My Daughter's Writing Skills

I am very proud of my two daughters, Hannah (age 11) and Gracie (age 6). Hannah has a voracious appetite for reading. She read the entire Harry Potter series, thousands of pages, in only about 5 months. She will read 100 or so pages before she goes to sleep. That devotion to reading bodes well for her as she continues to develop.

Hannah also likes to write. She has always done well with stories she writes for school assignments. But, every now and then, she likes to write a story on her own. Below, with her permission, I have included her most recent story.

Paint the Sunset

There was once a time long ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the Indian tribes traveled with the wind. There was a small ten year old girl with long beautiful hair that shone in the darkest times. Her tiny black beetle eyes were blind and her muteness separated her from all the other girls in the tribe. Her name was Surya.

Surya spoke in a way like no other, Surya danced. She was an orphan with no parents or friends.
Every evening Surya climbed up the mountain and watched the birds paint the sunset over the blue misty ocean as she felt the wind push against her and the mist splash her beautiful face. During that time the other Indian girls braided their hair. One girl asked Surya why she wasted her time trying to find the sunset when she couldn’t even see it. Surya replied “Yes, I do not see it, but I can feel it rush in my veins and I can feel the birds rushing towards the sun. The girl laughed and didn’t know that some day she would regret that she laughed.

As Surya grew older she learned many great things from the sunset. She learned how to communicate with the animals. She learned how to whisper to the trees. And she learned how to dance with the rivers. But she didn’t know that on her sixteenth birthday something extraordinary would happen to her and the girl named Hema who always made fun of her.

On a cold and dreary day Surya woke up to the sound of song birds and robins. It was her sixteenth birthday. Hema jumped into Surya’s teepee and sang “Ha Ha it’s your birthday, too bad nobody cares!” And then she was gone with the wind. Surya groaned. The very last thing she needed was Hema to tease her. Suddenly she thought of something to look forward to today. She would be able to go and watch the sunset and have him teach her another thing about nature. Finally when it was time to go and climb the mountain something caught her eye. It was a dead mockingbird! The mockingbird was one of the fifty sunset painters. On the oak tree beside the motionless bird a note written in blood said “Surya beware at 12:00 midnight on your birthday you will have to make a choice between the life of your friend Sunset or the life of your self.” Surya panicked. Sunset was her only friend. He taught her everything she needed to know about life. She looked up into the bright sun. Sunset was coming for the last time in history.

Sunset came that evening and Surya told him about the message on the oak tree and Sunset was very worried. He told Surya to listen to the sound of her heart to make the right choice. At twelve a clock on Surya’s birthday Sunrise came into her teepee and she said “I was the one who killed the mockingbird and it was I who wrote the fretting message on the oak. Now it’s your turn to chose between yourself or Sunset.” That moment Hema came into Surya’s teepee. Sunrise said “Matter of fact I can kill your other little friend instead of you.” Hema said “Surya go ahead and let her kill me I deserve it I have been so mean.” Surya said “Ok kill me” The next moment Sunrise shot a blinding red light out of her finger tips. Surya silently fell into a deep rest. Sunrise laughed in a cold icy tone and disappeared.

So when you look at Sunrise you see her red light shining to remind us of her beauty, but now you know she was jealous enough to kill Surya. Now when the Sunset comes early every autumn he is looking for Sarya and every night when it rains at night you know he is crying because he can not find Sarya. So remember to paint your sunset the colors of your heart.

By: Hannah Jonas