essay story unexpected incident family unity

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March 12, 2017 by Adelle Belnap

The Stories That Bind Us – Creating Family Unity (she: Adelle)

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Do you know your family history? Try sharing stories with your kids to bring past and present generations together! Here’s a Family Night lesson to get you started.

What makes a family strong, resilient, and happy? It is something we all desire. There are many articles and books written on this topic. One of my favorite is an article published in the New York Times written by Bruce Feiler. It is titled, “The Stories That Bind Us.” (Link Here) I like this particular essay because the principles taught make sense, it feels right, and it is easy to implement.

This article teaches a simple principle that draws the generations of a family tree together and makes the overall family resiliency strong. It is all about stories. What is your family story? Talk about it tonight with this fun Family Night Lesson.

The stories that bind us are often left untold! Share some family history with this family night lesson prepared by Adelle. Get all the info at www.orsoshesays.com today!

Lesson: I recommend reading the article in advance to teaching this lesson. Or, read it together as a group. It will only take a few minutes and it will help you understand the lesson better!

First, define what family means. There are two parts to the common definition. The first is, “A group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.” Obviously, this ideal isn’t always the case, and that is ok!

The second part of the definition is, “All the descendants of a common ancestor.” Adding this part of the definition to the world family is important for this lesson. We are part of something bigger than just our single family unit.

Talk about who your family is. What is Grandma’s name? Who is Aunt Susan? Where did they come from? Where do they live? Pull out a scrapbook and show your children pictures of your extended family. I love to look at physical similarities. Do your kids have Great Grandpa’s nose? Did they inherit Uncle Billy’s curly hair? Is there a trait that is consistent through the generations? The grandkids in my family are really lucky when they get my father’s bright blue eyes. My siblings and I all secretly hope our kids will be born with them, because they are the most vibrant beautiful blue eyes a person could have.

Why is it important for your children to know about their ancestors? In the article Dr. Duke said, “that children who have the most self-confidence have what he and Dr. Fivush call a strong intergenerational self. Meaning, they know they belong to something bigger than themselves.” Their research points to a direct correlation between a child’s ability to cope with stress (general happiness and resiliency) and the child’s sense of being part of a larger family. When a child knows that they are a link in a strong chain of people, it makes life easier to handle. Each person is not battling life alone, but as part of a greater whole.

Isn’t that an amazing gift? We are all part of a family that is bonded together through trials and success. The more you know and your children know about your ancestors, the stronger the family bond can be.

So, how to you make this link solid? By telling stories! Take a few minutes to share a few stories about your ancestors that are interesting, funny, inspirational, or educational. You don’t have to go very far up the family tree if you don’t want to. You can talk about your parents or your siblings. Tell your kids about how your parents met. Talk about what they did to earn a living. Is there a time when you were impressed by a hard decision your parents had to make when you were a kid? Share it. This is story time. And these are the stories that will bind your family together.

This might be a fun time to call a grandma or grandpa on the phone to ask them questions! Ask them about where they served a Church mission. Ask what they liked to learn about in school. What is their favorite vacation? Find out what trial was the hardest in their life and how they overcame it. Make a list of questions on a piece of paper before you call to help guide the conversation. This little interview will help you get to know them better.

A few months ago, while preparing dinner, I took two minutes to tell my kids a story about their Great Great Great Great Grandpa Dan Jones. This is what I said in a nutshell: Dan Jones was a Mormon Pioneer. He was with his good friend Joseph Smith the night before the prophet was martyred. Dan Jones got lost heading home that night. It was a lucky mistake, because there was a mob of people waiting to kill him on the correct road to his home. The Lord was watching out for Dan. He knew him and He knew there was still so much good work for Dan to do on Earth. He was a very special man. You kids are so lucky to have a brave hero as a Grandpa.

That was it! I wasn’t even sure if my kids were listening. Then, a few weeks after I told the story, my family and I were at Disneyland. We walked past the Indiana Jones ride in Adventureland. My little six year old boy’s eyes lit up and he got so excited. He exclaimed, “Mom! It’s the Dan Jones ride! We know him!” After I laughed, my heart swelled up. Because, he remembered the story and he was proud to be related to Mr. Jones. Even if it was the wrong hero. His sense of self was elevated because of his connection to his Great Grandpa Jones.

Kids really do feel a bond with their ancestors when they learn about them through the stories we tell.

Cut paper into strips that are about 1 inch thick. Give each person a single strip of paper and have them write their own name onto it. H0ld the paper in a circle. (Don’t staple it yet) Tell each child that this link represents you.

essay story unexpected incident family unity

Link the pieces of your chain together so that the links that represent your immediate family are all together.

Then, start writing down the names of your extended family onto the extra paper strips.

When you write the name it would be good to say a quick thing about that person. For example, “Great Grandma Mary-she made the best orange rolls every Thanksgiving dinner. My siblings and I would get stuffed eating as many as we could. I got my recipe from her!” Take turns hooking the extended family chain pieces to your own family chain.

When you are finished you will have one giant family chain that has been bonded together. This giant chain is much more impressive than the individual links you started with. Hang the chain up so that you can see it throughout the week as a reminder that you are all part of a family bond.

Sharing stories about your family should become a consistent dialog in your home. The article in the New York Times gave the suggestion to utilize times when you are already together to talk about family stories. Stories can be told and bonds can be built during family dinner time, while riding in the car, waiting at the dentist office, walking home from school, after a hard loss at a sporting event, before a big date, or during young children’s bath time.

Hopefully, you are already spending time together. (That is the first big step!) Now, you just need to remember to use that time to create a sense of family belonging in the hearts of your children. It is amazing how knowing who they are and what their family has accomplished over time really does make a child feel more important, strong, better adjusted, and happier than those who are living life without that bond of love and belonging.

For more posts like this, check these out:

Recording Family History Through Pictures

The Moment I Realized Family History is AWESOME

Family Night: Kids Interviewing Grandparents

interviewing grandparents www.oneshetwoshe.com

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Creating Cohesion: The Foundations Of Family Unity

by Relationship Mag
August 14, 2023 August 14, 2023

Unity within a family forms the bedrock upon which all other facets of social, emotional, and psychological well-being are built. It’s not just about being in the same family tree; it’s about fostering an environment of mutual respect, open communication, shared experiences, and unwavering support. This post explores the foundations of family unity, illustrating how it can be cultivated and strengthened. Each section provides an in-depth discussion of key elements and practical implementation strategies. The objective is to provide an insightful guide to fortify the pillars of unity within every family, fostering healthier, happier, and more fulfilling familial relationships.

