Sarah Plain and Tall II

(I wrote this short story in third grade as a sequel to a book I read called Sarah Plain and Tall. There are historical inaccuracies and grammatical errors, but this is a very complex plot line for a third grader to write. I really am in love with my writing style when I was 8! Actually, I’m in love with everything I’ve written. My writing style is awesome no matter how old I am!)

In Kansas in 1901, there was a house. Inside it was a bunch of very busy people. Even though it was a very small house it would fit four people and one cat named Seal.

The people in the house were Sarah, Jacob, Anna, and Caleb. Everybody was bustling about doing chores. Anna and Sarah were washing the dishes and Jacob was teaching Caleb how to cut small trees down. Anna was twelve and Caleb was seven.

Inside the house while Anna and Sarah were washing dishes, they were remembering the first time Sarah came to see if she would like to stay. Many surprising things happened while she stayed.

Anna and Caleb learned to swim in the cow pond. And Sarah met sheep and was sorry when one died. There was also a hurricane that hit. And Sarah learned to drive a wagon. Last year Sarah also got married to Jacob.

“Sarah, are you always going to stay with us?” asked Anna. “Why yes Anna, I love your papa. And he loves me. I do not want to part with him,” said Sarah.

Then they went back to washing the dishes. Back outside while Jacob and Caleb were cutting down trees they were talking also.

“Daddy, when will we ever go see Maggie’s baby?” said Caleb. “You will get to see her kid because it is not a baby anymore. It is one years old,” said Jacob.

Speaking of Maggie, there is a story about her. You see, she was pregnant when Sarah met her. Well, one day Maggie’s husband rode on his horse and rushed over to Jacob’s house.

He told them that Maggie was struggling and trying to squeeze her baby out. But she was having trouble doing it.

So they ran over to her house. When they got in the house, Sarah rushed into Maggie’s room.

She was struggling to much that she fainted when the baby came out. It was a girl.

“I remember the story of how Maggie got her baby by heart,” said Caleb. As I was saying, Caleb had done a good job cutting down trees. Jacob said so.

Inside the house the girls had finished doing the chores and they were petting Seal.

They told about the hurricane and that they couldn’t find Seal. Then after the storm they found her on the roof.

The next day they drove over to Maggie’s house. When they arrived, Maggie and her child in her arms came to greet them. “It’s nice to see you again and I have named by baby Abigail,” said Maggie.

“That is a pretty name for a baby,” said Sarah. “Her first word was Sarah,” said Maggie. Sarah smiled happily at Abigail.

Then Maggie led them inside. It was as plain as it was at Jacob’s house.

After they sat down they talked and talked until it was time to go. “Goodbye Maggie!” said Anna. “We’ll see you later.” Maggie waved Abigail’s hand to act like she was waving goodbye. Maggie waved also.

Then they started off. When they arrived at their house they looked at the calendar. “Oh my!” said Sarah. “Tomorrow is Maggie’s birthday.”  “We should make her a card and a present!” said Anna.

The next day at Sarah’s house everyone was busy making a present and card for Maggie. When everybody was finished they put their cards and presents and set off for Maggie’s house.

When they got there Jacob went up to the porch alone and rang the doorbell. Sarah, Anna, and Caleb hid in the wagon waiting for Maggie.

When Maggie’s husband answered the door Jacob said, “Hello this is Jacob. Here is my birthday present and card.” “Where are the rest of the gang?” said Maggie’s husband. “We are here!” said Sarah, Anna, and Caleb. They climbed out of the wagon. And they ran up the porch. Then Maggie’s husband opened the door and yelled for Maggie. When she answered the door everyone yelled, “Surprise!” “Oh thank you very much!” said Maggie.

“Your welcome,” said Jacob, Sarah, Anna, and Caleb. “Well we have to go now,” said Jacob. So they climbed up in the wagon.

When they arrived home they had a surprise. They found Seal and a milk snake both dead. “Oh no, not Seal!” said Sarah running toward Seal and the snake. “The snake must have bit Seal and they fought,” said Caleb. “I guess that we should have a funeral for Seal,” said Sarah.

