Beth's World; The Power of Imagination

This story follows the life of a young girl, learning about new things in life, learning about the power of imagination and all that this gift entails

Beth's World

'The Power of Imagination'

By: Sarah B. Tutun

~Foreword~

This is a story about creativity and imagination. This is a story about new ideas, new ways of thinking, and dreams! This is also a story about wishes. This is a story about Beth Smith's s wish, Beth Smith's biggest wish in the whole wide world!

Did Beth Smith want a new sweatshirt? Did Beth want a new toy doll? Was Beth's wish bigger than either one of those two small things?

This story is going to ask many questions, this story is also going to supply many answers. You’ll have to read this story in order to find out the answers to these questions, you will have to read this story in order to see what will happen!! Take a deep breath, put on your favorite sweatshirt, grab your favorite blanket, (Or not) and sit back, relax, and be prepared to be surprised. Welcome to Beth Smith's world, welcome to the Power of Imagination.

Beth's World

-The Power of Imagination-

By: Sarah B. Tutun

1. The puddles on the streets of Cityville, U.S.A. glimmered bright with reflections of light, as the bright rays from the sun were cast down from that early Monday morning. Nervous, excited anticipation could be felt running freely in the air as they caused one's hands and feet to tingle with excitement. School at Cityville Elementary was scheduled to begin in precisely two days. Young Beth Smith, an enthusiastic ten year old girl, soon to be fourth grade student, could hardly contain her excitement for the big day. 'If Fourth Grade was anything like Third Grade was,' Beth thought excitedly to herself, 'Oh Boy, just wait and see!' Beth nodded proudly to herself as she pursed her lips in proud anticipation of everything that she imagined was to come. Cityville Elementary School was a great elementary school, located in the beautiful town of Cityville, USA. Cityville Elementary School was a very well respected school. Cityville Elementary School was not only respected because it had excellent academics and remarkable teachers, it was also admired and respected because of it's appearance! The building had a great interior arrangement of the layout of the school, in addition to a magnificent exterior design as well.

2. There were a few very important things that you should all know about Cityville Elementary School. One of these pieces of information is the very important fact that this school was not always the great, beautiful school that it was today. Like many of the other buildings in Cityville, USA, Cityville Elementary School had been built out of, and in, an old farm building! If you know anything about what old farm buildings look like, (Feel like, smell like,) with worn out wood rafters and sinking sunken in ceilings and slanted walls, you would understand how impressive the interior and exterior of Cityville Elementary School really was. At the point of construction of Cityville Elementary School, the town officials had all gotten together in a very important meeting, in a very important office, in a very important building, in Cityville USA. ~Chapter Four~ Tall men in business suits and top hats, had shaken hands with other shorter men in business suits and top hats, as they made very important decisions about the ways that the inside of Cityville Elementary School should be decorated and laid out. After a lot of long conversations had taken place, (Between both tall and short men in business suits and top hats,) It was agreed that there should most definitely be parts of the new elementary school which were focused on explaining and demonstrating the construction of the very school itself. It was agreed that the fact that the new elementary school had been built on old farm land, and been build in an old barn, had been discussed at great length. After much long, and tedious, deliberation, the town officials of Cityville, USA had reached an agreement that the farm life that used to exist on the grounds of Cityville Elementary School should, and would, be remembered and kept alive within the school. It was decided that this task could be accomplished by displaying artwork along the interior walls of Cityville Elementary School. Paying mind to the instructions of the town officials, the walls within the building of Cityville Elementary were immediately covered with pictures of cows and farmers, straw hats and tobacco pipes. There were portraits of men with long beards and mustaches, dressed in primarily blue and red flannel shirts and faded, navy blue overalls. There were a few token paintings of cows, sheep, chickens, as well as a few roosters too, which were used in order to portray real life shots of 'farm life.' As could be assumed, Cityville Elementary School had been built inside of a cute, little, old abandoned farm house in Cityville, USA. The ceilings, floors, and walls, were now almost flawless, thanks to the hard work that was put in by Mr. Jones, Mr. Emmers, and a half dozen or so other members of the Head of Building and Construction Inc. team. One could hardly tell that the pristine, tile floor that provided the floors of Cityville Elementary School, had previously only consisted of dirt, mud, rocks, and hay.

