Ants
My sixth grade class is reading a story written from the perspective of ants (much like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). Today their assignment was to draw a picture of either their room at home or the classroom from the perspective of an ant. It didn't work so well for them, but it worked out nicely for me. While they were drawing, I decided to write about mine (as I have the artistic ability of a rock). It's about two ants climbing up my building and coming to my apartment, where they happen to see my cat and dog. It's very short and painfully dramatic, but it was written in about ten minutes for eleven-year olds. Here it is:
The ants made their way up the mountain. They felt as if they had been climbing for years. They were forced to seek shelter when they were partway up the mountain due to the cold. They saw a huge open cave and entered it. What sights they saw there! They climbed down another (smaller) mountain and found that the ground was hot. It was strange to them, but a welcome relief after their long upward trek in the bitter cold. They were very happy with their cave. That is, until they heard the booming noise and saw the terrifying giant monster. The monster was covered with fur and had teeth bigger than both ants put together. The monster thundered towards them and the ants thought they were done for. Then suddenly, another monster appeared from out of nowhere and jumped on the first monster, thwarting it's attempt on the ants' lives. The two monsters rolled around on the floor wrestling. The ants were captivated by the frightening and bizarre scene before them, but decided that their safety was more important than their entertainment. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them to what appeared to be a cave within the cave. All the ants knew was that it was dark and looked safe.
Too bad you can't train both the cat AND the dog to kill bugs. If your cat is anything like mine, he'll just play with them till they're nearly dead...then bring the quivering hulk of a dead bug to you. "See what *I* did? I killed it! For YOU! Me fierce jungle cat!" Then the bug makes one last futile attempt for freedom, usually flying at my face and causing all sorts of mayhem. Then there's the frogs...and lizards-we have those creepy, transparent lizards that my cats enjoy tormenting. I know it sounds like we have all the major animal-related biblical plagues, but really it's just because we live next to a swamp. There are snakes, too, but thus far they have remained outdoors. Y'all will all hear me hollering if I find a snake inside. Blah!
Posted by Jen | 4:40 AM
Wow...I just reread my comment. That, my friends, was stream-of-consciousness writing at its finest. Or just babble...I'll leave that up to you.
Posted by Jen | 4:41 AM