Fun, funny, and serious can often go together. One can change to the other in a split second. That happens in life, and sometimes it happens while you're writing.
Pay attention near the end when Vera changed this to a serious story. I was a little surprised, but it was good.
In a forest lived a girl with a dog. The dog was clever.
Next to the girl and the dog lived a raccoon. The raccoon was clever too.
The raccoon helped the girl and the dog eat. The girl's name was Gigi, and the dog's name was Bim.
"Would you like some more grapes?" asked Rocko the raccoon, holding out a handful of grapes toward Gigi.
"Yes, please!" said Gigi, and she made that sound, of being satisfied with food, and wanting more too.
Bim walked away from the table in the woods to a tree. He curled up in the soft grass, and was soon asleep in the mid-afternoon shade.
"He is so tired!" said Gigi, "he needed a nap!" and she smiled.
But Rocko wasn't looking at her, and he wasn't listening to her. He was looking up, his eyes darting around. He looked back at Gigi and whispered, "Look!" as he pointed up into the branches of the tree, "A fairy!"
"There are no more fai..." then she looked up and saw a fairy, "Wow, it is a real fairy. Hello, what is your name?" said Gigi with interest.
The fairy turned to look at her, and was still, just for a moment. At that moment, Rocko launched himself out of the tree he had secretly and silently climbed, like a bandit, and caught the fairy inside of a glass jar that he had been saving for just such an occasion.
"T i l i. Ti li. My name is Tili. And I am a fairy." said the fairy with fear.
"Ha hah!" yelled Rocko as he pumped his fist in the air. He looked at Gigi, "Do you know what you can do with a fairy?"
"No, what is a fairy?" asked Gigi.
"A fairy," Rocko started, and then stopped, squinting his eyes in slight disbelief. He tilted his head and thought for a moment. And then both Rocko and Gigi turned and looked at Bim, who was sitting up, wide awake next to the tree, looking at them. "A fairy," Bim said in a serious voice, "is pure magic."
"Oh, that is interesting." said Gigi.
But then Rocko asked, "Do you have a mum and dad?"
"No," said Gigi and she looked sad.
"Why..." started Rocko.
"My parents died." said Gigi, cutting him off.
"What about fairies," said Gigi, looking more curious than sad now, "do they have parents?"
"Fairies," said Bim, still sounding quite serious, "are born from dreams, and live upon prayers."
End.
Nine-year-olds can be serious, but I hadn't expected that. The crazy thing is that our time was up when Vera wrote the line about the dead parents. I didn't want to let it end there. So, I wrote those last two lines, which I like. I never would have come up with that last line without being in this specific and odd situation. We don't know what idea we'll have next, which is part of why life is always an adventure.
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