3. All of the buildings in Cityville, USA. existed, for the most part, because of the hard work and efforts of Mr. Jones, Mr. Emmers, and the rest of the Building and Construction Inc. team. Just like Cityville Elementary School, almost every other building in Cityville, USA had been constructed from an old, abandoned farm house as well. This fact should not come as much of a surprise to any of you. After all, one must consider the fact that Cityville had been built by farmers who worked for Building and Construction Inc! Living was pretty basic, simple, and easy in Cityville, USA. The streets were paved perfectly, with respective sidewalks on the sides of each. There were the mini shopping malls in the center of Cityville. There were the local gyms and recreation centers close to the malls as well. There was a small, faded gray building next to the convenience store on the corner of Pine and Main, that was applicable to anybody who wished to knit, sew, or crochet. There was pretty much something different to do for every different person in the city of Cityville, USA. Maybe one of the most important, or significant, things about Cittyville, USA, was, as was mentioned earlier, the construction of Cityville Elementary School. Cityville Elementary School had a very special way about it, Cityville Elementary School was a very special place. The day that the construction of Cityville Elementary School had finally been completed, there was a rather large, excited celebration amongst many of the town locals and town members in the center of Cityville. The mothers brought their children with them to the meeting and the fathers came home early from work. The little children giggled gleefully amongst themselves behind closed hands over their mouths, eyes bright and sparkling with anxious anticipation of what was to come for them in the very near future. Excited chitter chatter could be heard rushing through the breeze. The town officials, who worked in tall, official-looking buildings in Cityville, USA, had been very proud of themselves when they had pulled the necessary resources together in order to turn the old, abandoned farmhouse in to what was now the sparkling, new, Cityville Elementary School. Mr. Jones patted Mr. Emmers proudly, gruffly on the back and grunted a supportive, “Good job,” in appreciation of his hard work. Mr. Emmers, the Head of Construction and Building INC., had quickly glanced at Mr. Jones, smiled wide and nodded quickly in soft recognition of his praise.. Mr. Emmers had taken a step back from the crowd, taken a deep breath and then surveyed the rest of his team with his gleaming blue eyes, and smiled, broadly in appreciation as he took it all in. Since the day that Cityville Elementary School had opened for the first time, just five years earlier, the new school had opened up its doors, (And arms,) to a shocking 500 young boys and girls. Cityville Elementary School was a daytime home for students in pre-school all the way up to Grade Six. The younger students, Grades Preschool to Grade Three, populated the left half of the rectangle (Barn shaped school.) The right half of Cityville Elementary was home to students in Grade Four to Grade Six. Life occurred like normal at Cityville Elementary School until the day that little Beth Smith first walked proudly in to her new, fourth grade classroom. Beth Smith was just like ANY other fourth grade girl that you might know, but Beth also had a secret! She had bright yellow pigtails, and a cute little button nose which had exactly three light brown freckles across the topmost part of it. Every time that Beth laughed out loud the freckles formed the most perfect straight line from side to side across her cute little face. Each time that Beth was told about this fact, and she was told about it an awful lot, she would shrug her shoulders, double over with amusement, and then Sarto giggle and laugh even harder.

