August 12--The Ant Story, by Erik

Erik loves to write stories, with the aid of mom or dad. Since his writing and spelling are nowhere near good enough to keep up with his prolific writing, he dictates to us and we type them. For the most part, I make only a few suggestions on grammar and format.

His favorite story is also his first story. He started writing The Ant Story a year and a half ago. It is currently 16 pages and 23 chapters long. He has 6 other active stories on my computer, and one very long story on Carl's.

Today, for your reading enjoyment, here is Chapter 23 from The Ant Story, written just moments ago.

Chapter 23 The ant goes fishing

“Were we supposed to bring bait?” asked the ant’s father. “It’s fishing day today!” The ant said, “Fish are too big for us to eat.” The ant’s father said, “Oh, come on! The fish are little here; smaller than a mouse!” The ant got a confused look on his face. “Don’t be confused,” said the ant’s mother. “You’ll like the fish. They are salmon!” “YUM!” cried the ant, excitedly. “I’m ready to go right now!”
Then his brother said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute! We have to get ready first!” “Oh, really?” said the ant. “Of course,” his sister replied, waking up. “I’m going to go, too.”
After everyone was ready, his mom looked around the house. She got a confused look on her face. “Where is our baby?” she asked. “We have no baby,” said the ant’s father. “Oh, really,” said the ant’s mother. “I forgot that.”
So they went fishing. They went to their favorite fishing pond. They got bait on their hooks and waited for the fish to start biting. Suddenly, they heard a shout and they gasped. It was only their mother, saying “THE FISH AREN’T HUNGRY YET!”
So they waited and then a fish started biting on the ant’s hook. “I caught a fish!” the ant cried. The ant pulled the fish out of the water and asked, “Has anyone else caught a fish yet?” His brother and sister said, “No, at least not yet.” The ant said, “Mother and father, how many fish did you catch?” His father said, “Well, um, six,” and his mother said, “Well, um, seven.” Then his brother said, “I caught a fish!” Then his sister said, “I caught a fish, too!”
After that, they went home and they ate the fish for dinner. They saved five for the next day’s dinner. They loved the fish, and said they were so tasty. “I really enjoyed them,” said his mother.