Happy Fall, Friends! Ooooooh, am I thrilled that #FallWritingFrenzy is here again? Yes, I am! This season has been busier than ever, as I am back working full-time, this time teaching a class of three and four-year-olds, and whew (!) my writing time has to be carefully carved out and often feels limited. #FallWritingFrenzy is exactly what I needed to get pencil to paper fast and stir up some creativity soup.
Big thanks to Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez (@KaitlynnLeann17), (Lydia Lukidis (@LydiaLukidis), and Alyssa Reynoso-Morris (@AReynosoMorris) for hosting this contest--Find and follow them on Twitter!--and many thanks to all of the prize donors. I'm constantly amazed and inspired by the generosity of the kidlit community!
For this contest, writers choose a fall-themed image from the contest webpage and write a 200 word story for kids, using the image as inspiration. My story is below, underneath this caped-wonderdog I call Tagalong Toby. Thanks for reading! Happy HOWLaween!
Halloween-Credit: Sarah Pflug for Burst
Tagalong Toby
197 words
Every Halloween it’s the same.
Max dresses up…and leaves!
Then the doorbell keeps ringing and all I can do is howl.
Aroooooooooo!
But not tonight.
Tonight, I have a plan.
Tonight, Max will see that dogs can trick-or-treat too!
See my tricks, Max?
Shake
Sit
Rollover
“Good boy, Toby!” says Max.
Oooh! Treats! It worked!
Gobble-gobble-gobble
Hmmm. Tricks…Treats…I’m a Halloween expert!
Which is why I’ll beg…ahem…CONVINCE Max to take me trick-or-treating.
Here goes…
Sniff, sniff, snuggle.
“Not now, Toby. I have to get dressed!” says Max.
Jump, jump, SMOOOOCH!
“Get down, boy! Candy’s bad for dogs.”
Circle-circle-sit
“And dogs aren’t allowed, Toby!” says Max.
Not allowed?
Thump
(I roll over and play dead.)
Boo-hoo-hoo!
“Aw, Toby…Plus, you don’t have a costu—Hey, you’re squishing my sword!”
Costume?? Aha! Max has forgotten my best trick!
Into the dress-up closet I go…
Dig…dig…dig…scoot!
This! Bwahahaaaa.
I scamper to Max.
Woof!
Max does his happy-guy laugh.
“Ha-ha-ha! Ok, boy…” he says. “But I get all of your chocolate.”
It worked! Make no bones about it, old dogs can learn new tricks!
But wait! Christmas will be coming soon… with Christmas CAROLERS.
Aroooooooooo!
I have a plan.
Until then…
Happy Howlaween!