Chapter Two: Our House in Berlin:

*A little story written by Claudia Gains at age seven in her first grade class assignment*

My House

There was once a girl who lived in a house with her mommy and big brother. The house was pretty and old. The biggest one on the block! It’s like ten feet high! The roof hides the sun from the girl and her family. They called it the Lavender house because it was pretty and purple in the summer. Plus, vines grew all over it. Mommy said they were protecting the house from evil demons. Brother thought they were ugly. The girl loved the vines though. They always formed many shapes during the summer. (They look very ugly and brown during the summer though.) The house sat in front of the school where the girl goes. Because of this, the bus doesn’t come into her neighborhood. So, the girl and her brother always have to work to school with her mommy in the morning. The kids always walk home in the afternoon though.

This house always has cats and toys in the front yard. The girl always comes home to play with the cats and toys after school before she does her schoolwork. Sometimes, the girl will go swimming when it’s hot outside in the pool that her mommy bought last year. The brother goes to swim in the big pool at the YMCA. The girl wants to go, but she can’t because she still can’t swim that well yet. When the weather is bad, the girl goes to her room and plays with the many toys and fun things that she has in her room. She stays there until it is time to eat. At the table, the mommy, brother, and girl all say grace and eat. Then, both mommy and girl do homework and read before they get dressed for bed. When she sleeps, the girl dreams about the toys, school, her pool, spaghetti, her mommy, daddy, and brother. That is a good day for her!