The Story Page
This month’s story is by Polina. She is in the 4th grade and is our youngest writer. Her native language is Russian. This is her first story in English. Congratulations, Polina!
This is a famous painting by the loved American painter-illustrator, Maxfield Parish.
ONCE there lived a boy who loved to walk. One sunny day he saw a cave. The boy went into the cave. In the cave lived a dragon. The boy was not afraid.
“Hello,” said the dragon.
“Hello,” said the boy.
“My name is Jack,” said the dragon.
“I’m Vasya,” said the boy. “Why are you so sad?”
“It’s a secret. But I will tell you. I want to have friends, but everyone is afraid of me. I want to be a person, but I don’t know how.”
“I have an idea! Let’s go to town together!” said Vasya. As they went, they came to a big cliff next to a river. “Oh no, we went the wrong way!” said Vasya.
“Don’t worry. Sit on me,” said Jack. Vasya sat on the dragon and they flew off. Next to the river they saw a grandmother. She could not cross the river. So they helped her. She said, “Thank you, kind people.”
“Did you hear that?” said Vasya to the dragon. “She spoke to you like a person!”
But the dragon was gone! “I’m Jack!” said a boy smiling at Vasya.
“Jack! Is it really you? Now my friends will not be afraid of you.” After that, Vasya’s friends became Jack’s friends. The dragon became a person because he helped the grandmother.
— Polina
