Nancy Needs Help

“Why can’t I think of anything to write?” Nancy murmured

to herself. “I thought that writing a letter would be
easier.”

The young third grader was sitting at a table staring at

a blank sheet of paper and an envelope addressed to a
Mina Miller in South Dakota. Her eyes wandered the room
as she tried to think of something to write about. Where
should she begin? How much should she share? What if
Mina didn’t like her?

“Moommm,” Nancy yelled across the room, “Mooomm, I

need help!”

Her mom stopped stirring her pot of macaroni and

cheese and set her spoon down. She walked from the
kitchen to where Nancy was seated in the next room.

“What is it?” she asked.

Nancy twisted the pencil between her hands as she

spoke, “I really need help writing a letter to my pen pal.
My teacher, Mrs. Williams, needs to check it over before I
send it in the mail. I don’t know what to write about, and I
don’t know how to start.”
“Why don’t you start by introducing yourself? Then you
can ask her about her family and school. You should
include a picture, too, so she knows what you look like,”
her mom said with a smile. Nancy scribbled down some
ideas.

As Nancy rode on the bus the next day she thought

about her pen pal and what she would write. Again, no
ideas came to her mind. Then, she walked down the
hallway to lunch, and she still could not think of
anything to write. Later, as she was leaving school, she
thought to stop by Mrs. Williams’ room to talk.

“Hello, Nancy, is there something you need?”

“Hi, Mrs. Williams, I really need help with writing my

letter, it’s taking an eternity to write! I want it to be
perfect, but I can’t even think how to start!” Nancy said
in desperation.

“Nancy, it doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have

to worry about what your pen pal thinks so much. It’s
just like meeting a new friend. All you do is start with
introducing yourself like you would a new person. What
do you think you would do next to get to know them?”

“Do you … ask questions?” she asked hesitantly.

 “Yes, exactly,” assured Mrs. Williams. “You could ask
anything you want, such as: ‘How many siblings do you have?
What is your favorite thing to do? Do you like to read?’ After
that, you can talk about you and all your favorite things. Just
be yourself.”

Nancy left school and hopped on the bus feeling much

better about her letter. Maybe writing a letter isn’t as hard
as I thought it would be, Nancy thought to herself as she
peered out the window.

On the following day, Friday, Nancy handed in her letter

for Mrs. Williams to look over. This is what it said:

Dear Mina,

Hello! My name is Nancy. I’m so happy we are pen pals.

My mom and my teacher said I should ask you some
questions. Do you have any siblings? Do you have any pets?
What is your favorite thing to do?

I have a small family. It’s just me, my mom, my dad. Oh!

and of course , my dog. His name is Elvis. I love playing
catch with him and swiming in the pond with him. My
favorite thing to do is play bored games with my family and
freinds. I hope you have a great day!
 Sincerely,

Nancy

P.S. I hope you send a letter back soon!

Nancy’s teacher handed back her letter and said, “Nice

letter, Nancy! There are only a few spelling and grammar
mistakes that you need to fix.”

Before she mailed the letter she slipped in a photo of

herself and a friendship bracelet. The young girl had a huge
grin on her face the rest of the day. Writing letters was
actually fun! She thought to herself, Now who can I send a
letter to next?

The End