“WHAT’S YOUR STORY”
Excerpts and drawings from writing workshops facilitated by youth intern Skye Slattery.
Accompanying story images are provided by the workshop participants.
The excerpt featured here has been edited by library staff for length.
Full story to follow
“The Door That Leads Me”
by Evie Woodard
What would you do if you found a mysterious door?
Hailey had returned home after a long, hard day at school and looked glumly out her window. She went to her wardrobe to get changed when she saw something unfamiliar to her.
It was a door that wasn’t there before. The opening was quite small. What’s even more crazy was that it was behind the closet.
How did Hailey see it, you might ask? I don’t know, but let’s skip over that for now.
“What’s this?” Hailey questioned herself.
She moved towards the closet and grabbed the handle but stopped herself. How did she know it was safe? What was behind the door? What would happen if she opened it? These thoughts ran loose in her head.
“Um, well, I guess I should o– NOT open this door!”
“OPEN THE DOOR ALREADY, Hailey!”
“Who’s there?”
“Oh, I shouldn’t have yelled, should I, Hailey?”
“You shouldn’t—hey, you still didn’t answer who you are.”
“Oh, I guess that is true. Well, I am the narrator.”
“A narrator? Okay, but why are you talking to me?”
“Hello? Um, okay, I guess I will just skip that question so you can open the door.”
Hailey opened the door wide and saw nothing but an ominous black space that seemed to knock out her ability to see clearly.
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Narrator.”
“Just go, Hailey.”
“Fine, but if anything happens to me, it’s your fault!” Hailey screamed.
“Oh whatever, you should be glad that you are not alone.”
“I guess you’re right,” agreed Hailey. She took small, tiny little steps forward. It seemed to be like a continuous black hole.
“I think we’re almost there.”
“You think? Why are you uncertain?” Hailey said, but before she could get an answer, a glare of yellow and white light absorbed her entire body!
“AHH!” Hailey yelled. She was falling, turning and twisting in the air!
“Narrator, is that you?” Hailey asked, feeling quite anxious.
“Of course, it’s me. Who else would be with you in this abnormal situation?”
“And you believe a talking narrator is pretty normal?”
“Alright, I don’t care anymore!” Hailey said, even though we can see Hailey does care. “I think we are going to ram into the bottom. DO SOMETHING, NARRATOR! I DON’T WANT TO HIT THE GROUND AND GET HURT; IT WILL BE PAINFUL, YOU KNOW!”
“Okay, okay, just wait a moment. This will be weird, yet it is the only way to save you.”
***
Hailey was now standing on solid ground.
“What just happened?”
“That is called a time stamp, Hailey.”
“A time for what?” Hailey asked stupidly. “NARRATOR! First, I haven’t learned a time—whatever you call it in school yet. Secondly, I did NOT say it stupidly. Lastly, why must you say something like ‘Hailey asked’ or ‘Hailey answered’ every time I speak?” Hailey complained.
“You did it AGAIN!”
“Look, it is better to use speech tags since you are the… How do I put this? Ah, yes, the main character. From my perspective, I need to make it clear what we’re doing. Kind of like a diary. Do you understand?”
“I guess.” Hailey finally understood me, the narrator.
“How about you look around in this mystical new area we unlocked?”
“Sure, Narrator!”
Hailey was on a dirt road near fences with animals. No, not animals. They looked more like beings from a video game.
“What in the world is that?” Hailey pointed to a creature. It had a long brown tail with a little bit of fluff on the end and very long ears with zig-zag lines. Inside the ear were a dark brown fuzz. Its dark green eyes stared right at Hailey. “Wait, it’s kind of cute!” Hailey exclaimed.
“Your right, Hailey; you should name him, let’s say Drip.”
“DRIP? That’s not even a name! I think I will name it Loki.”
Hailey walked closer to the critter. The animal wasn’t scared. She started to pet it.
“I will name you Loki, little one.”
She smiled and picked up Loki. She continued her walk and found a big tree with lots of shade. She plopped down while Loki squished next to her.
***
Hailey was sleeping when she heard a noise. SWOOSH!
She felt the wind smash into her. Hailey immediately woke up. Loki was right next to her. She picked him up and screamed.
“NARRATOR, WHAT’S HAPPENING? ARE YOU THERE?”
“YES, HAILEY, I AM! TURN AROUND AND LOOK. I THINK I SEE SOMETHING!”