1 Understanding Family Unity
2 The Role of Communication
3 Building Trust and Respect
4 The Value of Shared Experiences
5 Conflict Resolution Skills
6 Nurturing a Positive Family Culture
7 The Significance of Love and Affection
8 The Bottom Line

Understanding Family Unity

Family unity is the bond that ties a family together; the sense of support and love gives each member the confidence to face life’s challenges. This unity does not come from genetic connections or shared living spaces; it emanates from understanding, respect, shared values, and mutual support. When a family is united, it can effectively weather any storm, supporting each member in times of hardship and celebrating together in times of joy.

Understanding why family unity is essential is the first step in fostering it. It promotes emotional health, creates a supportive environment, and offers a sense of belonging. A united family can significantly impact children’s development, providing a solid foundation for emotional, cognitive, and social growth. It offers a blueprint for interacting with the world, negotiating conflicts, and forming healthy relationships. It offers adults a supportive network, mutual understanding, and a haven of comfort and love.

The Role of Communication

Communication forms the lifeblood of any relationship, and within a family , it plays an instrumental role in fostering unity. Open and honest communication allows family members to understand each other’s thoughts, feelings, needs, and desires. It paves the way for empathy and support, creating an environment where each member feels heard and valued.

However, effective communication is not a naturally occurring phenomenon in every family. It requires deliberate effort and, occasionally, the breakdown of barriers that hinder open discussions. Such barriers could range from a generational gap, language differences, or emotional barriers rooted in past conflicts or misunderstandings. Overcoming these challenges can involve establishing regular family meetings, active listening exercises, and encouraging open discussions about feelings and experiences.

Building Trust and Respect

Trust and respect are the cornerstone of any solid relationship, and within the family unit, these elements are paramount. Trust offers safety and predictability, while respect acknowledges each member’s individuality and inherent value. They create a nurturing environment where family members can grow and flourish.

Cultivating trust and respect within a family involves honesty, reliability, and empathy. Keeping promises, acknowledging emotions, validating each other’s experiences, and demonstrating consistent behavior are practical ways to foster these elements. They build individual self-esteem and contribute to a stronger, more unified family dynamic. The interplay between trust and respect significantly impacts cohesion and overall harmony within the family.

The Value of Shared Experiences

Shared experiences play a significant role in the construction of family unity. They are the threads that weave together the fabric of familial relationships, strengthening the bond between family members. From everyday activities like shared meals and bedtime stories to special occasions like vacations or holidays, these moments form a tapestry of memories that foster a deep sense of belonging.

Although these experiences are invaluable, they must not be grandiose or expensive. It could be as simple as a weekly game night, family cooking sessions, or watching a movie together. The critical factor is sharing time, emotions, and experiences. These create shared memories, which are a powerful bonding agent. Over time, these shared experiences foster mutual understanding, shared values, and collective identity, essential elements of family unity.

Conflict Resolution Skills

Even in the most unified families, conflict is inevitable. Differences in opinions, miscommunications, or clashing personalities can lead to disagreements. However, managing these conflicts can significantly impact the family’s unity. Therefore, effective conflict resolution skills are essential in maintaining harmony and fostering understanding within the family.

These skills include patience, active listening, empathy, and compromise. They help family members navigate disagreements respectfully and constructively, ensuring that conflicts become opportunities for growth rather than sources of division. These skills involve acknowledging and respecting different viewpoints, expressing emotions honestly, and working towards a mutually agreeable resolution. Family members learn to understand and appreciate each other more, fostering a stronger bond and more profound unity.

Nurturing a Positive Family Culture

A positive family culture is one where every member feels valued, loved, and accepted. It’s an environment that promotes mutual support, encourages individual growth, and nurtures positive values. This culture significantly contributes to family unity, setting the tone for interactions, influencing family dynamics, and shaping the overall family identity.

Creating such a culture may involve setting family values, fostering open communication, demonstrating love and respect, and encouraging individuality. It requires consistent effort from all members and a commitment to nurturing a supportive, loving, and positive environment. A positive family culture not only makes the family a haven of love and support but also significantly enhances the unity and cohesion of the family.

The Significance of Love and Affection

At the heart of family unity lies love and affection. These emotions form the foundation of the family bond, creating a sense of belonging and acceptance. Expressions of love and affection—whether verbal affirmations, acts of service, quality time, or physical touch—further strengthen this bond, fostering unity within the family.

However, expressing love and affection may not always be straightforward. Sometimes, emotional barriers, busy schedules, or simply not knowing how to express these feelings can stand in the way. Overcoming these challenges requires understanding each member’s love language, setting aside dedicated time for family, and fostering an environment where expressing emotions is encouraged and valued. By doing so, love and affection become the glue that holds the family together, fostering a profound sense of unity.

The Bottom Line

Family unity is the harmonious blend of mutual respect, open communication, shared experiences, conflict resolution skills, positive culture, and love. These elements contribute to creating an environment of support, acceptance, and belonging—forming the pillars of family unity. While each family is unique, and the path to unity may differ, the foundations remain the same. Implementing these strategies and nurturing these foundations can help foster unity within every family, ultimately creating healthier, happier, and more fulfilling familial relationships. In the grand tapestry of life, family unity forms the vibrant threads that hold everything together, a testament to its enduring power and immeasurable importance.

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The unexpected surprise

By kasturi roy when she is not working, kasturi can be found with her nose buried deep in a book. a bibliophile at heart, she often finds herself getting lost in the mysterious world of beautifully woven words. like books, she believes that life, too, should be lived one page at a time. for kasturi, the idea of an ideal mood-setter is quite smooth and simple – the mountains, a novel, and a steaming hot cuppa..

17 April 2021

It was six in the evening, and for the first time in her life, Akira felt miserable on her birthday. Up until now, her special day had always been a gala affair at home every year. Celebrations, cakes, countless gifts—it was a day of getting spoiled and pampered to the core.

But this year, things looked gloomy. She was alone in a new city. Visiting her family was already ruled out owing to the unavailability of tickets. The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt.

