Fourth Annual Valentiny Contest!

Hooray! February is well on its way and that means it's time for Susanna Leonard Hill's Fourth Annual Valentiny Contest. The object is to write a Valentine Story for children that is 214 words or less and has a character that feels guilty.

That's a brief amount of words in which to tell a story that has a beginning, a middle, and and end; but I persisted. So thank you Susanna for hosting this event and here's my story.

One Valentine Short (206 words)

Tabby pranced into the room tightly clutching a bag. A bag containing one valentine for each classmate.

She slipped a card into each box until she came to Janna’s. Her fingers searched the bag but came up empty. She glanced inside to be sure. 

Butterflies danced in her stomach, and she gnawed her bottom lip as she wondered what to do.

She thought about telling Janna the simple truth, but the thought made her cringe.

She thought about saying it dropped from a hole in the bag, but she knew she couldn’t lie.

She thought about hiding in the coat closet, but she hated tiny dark spaces.

Suddenly, inspiration struck.

She raced to the closet to retrieve the sucker she’d been saving for lunch. Then she grabbed some construction paper and art supplies.

Snippets of paper floated to the floor and glitter clung to every surface including her hair. But in the end, Tabby held a stunning valentine in her hand.

“That’s beautiful,” someone whispered behind her shoulder.

Tabby whirled around and handed the paper creation to Janna. “It’s for you!”

A look of joy brightened Janna’s plain pale face.

And at that moment, Tabby knew she wanted to spend recess getting to know Janna better.