Dust Bunnies

My goals when I first began writing children's stories were modest.

My first goal was to finish. I decided I didn't want to leave a few incomplete stories on some forgotten computer files before I lost interest and moved on to some other project. I reasoned that, "if nothing else, I want to be able to print three copies of a finished book, put them in a drawer, and give them to the boys when they are old enough to read them."

My second goal was to write a story that touched one child. I didn't care about bestsellers, or even about publication. I wanted only to succeed at delighting one child with something I had written.

Last week Kathy signed us up for volunteer duties in the boys' classrooms. This included a few half hour reading slots. She suggested I read one of my stories, "Dust Bunnies," about a little boy who is afraid of the dark. "It's too long," I warned her, "nearly 6,000 words, as long as a whole Jack & Annie book." But she thought I could do it. She reread it to the boys and their friend Ashley and had them illustrate it. She proved to herself that it could be read in the allotted thirty minutes.

So yesterday I went to Andrew and Justin's first grade class to read. Right up until I left for their school I was still editing Dust Bunnies, trimming words wherever I could and improving the ending. I timed myself and discovered that if I read at an uninterrupted 183 word-per-minute clip and asked the children to hold their questions and screams of terror until the end, I could finish in time.

Mrs. Doolin had Justin and Andrew introduce me. They were very proud, as was Ashley who had drawn some marvelous illustrations for my story. Twenty kids gathered around and I glanced nervously at my watch only to discover that we were beginning five minutes late: already I was three and a third pages behind schedule. I wasn't nervous any longer, but I was anxious. I wanted to read with enthusiasm, but I had to trim words and ad lib as I read.

I kept looking into the eyes of twenty children who gave me their rapt attention for thirty minutes as I speed-read my story to them. They giggled at times, missed the more sophisticated jokes at others, and grew wide-eyed when I tried teasingly to spook them. I reached the climax, little Timmy's moment of heroism, and turned to Justin to allow him to recite Timmy's line. He declined, but Ashley eagerly pinch-hit and shouted the line gleefully.

I finished the story and the class ended. Mrs. Doolin led the class in polite applause and choruses of thanks. One girl in the class, whom I'd only met once before, proudly boasted that she knew me from visiting our house on a play-date and she hovered near me like a groupie. But there was no time for feedback or questions. The kids had to empty their cubbies and line up for dismissal.

Of course the question I keep getting is, "Did the kids like it?" And the honest answer is: I think so. After all, they sat still and listened for thirty minutes. They giggled. Their eyes got big. But at the pace I read, it wasn't as though I had them all mesmerized. Still, I'm satisfied. It was fun. Plus I had the relief of having a Red Sox game to go home to.

After school I ran into one mom outside the classroom. She asked how the reading went and I said I thought it went okay. "I'd like to read it some time if you don't mind," she said.

"Here," I said, thrusting my binder at her with relief. "I'm finished."

This morning she emailed Kathy, who forwarded her note so I could read the following:

Matthew talked of nothing else last night except the story John read to the class. He spent the entire evening creating his own book and talking about how Mr. Cardozo had actually written the book he read to the class. I heard about each character in great detail, how funny certain parts were and how the boys did all the pictures. This from a boy who rarely speaks about what happens in his classroom. Please give John this feedback for me. He should feel wonderful about the effect his writing had on Matthew!

So except for the fact that Matthew should have been watching Game Seven of the Red Sox/Yankees playoffs, I couldn't be more pleased.