A Children's Story by Me

I've never really considered myself a creative person.

Lest you misunderstand me and think I'm out to disparage myself and my talents, let me clarify: I've never really considered myself a creative person in the sense of actually creating something. I don't write my own music, I don't do anything in the way of visual arts, I'm not terribly experimental in the kitchen, etc. For the most part, this is all right with me. I like my talents that I have developed. (although i have been ignoring those a lot lately, but that's another story entirely.)

However, there was a time in my life where I was actively creating . . . and that's when I was younger and convinced I was going to be an author. I started writing stories in 4th grade and even read these stories to my class. (middle-school Megan NEVER would have done such a thing. how brave i was at the age of 10.) I kept this up for a few years before my ambitions turned to other outlets, but this love of writing has always stuck with me, even if it's died down a lot since I churned out my first masterpiece, The King and Queen are Missing! (yes, complete with exclamation point.)

As stated in my parenthetical above, nowadays I would never dream of being so bold as to share anything I've written with others, but I was going through some old school assignments of mine and came across a children's story I wrote my senior year of high school in creative writing class. It's silly, sure, but I'm still reasonably pleased with the results and thought I'd share. It's been manymanymany years since I wrote it, anyway, and any embarrassment about sharing it is quite minimal.

(One line in particular is very autobiographical and my parents . . . and maybe my siblings? . . . will be able to spot what it is, but you can guess what it might be.)

Without further ado, I present . . . What You Can Find Under the Bed.

The other day I came across a Shrink-o-matic machine.

It had blue and orange polka dots, and the buttons were bright green.

On two of the small knobs, I found instructions there.

One said, "Shrink to the size of a pea," another, "Grow to the size of a bear."

Now, seeing as how I am the curious kind,

I decided to try it out and see if I would mind

Being teeny or being huge, or if I preferred

Being somewhere in between, the size of a chirpy bluebird.

So I pressed the button that said, "Shrink to the size of a pea,"

And waited for an hour, till it was a quarter after three.

Nothing happened still, so I retired to my room

And lay down on my bed, mumbling and grumbling . . . then BOOM!!!

I was no longer the size that I before had been.

I was half an inch tall, instead of my normal 4'10"!

Inching off my pillow, I peeked down to the floor,

Noticing if I fell, then I would be no more.

The distance that I saw was such an astonishing height,

I sat down with a plop and considered my plight.

After much deliberation, I decided to pick up my feet

And slid to the floor riding along my purple bed sheet.

Underneath the bed, something caught my eye.

I walked into the darkness to try and figure out why

The shimmering golden ring looked so darn familiar.

Oh! Now I know why! It slipped off my mom's finger

When she tucked me into bed and kissed me good night

Two days ago, to be exact, 8:30, Tuesday night.

I walked a little further, and what did I see?
A G.I. Joe that belonged to my brother and my little sister's Barbie.

Upon exploring a very deep dark corner,

I found Susie's book of rhymes that included "Little Jack Horner".

There was also a bag of chips that I had consumed

And stuffed under the mattress last week while my dad vacuumed.

An empty plate, a striped sock, and a baby doll's head

Were other little assortments I found under my bed.

But then, I glanced toward the light in my room,

And saw, "Oh, horror of horrors!" a sure sign of doom.

What I had found so far was only just a part

Of the mess under my bed that broke my mother's heart.

Books, toys, crayons, and ribbons were all in my view

And some other items I won't mention that made me cry, "Pee-yew!"

In fact, under my entire bed there wasn't any place

That I could find to try and fill any empty space.

I cursed and cursed that Shrink-o-matic machine,

with its blue and orange polka dots and buttons of bright green,

For it had made me see the destruction under my bed

That made me go absolutely out of my head.

I shot through my room and down the stairs,

And after three hours, I reached the chair

In the living room where I'd left that machine

With the infernal polka dots and buttons of bright green!

I stomped on the button that read, "Grow to the size of a bear,"

And after an hour, I sat in the chair;

Only now I was back to my normal size.

So I cleaned up my room, which turned out to be wise,

Because Mom came home at exactly seven,

And extended my curfew till eight before eleven.

She did this just because I cleaned my room --

Picked up clothes, dusted, and even vacuumed!

And why, you may ask, do I tell you this scene?

Because, if you ever come across a Shrink-o-matic machine

That has two knobs with instructions there

That say, "Shrink to the size of a pea" and "Grow to the size of a bear,"

With the blue and orange polka dots and buttons of bright green,

If you want my advice . . .

DESTROY THE SHRINK-O-MATIC MACHINE!!!

-Megan