The Tale of the Building Block

Illustration by Amelia  Age:  7  Paris, TN

          Emerson the dragonfly flew over the tall grass between the pond and the farmhouse.  This was the best place to catch mosquitoes.  He had already caught two and had them for his midmorning snack.  He came up to the fence at the edge of the tall grass and landed on the top rail.  He wanted to rest a few minutes before he went back to Polliwog Pond to find his friends.

            Looking down at the short grass on the other side of the fence he saw something red and shiny.  He flew down to investigate.  It had a cube shape with raised circles on one side and empty space with lines on the other.  Emerson flew back to Polliwog Pond with the plastic building block (for that is what it was) in his arms.

            As he approached the path to the pond he spied Audra the duck, Hayden the turtle, and Xavier the frog playing a game of tag along the path. 

            “Hey guys,” exclaimed Emerson as he flew up, “look what I found next to the fence at the edge of the tall grass.”

            “What is it?” asked Audra.

            “I don’t know,” said Emerson.  “What do you guys think it is?”

            Hayden took the block from Emerson and said, “I think it’s a pillow.  It looks like it would be just right for my head.” 

Hayden put the block on the ground and lay down next to it with his head on it like a pillow.  “Ouch!” exclaimed Hayden, “that thing is not comfortable at all.”

Then Xavier took the block and said, “I bet this would be great for target practice.”

Xavier put the block on a rock next to the path and backed away.  Then he shot out his tongue and tried to grab the block.  His tongue didn’t stick to it like normal, and the block ended up flying off into the grass next to the path.  “Hey!” he shouted, “where did it go?”

Audra the duck went into the grass and retrieved it.  She said, “I think it would make a marvelous hat.”

Audra put the block on top of her head and tried to walk.  The block slid off her head as soon as she started to move.  She tried again with the same results.  “It won’t stay,” she exclaimed.

Emerson looked at the block lying in the dirt of the path.  “I wonder if it belongs to someone,” he said.  “I took it and didn’t even think that it might be somebody’s.”

His friends looked at him and then at the block.  “Maybe you should take it back,” said Audra.  “I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble.”

Emerson picked up the block and waved goodbye to his friends.  Over the tall grass he flew until he reached the fence.  Looking around he dropped the block in nearly the same spot where he had found it and flew back to play tag with his friends.