Hailey turned around and jumped back. A door was forming around the tree, and it opened suddenly.
“GO IN HAILEY! It’s the same door you went in! MAYBE YOU CAN GET OUT IF YOU GO THROUGH!”
“Okay Narrator, but what about you?”
“Don’t worry, Hailey, I’ll be fine.”
Hailey trusted the narrator and jumped through the door, still holding Loki. The wind smashed against them, but she saw a light. Then—
Hailey was back in her room. She looked at the clock and saw she had only been gone for an hour. Then she felt something in her hand!
It was Loki! Wait, Loki was a cat!
Hailey didn’t care. At least she could prove it was all real! Just then, Hailey remembered the narrator. She looked at the door, happy but sad at the same time.
She lost her best friend, the narrator. She reached for the door, but it opened for her. There stood someone she had never seen before.
“Hello, there, Hailey.”
They sounded just like the narrator!
“WAIT, ARE YOU THE NARRATOR?”
“No need to yell, and yes, you guessed it right, I am.”
Hailey burst into tears and ran to hug him.
“I know you don’t know this, but I am not just the narrator. I’m also your dad.”
Hailey stared right at him.
“You-you are?”
“Yes, now let’s show Loki to your, Mom, and see her reaction.”
“The Door That Leads Me”
by Evie Woodard
Chapter 1
What would you do if you found a mysterious door that was never there?
Hailey had returned home after a long, hard day at school. You may be thinking that it cannot be that bad, but, unfortunately, it was. Hailey was sitting next to her best friend Bree when Katie jumped in front of their table and placed her lunch tray directly in front of Hailey.
“Sorry,” Katie smirked, “I was already seated there.” Bree looked hard at Katie and told me, “Let’s go, Hailey; we don’t want to sit next to her.” “Bree, if you want…” Katie looked so angry, but not at Bree but at Hailey.
Hailey looked glumly out her window. She started walking towards her wardrobe to get changed when she saw something unfamiliar to her. It was a door. A door—what’s weird about that? The opening is quite small (what’s even more crazy is that it is behind the closet). How did Hailey see it, you might ask? I don’t know, but let’s skip that.
Chapter 2
“What’s this?” Hailey questioned herself. She started to move to the closet. This took a lot of hard work, yet she finally achieved it. Hailey went to grab the handle but stopped herself. How did she know this was safe? What is behind the door anyway? What will happen to her if she opens it? These were the thoughts that were running loose in her head. “Um, well, I guess I should o- NOT open this door!”
“OPEN THE DOOR ALREADY, Hailey!” “Who’s there?” “Oh, I shouldn’t have yelled, should I, Hailey?” “You shouldn’t—hey, you still didn’t answer who you are.” “Oh, I guess that is true. Well, I am the narrator.” “A narrator? Okay, but why are you talking to me?” … “Hello? Um, okay, I guess I will just skip the question and open the door.” Finally.
Chapter 3
Hailey opened the door wide and saw nothing but an ominous black space that seemed to knock out her ability to see clearly.
“I don’t think this is a good idea, Narrator.”
“Just go, Hailey.”
“Fine, but if anything happens to me, it’s your fault!” Hailey screamed. “Oh whatever, you should be glad that you are not alone.”
“I guess you’re right.” Agreed Hailey. Hailey took small, tiny little steps forward. It seemed to be like a loop of a black hole in the universe.
“I think we’re almost there.” “You think? Why does it seem that you’re uncertain?” Hailey said. Yet before she could even finish her sentence, a glare of yellow and white light absorbed her body entirely!
Chapter 4
“AHH!” Hailey yelled; she was falling, turning, and twisting in the air!
“Narrator, is that you?” Hailey asked, feeling quite anxious.
“Of course, it’s me. Who else would be with you in this abnormal situation?”
“And you believe a talking narrator is pretty normal?”
…
“Alright, I don’t care anymore!” Even though we can see Hailey does care,
“I think we are going to ram into the bottom we were waiting for.”
“DO SOMETHING, NARRATOR! I DON’T WANT TO HIT THE GROUND AND GET HURT; IT WILL BE PAINFUL, YOU KNOW!”
“Okay, okay, just wait a moment. This will be weird, yet it is the only way to save you.”
– – –
Hailey was now standing on solid ground.
“What just happened?”
“That is called a time stamp, Hailey.”
“A time for what?” Hailey asked stupidly.
