People always say that we need to stop and smell the roses. I never needed to hear it.1
My mother would always get so frustrated with me. She would say, “You need to walk faster! For Heaven’s sake, don’t let yourself be sidetracked!”2
Well. Maybe she had a point.3
I could take over an hour to walk to school. Quite an accomplishment considering that it was only about half a kilometer from my home…4
I always stopped to smell every… single… flower.5
I couldn’t begin to say how many times my teachers called home to ask where I was.6
My poor mother.7
She thought I’d gone missing every single time.8
Eventually, she set time limits.9
“You may not arrive home any later that 4:30pm!”10
Sometimes I pushed it. Sometimes I didn’t come home until 4:31pm.11
I always was a wanderer. My teachers stipulated early on that I would not be allowed to go on any field trips unless one of my parents came along to supervise. I had too much of a tendency to get…12
…lost.13
Actually, I never considered myself lost. It was always a great adventure! 14
For me. 15
Everyone else was left standing around, pulling out their hair, wondering where I’d gone off to this time.16
Somehow I never noticed all of the distress I left in my wake.17
My third grade teacher thought that I hated her. (My mother told me this years after the fact.) She thought that any child who consistently caused so much trouble, must do it on purpose. 18
In her defense, I was never apologetic. I never realized I was causing such a stir.19
I just liked to explore.20
I liked to stop…21
…and smell the roses.22
Author notes
True. Every word of it.
What did you think? Please comment!
Comments
1 - 8 of 8
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LOL! no- I don't leave people looking around for me anymore (or at least I haven't been aware of doing so...) I'm getting much better at staying found.
-Ceilinh -
great
The story was good- one question: do you still leave peoplwe around you worried and scared? The storyu was good- simple language, no ostentatious words.... Just chose a better colour for the text- very hard to read... -
I myself always fidn problem to go for details, tiny. And you write wrote something about someone who payed attention in roses and yet, our story was simple and short. Excellent.
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All that this story is meant to be is a quick anecdote from my childhood. It's not really supposed to mean anything or teach anything- it's just an amusing little story that I felt like writing. I wasn't trying to give it a message, but if there was one, I suppose that it would be something along the lines of "It's fine to stop and smell the roses, but it shouldn't occupy all of your time."
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It's a very good write. I like its candid nature and its approach, but I think you should delve deeper into the ideas brought up. It felt like it ended too soon. What does it mean? What's the purpose of this piece outside of reminiscence? Good luck in the contest.
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I chose to use as many breaks as I did, not to create suspense, but to slow the pace. The entire story is about taking a long time to do something that most people would do (and often say should be done) quickly.
Also, you say that my story is too short. This amuses me. When a story already says exactly what one wants it to say, there is no reason to stretch it out. I didn't write this for some high school English class wherein the lengths of stories are dictated in advance by the teacher. I wrote it because I wanted to.
I wrote the story this way on purpose and am not going to change it.
Thank you for your opinion.
Edited on Apr 17, 3:12 p.m. because ''. -
I think you went overboard on the breaks between sentences. I'm only guessing that you used them to create suspense or for emphasis, but there is so much of it that it doesn't create either. It also seemed a bit too short. Otherwise, it was well-written and you have a good message there. Good luck!
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This is good. It reminds me of my sister who is always getting "lost". stopping and smeeling the rose is very good advice. peopel need to do that more often. good job.
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