It's Spring again in the northern hemisphere which means #SpringFlingKidLit competition is on! It was loads of fun using a Gif for inspiration. I hope you enjoy my entry below. Huge thanks to Ciara ONeal and Kaitlynn Sanchez for hosting. 

The Dragon In Henry's Cupboard.
‘There’s a baby dragon in my cupboard!’ yelled my brother Henry as he burst into my room waving his arms about excitedly.
‘There can’t be a dragon in your cupboard because dragons don’t exist,’ I said and continued reading my book Science Made Easy.
‘Oh yeh?’ He took the book, threw it on the bed, grabbed my ankles and started dragging me out across the hallway.
‘Okay, okay let me go!’ I cried. ‘I’ll come look!’
As we entered his room, I saw the cupboard door was slightly open. A small, green creature with two enormous yellow eyes peered out at us from under a pile of t-shirts and underpants.
My jaw dropped. ‘Told you,’ Henry grinned, and to prove he was right, the dragon hiccupped, and a small flame shot out of its mouth. I never doubted my brother again!

Very excited to take part for the first time in this year's #50PreciousWords competition hosted by author Vivian Kirkfield. It is definitely a challenge to keep a story to 50 words but also a really good way to make every single word count. So - here is TIDY UP.
There are Brolgas in bathtubs, Llamas in the loo. Oh no the toys have made such a mess! What should I do? I know - tidy up! 

We've been wearing masks over here in Vietnam pretty much constantly since February 2020. All our students from 3 year olds to 18 year olds have been wearing them in school without any problems because they understand it's not just for their safety, but that of their friends too. There's been much discussion, with the little ones especially, about emotions during this time, and they were the ones who came up with the idea that their eyes could show us how they were feeling. Out of the mouths of babes. . . .  So here is the story sparked by those discussions with concept art by my very talented daughter Anisha. 

​Moon wears a unicorn mask because unicorns are unique and special just like Moon.
Hasib wears a puppy dog mask because puppies are playful and friendly just like Hasib.
Hai Lan wears a Spiderman mask because superheroes help protect people just like Hai Lan.
Andy wears a dragon mask because dragons are strong and brave just like Andy.
Katie wears a panda mask because pandas are thoughtful and gentle just like Katie.
We wear our special masks because they help stop us from sharing our sneezes and coughs.
But wearing our masks doesn’t mean we can’t share our feelings.  
We do that through our eyes.
When Moon is happy, her eyes twinkle like the stars on a rainbow unicorn.
When Hasib is feeling playful, his eyes shine like a puppy waiting for a game of fetch.
When Hai Lan is surprised, her eyes open really wide, just like when a superhero saves you.
When Andy is brave, his eyes look fierce like a knight that has fought many dragons.
When Katie is gentle, her eyes sparkle with kindness.
Our masks help protect us, but our eyes will twinkle, shine, sparkle and smile to let you know that we are okay.

Okay so you must know by now how much I love bees! My two favourites are the humble Bumblebee and the Australian native bee. Here's a story about two bumblebees just pitched in the February #PBPitch event. Artwork by my extremely talented friend Maryam Khalifah. You can follow Maryam on Instagram and Twitter.

‘Good point.’ Barry scratched his fuzzy, black and yellow chin. ‘Why not a beetle then? They also have wings like us, and they come in lots of different colours too!’ Boris looked stunned. ‘Really? A beetle? You want to roll dung all day instead of sipping nectar and gathering pollen? Uh-uh, not me!’ snorted Boris. ‘Okay, okay. I get it,’ Barry replied, a little miffed. ‘Ah-ha! I’ve got it! I want to be . . .  wait for it,’ Barry grinned, and pretended to give a drumroll on his tiny, black knees. Boris rolled his eyes as he waited for Barry’s big revelation. ‘I want to be – a dragonfly!’ he announced.

Boris threw his hands in the air and shook his head. ‘A dragonfly?! That doesn’t even start with the letter B!’
Barry’s bottom lip started to quiver. He looked like he was about to cry. Boris put one of his arms around Barry. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘all those insects are wonderful. They are beautiful, useful and amazing in their own ways, but think about what we bumblebees can do! Instead of Superman, think Superbee!’ Barry looked at Boris, and wiped away a small tear.  

We are Super-pollinaters!’ Boris cried excitedly, pulling Barry along as he buzzed up to a lavender stalk. ‘We gather lots of pollen from flowers and spread it around to help plants grow.’ ‘We are Super-see-ers! We have five eyes, which means we see yummy nectar before any of the other insects,’ he continued proudly, as they flew to a marigold. Barry followed along, nodding thoughtfully. ‘We are Super-royal! We have a majestic and beautiful queen,’ Boris bowed low as they paused on a snapdragon, and placed a makeshift crown on Barry’s head.

‘And you know what my two most favourite things are about being a Super-bee?’ They had stopped at a bunch of pansies. Barry shook his head. ‘We make yummy honey. . . aaaand we do the waggle dance!’ Boris laughed as he began circling around Barry, waggling his small bee bottom. Barry giggled.  ‘You’re right,’ he grinned, as he joined Boris in his waggle dance. ‘Bee-ing a bee is SUPER-AMAZING! I never want to bee anything else!’

One of our #FallWritingFrenzy creators Kaitlyn Sanchez has challenged us to take our original Fall Writing Frenzy piece and flip it by putting it in another setting or switching the MC to his/her/their antagonist, then share, tag and retweet! My original story has now taken on a distinctly sinister feel and the ending is VERY different! This was SO. MUCH. FUN! 

‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with . . .’ she began, but I wasn’t listening. Something was stirring at the bottom of the tree.
Leaves began to jump in the middle of what could only be a faerie circle - mushrooms with white stalks and conical tops, growing at the base of the tree.
‘A faerie ring!’ I breathed.
Inside the ring, a dark hole was forming, the leaves caught, spiraling downward as it grew wider and deeper.
With Sasha transfixed by the hole, I gave a quick, gentle push, and down she fell.
I watched as she was pulled deeper into the abyss, arms stretched upwards, her look of terror and cries for help fading away. Then came a tiny rumble and ziipp! and the hole was gone.

It's finally here! Time to enter this fantastic competition designed by Lydia Lukidis and Kaitlyn Sanchez. Image #5 was one of my favourites because it made me think of all things faerie and magical. I had lots of fun writing the story and after quite a few rewrites, it's done! I hope you like it.

Sasha
​I spy with my little eye. . .
Sasha loved that game. 
She also loved our maple tree.
The tree stood tall in the backyard, close to the gate, where our house backed onto woods.
We’d spend hours in the branches of that old tree, spying things like ladybirds and silvery snail trails. We’d watch 'helicopter' seeds spin down in spring, and marvel at the colors of the fall leaves.
It was during last fall that Sasha saw the faerie circle - mushrooms with long, white stalks and conical tops, growing at the base of the tree.
We had climbed up and were sitting on one of the thick, low branches telling each other stories of faeries and magic.
‘I spy a faerie ring!’ she whispered excitedly, and pointed to the bottom of the tree. ‘Let’s see if we’ll become faeries like the legend says.’
I shouted ‘Wait for me!’ but Sasha had already jumped off the branch and landed in the middle of the circle.
I watched, mouth open, as she grew smaller and smaller, until she faded away with a tiny ‘pop!’ leaving nothing behind but lines of twinkling gossamer . . .