I must confess that I have been in a bit of a writing rut lately. I haven’t had much trouble revising my manuscripts to smithereens, but I have had more than a smidge of trouble writing anything new. So when I read about this Valentine’s Day writing challenge on Friday, I thought I would give it a try, in the hopes that actually writing something from beginning to end would help. The guidelines were that it must be a children’s story about unlikely valentines, in less than 200 words. 200 words, people! And I used every single one.
AS BEST PALS DO
From the moment Reggie pushed out of his egg, his best pal, Lila, had been there.
“You’ve got a whole lot of legs!” she said to him.
“And you’ve got polka dots!” Reggie replied.
“Wanna go for a ride?” Lila stretched out her tiny wings and Reggie hopped on. They zoomed through the garden until Reggie’s belly couldn’t take any more laughter.
They shared their snacks, as best pals do. Lila learned to love leaf pudding, but Reggie had a little trouble with aphid stew.
One day, Lila made Reggie a card out of a heart-shaped leaf. Red with black polka dots, like her. She flitted over to his branch, but he wasn’t there. Lila waited and waited. No Reggie. But she did find a giant green pillow. Just perfect for a nap.
Lila jumped as the pillow began to shake. A wave of orange rolled out.
“You’ve got wings!” she exclaimed.
“And you’ve still got polka dots,” Reggie replied.
“It’s you, Reggie!” Lila grinned and gave him his card.
“Thanks,” Reggie said, flexing his wings. “Wanna go for a ride?”
And they zoomed through the garden, laughing together until they thought their bellies would burst, as best pals do.
To read the other entries in the challenge, head on over to Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and check them out!
Leave a Reply