4. Beth was your average, happy-go-lucky, easy going,, fourth grade student. Just like almost every other boy and especially like almost every other girl in her class, Beth loved ponies, and teddy bears, and she also absolutely LOVED puppies. You could ask her about kitty cats, or bunnies, or hamsters, or snakes; she would nod and smile and say that she loved all animals, but each time that she was asked which animal was her favorite she would solemnly shake her head with her hands on her hips and scream, “I love PUPPIES!” Beth's cheeks would flush as perspiration would start to form around the corners of her cute, little nose. She would chew forcefully on her bottom lip as she dug her nails into her palms, just hard enough to leave small little nail prints on the insides of each hand. “I want a PUPPY!” She would say loudly again, “I want a PUPPY!!!!” You might be wondering what was so special about Beth and her love of puppies, in fact, you might love puppies too. I bet you love puppies a whole awful lot, but I'll bet you can't love them QUITE as much as Beth. How much does Beth love puppies? Keep reading this story, then you will see! Each day, Beth's mom, Joy would drop her off at school in the morning. Each day, Beth went to school just like every other fourth grade student. Beth would listen to her teacher, Mrs. Johnson, every day in class. Beth would go to school, Beth would do her work, and then Beth would go home. Each day, each time, everything happened in the same, exact way. Except for on Wednesdays. On Wednesdays, Beth Smith had a very special routine which she looked forward to all week. She counted down the minutes and hours until it would be around 3:30 pm, Wednesday afternoon. Every Wednesday afternoon, at precisely 3:45 pm, Beth would go to her favorite lonely tire swing on the furthest part of the playground at Cityville, Elementary School. Every Wednesday afternoon, Beth made her way across the playground in order to sit and wait for Smokey, her puppy. You might have had similar experiences to this one. Sit back, relax, and please, continue to read about the adventures of Beth Smith. Each day, after Math class, [her last period of the day,] Beth picked up her school things and proudly went out of the door of her Fourth grade classroom. Beth would ignore the questioning looks being shot at her from her classmates who were standing in small groups in the hallway, waiting for their parents to come and get them in order to drive them home. As Beth walked faster and faster, and got closer and closer to her final destination on the playground, Beth would start to hum and chant, "Smokeeeey, Smokeeey." As she began to get closer to the tireswing, Beth began to chant with increasing volume and force. “SMOOOOKEY....SMOOOOKEY” (Smokey was the name of her puppy. As Beth made her way closer and closer to the tireswing, she began to hear the familiar rumblings of her puppy and thought that she could hear the faint call of her beloved puppy in the wind. At just about four pm. each day, Beth watched as the flashing lights of the local train went by, each time she heard the calls of Smokey in the train horn. Beth hugged herself with excitement and smiled as she heard the train vroom past. She waved goodbye wistfully at the image of Smokey each day as she heard the train go by. Beth faithfully watched the train from her seat on the tireswing for the following weeks to come, every Wednesday afternoon, around 4pm.

5. One day, Beth's teacher. Mrs. Johnson pulled her aside and asked her if she could please speak with her for a moment about her Wednesday after school routine. When Mrs. Johnson asked Beth to discuss her Wednesday afternoon rituals with her, Beth quickly, quietly, agreed. She was so excited to talk about her puppy, Smokey with someone! Beth couldn't wait to tell Mrs. Johnson how much fun she had racing to the tireswing, getting in to exact position to see the best view possible of her beloved Smokey. Beth just couldn’t wait, Beth was breathless with excitement, antsy with anticipation. Beth smiled proudly as she began to tell Mrs. Johnson every possible detail that she could think of when it came to her and her puppy, Smokey. Mrs. Johnson watched Beth carefully as she spoke with patient concern. As Mrs. Johnson listened to Beth complete her story, she kindly shook her head and took Beth's hand in her own. With her eyes focused steadily on Beth's small features,Mrs. Johnson took a deep breath and began to tell Beth about the great powers of imagination. Beth listened intently as Mrs. Johnson discussed how real imagination could feel to the person imagining the situation, how 'made up stories' could take on lives of their own when the person imagining them believed in them enough.” Beth listened patiently as Mrs. Johnson spoke, but did not know what she believed. Mrs. Johnson noted the look of confusion and concern on Beth's face. She patted her hand reassuringly once more and began to speak. Mrs. Johnson instructed Beth to take notes about Smokey, rather than running to the tireswing, the next time that she thought she saw, or heard him. Mrs. Johnson told Beth that she could make up stories about Smokey, or about anything else in the world for that matter. Mrs. Johnson said that anything was possible when you used your imagination. After Mrs. Johnson finished speaking, Beth looked at Mrs. Johnson for a moment, then looked around the classroom to see all of the other student's now empty desks. Beth bit her lip as her eyes grew wide. Mrs. Johnson knew that young Beth was now deep in thought.

