31 Days to Become a Better Writer - Day 5

Today's Challenge:

Look at the children in the picture below. Imagine you are one of them and write a paragraph or two in the first person. Layman’s terms, write the paragraph as if you are the child speaking. Re-write the paragraph in the third person; write it about the same child.

First Person:
The wooden door slammed as Elizabeth and Henry's feet pounded across the floor. "He's here! He's here!" Our Uncle Benjamin had come to visit us AND whenever he visited, he always had a surprise for us.

Patiently, I had sat at the table awaiting his arrival, trying to behave like a lady as my mother had been teaching me. Jumping up from the table, I grabbed my hat and ran out the door. The excitement was too much to attempt to control. "Uncle Benjamin!" squealed my not yet a woman voice. Slip-sliding down the steps, my small in comparison frame was engulfed in Uncle Benjamin's arms. "Let me look at you Rebecca."

Before another word could cross his lips, pint-sized hands began pawing at his bag. "Hold on, hold on. You'll break it if you aren't careful." Crossing to the nearby boardwalk, his lanky body folded beneath him as he sat down. Taking the coarse satchel into his lap, my body could not help but begin to dance with anticipation. From within the depths of the pouch, a box-like contraption was withdrawn. We looked on with confusion scowling our brows. "This, this box, is a camera."

Never before had our young eyes seen such a thing. This was the stuff of books and stories and people much wealthier than us. No words were spoken. It was instinctive for the three of us to stand together with smiles vibrant.

That was 80 years ago and I still remember that day as if it were yesterday. The three of us were captured in a way we had never been previously.

Third Person:
The wooden door slammed as Elizabeth and Henry's feet pounded across the floor. "He's here! He's here!" Uncle Benjamin had come to visit them AND whenever he visited, he always had a surprise for them.

Patiently, she had sat at the table awaiting his arrival, trying to behave like a lady as her mother had been teaching her. Jumping up from the table, she grabbed her hat and ran out the door. The excitement was too much to attempt to control. "Uncle Benjamin!" squealed her not yet a woman voice. Slip-sliding down the steps, her small in comparison frame was engulfed in Uncle Benjamin's arms. "Let me look at you Rebecca."

Before another word could cross his lips, pint-sized hands began pawing at his bag. "Hold on, hold on. You'll break it if you aren't careful." Crossing to the nearby boardwalk, his lanky body folded beneath him as he sat down. Taking the coarse satchel into his lap, her body could not help but begin to dance with anticipation. From within the depths of the pouch, a box-like contraption was withdrawn. They looked on with confusion scowling their brows. "This, this box, is a camera."

Never before had their young eyes seen such a thing. This was the stuff of books and stories and people much wealthier than them. No words were spoken. It was instinctive for the three of them to stand together with smiles vibrant.

That was 80 years ago and she still remembers that day as if it were yesterday. The three of them were captured in a way they had never been previously.



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