February 23, 2012 @11:39 pm
This was inspired by the prompt "Write one leaf about scanning bar codes" on WriteOneLeaf. It first appeared on my Tumblr.
Cassie never liked library duty. Oh, she enjoyed being around books, but not doing all the mundane things like scanning barcodes and stamping due-dates on the book receipts.
“Hello Miss Cassie!”
“Oh, hello Emma. Here to borrow some books?”
Emma nodded.
“
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe… Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… Charlotte’s Web… Island of the Blue Dolphins… Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Good choices!”
“
Have you read these books before, Miss Cassie? Are they any good?”
“
Well, no I haven’t, but I’m sure they are. These books were written by some really good authors. The movies were really good too. I enjoyed all of them.”
“
That’s what everyone says. But good movies have bad books. I wish someone could tell me what the good books are. It is so difficult to find them.”
“
Well, our library has many good ones. Miss Chen is always saying that we have one of the best school libraries around.”
“
Miss Cassie, which are the good books? I don’t think I can finish reading everything in this library, but I want to find the good ones.”
Cassie paused. She had no clue. “Hmmm… I need to look around. Tell you what, look for me once you’re done with these books. I’ll tell you then.”
Emma’s eyes twinkled with glee. “Thank you Miss Cassie!” She gathered her books and skipped out.
Cassie’s face reddened. She couldn’t recommend a book. She, an English teacher who told her students that reading opened worlds. She, who initiated daily mandatory reading periods. She, who once was active at book club meetings. “I need to read,” she muttered.
Cassie selected a book from the library catalogue, opened her literary review notebook, and sat back for a good read.Labels: books, writeoneleaf
scripted by me
@11:37 pm
This was inspired by the prompt "Write one leaf about something you can't ignore" on Writeoneleaf. It first appeared on my Tumblr, The Little Jotter Book.
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Hi Mum, what are you cooking for dinner tonight?
Su-May bit her lip as she read the message. She opened the fridge door and ran her eyes over the different bottles. There was a black bottle with a yellow cap, a string of thick brown sauce gleaming in the yellow fridge light.
Jason must have made Marmite soup last night, Su-May mused. The boy had recently gotten into the habit of making snacks late at night.
He was certainly growing,she chuckled. Soon, he would be taller than his father. Su-May wiped the bottle of Marmite, and saw another bottle right at the back of the fridge. The clear bottle with a green cap held an orange-yellow jam, thick with the pulp and peel of the yuzu fruit. The tangy-sweet mixture would expire in three days.
Three days?! Su-May’s mind whirled. Her grandmother had always taught her not to waste food. She had to find a way to finish using up the yuzu jam. She could not let this bit of citrus goodness go to waste!
Su-May rummaged through the rest of her fridge for inspiration.
Let’s see… I could make a gazpacho salad with yuzu jam in the salad sauce… a beef and onion stir-fry in yuzu sauce… baked fish drizzled with yuzu jam… And the after-dinner drink will be hot yuzu tea. She would also work the citrus jam into the cheesecake that she promised Old Mrs. Jones she would make, and make vanilla yuzu muffins for the children’s Obentos. That should see the last of the jam.
Su-May picked up her phone.
Hey baby, it’s rice and some dishes tonight. A yuzu feast.Labels: writeoneleaf, yuzu
scripted by me
@11:32 pm
This was inspired by the prompt 'Write one leaf in which you describe the shape of a heart' on WriteOneLeaf. It first appeared on my Tumblr.
“Mummy, draw me a heart,” Ethel said. She held out a piece of white paper and a red felt-tip pen, her fingers making many creases in the paper where she was gripping it tightly.
“What must you say?”
“Please, Mummy.”
“Sure, darling.” Her mother drew a shape that looked like a Fuji apple. Full, yet with a certain delicateness aura about it.
“Mummy, that looks like the apple I like to eat. Can I have a skinny heart?” Her mother drew another heart.
“Mummy, this one looks like a dancer! The type that waits for the man to come and sweep her off her feet and looks shy. Can you draw something like the hearts they show on TV?” Her mother sighed and drew yet another heart. Ethel was extremely persistent when she wanted something, and she was not going to stop until she got what she wanted.
“Mummy, now this looks like the momotaro from the book I’m reading! I need to give this heart to my teacher!” Ethel stamped her foot.
“Oh? And why?”
“Because she said so! We need to draw hearts and give them to her, and then she will give them to the children in the hospital who cannot go home and sleep in their beds and play with their toys.”
“Ethel darling, that is a wonderful thing to do. My, my, there are so many ways to draw a heart. I want to draw a nice one. Why don’t you show me what you are thinking of?”
“But Mummy, then I will have to draw, and I CAN’T DRAW.”
“You can write, can’t you? Well, drawing a heart is like writing the letter ‘M’, only you have to make the tops rounded, and join the bottoms. Come on, show me what you are thinking of.”
Ethel furrowed her brows and drew an M. “It isn’t working Mummy.”
“Try a few more times. If you can’t show me what you are thinking of, I won’t know what to draw.”
Ethel picked up the pen, stuck out her tongue in concentration, and started writing-drawing. She drew grass patches, a king’s crown, a fluffy cloud, and a series of squiggles that looked suspiciously like symbols that came straight out of the chapter on Electricity and Circuits.
Finally, Ethel got it. It was a slender symmetrical heart that looked fun and tall. She coloured the shape, and outlined it with a black Sharpie marker.
“Mummy, this is the heart. Can you help me to draw more on a nice piece of paper?” She paused. “Please?”
“Sure. Will you draw with me?”
“No.” Her mother raised her brows.
“But I will write some hearts.” Her mother smiled, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
Labels: heart, writeoneleaf
scripted by me