take the beloved children’s classic “Penguin’s Hidden Talent” and change the genre of the story to create something new
8 thoughts on “writing prompt of the week…”
Penguin’s Hidden Talent
YA novel style
Hi, I’m Penguin. I’m in middle school. It’s okay, I guess. I just feel out of place, sometimes. Plus, there’s this really cute girl who doesn’t seem to know I exist.
“You’ll love school,” my parents told me my first day of middle school. Boy, parents can be clueless, am I right?
I definitely don’t like PE. We have to dress out. That’s pretty uncomfortable. Now, we have dancing. All the girls go for the football players. No one wants to dance with a penguin with no talent.
One day, after we had shaved ice time – side note and brief rant – I’m pretty sure they’re using my name without my license and consent – we went to PE and they started the dance music.
All the football players started making fun of Chilly Willy, the girl of my dreams. I told them to back off. They called me a loser, but they went away.
Then Chilly approached. I got really nervous.
“I thought what you did was brave,” she said.
“I, um, well, I didn’t think they should say something,” I – stupid, stupid, stupid, said.
“Can we dance?”
“Um (YES!!!) yes.”
She was so close to me. It was amazing.
“Thanks, you’re a good dancer,” she said right before the football team started projectile vomiting.
I thought they were going overboard a bit on my new-found love, but it turns out, someone had poisoned the cafeteria food at lunch.
“No wonder it tasted so good,” Chilly Willy said.
The poison hit everyone differently. The jocks were the first to go.
“Hold me close,” Chilly Willy said. I did.
“Hang in there,” I said.
“How… you’re not sick???” She said, looking up, her breath short, shallow.
It was then I realized my hidden talent: I was poison proof. As Chilly died in my arms, I swore revenge on the highly evil organization that surely caused this event to happen. I suspected my plans for revenge would take me through many adventures, that this was the first in a series, a series that might one day be captured on the big screen with a final movie so epic they would have to cut the final book into two parts and everyone who dressed up for the last movie would cry and cry when it was all over because they’d just given 10 years of their lives to the books and the movie.
I also vowed I would love again – and this time there would be kissing – much of it…
Are you trying to get me to copy the book Red Queen?
nice pickup billy
you’ll have to explain for me some time how the high school scored 69 points in a football game
best wishes at spain park this weekend
Penguin’s Hidden Talent
A SciFi Story
“Captain Patrick, Captain Patrick. We have a Code 3040.”
“A Code 3040? I should’ve never have trusted those Martians to fix wing propellers at our last maintenance stop. They lure you in with a quick oil change and then find five other things wrong and want to charge…”
“No, Captain Patrick. Code 3040. Code 3010 is wing propellers. Code 3040 is an attack from Pluto.”
“I know, I know,” Captain Patrick said. He wished his underlings could get his brilliance, his subtle sarcasm. Hey, he just wished they’d have read his memoir and known his bitter rivalry with Pluto.
It started when Patrick was a baby. Pluto-ians attacked his planet, threatening to destroy it. His mom and father sent Patrick in a rocket far, far away, to the planet earth. Patrick spent the first part of his life thinking he was just like everyone else until his superpowers began to manifest.
BOOM!!! The Pluto-ians were now within striking range and battering Starship Mayfieldya. The starship was named after Patrick’s mentor who was currently back in the early 2000s preparing the world for interstellar time-travel, the Apple Watch, and life without “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.”
BOOM!!!
“Captain Patrick, we can’t hold course for much longer.”
“Why won’t they ever let the Wookie win?” Patrick muttered to himself as he called for his secret weapon.
“Lieutenant Penguin to control desk,” Patrick voiced into the intercom.
No Penguin.
BOOM!!!
“Lieutenant Penguin.”
BOOM!!!
“Lieutenant Penguin!!!”
“Sorry…”
BOOM!!!
“Sorry, I was trying to get the toaster down from the scaffolding,” Penguin said.
“How did the toaster get up in the…” Patrick got out before another BOOM! brought him back to the task at hand.
“Lieutenant Penguin, I need you to man the bombers.”
“But I’m not ready.”
BOOM!!!
“There’s no time to ‘be ready.’ There’s only now. And you’re ready. You have the…”
“Force, I know. The force is strong within me.”