Feeling dispirited, Akira decided that the best way to live through the day without drowning in sorrow would be to crawl into bed and sleep through it. Just when she was about to do so, the doorbell rang. It was her house-help, with a bag slung over her shoulder.

“Happy birthday, madam! Yesterday I overheard you crying on the phone. It broke my heart, so I thought I’ll make some sweets and pudding for you, and bring it over. I hope you like them,” she said.

The gesture moved Akira so much that she burst into tears. But this time, they were tears of joy. Akira went up to her and embraced her in a tight hug. At that moment, all her woes turned into gratitude and love , and her homesickness vanished into thin air.

In her house-help’s caring deed, Akira had found the love of a family.

Drowning in sorrow family gratitude and love Happy birthday house-help Love of a family Short Story unexpected surprise

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Inciting Incident: Definition, Examples, Types, and How to Start a Story Right

by Joe Bunting | 64 comments

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How do you start a story? You might have heard that you need to start with a bang, that you need to hook the reader with deep conflict in the first few pages. But what does that actually mean?

In this article, you'll learn the definition and different types of inciting incidents, see how this plot point actually works, and ways to use them in your stories.

Let's get into it!

Definition of the Inciting Incident

In other words, a situation comes out of nowhere, throws the main character into turmoil, and creates a problem that they have to spend the rest of the plot trying to solve.

As Robert McKee says, “The inciting incident radically upsets the balance of forces in your protagonist's life.”

This unexpected disturbance also complicates the character as they attempt to achieve a scene goal, or want, and that character will spend the rest of the story attempting to achieve it.

Examples of the goal might be to escape a terrifying natural disaster, to get revenge for the murder of a loved one, to get together with the romantic interest, or even to explore a new worldview opened up by the event. Depending on the plot type (which you can read more about here) , this story might be an internal goal or an external goal. But the goal is always created by the inciting incident.

Other story structure frameworks call this inciting incident by different names, including:

The Call to Adventure ( The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell)
The Hook ( Seven Point Story Structure by Dan Wells)
The Problem ( A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller)
Inciting Event
Exciting Incident
Inciting Moment

The only term I don't think is helpful is the hook, since it combines the inciting incident, which holds a structural place within every story, with the hook, a device used to capture the reader's attention in the first pages of a story. The inciting incident does not need to occur in chapter one, like the hook.

Learn everything you need to know about the inciting incident in this article! Tweet this

An Event Must Meet 5 Criteria to Be an Inciting Incident

Inciting incidents have five criteria:

Where the Inciting Incident Fits Into Dramatic Structure

Before we go into more detail on what the inciting incident is and share examples of how it’s found in stories, let’s talk about the six elements of dramatic structure that are found in every effective story. They are:

In most cases, the story starts with exposition, but the inciting incident is the second element and the moment when the plot begins.

How Long Is the Inciting Incident?

It is technically only a moment or a single event, and this moment is almost always set into a single scene.

While it may require several scenes to set up, those prior scenes are usually part of the exposition.

The Inciting Incident Is More Than a Desire or Need

Some plot structure gurus say that the character's desire or need is enough for an inciting incident.

Here's how Dan Harmon describes the basic structure of the Story Circle:

Draw a circle and divide it in half vertically. Divide the circle again horizontally. Starting from the 12 o’clock position and going clockwise, number the 4 points where the lines cross the circle: 1, 3, 5 and 7. Number the quarter-sections themselves 2, 4, 6 and 8. Here we go, down and dirty: A character is in a zone of comfort, But they want something. They enter an unfamiliar situation, Adapt to it, Get what they wanted, Pay a heavy price for it, Then return to their familiar situation, Having changed.

Did you spot the inciting incident in there?

“But they want something.”

Here’s Donald Miller’s definition of story in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years :

“A character who wants something and is willing to go through conflict to get it.”

Yes, desire is important in any story. It’s just not the inciting incident.

Inciting Incidents Can Be Positive or Negative, But They Are Always Interruptions

Stories come in many different shapes, called story arcs (read our complete story arc guide here ).The inciting incident's job is to begin the movement of the plot along the actual story arc, whether up or down.

Other stories have events that create positive movement. In most love stories, it takes the form of a “meet cute,” a moment when the main couple first meet and have an emotional connection.

Others are less clear at first. In Chinatown , the inciting incident is when small-time private investigator Jake Gittes gets a new, lucrative case following Hollis Murray, the apparent husband of Evelyn Mulwray. For Jake, this looks like a great opportunity, but it quickly becomes into a major problem when it turns into a murder investigation.

It is true that problems always result from the inciting incident, but they don't always look like a problem at first. In other words, whether positive or negative, the inciting incident is the story driver, the thing that sets the story in motion along the story arc.

Inciting Incidents Are Tied to the Core Value in Your Story

Different types of stories have, at their core, different values, and the value at the core of a story will alter the inciting incident.

This sounds more complicated than it is.

You may have heard that stories need conflict , but as we’ve said elsewhere on The Write Practice , the kind of conflict stories need is not just more arguing or car chases. The kind of conflict stories really need comes from values in conflict.

There are six core values that come into conflict in stories. Here they are mapped to the types of stories you might be trying to tell:

A love story, with the core value scale of love vs. hate, will have an inciting incident that looks very different than a fantasy adventure story with the core value of life vs. death.

And those inciting incidents will look different than a thriller with the core value of life vs. a fate worse than death.

Take a Second to Practice Identifying the Inciting Incident

Hopefully by this point in the article you're feeling better about understanding what the inciting incident is and how to apply it in your own story.

Let's take a moment to practice identifying the inciting incident by looking at the opening scene in Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon . If you haven't seen the movie, this scene is the Exposition of the entire story (and an exceptional one at that)—but every scene (like every story) needs the six elements of plot.

Keep in mind that the Inciting Incident doesn't have to be long. It might be only a brief moment!

Either way, screen this clip and jot down what you think the Inciting Incident is. You can find the answer at the bottom of the post.

How to Train Your Dragon : Opening Scene

How To Train Your Dragon: "This is Berk" Scene 4K HD

The 10 Types of Inciting Incidents With Examples

Depending on the type of story you're writing, the type of inciting incident will change as well.

1. Call to Adventure/Death Plus MacGuffin (Action/Adventure Stories: Life vs. Death)

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it,” the self-destructing tape says.

