Narrative Paper
Let me tell you about something that happened when I was in
4th grade. Back then I was always reading books from The Magic
Treehouse series and any other fantasy books that really interested me. There
were test called the AR test or The Accelerated Reader test that students can
take when they finish reading a book. Books were cataloged into different
levels based on grades. The average student would read a book suited to his/her
level in the current grade. What made this enjoyable was that students can read
books and then test their knowledge on what they read. There were many books I have
read and were tested on and by taking these tests I have risen up to about
grade 6 as far as reading. Though that wasn’t much of an improvement cause
there were other people above my grade achieving levels as far as high school.
Tends to get me down at times but never really let it bother me so I just keep
reading and testing.
Lunch time always
came and went like clockwork. I usually enter in to the lunch room and hear almost
glass shattering echoes from children either screaming or talking over other
people talking. Smell of food wafts down the hallways like a wind rushing
through the crowds of children making their way to the attractive smells. I
usually get the first thing that comes to mind when entering the lunchroom
which usually ends up being whatever is being served that day. Though the
school lunch doesn’t make out to be the best at food due the plastic feel of
cheese that if you ball up in to tight little ball shape would bounce as if it
were a bouncy ball and the cardboard pizza that seems to smell just like pizza
but is really tough to chew and generally tastes bland and unappetizing. Though
the food is not the best school has to offer it does always help to wash it
down with a nice pint of chocolate milk. Every day at Lunch I would strive to
eat as fast as possible so I may race over to the Library and enjoy a good
read. I had a favorite spot in the back corner of the library. I still remember
every time I would walk in to the library you would be hit from what seemed
like a wave of warmth and smell of old books and paper. Like a Mother reaching
out to her child so did this warmth grasp a hold of me every day during recess
time. I would immerse myself deep into the book I am currently reading at the
time and just be swept away from reality until the loud bellowing sound of the
bell will rip me into reality beckoning me to the classroom.
My classroom is
located way back behind the actually school in one of six portable classrooms.
Seems kind of ominous at times but teachers get kids to make decorative cement
stones to put along the walkway toward portables. Often times you can hear the
wildlife of the birds chirping off in the distance and frog’s croaking as
loud as possible. While making my way toward the classroom I imagined what
could happen in class today considering it was going to be time for English
portion of the day. Upon walking into the classroom like the library you would
always get hit by a wave of warmth and smell only this time it hit me more
combined with the chill of the outside winter air and the sheer warmth of the
classroom feels like a vortex sucking you in violently and dragging you into its
depths. The smell like an overused piece of chalk and the long forgotten
cardboard that nobody seems to use any more became my welcoming mat and my
greeting was at the center of the classroom was my teacher. Like all teachers
she was very warm to welcome in her students as a mother goose would welcome
her goslings. With a tall black dress and short black hair, she had a very warm
and gentle presence with a smile that will make you melt. While making my way
toward my assigned seat feels like every step had taken its toll and feels like
I can fall asleep. While the taste of milk still lingered and my stomach full
of sustenance I feel at ease taking my seat. The teacher has always known me to
bury my face in a book and has always encouraged me to strive higher in AR,
though this time she approached me with another purpose. She asked me how I felt
about reading and writing. I explained to her that every time I would pick up a
book it would sweep me away to another world but writing has always been a less
interesting to me. She then smiled and was content, though the thought of her
approach was a bit weird and so after the class which seemed to go passed in no
time at all I approached her and asked her, “What if I did have an interest in
both reading and writing?” She then said, “Write a story, it doesn’t have to be
big but it has to be yours. Write a story that you would like to read.” After
brewing over the idea of writing a story I had several idea’s in mind all
hitting me like a traffic jam. Later upon arriving at my designated bus stop I had
the perfect idea. The moment the bus stopped at my bus stop I made my way
toward the door and the moment I stepped on the coarse gravel road I raced like
lightening all the way home which in reality was only two blocks away. I
quickly made my way to my room and dropped everything to pull out my notebook
from my backpack. My room was your average sized room with one window clouded
over with dust and debris, my floor usually cluttered with clothes and super Nintendo
games. My bed so messy it looked as though it wasn’t a bed but a nest made just
for me a lined with many books as an outline for my nest. I grabbed the closest
pencil that was your average wooden number two pencil and opened my notebook to
place it on to my nest and went to work.
The topic was about
a boy who was a farmer of a village whose dad ran the local saw mill. The boy
had many chores to do every day and was not surprised to have his old man come
home only to give him more chores. He repeated the process day in and day out. Only
to rest on days his old man was either too drunk or too tired when coming home.
The boy one day finds an egg while filling a water buck at the nearby creek.
This egg was about the size of his entire tarsal and contained a mystical
dragon inside. I wrote about the many things this boy had to do to keep the
dragon egg safe and when the egg finally hatch so did the boy into a man. The dragon
befriended the young man and was able to talk and speak telepathically but only
to the man because of the bond he and the dragon shared. The young man’s father
finally passed leaving only his bad presence and smell. The boy and the dragon
went on an adventure and left everything behind.
I wrote this story
and what seemed to take only moments really took 5 hours. I even skipped dinner
and snack time. It wasn’t until my father came in and said good night to me
that I realized what time it was. That following morning I presented the story
to my English teacher whom upon reading it started to tear up. I was worried
that there may have been something she did not like and I was worried I did
something wrong. Hesitant a spoke but then she interrupted me saying, “I’m
Alright” taking a moment to finish the story. She then said to me, “I hope you
keep hold of these stories and one day become a great writer.”
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