At the funeral it was very sad. Everybody said nice things about Seal. At the end of the funeral Sarah cried so hard that she almost burst. Then Jacob dug a hole and droped Seal down it. That was the end of the funeral.

A week passed. Everybody forgot about Seal. Then one day Jacob offered Sarah that he could buy her a new pet.

But Sarah refused.

Then a month passed. That day was Caleb’s birthday. He was so exited. He was jumping all around. “I can’t believe it is my birthday!” said Caleb.

Suddenly Sarah came into the room. She gave Caleb a present. It was a Conch Shell. And written on it was a note that said “We are celebrating our birthdays together.”

“We are celebrating our birthdays together? Wow!” said Caleb.

“Why don’t we give him the rest of our presents,” said Jacob handing him two wrapped things. “May I open them?” asked Caleb. “You will open them last,” said Jacob.

So he started ripping the presents open. The first one was clothes. The second one was a book of fairy tales. And the last present was a crystal angel that held a sign that said “You are the best son I ever had.”

“Thank you for all of the presents,” said Caleb. “You are welcome,” said Jacob, Sarah, and Anna. Then there was a knock on the screen door. “I will get it,” said Anna. “It might be some friends.”

When she opened the door it was Maggie, her baby Abigail, and the twins. “Hello Anna, we have something to give Caleb for his birthday,” said Maggie.

So Anna let Maggie’s twins, Abigail, and Maggie herself in. When Maggie came in she gave Caleb a wrapped present.

“I wonder what it is, ” said Caleb. When he opened it up, he couldn’t figure out what it was. “It’s a scrapbook,” said Maggie. “What is a scrapbook?’ said Caleb.

“It is something you write or draw on,” said Sarah. “There is a pencil in there too,” said Maggie. So Caleb fished out a pencil and drew furiously stopping to look at Sarah now and then.

When he finished drawing he held up the drawing so everyone could see.

Sarah smiled at Caleb. “Thank you for drawing a picture of me. I feel that you might be an artist one day,” said Sarah.

“Oh my, look at the time we better go now!” said Maggie. “Goodbye Caleb,” said the twins. And they started off.

“This is my best birthday ever,” said Caleb. “You have said that every birthday you have had,” said Anna. “Well, this is my best birthday I ever had,” said Caleb.

After another few weeks Jacob offered to get Sarah another pet. This time she did not refuse. “I want a grey girl cat and I will name her Seal,” said Sarah.

So Jacob set off to go to the pet store so he could get Sarah a new cat. When he got there he asked, “Do you have any grey cats here?”

“You are very lucky because we have one more left,” said the store manager.

“Where is it?” said Jacob excitedly. “Right around the corner,” said the store manager. So Jacob ran around the corner. He gazed around in amusement.

It was cat city! There were cats everywhere. Then he spotted a little grey cat. He picked it out of the cage. It was so cute.

“I am going to take you home to Sarah,” said Jacob. Then he went to the cash register.

When he got to the cash register he put the cat on the counter for the pet doctor could inspect the cat.

“You have a very smart and healthy cat there,” said the doctor. That was after he paid for the cat.

As soon as he came back to his house, of course he surprised Sarah. “Oh isn’t she cute!” said Sarah.

The cat purred and layed down on Sarah’s lap.

“Jacob, thank you very much for this cat. I am going to name her Pepper,” said Sarah. “You are very welcome,” said Jacob.

Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Sarah kept getting fatter. “Did you eat too much?” said Caleb.

“No I did not, it is just that I am pregnant,” said Sarah. “I will try to remember that you are pregnant,” said Caleb.

Just then Sarah heard people singing happy birthday to the twins.

Sarah rushed on her coat. “Come on we have to say happy birthday to the twins,” said Sarah. So the rest of the family rushed their coats on and ran out the door.

When they arrived at Maggie’s house they went up to the front door and knocked. When Maggie came to the door everyone explained why they were sad.

