Rocket Writes a Story (4 page)

The little yellow bird encouraged him. “Remember, stories take time,” she’d say.

She wanted to know more about the owl and asked Rocket questions. “Why do you think the owl wouldn’t come down? What color is her beak? What does she do every day?”

Rocket wanted to know more about the owl, too. He visited her tree often and read her his story, which changed every day.

The owl was captivated.

And when Rocket stopped, she would always ask, “Then what happened?”

At last came the day when Rocket knew he was finished.

“What a fine story!” chirped the little yellow bird after she’d read it.

Rocket ran to the owl’s pine tree.

“It’s done!” he called. “Come listen!”

And so down and down came the owl, till she was right beside Rocket.

Then Rocket began to read. He read about an owl with friendly eyes and a beak the color of a buttercup. She lived in a nest high in a tree on the edge of a meadow and smelled like pine needles and feathers. She liked to nap in the daytime and listen to stories.

“Branch by branch, the owl came down from her nest,” Rocket read. “She was shy, but she was brave, too.”

Suddenly, Rocket stopped. He wrote something on his paper, then began to read again. “One day the owl came all the way to the ground and became my friend.”

The owl blinked. “Can there be one last sentence?” she asked. “Can you say, ‘And the owl liked the story very much’?”

“What a perfect ending!” said Rocket.

And it was.