Thread by @Faith_Salie

My 8 yr old son is writing a romance novel.
It’s called The Dark Horse.
He asked me to share Chapter One.

I find it compelling; I hope you do, too.

If you enjoy this & are breathless to know what happens to Maria, Tom, & Benjamin, please lmk so we can all read Chapter Two!

Chapter one

It was a dark and stormy night. Maria was watching the fire. Abruptly she heard a knock on the door. She hesitated to open it. Finally after 30 seconds she opened the door. And who was standing there? Tom. Let’s just forget about Maria and Tom for 30 seconds.

Tom was Maria’s suitor. Maria not only had one suitor but two. And she also had a horse named Dusty. Okay back to Maria and Tom. Maria stared at Tom and not a word was spoken.

Finally after what seemed like hours Tom said to Maria “hello Maria.” Maria glanced at Tom’s chocolate brown eyes. Finally she said to Tom “hello Tom.” Suddenly they heard gunshots in the air. Tom said “oh dear. I better get going. Good-bye Maria”.” Good-bye Tom”.

And Tom walked out the door. Maria went back to the fire. She was deep in thought. She knew that Tom was a soldier in the Union army. And she was worried for him. Now let’s talk about her other suitor.

Maria’s other suitor was the opposite of Tom. So opposite that Maria could not tell Tom about her other suitor. Her other suitor’s name was Benjamin. And you guessed it. He was a confederate soldier.

She had met Benjamin when he and his fellow soldiers were marching by her house and He had tripped. Maria went out to help him and they instantly fell in love.
Let’s travel back to Maria. Maria was sitting at the fire deep in thought.

She loved both suitors but she couldn’t decide. And even if she married one suitor the other would be sure too find out. But her secret was that she kind of loved Tom more than Benjamin.

She decided to temporarily put those thoughts behind her and take a ride on Dusty.

She went down to the barn and opened the fence and Dusty came out. She put the bit, saddle, and reins on Dusty. She opened the door to outside and started riding along the dirt path until she got to a clearing. She laid down on the soft wet grass.

She rested there for a long time and suddenly she heard voices and shouts. She thought it must be the soldiers so just in case they came into the clearing she was in, Maria got on Dusty and they both headed for home.

At home Maria looked at the clock and decided to go to bed. The next morning she made herself breakfast. It was a sunny day outside and she packed a picnic for later. Now that she was done with that she wanted to write a letter to Tom. So she started writing.

Dear Tom,
Hope you are doing well. How is everything going with the army. Later I will take a picnic to my yard. I shall do one next week. Would you care to join me?
Much love,

Maria.

After Maria scribbled that note she waited for the mail carrier to come but when he did she gave it to him. She waited and while she waited Maria wrote in her diary:

“Tuesday May 18 1862
Today not much has happened so far. I plan to bring a picnic out to my yard at 12:00. I just wrote a letter to Tom and I hope he writes back soon. I am kind of lonely.

Last night Tom came to my house. I miss Tom and Benjamin. They are both my suitors but I don’t know which one to Marry. Even if I did the other one would be sure to find out.”

Maria glanced at the clock. It was 12:00. She brought her delicious lunch of a baguette, cheese, and some roasted turkey outside. As she started to eat she heard a rustling noise behind her. It was Tom!

(That’s the end of Chapter One.)

AUTHOR’S MOM HERE:

If you’ve enjoyed this, please retweet and give a kid his writer’s wings.

He’d be so chuffed to know he has a readership of romantics.