6. “I will give you a moment, dear,” Mrs. Johnson said softly. Beth immediately shook her head no as she looked back to Mrs. Johnson's warm face with tears in her eyes. Beth took a deep breath and offered a small smile. She said something so quietly that Mrs. Johnson had to lean closer in order to hear. She nodded as Beth agreed to take notes during the next time that she saw Smokey the puppy, instead of running after 'him' each day. “That is very good, Beth,” Mrs. Johnson said. “Please just give it a try, I bet you could take the best notes ever the next time that you see 'Smokey.'.” Beth shrugged her shoulders and smiled as she looked down. “OK, Mrs. Johnson, OK,” She said, as she silently vowed to herself that she would take the best notes in the whole world. Beth sat at her desk quiet, deep in thought, thinking about all of the great notes that she would take. She giggled quietly to herself as she made the silent agreement that whatever time it was, wherever she was, she would take the best notes, and write the best story, that Mrs. Johnson had ever seen. With this resolution in mind, Beth put her hands on her face, closed her eyes, and thought. She thought, and thought, and thought, and thought, and as she thought she realized that she was imagining. Beth wondered if anyone else had ever imagined before. She wondered if Mrs. Johnson imagined, she wondered if her mom and dad imagined, and she wondered if her other classmates imagined. Have you ever imagined anything? I know that I sure have. After much deep thought about the things that Mrs. Johnson had said, the things that she had realized, Beth realized and agreed that Smokey might have been part of her imagination. She came to the conclusion that Smokey might only be the sounds of the train passing by outside of the school each day. This realization made Beth start to feel very sad. Beth loved her pet, Smokey. Beth loved rushing to the far end of the playground every Wednesday afternoon around 3:45 pm. Beth wanted to believe that Smokey was real, he had to be! As Beth dutifully took note of exactly when and where Smokey appeared to her every Wednesday she reluctantly decided that Mrs. Johnson might have been right. Each day, just before 4pm, like clockwork, (Or train schedules as the case may be,) Beth saw and heard Smokey, her puppy. The next time that Beth went to the far part of the playground and sat on the lonely tire swing, and heard and saw Smokey in the distance, she realized that she had never actually seen Smokey after all. She had heard Smokey call, but Smokey's call sure sounded a whole lot different than any other dog that she had ever heard. Smokey's appearance was sure a whole lot different than any other dog that Beth had sever seen as well. Smokey did not look like a Poodle, or a Golden Retriever. Smokey did not look like a German Shepherd, and Smokey sure did not look like a Pit-Bull either. When she really thought about it, Beth could not remember a time that she had seen Smokey play fetch, or chase a ball, or even 'sit' or 'lie down.' Beth shook her head in disbelief as she came to understand all of these things. Beth let out a long, dejected sigh as she slowly approached Mrs. Johnson's desk again. Beth did not know how to explain to Mrs. Johnson what all of the emotions that she was feeling felt like. Beth didn't think that Mrs. Johnson would have any idea about feeling sad, feeling confused, feeling uncertain. 'She's a GROWN UP' Beth thought to herself. 'How could SHE know what it's like?' Beth thought to herself, very pensively for awhile. She had never felt like this before. Not when she went to school, not when she lost her favorite teddy bear, Bear. That was really hard, she remembered, she had cried a lot, but no, she had never, ever felt anything like this. She loved Smokey. She cared for and about Smokey. Smokey was her puppy, Smokey was her boy. How could it be true that Smokey only existed inside of her mind? After Mrs. Johnson had given Beth a few minutes to digest the information that she had just found out, Mrs. Johnson glanced at Beth in a kind, concerned way. The next day, at precisely 3:00 pm, Mrs. Johnson noted the fact that Beth was still sitting at her desk. Mrs. Johnson noticed that Beth still needed to put all of her school things inside of her backpack. Mrs. Johnson could tell that Beth was not about to run to her favorite swing, even though, by this time it was Wednesday. Mrs. Johnson could tell that Beth was happy that she was not racing to the far side of the playground every Wednesday afternoon, but Mrs. Johnson could also see that Beth was also sad that she had realized that Smokey, her prized pet puppy, might not have been real after all. Beth sat up straighter as she took a deep breath and stood up, tall. She steadily approached Mrs. Johnson's large, oak teacher’s desk. Beth noticed all of the different piles of papers on the desk. Beth noticed an important, official looking three ring binder notebook which was lying open down the middle on her desk as well. 