Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time

Story is in the mind of the reader.

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, a little boy and a little girl liked to read.

Childhood
Seven Days
Flash Fiction Short Story

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, a little boy was sitting with his back against a tree and frowning quite intently at a book in his hands. It was assigned reading for his class, but it was a long book and he couldn’t seem to get through the whole thing without forgetting something that might be important on the test.

The little boy was Wesley Bryn. He had a brother in the same class, but Connor’s reassurances to help him with homework did not and could not extend to tests—for obvious reasons.

On the other side of the tree trunk, a little girl walked over, freckled nose planted in her own book, not assigned reading, but one of those delightful tomes stuffed with fairytales. She did not see the little boy and probably would not have preferred another location if she had. She plunked down and leaned against the tree.

The little girl was Lena Johnson. She was a bit of a bookworm and being homeschooled, she didn’t really know the kids at school. Nevertheless, on her breaks, she sometimes walked the few blocks over for their spectacular selection of trees to read under.

So the little boy and the little girl sat back to back reading, and finally, Wesley Bryn asked aloud, “What does ‘ahoy’ mean?” He was constantly running into things he didn’t understand in this book about pirates and treasure and adventures set in a world quite unlike his own.

Lena turned around and said, “It means, ‘Hello there.'” She went back to reading her book.

Wesley frowned and went on.

“Why would he do that?” Lena demanded of her book, frowning at the actions of the prince.

“Let me see.” Wesley came over, read over her shoulder, and answered, “Oh, that’s easy. He didn’t like what the princess said about him, so he’s trying to prove her wrong.”

“Well, he could be a little smarter about it,” Lena groused.

Wesley shrugged and went back to reading.

Finally, the school bell rang and both got up to go their separate ways. Lena smiled at him before she left. “Here. You can have it.” She gave him her book and smiled cheerily.

“Thanks.” Wesley felt he should reciprocate, so handed her his own book, and they went, each to their own.

Later that night, she read of pirates and treasure and adventure and wistfully wondered whether she might go on an adventure of her own. Later that night, he read of fairies and princes and dragons and thought that here was a book at last that made sense!

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Seven Days

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