“We are said because we didn’t get the twins a present,” said Caleb.

“Ohh that is okay, they don’t care if they get a present or not,” said Maggie. “We came by to say happy birthday to the twins,” said Anna. “I guess you can say happy birthday and give them a present anyway,” said Maggie.

(I wrote “To be continued…” at the bottom of the final page of the story, but I never actually finished it. I can’t believe how long of a short story that was for an 8 year-old to write! Then again, I’ve always been a writer. I’ve been known to take prompts and then go way beyond what people ask for. This was a really cute story! It makes me want to write a new one soon!)

❤ Me

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Third Grade Journal (3)

(I couldn’t resist sharing more entries today!)

July 28, 1998:

Achiever

I would like to achieve in being a Brownie Girl Scout and bridge into a Junior girl scout. I hope we will do it this year.

Did you know that I have skipped Daisys and went right into Brownies? Well I did. Don’t worry. It is not like I don’t like Brownies, I just can’t wait to be a Junior girl scout.

I would want to be an achiever in the future too. I would want to be two things when I grow up.

The first thing that I would want to be is a writer. (Probably because I love to write.) First I would want to write children’s books. Then when I’m pretty tired of them, I would start chapter books.

I totally forgot to tell you something! I will also go to college to study to be a writer.

Did you know I might write a story called “The Kids in Mr. Cognac’s Class?” I might, I just might.

Another thing is that I might want to be is a singer. I will tell you a secret. Promise you won’t tell? Because this is a super dooper secret that I have never told ever in my whole life. Ready? Set? Go!!

I am a really great singer!!! Really! I really am. Sometimes I go up to my room alone and I sing. I really don’t sing very well in public. But alone, I’m great! I hope I achieve everything I want to achieve.

(Note from the present day: This entry really made me smile. I’m still in the process of achieving all of those things! I did become a Junior girl scout, and while I didn’t go to college to be a writer, I went for music and singing instead. As you know, I still am writing. I might skip children’s books and go straight to novels and poetry anthologies, though. And I’m really glad that I came out with my secret that I can sing well! Because I can! And you know it too.)

August 10:

United States Long Ago

I think that there weren’t any cars back then. Instead, they might have used buggees or horse drawn carriages. The schools back then probably weren’t like they are now. Television was in black and white or maybe there wasn’t any television at all.

Long ago, Saint Louis wasn’t like it is now. You can also go to museums and they will tell you more about the United States long ago.

In school long ago, there probably weren’t any baskets to hold lunch boxes. I think that maybe life is better now than back 100 years ago.

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Third Grade Journal (2)

July 24, 1998:

Daisy, my dog

I have a dog named Daisy. I have a great story to tell you about her.

One day my mom and my brother JT came to a place to drop off a racoon trap. Well speaking of racoons, my family has caught about 9 raccoons.

Now back to my story. Well, my mom went to where dogs where held for adoption. And then she saw her!!!!! Mom fell in love with her instantly.

Then another day my mom, JT, and a friend went to a basket ball court near the place where mom saw Daisy. After JT and his friend got done playing basket ball, mom took them to see Daisy.

Then one night mom told Dad about Daisy. And Dad thought about getting her.

One day when I came home from school, my dad got dog food out of the trunk. I asked him why. He said nothing. So I asked him if we were getting a dog. He said, “What if I already picked on out?” Now I knew we were getting a dog. He said that it is a she and she is at the groomers. I also asked him when we were going to get her. He said that, “we are going to get her when you get JT.” So I went up to JT’s friend’s house and picked him up.

Then we got in the car and drove to the groomers. When we got to the groomers, we waited for Daisy to come out. When she finally came out, I thought she was so cute. Then we took her out of the groomers and took her to the car. We found that Daisy is carsick every time she goes in a car because she threw up on me! 😦

When we finally got home, we got her used to the house. When it was bedtime, she slept downstairs on a blanket in the kitchen.

