ADVENTURES IN WRITING
by Dymphna
(a Zetapets story for kids!)
“...Not a bird, not a plane, though he certainly is going as fast as one! Who is that golden blur?”
A young Fenrir toting a couple of grocery sacks was sprinting across the neighborhood sidewalk, chattering excitedly to himself. Although he wouldn’t openly
admit it, he sometimes loved the weekends his owner had to be away on business trips. It made him feel pretty mature and independent to take care of things
around the house.
“No! It’s Lenn, Super Fenrir! Faster than bargain hunters at a distiller sale! His mission: to bring the groceries back in time for dinner!”
Lenn bounded through the door of his home, pausing for only a split second to drop the packages on the kitchen floor. Unfortunately, he hit a particularly
slippery patch on the linoleum which sent him sliding across it’s surface like an out of control figure skater. He attempted to scrape his toe nails on the tiles
and hopefully regain some balance, but his efforts were not fast enough as he crashed headfirst into the refrigerator. This mishap and collision resulted in a extremely
loud chain reaction as a stack of fold-up chairs resting against the fridge door fell over, sending the packages (and their contents) into a tumble.
“What happened here? An earthquake?” A muscular Illuminaire bounded down the stairs to inspect the scene while a tiny Rah hopped down on the adjacent banister.
“No, dear brother Benner. Sorry to disappoint you. It was just the slick new floor.” Lenn’s tone dripped with good natured sarcasm as he stuck his tongue
out in the Illuminaire’s direction. “Cella,” Lenn bowed his head solemnly toward the Rah. “I regret to inform you that the health food store was fresh out of carrot juice."
A fluffy powder puff tail was wiggling out of the grocery sack marked "healthy foods," as Cella grumbled, "Rats!"
“You guys! Listen up!” Lenn had hopped up on the kitchen table to gain full attention. “While I was out, I stopped by the Town Hall and had a chat with the
staff at the Sentrion Chronicles. Turns out there have been some changes in plans! All of the employees are going to have two weeks of vacation, since it
is summer. They'll be bringing out the latest issue of the newspaper tomorrow, then leave for their holiday right away, so no more newspaper for awhile! I spoke with the editor of the paper, and he
said that we could bring in a submission by midnight tonight, but no later."
“Oh no...of all the times! I was really counting on having some extra days to write...” Cella frowned.
“Well, you know what this means?” Lenn grinned widely. “We’ve got to get our stories written today! Our future toys depend on it. Remember what
Kendell said?”
Cella and Benner nodded half-heartedly.
A couple of weeks ago, Lenn, Benner, and Cella had gone for a special outing to Emestar with their owner, Kendell, to pick up some food and other
odds and ends. Cella begged that they deviated from their original plans in favor of making a trip to the toy store. To make a long story short (and avoid all
the embarassing details,) they got into a messy fight over some expensive incense and were asked to leave the shop. Kendell, significantly bothered by their immature
behavior, held a “family meeting” once they had all returned home from their errands.
“Now, all three of you are growing up. That doesn’t mean you are too old to have toys - in fact, I think you are never too old to have toys. However, I was
pretty disappointed in the way you guys acted in the Emestar toy store today. So, I have decided that you are all old enough now to earn the money for these toys, and
any extra items you might want, by yourselves.”
“By ourselves?!” All three siblings had moaned. “How will we be able to do that?”
“Well, I don’t think it should be too difficult. I've heard you can earn a decent amount of Zetapoints by writing for the Sentrion Chronicles. It will also give
you something constructive to do since you have so much extra free time in the summer.”
So, Kendell’s idea was exactly what this trio had decided to do. The night of the “family meeting,” they pulled out a calculator and figured that they would each
write three articles per month during the summer, the commissions would be enough to buy new toys during the coming school year (when
they would not have as much time to write.) Unfortunately, Lenn’s recent news posed a serious threat to their idea!
“Well, now what? I’m sure we cannot get our stories written and polished in,” Cella paused to look at the clock. “...less than 6 hours.”
“I bet I can.” Benner stood proudly. “I am sure that we can all get finished if we really set our minds to it.”
“Of course we can! But, maybe we should clean up this mess in the kitchen first?” Lenn cast a pleading glace at his brother and sister.
“Tough luck, brother - this is your mess.” Benner left the kitchen and situated himself at the family computer in the nearby study room. Cella was returning from her
bedroom, carrying a fluffy quill pen and scented stationary with her.
“I guess we can clean up later...” Lenn muttered to himself. “I’d better get working on writing too!” He scrounged through some drawers in the kitchen, and after
locating some bits of looseleaf paper from an old notebook and a chewed up pencil, went in the study to join the others.
Lenn, Cella, and Benner worked hard at writing their tales for almost an hour. The extended period of silence eventually made Lenn pretty fidgety as he tried to
massage the cramps out his writing paw.
“Hey guys. How’s it going? I think I’m almost done.”
“I am too!” Cella tucked her quill pen behind her ear and carefully sorted the pieces of her stationary. “Beautiful Princess Flower. A story by Cella. Ahem. Deep into
the evening, when the smothering black cloak of night is thrown upon us, there are only the tiny, faint flickers of fading star lights to illuminate our large world. Little
violet flowers, rooted in the earth, sway to the choreography of a listless summer breeze. The music of nature. We can hear the sounds like poetry in the air.
Sway...swish, the grace of a fish, sliding silently through the water-“
“That’s really nice, Cella...” began Lenn. “I mean, I really like how you word things! But...where’s the plot?”
Cella looked slightly crestfallen. “Fine. Why don’t you share your story, Lenn?”