For adventure and action stories, the protagonists are invited to some kind of adventure or mission.

These invitations come from different sources. For example:

The person doing the inviting matters less than the fact that an adventure or mission is beginning.

Examples include:

2. Death of a Loved One/A Great Crime Against Me (Action/Adventure Stories: Life vs. Death)

An alternative to the direct call to adventure is the “death of a loved one” inciting incident, which spurs the protagonist to get revenge or find justice.

3. Show Me the Body (Mystery/Crime/Thriller/Horror Story: Life vs. a Fate Worse Than Death)

What's worse than death? Being brutally tortured before you're gruesomely murdered.

That's what's at heart in most thrillers, mysteries, or horror stories.

And nearly all of these stories, when they're done well, begin with the discovery of a dead body, kicking off the search to solve the murder, or the hunt for/escape from the monster.

Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Occasionally, these types of stories don't start with a dead body but with some kind of mystery. Most Sherlock Holmes novels, for example, don't start with a body, but the structure remains the same.

4. The Haunted House/Forbidden Object (Mystery/Crime/Thriller/Horror Story: Life vs. a Fate Worse Than Death)

A type specific to horror stories is the “haunted house” or “forbidden object” inciting incident.

This is when the characters stumble upon something eerie, whether a place or an object, something they know they shouldn't interact with, but they choose to do it anyway (or are forced to).

This eerie thing can be a place, an object, or even a person.

5. Meet Cute (Love Story: Love vs. Hate)

The couple meets for the first time, and an emotional connection is made. Often something embarrassing happens. Frequently, they hate each other.

Whatever happens, sparks fly.

This type also works for versions of the love story involving platonic relationships, the “buddy story” subtype, for example when Nick Carroway first meets Jay Gatsby at a party in The Great Gatsby .

6. Betrayal (Love Story: Love vs. Hate)

There are two types of love stories: one in which the couple gets together and the other in which the couple separates.

In the stories in which the couple separates, the inciting incident almost always includes some kind of betrayal, usually an infidelity.

7. The Tournament (Performance/Sports Story: Accomplishment vs. Failure)

In stories involving the performance of some skill or talent, or a sports story involving a sports team or individual, the inciting incident involves entry into some kind of tournament or competition.

8. Here There Be Dragons (Coming of Age Story: Maturity vs. Naiveté)

Coming of age stories often have an inciting incident involving something that is outside of the protagonist's current worldview.

Perhaps it's the existence of magic or the kindness of a stranger or an opportunity to enter a new social class.

Whatever it is, it throws the protagonist into confusion and shows them how little they understand the world.

Note: Since coming of age is rarely the main plot of a story, more often an internal plot, these will not usually be the main inciting incident.

9. Principal's Office (Coming of Age Story: Maturity vs. Naiveté)

Another approach to the coming of age story involves the character getting into trouble early on, often in a school setting. This forces the character to begin the process of reflecting on his or her life and making changes.

10. The Temptation (Morality Story: Right vs. Wrong)

In morality stories about the forces of good versus evil or right versus wrong, the inciting incident often involves some kind of temptation of the protagonist, asking them to betray their conscience for the sake of some benefit or greater good.

The Inciting Incident Is Simple: Just Throw Rocks

Whenever the idea of trying to tell a story gets too complicated, I come back to this one simple piece of writing advice that’s over 100 years old. You might have heard of it. It goes:

That’s it. That’s all you have to do. Just put your character up a tree so they can be an easy target for rocks. It’s not complicated.

Don’t get overwhelmed by all of the different types of inciting incidents or the terminology.

Just figure out how to put your character up a tree so that you can start throwing rocks.

Not too hard, right?

The Inciting Incident in How to Train Your Dragon

Did you say it's when the dragons show up? Then you'd be right!

The dragons arriving in Berk disturb the quiet explanation of Hiccup's island and throws the Vikings into action. Although not every scene will have an actual dragon as an Inciting Incident, you do need something that disrupts the main character's status quo like the dragons do for Hiccup.

Note: there are actually two inciting incidents in that scene, in the scene itself (e.g. Dragons!), but also for the story as a whole: Hiccup shoots down the Nightfury. (This off the main plot of the story.)

Did you guess something else? Don't worry, mastering the six elements of plot takes practice. We're fond of that around here. I'm confident you'll get it!

If you want to practice writing inciting incidents that work, try to do it in a scene first. Check out my guide here .

Key Ideas About the Inciting Incident

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What type of story are you trying to tell? What is one of your favorite inciting incidents from other stories in that type? Let us know in the comments .

Let’s put the inciting incident to practice using the following creative writing exercise :

Choose one of the types of inciting incidents above. Then, in one sentence, outline it for a story.

Finally, set a timer for fifteen minutes and start writing your inciting incident scene.

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Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

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64 Comments

Thanks, Pamela.

I’m pretty sure you’ve been following my story about Akiko, and I’ve already posted the inciting incident from that story, so I won’t repeat it here. (It will be published next month on Inkspired anyway, for those who want to read it.) It is funny you chose the image of sparking a story, since the inciting incident in Akiko’s story is a fire.

I think you left out an important way an inciting incident can occur. It can occur by accident, by the protagonist’s choice, or by the antagonist’s choice. For Akiko, it is definitely the last one. Someone intentionally set fire to the Olsen’s home, killing Akiko’s foster parents and prompting her to flee San Francisco.

A bit of advice to writers, especially new writers: the inciting incident is what starts the action of the story. Things should get progressively worse after that.

Hello Bruce, I am excited to read Akiko’s story. I have enjoyed reading the excerpts you have shared here. Thank you for pointing out the antagonist may cause the inciting incident as well. Those naughty antagonist’s. xo Pamela

Exciting update: Inkspired named Akiko #StoryOfTheDay. Looks like I’ll have to finish the book.

Good luck with the book, Bruce!

My inciting incident occurred by one of my antagonists. And I sincerely pray that things should not go down from there. That didn’t happen in my life, but come to think of it, things did get progressively worse for most of the time period of my memoir. But It didn’t stay that way. Another revelation, thanks Bruce.

I’m struggling with what should be the inciting incident of my love story/coming of age novel. Is the inciting incident the moment James meets the homophobic man of his dreams (which happens in the first paragraph), or is it the moment (about 25% in) when James comes out to this man as gay?