The next day, we found that she tore up her bed. So we knew that she needed something else. I suggested that we get her a kennel. But dad said no.

Then one day we went to a baseball game. When we got home we had a big surprise. Daisy had made a mess! She tore a shade, she broke a dish, and in the dining room we found two surprises. I suggested that we get her a kennel again. This time dad agreed.

So one day we went shopping and got Daisy a kennel. When it was time for bed again. And Daisy had to sleep in her kennel. For nights and nights I had to listen to her crying. Then one day my mom and dad wanted to know if I would mind her sleeping with me. I said yes!!!

A picture of Daisy from November.

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Third Grade Journal (1)

(I’ve found my journal from when I was in third grade! My writing gets more detailed and more interesting. There’s even some short stories!)

July 10, 1998:

Sea World

My dream vacation would be to go to Sea World. I think it would be cool. I would see shows especially the Shamu show. My favorite thing to see would be Shamu. I would also see the dolphin show and the sea lion show. Then mabe I would want to see the sharks. I would also want to pet Shamu and some dolphins. And the Sea World that I would want to go to would be the one in Orlando Florida.

July 23:

Stormy Day

One day Ashley called me and wanted to know if I could come over. I told her that I needed to do a little more of my homework then I could play. I finally got finished. Then I called Ashley and asked what I should bring when I come over. She said I should bring my beanie babies. So I told her that I would bring them up. So I gathered the beanie babies that I could find and put them in my backpack. And I started off.

Ashley came to meet me halfway. When we were close to her house it started to sprinkle. Ashley and I ran towards her house. When we finally got into her house we got our beanie babies out and played with them for a while. Then Ashley’s parents and her little brother Billy went outside to look at the clouds. Then Ashley and I went outside to look at the clouds also.

Then it started to sprinkle again. And the family and I went inside. Then I looked out the window and it was pouring down rain. Then someone knocked on the door. It was my mom and Daisy. (Mom and Daisy were going on a walk and mom didn’t have a rain coat on.) So I gathered all my beanie babies and put them in my back pack. (I forgot to tell you this but I also brought my umbrella.) So I went outside.

When I got on the porch a gust of wind and a shower of rain blew in my face. And so, mom and I started our journey to our house. When we walked down the driveway, my umbrella flew up but didn’t fly out of my hand. I was so scared!!!!! I cried all the way home. When I got home, I knew I was safe.

The End

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Musings of a 7 Year-Old

October 17, 1997:

I like to play and read. Tonight I’m going to Apple Bees for supper! I like Apple Bees! Right now I’m waiting to get a table! I was standing but now I am sitting! I like Apple Bees because I think its cool! Here’s a picture of my dad! I like him, don’t you? I ordered Chiken Fingers! I like them! I really like Apple Bees! Now I’m done! I’m waiting for my spirite refile! I’m still waiting! Now I am waiting for my dad to come out of Sams.

(Note from the present… Wow, I really used a lot of exclamation points.)

 

An Adventure

When My mom, JT, and I went in the woods it was a real adventure! We went in the woods. it was real fun! When we went in there we got birs (burrs) but we didn’t care. We saw the sleeping tree. We discoverd and named four trees the four sisters. Then we found three walking stiks we used them to help us walk. We soon found our way back. We found a place to put our sticks. I’m going to look for my stick when I go back into the woods. Then we went into the glen. There were thorn bushes. We went where there used to be a creek. It was all dried up. So we went up the creek. We climbed on some rocks and ended up on top of a hill. Then we took off our birs. Then we ran down hill. Then we crossed the brige back to our house. I really liked my adventure.

(Another note from the present… When I was little, my neighborhood was on the edge of a big forest. I’m so glad I wrote down this adventure in my journal because in the year 2000 or so, not sure exactly which year, people came and chopped down basically the entire forest in order to build a road to connect with the highway. Sometimes when I close my eyes and remember, I can imagine the forest as it used to be. This little account I recorded helps take me back to the days when it was still there. I wish they never chopped it down. It was so wonderful to explore when I was little.)

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