The exercise:
Write about: the bug catcher.
Woke to pouring rain this morning. After breakfast it had pretty much stopped. Held off for the rest of the day, but it is currently pouring again.
Hoping it gets it all out before tomorrow, as my weekend is ending tonight and my four day work week begins at 7 am.
Oh, the prompt? Inspired by Max, I'm sure you'll be surprised to hear. He has a little plastic bug catcher thing and he's been hunting insects for the last week or so with it. The other day he caught a caterpillar and he's been obsessed with it, always checking to see if he's okay, bringing him with him wherever he goes, and refreshing his food (lettuce from the greenhouse and grass from the yard, mostly).
They've started doing 'show and tell' at playschool on Thursdays so, obviously, that's what he wanted to bring today. I made sure this morning that the little guy was still alive (amazingly, yes he was) and then said that was a great idea.
Apparently it went very well, and the other kids were all quite fascinated with his catch. As they should have been, clearly.
Mine:
Ants and spiders,
Butterflies and dragonflies,
Under his watchful eye.
Giving them food, water, and
Showering them with attention,
Like they were his own children.
Insects living the good life,
Free from all predators -
Except, perhaps, overeager fingers...
So... Max is showing entomology signs now? I'm not sure that's as useful as building things, but it might be just as rewarding :) Although I can see that you might not be as happy with the idea of having lots and lots of bugs in the house all the time. The show&tell with the catepillar sounds good, and I hope that it inspires the rest of the children to bring living things in as well :-D
ReplyDeleteAh, you slipped an acrostic into your poem! Nicely done, and there's no indication of forcing in there either; it all reads very naturally. I rather like the fact that it adds detail and insight into the rest of your post too!
The bug catcher
Nicky the necromancer looked around at the children and smiled. His teeth promptly fell out, a cascade of pebble-like white drops, and pitter-pattered on the black sand of the beach by the Dead Sea. A couple of the Jigglypuffs eyed the teeth avariciously, wondering how much he'd pay for their return.
"Nothing," he said, reading their minds with Decryptomancy. "I grow new teeth every 6 hours, like a shark. Miss Mangey, Decryptomancy is a Dark Art and is frowned upon in most wizarding bridge clubs. Why are you considering learning how to cast it?"
"You're using it, Professor," said Hermione, her tone just a shade politer than insubordinate.
"I'm a necromancer," said Nicky as though that was all that mattered. "Now class, today your task is to catch bugs. This is the shore of the Dead Sea so you won't find sand-flies or midges here, instead you'll find soul-fleas, corpse-wasps and eighteen kinds of beetle. You have thirty-five minutes to come back with as many as you can." He waved a hand and the children clustered anxiously into groups of two and three.
"You're mine," said Hermione imperiously, gesturing at Harry and Ronnie. Ronnie sighed, and Harry shook his head. "Belligerent muffin," he said.
"Tarnation," said Hermione. She caught the look Ronnie gave her. "I'm reading Belle's Lovely Labours" she said. "Belle keeps saying Tarnation and Tooting, though I don't know why."
"Isn't that ero–"
"Anyway," she said said loudly and hurriedly. "Harry's currently most intelligent in Russian, not English. I didn't know that Immobilia was language sensitive."
"What does that mean for his brain?" Ronnie's words were an essay in caution.
"Nothing," said Hermione, trying hard not to look guilty.
"Right," said Ronnie. "So you haven't got a Beryllium hammer and aren't testing out theories in retrophrenology on his skull are you?"
"Obliviate" muttered Hermione, and Ronnie went cross-eyed. When his eyes uncrossed again she handed him a bug-net.
"Go catch soul-fleas," she said. "And try not to let them catch you. They'll turn you into a Horcrux in no time."
Greg - yeah, his interests are widening in range. Still keeping builder at the fore though :)
ReplyDeleteHah, I didn't hear about anyone else bringing anything alive to show and tell, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen!
Haha, these three are so great in your hands. Always enjoy these Potter bits you do :D