“No, I don’t think you have the force. But you have talent. Hidden talent.”
That day, Penguin discovered his hidden talent. The Pluto-ians were destroyed, Patrick had his revenge on the planet as well, and they were all still done in time to watch “Buffy” reruns that night.
The toaster was still up in the scaffolding though.
Penguin’s Hidden Talent
A Sports Biography
Penguin was paired with Tone for match play on the golf course.
“I’m so happy to have a friend – again – well, really for the first time,” Tone said.
“Tone, just because we’re paired up on the golf course doesn’t make us friends,” Penguin said.
“It’s okay, I can go slow,” Tone said, “Slow’s the only way I go.”
Penguin and Tone were paired against Billy and Cole. The competition was fierce because Cole kept getting disappointing news about fantasy football. As for Billy, he was killing it – but so was Penguin.
“WOW!!! You swing good!!!” Tone shouted in the midst of Penguin’s next swing.
“Tone, you’re my partner.”
“See? I told you I would win you over.”
“I meant you’re my partner on the golf course. You’re not supposed to interrupt my swing.”
Tone began to cry. Penguin felt guilty.
“Hey, kid, let me buy you an ice cream at the next hole.”
Tone perked up at the news. He took out his biggest club and swung all his might.
“Has anyone told you about moving up from plastic club heads?” Penguin asked as the two walked the 10 feet to Tone’s next shot.
“I’m so happy to have a new coach, let me tell you about my old one…”
Five holes and many tears later…
“That… sniff… was… sniff… when I knew coach wanted a family more than he wanted me…”
“Um, Tone, you’re ball is five holes back,” Penguin began, “You stopped playing once you starting talking about your coach…”
“Ice, ice, ice cream babies for sale!!! Get your ice cold ice, ice, ice cream babies!!!”
Penguin had made a promise. Never in his wildest imagination had he dreamed this was the sort of course that sold baby ice cream. Five minutes later, seemingly from the depths of despair, Tone had rebounded from the loss of his coach and was singing…
Alright, stop
grab a club and listen
Tone is back with my new friend Penguin
Dancin’, doin’ my Hall Squats lightly
flowin’ with the up-downs daily and nightly.
Will I ever stop?
Yo, don’t know.
Let the grass grow, and I’ll mow.
Tone went on to talk about Billy and Cole being “jealous, cuz I’m out gettin’ mine” and other such matters as he walked with the group.
“Well, I guess I’ll finally have enough money to buy my sister back,” Cole said as the four walked off the 18th green.
“Check your scorecard,” Penguin said – with a smile.
Sure enough, Penguin’s hidden talent with accounting numbers had saved the day – again.
“But how is that even possible…” Billy, being extremely literal minded and mathematically sound, tried to begin to say and piece together the impracticality of losing to a penguin and a kid with plastic golf clubs – that stopped playing about Hole 4.
“Everything is possible for those that don’t believe in math,” Penguin added.
“I believe I can fly…” Tone began to sing.
Penguin ran away. He’d been through the 1990s once before. He saw no need to go through it again.
My favorite story was the sci-fi genre.
And how DID the toaster get up in the scaffolding? They are usually high up.
What will the next writing prompt be? I cannot wait to find out!
Penguins Hidden talent
a dance story
Kinzie
Penguin went to school dreading the dance coming Emma had asked him out and she got down. Not knowing that Livy his bestie was in on it and answered yes to a dumb question she asked at the same time. He arrived at Mayfield middle school practicing how to avoid Alex who was very violent he ran in.
“So I need you to where this” Emma rushed to him barely breathing out her words.
Principal Patrick walked up and slapped them saying “Idiots like you two should know the rules but your are idiots so no girls and boys talking about making out now get to class”.
They both had Gracie who was always happy until her mom Delaina walks in and then she cusses really bad. Unlucky today was that day. Well it was his favorite class math he could add and subtract like nobody’s business but who cared. At lunch they were trying to see who could sing the best with grapes in their mouth spit and grapes were everywhere.
Livy the backstabbing jerk said “Penguin you try it could be your talent”.
Twice twice a bee. He lost. It was advisory the dreaded part 6th grade was called to the dance Emma hit the quan and the whip and nae nae amazing. A slow song came on and then the music stopped the d.j ty, yelled “I cant add pixels who can”.
