The March Madness Writing Contest!

The March Madness Writing Contest!

Hosted over at Susanna Hill's blog CLICK HERE

The Contest: Write a children's story, in poetry or prose, maximum 400 words, that is a fractured fairy tale.  Feel free to add a theme of spring, or mix in one of the spring holidays if you like - St. Patrick's Day, April Fools Day, Easter or Passover, Arbor Day, Earth Day...  Have fun with it!  The madder* the better! :)
*as in wild and wacky, not angry :)

Here's my entry:

HANSEL AND GRETEL'S SWEET TOOTH

Hansel and Gretel didn’t stick around after escaping the old witch’s candy cottage.

It was told: They ran back home.

But how did they get home if all their breadcrumbs were eaten?

Here’s what really happened after they ditched the witch…

 

The candy cottage magically called out to them,

“Hey! Get back here and try the jelly beans! They’re the best!”

And they were!

 

By day, they picked and chewed…

And by night they rubbed their swollen tummies.

“We’re gonna need bigger pants!”

 

The cottage kept whispering, “Try the shingles! They’re mouth-watering!”

They ate and ate and ATE!

Until, they were down to one jelly bean.

 

“Let’s grow more,” said Gretel.

They planted the jelly bean, like a seed, in the garden.

 

They waited for one long hour.

“Hello in there? Come on out,” said Gretel, tapping her foot.

Hansel’s tummy gurgled. He dug up the jelly bean and ate it.

Yup- It had dirt on it. He was that hungry.

 

On their walk, they wobbled and rested, wobbled and rested.

 

This went on for hours until finally they found…

… ANOTHER cottage. 

 

It had huge layers of sliced beets, potato trimmings, and a celery stalk chimney. 

It seemed to call out to them, “Try my asparagus! It’s tasty!”

“What’s asparagus?” Gretel asked Hansel.

 

A large burly hand pointed at them. 

It was their old gym teacher.

“Have you been skipping my class?” he said.

“We got lost,” explained Hansel.

 

The gym teacher picked an onion off his cottage.

“Try my onions! They’re the sweetest!”

 “Sweet like candy?” asked Gretel.

“No thanks!” said Hansel.

 

Their teacher made a few veggie concoctions.

He said, “Try this carrot shake!”

“Did you say carrot cake?” asked Gretel, “I’ll have a BIG slice!”

Hansel tried a sip of raw beet juice.

But her taste buds ONLY wanted candy.

 

It took some time to change their minds.  But once they did, there was no stopping their eating.

 

By day, they picked and chewed their veggies…

And by night they rubbed their full tummies.

 “We’re gonna need bigger plants!”

 

With the help from their gym teacher, Hansel and Gretel planted their very own cottage.

But NOT a veggie one….

It had huge layers of sliced strawberries, blueberry trimmings, and a banana top chimney. 

Gretel called out to Hansel, “Try the watermelon! It’s mouth-watering!”

They never ate candy houses again and they lived healthier ever after.

Happy spring everyone!!

And thank you Susanna for hosting this fun contest!

 

Susanna Hill's In Just Spring Contest

I entered into Susanna Hill's In Just Spring contest that starts today March 15 and ends March 18th.

Here are the rules taken from Susanna's blog:

The story must be about something that really says "SPRING" to you - something that really makes you feel that spring is here! It can be nature oriented - the robins or geese returning, eggs hatching, flowers blooming, baby animals being born, bears waking up, sunshine or rain, etc. It can be holiday oriented - St. Patrick's Day, Easter, April Fools' Day etc. It can be school oriented - the spring pageant, spring vacation, the spring talent show. It can be activity oriented - picnics, bike riding, baseball - anything at all that makes you think spring. 
The only other requirement is that the last line must be "[Character Name] knew Spring was really here!" or "[Character Name] knew Spring was here at last!" (You can also write in first person if you want - e.g. I knew Spring was really here.... and present tense is fine too.) I've given the rhymers amongst you a choice... but if you can't make either option work with your rhyme scheme you have permission to tweak it slightly as long as the essential meaning stays the same.

Click here if you would like to read Susanna's entire blog post.  This link here will take you to all the contest entries.

Slurp! Plop! Spring is Here!

Mama Bunny hollered, “Keep your shoes clean.”

“I know Ma,” said Miles closing the door.

The sun warmed his white furry neck. The air felt crisp and light. He hopped on each patch of grass that lead to the fence where his brother Toby waited.

When he stepped on day-old snow it sounded funny.

Crunch! Squeak!

He wondered what the wet mud would sound like. He hung his shoes on the fence and found out.

Slurp! Plop!

"When you get out of there," yelled Toby, "I'm going to start counting."

"One! Two! Three!"

“Nah-nah-nah-boo-boo! You can’t catch me!” said Miles.

Toby opened his eyes and Miles was gone.

“Where are you?”

A voice whispered from the mud puddle, “Right here.”

Toby jumped off the fence and fell on Miles.

“Tricked you,” laughed Miles, all muddy.

“Mama’s going to be SO mad.”

Miles giggled and pulled out a water balloon.

“Too cold for that,” said Toby.

But still Miles handed it to him.

“A HOT water balloon,” Toby grinned and said...

"One! Two! Three!"

“Nah-nah-nah-boo-boo! You can’t catch me!” said Miles.

He found a dark cave and hid in it.

Miles felt something harry.

Grunt! Growl!

“I smell something yummy,” sniffed Bear.

“I’m just a little mouse, no bigger than a bite,” fibbed Miles.

“Mmm, you’re as big as a rat,” said Bear.

“Yes, but much faster,” said Miles.

He didn’t count to three.

He said, “Nah-nah-nah-boo-boo! You can’t catch me!”
Miles dove under the snow but his muddy feet poked out like breadsticks.

“Mmmm…breadsticks,” said Bear digging after him.

Then, overhead a figure appeared.

“TAKE THAT!" said Toby, throwing his balloon.



KERSPLAT!

Miles's muddy fur washed from brown to white.

Bear couldn't see him and dug faster.

Toby and Miles bolted,

Past the mud puddle,

Slurp! Plop!

Past the day-old snow,

Crunch! Squeak!

And back to the fence.

“Mama’s going to be SO mad,” said Toby.

Miles giggled at his muddy feet, then showed Toby his clean shoes.

“What can I say? Spring is really here!”