just something I wrote

[AngieBelle]

Hey there. I'm taking a course on writing for children, and my latest assignment is to write an objective profile on a real life child. I thought you might enjoy this piece I wrote on a little friend of mine whose parents invited me to hang out with them while they were at WDW last Oct.


Emily (age 6)

“Don’t run, Doll!” My friend Emily’s dad calls to her as she shuffles far ahead of us to the resort pool in her blue flip-flops. The scuff and flap sound of her footsteps on cement slows for just a moment as her dad catches up with her. She drops her shoes at the foot of a beach chair and heads toward the steps that lead into the chlorinated water. She wears a splashy orange and yellow print tankini that reveals a little of a protruding belly. Like a bird about to take flight, she stands ready at the edge of the pool with her white goggles perched on her forehead before she pulls them down over her pale blue eyes. Her sandy ponytail looks like a spigot sticking out the top of her head and tied with a hair band. Her hair is so long it still reaches the middle of her back.
Without waiting for her dad to join her, she leaps into the pool. Her dad wads in behind her. She grins at him as if she has just been told a secret joke that tickled her fancy and exposes front teeth that have not fully grown in and round cheeks that hint of leftover baby fat. On her tummy, she dog paddles in a circle and bobs her face in and out of the water while blowing bubbles.
I slide into the pool myself, and her dad and I chitchat while Emily plays until she interrupts us. “Daddy!” She calls from the other side. “Daddy, watch this!”
“I’m watching, Doll,” he calls back. Emily lies horizontally, dips her face down, and holds two hands in a prayer position over her head.
“Oh no, it’s an Emily shark!” I gasp in mock fear. Emily giggles. Her dad and I continue our conversation, but a moment later I feel a yank on my shoulders as Emily pulls herself onto my back like a baby monkey. “Whoa!” I exclaim.
“Careful, Emily,” warns her dad. “You’re getting a little big to do that.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got her.” I reply. Together, we bounce around the shallow end leaving behind a trail of giggles.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Very, very nice, AB. I felt like I was at the pool with Emily and you guys. So very descriptive. Thanks for sharing.