Penguin ran up and after 5 minutes the music was playing Say my name say my name”.Penguin hated beyonce so he left and he knew his talent.
Penguins hidden talent
A horror story
Its penguins first day at school, and he is meeting some of his old friends from last year and there were some new kids at school this year too. so as penguin was walking to the classroom he sees his buddy Rasco the rhino and he stops him to see what class he has first and what do you know its science. Penguin hates science because Mr. waters teaches it. The reason that Penguin hates Mr. waters is because last year at recess Mr. Waters comes up to penguin and he told him that if he goofed off in his class again that he would pay for it.So he goofed off again and this time Karma was out to get him. Penguin was not worried about that though, so he went on with his day.
After about a month or so the school starts to host a talent show because he walked by it on his way to lunch. He wants to be in it because all of his other friends were going to be in it, and since they have a talent. Penguin couldn’t wait to be in it the only problem was that he didn’t really have a talent! To be in the talent show you kinda need to have a talent or at least look like you have a talent. Penguin started to worry because he wanted to be in the talent show it was just that he didn’t know what to do.
It’s been a week now and Penguin still doesn’t know what to do, so he starts to go to his friends for some help and see if they can teach/tell him what to do. First he goes to Tyler the tiger and his thing is juggling chainsaws and so he give two to penguin and as he gets the hag of it Tyler the tiger throws one to him and penguin didn’t know what to do with it once he caught it so he threw it back and Tyler wasn’t ready for it and it cuts him in half and kills him. Penguin gets worried and runs off and forgets about it, then he heads over to Gena giraffe and she does magic tricks and right now she was sawing herself in half but instead she got penguin to help her. She told him to grab the fake saw but instead he accidentally grabs the real one and Gina doesn’t know about it and he starts sawing through her and cut her right in half, and kills her. So he runs off and doesn’t worry about it and goes to Rasco’s house and he was practicing his bow shooting and he was using a statue to shoot an apple off of its head. He gets penguin to shoot at it and he misses and shoots the statue right in half. He messes it up so Rasco goes and takes the statues place. Penguin shot and missed by an inch and hit rasco in the forehead and kills him.
Penguin realizes that his talent is killing people!!!! And his friends lived all deadly ever after.!
Penguin’s Hidden Talent
YA novel style
Hi, I’m Penguin. I’m in middle school. It’s okay, I guess. I just feel out of place, sometimes. Plus, there’s this really cute girl who doesn’t seem to know I exist.
“You’ll love school,” my parents told me my first day of middle school. Boy, parents can be clueless, am I right?
I definitely don’t like PE. We have to dress out. That’s pretty uncomfortable. Now, we have dancing. All the girls go for the football players. No one wants to dance with a penguin with no talent.
One day, after we had shaved ice time – side note and brief rant – I’m pretty sure they’re using my name without my license and consent – we went to PE and they started the dance music.
All the football players started making fun of Chilly Willy, the girl of my dreams. I told them to back off. They called me a loser, but they went away.
Then Chilly approached. I got really nervous.
“I thought what you did was brave,” she said.
“I, um, well, I didn’t think they should say something,” I – stupid, stupid, stupid, said.
“Can we dance?”
“Um (YES!!!) yes.”
She was so close to me. It was amazing.
“Thanks, you’re a good dancer,” she said right before the football team started projectile vomiting.
I thought they were going overboard a bit on my new-found love, but it turns out, someone had poisoned the cafeteria food at lunch.
“No wonder it tasted so good,” Chilly Willy said.
The poison hit everyone differently. The jocks were the first to go.
“Hold me close,” Chilly Willy said. I did.
“Hang in there,” I said.
“How… you’re not sick???” She said, looking up, her breath short, shallow.
It was then I realized my hidden talent: I was poison proof. As Chilly died in my arms, I swore revenge on the highly evil organization that surely caused this event to happen. I suspected my plans for revenge would take me through many adventures, that this was the first in a series, a series that might one day be captured on the big screen with a final movie so epic they would have to cut the final book into two parts and everyone who dressed up for the last movie would cry and cry when it was all over because they’d just given 10 years of their lives to the books and the movie.
