When Anabelle came home from the school, she saw a new blue bicycle.
"Mom, is that mine?" She was so excited that she almost couldn't breathe.
"No, it's Brandon's. His birthday is coming," Mom said.
"Where is mine?" Anabelle looked around.
"Your birthday isn't for a long time," Mom said. "Besides, you can't ride such a big bicycle."
"But I like that bike," Anabelle shouted.
"Anabelle, I said no," Mom said.
Anabelle ran outside and went to the back yard. Patrasche wagged his tail gladly when he looked her. Ignoring him, Anabelle went to a garage - the older and rarely-used one of two garages her family had. It was Anabelle's favorite spot. She slammed the door and locked it. She plopped down on the floor and her eyes teared up. Her parents always did that. Always Brandon came before her. She didn't understand why. She would never be good enough for parents, Anabelle thought.
Inside it was a little dark. The afternoon sunbeam filtered through the small window. Her favorite doll, Amy, looked up from the small blanket. Anabelle usually loved to play in that place by herself. But right then Anabelle hated everything. She kicked Amy and curled up Amy's blanket.
In a while, Anabelle felt cold and hungry. She got up. It became darker. Even the sunbeam through the window disappeared. She was scared. Anabelle decided to go back to Mom and Dad. She crawled to the door and opened it. Then she ran to the front door and swung it open.
"Mom! Dad!" Anabelle shouted. "Brandon! Where are you?" Nobody answered. The house looked larger than ever. She began to cry.
Then suddenly she heard Patrasche barking, and the front door opened.
"Who's that?" Brandon shouted. "Mom, come quickly! Here is Anabelle!"
"Anabelle, where have you been?" Brandon looked surprised.
"What? Anabelle? Where?" Mom rushed in. When she saw Anabelle, Mom hugged her tightly and rubbed her cheek against Anabelle's.
"Are you okay, sweetie? We all were looking for you. Dad went to the police station to file a missing child report."
"Mom, I am hungry," She whispered.
"Okay! Go eat dinner. I love you, Anabelle." Mom hugged her again.
Anabelle saw Brandon's bicycle over Mom's shoulder. But she liked Mom's hug more than that new bicycle.
Assignment 6: A 500- to 1,200-word story using the child charactor I developed in Assignment 5 as my protagonist.
This story was submitted to three publishers, Highlights for Children, Cricket, and Story Friends. Unfortunately all of those publishers rejected it with a polite letter, but I felt honored enough just the experience that I submitted my story to American(?) publisher. When I mailed my story at the post office, I thought Jo in "LITTLE WOMEN" by Louisa Alcott. That was great and unforgettable experience for me.
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