Kathryn has to write a personal narrative for her English class, and she has been less than thrilled. The topic was an important time in your life and what it taught you. After some thinking (and complaining), she decided to write about getting a puppy last year.
Here's how she started:
I tapped my foot impatiently, my eyes super-glued to the clock. 2:30…2:31…The teacher was still going on and on. 2:33…Why couldn’t they let us out earlier? 2:34…2:35…The teacher was still yakking on about boring school stuff! 2:37…three minutes to go! 2:38…2:39…One minute left! 2:40 and the bell rang! I raced out of the classroom and down the hall; my only need was to get to my locker and out the door. Locker 171, 176, 180, and finally 190. I ended up doing my combination so fast I missed the last number, so I had to start again. Finally I got my locker open, put all my stuff in my backpack, and ran down the hall like a lightning bolt. I zoomed down the steps three at a time and got onto the bus, out of breath. I then waited on the long bus ride that seemed to take twenty hours, even though it was only twenty minutes. Eventually I got home to see my family waiting for me in the car, like planned. I hopped in and bounced around in my seat like a little bunny rabbit waiting to receive her carrot. I simply couldn’t wait for the weekend ahead of me. We were going to Shenandoah National Park for a weekend of hiking and sightseeing, but that wasn’t why I was so excited. We were getting a puppy in a few weeks’ time and today we were meeting him for the first time.
I think it's an amazing example of creating suspense, and this from a twelve-year-old. And, of course, I take all the credit for the good writing genes.
(By the way, if you've been following me on Twitter, then, yes, this is the same child who got into trouble tonight for leaving uncooked homemade pizzas unattended so said puppy could eat them.)
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