Today I am sharing my entry for Susanna Leonard Hill’s Valentiny Contest. https://susannahill.com/2021/01/25/eh-whats-up-doc-announcing-the-guidelines-for-the-6th-annual-valentiny-writing-contest/
Judging criteria will include:
- Kid-appeal/Kid-friendliness – remember, this is a story for kids!
- Creativity in using bravery and success in making us feel the bravery!
- Valentine’s Day appropriateness – this is a VALENTINE story!
- Quality of story – we will look for basic story elements and a true story arc
- Quality of writing – use and flow of language, correctness of mechanics, excellence of rhyme and meter if you use it, PROOFREADING!
- Originality – surprise us with something new and different!
Charlie and Sienna -A Friendship Story 211 words
Charlie loved his human, and when she left, he spent long, lonely hours waiting by the window.
As leaves landed on the porch, Charlie noticed Sienna.
She nibbled on the pumpkins. Charlie admired her tail, her delicate movements. He wished Sienna would notice him. But when the pumpkins disappeared, so did Sienna.
Charlie wondered if she would ever return. Had he missed his chance?
Snow swirled. Wind whirled. Charlie’s human couldn’t leave.
Outside together, she shoveled while Charlie buried his face deep in the piles. The human made a snowdog near Charlie’s window. Carrot nose, pinecone eyes, and a bird seed mouth. She strung cranberries to create his leash.
Once again inside, Charlie snoozed by the window.
His ears perked. He blinked hard. Once. Twice. Sienna!
Perched on her haunches, Sienna pressed her nose to the window. She turned to the snowdog. And back to Charlie. Sienna pulled the carrot up to the window and nibbled under Charlie’s adoring gaze.
Had she noticed him all along?
Time to make his move.
Would she wait for him or run away?
He mustered his courage and went out to the yard. He sat silently next to his snow counterpart, nudging the cranberry leash into a heart for Sienna.
Without a sound, friendship formed.
LOL, I love your story, Laura! Smitten is a better word for it, perhaps!
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Thanks, Jilanne❣️ Yes, smitten is an excellent description.
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Adorable details:) The cranberry leash, pinecone eyes.. wonderful entry!
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Thanks so much for reading❣️ I’m glad you liked it ❤️
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Love it!!
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Thanks, Paula! It was a fun story to write and revise❣️
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That is cute. I remember your visitor last fall. Sienna must have driven Charlie crazy.
On Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 10:29 PM Laura Roettiger Books wrote:
> authorlaurablog posted: ” Today I am sharing my entry for Susanna Leonard > Hill’s Valentiny Contest. > https://susannahill.com/2021/01/25/eh-whats-up-doc-announcing-the-guidelines-for-the-6th-annual-valentiny-writing-contest/ > Judging criteria will include: Kid-appeal/Kid-frien” >
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Thanks, Tiffany. No, Charlie loved sitting and watching her. (We called her Walter in the fall but I changed the name to Sienna for the story) He never barked and would sit for hours looking out the window.
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That’s so sweet, I love the detail of making the leash into a heart.
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Thank you so much❣️ Happy Valentine’s Day 💕💕
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Hurray for Charlie…and for love!
It’s a sweet story, Laura! Good luck in the contest.
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Thank you Vivian! So much love in our house❣️
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