COMING SOON…
And then we saw it.
“It” was a piece of paper, folded in two like a card. The front displayed an old math worksheet. But the other side? I was curious to find out.
“Let’s read it,” Rhia said, bending down to pick it up. She read it, her eyes darting so quickly from left to right they appeared to be black slits in her face. Then she handed it to me.
I am hidden. Come to find me. Bring a long, sharp thing.
I will give you one clue:
Your Friend,
I recognized Shila’s handwriting almost instantly. But I also recognized the special symbol Shila had chosen about a year ago. I had chosen one too: . If I remember correctly, we made lots of stickers showing our symbols. Maybe the symbol on the letter was a sticker.
“Press the PRESS,” Rhia reminded me.
I did, and at once sound rose up from the letter. It sounded like a song I had heard in Dance, but with the words removed. “What’s the clue?” I asked Rhia.
“I don’t know. That’s a new song to me. What’s the name of the song?”
Suddenly, I knew it. “Rhia, go get the Award-Winning Pencil and come right back. Fast! “
--- Excerpt from “Baby School” by Nory Klop- Packel
Copyright 3/24/09
Note: Sorry about the blank spots. They include things that I cannot type on a computer.
Showing posts with label bravery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bravery. Show all posts
Mar 31, 2009
Mar 14, 2009
Leaf Explorations: The Sequel to Leaf Days
That time when, before going to bed, Leaf had sneaked into her room and whispered,"Tomorrow we will be adventurers," before shutting the door, was one of the most puzzling times of Maya's life.
It was a Friday night, and Maya was exhausted from school. She fell asleep right away, not giving much thought to what Leaf had said.
The next morning they packed. Along with clothes and a few packets of food, they brought along a tent. "We might need to camp out," Leaf told Maya as she stuffed the now compacted tent into her own, bigger bag.
They seemed to fly out the window, it was all in a blur from excitement. She ran, following Leaf as well as she could. Soon they came to a large patch of grass surrounded by woods. There they explored and played until noon, when they ate peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, along with a banana each.
Then, suddenly, hurriedly, Leaf jumped to her feet. "I have to go, sorry," she shouted from a few yards away. She was running, her medium-long hair trailing behind her.
Maya worried. What if Leaf never came back? No, that's silly, she told herself. But she still worried.
Maya started to cry. Her tears streamed down her cheeks and into the wind. At this time of day, the woods got windy. Maya shivered. "I wish I had a jacket," she said aloud.
I could live here, Maya realized. I could set up the tent as a house, and catch fish from the stream for meals... She pulled the tent out of Leaf's bag, starting to carry out the first part of her plan, when Leaf came rushing along, crunching fallen leaves all the way. "What, you think you're going to stay that way?" She stuffed the tent into the bag, picked up Maya, and began to walk.
Getting home was all blurry now, whenever Maya thought about it. Leaf had carried her all through the field, and when they finally got home, it was night time. Maya fell asleep the instant she touched the bed, like on Friday night.
Asleep or not, this story remained in Maya's head the rest of her life.
It was a Friday night, and Maya was exhausted from school. She fell asleep right away, not giving much thought to what Leaf had said.
The next morning they packed. Along with clothes and a few packets of food, they brought along a tent. "We might need to camp out," Leaf told Maya as she stuffed the now compacted tent into her own, bigger bag.
They seemed to fly out the window, it was all in a blur from excitement. She ran, following Leaf as well as she could. Soon they came to a large patch of grass surrounded by woods. There they explored and played until noon, when they ate peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, along with a banana each.
Then, suddenly, hurriedly, Leaf jumped to her feet. "I have to go, sorry," she shouted from a few yards away. She was running, her medium-long hair trailing behind her.
Maya worried. What if Leaf never came back? No, that's silly, she told herself. But she still worried.
Maya started to cry. Her tears streamed down her cheeks and into the wind. At this time of day, the woods got windy. Maya shivered. "I wish I had a jacket," she said aloud.
I could live here, Maya realized. I could set up the tent as a house, and catch fish from the stream for meals... She pulled the tent out of Leaf's bag, starting to carry out the first part of her plan, when Leaf came rushing along, crunching fallen leaves all the way. "What, you think you're going to stay that way?" She stuffed the tent into the bag, picked up Maya, and began to walk.
Getting home was all blurry now, whenever Maya thought about it. Leaf had carried her all through the field, and when they finally got home, it was night time. Maya fell asleep the instant she touched the bed, like on Friday night.
Asleep or not, this story remained in Maya's head the rest of her life.
Feb 7, 2009
It was recess time, and the yard was noisy from all the yelling. To Ella, it seemed like everyone was yelling, the girls especially: their chants of "Go, Ella, go," drowned out the rest.
She was standing in front of a ledge made of play structure. A wide gap separated this ledge from another one, maybe one or two yards away. A rope was tied from a bar on this ledge to a bar on the ledge Ella was standing on. She was supposed to walk on it like a tightrope; she knew it.
Ella's big brother came over to her. "You can do it, El," he told her. "Remember gymnastics lessons?"
Ella ignored him. Shaking from fear, she carefully moved one foot forward, closer to the rope.To small a distance,she decided, then moved it a little further. This time, it landed on the rope. Carefully, step by step, Ella made her way a small distance across the rope. The girls' cheers were louder now.
All the cheering must have motivated a teacher to come out, because there one was suddenly one there: the science teacher for the fourth and fifth grades. "What's going on here?" she asked, and then, seeing Ella, exclaimed, "Oh, you poor girl! Forced to walk a tightrope!" And, right then and there, she scooped Ella up and put her down on the woodpiece-covered ground. Luckily for the boys, she had not seemed to notice that the "tightrope" was actually stolen rope from the P.E. cabinet.
And the surprising thing was, though Ella had expected the boys to remember the contest and schedule it for another time, the contest was never finished. All the rest of her first-grade life, and all the other grades too, and the after-grades, too, she remembered the contest.
And that is the end.
She was standing in front of a ledge made of play structure. A wide gap separated this ledge from another one, maybe one or two yards away. A rope was tied from a bar on this ledge to a bar on the ledge Ella was standing on. She was supposed to walk on it like a tightrope; she knew it.
Ella's big brother came over to her. "You can do it, El," he told her. "Remember gymnastics lessons?"
Ella ignored him. Shaking from fear, she carefully moved one foot forward, closer to the rope.To small a distance,she decided, then moved it a little further. This time, it landed on the rope. Carefully, step by step, Ella made her way a small distance across the rope. The girls' cheers were louder now.
All the cheering must have motivated a teacher to come out, because there one was suddenly one there: the science teacher for the fourth and fifth grades. "What's going on here?" she asked, and then, seeing Ella, exclaimed, "Oh, you poor girl! Forced to walk a tightrope!" And, right then and there, she scooped Ella up and put her down on the woodpiece-covered ground. Luckily for the boys, she had not seemed to notice that the "tightrope" was actually stolen rope from the P.E. cabinet.
And the surprising thing was, though Ella had expected the boys to remember the contest and schedule it for another time, the contest was never finished. All the rest of her first-grade life, and all the other grades too, and the after-grades, too, she remembered the contest.
And that is the end.
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