How to Write a Narrative

 Right from their days of blabbering unmeaningfull words as infants,  little children love to listen to stories.

 

Stories shared with them creates an indepth image in their hearts that could play a major role even in deciding their lives.

 

Education as it demands now, children are expected not only to speak well, they are expected to write well also.  The smooth flow of expression using appropriate words is a skill that can help them to score better at all levels of their studies and career.

 

The days I worked as an online tutor helped me to learn the best ways to teach narrative writing to children.

 

Check my presentation in the following link:

 

http://slideplayer.com/slide/8120438/

 

I am herewith sharing some examples for narrative writing.

Pranny and the wild horse

Pranny ran to the school bus with a hop. Her friends greeted her with a loud cheer. One by one they got into the bus. Luckily Pranny got the window seat. Pranny always liked to sit near the window. She loved to count the number of trees that crossed their bus. Pranny started to count the number of trees when their bus entered into the main road. Pranny had finished counting one hundred when they reached their picnic spot.

 

Pranny and her friends jumped down from the bus and entered the park with a scream that can bring down the buildings. Luckily, there were no buildings and the wide sky echoed back their scream. Pranny's teacher asked them to form a line and walk in pairs. Holding the hand of the partner, every one started to climb up the path on the hill.

Once they reached the plain surface at the top of the hill, every one started to collect different types of flowers and leaves as their specimens. After some time, Pranny found out that she had walked away from her friends. Not a bit worried, she started to collect her flowers.

 

Suddenly she heard the galloping sound of a horse. A wild pony came galloping toward her. Pranny wanted to move away from the horse. So, she started to run. But, instead of running away from the horse, Pranny started to run toward the horse.

 

The shocked pony stopped and looked at her. Then, with a wild cry, the pony turned away from Pranny and climbed down the hill galloping in speed. It took a while for Pranny to come to her senses. Then with a cool shake of her shoulders, she started to collect her flowers once again.

Vyanka, the honey bee

 

Vyanka felt excited and happy. The older bee at the swarm told her the day before that she will take her along with her to bring nectar to the hive. After hatching from the egg, Vyanka is spending her days inside the cells of the hive. The nurse bees fed her with rich pollen and nectar and now she has grown stronger with strong wings. Vyanka stretched her little wings and eagerly waited for her first fly out into the sunshine. Vyanka could not sleep in peace; she kept on asking questions to the other bees.

 

The day dawned. Vyanka can see light rays peeping slowly from the east. The worker bees that usually go for hunting nectar and pollen started to leave with a buzz. Swarm of bees lifted up in the air with a uniform buzz. Vyanka joined them with much cheer. The swarm of bees started to fly in the air. For the first time, Vyanka realized that the bees flew drawing patterns in the air. The paths took different shapes along with the difference in the buzz also. Another bee that flew near her told that the drawing patterns showed the directions to go. Finally, they reached a big pond full of lotus flowers.

 

Lotus buds in the pond looked elegant and beautiful. The petals of the lotus flowers started to unfurl in a soundless rhythm. Vyanka joined the swarm and started to sip the nectar from a beautiful lotus flower that bloomed in the middle of the pond. Vyanka did not feel tired. For more than ten times she has flown back to the hive with plenty of pollens and nectar. The older bee told Vyanka that it is enough for the day and asked her to rest at the hive.

 

Vyanka out of excitement flew one more time to the pond. The evening started to set in. The lotus flowers slowly started to close their petals together. The lotus flower blooms for more than three days. But, every day in the evening, the petals will close together and the flower will start to unfurl once again the morning. Vyanka does not know about this. When she finished collecting nectar for the day, she tried to fly away from the flower. She hit at the sides of the petals and fell down in the soft bed of pollen sacs. Vyanka blinked hard. Her multiple eyes could not see anything in the dark.

 

When Vyanka got caught inside the lotus flower, every one started to search for her in the cells of the hive. The older bee asked them to wait till morning. After spending a restless night inside the lotus flower, Vyanka looked at the unfurling petals of the lotus flower. Streaks of morning light peeped inside the flower. Vyanka flew out of the flower with speed. When she crossed the pond, she met the whole swarm that eagerly buzzed for her. Every one asked her what happened.

