It’s time for Friday Fictioneers, where writers from all over the globe face a challenge to write a 100-word story based on a photo prompt.
Sorry, so late again this week. I was having a hard time pinning down a story and finally decided on something close to home. I had been working at a job related to writing and reading. I can’t say I’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel and I can’t say anything else, but this is fiction.
Thanks to our lovely hostess Rochelle Wisoff-Fields and to Stephen Baum for this week’s delightful photo.
If you’d like to play along and write your own story, visit this link for instructions. All are welcome!
Down the Rabbit Hole
Genre: Too Realistic Fiction (100 words)
“We’re here at Meadowlark Elementary to reintroduce the ‘book.’ I’m holding in my hands Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a story about a girl who falls the down the rabbit hole.”
“That sounds boring,” Chad said. “Who wants to read that?”
Kids did just that for the following two weeks. They devoted extra time to practice reading still words on a white page. Initially, the lack of moving images disturbed them and the suggestion that they could imagine the story all of their own was downright troubling.
Chad looks into the camera. “I’m feeling hope and it’s spelled H-O-P.”
Close enough.
Cut
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Click here for more stories from the Fictioneers.
Ha ha! Love it! So hard to get today’s youth to read; they are so used to the rapid visuals that are constantly around them. Glad this teacher managed to get them into it!
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Yes, the rapid visuals are everywhere. I think it’s just going to get worse. I hope this teacher did it. They’re on their way! Thanks, Dale!
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Yes!
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I can see this coming. One day it’ll all be interactive stories like the holodeck on Star Trek. I hope teachers like this manage to keep the “book” alive!
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I think it would be cool to read books that way. I just hope it wouldn’t be the only way. I still like curling up with a silent book that I can hold in my hands. Thanks, Ali!
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Very funny Amy (in a sad kind of way).
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I was hoping it would capture both feelings. Dawn. Thank you.
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Spot on!
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Dear Amy,
Well-captured slice of modern life. I love the teacher in your story and the way she encourages the kids to use their imaginations. Good job.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle. I hope kids don’t forget that imagination is a mighty fine thing, indeed.
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I’m afraid it may come to that! Frightfully realistic tale, well told.
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I’m afraid it already has, Jan, after feeling the pulse of kids today. Oh my! I hope I’m really wrong. Thanks for your nice comments.
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Despite all the electronics and trends toward visuals, I still think there will always be a percent of the population who uses their imagination to generate new stories. HOP-fully optimistic. 🙂
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I truly hope you’re right, Russell. We got to keep the faith. Thanks for the pun! It would be sad to live without stories and books! How very sad.
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Reblogged this on SUNFLOWER SUNDAES.
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This is great, and a real concern. But I think people who love a good story eventually end up reading, even if the media are different. Reading evolves just as story telling and communication does.
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Thanks, Gah. I’m mainly aiming at today’s youth who are growing up so differently with the barrage of images and distractions. I learned first hand that some really thought using their imagination was just too much work! I hope there’s always a place for stories. We can’t lose that. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.
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All too real, but suddenly out of the blue you see children read again.. But they need to see their parents read… And there I’m really scared.
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There, you have a most excellent point, Bjorn. More than anything, kids learn by example and if their parents aren’t reading, there’s a good chance they aren’t either.
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Sure this will happen. The PC had already mostly replaced the book when the PC was static with few moving images. Now virtually every image moves — postings on Facebook, pictures of everyone, etc. It’s like paintings on Harry Potter. In fact, what IS a book anyway?
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That’s true, Perry. More images are moving these days. It makes ignoring them more difficult, does it not? Yes, just like Harry Potter. I always think of that, too. I hope the quiet book will still be available!
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Too realistic indeed.
You capture beautifully the concerns that many adults have for today’s children.
But did our parents not have their own worries about us?
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Thanks so much. True, each generation must wrestle with a new set of problems. I think this one is definitely on the list as kids have so many distractions these days. Thanks for stopping by!
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Sad but reflective of the way things are going nowadays. Nice take Amy, worth waiting for. 😉
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Thank you kindly, Sandra. 🙂
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Too true… I’ve been on my kids like crazy to read, and the eldest does that without any prodding now. I might not be a perfect parent, but I’m glad I got that part right.
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That’s great to hear, Trent. I struggle quite a bit with my kids. Let’s just say recently I learned a few things about how kids thought about reading. Many thought it was pointless if you could just watch it in movie. Never mind having an imagination of your own. Oh no!
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That’s very cute! Loved where you cut it off.
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Thank you, Joy. I’m not sure if it registered, but he was being filmed as if it were the subject of a documentary. I’m sure that probably didn’t come across, but that was my thinking anyway! Thanks for reading.
