My first piece of fiction. Ever.

by Todd Foley

As part of a rich week of Christmas festivities, my wife and I spent a few days with my parents in Washington. My mom had found an old book with all of my school day memories. Report cards, papers and [incriminating] photos. The funnest gem, though, was discovering my very first piece of fiction.

I believe I wrote this piece as an extra-credit assignment for my sixth-grade teacher [when I was 11 years old]. This is far from an example of acceptable prose or character development; however, it gave me a glimpse at my story-hungry mind, and it made me smile.

Without further ado, here is Cherry’s Adventure.

Once upon a time, there was a little cherry bomb named Cherry. She had a couple of friend bombs. Their names were Apple, Plum, Peach, and Orange. One day, Cherry got a phone call from Peach. She wanted to know if Cherry could come on a picnic with the others to the park. So, she decided to go.

Cherry met the others at the entrance of the park. Peach had the food, Apple had the camera, Plum had the blanket, and Orange had the stereo. They walked down to an eating spot and set everything up. They were having so much fun.

After they had eaten, took some pictures and talked for a while, Cherry had to go use the restroom. Once she came out, she didn’t see anybody. Cherry was quite confused. She did not know what had happened to them. Then, she knew what happened. They were playing hide-and-seek. After she had looked for a while, she gave up. Now, Cherry was getting quite scared, very, very scared.

She was walking around, when suddenly, CRUNCH! She looked down and she saw a piece of paper. It said:

“I have taken the bombs. If you want them back, come to my castle and fight me for them. If you do not come by Friday afternoon, the fire pit for your friends!
Yours un-sincerely, Kind Bomb-omb III. Gwa ha ha!”

Now Cherry knew what had happened to them. But she looked at the park calendar. It was Wednesday, two days before Friday. She decided to set out for the castle right away. But there were two problems. First of all, Cherry was a very timid little bomb. Second of all, she had no idea where the castle was. But suddenly, she remembered a big castle on the other side of some big hills. So, she set out for the castle.

It was cold and windy. She saw a willow tree straight ahead. She decided to stay there until the wind calmed down. It did.

She started to walk. Then, she saw a problem. A huge blackberry bush with huge thorns. She knew that she would have to go through, but it would be tough. “OO, OW, EKE!” The thorns poked her all over her body. Finally, she got through.

Then, she saw a sign. It read: “I’d turn back if I were you.” Well, she didn’t. She walked for a while. Then, she saw a river. But really was the moat of the castle. She finally made it! But she still had to defeat Bob-omb.

She walked inside, up the stairs, and through the door. There they were, the four bombs, trapped inside a cage. “So, you finally made it.” It was King Bob-omb. He grabbed Cherry and threw her against the wall. “OWWWW!” Cherry was hurt. Bob-omb put her in the prison. Suddenly, the walls started to close in. She had to get out! Then, she realized her body was too hard to be crushed. She crushed through the walls, picked up Bob-omb, threw him out of the window, and set the bombs free. They left the castle and never went on any more picnics.

Then Cherry realized that she had become brave. She was a hero!