The Riddle Room-October 2021 Writing
Every other Friday we participate in a local enrichment day. This year, they are including a writing class. This was her first big attempt at a story. There was a lot of editing, rereading, and editing again between the two of us. But, once we finished this, she was begging for more writing prompts. And that’s saying a lot given our the September writing prompt went. If you’re curious about what this process looked like for us, check out Realizing My Reluctant Writer Is Actually an Enthusiastic One. It shows a peer/team building approach for learning creative writing in an only child home school setting.
The Riddle Room
By: Lyla
A long time ago, on All Hallows Eve, two girls were trick or treating. One was dressed as a fairy, and one was dressed as a witch. Lilly, the fairy, was wearing a glittering pink dress with a white pearl necklace. Sarah, the witch, was wearing a long black dress with short sleeves and carrying a broom. Under the wide brim of her pointy black hat, sat a stuffed black cat.
While walking down the street they saw a haunted house. Lilly rang the doorbell and they were surprised to hear a scream instead of a ding-dong. Out of nowhere they got sucked up and tumbled into the house with no idea where they were. They looked around and found a blue door with gold trim that was wide open. Both girls walked through and the door slammed behind them, trapping them in the room.
By the light of the moon through the window, Lilly began to look around for a way out. After a couple of minutes Lilly didn’t find anything. While Lilly tried to think of a plan, Sarah looked around for clues. As Sarah searched, she bumped into a ghost. She started to scream, and Lilly came to see what was going on. When Lilly saw the ghost, she screamed too.
When they calmed down, the ghost told them his name was Christopher. He said he wouldn’t hurt them and that he’s been stuck in this room too. He told Lilly and Sarah that his mom taught him four riddles, but he only remembered one. The one he remembered was, “Leaves of three, let it be.”
Sarah remembered, “leaves of three,” is used to identify poison ivy plants. She shares that with Christopher and Lilly, and the three begin to hunt for one. Lilly yelled, “Over here! I found it!”
She looked under the plant and saw the next riddle. It said, “To have fun in the sun, you’ll need one.” Everyone was confused by this riddle. Sarah suggested, “Why don’t we look around and bring what we find to this table.”
When they all came back Sarah brought a beach ball, Lilly brought a pair of sunglasses, and Christopher brought a sun hat. Lilly examined the sunglasses but didn’t find anything. Christopher looked under that hat but also didn’t find anything. Sarah turned the beach ball in her hands and exclaimed, “I found something!” Lilly and Christopher huddled next to Sarah as she read, “Seating for nine, before you dine,”
Christopher said, “It might be a chair, we should inspect all of them.” They checked out all of the chairs in the room. Sarah flipped over the last chair and said, “I found the fourth one! Before you brew, lumps of sugar, I’ll take two.” Everybody was perplexed about this one too.
As they grew more exhausted, Lilly complained about being thirsty. “I saw a pitcher of water when searching the chairs,” said Sarah. “Why don’t you grab a mug off the table and I’ll get the water.”
When Lilly lifted the mug from the table, she found a key. Christopher told her to try the key on the door. When it opened, Lilly yelled to Sarah, “I got the door open!” The girls said goodbye to Christopher, and hurried home since it was past curfew. The next morning, the two girls woke up and thought it was all a dream. But, next to them was a poison ivy plant with a note that said,
To Lilly and Sarah,
Thank you for helping my son escape. We would be really happy to have you over next Halloween.
Yours Hauntedly,
Christopher & Felicia
