Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Write something suitable for CHILDREN (05/31/07)
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TITLE: Dale and the Hill of Challenge | Previous Challenge Entry
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06/07/07 -
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“I shall climb the Hill of Challenge today,” he pronounced grandly.
The Hill of Challenge was a steep green mountain not far from Dale’s home. It rose to dizzying heights and challenged his athletic skills. There was another reason why he called it the Hill of Challenge. Humans liked to play around it. For them it was no hill at all. Dale did not know why they came, or even what they were doing when they played there, but he felt very brave when he dodged around the giant tennis shoes.
The challenges did not stop there. Oh no! With the giant tennis shoes came hailstones that were as big as Dale. Not only that, but the hail was always being struck by straight silver bolts of lightning that sent them rolling across the field of green and straight up the mound. Sometimes the hail disappeared over the top, never to be seen again. However, sometimes it came rolling back down even faster than it had rolled up. If you were in the path of that hail, well, you were one unlucky snail!
Do not say that Dale, the snail, was not brave! He gathered his courage, and had a delicious grass stem for breakfast. The trail to the hill was very green, but the grass was not good at all, and gave him a stomachache. Now he was ready. Dale began his mighty trek. He moved cautiously up the soft green surface. He was about halfway up when he heard the voices of people coming. He knew what that meant. The lightning and hail was on its way. There was a squeal as one of the little people swung the lightning bolt. He was relieved it was only a child. The hail sailed up the hill slower when the little ones hit them. He was able to move out of the way before it struck him coming up from behind, but the wail from the same child warned him that the hail as on its way back down. Which way should he go? You could never tell if it was coming towards you until it was almost too late. He was relieved to see it fly passed him. That was lucky. He began to climb again.
He was almost to the top when he heard: “Hey look a snail!” The humans had spotted him! What should he do? Would they squish him? Would they pick him up and take him home? That had happened to his friend Henry. It had taken him over a week to escape and make it back. He was not going to wait to see what would happen. He would run!
“Oh look, he going up the mound. How cute. Let’s wait and see what he does,” he heard one voice say. Well this was a stroke of luck! Dale began to hope he would reach the summit yet. He imagined sunning himself at the top, enjoying the view and the admiration of snails passing the hill below. His success seemed certain now. Yes, it looked good. All was quiet, even the humans were silent as they watched him make his ascent. He smiled in triumph as he reached the summit.
Wait! What was this? Was this a volcano? At the top was a large white hole. Looking into it made poor Dale dizzy. There was no plateau to rest upon, no place to sun himself! There was nowhere for him to bask in the admiring looks of his friends as they passed by far below. He began to cruise quickly down the hill, remembering the humans. He did not want them to lose patience.
Looking out across the valley of green below, he began to think. Maybe he should explore the nearby windmill. He could see what a real windmill looked like inside. If he could just time his entrance right so that the arms did not whack him as they went around, and avoid the hail he would do just fine. Sometimes he wondered why he had decided to live at Fun Land Miniature Golf Course, but he had to admit, his yard was always green and it was never boring.
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