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Yes, that did come across!
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Yay! Thanks!
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😀
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Hope was found in the hop of a little white rabbit. Hope they keep reading!
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That was delightful, Melanie! I’m glad you made all those little connections. 🙂 I hope so, too. I can’t imagine not reading, but many people never do. That’s sad to me.
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So weird and yes a little “too realistic”! I hope that day never comes, but sometimes it feels like it could be. Here’s to following the rabbit down the hole now and again!
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Sometimes, I think all kids need is a good book to turn them on to reading. I think some never get that experience. Sadly, I think we’re already there in some cases. I hope I’m very wrong. Thanks for reading.
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that what i missed in the teaching imagination
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I can see how that might happen. There are so many demands on teachers. I think the expectations of students are so much more, too. We’re in this big hurry and I think imagination is being left behind. Thanks for commenting.
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I certainly hope society isn’t headed in this direction – loss of imagination would be horrible! Sad, too, that she was there to reintroduce these children to books. Sob (:
This was a good story, Amy. Chad sounds just like the kind of kid an elementary teacher may be able to help…
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From what I gathered, it’s already happening to a degree. I’m hoping we can pull ourselves out of it somehow. Sob 😦 I hope we don’t see the day when people have never even held a book. 😦 More sobbing.
Happily, there are always some who see the light!
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I’m sure the teachers are doing a great job; good for them.
And it’s nice to know that there is a tunnel let alone finding the light – that’ll come later.
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There sure are a lot of great teachers and they have a difficult job, maybe the hardest! Let’s hope there’s always light at the end of the tunnel to be found. Thanks, Patrick!
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Loved this…this scenario is becoming too realistic indeed!
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Thanks, Ansumani. I hope it turns around. On the upside, we have so many things we can read today. Certainly, there must something a kid likes. I think it’s a matter of finding something that he/she can really identify with and get excited about.
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That was beautiful, Amy, especially the ending. As a teacher I can sympathize. Sometimes you just have to say close enough and make a mental note to review short and long vowels later. 🙂 I know how you feel about having a hard time nailing down a suitable story, but glad you came up with one.
-David
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Why thanks, David. Your comments mean a lot. I know, as a teacher, you understand the frustration you can have sometimes. Here I was more distant observer but still feeling the frustration. True, those short and long vowels can be sorted out later. The important thing is to have them on board. 🙂
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Speaking of late… eek! It’s funny, but as I was opening your link, I was humming “I’m late, I’m late…” And there it was! Chill. I love working with kids and literacy, but no doubt it is not without some impressive challenges sometimes! You’ve really captured that here. Nicely done!
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Whoa!!! Chill. That is so freaky, Dawn. I have lots of weird cosmic stuff happening with my Fictioneers friends. I love it. Sometimes I’m just driven to write something and I have no idea why and stuff like that happens!
Well, as far as this goes, I know there are lots of kids who never read and it’s really sad. It’s become a more normal thing when there are so many movies based off of books. That was one of the issues. I hope they start reading because they’re missing out! Thanks.
P.S. Have fun in New York!! 🙂 Too bad we can’t share a glass of champagne this year. Whaa!
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I’ll drink one for you! 🙂
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Getting kids to read – quite a task. Your story brings back memories of my time as a high school English teacher. I’ve been teaching adults for some years now, but I remember the battle well. I like your story very much.
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I guess for some kids, no matter what, reading will be a struggle/battle. I don’t know if it’s any worse these days, but it seems like it or else kids have so many more distractions. What was difficult to understand was that they didn’t see the point in reading or in imagining anything for themselves. Thanks so much, Margaret I appreciate your comments.
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Is that where we’re headed? Stop the world; I want to get off.
Good piece.
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I hope not, Mick. Some are already there I think, based on what I learned. They are so filled with images and media, they have a hard time coming up with their own and don’t see the point of it if someone else can do it for them. They’re missing a lot! Thanks.
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It creeps up on you. I used to have quite stylish handwriting (IMHO!). Now I type everything, my handwriting has gone to rat-shit.
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I’m sure you can’t read mine. I have to really concentrate to write neatly.
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It was encouraging to see so many children show up for the promtotions of the Harry Potter series. I think a book has to have characters that inspire children’s imaginations. I think that teacher was doing a grea job. Perhaps in future books will be electronic as well as have print, a combination of both. I read about some like that. I haven’t lost hope for kids and reading yet. Well done, Amy. 🙂 — Suzanne
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That’s so true, Suzanne. Good characters can be what draws them in. That’s what I like about the Harry Potter series. I haven’t lost hope either. We can never lose hope. Thanks for your comments, Suzanne. 🙂
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