 

Vyanka with nervousness told them what happened. The whole swarm broke into a buzzing laughter and teased her with their peculiar dance. Vyanka blushed with shame.

Neemoo, the little ant

 

‘Joe, come and have your breakfast.’ Mary called her nine year old son.

 

As usual, he is late for school. Running down the stairs, he reached the table. Throwing bread crumbs all around, he finished his morning breakfast.

 

‘Sit down and drink your juice’ His mother screamed at him. Every morning is a struggle with him. Till he gets into the school bus, the whole place will look like a fighting pit.

 

Sitting down on the chair, Joe started to sip the fresh juice. Down near the left corner of the table, a little ant scrambled on its way. Attracted by the bread crumbs that Joe spilled around, it moved near to pick up a large piece. Some bits of crumbs stood on the polished shoes of Joe. Surprisingly, the little ant wanted to carry that crumb home. The little ant slowly climbed on the left shoe. When the ant reached the top of the left shoe, Joe finished drinking the juice.

 

‘Ma, bye, bye.’ Joe started to walk toward the door. The little ant shocked at the sudden jerk, held tightly to the threads of the socks. The bread crumbs fell down on the floor, but Neemoo, the little ant could not climb down the shoe. Breathless, it stayed at the top of the shoe.

 

When Joe climbed into the bus, Neemoo lost the grip and fell on the last step of the bus. The door of the bus closed and started move toward the school where Joe studied. Neemoo stretched his feelers to know where he is. Neemoo heard the shrilling scream of little boys and girls.

 

Neemoo moved here and there on the last step of the bus. After walking around few circles, Neemoo decided to rest at the corner of the step. Neemoo lived in the corner of the dining room at Joe’s house. He has never gone out of the dining room. Even if he goes out to the window sill, some ants always came along. This is the first time Neemoo is away from the home and traveling in the bus.

 

After the children went to the school, someone started to clean the bus. Neemoo did not know what to do. He moved into the interior corner of the step and stayed there without moving a leg.

Angel, the silly gold fish

 

 With my eyes glued to the tank, I sat watching my favorite gold fish. In the rectangle shaped fish tank along with the pair of gold fish, three more pair of black and white molly also lived. Within a month, the black and white molly grew into a large school. Though I know that it is quite difficult to breed gold fish in a tank, I never stopped searching the tank for additional number of gold fish.

 

One day after finishing my household chores, I sat near the tank to watch my favorite pair. The two went on swimming all around the tank and they never stopped to send back my glance. At the middle of the tank, there was a miniature house built with broken ceramic tiles. The miniature house looked cute with its single door entrance and the two open windows below the sliding roof.

 

The house even had a chimney. Little black and white mollies will always swim into the house through the single door and will come out of the house by swimming through the little chimney. It will be always a fun for me to watch the mollies swim like this. To my surprise, on that day, one of the two gold fish tried to enter into the house through the single door. The mollies looked tiny and thin. So, they can easily swim in and come out of the house. But, the gold fish looked plump and short. The tail fins glistened bright and I loved to watch the gold fish moving the fins with grace.

 

The plump gold fish tried to enter the house through the door. But, he could only peep inside. He tried his best to swim into the house. After several attempts, he nudged inside the house, through the door. Unfortunately, he got stuck in the middle. Seeing him struggling, I tried to help him. With my two fingers I pulled him back holding the tail fin.

 

The tail fin slipped from my hands and I did not want to hurt the fish by tearing away the tail fin. I helplessly watched the gold fish that struggled to come out of the miniature house. For some time there was no movement from the fish. My eyes stared at the fish for a while. I could not think that the gold fish was dead.

 

A wonderful thing happened after few seconds. The other gold fish came there swimming. It looked at the silly gold fish that was struggling. It gave a push at the tail fin. To my surprise, the gold fish was pushed into the house. But, it got captured inside the miniature house.

