Yay! Thank you...here's the thing. The length, I'm positive, is about right...it's a page & a quarter, so that's about the right length. Anything you can give me input on, I'll be very grateful for.
Quote:
Prompt 1 Wrote:
Your Eden just had his/her first major test/exam and flunked spectacularly. What do you say to cheer him/her up? Does he/she even need to be 'cheered up'?
It had just stopped snowing - the big fat white balls of fluff had stopped drifting down, and on the front lawn lay the first snow of the year - still completely untouched...pristinely sparkling. But a little boy who normally would have been outside claiming that first snow instead sat watching it from inside, his head resting on his arms.
"Don't you want to go out and play in the snow, Talisien?" Aletea walked over to the small table the boy was seated at, setting down two mugs of hot chocolate. The little boy just shook his head, and muttered, "Uh-uh."
She sighed slightly, and sat down at the table, pushing one of the mugs towards him. "Still bummed about your test? ...that's ok. We all fail tests sometimes."
Talisien looked up at that, and gave her a flat look, "Not
you. You're smart."
"And you're not? Don't give me that, I know you. I'm betting you got scared, right?"
He lifted his head from his arms and stared at the table, ignoring the drink in front of him. "...I wasn't till I got it, and then I couldn't remember anything..."
The woman nodded, "You got scared of it, and it made you forget all you had learned...we'll get you past it."
"How?" Confusion was present in his face, as he looked at his mom.
"You remember how I got you to get over your fear of the dark?" The little boy shook his head, "Well...it
was a few years ago, so I guess you wouldn't. Anyway, you used to be really scared of the dark...any time lights were turned out, you'd start crying and wouldn't calm down for a while. I decided I was going to find a way for you to get over it, so...every night, I made it a bit darker in your room. I only did it slightly, so that you didn't even notice at first. I even stopped entirely a few times, and let you get used to the new level of light. I got very skilled at hanging sheets from the ceiling...it looked pretty weird," she said, and made a funny face at Talisien.
That got a giggle out of the little boy, before she continued. "Anyway, it took a while but you got to the point to where you were alright in the dark. We'll just do something like that - give you little mini tests, then work up to bigger ones."
He frowned, "But...if I fail a test, I get a bad grade - nothing bad happens if I fail one now. I won't get scared."
She reached over and ruffled his hair, "Which is why we're going to set up little consequences, squirt. The smaller ones will have smaller consequences, the bigger they are, the bigger the consequences. The consequences..." she winked at him, "Chores, little guy." Talisien made a face at her, but shrugged, "I guess that'll work..."
"Of course it will, Tali. Now, drink your hot chocolate and we'll go destroy this lovely snow, okay?"
With a smile appearing on his face, he began to drink his hot chocolate.
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