The Story that Started it All

I remember once, when I was eight, I was sitting at my school table with a scowl on my face, huffing at the sheet in front of me.

I had just started homeschooling for 3rd grade (I had been in private school for the first three school years of my life), and with all the writing assignments and tough quizzes, it proved to be rather a challenge. I remember I used to loathe Language Arts, as writing used to be very hard for me and, frankly, I wasn’t a very focused student. I didn’t understand when I would ever need to use the skill in the future, or why it mattered if my handwriting was good or not. I thought that it wasn’t an important ability– I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I remember once, when I was nine, I sat pondering an idea for a fun story. Another assignment, fourth grade now. Something had changed in me that year– I didn’t despise L.A. as much as I did in 3rd grade. It was beginning to seem.. Interesting. It was a story about a girl and her friend who, together, built a zoo. Here is the story (it was written on paper so I had to copy it onto my laptop):

“Jessie and Pricilla were friends ever since they met in first grade. Jessie is a person who likes to have fun, and she is very clumsy. However, Pricilla is more organized than Jessie and is a very sweet person. When they are free, they both love to play with animals. So they decided to go to a new zoo!

The next morning, Jessie and Pricilla excitedly got dressed to go to a new zoo. Pricilla got her camera and Jessie got her map. They parked in the parking lot and walked to the entrance, it was very confusing! So Jessie looked at her map. They went to their favorite part, the elephants and the monkeys. They took some pictures of the elephants. But as they got to the monkeys area, Jessie stepped on a banana peel thrown by a monkey and fell face down into some mud!!!! “This is a very messy zoo,” said Jessie.

So, this was acceptable, but what happened next was unbelievable!!! When Jessie got up, she dusted the dirt off her pants. But when she looked behind her, she saw that the light that had been green earlier, was now red! “What could this mean?” Jessie thought as she stared at the red light, “I must have stepped on the lock to the…” She looked around and gulped… “The lion’s cage!”

As the lion walked towards Jessie, she paused and screamed “HELP!” As soon as the lion was about to strike, the sirens went on and Pricilla grabbed Jessie and pulled her towards a tree. They hid behind the tree and watched as everyone ran around screaming. “What have I done?” cried Jessie. Priscilla supported Jessie. “It was only an accident.” She said. Finally, the zoo keeper came and put the lion in his cage.

The experience at the zoo was so nerve wracking that Jessie and Priscilla decided to open their own zoo! With the help of their family, friends, neighbors, and community, they raised enough money to open their own zoo! By the next year, Jessie and Priscilla bought all the animals they needed. The zoo was small but still very organized. The monkeys were surrounded by glass walls, the lion’s lock was more secure, and they had a petting area for birthdays.

The End!”

It’s blocky, I know. But could you really blame me? Come on, cut me some slack. I was only nine and had never really written a good book before.

I remember, in sixth grade, I decided to start writing a book to publish. In fifth grade something had happened- I suddenly loved writing. I think it was because of all the books I read. I loved the thrilling feeling it gave me when it came to the rising action, the way they captivated me when the character made the fatal decision.

I was so confident I would someday publish this book; I wanted it to be a series. I had so many ideas, so many thoughts put into words. That was the first story I had ever written.

It never got finished- I lost interest at 104 pages.

I thought I would never write again. I kept reading, of course, but I just couldn’t think of any story ideas.

But when I discovered Vocal, my love for writing was re-awakened.

When I came onto Vocal, The Christopher Paolini challenge was going on.

Christopher Paolini was my favorite author in the world.

He’s written the Inheritance Cycle, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, Fractal Noise, and the fifth book of the Inheritance Cycle is coming out in November. It is called Murtagh, I’m dying for it to be published already.

You could say that my first story was “Oracle”, as it was the first story I ever published onto Vocal for the Christopher Paolini challenge, but I rather think the novel I started in sixth grade was the first story I had ever written. It wasn’t for a writing assignment, just for myself.

I won’t say the name, because who knows, maybe someday I’ll finish and publish it, but for now, I think I’ll keep brainstorming.

This novel was the first story I ever wrote, the story that started it all. I was lost before I became an author, but now I have a thirst for life I never thought I had in me. That first story awakened a fire in me that I never knew was there.

And I have been writing ever since.