{"id":5051,"date":"2026-04-14T00:05:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T04:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=5051"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:53:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:53:36","slug":"l-lesson-learned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=5051","title":{"rendered":"L – Lesson Learned"},"content":{"rendered":"

My Theme this April is “My Muse Says…”<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The Story Spark was Tell the Story.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Writing prompt was picture-driven.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Here are the pictures that I chose:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \"\"<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The following is what my muse told me to write:<\/em><\/p>\n

———————-<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

L – Lesson Learned<\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The game was set. That meant that we all had to be quiet. Everyone had to go to one of three stations. At that station, they had to do a Truth or Dare that was listed on a piece of paper.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She hated playing this game. She wanted to do something else.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGo hide in your tent!\u201d her older sister said. \u201cThat way we don\u2019t have to look at your grumpy face.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not grumpy.\u201d She just was not ready to play games with others. She didn\u2019t like it when they laughed at her every time she made a mistake or didn\u2019t understand a rule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But her mom said that she had to play. Her mom thought it was good for her. \u201cYou have to learn to work and play with others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d was the response she gave. \u201cCan\u2019t I just be me? Why do I have to be like everyone else?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that is the way it is in this world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So there she sat in her make-believe tent. Looking down at her lap. She dreamed of being older, free from all these rules and forced interactions. She saw herself in a field of flowers, arms spread wide, hat in hand, and screaming as loud as she could, \u201cI AM ME. I CAN BE ANYONE I WANT TO BE. NO ONE HAS TO WATCH OVER ME AND TELL ME WHO I\u2019M SUPPOSED TO BE. I AM FREE!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne station had been completed by the others. It\u2019s time to move to your next station,\u201d her sister called.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This time, she stared at the side of her tent. She saw herself in a great castle. She was wearing a crown on her head. Looking over the castle wall, she could see the people below her. They bowed when they saw her. She was respected and admired. She felt good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLast station,\u201d her sister said.<\/span><\/p>\n

This time, she closed her eyes and listened to the silence. It was a warm, comforting silence. It gave her time to think for herself. Who she was, and who she wanted to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The game ended, and everyone left the room except for her. Her mother, who had not been in the room at all, came over to her and asked how she did, and if she had learned anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

She responded, \u201cIt was great. I\u2019m glad I was here to play. I learned so much about myself and how to be. I don\u2019t think I need to do that game again. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve learned all I can from it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her mother smiled at her and said, \u201cI told you so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She thought to herself, and I told you what you wanted to hear. I hope that was enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My Theme this April is “My Muse Says…” The Story Spark was Tell the Story. The Writing prompt was picture-driven. Here are the pictures that I chose: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0     The following is what my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[509,4,7],"tags":[70,510,408],"class_list":["post-5051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-to-z-blog-challenge-2026","category-original-stories","category-story-writing","tag-a-to-z-blog-challenge","tag-a-to-z-blog-challenge-2026","tag-picture-prompt"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5051"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5069,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5051\/revisions\/5069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}