Thought I'd share the short story that I wrote for my Teaching Writing class. Here it is!
Frowning Frank didn't know what his parents were thinking when they named him. There were many other
lovely adjectives they could have chosen to go with his name. He could have
been Friendly Frank or Fabulous Frank or Faithful Frank or Funny Frank, but
no—they named him Frowning Frank.
“Its
tradition!” they had told him when he asked about it. “You’re father’s name is
Cranky Carson, you’re grandfather’s name is Grumpy Greg and your
great-grandfather’s name is Moody Mathew. You should be proud to be part of
such a great tradition.”
But he wasn't. Honestly, Frowning Frank did try to
be proud to be part of his family tradition, but in Label Town where everyone behaved according to the personality trait their parents had given them, he couldn't help but wish that his family had different traditions.
Every
day Frowning Frank went to school, envying all the Happy Henrys and Laughing
Lauras who got to smile and crack jokes in the hallways and on the bus.
Frowning Frank wanted to be a part of all the laughing and smiling and
all-around happiness, but he found it a nearly impossible to when he had to keep
his mouth down turned at all times. It just wasn't fun to have to always frown. Besides that, no one really wanted to hangout with Frowning Frank. They said he wasn't fun enough.
One
day during third period math Principle Peaceful Patricia came into class. With her was a tall, lanky girl with curly blonde hair, clean cut clothes and square glasses. Frowning Frank didn't recognize her.
Frowning Frank stayed quiet. It was one of the
benefits of sitting in the back of the classroom: he didn't feel pressured to
say thing if he didn't want to. He also wasn't tempted to smile or chortle when
he sat away from the rest of the students. Talkative Tessa, though, raised her
hand enthusiastically from the front of the room.