 

I slowly lifted the roof of the miniature house and helped the gold fish to swim back into the tank. The other one joined the pair and they started to swim to the other end of the fish tank.

Eric, the little dragonfly

 

It’s a day in the month of March. Eric, the little dragonfly stood standstill on a dry twig of a plant eagerly waiting for his friend, Dolly, the humming bird, who migrated to the south for the winter. Eric does not feel the chillness of winter as his mother tucked him warm inside their cute little home built at a nook of the bike shed near Pete’s house. Pete is also a small boy like him. At times, curious little eyes of Pete would peep in and look into their home. In the beginning, Eric was afraid of Pete. As days went on both of them became familiar to each other. Though they don’t talk or play together, they knew each other.

 

Eric always finds Pete chasing butterflies in the garden or swinging in the branches of trees that lined the backyard. Pete’s favorite job is to fill in the bird feeder that is kept at the center of their little garden. Numerous birds come there to eat the grains or drink water from the fountain near the bird-feeder.

 

One day Pete’s mother kept a bird feeder which looked different and special. Pete was asking his mother too many questions about the special bird feeder. Pete’s mother replied to him that the special bird feeder is for the humming birds who are returning back to their place after migration.

 

Every morning Pete will clean the bird feeder and fill it with water mixed with honey. One day, Eric went to the bird feeder and tasted the water. It tasted so sweet; he went on sucking the water.

 

“Hello, can you give me space?” Eric heard a shrill voice behind him. His numerous eyes glistened in the sunlight and looked at the tiny bird. The bird looked restless and her wings fluttered continuously. Eric flew away from the bird feeder and hopped on the nearby twig. “Hi, I am Eric” Eric called her.

 

“I am Dolly,” the humming bird replied to him. From the day onwards, Eric always met Dolly in the forenoon. After greetings, they will fly around the garden for a while. The humming bird always seems to be in a hurry and never spent more than fifteen minutes with Eric.

 

Now, Eric felt lonely without Dolly. Some of his dragonfly friends called him to join them and play hide and seek. Without much interest, he joined them. Eric searched for a place to go and hide himself. He flew to the open window of the kitchen and sat on the hinges. The half opened window helped him to hide from his friends.

 

Pete at the same time came inside the kitchen to drink some water. Looking at the dragon fly on the hinges of the half-open door, Pete moved near to the window. Stealthily, he stretched his right arm and caught Eric. With his two fingers, he caught Eric by the wings and looked into his rotating multiple eyes.

 

Pete let him sit on his left arm. The long hairy legs of Eric tickled his skin and he started to giggle loudly.

 

Though Eric is familiar with Pete, he had never played with him like that. He made Eric to tickle him like that for a while.

 

“Pete, let him fly” Pete’s mother shouted at him. “If the wings are torn, he could not fly.” With beating heart, Eric waited for Pete to let him fly. Pete examined his transparent wings and the long and thin abdomen.

 

“Come again, little one.” With a cheerful laugh, Pete let Eric fly into the air.

Rheon, the naughty owlet

Rheon, the little owlet peeped from her house to see if her mother has come. For the past two days, it has been raining heavily. Rheon has learned her first lessons of hunting. Yet, she has to learn something more to hunt without any issues.

 

During her first lesson, her mother taught her how to hunt a little rat that scrambled through dry leaves beneath the tree. Rheon missed the first grasp with her claws. The little rat shook his body and escaped from her.

 

Rheon blinked her eyes and looked at the branch that swayed in the air. Something caught her attention. In the dark, green colored lights glowed here and there. She wanted to go near the lights and find out what they are. Curious eyes tempted her to fly near and see it. Yet, Rheon remembered her mother’s words.

 

“Don’t fly alone. Still there is time. Your wings are not strong, and you can get into trouble.” Rheon never missed her mother’s words. So, she looked at the green lights without making any move or sound. Some of the lights flew here and there. Green tracks of light followed them everywhere they flew. Rheon could not resist her eagerness to know what it is. With caution, she stepped out of the hole.

