Presented to you in its unvarnished glory*, as it originally appeared in my 5th grade yearbook, the very first fantasy story I ever wrote.\u00c2\u00a0 I was 9 or 10.<\/p>\n
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The Fairy Princess<\/p>\n
Two new people had come to our school.\u00c2\u00a0 Becky Harris and Jimmy Patriquin.\u00c2\u00a0 Becky was 11 and Jimmy was 9.\u00c2\u00a0 I liked them.\u00c2\u00a0 Becky had brown hair and brown eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 Jimmy had red hair and black eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 One day they came up to me.\u00c2\u00a0 “Could you come to my house after school tomorrow?\u00c2\u00a0 We need you urgently,” said Becky.\u00c2\u00a0 “Yes, it’s important,” said Jimmy.\u00c2\u00a0 So the next day I went to see Becky.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the last day of school.\u00c2\u00a0 Waiting for us was a tall boy about twelve with black hair and green eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 “That’s Peter Andrews,” Jimmy told me.\u00c2\u00a0 When we got out, Peter told us to come with him.\u00c2\u00a0 “I’ve got a picnic lunch here,” he told me.\u00c2\u00a0 After walking through the forest awhile, we came to a clearing.\u00c2\u00a0 In the midst of it, was a wooden vehicle.\u00c2\u00a0 “What’s that?” I asked in amazement.\u00c2\u00a0 Becky replied, “That’s our invention, we’re going to use it.”\u00c2\u00a0 Peter said, “Now, listen.\u00c2\u00a0 The princess of fairyland has been captured by witches.\u00c2\u00a0 We must rescue her.”\u00c2\u00a0 “How?” I asked.\u00c2\u00a0 “You’ll see.\u00c2\u00a0 We’ll go in our vehicle.\u00c2\u00a0 All aboard!”<\/p>\n
We climbed on.\u00c2\u00a0 There were four seats.\u00c2\u00a0 Becky and Jimmy sat in the front while Peter and I sat in back.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we started.\u00c2\u00a0 I had my seatbelt on.\u00c2\u00a0 Suddenly we crashed.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we bumped around for five minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we went more smoothly.\u00c2\u00a0 “That’s the barrier,” Peter explained.\u00c2\u00a0 “Now we can go anywhere, the barrier’s tough.”\u00c2\u00a0 “Here we are,” said Becky.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we glided and landed.\u00c2\u00a0 We stepped out.\u00c2\u00a0 It was beautiful in fairyland!\u00c2\u00a0 “How do we rescue the princess?” I asked.\u00c2\u00a0 “Winged horses,” Jimmy pointed to a herd quietly grazing.\u00c2\u00a0 We sneaked up and each grabbed one.\u00c2\u00a0 We leaped on and away we flew.\u00c2\u00a0 When we got to the castle we stopped.\u00c2\u00a0 We knew we would have to swim across the moat.\u00c2\u00a0 It was cold water.<\/p>\n
Peter spotted a secret door.\u00c2\u00a0 We jumped in and ran through the castle.\u00c2\u00a0 We rushed down a flight of stairs.\u00c2\u00a0 There before us, was the door to the room where the princess was.\u00c2\u00a0 I tried to open it, but it was impossible.\u00c2\u00a0 Then Peter tried it.\u00c2\u00a0 After a good deal of pushing, he opened it.\u00c2\u00a0 I said, “Peter, you could do anything.”\u00c2\u00a0 “Not quite,” he laughed.<\/p>\n
Then we took the princess, ran down the hall, and swam across the moat.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we took the horses back.\u00c2\u00a0 The fairy had wings, so she flew.<\/p>\n
When we were back, the fairies thanked us.\u00c2\u00a0 We had some food they gave us.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we climbed into the vehicle and went home.\u00c2\u00a0 I had to go home, but I remembered the fun I had had.<\/p>\n
The End<\/p>\n
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Many things are unclear about this story.\u00c2\u00a0 What sort of wooden vehicle was it?\u00c2\u00a0 Why did Becky, Jimmy, and Peter require the assistance of the unnamed narrator?\u00c2\u00a0 Did the witches set the whole thing up so that the children could have an enjoyable adventure?\u00c2\u00a0 They can’t have been too determined to keep the fairy princess prisoner, seeing as how she was in an unlocked room that a 12-year old could open.\u00c2\u00a0 I won’t even mention the incorrect paragraph formatting or the irrelevant details about everyone’s hair and eye color.<\/p>\n
Other things are clearer.\u00c2\u00a0 Apparently I already liked boys, and liked ’em tall.\u00c2\u00a0 And, um, able to open doors?\u00c2\u00a0 Yeah, let’s not get too Freudian on that.<\/p>\n
Not that I’m the world’s greatest writer or anything now, but I have at least written stories that editors were willing to pay me for.\u00c2\u00a0 I offer this “gem” as evidence that writing ability has more to do with persistence and hard work than any innate talent.\u00c2\u00a0 I honestly believe that most people, if they’re willing and able to put in the time and effort required to learn the craft, can become decent fiction writers.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe not the best in their field, but competent, at the very least.<\/p>\n
It can take a while, though.<\/p>\n
* I did correct spelling errors and some egregiously bad punctuation.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not sure whether I’m to blame for those, or the teacher who typed this up from my handwritten submission.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, those pre-computer days!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Presented to you in its unvarnished glory*, as it originally appeared in my 5th grade yearbook, the very first fantasy story I ever wrote.\u00c2\u00a0 I was 9 or 10. The Fairy Princess Two new people had come to our school.\u00c2\u00a0 … Continue reading