He tried listening to Mrs. Ryder each day, but couldn't help staring at Julia, the brunette in the front left of the room. Romero has had his eyes on Julia since pre-K and knew he was destined to be with this girl. He longed for her attention day in and day out, always trying to build the courage to talk to her but never would.
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| (Kindergarten -- MJGDSLibrary) Source: Flickr |
Even with all of the different items Romero had stolen, he still felt as though he needed to take something better to give to Julia. This is where the bejeweled bracelet on Sara's backpack came into the picture. Romero had seen Ben give this bracelet to Sara and she loved it! Romero knew if he could get his hands on it, Julia wouldn't be able to resist him.
Over the past two days, Romero had devised a plan to take the bracelet from Sara. The best option seemed to be that when class was let out of school, Romero could "accidentally" bump into Sara to distract her, and snatch the bracelet off of her bag. Today was the day to act.
As the clock notched closer to the end of class, Romero began to feel anxious. He had to remind himself that he was a pro and he had done this many times before. The bell rang and Romero jumped out of his seat and darted into the hallway to get into position. When Sara came out of the classroom, Romero shot towards her, ready to take the crown jewel. Before he could bump into Sara, he was dragged backwards out of nowhere. Romero turned around completely bewildered as to what had just happened.
His eyes were met by the glare of Principal King.
"Follow me to my office, now," Principal King commanded.Romero knew he was in for it. He followed the principal down the hall with all of the other kids watching him, including the love of his life, Julia.
As the principal sat next to Romero, he let out a long sigh.
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| Wikimedia Commons |
"Romero, why have you been stealing from the other students? You know that's wrong and now you have to face the punishment. You will be placed into detention for the next month and then will return to Ms. Wilkerson's class."Romero didn't bother trying to explain himself. There wasn't anything he could say to make up for what he had done. With thoughts of Julia, he left the principal's office and went to the detention study.
~
A month passed by and Romero was finally allowed to return back to the normal classroom. He walked into Ms. Wilkerson's classroom, sat in the back, and decided to take a look around.
What he saw filled his heart with a feeling he hadn't experienced in an entire month. In the middle of the room was a blonde, Julie. Romero knew he loved this girl more than any he ever could.
Now if only he could get his hands on a necklace...
Author's Note: In the original story, Twenty-Two Goblins, many riddles were told to a King on his journey. I found one, "The Girl and the Thief," that intrigued me. Basically, a thief has been stealing from citizens and the King orders him to die. A girl falls in love with him and is heartbroken when he is killed. He comes back to life and they live happily ever after. I put a youthful spin on the riddle. It reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, so I made a love story with grade-school children. I thought it would be more lighthearted with a younger character line up. The thief, Romero in my story, wants to impress Julia (his classmate), so he steals things from other kids to give to her. The king in my story is the principal, who finds out he has been stealing and orders him to move classes (be killed). Sadly, he has to learn his lesson and remain in the other class and isn't "brought back to life" like in the original. I thought it would comical to end the story with the possibility of Romero returning to class with the same bad habits. Romero thought Julia was the love of his life (as many kids do), but then is easily wooed by the new girl he sees in Ms. Wilkerson's class. I also included the original author's name in my story with Romero's first teacher.
Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins, by Arthur Ryder
The Girl and the Thief (in Twenty-Two Goblins)
It's really neat how you adapted the story to fit a kindergarten setting so smoothly. Although the story seemed a little short, the ideas were conveyed very nicely and the the reading was well paced. My favorite part of the story was the departure from the original ending by having Romero fall in love with another girl, it seems like it fits his character.
ReplyDeletei really enjoyed reading the story! but I would advise using a larger font, it was kind of difficult to read. It was nice how you changed the setting of the story to kindergarten is fit really well. It's a different scenery to the original story but you were able to transition it really well. Also your description of the class bought back a lot of memories that I could relate too kind of. Good job, Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteYou put a lot of thought into your story! I can see how it relates to the story you read. The modern twist was nice, but I thought it was clever that you wrote in a kindergarten setting because that's something rarely seen. I thought the concept was kind of cute (I know he shouldn't be stealing, of course), but the way you described his feelings was nicely done :^). I figured he'd learn his lesson in the end, but guess not! It was funny that he ended up falling for another girl. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHaha, I love this story! Romero definitely reminds me of Romeo from Romeo and Juliet especially with how easily he transfers his affections to a new girl (remember Rosalind? Yeah, neither does Romeo). Anyway, I love how you made the story play out with kindergartners although I'm sad that Julia never fell for Romero like in the original! And it doesn't look like he learned his lesson either! Hopefully he won't end up dead like the thief in the original.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your story. I thought it was a cute take on the original story, with a Romeo and Juliet twist. I really thought it was cute how this little boy wanted to do anything to get this girls attention. I think that him being in kindergarten and having these feelings is a little hard to believe though, but it’s cute to read about nonetheless. There were a few things about your story that confused me. At the beginning of your story you said that the teacher’s name was Mrs. Ryder, but at the end you said that Romero was placed back into Ms. Wilkerson's classroom. Was he placed into a new class room? Actually, I just re-read your story and I am even more confused. Is Julia and Julie two different girls in two different class rooms? If so then I would have chosen more differing names. I thought they were the same people the first time around.
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