Here’s a little story I cooked up for Ms. Susanna Hill’s Valentiny contest (Get it? A tiny Valentine’s story?😁)
Here’s the rules: it needs to be geared to kids 12 and under, be about Valentine’s day, and have someone who feels guilty. Oh yeah! AND it must be 214 words or less😉
This story was inspired by a picture that Facebook recommended I use for a response to a post. This little guy, pictured below, would normally just be a cute penguin, but after participating in Storystorm, I had a whole new perspective, and this story was born.
Without further ado, here’s Morty’s Valentine’s day story in 214 words:
Morty’s Valentine’s Day
Morty’s a penguin with all the moves, and he’s ready to use them this Valentine’s Day.
As Zelda glides by, Morty lifts a kissing plant above his head and winks.
Zelda rolls her eyes and struts away.
Morty straightens his tie and slicks back his feathers as Trisha waddles over.
“Hey, Trisha, wanna dance?”
He takes a step, and…
SLIP—he slides right into her!
They luge down a path—AHH!—straight into the water: SPLASH!
“Nice day for a swim?” Morty ventures.
Trisha shakes her feathers and huffs away.
“I’ll never find ‘The One,'” Morty thinks as he plops down.
He pokes at the snow, slowly making his strokes bigger and bigger until…
“Wow!” Karissa whispers. “Did you do that?”
“Oh, this?” Morty shuffles shyly. “It’s just scribbles…”
“Can you draw me?” Karissa asks.
“Uh…um…erm…you? I don’t know…”
“Oh…I understand.” She turns away.
“NO! Wait!”
“Wait? For what? For you to say I’m not pretty?”
“No, not at all. It’s just…you’re—”
“Not good enough to draw?”
“No! You’re the prettiest penguin I’ve ever seen! I could never make anything as beautiful as you.”
“Oh, Morty!” Karissa throws her flippers around him. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has very said to me.”
MWAH!
Best Valentine’s day ever!
The end.
Now, as always, we wonder, where’s the math? Everywhere!
The velocity at which the comical luge happened, the likelihood of any of Morty’s ideas working, the number of times poor Morty struck out, and the infinite love he and Karissa now share😊
Happy almost Valentine’s day. I hope you enjoyed!
And as a special treat. Come back to the Mathiseverywhere blog for an interview and book giveaway with debut author Vivian Kirkfield! Just posted yesterday here, so you still have time to enter the giveaway!
Kaitlyn Leann Sanchez 
He totally looks like a Morty! So cute in his little penguin suit striking out left and right. Good luck!
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So cute. The photo fits your character perfectly. Good luck!
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Thank you! The photo actually inspired his character, so your comment means the world to me, that means I was able to write his character from the pic! These contests hell me grow so much
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This is such a sweet story!
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Thank you 😁
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You know I love the math tie-in! Great story! I’m glad Morty learned how to treat the lady penguins and found love!
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Yes!!😁 So happy when others appreciate the math, too. He did grow exponentially didn’t he😉 a woman will do that to a man
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So this reminds me of one of my seventh graders who said he asked ten girls to go out with him and they all said no. I told him he just hadn’t met the right one – AND that he was way too young to be worried about dating anyway!!
Good luck with this second story. Ambitious to write two!
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Hahahaha! That’s adorable. I had a boyfriend around this time in 7th grade, we both admitted after that it was for the Valentine’s gift, oh kids. Hope he finds his girl someday. And thank you, I wrote the other first, this one was a surprise based on the cute picture
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A very cute entry! Good luck!
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Aw thank you😊
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The little Penguin’s efforts to find a valentine tickled me. I can already imagine cute illustrations and … a series of PB adventures with this little Penguin. Keep going. I can’t read enough of these cute stories.
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Oh, you have no idea what that means to me, thank you, thank you, thank you!!😍
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“Morty straightens his tie and slicks back his feathers” I can totally see it–determined confidence!
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Thank you 😁
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Love Morty! I want to take him home with me!
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Omg that makes me so happy 😍😍
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So debonair and so cute, that Morty! His character matches his picture 🙂 I love that he attempts a Valentine version of mistletoe and tries to find the bright side of his dance turning into a luge ride with “nice day for a swim” 🙂 I’m glad he finally found his true love 🙂 Thanks for joining in the Valentiny fun, Kaitlyn!
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You get me, Susanna!! This was such a great challenge, I’ve never tried writing for a character before. I can’t thank you enough for these awesome contests! They help me grow and make me feel so proud 😊
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