I also vowed I would love again – and this time there would be kissing – much of it…
Are you trying to get me to copy the book Red Queen?
nice pickup billy
you’ll have to explain for me some time how the high school scored 69 points in a football game
best wishes at spain park this weekend
Penguin’s Hidden Talent
A SciFi Story
“Captain Patrick, Captain Patrick. We have a Code 3040.”
“A Code 3040? I should’ve never have trusted those Martians to fix wing propellers at our last maintenance stop. They lure you in with a quick oil change and then find five other things wrong and want to charge…”
“No, Captain Patrick. Code 3040. Code 3010 is wing propellers. Code 3040 is an attack from Pluto.”
“I know, I know,” Captain Patrick said. He wished his underlings could get his brilliance, his subtle sarcasm. Hey, he just wished they’d have read his memoir and known his bitter rivalry with Pluto.
It started when Patrick was a baby. Pluto-ians attacked his planet, threatening to destroy it. His mom and father sent Patrick in a rocket far, far away, to the planet earth. Patrick spent the first part of his life thinking he was just like everyone else until his superpowers began to manifest.
BOOM!!! The Pluto-ians were now within striking range and battering Starship Mayfieldya. The starship was named after Patrick’s mentor who was currently back in the early 2000s preparing the world for interstellar time-travel, the Apple Watch, and life without “Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.”
BOOM!!!
“Captain Patrick, we can’t hold course for much longer.”
“Why won’t they ever let the Wookie win?” Patrick muttered to himself as he called for his secret weapon.
“Lieutenant Penguin to control desk,” Patrick voiced into the intercom.
No Penguin.
BOOM!!!
“Lieutenant Penguin.”
BOOM!!!
“Lieutenant Penguin!!!”
“Sorry…”
BOOM!!!
“Sorry, I was trying to get the toaster down from the scaffolding,” Penguin said.
“How did the toaster get up in the…” Patrick got out before another BOOM! brought him back to the task at hand.
“Lieutenant Penguin, I need you to man the bombers.”
“But I’m not ready.”
BOOM!!!
“There’s no time to ‘be ready.’ There’s only now. And you’re ready. You have the…”
“Force, I know. The force is strong within me.”
“No, I don’t think you have the force. But you have talent. Hidden talent.”
That day, Penguin discovered his hidden talent. The Pluto-ians were destroyed, Patrick had his revenge on the planet as well, and they were all still done in time to watch “Buffy” reruns that night.
The toaster was still up in the scaffolding though.
Penguin’s Hidden Talent
A Sports Biography
Penguin was paired with Tone for match play on the golf course.
“I’m so happy to have a friend – again – well, really for the first time,” Tone said.
“Tone, just because we’re paired up on the golf course doesn’t make us friends,” Penguin said.
“It’s okay, I can go slow,” Tone said, “Slow’s the only way I go.”
Penguin and Tone were paired against Billy and Cole. The competition was fierce because Cole kept getting disappointing news about fantasy football. As for Billy, he was killing it – but so was Penguin.
“WOW!!! You swing good!!!” Tone shouted in the midst of Penguin’s next swing.
“Tone, you’re my partner.”
“See? I told you I would win you over.”
“I meant you’re my partner on the golf course. You’re not supposed to interrupt my swing.”
Tone began to cry. Penguin felt guilty.
“Hey, kid, let me buy you an ice cream at the next hole.”
Tone perked up at the news. He took out his biggest club and swung all his might.
“Has anyone told you about moving up from plastic club heads?” Penguin asked as the two walked the 10 feet to Tone’s next shot.
“I’m so happy to have a new coach, let me tell you about my old one…”
Five holes and many tears later…
“That… sniff… was… sniff… when I knew coach wanted a family more than he wanted me…”
“Um, Tone, you’re ball is five holes back,” Penguin began, “You stopped playing once you starting talking about your coach…”
“Ice, ice, ice cream babies for sale!!! Get your ice cold ice, ice, ice cream babies!!!”
Penguin had made a promise. Never in his wildest imagination had he dreamed this was the sort of course that sold baby ice cream. Five minutes later, seemingly from the depths of despair, Tone had rebounded from the loss of his coach and was singing…
Alright, stop
grab a club and listen
Tone is back with my new friend Penguin
Dancin’, doin’ my Hall Squats lightly
flowin’ with the up-downs daily and nightly.
Will I ever stop?
Yo, don’t know.
