Then I Bowed

Image: www.skylinemusic.com

This week I celebrate my birthday!  I'm one year farther away from remembering what it's like to think like a kid, but fortunately my students give me plenty of chances to try to get back inside that mental state.  From what I can tell, the inside of kids' minds is a psychedelic funhouse of reality meshing with fantasy, of imagination and misconceptions and movies all swirling together.

I was reading kids' writing stories a few weeks ago and happened upon one by Crystal that bent my mind and made me feel like I had stepped back into that childhood universe of thought.  Or like I was on a bad LSD trip.

Once upond a time my brother and I were born boys.  We were Identical twins but we grew up and then my brother became the meanist person in my country.  He slapped me and almost ripped my arm off but I was lucky.  On monday he punched me when I was asleep.  Then I bowed and Became the meanest evilist person in the world.  My brother was scared and then I Became myself but he tricked me with the puppy dog face.  So then my brother became the meanest evilist person in the country until I was 57 years old.  He stopped and died I was sad But I didn't know why because He almost Ripped my arm off.  So I promised I will die peacefully, Good By.


What do you think is gone To happen next do you think it should Be a or b or c or d


1. He will die peacefully.
2. He will get married
3. He will Be a Billioner
4. He will be a somprem ruler

Even from the first sentence, there are many amazing fantasy/horror/avant-garde movie plots contained within Crystal's Choose Your Own Adventure-esque story.  I love the dramatic bow that signals the transfer of evilness and that Crystal and her older brother are magically reborn as identical boy twins.  We have a little work to do on the whole "no violence in stories" policy, but woah.  Thinking like an eight year old is something else. 

Feel free to vote for your favorite of Crystal's four ending options!