 

At the same time, Coco, a little cat, just like Rheon, made his way slowly toward something on the ground. Coco has learned how to hunt from his mother. His mother resting herself on a bark of a tree looked at Coco now and then. Though she looked dozing, her senses watched Coco with alert.

 

Rheon saw Coco moving stealthily. She understood that he is trying to catch his prey. With a mischievous smile, she looked at Coco. She wanted to play a prank on him. So, she moved toward the green lights. She found out that they are glow worms and she took some of them with her beak. She plucked a big leaf from the tree and placed the glow worms inside it. With her beak she rolled the leaf and made it as a big roll.

 

Rheon took the leaf in her beak and flew toward Coco. Coco stood there without any movement. He stood there calculating the time for his next move. Rheon flew down as if she pricked at Coco’s ears and let the leaf fall on his studious face. The leaf closed his face and he started to shake his head fiercely. At the same time, glow worms slid through the leaf and started to fly around Coco’s head.

 

Coco jumped here and there and with a leap joined his mother. His mother opened her eyes, looked around, and then went on to doze once again. Coco slid under his mother and hid himself. Rheon could not suppress her laughter.

 

Chuckling loudly she flew back to her home.

Rick, the spooky spider

The first rays of sun started to peep through the nook and corner of the thick bush. Rick slowly crawled out of the rose plant’s leaf. Then, he started to weave his web carefully. Hooking the tip of the first yarn on the thorn of the rose plant, he started to weave the web. Suddenly the morning breeze blew strongly, and so some of the threads got cut in the middle.

 

Stretching his thin legs, he slowly climbed down on the yarn of web. Just like a pendulum that went right from left in a ticking clock, Rick moved from right to left and repaired the broken yarn. After fifteen minutes of hard work, Rick completed the web and started to wait for insects to fly into the web.

 

Rick does not look scary and he has never attempted to bite anyone. Yet, whenever kids find him on the rose plant, they screamed and ran all the way to their homes. One day Rick saw Rita, a little girl, watching his web carefully. Rita was looking at the dew drops on the web.

 

The dew drops acted like a prism and reflected the sun light, which created an array of rainbow colors. Rita moved near the web to have a closer look. Rick moved slowly from his hiding place and peeped out to look Rita closely. Looking at the peeping eyes of Rick, Rita screamed loudly and started to run.

 

“Hello, don’t run. I will not bite you.” Rick shouted to Rita. Rick started to feel sad. Why do these kids run from me? Why are they afraid of me? Rick has seen kids playing with butterflies, grasshoppers, and dragonflies. Kids always tried to catch those insects only. They never had a thought to catch a spider like him and be their play mate. Rick could not answer this question, and so felt sad.

 

One day, Rick heard kids talking about Halloween and plans for celebrating it with much fun. The kids often mentioned spiders and Rick became curious to know about the connection between Halloween and the spiders. When he heard that spiders take a special place during Halloween to scare people, Rick’s heart broke. Why? Why? Why? Rick tossed on his web restlessly. Yet, he could not find an answer.

 

One morning Rick found Rita trying to do something like his web on her toy house. After so many efforts, she could not succeed. Something or other went wrong. Disappointed she left the toy house near the bush and went inside the home. Rick wanted to help Rita. He climbed down the web, and started to weave the web where Rita wanted in her toy house.

 

Rick started the web from the corner of the side window door and connected it to the small paper plant under the side window. Rick spent at least twenty minutes to weave the web. The dark night set in and it sprinkled dew drops on the web.

 

In the morning sun light, the dew drops reflected rain bow colors and made Rita shout with happiness. “Mom, look at the beautiful web on my toy house. I will only get the first prize.”

 

Rick rolled his eyes and looked at Rita. ‘Maaaaaaa.’ With a scream, Rita ran into her house.

Crappie, the timid ghost

In the unoccupied room of an apartment lived Crappie, the timid ghost. Every thing scared this little ghost and most of the time it hid in a broken closet at the corner of the room. The closed doors of the room never opened and only streaks of light peeped in through broken doors of the windows.

