Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Step by Step - Short Story


Doris came home from school… She dropped her school bag off her shoulders and on to the floor.




“Hello Doris!” Said Doris’ mother; “How was school?”
“It was awful” replied Doris with a sad face… “My teacher gave us a whole load of homework, and now I won’t have any time to play this week end” 

Doris’ mother smiled at her young daughter and said: “Well, I guess you should get started on your homework then… Oh! And don’t forget you still have to tidy up your room like you promised me yesterday!”  

Doris picked up her bag and left for her room. Sitting at her desk, Doris decided to start on her homework; she emptied out her school bag and was exhausted just by the sight of the large pile of thick books that fell out. 





Nevertheless she opened her note book and started looking for a pencil….  She looked on her desk, but there were just too many books to see…. She then looked under her desk and on the floor but there was a big pile of clothes… Then she stood up and looked on her chair and on the book shelf… Doris just could not find her pencil in such a messy room!

“Oh, well! I will just have to clean my room first and then do my homework” thought Doris. 

Doris started straightening out her bed, shaking her sheets and patting her pillows. HACHOO! Sneezed Doris from the cloud of dust that had formed in her room…  She then ran to open the window to let out the dust.

Doris looked out the window and saw all the other children of the block playing, Ms. Martha walking her dog, and little Johnny riding his bicycle. Oh…. How she wished she could leave her room to go out and play! 

Just as Doris was dreaming of all the fun she could be having she got interrupted by a pigeon bird that flew straight at her!
“Oh, how rude!” Said Doris to the bird with an angry face!   
The pigeon sat at the windowsill took one look at the young girl and said: “It is such a nice day, so why are you so grumpy?”
Doris answered: “While everyone else is outside having fun, I am stuck up her in my room for the week end!”
Tilting his head to the side to get a better look in to Doris’ room, the pigeon replied… “Maybe you wouldn’t mind being in your room so much if it wasn’t such a mess!”
Doris was now frustrated and answered: “Well… If it was not such a mess I would not have to be here in the first place!” “And if I did not have so much homework I would be able to tidy up!” “And if I did not have to tidy up maybe I would get some homework done!”

The bird soon understood that Doris was overwhelmed by the large pile of work and  that she clearly needed some help.

“Ok!” said the bird, “I will help you!” First thing is first, we need to get organized and take one thing at a time. 
"Step by Step!"

Step one: The pigeon helped Doris straighten out her bed.  

Step two: Together they picked up the pile of clothes off the floor and put them on the bed.




“Oh look!” Said Doris, with a smile on her face; “The pencil was under the clothes all along!

Step three: They folded Doris’ clothes and packed them neatly in her wardrobe!

Now the bed and her floor were tidy! Doris started feeling much better and that it was not so hard after all!

Step four: The pigeon started putting Doris’ books on her bookshelf; He explained that it would be much easier to do her homework by taking one book at a time off the shelf rather than having a large pile on her desk. Doris helped the bird and soon Doris’ desk was tidy and ready for homework!

Soon Doris heard her mother calling out dinner time.

Doris thanked and said goodnight to her feathered friend and went down stairs to eat.

The next day Doris sat at her tidy desk to do her homework. As she stared at her books on her bookshelf, Doris felt overwhelmed by the thought of Math, English, Geography and all the other books!

Doris quickly closed her eyes and remembered the words of her little pigeon friend… 
"Step by Step!"

Step one: Doris took down her math book and opened it on the page she had her homework on. She started multiplying and dividing. Before she knew it her math homework was all done!

Step two: Geography decided Doris! She opened her book and started reading about all the wonderful places she could one day visit.

Step three: English. Doris looked at her book and felt a little confused! It was clearly time for a break!

Doris looked out of her window once again. She saw all the other children playing and having fun. She waved at Ms. Martha that was walking her dog and explained to her friend Johnny that she could not go ride her bike just yet because she still had homework to do.
Doris then stepped away from the window and sat back in to her chair. 
Doris looked once more at her English book and this time it was not so confusing. 

Once Doris finished all her homework, she was happy to see that it was not that late at all and that she had plenty of time to go out and play!
Doris now new how to save time by being organized and by taking things - Step by Step!

1 comment:

  1. That's the way... just at the moment, I was overwhelmed with what I should do next... it helped reading "Step by step"...xoxo...

    ReplyDelete