I would say the latter is more inciting than the first. That said, I’m intrigued by brief detail and would love to read it

Thanks, Em. I appreciate that. I’ve followed you on Disqus to stay in touch!

Thank you, Jon. I’ll reciprocate now

Hello Jon, Without having read your story, I am not sure which is the inciting incident. It might be where James meets the man of his dreams. Does he start to behave differently? Does meeting this man prompt James to change his behaviour? The meeting between the two men might start an internal conflict for James about how he identifies. Making when James admits he is gay to the man he met is part of the middle build of the story. I recommend The Story Grid and Story, as good resources to know what scenes to include in a love story. xo Pamela

Thanks! I’m due for another read of both Story Grid and Story. Steven Pressfield of the Story Grid just released a podcast on structuring love stories today!

Hi Joncarllewis, Thank you for letting me know about the podcast. I will listen to it. xo Pamela

So, for the inciting incident, it seems you are looking at events on either side of it. You know the inciting incident is the event that changes the character’s actions. So meeting the man doesn’t change James and coming out IS the change, but what is the event that forced James to come out? THAT’S your inciting incident.

Thanks Pamela.

I’m preparing to write my next book and have already written a detailed outline of one of the key points in the story. While it’s not the first so called inciting incident it is a spark to what will follow.

Hello EmFairley, How exciting to be starting a new book. You are creating worlds and people. I hope you are well. xo Pamela

Thank you, Pamela. I’m good, thank you. I hope you are?

The writing is a slow process right now, but I’m making progress and staying on target. Thankfully 🙂

Hi Em, All is well. Working on moving the painting studio back in the house from the garage. Getting to cold to paint outside. And working on several small stories. Memoir, and thriller. xo Pamela

I’m glad you’re moving back into the warmth. The stories sound great! I’m a little behind on my reading list, but as soon as I get finished with Pooh’s book, I’ll get the review posted

This is perhaps one of the most important things for new writers to understand. Without an inciting incident, a plot has no purpose and the novel has no reason to take place.

One question, however, is how soon do you think the inciting incident should take place? I’ve heard some writers say to push it as close to the beginning of the novel as possible, while others have said it’s okay to build up to it.

Hello Jason, From what I read in “Story” by Robert McKee and “The Story Grid” by Shawn Coyne, there are no hard and fast rules to where the inciting incidence occurs, beyond it occurring in the first 25% of the book or movie. McGee on page 202 of Story, gave the example from Kafka’s “Metamorphosis.” The first sentence is the inciting incident, “One day Gregor Samsa awoke to discover he had been changed into a large cockroach.” Back story, or building up to the Inciting Incident must make sense to the story you are writing. Perhaps consider if some of the back story could be told in the build up to the Inciting Incident, so it is part of the story, and not just details. If you spend more than half the novel building up to the Inciting Incident, you might find the readers have stopped reading. How long will they read before they get the pay off? Where the story really starts? xo Pamela

All that freedom about where to place the inciting incident is scary!

For best impact, The Inciting incident should be Big, Distinct or Memorable.

Hello Anu Raag, Great points! Thank you for sharing your suggestions. xo Pamela

I poured myself a nice hot cup of coffee, grabbed a whole wheat cream filled donut and settled down to read the morning paper. On page 10, dangling below an ad for Cialis was a small article, rather innocent looking. As I read this news item I spit my mouthful of coffee halfway across the kitchen. Glaring at me in small type was the devastating news – “Wendy’s plans to use Turkey Bacon on their Baconater sandwich.” Oh the humanity!

Hi Joe, Turkey Bacon, now that is an Inciting Incident. Coffee all over the floor and bad news about a sandwich. What will you do? What action will you take? Thank you for stopping by. Did you pour yourself another nice hot cup of coffee? xo Pamela

Thanks for the reply Pamela. Your article got my mind roaming into the deep abyss of culinary intrigue. Unfortunately, lately I can come up with a decent opening line and then my story falls flat on it’s face. I am trying to practice working them out. Maybe I should write up a little synopsis of the whole story based on that first scene. I will get around to it soon. I recently joined the procrastinators club, but they keep putting the first meeting off. : -> 0 PS: I have fun here.

Hi Joe, Glad you have fun here. Maybe a little synopsis would help your story from falling flat on it’s face. Some people like to plan and some people like to go “with the muse,” and see where their story takes them. Let me know how it goes with your story after you attend your first meeting of the procrastinators club. The sad part about waiting is your readers have to wait to hear what happened the Baconater sandwich. xo Pamela

Doesn’t it seem there are often two inciting incidents that come together to start out so many stories? As in, Romance, scene one: HE decides to stop at “some place” to buy/ hang out/ check/ visit xxx. Scene two: She stops for a snack/ trips/ her car has a flat tire right in front of “someplace.” Or vise versa. And there they are. “Oh, hello.”

One real life story that comes to my mind happened this way. Scene one: a violent sex offender out on parole gets restless and starts prowling. He goes out for a drive and is drawn —by the evil urge within him, you could say— to an all-girls college in his state. He pulls into the parking lot and waits. Scene two: one of the young women attending this college has such a bad headache she decides there’s no point trying to finish out the day. She needs to be home in bed. So she heads for her car.

One part is incomplete without the other — and I feel these two scenes must open the story. So which would you label the inciting incident? In actual fact, this story was told by someone involved in the search for the missing girl, so maybe you’d say the “inciting incident” was when they got the call to come search?

Hi Christine, After reading your comment I went back and read the section on Inciting Incident in “Story” by Robert McKee. He said that occasionally “an Inciting Incident needs two events: A setup and a payoff.” He used the example of the movie JAWS. The setup is a shark eats a swimmer and her body washes onto the beach. The payoff is the sheriff discovers the corpse. You are right in the real life story you described, you need both parts of the story. (Very sad story) If the story is about the person involved in the search, their Inciting Incident would be the phone call. Wouldn’t it? As that is when their life changed. hmmm, what do you think? xo Pamela

Eyes still fixed on the figures on the computer screen, Barb frowned and reached for the jangling phone. She had to leave for her meeting in half an hour and this was the third phone call. When would she ever get their monthly budget laid out if people kept interrupting her.

