Listen WithYour Ears
By Kimberly
It was spring, right after the Lantern Festival and all the children in the village were at school. Shen and his friend went to the same school. Shen talked too much and was a troublemaker. His friend, Han, was smart and always tried his best to pay attention. He was also clever.
One day Shen's class was practicing their characters when Shen started to talk Han.
"Hey, come to my house and we can have tea after school."
"Shea, Shea, but no, I can't. Now be quiet so we can learn," Han whispered back.
Shen was angry that Han wouldn't talk to him.
"Speak to me Han," Shen shouted.
The teacher turned around.
"If you talk too much you will make more mistakes," the teacher said and turned back around.
But that wasn't enough to keep Shen from talking.
" I don't care what the teacher says," he thought.
" Hey, Han look what I can do," Shen whispered as he spun his calligraphy brush in the air.
Shen was lucky that no ink came out of his brush. Shen talked so much that he NEVER worked.
Shen tried to talk to Han, again, but he didn't listen. Shen was going crazy. He didn't think it was fair for this to happen to him. He was just trying to have a little fun in class. The class was practicing the word "mouth" and Shen tried too.
" Han, show me how to do mouth," Shen whispered.
Han just ignored him. So Shen tried. When he looked down at his rice paper he realized he'd made a mistake. The teacher, who was walking around helping the students with their calligraphy, saw Shen's mistake. Then she reminded him, as she often did before: "If you talk too much, you will make more mistakes."
Shen almost learned his lesson. But again, he didn't listen.
Then he thought, " The teacher is right. I should pay attention. I would understand things better. I can be funny sometimes, but not all the time."