'she looks really busy...' Beth thought. Mrs. Johnson had sensed Beth's presence and looked up from the notes that she had been correcting. Swiftly closing the big, overflowing three ring binder, Mrs. Johnson sat up straight and made eye contact with Beth Beth noticed the smeared orange lipstick on Mrs. Johnson’s teeth when she flashed her all to showy grin. Beth flinched and felt uneasy as Mrs. Johnson smiled, too brightly, in her direction 'how can she be smiling?' Beth thought angrily to herself. 'She must not understand how horrible the news that i am about to tell her really is.” Beth stopped herself from thinking like that and put a smile on her face and continued to approach Mrs. Johnson's desk. Beth looked nervously at Mrs. Johnson as she began to relay the story of how she had been going, every afternoon on Wednesdays, to see her favorite puppy, Smokey. Mrs. Johnson focused her warm, brown eyes on Beth as she listened intently as Beth continued on. Beth told Mrs. Johnson about the train horn, Smokey's bark. Mrs. Johnson smiled as Beth told her about the ways that she could see Smokey in the trees, and hear Smokey on the breeze. As Beth continued to tell Mrs. Johnson that Smokey was so reliable, that Smokey would go by on the train at exactly the same time each Wednesday, Mrs. Johnson smiled, reassuringly. By the time that Beth finished telling her story about Smokey the dog, or Smokey the freight train, Mrs. Johnson had filled up an entire page of notes on her large sheet of paper. “Is there anything else, dear?” Mrs. Johnson asked Beth kindly. Beth bit her lip and shook her head no, as she lowered her eyes. “I just, I just wanted it all to be true, Mrs. Johnson,” Beth said, plaintively. “He seemed so real, he seemed so real, I really loved him...” Beth's voice caught in her throat as she stopped talking. “I know dear, I know,” Mr. Johnson said again. “But Beth, if you listen to me, I have a secret, I have an idea. I think that I just might have a way for you to keep Smokey alive. Maybe not alive in the same way that you ans I, or any of your classmates or friends or parents are alive, but I have a very special way that you could keep smokey alive nonetheless less.” Beth's ears perked up with interest at this statement. Beth couldn’t understand how it could be possible that Smokey could be alive, if Smokey was only a train. Beth had dreamed him up, hadn't she? Still, Beth was very interested in hearing what Mrs. Johnson had to say about how she, Beth Smith, could keep Smokey alive Beth returned to her desk in the middle of the room and turned in earnest curiosity to face Mrs. Johnson again. “How can I...how can I...” Beth could not finish the sentence. “Well, Beth, Mrs. Johnson began, “I have a very neat trick that I can tell you about. Most students learn about this trick at some point in time throughout their school years. Most young children are very good at this trick, some older children are as well, and some, not all, teenagers believe in this trick too. This very special trick is a trick that everyone can know, that everyone can do. This very special trick is something that everyone has done before in their lives. The very special trick and gift is called Imagination. Imagination is a very, very special thing. Mrs. Johnson continued to tell Beth about the powers of imagination. When you imagined things happening, you could create a world that does not exist. You could create things and people that don't exist, too. You could create a castle, or magic kingdoms, or trolls, or witches or goblins, in your imagination. The special thing about imagination was that you could take it anywhere, all you needed was your mind. Imagination was everywhere. You could start to imagine when you were with people or when you were alone. You could imagine that you were flying or walking or running or swimming. You could imagine that you had a pet dog or a pet squirrel, or the ability to fly like an eagle, or roam around like a T-Rex. The beautiful thing about the Power of Imagination was that it could give you the freedom to do anything at all that you ever wanted” As Mrs. Johnson continued to speak, Beth felt herself starting to smile. She felt warm in her heart as she realized that she did not have to say goodbye to Smokey, she only had to imagine that he was with her. She liked that idea, she liked that idea a whole awful lot. Mrs. Johnson smiled reassuringly as she noted the new expression on Beth's face. Mrs. Johnson looked at Beth quizzically, eyebrows raised in question as she pointed to the blank sheet of paper and pen lying in front of Beth on her desk. Beth looked in front of her and noted the pen and paper and then smiled back at Mrs. Johnson. “Maybe I could use my new gift of imagination and write a story about the day that Smokey and I found each other again,” Beth said quietly to Mrs. Johnson. “Or maybe I could write a story about the ways that Smokey and I ran through the forest, climbed up the mountain ,and then flew safely to our landing a hundred feet below.” Beth smiled brightly and laughed at the images in her mind. Mrs. Johnson sat up straighter and said, “Yes, Beth, exactly,”. “hat is what imagination is like, you can go anywhere, do anything, at any time.” Beth smiled at Mrs. Johnson and leaned forward, picked up a pencil, and began to write.

