“Valerie,” Mrs. Shone said, “time for writing.”“Okay, Mom,” said Valerie, “Can you write one, too?” Mrs. Shone used to be a writer before she married Mr. Shone. Valerie went up to her room to write. She pulled out her diary. She always found something to write about. “I want to write about something that never happened to any one before,” said Valerie. “What about 'The Land of Silhouettes?'” That sounded like a title of a famous book, she thought. Just then Valerie started shrinking. A gust of wind blew her off her chair. Valerie was now a paper doll! Another gust of wind blew Valerie up to the desk.“I'm not the adventurous type,” wailed Valerie, “I didn't do anything magical.” Then she remembered the paper dollhouse she had made yesterday. She ran across the desk and knocked on the paper door. A tall paper doll lady answered the door. Her black hair was in a bun and her earrings were gold loops, but they were different sizes.“Why, Valerie,” said the lady, “Bridget is in her room.” Valerie stepped inside. She remembered making the lady. Valerie had named her Mrs. Rose. The inside of the house was very familiar.“I guess Mrs. Rose thinks I'm Bridget's friend,” said Valerie to herself. Bridget was the paper doll Valerie had also made. Valerie passed by the kitchen. She could hear Bridget's parents talking.“I would love to have a car,” Bridget's mother was saying to Mr. Rose. Valerie stopped short. I can make them a paper car, thought Valerie. She turned and tripped on the paper rug. She got up and walked into a room. There was Bridget sitting on the bed. Valerie saw that the paper doll girl had been crying.“What's the matter?” Valerie asked.“Go away!” said Bridget. Valerie was startled.“I made you!” she shouted. “You are supposed to be kind.” Oops, thought Valerie. I better be careful what I say.“You would be cross all the time, too, if you had a leg like mine,” said Bridget. Valerie looked. The leg had a paper cast on it. A pair of toothpick crutches rested on the bed. Valerie remembered when her scissors slipped and cut Bridget's leg. I will tape that leg when I get back home, thought Valerie.Valerie said, “I have to go now. Bye.” When she left, Bridget was still crying.“Going already, Val?” asked Mrs. Rose. Valerie nodded.“Bye,” she said. Valerie went out the door. She climbed down the desk leg, slid off the desk, and leaned against it, thinking. The door creaked and Smudge-Face, Valerie's Siamese cat, entered the room. Eck! thought Valerie. I might be eaten by my own cat. She flattened herself against the wall, which was very flat indeed. SmudgeFace walked across the room. He was not interested in any paper dolls.“Phew!” she sighed. She leaned against a cookie box. Valerie had thought the cookie tin was too cute to throw away. It was heart-shaped and pink. She could use it for the paper dolls.'The Land of Silhouettes,' thought Valerie, I think I will write a book about that. But, first, how can I be a real person again? she thought. But she didn't have to worry about that because suddenly she started to grow! She stood up. It felt good to be person again and not a flat paper doll. She sat down at her desk to write her story. She wrote about her adventure as a paper doll.It will be a travel story, she thought and laughed to herself. After she finished writing, she drew a van for Mrs. Rose and taped Bridget's leg back on.“Mom!” said Valerie. “I wrote a story! It's a travel story.”“It is?” her mom said, raising one eyebrow inquisitively. Valerie looked down at her feet and smiled.“Yes!” she said. |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chelsea Jones won our Special Young Author's Award in Writers' Intl. Forum's 1999 Summer competition with this fun story. Ten-year-old Chelsea comes from the small farming community of Potlatch, Idaho and from an active family of writers. Her twin sister Amanda won an Honorable Mention for her entry to the same competition as did her father for his fiction entry in our adult category! Chelsea says, “I like to read fantasy stories, so I wanted to write one myself. My sister and I play pretend a lot. Playing pretend helps me imagine what the famtasy world is like. I wrote ‘The Land of Silhouettes’ because I’ve always imagined that my paper dolls really do come to life.” |
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Imagination Plus Realism Chelsea used both imagination and realism in her story “The Land of Silhouettes.” Often new writers forget that when they switch between a real and an imaginary world within the same story that they must tie these two worlds together. Chelsea shows she understands that important principle. She uses some realistic features of Valerie’s life when she explains the imaginary world that Valerie finds herself exploring. Then this young author carries some of the facts from that imaginary world back into Valerie's real world in the end. This creates a well-rounded story that makes all parts of the story work together into a satisfying story. For instance, when Valerie enters the paper dolls' world, she finds circumstances that directly came from Valerie’s real actions earlier. A slip of her scissors had caused the broken leg for Bridget. Then, after Valerie returns to reality, she repairs Bridget’s leg and makes a van for her paper doll mother. Her adventure feels complete--and like great fun! Nice job, Chelsea! |
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"This was a truly incredible story! Great comination of real life, real life wtihin the story, and fantasy within the story and how they all tied together. The scissors idea was brilliant! Good luck in all your future stories! --Brian Maag  Writers love feedback! Click the mail box to send us an email with your comments about this story and we will gladly forward them to the author. |