do?” Aubrey asked.
“I did OK. I got a B.”
“Way to go, Mom!” Aubrey said. “I am really sorry for not turning off the TV so I could tell you the DVD player was broken.”
Aubrey decided to spend more time outside instead of watching so much TV. She learned that she loved being outdoors and even made new friends in the neighborhood. And best of all—she was no longer stuck in the zone!
Illustrations by Mark Robison