 

One morning when every one in the apartment has gone for work, Crappie heard some one walking in the corridor in front of the room. Crappie slowly moved and lifted the lid of the closet. Crappie could not see anyone through the crack in the window door. He can see only a black spider slowly weaving the web across the window bar.

 

At the same time, Crappie saw a big lizard moving slowly along the wall. Crappie has not seen any thing other than the black spider inside the room. This is the first time Crappie saw a lizard inside the room. Wondering how it came inside the room, Crappie called the lizard.

 

‘Hi, May I know who you are?’ But, the lizard keen on catching the fly sitting at the end of the wall, did not replied to him. Fearing it may eat him, Crappie looked at the lizard once again. ‘Will it eat me?’ Fear gripped Crappie.

 

‘Oh, who will help me to get out of this room?’ Crappie started to worry. After some time the lizard moved way and Crappie felt relieved. Evening set in and the entire place became dark. Crappie came out of the closet and looked outside through the crack in the window.

 

In the middle of the corridor hang a Jack O lantern. The light that shone through the lamp scarred Crappie and took his wit out.

 

‘Oh, my..my, how will I get out of this room?’

 

Shuddering with fear, he slowly opened the lid of the closet. At the same time, some one broke the lock on the door and opened the door with a hard push. Giggles of little kids filled the corridor and the empty room. Every one carried a Jack O lantern and they all entered the room with a scream.

 

Crappie let down the lid of the closet and ran out of the room through the opened door. After that Crappie never returned to that room.

Kirk, the squeaky bat

 

In the corridor of an apartment lived Kirk, a squeaky bat. Every day when the dusk starts to set in, Kirk will come out of her home and start to look for food. It will be a treat for her if a swarm of mosquitoes flies into the dark corners of the corridor. There are six houses in a row and the corridor will be dimly lit with a zero volt bulb. Usually there will be no one in the corridor and it helped Kirk to fly independently and hunt till she felt her stomach is filled.

 

Kirk’s routine started to get disturbed with the setting of the Halloween season. Little kids from the apartment started to play in the corridor. They discussed plans to celebrate Halloween and also how to scare people in the apartment. Kirk silently listened to their plans and decided to work out a plan to scare those little kids.

 

Two days later all kids from the apartment dressed up in different Halloween costumes gathered near the front gate. Each little kid carried a Jack O lantern. Each light with a different carved shape from the pumpkin looked different.

 

Kirk looked around. All the kids wearing masks started to light their lanterns. Peter, the little boy, who lived next doors, joined them wearing a mask like a bat.

 

‘Oh, that is cute. He looks like a bat.’ Kirk felt excited. Flapping her wings, she went out of the apartment to the nearby park. Kirk asked her friends who lived in the park to come with her. She explained to them her plan.

 

When Kirk and her friends reached the apartment, the lights in the apartment went out. The little boys and girls standing near the gate with their lanterns shouted in a chorus, ‘Trick or Treat.’

 

“Treat, treat, treat.” The adults in the apartment replied in a chorus and gave their kids a bamboo basket full of goodies to eat.

 

“Oh, oh, oh.” The kids placed down their lanterns and started to dig into the bamboo basket.

 

Kirk signaled to her friends. Every bat entered the apartment and started to fly around the heads of the kids.

 

“Trick, trick, trick.” Kirk and her friends started to squeak around the kids. Kirk flew down to Peter and landed on his bat mask. Except for the light from the lantern the placed looked dark.

 

With whatever goodies they have picked up, the kids ran down the street screaming loudly. Kirk and her friends with a loud squeak followed the kids and made them run in different directions.

Rimy, the cozy cat

 

It is a cold, cold, winter season. It has started to snow and this made kids happy and cheerful than ever. But, for Rimy, the cozy cat, it is not so. She could not bask in the morning sun and let sun rays make her coat shiny. Standing on the window sill, she peeped outside.

