Story beginnings

In grade 6 we have been practicing writing short stories using a picture prompt.  We are breaking it down by paragraph and planning effectively.  Here is are a few examples that we have written together in class.

Example 1:

         Munch, crunch, slurp.  Thumbelina’s tiny wings folded in as her stomach grumbled and turned.  When she walked away from the large patch of dull withered mushrooms she knew she had made a mistake.  Living as a fairy in the forest it was hard to find delicious food.  She had been taught all her life how important it was to know her poisons but since most of the forest had been burnt down in the summer blaze of 1581, food was scarce and times were desperate.  All mushrooms now looked similar with the ash settling permanently on their tops and she didn’t have the time to study them carefully, especially when she was starving.  Her head starting feeling heavy like stones and her fingers were stretching like an elastic band.

         “Hmm I think I might have gotten myself into a pickle.” Thumbelina looked over her unfamiliar self.  When she examined her surroundings she realized that the grass that once shot over her head was now the size of a pin.  “Has the world shrunk?” she pondered completely bewildered.  Looking over to her right, she saw her village a footstep away that was once a long flight.  Squeezing her eyes shut, she counted down from ten but when she opened eyes her huge sausage like fingers were still there.  “Oh no! The mushrooms have transformed me!  What am I going to do?”

Example 2: 

“There’s no way you will” Sarah taunted her younger brother Jeff, as she ruffled his golden hair.  Narrowing his eyes, Jeff flinched from his sister’s grasp and stood his ground, arms crossed over his body.  “Are you sure about that?”  A week ago, the children had stumbled across a luscious forest chasing their new puppy that had escaped from the house.  This wasn’t like any forest they had seen before. What caught their attention was the bright red shine of the unusual polka dotted mushrooms that covered the ground.  Tempted by their allure, the children had been daring each other back and forth about who would take the risk of tasting one first.  Today they had ventured out to make this dare official.

         “If I do it then you have to as well” Jeff dared his sister holding up the mushroom in front of her face.  Locking eyes, the siblings counted to three and then reluctantly bit into the mushrooms.  Suddenly, their vision blurred and the forest floor fell from beneath their feet. When they regained consciousness they stared at their surroundings, jaws dropping to the floor.  Towering over them like huge skyscrapers were the mushrooms they had just held in their hand.  “Is it just me or did the forest grow?” Sarah exclaimed nervously. “I have a feeling it’s not the forest that changed but it’s us.” Jeff stated with a quiver in his voice.