The Home
It was a wonderful day to take the family to one of our favorite places of all time, Frank and Erma’s Dinosaur Park, off route eighty nine. The kids were excited, with our youngest on her way to experiencing the park for the first time; keeping up, too, with her older brother and sister, singing road songs. A perfect day for us.
We made the usual stops along the way; the ice cream palace, for example. The best anywhere! Since it was quite a long ride, we’d always stop at the Smuckeys, located about halfway to the park; not the best place to eat, but along the way.
We’d brought a photo album that had pictures from prior trips. The kids liked looking at the pictures on the way, repeating the names of the dinosaurs and getting increasingly hyped about visiting the park, as the miles left to go decreased.
When we were about three quarters of the way to the park, traffic was tied up and moving slowly. The kids got restless. Then, the traffic stopped completely, and after about twenty five minutes of sitting still had gone by, the vehicles thankfully began to move again.
Finally we reached the park, or at least we thought we did. There were no lines of cars backed up, where there should have been. I wasn’t even sure if it was further up the road and my bearings were off, as I couldn’t find the entrance. I kept going, then turned around.
I stopped at a convenience store, empty except for the middle-aged lady behind the counter; when I asked, she said she was a new resident. She’d not heard of the park before, and by this time, I was beginning to suspect something must have happened.
But then a guy came out who’d overheard. “Dinosaur park went outta business about a couple of years ago, after they sold the place.”
“What is it now?” I asked; “They sold out and now it’s an old-folks home,” he said. He went on, saying, “They built the home on part of the land, and some of the dinosaur statues and things still remain.” I thanked him, got back in the car and then drove down the road to where I thought the entrance was, and then I saw it.
The old folks’ home was big and took up a lot of space; I couldn’t imagine where any dinosaurs would be. I tried to remember where the entrance had been. It was so different now, and without a landmark where I could get my bearings, I was lost.
Just then I saw “Willie the Welcomer.” He was still standing there, behind a metal picket fence. Near rocks. The kids were so disappointed; Andy wanted to go and see Willie up close, but it didn’t look too easy getting back there, and his mother feared snakes.
Sadness.
I tried to cheer them up; I lied about a new dinosaur park coming soon.
The Home © free-reign 2020
27, 30, 5, 14, 3, 29, 11, 31, 19, 4, 24, 12, 13, 22, 6, 25, 20, 8, 16, 17, 23, 26, 21, 9, 18, 7, 10, 2, 28, 1, 15
post:This is my entry to The 31 Sentence Contest Round 20 by @tristancarax. It is a contest based on creating a story with 31 sentences exactly in order, and each sentence has a set number of words to be written. For more information on joining the challenge see this
Thanks for reading!
Sources for images used in this post:
(Public Domain photos are from Wikimedia Commons)
Dinosaur Park: Image by FabSubeject / CC BY-SA
Ice Cream Stand: Image by Ron Porter from Pixabay
Convenience Store: Image by Smarty9108 / CC BY-SA
Contest Prompt: Image by @tristancarax
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posh:
Wow !! I didn't even realised that it was part of the 31-sentence contest. You've made it so easy and comfortable to read. I tried once and found it very challenging. Any tips how to do it better ?
Thanks for reading and the compliment! This is how I do it: I try to estimate the length of the sentence and then I construct the sentence to end when I think I am close to the number of words required. I then count the words. Sometimes I get it right and I don't need to do anything else. When the number isn't right, I edit the sentence but retain the idea it puts across.
It sounds tedious, but it isn't really, and I've noticed the more that I do it, I get better at estimating sentence lengths by sight while I'm writing it. I've also noticed that the way I'm doing it, seems to help develop the flow of the story itself! It seems to always come out smooth and easy to read.
I'm scratching my head on that one! 🤔
I find that if I let the numbers control me, my story doesn't seemed to come out right and can be very frustrating.
I think I will give it a try again.. And not too overworked with the number count. Perhaps let the story flow like you say
I would agree with @free-reign that the more someone does it, the easier it gets to use close to the right amount of words. I used to struggle more, and there was one thing I found fairly helpful. Writing bits and pieces of what I needed to include as one long sentence with no punctuation, then looking at different ways I could break it up, add or take from it, to fit it into the sentences.
This sounds like a really great way to get familiar with recognizing the sentence lengths, as well as helping with keeping the story flow. I hadn't thought of it when I started participating in this contest, but I can certainly see the value!
Yes, I think that's definitely an issue at first; the numbers can seem a bit overbearing for the task. To get the focus off the numbers is key. The numbers only matter to me when I check the word count of a sentence I've already written.
The only other time I focus on the numbers is when I am done and I check the final count for the whole story to make sure it's right.
I think the reply from @letalis-laetitia could help greatly with getting you used to using the numbers but not letting them affect your work, and aid you in estimating the sentence lengths at the same time.
You capture the happy family feeling so well, this is just so full of beautiful nostalgia. Willie the Welcomer really made me giggle, there seems something fitting about a dinosaur park being turned into an old folks home. This is well written, and flows so well, you really have mastered the art of this :)
Thank you for your wonderful comment! I think the nostalgic feeling started when I looked at the photo and thought "Dinosaur park!" 😁 That just set everything going. "Dinosaur Park Sold To Become Old Folks' Home" - what a headline, huh? Thanks again, this is one of the nicest comments I've ever gotten! 😍
The Freewriters Community is pleased to support the 31 Sentence Contest
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Thank you Freewriters Community!
I love the way the story flows!
Thank you! There's something about the way this 31 sentence thing works, that makes stories flow easier according to the backstory of the guy who developed this 31 sentence method of writing. It seems to work! 🙂 Thanks for the visit!
I was reminded of the time that I went to the dinosaur museum with my brother, mother, step-mother, and father, the latter two just recently making their way into my life at that time. The museum was in Grand Junction, CO. I wonder if it is still there. I found one; although, I don't know if it is the same one. I don't remember getting to dig for the bones!
That memory, what I can vaguely remember, was a good one with the family.
I will die happy if I get to live out my days in the remains of a dinosaur park. So cool.
Wow, I can feel the kids' disappointment. Dude, this is a 31 sentence contest, please tell me that you struggle to write this... ;)