NARRATOR! First, I haven’t learned a time… whatever you call it in school yet. Secondly, I did NOT say it stupidly. Lastly, why must you say something like ‘Hailey asked’ or ‘Hailey answered’ every time I speak?” Hailey complained.
“You did it AGAIN!”
“Look, it is better to do it since you are the… How do I put this? Ah, yes, the main character.
From my perspective, I need to make it clear what we’re doing. Kind of like a diary. Do you understand?
“I guess.” Hailey finally understood me, the narrator.” How about you look around in this mystical new area we unlocked?”
“Sure, Narrator!”
Hailey was on a dirt road near fences with animals. No, not animals; they looked more like beings from a video game.
“What in the world is that?” Hailey pointed to a, um, creature.
It had a long brown tail with a little bit of fluff on the end and very long ears with zig-zag lines. Inside the ear was a dark brown kind of fuzz. It had dark green eyes staring right at Hailey. “Wait, it’s kind of cute!” Hailey exclaimed.
“Your right, Hailey; you should name him, let’s say drip.”
“DRIP? I thought that wasn’t even a name! I instead think I will name it Loki.” Hailey started to walk closer to the critter. The animal didn’t even look scared.
Hailey finally got near enough to start petting it.
“I will name you Loki, little one.”
She smiled and picked up Loki, and Hailey started to continue her walk.
Chapter 5
Hailey has now traveled throughout the world. Helping the Gnomes with their dilemma about the Grooms. (The Grooms are big creatures that have long, light-yellow ears that almost reach the ground.) There are so many other events that I’m not even going to go into them. Hailey and Loki figured out where in the world they were.
It was called:
“The Door That Leads Us? That can be a name.” Hailey questioned.
“Yes, Hailey,” said the narrator.
Hailey went over to a big tree that has lots of shade. She plopped down while Loki squished next to her.
“Narrator?”
“Yes, Hailey?”
“This is a lot of hard work. All the things I had to do!”
“Hey, at least you don’t have to be in the situation you had at school.”
“You’re right, but how did you know?”
“I know a lot of things you don’t.”
“That’s a little creepy, Narrator.”
“I look after you, Hailey! Without me, you wouldn’t be here, you know?”
“I guess you’re right.” Hailey agreed.
Chapter 6
Hailey was starting to snooze when she heard a noise. SWOOSH!
She felt the wind smash into her. Hailey immediately woke up; Loki was right next to her. She picked him up and screamed, even though the wind was muting her voice.
“NARRATOR, WHAT’S HAPPENING? ARE YOU THERE?”
“YES, HAILEY, I AM! TURN AROUND AND LOOK; I THINK I SEE SOMETHING!”
Hailey turned around and jumped back. A door was forming around the tree, and it opened suddenly.
“GO IN HAILEY! It’s the same door as when you got in here! MAYBE YOU CAN GET OUT IF YOU GO IN!”
“OKAY, NARRATOR, BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?”
Don’t worry, Hailey, I’ll be fine.”
Hailey trusted the narrator and jumped in, still holding Loki.
The wind smashed against Hailey and Loki, and finally, there was a light and.
Chapter 7
Hailey was back in her room. She looked at the clock and noticed she had only been gone for an hour. Then suddenly, she felt something in her hand!
It was Loki! Wait, Loki was a cat!
Hailey didn’t care; at least she was still with someone from her travels, so she could prove it was real! Just then, Hailey remembered the narrator. She started to go to the door, happy but sad at the same time.
She lost her best friend, the narrator. She started to open the door, but it opened for her. It was someone she had never known before.
“Hello, there, Hailey.”
It sounded just like the narrator!
“WAIT, ARE YOU? “ARE YOU THE NARRATOR?”
“No need to yell, and yes, you guessed it right, I am.”
Hailey burst into tears and ran up to hug him.
“I don’t think you know this, but I am not just the narrator. I’m also your dad.”
Hailey looked so surprised that she stared right at him.
“You-you are?”
“Yes, now let’s show Loki to your, Mom, and see her reaction.”
About the author:
Evie was 10 years old when she wrote this story. Among her hobbies are drawing, playing the violin, board games, Genshin Impact, and other kinds of video games. Her inspiration for this story came from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. In the story, a boy named Milo finds a tollbooth in his room. While he goes on adventures and meets friends on the way, at the end, it’s revealed that he was only gone for one hour, much like Hailey in this story.