Week 11 Story: Grace
There is an updated version of this story in my Portfolio!
Maggie nervously walked through the classroom door. She hated the first day of school, especially since she usually had to start at a new school. Because her dad was in the military, her family moved around a lot. Maggie loved getting to experience new cities so much but the beginning is always the hardest.
When she walked through the doorway a short blonde lady with clear round glasses and overalls greeted her with the biggest smile.
"You must be Maggie!" she exclaimed. "I'm Miss Martin, welcome to our class, 5th grade is going to be SO much fun."
Miss Martin showed Maggie around the classroom and took her to her desk before she introduced her to the class.
"Class, this is Maggie, our new classmate. She just moved here, so everyone, be sure to make her feel welcome."
Maggie sat down at her desk, feeling anxious about how the day would turn out. She began to reach for her backpack to grab her bracelet her dad bought her when a girl approached her desk. She had hair so blonde it was almost white and the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
"Hi, I'm Grace! Where did you move here from?"
"San Diego. My dad is in the military so we move around a lot."
"Oh wow, that is so cool. You are going to love it in Colorado Springs. My mom is in the military too and I moved here last year so I know how nervous you must be. Do you want to sit with me at lunch?"
Maggie felt a weight lift off her shoulders and a smile grew on her face from ear to ear.
"Yes, thank you so much!"
At lunch, the two girls automatically became best friends. They realized they loved all of the same things and spent all of recess swinging, playing games, and getting to know everything about each other.
Maggie and Grace were inseparable for the entire year. They convinced Miss Martin to move their desks together, they sat at lunch together every day, played at recess together every day, and even played together after school as much as they could. When summer came around, Maggie took Grace on their family vacation and Grace took Maggie on hers. They spent nearly all their time together and never seemed to grow tired of each other's company.
That September, Maggie's dad got news that they were going to have to move again. Maggie's heart sank. She finally felt like she had made a life-long best friend and she was going to have to move again. As much as she hated it, she knew her dad didn't have much control and she would have to move away from Grace.
A month later, Maggie and her family had fully moved into their new house in Charleston. As amazing as Charleston was, Maggie was sad that she was about to go to school and Grace wouldn't be there. She went through the processes of meeting new people again but didn't feel as eager to make friends as she had before. All she wanted was Grace to be there with her.
One day, Maggie walked into her classroom and started making her way to her desk when she saw Grace sitting at the desk next to hers. A smile grew on her face ear to ear. She ran up and gave her a big bear hug- a million thoughts running through her mind.
"What are you doing here?" Maggie asked.
"We moved! I go to school here now." Grace happily told her.
This was the happiest Maggie had been since her family moved. Her favorite person in the whole world was back in her life and she couldn't be more excited.
Author's Note:
I based this story off of "The Elephant and the Dog," a story in the Jataka Tales. In the story, a dog who starts off eating an elephant's food ends up becoming best friends with the elephant. They are inseparable, eating and playing together every day when the elephant's keeper sells the dog to a farmer. The elephant is so sad that he stops eating and bathing. In the end, the two end up back together. I wanted to keep the same concept of the story but change it to people so I figured a military family would be a good concept to work with.
Bibliography: "More Jataka Tales" Ellen C Babbitt
Maggie nervously walked through the classroom door. She hated the first day of school, especially since she usually had to start at a new school. Because her dad was in the military, her family moved around a lot. Maggie loved getting to experience new cities so much but the beginning is always the hardest.
When she walked through the doorway a short blonde lady with clear round glasses and overalls greeted her with the biggest smile.
"You must be Maggie!" she exclaimed. "I'm Miss Martin, welcome to our class, 5th grade is going to be SO much fun."
Miss Martin showed Maggie around the classroom and took her to her desk before she introduced her to the class.
"Class, this is Maggie, our new classmate. She just moved here, so everyone, be sure to make her feel welcome."
Maggie sat down at her desk, feeling anxious about how the day would turn out. She began to reach for her backpack to grab her bracelet her dad bought her when a girl approached her desk. She had hair so blonde it was almost white and the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
"Hi, I'm Grace! Where did you move here from?"
"San Diego. My dad is in the military so we move around a lot."
"Oh wow, that is so cool. You are going to love it in Colorado Springs. My mom is in the military too and I moved here last year so I know how nervous you must be. Do you want to sit with me at lunch?"
Maggie felt a weight lift off her shoulders and a smile grew on her face from ear to ear.
"Yes, thank you so much!"
At lunch, the two girls automatically became best friends. They realized they loved all of the same things and spent all of recess swinging, playing games, and getting to know everything about each other.
Maggie and Grace were inseparable for the entire year. They convinced Miss Martin to move their desks together, they sat at lunch together every day, played at recess together every day, and even played together after school as much as they could. When summer came around, Maggie took Grace on their family vacation and Grace took Maggie on hers. They spent nearly all their time together and never seemed to grow tired of each other's company.
That September, Maggie's dad got news that they were going to have to move again. Maggie's heart sank. She finally felt like she had made a life-long best friend and she was going to have to move again. As much as she hated it, she knew her dad didn't have much control and she would have to move away from Grace.
A month later, Maggie and her family had fully moved into their new house in Charleston. As amazing as Charleston was, Maggie was sad that she was about to go to school and Grace wouldn't be there. She went through the processes of meeting new people again but didn't feel as eager to make friends as she had before. All she wanted was Grace to be there with her.
One day, Maggie walked into her classroom and started making her way to her desk when she saw Grace sitting at the desk next to hers. A smile grew on her face ear to ear. She ran up and gave her a big bear hug- a million thoughts running through her mind.
"What are you doing here?" Maggie asked.
"We moved! I go to school here now." Grace happily told her.
This was the happiest Maggie had been since her family moved. Her favorite person in the whole world was back in her life and she couldn't be more excited.
Author's Note:
I based this story off of "The Elephant and the Dog," a story in the Jataka Tales. In the story, a dog who starts off eating an elephant's food ends up becoming best friends with the elephant. They are inseparable, eating and playing together every day when the elephant's keeper sells the dog to a farmer. The elephant is so sad that he stops eating and bathing. In the end, the two end up back together. I wanted to keep the same concept of the story but change it to people so I figured a military family would be a good concept to work with.
Bibliography: "More Jataka Tales" Ellen C Babbitt
Hey Hannah, this was a really sweet story! It was great to make this tale between two little girls in military families as opposed to an elephant and a dog. Doing so certainly created a more empathetic and understandable situation for the reader. I think you got the pace and growth of this story down really well. There was enough introduction to establish how their connection was started and then you expanded on that beautifully by talking about family trips and games which we can all relate to. The one thing I wish there was more of was the girls leaving each other. I think if you go into more detail about the pain of Maggie moving, it will make Grace appearing at the new school all the more moving!
ReplyDeleteHey Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI love the amount of dialogue that you had in your story. It kept the story very engaging and helped with the flow of your story. Also, I like the formatting of your story. This is something that I have been trying to work on in my own stories and you story is a very good example. Overall, I really enjoyed your story and I am looking forward to reading more of your stories.
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet and feel good story! I loved how you took one of the Jataka Tales and turned it into something almost completely different while staying with the initial idea. By reading some of the other intros from people in this class I think more people than we realize can relate to having to move pretty often. They also probably wish something like this would have happened to them!