Week 56 - (October 15th-22nd) Stories --- Topic: Apples DONE

[M]

Thanks, Alex! I'm thrilled you liked it.

[M]

Once in a blue moon somebody who read something of mine would say something like that. It's probably why, however discouraged I got, I was never able to give up writing.

[Stephanie]

M, your writing is very realistic. And you're welcome. Thank you for the complement. I've edited a few pieces. Just ask, Alex. I misunderstood how they were doing something here and I went all out. Haha, I was thankful to find that she didn't expect it for the other two chapters. It took a long time...You shouldn't ever give up writing, you're better than you say you are.

[Stephanie]

Haha Thanks, Alex

[M]

Thank you, Alex. With compliments like that, I'm not likely to give up writing anytime soon! My chores, maybe.

[Stephanie]

I'd give my chores up any day.

[M]

You don't think that, after a while, you'd miss having chores to do?

[Stephanie]

Um.....nope.

[Stephanie]

I'd love to have magic...*sigh* it'd be awesome, having no chores....

[M]

If I had magic, I'd change the roadsigns as I drove along. The sign showing distance to the next town might magically alter to read something like: Fairbanks 2,739 Miles.

[Stephanie]

lol

[Esther]

contest end tmoro rite?

[Stephanie]

Yup

[Historybuff93]

Can I still post a story, or am I too late?

[Stephanie]

You can post one but the polls are already up so no one will be able to vote on it.

[Esther]

yey!!

[Historybuff93]

That's fine. I didn't even have a story at the time I posted that (I was just going to write one then). I will for sure enter the next one though!

[Esther]

wait. i ment yay as in the polls are up, not yey as in u can't vote for urs... just wanted to clarify that

[Jan]

Oh no! When we're waiting, it's sometimes weeks, and just when I fly over to the other side of the country and have all sorts of problems trying to get internet access, you don't even go one day over. I started writing my story at the airport before I left Perth, because I wanted to get it in on time. I did finish it on time, but couldn't post because of the internet problems. Anyway I will post it and if anybody reads it, please leave a comment so at least I'll know that you saw it.

[Jan]

Apples 'n kids 'n stuff


Hey! My name's Jack. And I'm seven. You're probably thinking 'Oh to be a kid again!' But I'm telling you, it's not that easy.You might've forgotten some of the tricky bits. Like having to share your stuff, and then seeing something of yours get broken. I mean, do you like to share your stuff with people who might break it?

And then there's the whole teeth thing. Your little ones fall out. And then you're left with a stupid-looking gap. And once the big ones come in, your Mum expects you to bite into the whole apples 'cos she doesn't want to have to cut them up any more.

See, I like my fruit cut up. Apples quartered and cores removed. Banana peeled and cut into chunks. Mandarines peeled and broken into chunks, and a few strawberries. A strawberry, now that's a good fruit. Comes with a little green handle, bite off the red part in one go, throw away the handle. But apples, they need to be cut! It's not the same if you have to bite into the skin with your new, uneven teeth. If it's cut, you can play a game with your right hand, eat with your left. Perfect!

But now Mum expects me to eat the apple whole. It's just not the same.

The other thing about being a kid is the whole school thing. You get thrown in with a whole bunch of other kids and sometimes they pick on you. They call me a nerd. Just because I've got glasses and I'm smart. The teacher asks heaps of easy questions, so I try not to answer all of them so the other kids don't complain that I'm making them look bad.

Sometimes they jump on me in the playground. It's hard to breathe if you've got asthma and people pin you to the ground and jump on you. But what can I do? If I tell the teacher or Mum, the kids will hate me even more and things might get worse. I just try to keep out of their way.

There are some good things about being a kid, of course. Like bouncy castles. I bet there's a lot of big people reading this who would love to jump about in a bouncy castle and have fun. Swings and slides are good, too.

And grandparents. They're very cuddly, they have yummy treats for you to eat, and they read you stories. One day Grandma read me a story about a kid who was picked on at school. So I told her about the kids calling me a nerd.

And then Grandma reached over to the fruit bowl and picked up an apple. She got a knife and a chopping board. "See this apple," she said. "It's a bit like you. A little green on the outside, but look..." She placed the apple on its side and cut straight through the middle, "...there's a star inside. And that's you." I smiled as she showed me the star.

When I got home I told Mum about the special way of cutting the apple and how Grandma said I was a star inside.

Imagine how happy I was when I opened my lunchbox at school the next day, to find my apple with plastic wrap around it to hold it together, and when I opened it, it was cut in two with a star cut and there was even a note saying, 'To my bright shining star, love Mum.' She doesn't put a note in every day, but she always does the star cut on the apple and it always makes me smile. Not only do I feel like a star, which cheers me up if I'm having a bad day, but it's given her a reason to cut the apple for me, which makes it easier on the teeth. Yay!

[[deleted user]]

Children's fiction is definitely your thing, Jan! This is really good. By sheer co-incidence my grandson Owain was saying at dinner last night how he gets called a 'nerd' because of his glasses and always having his head in a book. Doesn't seem to worry him though, he delights in getting his own back on the rugby field.

[Jan]

Yay! Somebody read it! Maybe you could read it to your grandson and see if he liked it.

[M]

Hi, Jan! I just read it. David's right. You're a natural at children's fiction. You make it easy to identify with Jack. If I had a mom who would cut up my apples, though, I think I'd insist on an apple smoothie.

[Stephanie]

All righty, our winners this week are:

Al in first place, M for third place, Stephanie (me) in second place, and Esther in fourth place.

Great job everyone!