She glanced at the Caller ID screen, then sat up straight in her chair. The Forest County Police wouldn’t be calling to pass the time of day. She pressed the Talk button, averting her eyes from the distracting computer screen. “Hey, Tammy. What’s up?”

“We need your counseling skills, Barb. A 19-year-old girl went missing from River Bend College yesterday. One of the teachers says she saw this girl walking in the parking lot around 11:30 am, likely going to her car, but she hasn’t made it home. Her family’s contacted everyone she knows and no one’s seen her. Now they’re worried sick.”

“I would be, too. Any leads?”

“We’ve got a number of the guys out searching around town, the local hangouts and such. And we’ve notified the boys from Forestry, in case she’s wandered into the national park and gotten stranded.”

Barb raised her eyebrows. “Wandered?”

“That’s the word we’re using now. We can always hope she’s lost herself somewhere, or in hiding even, but the family isn’t buying it. They could really use your counseling skills about now. Will you talk to them, go over the “what ifs”? Try and keep them upbeat and hoping, but prepare them, just in case…”

Barb sighed. “Sure. Let me grab a pen and you can give me the address.” She shut her computer down. Her family budget woes seemed so trivial at the moment.

Christine, Yes, like so. The dialogue and descriptions really make me feel like I am in the room with Barb. The phone call is when her life changed. I would love to read more. Please keep sharing your writing. xo Pamela

Very good article. Thank you.

This is great, thank you!

Thanks for the article. I have to say I always have trouble coming up with a good inciting incident, especially if I try to plot it. I just come up with some reason for the couple to meet while I write. But sometimes it’s a weak inciting incident. My NaNoWriMo project will (hopefully) be a collection of short stories/novellas set in the same small town. It’s sweet romance. I guess my inciting incidents will be when the different couples meet (most likely by chance, but I haven’t decided yet)?

Hi, Pamela. Can you give an example of and ending that is both reasonable and inevitable, AND surprising? Thanks. Deena

I’ll take a stab at it.

Consider the movie, “My Girl” (1991) (It was written as a screenplay.) The ending is REASONABLE. The kinds of things depicted in the movie could really happen. In fact, the major events of the film have happened to many people.

The ending is INEVITABLE. The pain of the death of a loved one decreases with time (although the sense of loss remains.) Writers improve with practice. (Vada’s poem at the end of her class has much deeper emotional impact than the one at the beginning of her class.)

The ending is SURPRISING. In the course of the movie, Vada loses the three male figures who matter the most to her. Thomas J. dies. Her father has never taken her seriously, and in the moment she most needs him, he is emotionally unavailable. She discovers the school teacher on whom she has a crush is engaged, and realizes (consciously this time) that he sees her only as a child, and despite her fantasies, the two of them will never be married.

But the surprise is she reclaims all of these characters in some sense. Each has a new place in her life. She has not only memories of Thomas J., but his influence on her character as well. She memorializes him in her poem. Her father opens up and has the one talk with Vada she most wanted: A talk about the death of her mother. And she gives her teacher, Mr. Bixler a hug and begins to think of him as an older man and her teacher. At the end of the movie, Vada even has a new best friend. The changes in her life are even symbolized in the streamer on her bicycle handle. She lost it earlier in the film, but in the final shots we see her and her new friend riding their bicycles, both streamers on Vada’s handlebars. These last shots do not show them in close-up and do not mention them at all. Did she find the missing one? Did she buy new ones? The answers to these questions matter less than the fact that her life is new.

This is probably not the best example, but it is early in the morning, and I am supposed to be somewhere else. I’ll keep this question of yours in mind, and see if I can come up with better examples.

I am really curious which stories in the article aren’t true! Obviously the cat ones are true… My guess would be the one about the bank manager flying to Brazil and the toaster burning the house down.

Without knowing it I had just run 12km from where I was 2 mins ago to the site of the explosion. I was exhausted, my breathing was so rapid I couldn’t even talk. When I finally caught my breath, I was shocked at what I saw a construction wearhouse was well alight, people were watching the entire sence occur in front of their eyes but luckly the roof was only on fire I thought the wearhouse was well ablaze. In the building I heard the fainted of cries for help, I wasn’t sure if everyone heard it so I decided to something brave and courageous but also very stupid I walked through buring materials not scared of the fire then walked into the wearhouse with little protective gear only a gas mask and a bottle of breathable oxygen while onlookers just stood and watched in shock and disbelief that I was risking my life as a hero to save workers who were trapped inside. My body and clothes were completely burned and torn but I just carried on trying not to focus on the pain and focus on what I was doing – Saving as many workers from the fireball before it is well alight and a completely destructed and devestated even if that meant putting my life on the line. Around 2 hours past when I first walked into the now fireball and I manganed to save 30 workers from burning alive but I couldn’t save everyone – 15 workers, 3 supervisers and many others have died from smoke inhalation I needed to get out as well before I became one of the fatalities too I was about to turn around to leave before a flashfire hit me and knocked me down burning from head-to-toe but I didn’t give up and think I was going to die, I kept going and before I knew I manganed to escape just before the whole building burned down. I was completely burned and injured but I manganed to save lives that is the main thing it matters if anyone wants to be a hero. Is this what it is meant to be like? I’m happy to hear feedbacks to make my writing better

I love it when someone CHOOSES to do something brave and your protagonist certainly does. Is this part of an ongoing story?

Thud thud. There was a knock on the door. “Hold on, I’ll answer.” Dan quickly dashed towards the door. But he suddenly broke his speed midway, making a loud creek with his sneakers against the white floor. “What’s up?” He bent down to pick something, hesitant. “…Luna? Do you know this person named…Skip?” “Who’s that?” Luna stood from her wheelchair and staggered towards him. “They wrote a letter for both of us.” He handed her an envelope sealed with red sealing wax. It seemed to be important. She carefully tore it open. “You know that the letter might’ve been cursed, right?” Luna shrugged it off. Inside the letter was a short list of alphabets written in brilliant gold ink. The handwriting was rather small.

To Luna Whitehunter,

So..this is an invitation to a grand magic school’s exam. Not a lot of people get this. Let’s say, the school director had this planned out for about three hundred students to participate.If you want to participate, your town hall will be holding the examination on April 11th next year. The school only accepts 95 people. So, good luck.

