Tuesday, October 24, 2017

LESSON 5 - ASSIGNMENT

Hello to my faithful followers, 
Isn't this just the loveliest day. Oh yes, it is raining buckets outside and I feel lucky to be alive and sharing my work in Lesson 5 of The Story Intensive. This one was all about plot & drift. I admit to having had some resistance here. I did what I trained myself to do now with the help of Sarah Selecky, my teacher and my fellow writer students, trust the process . I can't say enough how this is helping me grow, not only as a writer but as a person. 
A little note about this story. I needed to cut alot of the juicy details of it to fit the 300-500 words for the assignment, but I will try to post the whole story soon for you to get it all. Still, I feel it quite stands on its own. 
Thank you for stopping by.

DEAR DIRECTOR OF YOUTH PROTECTION,
I am writing this letter to tell you what I did was CHILD PROTECTION and why this unusual event took place today and why my actions may have been misconstrued by everyone implicated.
Earlier, on my daily walk, I notice this sweet little boy, barefoot, playing quietly in the sand, while his mother sat on a park bench, her cellphone cradled in her hand, instead of her son. She sounded like a child herself warning her son in her whiny voice. Mommy needs her phone-time, like you need your play-time. I’ll call you when I’m done.
This was not a safe situation; his mother not watching over her child’s safety.
Though, the outcome presented me with the advantage of taking a closer look at him. I noticed right away, his tiny frame lost in a worn down t-shirt that went down to his knees, his bony shoulders poking through the soft material. His arms and calves slightly bigger than the unsavory chicken legs I had for dinner last night. I sighed.
It was disturbing to me not to see him skipping up and down the monkey bars or the giant spider-web-like jungle gym, my nephew lives in whenever I bring him here.
I casually sat on the swing near him. It took all I had not to bend down to get even closer to him, he being so near me, I wanted to sweep him up, cradle him in a way he surely never had been. He then did the most remarkable thing in joining an ant in its daily labor, instead of crushing it, which I’m sorry to admit my nephew would have done without giving it a second thought. I wondered if his days were as laborious. It seemed he knew of the dulling work the ant repeats day by day to feed itself and the colony. From the gaunt looks of him, he did not get his three daily meals. He spread down on his stomach, gently leading the ant carrying its scavenged loot to its hole. He let another one climb on his index, watching closely from his under circled eyes, how it traveled freely up and down his hand, arm, and neck, the ant trusting this little giant would do it no harm. He smiled at it and I knew he needed me then.
I’ll swear to anyone who asks, his mom stayed on that phone for more than an hour, and you will find this as disturbing as I did, she never once looked up to see to the well-being of her son.
The helpers of the world.
Though I’m sure we all are familiar with the famous expression -shit happens-, we seem to think that when it hits the fan, or when we are swimming up in a creek full of it, we somehow, don’t know how to stay clear from it, be it blowing or drowning us.
All I can say for my defense is that I was eager to save an innocent child from his delinquent -ignorant in this case may be a kinder word- mother.
Isn’t a mother responsible for providing a safe, stable and nurturing environment for her child?
Well that’s what I was doing when the police stole him from me and put me in jail.
 Peggy Elms, writer

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