A Story With Holes - (and a contest)

Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Fidelity by Regina Spektor.






Considering my last post, I thought we needed something more upbeat and I've been wanting to share it for quite a while. I started this a long time ago and forgoet that I never finished it. Some of the questions in the comments were "awaiting moderation" and I never received them. This is long overdue for a resurrection.

This is an adventure that literally hearkens back to my elementary school days. I was in a... unique class. I don't know what else to call it. We took a test (I was bribed with doughnuts to take it. I'm not kidding. That was the only way I agreed since it was optional. That and they said I didn't have to catch up on any of the work I missed during the test so it was bonus points for me).

Those who tested high enough were put in an accelerated program of sorts. In my fifth and sixth grade year, we were put on an experimental program (it may have been a grant. I'm not sure. Kids really don't pay attention to that kind of thing) where we got to do all sorts of projects to stretch our minds and creativity and stuff like that. We did a lot of art projects, and we also played a stock market "game" where we actually bought real stocks, tracked the figures and figured out each week whether we had made or lost money (that was one of our math assignments). We researched the companies ourselves and tried to guess which ones would make the most money. (I know we had Disney. I mean, how could it not make money to us?) :) We ended up taking second place both years and the money we received bought us a bus, pizza, and a day exploring museums and parks downtown. We each had a bus row to our selves. It was most posh by our elementary school standards.

I remember the art projects the most. We did them everywhere. It was fun and to me, in every what, they stimulated my creativity and stretched my mind. I don't know what the results of the test said at the end of those two years, but I know it had a huge impact on me. Our teacher also read to us everyday for a half an hour after lunch. I think that was absolutely critical to my development as a reader.

I know my curiosity and passion for life increased because of that. This is something I hope for. I really hope that kids are still being taught these "non-essentials" in school and given every opportunity to see the possibility of their own limits. It was one of the best times I can remember. I know I started reading books on my own and questioning life and wanting to find out answers myself because of those experiences.

But one of the things I remember and loved best was another "game" we played. It happened every day right after lunch (right after reading). It is called a Story with Holes. The story is a mystery and you have to solve it by asking yes or no questions. Once you fill in all of the holes, you see the whole story. I loved it, as did everyone in my class. It kept us busy and guessing for upwards of an hour. I loved them so much and think they are fantastic to this day. And now I'm going to share them with you.

Remember - it's a short story (very short story) and you have to fill in the holes. Ask any yes or no question and I will answer with a "yes," "no," or "irrelevant" to the story. And to make this more fun, first person to get the entire story right wins a book. :)


Are you ready?


Here is the story*

When the music stopped, she died.

Aaaaaannnnnd - go!** :D





*and incidentally, this is the first story with holes I ever heard too. Seems appropriate. :)

**and yes, I've already deleted the first post, so you can't go back and cheat. The only ones with a distinct advantage are the ones who were hardcore participants the first time. :)