Grandpa, who looks kinda old, acts like he’s young. His eyes, even though they wrinkle on the edges and need glasses, still twinkle with little flecks of light. They like adventure and cowboys and mischief. The grandkids, the boy and the girl, have the twinkling eyes too.
Together, the Grandpa and the grandkids with the twinkling eyes walk across the street in the dark to the train tracks that run right through town. “Tonight, Grandpa is going to show us how to flatten coins on the train tracks,” the girl said to the boy. The grandkids’ eyes were extra twinkly because it was very past their bedtime and the train tracks were very exciting.
Grandpa reached into his pants’ pocket and grabbed five coins. Two pennies, one nickel, one dime, and one quarter.
He asked, “You know who these guys are on the coins?”
“Well of course,” the girl said, “That’s George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and they helped free us from England. That one there is FDR, and he was in a wheelchair but he was still the President and many people liked him. And that’s Abraham Lincoln, he freed the slaves.”
Grandpa told the girl, “Right you are,” as he balanced the coins on the tracks.
When the kids heard the train go by early in the morning, they dragged the Grandpa out of bed, and across the street to the train tracks. They very much wanted to see what a flattened coin looked like. Grandpa picked them up and with twinkling eyes they looked at Abraham Lincoln’s flattened head. The coin was stretched and long and as thin as paper.
The boy said that he was going to bring it to school and show all his friends. The girl said she was going to keep it safe in her drawer.
The girl still has the coin in her drawer because every time she looks at it, it makes her happy and her eyes twinkle. Just like Grandpa, her eyes won’t stop twinkling even when they start needing glasses. They like adventure and all that good stuff too.
Abby I absolutley love this vignette! Your Cisneros-style descriptive language was particularly well done, and this story taps into everyone's nostalgia for the innocence of their childhood years. Very well written!
ReplyDeleteI love this vignette abby!! The way you describe the twinkling in grandpa's eyes made me think of a grandparent's love for his/her grandchildren and how they would do anything to keep them happy. It was adorable and reminded me of my own grandpa. Well done!!
ReplyDeleteAbby, I love the parallels you presented between young and old in this vignette. This story is well written and you did a good job of emphasizing the family bond. Like Lily said in the previous comment, this vignette was written similarly to Cisneros. By doing this, you demonstrated the obliviousness of a young child and the eventual appreciation for such a special moment with a man who won't always be in her life.
ReplyDeleteAbby, this is really a lovely piece of work. It truly captures a moment very special to you. I find it fascinating how your values are expressed unconventionally; many value maturity over that sparkle of adventure you allude to throughout your vignette, but here, it is reversed. Instead of trying to mask the youthfulness of his soul, the grandfather chooses to revel in his adventurous nature, and you, as he is so fondly expressed in this vignette, view him as a sort of role model. Like many characters in A House on Mango Street, this vignette present an example of someone who you aspire to be like; he is a person on which you would choose to mold yourself. Most of all though, I find you do an excellent job of making this moment relatable to the reader. Through your use of dialogue between the children and the grandfather, it is easy to visualize the interaction between them. Good job on this! I loved reading it.
ReplyDeleteThis was so great to read, the descriptions really help paint a powerful picture. The way how you were able to incorporate a really strong and meaningful mood with the dialogue was remarkable.
ReplyDeleteAbby, I love this! I think you did a great job capturing the bond between grandparents and their grandkids, and it makes me think of my family. I also really liked the style you used to write this, and it reminded me of Sandra Cisneros' style. There was some great imagery too. It made me nostalgic, and you made the importance of family very clear here. Great job!
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