Following in Her Dad's Footsteps?

Wow! I was quite surprised and impressed by this! I just had to post it here for all to see.

My 11 year old had a school assignment this past week - to write a Holloween dream story. She finished it last night and asked if I would transfer it from a floppy to a printed copy for her to hand in. She had mentioned pieces of this tale to me over the past week, and I'm not sure I was paying total attention. My kid isn't too different than other 11 year old girls, she babbles a mile a minute and subconconsiously gets shut off by me at times. She could tell me Saku Koivu has been traded to the Predators for an 11th round pick in 2017 and I'd just go "Yeah, yeah, tell me later!" She's a busy kid with a busy and overwhelmed Dad at times.

When I slapped the floppy in gave it a read I was given goosebumps. Not so much by the story, but by her ability. I've often heard her brag about her Dad's writting to schoolchums, so this is payback well earned I guess.

I once read that imagination is one of the better things a child can possess. The need for fullfillment comes from within her. This kid joins everything at school, from sporting activities to the newspaper club. Last year she designed her school's yearbook cover and in grade four, she was awarded the "Catholic Life Achievement" award, despite an almost atheist father! I've gone on before about her seven years in hockey. I have always maintained that sports help kids with their confidence. She's done quite a lot in her young life! Poke Check doesn't need much help from me in that department! She's her own girl!

Here is her Halloween story. I guess you could say she's following in my footsteps. So, I own her a high five or two, right?


A Halloween Dream

Today is Monday. Everyone hates Mondays, but tomorrow is Halloween and it's raining cats and dogs outside and it’s extremely gloomy. Jessica Ruth has to scurry to school as quickly as possible. It is 8:00 am and school starts in 15 minutes. Lucky for her, her best friend hasn’t left yet. Jessica decides to call her friend Amanda Jones.
"BEEP! BEEP! BOOP!" Went the phone as Jessica dialed the number, " Hello, is Amanda there?"
"Yes," said Amanda’s mother, " One minute please."
" Hi, Jessica is something the matter?" Amanda asked politely.
" Yes, there is," stated Jessica. " I will be late for school if I don’t get a ride, and it’s pouring rain! Would your mom be able to give me a ride?"
"Let me see, I’ll give her a shout," said Amanda. Jessica patiently waited for a response for about a minute.
" My mom said yes, be ready in 5 minutes," said Amanda.
Amanda was normally a quiet and shy person, but not around her best friend Jessica.
" I’ll be ready," announced Jessica.
Jessica got ready in a hurry. She threw on the first set of clothes she could find, fixed her hair and made herself lunch. In exactly 5 minutes, Amanda’s mom arrived in a black Nissan Altima.
" Don’t you like my mom’s new car, it’s the newest thing, "declared Amanda
" I love it!" complimented Jessica.
Jessica and Amanda arrived at school on time. As they get to class, they see their worst nightmare: Mrs. Pita! Mrs. Pita was the meanest of all teachers at Chapman’s School. She always assigned no less than 3 hours of homework.
" Take out your Halloween duo-tangs, we will be brainstorming costume ideas," said Mrs. Pita.
Everyone took out their purple duo-tangs.
" Mark, start us off!" screamed Mrs. Pita.
" I would like to be a green and purple ogre. My hair will be pink and messy. My face will have tons of pimples and boils," added Mark.
" EWW! GROSS! ABSOLUTELY REVOLTING!" exclaimed Joanne.
" Keep your comments to yourself!" said Mrs. Pita.
" I would like to be a princess!" yelled Joanne
" That’s great," said Mrs. Pita.
" You know, I think I’ll make my costume right now," said Joanne.
" There are Halloween supplies in the closet," Mrs. Pita pointed out.
" Jessica, you're up!" exclaimed Mrs. Pita.
" Ummmm………I………uh…I don’t know," said Jessica.
" Well since Jessica is a little off task today, everyone must write a 30-page essay on how a chocolate bar is made," Mrs. Pita decided.
" You will also have to have all of your costumes at school," said Mrs. Pita.
The bell rang.
As Jessica and Amanda were walking home in the bright sunshine, Mark caught up.
" Hey, Jessica! You should be something scary for Halloween. You know, I could just make a mask out of your face for you so you can be the scariest monster on the block!" Mark shouted.
" Be quiet!" shouted Jessica. Later on about 5 blocks past Chapman’s School, Justin started a conversation with Amanda.
" Hey, Amanda, do you want to be a two-headed hockey player with me?" suggested Justin.
" When pigs fly!", said Jessica. Amanda wouldn’t talk because she was too shy.
When the 2 girls were home, Jessica decided to go to the ‘ Costume Shop of Horrors’.
" Amanda, I’m going to the costume shop for my costume, see you later," said Jessica.
Jessica trudged off to the her destination. When she got there, it seemed like a haunted house. First, she went to a rack with costumes of witches. Next, she went through a closet of goblin outfits. After that, she went to a rack of food costumes, such as cheesies and bags of jellybeans.
" Oh No! The shop is closed! I can’t believe I’ve been in here for 3 hours!" exclaimed a stunnedJessica.
She looked at her watch. It read 9:00 pm. As she wandered through the shop, she heard noises. "GRRR…BLLLLL…ARGHHH! "
Jessica jumped out of her skin. She quickly crept towards the front desk to try to escape, but she heard the sound again, but this time it was louder.
"GRRR…BLLLL…AARRGGHHH! "
She saw something big and hairy! It was a werewolf! " Wait a second!", she thought to herself, looking closer.
She saw that it was just a costume and all of the other costumes were coming alive! Jessica began pressing as many buttons on the cash register as she could, hoping something would happen. Just her luck, she was standing on a trap door. As she pressed the ‘enter’ button on the cash, the trapdoor quickly opened and she fell on a bail of hay.
As Amanda was walking down Elm Street, she heard a noise coming from the costume shop.
" Help!" she heard. Amanda rushed to the door.
" Oh no!" screamed Amanda.
" The door is locked and Jessica is trapped down there!"
"Amanda, is that you? Help me!" shouted Jessica.
Amanda could not get in, but she still urged to help her friend, so she looked for another way in. She went through the creepy driveway and found a backdoor. For some weird reason, there were stairs leading down to the basement. Amanda slowly crept cautiously down the stairs only to discover Jessica screaming for help.
" Help! Help! Help!" Jessica shouted with fear. Amanda grabbed Jessica by the arm and they both ran up the stairs. " You saved my life!" Jessica screamed with joy.
" We’d better get to class," said Amanda.
" What do you mean?" said Jessica.
" Well, you were in here all night, I think you had a nightmare," said Amanda
" We have to write our essays!" Jessica.
" My mom wrote a note and called Mrs. Pita and told her a cool excuse," said Amanda, " You can write yours at recess".
When they both got to school Jessica explained her dream and it had a weird effect on Mrs. Pita. She was a nice teacher now. Jessica wrote out her essay on her dream and it was accepted. Amanda thought it was a dream, but was it really? Who knows?
Jessica was a werewolf for Halloween. What will you be?