We hope to see you then. -Skip

“Are we going?” Dan asked. “Well, sure. Why not?” She answered. “When we get in, let’s find this person and tell’em we didn’t even need luck to pass this thing.” Luna smiled.

I’ve been working a lot on plotting recently, and I have to say, sometimes studying short plots can be extremely helpful. I’m a cartoon-a-holic so I’d advocate those, but really, any short story that you like which has a beginning, middle and end is worth studying and breaking down into storybeats. At any rate, my advice is DON’T GET HUNG UP ON THE INCITING MOMENT! It’s super trivial. Some of the greatest stories can start with a character being bored and just wanting to do something. Other times a group needs some help so our protagonist helps them. The inciting moment could be a group of friends disagreeing. Just pick one and go.

I’m fining your post enlightening — again. Having written the story of a twelve-year old’s summer adventure for NanoWrimo in November, I had the feeling that something was missing. Reading this about needing an inciting incident makes me realize what’s lacking to kick off my tale.

Opening scene shows a girl and her older brother on the train, off to spend the summer (of 1957) with their widowed aunt, helping her with her first-year market garden project. No real conflict. So I’d better start a little earlier — or use a flashback — showing her having her own ideas of summer fun. Then when their parents tell them, “Forget all your own plans. THIS is what you’ll be doing this summer,” my protagonist offers some resistance to the new plan.

A side issue: One thing I don’t like in modern novels is they are so repetitious on the angst. The protagonist’s fears, resistance,self-doubt, grief, suspicions, etc., that start with the inciting event may be replayed too many times through the story. I wish writers would give readers credit that we do get how he/she feels; we don’t need it hammered home. I suspect if writers would delete most of those rehashes of angst a lot of books could be shortened by 30%. I may show my character’s initial resentment at being sent where she doesn’t want to go, but I won’t have her seething about every few pages all summer long.

I like this. Your story resonates with me – reminding me of childhood dilemmas during holiday times.

Yes, readers definitely deserve some credit! Something (that may be) similar to what you describe is the size of the hobbits in Lord of the Rings. We know that hobbits are smaller than humans but Tolkien doesn’t remind us all the time. He just drops in a hint here and there. We need to keep in touch with the characters’ reality, but we don’t (as you put it) need it hammered home. I hope that makes sense!

Good luck with your story.

Thank you. I just read a book where the main character is learning to be a Private I, but she’s so full of self-doubt and insecurities in general, very germ-conscious, etc —and we hear about it every few pages — that I sure can’t see her morphing into a great private investigator. Nor do I want to read more of the same in the second book in the series.

I have a novel I have been playing around with in the outlining stage, this shed some light on the subject of where my incident comes back after a bit of story building and seeing how much later it is than it could be.

The incident is where my protagonist comes home after a long journey collecting beasts I end up calling “Inner Demons” because they alter emotions of whom they live inside. But when he gets home he finds his master dead on the floor of the house. In turn his partner manipulates him to release these Inner Demons and he does so because he thought it would bring his master to life but only left him in a weakened state as these demons are how he functions in day to day life.

Sounds like an interesting story. Good luck with it.

My protagonist is relaxing on the balcony of her luxury home in the tropics. She is trying to decide whether to read another book or take a dip in the private swimming pool. She hears a distant rumbling. it’s similar to the sound of the freight lorries that struggle to climb the hill beyond the private estate. She is subconsciously waiting for the gear change which will indicate the lorry has reached the summit. However, the “rumbling” continues for an exended period of time, and on opening her eyes she observes a plane approaching up the valley. Curiosity compels her to watch the progress of the plane as she does not live on a flight path. As the plane draws nearer she sees the door of the plane opening and something like a tennis ball falling out.. It suddenly takes her just three seconds to realise that what she saw was no tennis ball. It was a bomb! And the plane was heading for the nearbyelectricity power station – a bombing raid was in progress. Panic stricken she ran and hid in the space below the staircase, hoping against hope that the house would not be hit. Thoughts and fear galloped through her head. Was her husband safe at the power station? What about the village close to the station, and there was also a leprosy settlement nearby. How many casualties would there be? How would people get to a hospital? Then she paused and thought – there were no explosions!! What on earth was going on, and how could she find out – if she dared come out of hiding.

I think I’m in a different place than I thought. But I’m glad I’m here. This sounds like a great and helpful learning center.

It’a great site to be part of. Great prompts to inspire and great community for encouragement.

Isn’t that life? Good luck with your writing.

An exciting story piece, which gripped me. I’m curious to see what happened after the bomb dropped. Will you tell us more? Best wishes for your writing.

Thanks Lilian. The comment is based on reality and part of a memoir I hope to write. I plan to use the challenge which is approaching to get things under way.

I’m looking forward to read from where I left off. I must know more about the bomb. Happy writing!

The truth? The one bomb fell, missed the power station and ended up in the jungle. No-one was injured. Meanwhile the BBC world news reported a successful raid and ten square miles around the station razed. The reporter was based 500 miles west of the location targetted.

Excellent finish!

Truth is often stranger than fiction, they say! Good luck with your writing.

Thank you for reading.I’ve taken the 1000 words a day challenge this week and my ‘book’ has grown to the 12000 word point – all going well

Makes the story good! Thank you!

I don’t need to join a group to make me write, but I do think being part of a group like this will make my writing time more fun. I’m a few days from 78. But I’ve been writing on my memoir for over 6 years. If I had known some things that I’ve learned in the last couple years, my book would be a New York Times Best Seller right now!! Seriously, I’ve learned so much from those like Joe here, that I’m planning on launching my memoir about the middle of April. Health challenges like both carpal tunnel and replacing my thumb, both in the same surgery on my right hand and I’m right handed. I took a long needed break and learned to color some beautiful art, work just for adults to color, with my left hand. I plan on rewriting some of my earlier work, in this seven day period, which I need to tie my book together. That is where I need prompting. I think we can encourage each other to write and to feel accomplished. Glad to meet all of you.

Yup! I’m truly in the wrong place at the right time. I think I will stay awhile. Are some parts of what is written by us okay to post? If so approx. how many words. Sorry i don’t now where I am, so I probably sound way off track.

Great post, Pamela! I’m reading The Story Grid now, too, and while I’m not that far in, it’s already on my “All-Writers-Must-Read-This!” list!

