river stones

This is a Children's Lit project from this week.

I and two other girls were given a picture (from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick; if you ever plan to teach children, you should own it.)

The picture was of a boy skipping rocks, and the caption read: "He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back."

From this info, we had to write a story containing the caption. We brainstormed some semblance of plot, and then I wrote what we had into a story. Hope you enjoy it...it's rather weird, but it was fun to write.

River Stones

Prologue
Sometimes, letting go is the hardest part.

Page 1
There is a rumor in our town. There is a rumor of a madman who lives in the
forest on the edge of town and sleeps on the ground like a dog. And like a dog, he eats moldy scraps from yesterday's trash. Those who have seen him say that he always carries...

But, I get ahead of myself. Every town has its rumored madman, you say. I should tell you why our madman is different from the rest. And so I shall. It all began one hot strange day in July.

Page 2
Peter held three stones in his fist and crunched them together. He liked the
grinding noise, especially today. He heard Mattie running up behind him.

"Peter, Peter, please play with me, Peter."

He sighed. His sister was always following him around. He threw the first
stone across the water. Only two skips. "I don't want to play right now,
Mattie. I'm thinking."

Page 3
But Mattie just stood there. "You're thinking about Merlin again, aren't
you?"

He chucked the second stone at the river. No skips. Just a loud klop in the
water. "Go away, Mattie."

"Mommy says Merlin's not coming back." Peter squeezed the rock harder into
his hand while Mattie kept talking, "Mommy says your dog died."

"I wish he were here. Right now," Peter whispered.

"Well, he's not. So will you play with me?" Mattie could be so...

"I wish he was here," Peter shouted, he threw the third stone out to the
water.

Page 4
He threw with all his might, but that third stone came skipping back.
Five skips, backwards, and the stone was at his feet again.

Page 5
Peter picked up the stone, carefully. It was dry and warm, warm like Merlin had
been. He smiled. "I wish..."

And before he could finish, he heard a dog bark. It wasn't loud. Just quiet,
like when Merlin came home after a good run. Peter squeezed the stone even
harder, and suddenly, he saw him. Merlin. He was far away and little, but he
was running towards Peter. "Oh Mattie, look!"

Page 6
"Look at what?" Mattie had started throwing pebbles into the water.

"Merlin! Look!" Peter dropped the stone into the river. And when he did,
Merlin disappeared.

"I don't see anything, Peter."

But Peter wasn't listening. He was groping, splashing, sloshing in the
water, trying to grab at that stone. He found it again. And when he held it,
Merlin came back. "There, see! Merlin!"

"He's not there, Peter," Mattie said. Peter dropped to his knees, petting
and cuddling the Merlin that wasn't there. Mattie started crying. "Peter?
He's not there! Peter? Please play with me, Peter?"

Page 7
That night at dinner, Peter wouldn't eat. And he wouldn't let go of the
river stone. He kept talking to Merlin. He kept petting Merlin. He wouldn't
listen to Mattie. Or to Mom. Or to Dad.

And after dinner, Peter wouldn't watch TV. He wouldn't read his books. He
wouldn't do his homework. He sat on the dining room floor, petting his
imaginary dog, and telling his sister to go away. He had a Merlin again. And
he didn't want anybody to take him away.

Page 8
For two weeks Peter wouldn't let go of the stone. And he wouldn't talk to
anybody but the Merlin that wasn't there. He went to school with Merlin and
he even went to sleep with Merlin. Then one night, he heard Mattie tip-
toeing into his room.

Peter pretended to be asleep. Mattie walked right up to his bed, and stared
at him. It seemed like forever, and it was hard to stay "asleep" with her
staring like that.

Page 9
But soon, she moved. She moved quickly, and before Peter
knew what happened, Mattie grabbed the river stone and started running. But
she was little; she wasn't fast. And Peter was fast. Peter was angry. He
sprang out of bed and tackled her. They wrestled over the stone, over the
Merlin that wasn't there.

Then Peter did something he had never done before. He hit Mattie. Hard.
Right on the face. She dropped the stone and cried, but Peter didn't even
notice. He scooped up the stone and ran out of the house. He ran down the
street. He ran down the street with the river stone and the Merlin that
wasn't there. And he never saw Mattie again.

Page 10
There is a rumor in our town. There is a rumor of a madman who lives in the
forest on the edge of town and sleeps on the ground like a dog. And like a dog, he eats moldy scraps from yesterday's trash. Those who have seen him say that he always carries a rock in his left hand.

Posted by stephanie at March 10, 2004 05:06 PM | TrackBack