Writing Workshop: A Wacky Day

This week, our workshop had an easy theme to write about… a sort of Dr. Seuss wacky day, in which we all woke up and things were not quite right. I decided to give the kids the beginning of a story for them to carry on and finish it. For the adults, it was more of a situation for them to elaborate on.

 This is what Miss I wrote with what I gave the kids (the beginning I gave them is in bold letters).

 The Grown-up Mystery

I woke up today and discovered that all the grown-ups were gone! They had all disappeared. So this is what I did. I ran up the street with my magnifying glass. I found footprints, so I got my bike and followed them, then found them at the beach camping.

For the Adults

 The “what if” I gave my grown-up workshop was a little different. I told them they had just woken up in their beds to realize we were all children again. As usual we all went in different directions, but this is what I wrote.

A Child Again

 I open my eyes. I see the hemp curtain made out of makramé knots my Mom, my sister and I made together to separate living spaces in our tiny doll house of an attic apartment of my childhood. The street we lived in was called “Secreto,” which means Secret in Spanish. And for me, part of my childhood has remained a secret from many people. But here I am again. The past 28 years seem to have just been a dream, and I wake up to see every knot made with care in our dividing tapestry. I’m waiting for my Mom to come and wake me up, itching my back with her long ruby-red nails. If I look a little further, I’m sure I’ll see the short-haired bob my sister sports pressed hard against her pillow. She’s never been a morning person, unless it is Saturday at my Dad’s and she wants to see the morning cartoons. But I’m afraid to move.

I’m not so sure what happened, or how I ended up back here. Maybe one of my usual dreams where I was a grown-up – successful and loved – just got out of hand and made me feel I was finally past this stage. I dream that dream a lot. A dream where I’m loved for who I am and have friends and people who cherish me, not just my family. It is a beautiful dream. I like to think of it as a promise, like a piece of heaven that you’re entitled to if you endured the hardships of life. And going to school sometimes feels like that. I do have friends, but the hurtful things some girls say and do are hard to bear.

I sigh and think back on my wonderful dream. It might only be a dream for now, but I know I can make it happen. I just wish I could look back to my childhood and think of it as a happy one. Maybe one day I’ll find a way.

Conclusions

 As you can see from above, I guess that the thought of being left alone for kids this age (around 7) is too scary… so they immediately go and try and find the adults. One of the kids went with a possible alien abduction. Another kid just ran away from the conflict and made a completely different story. It was interesting to me to read about their reactions.

In regards to the Adult workshop, we all had a sort of bittersweet look back into our childhoods. Another Mom and I went into the sensory memories of childhood. My friend Gabriel, who attended again, had more of a philosophical look back into his childhood. I guess both the kids and the adults in our group are just happy to be where they are at in life right now, which is nice.