I run writers groups for writers 8+. In each session, I give them a writing activity, and I often join in. One week, I was running a little late, so used that as the activity. The instruction was to give the ‘real’ (ie unbelievable but true) reason they’re running late for something. This is my story:
Why I am late for class
One thing you should know about me is that I am usually a punctual person. I pride myself on getting places early as it was drummed into me from young age that being late was rude and unacceptable. My friends tease me about this as they are usually ‘fashionably late’, even to school, but not me. I’m early so I know I’ll be on time.
This morning started like any other morning. I left for school as usual, at my normal time, so I could walk to the bus stop to catch the early bus. This means I get a seat on the bus as well as be at school in plenty of time before the first bell.
But today was anything but normal.
Walking out of my driveway, I spotted one of the neighbours’ kids riding a small unicorn down the street on his way to the local primary school. I couldn’t believe my eyes!
Then, a tiny helicopter flew past, narrowly missing my ear, followed by a leprechaun clutching a remote control in his hands. He banged into me, causing me to drop my bag and spilling the contents onto the ground. I had to stop to collect everything before I could go on.
The road wasn’t its usual self either. For some reason, it was made of chocolate, and some of my books were splattered with it. By the time I got to the bus stop, I had missed my usual bus… or so I thought.
A couple of minutes after I arrived, a tugboat pulled up, floating on the river of chocolate that was the road. It was weird, but I got on anyway. I didn’t want to be late for school.
The tugboat, however, didn’t follow the usual route to school. Instead, it only followed the roads that had turned to chocolate. This took us on an interesting path around the neighbourhood, and at least twice as long as usual.
At the closest stop to the school, I got off the tugboat and was greeted by a fire breathing dragon that had set up residence in the front yard of one of the houses. I had to wait for it to have a nap before I could pass otherwise I would have been burned to a crisp.
Close to the school gate, there were two men having a sword fight! In my effort to avoid them, one of the straps on my school bag was cut, sending all my books flying once again.
By the time the men had moved away, and I had repacked my bag, the bell had rung, and I hadn’t even reached my locker yet.
I tried running through the grounds, only to find an army of lollipops blocking my way. They were in all sorts of colours and shapes, all of them had weird looking faces on them. Thankfully they were small and their jelly weapons were ineffective, so I jumped over them and made my way to the locker bay.
By now, I was so late, that the locker bay was already locked, and it wouldn’t be open again until just before recess. I made my way to class, dodging a hailstorm of angry paint brushes along the way.
Finally, I made it to class and slipped in the back as quietly as I could. That is not easy when you have a school bag with a broken strap and that smells of chocolate, but somehow, I managed it.
You may not believe me, but I swear that every word is true. This is why I was late to school today.
I hope you enjoyed this silly story. If you want to, have a go at the writing activity and let me know how you go. If you want to read more of my stories, my books are available here.
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