A Little Winter Magic: The Conclusion

The Story So Far:  Two little bears, Honey and Beezer, disregard their mother's advice to nap for the winter.  Instead they want to stay awake to see snow and ice for themselves, because their friend Squirmy Squirrel has told them all about ice skating and snow ice cream.  When they sneak out of the house, a strange, rather unorthodox creature who calls herself their "Hairy Fairy Bearmother," uses a series of rhyming chants to convince them they might not enjoy ice and snow so much after all.  Honey and Beezer decide to return home for now, but to dress warmer and try the adventure again next year.

"Where did the Hairy Fairy Bearmother go?" Honey whispered, as she and Beezer sneaked quietly back into their warm den and underneath their mountains of warm blankets.

"I guess she just disappeared," said Beezer.  "After all, she's magical, you know."

Honey didn't even hear Beezer answer.  Her eyes wouldn't stay open any longer.  Beezer himself felt his mouth stretch into a gigantic yawn.

In her room next door, Mama smiled at the sound of soft little bear cub snores.  Just as she was crawling into bed, she noticed the pile she had left on the floor.  In it were a shimmery gown, a lopsided crown, a sparkly veil, and a branch from the walnut tree right outside.

"Oh, well," she said, snuggling down under her own mountain of blankets.  "I'll pick those things up next spring.  The way it sounds, I may need them again next winter."

Commentary:  So now you know that the story is really about a mother's resourcefulness as she comes up with a creative solution to the problem of two little bears who don't want to go to sleep.  Hopefully, it is not apparent until the end that she and the Hairy Fairy Bearmother are one and the same.  I want that to be something children can figure out for themselves.  

I didn't know myself that this was going to be the case until I was trying to think how to end the story within the 750-word maximum imposed by the contest.  For me, watching a piece develop in the actual act of composition is always a real thrill.

The names Honey and Beezer, I suspect, arose from my subconscious through a circuitous route that winds back to A.A. Milne and the honey-loving, bee-beleaguered Winnie-the-Pooh.  The kids and I have read a lot of those charming tales over the past five years.  Last weekend, Sooby said she would again lend me her illustrating expertise when she comes for her extended visit this summer.  If that happens, I will share her illustrations here on the blog.

As I mentioned several posts ago, the fiction-writing thing is relatively new to me. However, the recent experience of having five grandchildren in five years has given me much opportunity to contemplate and analyze the literary strategies of those who write for children.  Likewise, I have had a lot of fun trying my own hand at it, so I was glad for the opportunity to enter the contest sponsored by my local senior center.

Thanks for giving the story a look here on the blog.  I have learned much from your comments, and I thank you for those as well.

And--oh yeah--I promised to tell you the outcome of the contest.  Honey and Beezer, it seems, garnered second place.  Good enough to be encouraged.  Room to grow.

 

 

 

                                                   

A Little Winter Magic: The Foreword

If you have spent much time rummaging around in "Googie's Attic," you know or at least suspect that I prefer to write poetry and creative nonfiction rather than fiction.  If not for my hometown Senior Center (which, by the way, I barely qualify for on the basis of age), I probably would never have mustered the motivation to try my hand at fiction in any serious way.

However, as a result of becoming better acquainted with the Senior Center writers, who put their fingers to the keyboard under the amazing tutelage of a former creative writing student of mine, I have somehow amassed the courage needed to branch out into the unknown territory inhabited by the mysterious, elusive beast known as fiction.

Since I have spent so much time reading to the grandkids over the past five years, it stands to reason that some of my earliest efforts in this genre have been stories for children.  You may remember that I published the first of these, "Jacky Joe's Halloween Party," on the blog last October, along with some great original illustrations by Sooby.

This spring the Senior Center again sponsored a contest with a category for children's fiction.  This time it was to be a "fairy tale," 300 to 750 words, using the theme "The bears decided to stay awake all winter."

Knowing this, I drifted off to sleep several nights with my thoughts focused on a family of storybook bears.  I pondered why they might want to stay awake.  I considered what might happen if they did.  I wondered if the whole family would stay awake, or just the kids.

What resulted from these musings is a story titled "A Little Winter Magic."  This month, I will share the story in segments here on the blog, along with some commentary on the experience of writing it.  I hope you will want to read it, share some feedback with me, and--better yet--try it out on some imaginative preschoolers you know.

So next time in "Googie's Attic," watch for the answers to these thought-provoking questions:  If you were going to create a little boy bear and a little girl bear, what would you name them?  What kind of antics would you expect from a character named "Squirmy Squirrel"?  What does a mama bear do when her kids don't want to go to bed?

On the edge of your seat, are you?  Transitioning into the nail-biting stage?  Watch the blog for the first installment of "A Little Winter Magic" in a couple days.