Last Wednesday we showed you Robbi’s drawing of the knitting skeleton. Here it is.
We asked you to write a story letting us know what this skeleton was up to.
Here’s what you came up with.
Lena
This is Julia Quannor. She is a skeleton. Do you know why she has a mole-stock? Because she’s going on stage. She’s knitting a pink dress with sparkles on it, and at the edges there’s purple. Here is her story:
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Julia. She wanted to go on a stage because she had a dancing performance–a fancy dancing performance. Julia was from Texas. She was a really nice kid.
On Saturday, it was time for her show, so she knitted a dress. The dress came out very well. She saw her friend, Rachel, on stage, all ready to dance with her. Then she noticed that Rachel wasn’t actually there. It was a crasher!! The crasher crashed her and made her turn into a skeleton. She was still alive, but she just was a skeleton. She asked the crasher to stop crashing people, but the crasher did not listen to her. Then the crasher left. So she was only on stage, wearing clothes, but being a skeleton.
The end
First off, to explain the “mole stock.” In the original prompt, I had asked kids to explain why Robbi’s skeleton appeared to have a “mohawk.” “Mole stock” is Lena’s artful interpretation. Clearly, the mole stock plays a pivotal role in Lena’s story, telegraphing as it does, Julia Quannor’s intention to take the stage for the fateful performance that changes her life forever.
I also admire Lena for her “story within a story framework,” a sophisticated device for such a young author.
I must say that I was entirely unprepared for the tragedy that would follow from what seemed to be just your garden variety “fancy dancing performance.” As excited as I was when Rachel showed up on stage, I was equally devastated to learn that it was, in fact, a crasher instead. And what’s more, a crasher who will not listen to reason.
In the wake of Lena’s gripping tale, I’m left with so many questions: Why does being crashed by a crasher make your flesh fall off? Does it hurt? Do crashers look like ordinary friends of singing Texans? Or is Rachel a really creepy looking sort of friend who just happens to look like a crasher? I imagine a crasher must be creepy-looking, right?
Allison
I admire Alison for picking up where Robbi left off. Or perhaps I should say for putting in what Robbi left out. Robbi’s drawing, you will recall, was entirely lacking in color. Enter Alison with her complete set of imaginary paintbrushes, and suddenly this knitting skeleton takes the stage in technicolor.
I feel I must pause and let everyone know how wonderful I think it is that this skeleton wants to be a rainbow for halloween. I cannot think of any two more opposite corners of the world than skeletons and rainbows, and yet Allison’s imagination brings them together for us in one short and excellent story. This story makes me so happy, right down to the detail about the black shoes/pot at the end of the rainbow.
Tyler
Fat Skeleton Head
The skeleton isn’t smiling. He’s mean and he’s going to eat people up. He’s knitting a blanket to sit on at a picnic because he doesn’t have any.
I applaud Tyler for reminding all of us that even man-eating skeleton sometimes feel like having a picnic. Though I assume that at these picnics, man-eating skeletons eat man and cheese sandwiches? Man on the cob? Mandarin oranges?
Spencer
Bobble Head Fred
Someone turned Fred into a big bobble head. He doesn’t have any money so he’s knitting a scarf because it’s cold. Other people are running away from him because they’re scared but he’s actually a good guy.
In a surprising twist, Fred is a victim of the good old “turn you into a bobblehead” trick. As a result, he only seems to be a man and cheese sandwich eating fiend. I can’t imagine how cold his neck must be, given its lack of fleshy insulation.
Alden
The Skeleton with Her Babies
The skeleton is knitting some scarves for its little baby skeletons. And she’s hoping it’s warm enough for her babies. Her name is Lucy and the end.
Here’s my question: are a skeleton’s babies also skeletons? And isn’t it safe to assume that all skeletons are cold pretty much all the time? If both of these are true, isn’t it safe to say that the skeleton is setting herself up for failure? In which case, shouldn’t this story be called “A Study in Futility”?
Kato
The skeleton is knitting a sweater. It’s a nice one. He’s eating his sweater and it was really wet and he put it in his washing machine. He thought it tasted good. He put soap and goofy eyeballs both in the washing machine. He was going to water the garden so he would wait for his sweater to be clean. He was watering his carrots. When his sweater was clean, he ate it again.
I wrote my English Honors thesis on a book called Gravity’s Rainbow. It was a long, challenging, complex book that I never could have understood if I hadn’t read it as part of a course, under close supervision of a professor. I feel the same way about Kato’s story. There’s a lot going on, and I assume that much of it is very deep. But I’m at a loss to understand the significance of the “goofy eyeballs,” the “washing machine,” and the twice-eaten sweater. Some metaphors are so powerful as to bring you to your knees. I’m kneeling now but still no closer to unwrapping the mystery. Perhaps it’s time to go back to college.
Emiliano
This is “The Knitting Skeleton”! He works at and owns a knitting store. He is knitting a blanket so he could sell it for money and he is making it out of real gold thread. If a person puts on the blanket they will go under an eating curse and eat everything in sight (except if you are a skeleton). He has a menacing laugh because he likes the idea that he can put anybody under a eating curse when he wants to, because he has magical powers.
I drew a picture of his menacing laugh.
Thank you.
Emiliano
First off, I think Robbi could learn a thing or two about drawing a menacing laugh from Emiliano. I can hardly type, I feel so menaced at this moment.
Also, I’m now sitting here wondering if Emiliano’s skeleton might not have put a curse on me more than once in the past. There have been many, many times in my life in which I have suddenly had the urge to eat everything in sight. What I cannot presently remember is whether or not there were any golden blankets involved. I do know I’m going to be a lot more careful from now on.
All week long, Robbi has been staring at her black and white skeleton wondering how she should color him in. After much pacing and deep sighs, she read Allison’s story. At which point, she knew exactly how he should be painted.
If you are inspired to have this knitting skeleton for your very own, he is available to the highest bidder. The auction ends at 12:30EST Sunday afternoon. Happy knitting…I mean…bidding.