“Okay. My story is called: The Power of a Superhero! There is only one superhero in the big city. That is all they need. His name is Super Fenrir! He helps the
helpless and is an all-around good guy. Things were going smoothly in the big city, except the villain (Mega-villain) was plotting to enslave the city and make them
gather Zetapoints to make him richer! As soon as Super Fenrir found out about this, he took a magic ship to the hidden, underground lair of Mega villain-“
“Well, you’ve certainly got a, erm, creative plot going there.” Benner looked as if he was straining to think of what to say next.
“But the way you are writing makes it seem a bit boring,” finished Cella.
“Okay, okay! I should have figured this from the world’s toughest critics.” Lenn chuckled. “Benner, your turn.”
“Here, I’ll bring my story up on the computer screen for you guys to read.” Benner opened a minimized file on the screen and hopped off of the chair so everyone
could get a plain view of the text.
A Story of Sentrion's Most Wanted - By Benner
Patty Larceny: I am certainly in need of some Zetapoints. I was at the bookstore today, and I spotted a book which tells you how to become rich!
Grant Heftauto: You know those sorts of books rarely work. You’d be better off not wasting your money on it.
Patty Larceny: Well, Mr. Skeptic! I think you are too quick to judge a book by it’s cover. It may very well be a good read!
Grant Heftauto: Fine! I’m going to stroll around Sentrion for awhile and see if anyone has spilled some Zetapoints---
“You’re the only one of us to use dialog,” noted Cella.
“But, it’s all I used...” Benner glanced over the computer screen with a frown as Cella and Lenn nodded in agreement.
“I think we’re all toast,” Cella wailed.
“Maybe we just need a break to clear our heads. We could have dinner or something.” Lenn patted his growling belly.
“Sounds good,” agreed both Cella and Benner in unison.
The trio traipsed into the kitchen. Each pet specialized in separate kitchen duties, and they started into them automatically. Lenn picked up the scattered folding
chairs and began to set the table. Benner and Cella gathered up the spilled groceries so Benner could set to work mixing their favorite fruit juice drinks and Cella
could prepare her favorite cucumber salad. Once all the preparations were completed, they each sat down in front of their places. As silent moments passed
while they munched, Lenn’s expression turned into a slight frown, as it often did when he was pondering something. Suddenly, his eyes grew quite wide as he
smiled excitedly.
“Hey! What have we all been thinking? We’ve got this computer and internet access! I am sure we can find some good writing tips online.” Lenn dashed over
to keyboard and began rapidly typing in a search for help in writing. “Hmm...the beginners guide to writing a short story. This one looks good.” As he pulled
up the page, his sister hopped up onto his lap.
“The first rule of writing is give yourself plenty of time to do it. Well, we’re going to have to remember that rule for next time.” Cella took a quick glance in the
direction of the clock and groaned. It was almost 9:30.
“Never mind that. Watching the clock like hawks will only make things worse. If we stay on task, we’ll make it in time.” Benner gave his brother and sister
reassuring pats. “Okay, next one: Write about something you know and/or interests you.”
“Make sure your story has characters with individual personalities, and that your plot has a clear focus. The main character should experience
some sort of conflict - with his/herself, or with an outside force during the story...Like a villian!” Lenn continued scrolling down the page.
“Here’s a good one,” piped up Cella. “Use a good mix of description and dialog to keep the reader's attention. You know what I was thinking?” Her tone became
a bit hesitant. “Maybe, for this time only, we could collaborate our skills and write one story together. We could use Lenn’s plot, Benner’s ability to write dialog,
and I could write the descriptive parts.”
Lenn and Benner paused for a moment, contemplating this new plan of action. Cella, slightly nervous that her brothers might ridicule her idea, spoke again quickly.
“I-I mean, when we made dinner and cleaned the kitchen together, we finished very quickly. That was because we each did a little bit to help out. Considering time
is certainly something we don’t have to spare-”
“I think it’s a great idea!” agreed both Lenn and Benner in unison.
“Okay! Can you type, Benner, since you are the fastest? Lenn, you start telling us your story about the super hero again, and Benner and I will add our ideas for
descriptions and dialog!” Cella beamed with such enthusiasm that she looked almost like a jack-in-the-box about to pop.
The Fenrir, Illuminaire, and Rah worked without stopping for practically two hours and fifteen minutes. They had agreed to write about Lenn’s character “Super
Fenrir,” and his two super hero friends, “Rescue Rah” (as suggested by Cella) and “Defender Illuminaire” (Benner’s idea.) With everyone’s help and input, they
managed to finish a full five page rough draft. Benner had begun to run it through a spell checker as Cella and Lenn skimmed through to catch any grammatical
and punctuation errors.
“Whew, we're finished!” Lenn sighed with relief. “There were more mistakes than I expected, though. Glad we checked.”
“I think that is true with anything. But, the more we practice at this, the more our skills will progress.” Benner retrieved the pages of their story from
the printer’s paper tray, folded them carefully, and gently placed them inside an envelope.
“Yeah, I’m sure writing next time will be a lot easier for all of us!” Cella’s jovial expression drooped with a sudden realization. “But, what if our story isn’t accepted?”
“Well, that will always be a possibility.” Lenn nodded solemnly. “But! We can’t let it scare us. If we don’t get published this time, we’ll just try again next time.”
“And there is one thing IS for sure! If we keep standing around here, we won’t get our manuscript turned in on time, and we most definitely will not have our story
accepted!” Benner laced the envelope through his collar for safekeeping, then opened the front door to their home.
“Right! Okay, Super Zetapets Squad, sign off!” Lenn trotted out the front door to lead the way to the Town Hall. His large, toothy grin gleamed in the moonlight.
“Rescue Rah!”
“Defender Illuminaire!”
“And...Super Fenrir! Away!”
THE END