Hello!
Four eight year olds have been very busy writing stories and learning new works, reading new books and understanding sentence structure this lockdown. In the first term we focused on character and building character profiles and I have decided to showcase each of their stories in a blog post and then in our fortnightly newsletter.
The first one we bring you is about the pitfalls of presumption. Enough said- read on!
It was a nice and breezy morning. “Siara wake up! It is time to go to school”, said her mother with a big smile. “What? Why so early?” asked Siara, sleepily, lying and half on the bed. She felt as lazy as a snail. “Remember! It is your first day of school”. Last week, Siara, her mum, dad and elder sister Sia, who was in ninth grade, had shifted from Los Angeles to Florida because of their dad’s job. They had shifted to a lovely apartment that was near the beach. The one thing that she felt sad about, was being unable to meet her friends. Siara, who was nine years old, had a lovely oval-shaped face. Her almond-shaped eyes were as blue as the sea. She had long, luscious, blond hair and she was as tall as a giraffe.
“Sorry mommy, I forgot,” she said, as she ran to get ready for school. She wore her uniform and ran downstairs for breakfast. As she climbed down the last few steps, she saw something strange outside the window. She saw two people with pale green skin and a long nose. They were wearing pointy black hats that had tiny white spots and a black cloak.
Saira shivered with fear and climbed down the stairs quickly. She sat beside her sister. “Is there something wrong Saira?” asked her mom curiously and worried. “No, everything is perfect” she said while pretending to smile. She gobbled up her breakfast and ran to the car. After sometime, Saira shared how she was feeling excited but a little nervous about her new school. Her mom dropped her up to her class and had a little chat with the teacher. The entire time in school, Saira kept wondering, who were those little people whom she saw in the morning?
After feeling totally lost at school, Saira was finally home. As evening approached, Saira went up to her room. She noticed the two people had not moved from their spot. Saira ran into her room and got into bed and it occurred to her… ‘I have seen them in fairy tale books but never with those white tiny dots on the hat.’ She fell into a deep slumber. Then, she dreamt about the strange people and thought they looked like witches. Suddenly, something struck her. ‘I do not have any friends at my new school and I feel so lonely a lunch time, maybe I could get a dog and that will cheer me up. But then, there are those people who look like witches and they might harm the dog.’ She thought, she could discuss this with her old friend. The next day morning she quickly got out of bed as planned she took her i-pad and called her friend. “Hi Fia, I really want a dog because I have no friends. But I can see witches in my garden and they might harm the dog”. Fia comforted her and told Saira, “Maybe they are not as bad as you think, and they might not harm the dog.” Finally, they got done. “Now remember Saira, do not be afraid of them- think they are your friends”. Saira ended the call.
As she tiptoed down the staircase, the sun was shining brightly in the eastern sky. It felt warm already. The sky was so blue that Saira couldn’t help thinking that it had merged with the sea! She ran to where the witches stood. As she got closer, she got butterflies in her stomach. To her surprise, the witches welcomed her with a big smile. Saira couldn’t help feeling nervous. “Hmm…do you like dogs” Saira asked hesitantly. “Do you plan to get a dog?” asked the witches. “Yes,” Saira said, with a big smile and nodding her head in excitement. Before the witches could say anything, Saira asked, “Are you witches? Because you are so kind”. “Yes”, the witches replied. “There are two kinds. One which you see in fairy tales are the bad ones, but in reality, we can be good too and a way to remember is that you can see these tiny dots- they represent good witches.”
“Oh yah! even I thought you were witches but I saw those white dots and wasn’t sure what they meant. Do you mind if I get a dog?” asked Saira. The witches replied “Yes of course. We will also take care of the dog when you are out in school.” “Great” said Saira, jumping up and down.
She ran straight up to her house and saw her mum in the kitchen. Her mom was so surprised that she came from the main door. “Siara?’ said her mum as she jumped back and almost hit the door. Did you go out somewhere you came out from the main door. Saira lied to her mum and said: “Um...yes, I went down to just have a look at the garden and take a little walk,”, Siara hesitated. “Oh! OK, but next time inform me because I get worried,” said her mum. “Now why don’t you wake dad and Sia up for a yummy breakfast. As Siara ran up the stairs she wondered what the yummy breakfast might be.
By nine-o-clock everyone was at the breakfast table. After some time Siara asked, “can we get a dog? Because I have no friends and I feel so lonely so maybe that would cheer me up”. “Yah that would be lovely. I love dogs, darling so you got to ask dad,” said her mom. “Yes, but as long as mom agrees to take care of it while you are in school,” Dad replied. Siara looked at her mom. “Yes, for sure,” said Mum, “we will pick it up in the afternoon.” “Yay,” screamed both the girls.
By Kaavya, 8 years old, A cheeky little wolf wilder from The Hidden Children creative writing workshop.