 

Chill winds blew and made her shiver. Let alone the day light, there were no warm rays of the sun. Lighter drizzle of rain cleaned the leaves of the plants in the garden at the backyard, and evoked the sweet smell of the hidden flowers. Rimy smelt the rain in the air. Rimy thought it will be fine if she can smell a rat in the air. It has been days since she has chased a rat. The chilly climate has made all the rats stay inside their holes and rarely did they come out to eat anything left at the kitchen table.

 

‘Rimy, dear, don’t go outside, it is chilly there,’ Susie took Rimy in her hands and left it on the nearby chair. Rimy stretched lazily and looked at her face. ‘How long should I stay inside, please, let me go out for a while?’ Rimy’s eyes requested Susie. ‘Hmm. Then go out. You will come inside within a second.’ With a laugh, Susie took Rimy and let her out through the front door.

 

Rimy’s outer skin shivered badly in the piercing cold winds, yet, she slowly stepped outside. Near the shoe rack, she found a place to squeeze in. One side of the shoe rack prevented the chilly winds to hit her directly. Yet, she can look out through the grills of the door.

 

After a while, Rimy heard the feeble sound of footsteps near the steps of the front door. Unsteady foot steps climbed the steps and stopped near the door. Rimy can see two beady eyes through the slightly opened door. Shining whiskers moved in and out of the gap in the door. Rimy's sense of smell got alert and she sharpened her nostrils. 'O My, it is a rat.' Rimy wanted to get up immediately and catch the rat.

 

Yet, she decided to wait for a while. The blowing chill air brought in the strong smell of rat and trickled Rimy's nostrils once again. For a second she forgot about the chillness outside.

 

With a leap she opened the front door. Fortunately, the rat also realized the smell of the cat and so it decided to run back into its hole. Not aware of the sudden turn of events, Rimy rolled on the steps of the front door and reached the ground.

 

Susie could not suppress her laughter, yet, she carried Rimy back into the house. Susie then gave Rimy a warm bowl of milk and made a cozy bed to rest for a while. Rimy felt ashamed, but could not deny the warm milk and cozy bed made for her.

Tiny, the cute lizard

The mother lizard slowly climbed the open shelf at the corner of the kitchen searching for a place to lay her eggs. For the past two days it hunted for a safer place where she could keep her eggs. The top corner of the shelf proved to be a safer place. Some bottles filled in the space and hid the corner of the shelf from the view. It will take at least six weeks for the eggs to hatch. Once baby lizards come out of the eggs, they can move freely in no time.

 

Six weeks later, more than six baby lizards hatched out of the eggs. All the baby lizards followed their mother outside. The mother lizard led them to the near by tree and started to teach them how to hunt small insects as their food. The last one which hatched from the egg did not want to move away from the hiding place in the shelf. The mother went searching for Tiny. The little lizard curled up at the corner of the shelf refused to follow her.

 

‘I am not coming.’ Tiny replied to her mother.

 

‘What are you going to do here? You will not get enough food here.’

 

‘It is so warm and cozy here. I don’t want to come out and freeze in the cold.’ Tiny replied sharply.

 

‘Freezing cold? Who told you so? Come out and see yourself.’ The mother lizard called Tiny once again.

 

‘Is it not winter now?’

 

‘Yes, but it is not so cold. If it is cold we can stay inside the garage. People will chase you away if they find you.’ But, Tiny was not in a position to listen to her mother.

 

At that moment, Bob, the cat entered the kitchen. His sharp nostrils told the presence of the lizard. Without making a noise, he jumped on to the flat slab near the sink. Standing near the sink, he looked around searching for a way to reach the top of the shelf.

 

In the mean while, the mother lizard has moved half way on the wall. Sensing danger, she wanted to move fast and escape out of the window. Looking at the cat, she moved her tail fast and let a part of the tail break away. The tiny piece of tail fell on the floor of the kitchen and it started to wriggle as if struggling for life. Bob jumped down and sat down looking at the wriggling tail.

 

Tiny was silently watching all these things. Without making any more comments, she silently followed her mother and went out through the kitchen window.

 

Impressum

Texte: Kalai Selvi Arivalagan
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 29.05.2010

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