7. The next week, Beth decided to write down what she thought about Smokey rather than fanatically rushing to the tireswing, at the far end of the playground. As she wrote about the things that she saw, the things that she heard, she felt Smokey come to life in a whole new way. She remembered her conversations with Mrs. Johnson about the powers of imagination and smiled to herself. Beth smiled brighter, and broader, and began writing even more. As Beth began to add conversation to her story, between Smokey and the trees, and Smokey and herself, she realized that writing about Smokey and their great adventures together, or apart, was a lot more fun than rushing to the tireswing at the far end of the playground each week. Beth could write about her and Smokey's big day out at the zoo, or her and Smokey's special outing to he circus. Beth could talk about taking Smokey home to meet her parents, or taking Smokey to the Pet Store to buy a pet fish. Smokey was not as fond of the pet store as he was of the circus, Beth could understand why. After Beth successfully completed her collection of ideas and stories, and stories, and more stories, she put them all together neatly in her bright pink 3-ring binder labeled, “MY WORDS.” Beth walked proudly to Mrs. Johnson's desk and politely put it down in front of her. Mrs. Johnson smiled as she flipped through the many pages that Beth had just put down. Mrs. Johnson smiled to herself again as she took note of the various illustrations that Beth had added to her writing as well. There were many different sketches of Smokey. Smokey looking like a golden retriever, Smokey looking like a pit bull, Smokey looking like a Chihuahua, and Smokey looking like a Mastiff. Mrs. Johnson wrote cute appreciative comments next to each one of Beth's works of art. When Mrs. Johnson finally finished reading all of Beth's short stories, she proudly returned the binder to Beth and said, “Congratulations Beth, I think that I have my very own new author on my hands.” Beth hugged herself tightly with proud joy as she smiled with warm excitement. “This is a lot better thing to do with my time, Mrs. Johnson,” Beth said formally, “compared to chasing after Smokey at the swing.,” Mrs. Johnson nodded in agreement at Beth and smiled again. From that day forward, Beth made it a point to write a short story, each, and every, day. She went through notebooks like candy and ran through pens like her favorite cookie. 'Now, I just need a lot more notebooks, and a whole lot more pens!' Beth laughed to herself as she nodded and lowered her eyes to the blank sheet of paper which lay before. “Once upon a time...” Beth started to write.