Let the grass grow, and I’ll mow.
Tone went on to talk about Billy and Cole being “jealous, cuz I’m out gettin’ mine” and other such matters as he walked with the group.
“Well, I guess I’ll finally have enough money to buy my sister back,” Cole said as the four walked off the 18th green.
“Check your scorecard,” Penguin said – with a smile.
Sure enough, Penguin’s hidden talent with accounting numbers had saved the day – again.
“But how is that even possible…” Billy, being extremely literal minded and mathematically sound, tried to begin to say and piece together the impracticality of losing to a penguin and a kid with plastic golf clubs – that stopped playing about Hole 4.
“Everything is possible for those that don’t believe in math,” Penguin added.
“I believe I can fly…” Tone began to sing.
Penguin ran away. He’d been through the 1990s once before. He saw no need to go through it again.
My favorite story was the sci-fi genre.
And how DID the toaster get up in the scaffolding? They are usually high up.
What will the next writing prompt be? I cannot wait to find out!
Penguins Hidden talent
a dance story
Kinzie
Penguin went to school dreading the dance coming Emma had asked him out and she got down. Not knowing that Livy his bestie was in on it and answered yes to a dumb question she asked at the same time. He arrived at Mayfield middle school practicing how to avoid Alex who was very violent he ran in.
“So I need you to where this” Emma rushed to him barely breathing out her words.
Principal Patrick walked up and slapped them saying “Idiots like you two should know the rules but your are idiots so no girls and boys talking about making out now get to class”.
They both had Gracie who was always happy until her mom Delaina walks in and then she cusses really bad. Unlucky today was that day. Well it was his favorite class math he could add and subtract like nobody’s business but who cared. At lunch they were trying to see who could sing the best with grapes in their mouth spit and grapes were everywhere.
Livy the backstabbing jerk said “Penguin you try it could be your talent”.
Twice twice a bee. He lost. It was advisory the dreaded part 6th grade was called to the dance Emma hit the quan and the whip and nae nae amazing. A slow song came on and then the music stopped the d.j ty, yelled “I cant add pixels who can”.
Penguin ran up and after 5 minutes the music was playing Say my name say my name”.Penguin hated beyonce so he left and he knew his talent.
Penguins hidden talent
A horror story
Its penguins first day at school, and he is meeting some of his old friends from last year and there were some new kids at school this year too. so as penguin was walking to the classroom he sees his buddy Rasco the rhino and he stops him to see what class he has first and what do you know its science. Penguin hates science because Mr. waters teaches it. The reason that Penguin hates Mr. waters is because last year at recess Mr. Waters comes up to penguin and he told him that if he goofed off in his class again that he would pay for it.So he goofed off again and this time Karma was out to get him. Penguin was not worried about that though, so he went on with his day.
After about a month or so the school starts to host a talent show because he walked by it on his way to lunch. He wants to be in it because all of his other friends were going to be in it, and since they have a talent. Penguin couldn’t wait to be in it the only problem was that he didn’t really have a talent! To be in the talent show you kinda need to have a talent or at least look like you have a talent. Penguin started to worry because he wanted to be in the talent show it was just that he didn’t know what to do.
It’s been a week now and Penguin still doesn’t know what to do, so he starts to go to his friends for some help and see if they can teach/tell him what to do. First he goes to Tyler the tiger and his thing is juggling chainsaws and so he give two to penguin and as he gets the hag of it Tyler the tiger throws one to him and penguin didn’t know what to do with it once he caught it so he threw it back and Tyler wasn’t ready for it and it cuts him in half and kills him. Penguin gets worried and runs off and forgets about it, then he heads over to Gena giraffe and she does magic tricks and right now she was sawing herself in half but instead she got penguin to help her. She told him to grab the fake saw but instead he accidentally grabs the real one and Gina doesn’t know about it and he starts sawing through her and cut her right in half, and kills her. So he runs off and doesn’t worry about it and goes to Rasco’s house and he was practicing his bow shooting and he was using a statue to shoot an apple off of its head. He gets penguin to shoot at it and he misses and shoots the statue right in half. He messes it up so Rasco goes and takes the statues place. Penguin shot and missed by an inch and hit rasco in the forehead and kills him.
Penguin realizes that his talent is killing people!!!! And his friends lived all deadly ever after.!