The Cricket

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Here's a story I wrote several years about an actual encounter with a cricket.

About a week ago, I was sitting in my family room watching TV when a chirping sound started coming from inside the room. Now it's not that unusual for me to find crickets in our garage. And some do squeeze under the door and enter the family room from time to time.

This cricket had an incredibly loud chirp that made it hard to hear the TV. After about a minute or so, I decided that it either didn't like the show I was watching or wanted my attention.  So I slowly got up and starting looking for it. It took me about a minute to find it.  It was about four feet off the ground on a small ledge of a wall ornament. I could have squished it, but I didn't.  I then grabbed a tissue and trapped it inside. I carefully carried the tissue outside and released it on our deck. Besides its great chirping ability, this cricket had one additional unique characteristic.  It only had one back leg. Amazingly, it hopped away as if it had two good hind legs.

About one week later, as I was letting one of our dogs outside, I saw the same cricket again. It was hopping across the deck and almost got eaten by our dog. I was really surprised and happy. It was almost like this little guy came back around to say thank you.

You're probably wondering where I'm going with this cricket thing. My point is that everyone at some time or another feels like a wounded cricket. I know it sounds a bit odd, but I think we all can learn something from this little guy. No matter what life sends you, try to figure out a way to not dwell on things for too long and get on with living. Also, if you see someone wounded, provide that tissue or keep the dogs at bay. You just might be surprised how it helps that person or how good you feel after doing it.

Pssst. My name's Alexander.

Sometimes you just have to sneak into places so that you can see what's going on and introduce yourself. Tonight I crawled into Ken's garage and under the door into his family room. You see, his cats and dog might not take kindly to me trespassing so I waited until everyone was asleep. Now he has a habit of leaving the computer on all night so I didn't have to turn it on. I quietly walked by Calvin, sleeping in his dog crate, the basement door where their three cats, Oreo, Benjamin, and Leo sleep and into the computer room where Ken writes all his stories.


You're probably wondering how and why I decided to write this post. My name's Alexander and I'm a special kind of spotted salamander. I have the ability to understand human communications and I like to talk. Okay, I love to talk. I live in a beautiful forest called Brianwoods. Something very special happened in Brianwoods that allows me to do what I'm doing right now-communicating. But I don't have time to share any more because it's getting late and I still have to get back outside before everyone wakes up.  I also type really slow so it took a while for me to write this message. But I'll be back.


Bye for now.


Alexander

Writing Momentum

My Merriam-Webster dictionary defines momentum as a property that a moving body has due to its mass and motion. I imagine my college physics book has a very similar definition. Anyway, I've been lacking motivation to write lately. I definitely have mass, tipping the scales at about 168 lbs. I also have been in motion plenty since I run and walk a lot too. But I lack writing momentum. How is that possible? Well it's quite simple. I need to simply write.  And then I need to find those things that are an impediment to my writing and find a way around them. I really enjoy writing and I believe I just have to keep at it. Doesn't this sound like a pep talk. Perhaps I needed one.

From Poetry to Play

I wrote a rhyming poem entitled "The Last Leaf" for a contest a number of years ago. It was far from being perfect. But I think it had that certain something, "a hook", like that term used to describe a song with a certain appeal. Anyway, I've been working on converting it into a children's play and it's been fun. I'll give you a sampling of several of the lines in it. Keep in mind that the leaves on a tree come to life. Here, one leaf is attacked by several hungry caterpillars.

Later on, caterpillars stopped for lunch. All you could hear was "Crunch, Crunchy, Crunch, Crunch".
"Get off off me, bugs! Get off of me, please! Now look what you've done. I look like Swiss cheese."

I'm anxious to see if I can get someone to actually do the play. My fingers are crossed.

Let me know what you think. I'm interested.

Thanks,

Ken

Say Hello to Somerset-The Upside Down Pouch

      In this part of the story, Kellie and Karl, Somerset's parents discuss Somerset and Kellie's upside down

pouch.
                                                                                        

      "Karl, do you think we'll be able to keep Somerset safe until she gets bigger?  And do

you think the others will treat us differently when they discover our secret?" asked Kellie.

     "We'll be able to protect her.  But I'm not sure how the other kangaroos will

react to our secret."

     "Why did I have to be born this way?" wondered Kellie.

  

     " I don't know, Kellie.  But Somerset is small.  She'll be able to climb around and stay

inside your pouch with a little help from us.  I also have an idea how we can keep her

safe.  We can put a flat piece of eucalyptus in your upside down pouch and wedge it in

place. As Somerset grows, we can put in smaller and smaller pieces," suggested Karl.

     "I don't know if I want a piece of wood put in my pouch.  Besides, it's probably just

going to fall out once I start hopping around," said Kellie.

     "Not if we put some sticky sap from that tree on the edges," stated Karl.

     "And how am I suppose to get the wood off my hair after it's stuck to it?  I think

it's really going to hurt when we try to pull it off," replied Kellie.

     Just after she said it, Kellie started to feel bad.  She needed to do whatever possible

to keep Somerset safe, even if it meant having to feel some pain.

Highlights for Children-Fiction Contest

There are a number of children's writing contests that can be entered. Some of these contests require an entry fee per submission too. I'm glad to say that Highlights isn't one of them.

Each year Highlights runs a theme-based fiction contest, which any adult can enter. They choose three stories each year out of hundreds of entries.  I believe they get about 1,200 entries each year so it's a very competitive contest. The other good thing about this contest is that the company reviews these entries also for possible publication in its magazine even if you don't place in the top three. Shortly after the winners are chosen, Highlights provides the next year's theme so that writers can start to think about putting together a new manuscript or revising an existing one to fit this new theme for next year.

I've entered the contest for the last five years. Although I haven't won or drawn interest from them, I continue to enjoy the contest and have built up a portfolio of stories.

So if you're looking to get a manuscript published by Highlights, I encourage you to enter the contest. Their website is http://www.highlights.com/.

Ken Major

"Odd Animal Friends" Published in Ladybug Magazine's November/December 2010 Issue

I'm excited to announce the news that my poem entitled "Odd Animal Friends" has just been published in Ladybug Magazine, a publication by Carus Publishing.  The poem is broken into five stanzas, which feature various mismatched animals doing things together. I encourage everyone to check out Ladybug Magazine and the other excellent publications by this wonderful children's publisher. Their website is  http://www.cricketmag.com/.

Ken Major