Friday, March 30, 2007

A Walk with a Dog

A 10 year old boy's response to this prompt:

One day while you are out on a walk with a dog, the dog suddenly starts talking about where he used to live and how he would like to visit that place again. Write about what happens that day.

USE ONLY A NO. 2 PENCIL TO WRITE YOUR NARRATIVE.
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"A Walk with a Dog" tells about me and a dog that take a walk in the big city. We walked so far that we got lost in another city that looked nice. Suddenly the dog told me that he remembered something and as I stepped up to it, it was a movie theater that I had gone to 2 years ago. I peeked inside a window when I saw people buying tickets and going inside to watch a movie. The dog was peeking in too. We left because we didn't have any money or tickets to watch a movie.
Then I settled off to home in a forest with the dog beside me. By 4 hours, it was dark out. Then I spotted something in the distance and it became an old log cabin. We became excited. Next, we went inside, got firewood, and started lighting up a fire in a small room. The dog walked into a small kitchen and made fresh toast and hot chocolate. We ate and drank it all up until our tummies became really full. After that, we put out the fire, washed the dishes, and found a comfortable bed to sleep in. Then we went under the covers as the dog turned out the light and snuggled in with me and fell asleep.
By the next morning we decided to go for a little walk in the forest as we pulled our clothes on and slowly walked out the door. Then we saw a pretty river in the distance and we wanted to get across the river, but it was too wavey to get across. Just then we saw a canoe sitting on a sandy beach. We climbed in and started towards the water then started down the river very fast. We were going so fast and there were big falls ahead of us, then the canoe was starting to tip to the other side. Just then, we fell down the falls but the dog grabbed on to something. It was a big branch and I pulled on it then it broke. Next, we fell all the way to the bottom and went beneath the waves and swam to shore and we were lost again.
We slowly walked along the shore very carefully then started walking back to the cabin, but there was no way to get back but across the dangerous river. The dog agreed to swim carefully then we swam back into the river and made it to shore safe.
After that, our clothes were soaked and wet. We put on clean clothes and went out of the door and ran home as fast as we could and saw the river again and smelled food somewhere. We saw a small town. We saw lots of food, but just as we started to walk in, the dog spotted something on the deck. It was money, a $5 bill. We saw a snack shop and went inside the little shop. We found a lot of interesting stuff inside, candy bars, salt, sugar, and chocolate. We gave the clerk the $5 bill. We even got a drink and some chocolate and a sandwich at the lunchshop and snackshop. After that, we found a sunny spot in a field and had a little picnic. By 2 whole days later, we remembered this place near the city, it was a street that led us into the forest.
Just then a sign said ..."Big City" -------> We turned right at the road then we saw the city and the theater again. We turned left and went into our own city and back into our neighborhood. We saw our house and went inside. We were very happy to be home. The dog and I thought of something we could do, watch a movie about a boy and a girl who get lost in the state of Nome, Alaska. That was the best thing we ever did, and that was the best day of the year ever.
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I only edited this very slightly for clarity. The spelling was correct (unless I made a typo). I thought this was very well done for a 10 year old who is "on the spectrum" as they say.

13 comments:

ann said...

I have to say this little boy has a very good imagination and managed to spin out quite an interesting story... maybe the subject matter wasn't so daft after all

Jocelyn said...

Despite some quibbles I have with the initial prompt, I am impressed with how much detail this kid used--how he felt comfortable unleashing his creativity. Even more, I really like that he carefully used chronological transitions, like "Next" and "After that..." I struggle to get my college composition students to do that.

val said...

What an amazing imagination. I wonder what Freud would have made of it...

JoJo said...

Wow! That was some story! It almost sounds like a dream someone would have. I liked the bits about spending money on the candy though....typical kid!! lol

JoJo said...

PS What grade did he get?

Claire said...

I still say it is a weird prompt for 9/10 year olds, but this guy made the best of it. My favorite part is the dog making "fresh toast and hot chocolate" for them.
This is the Californis State Writing exam for 4th grade students. It is scored from 1-4. Don't know any results yet.
This particular boy has no trouble spinning fantabulous yarns and I think his use of language is advanced dispite his other social issues (which are really quite mild because he has great family support).

Jane said...

Fresh toast and hot chocolate...My favorite part of the story too.

Interesting that the dog takes on a parental role.

fezzi said...

that's a great story!! i thought it was funny how he said there was lots of neat stuff in the store like chocolate, sugar and salt;)

and very sweet that he had to make sure the dog would agree to swim carefully when they crossed the river.

i'm so glad you got to post this for us:)

Malnurtured Snay said...

Nome? Isn't that where "Northern Exposure" was set? Your kid is awesome!

robkroese said...

That was pretty good. It's great that he just lets the words flow. He hasn't learned to be overly self-conscious yet.

Funny, I was just working on a post for tomorrow about a story I wrote in 2nd grade.

Claire said...

He is an awesome kid. Wish I could take credit for some of it, but no. When it comes to writing, he lets it all hang out. I have a 'book' on my desk that he made me. It is titled "Things That Happened a Long Time Ago" and it is full of historical facts that he found interesting from his social studies book.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Claire for your support. Sorry I haven't been around much lately.

Rose

xo

G said...

That is a wonderful story and please tell him that it entertained a lot of people. I love his how he spun the threads together and the loving relationship between he and the dog. I do like that fresh toast and hot chocolate part myself, and how they took care to put out the fire and snuggle into bed. Wonderful.