The inciting incident in my WIP – a murder – happens just before the start of the story. The opening scene is my MC – the local police chief – investigating the murder scene. What makes this murder different is that the victim is the local ‘nice guy’, the one without an enemy in the world. Over the course of the novel, however, we encounter a series of potential suspects; our victim’s life wasn’t as clear cut and rosy as it appears. The resolution is the solving of the crime; the surprise is that the guilty party is (hopefully) the last person the reader expected.

A secondary inciting incident is when my MC’s best friend decides to leave. How will she cope without her friend’s ear to bend every five minutes? Well, there is a potential romantic situation!

I really love this story and its characters. I just really need to knuckle down and edit the thing!

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Insights Library

Family unity: what is it, why it’s vital, and how to achieve it.

Building Family Unity

We have found that family unity is built through several mutually supportive ingredients:

It is possible to have adequate family unity without being good at all of these ingredients, but these items are a helpful checklist to understand where a system can improve. While most of the ingredients to building unity listed above speak for themselves, some (particularly 2-4 and 9) need some elaboration.

As much as commitment to an organization inspires an individual’s contribution to it, the inverse also seems true: the more a person contributes to an organization, the greater his or her commitment to the organization grows. This principle is central to building unity in any group. If you want someone to feel committed to what a family is doing, its mission and approach, give the person opportunities to contribute to the family and the family’s enterprise.

To achieve a family’s mission, the family needs organized efforts as well as funds to support these efforts. If a family’s mission were simply to support its family company, raise good children to be responsible well-educated adults, and have family members get along well, the family would need a family company, useful parenting and family activities, perhaps an education fund, and definitely some useful mechanisms (perhaps grandparents, maybe a family council) to keep the family aligned. Some families could have the above mission plus want to contribute to society beyond having a socially responsible business, need a way to manage the family’s financial assets, and have a desire to maintain the family’s religious faith. These families would need to add organizations or activities to support their mission, such as a philanthropic foundation, perhaps a family office, etc. The point is that families need to have appropriate organizations to help support their interests and pursue their missions. Having a well-designed family enterprise organization is critical to effectively pursue the family’s mission. The right family enterprise organization also helps to build unity in a family.

Most family members want to contribute to their family and to be regarded as adding value to the family’s efforts. An important reason why some family members disengage from the family is that they feel that their contributions are not valued in their family and that the family has little commitment to their interests. The family enterprise organization needs to reflect the family’s important interests and give family members an opportunity to help the family pursue its mission. As a family grows, becomes more diverse and develops a broader set of interests, the mission of the family and the family enterprise organization should reflect the key common interests. In fact, it is rare for families to stay very united when there is only a family company to support, where only a minority of family members can contribute to the family’s mission.

Of course, family unity is strengthened when the family is proud of its organizations and activities, and even further when the family can point to its members’ contributions for this good performance. This requires that family talent is developed to be able to contribute strongly to the family enterprise.

Building family unity often requires some corrective actions in family relationships. When we see strains and fragmentation in a family, we address it, trying to move family members beyond past misunderstandings, hurts and differences, and when important, reunifying the family around a compelling mission and approach that can bind them. But we recognize that family unity can’t always be maintained with the current family members. Most family enterprises do better when the assets of the family and the talent of the family are pooled, engaged and aligned. However, when parts of an enterprising family resists reunification and it is seriously undermining the sustainability of the family, the family must consider the radical options of either dividing their assets and activities, or buying out members that are no longer aligned — Family unity is that important for the success of a family and its enterprise. A family is more assured of success if it has a smaller asset base and a more united family, than with the converse situation. This pathway is desirable only after serious efforts at unity have been pursued.

Questions for Further Reflection

This article originally appeared in Wealth of Wisdom: The Top 50 Questions Wealthy Families Ask by Tom McCullough and Keith Whitaker

Andrew hier.

Andrew Hier is a Senior Advisor and Partner at Cambridge Advisors to Family Enterprise where he advises business families globally on issues related to shareholder relationships, ownership strategies, succession and next generation issues, and governance of the family, owners and business. He is a Fellow at Cambridge Institute for Family Enterprise where he teaches and facilitates in family business programs around the world. He is active in the Family Firm Institute, the premiere association of advisors serving families.

Professor John A. Davis

John A. Davis is a globally recognized pioneer and authority on family enterprise, family wealth, and the family office. He is a researcher, educator, author, architect of the field’s most impactful conceptual frameworks, and advisor to leading families around the world. He leads the family enterprise programs at MIT Sloan. To follow his writing and speaking, visit johndavis.com and twitter @ProfJohnDavis .

The Story Collider

Surprises: stories about the unexpected.

This week, we're presenting stories about surprising revelations or events in science.

Part 1: When he receives a call from the vet, writer Matthew Dicks is startled to learn that his dog is in surgery -- and that he agreed to it the night before.

Matthew Dicks is an elementary school teacher and the internationally bestselling author of the novels Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing, Unexpectedly, Milo, and The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs. As a storyteller, he is a 34-time Moth StorySLAM champion and four time GrandSLAM champion. Matt is also the founder and Creative Director of Speak Up, a Hartford-based storytelling organization that recently launched the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, which Matt hosts with his wife, Elysha. He recently published a guide to storytelling, Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling . Matt loves ice cream cake, playing golf poorly, tickling his children, staring at his wife, and not sleeping.

Part 2: After traveling to Madagascar for a conservation project, climatologist Simon Donner misses his ride to the field site, and must find his way there on his own.

Simon Donner is a Professor of Climatology in the Department of Geography at the University of British Columbia. He teaches and conducts interdisciplinary research at the interface of climate science, marine science, and public policy. His current areas of research include climate change and coral reefs; ocean warming and El Nino; climate change adaptation in small island developing states; public engagement on climate change. Simon is also the director of UBC’s NSERC-supported “Ocean Leaders” program and is affiliated with UBC’s Institute of Oceans and Fisheries, Liu Institute for Global Issues, and Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. His efforts at public engagement on climate change have been recognized with an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship, a Google Science Communication Fellowship and the UBC President’s Award for Public Education through the Media.

Episode Transcript

Part 1: matthew dicks.

The phone rings. I’m standing in my classroom. It’s early morning. I’m getting ready for my fifth grade students. I go and I pick it up.

The woman on the other end identifies herself as the receptionist at the veterinary hospital. She tells me she has news about my dog. It’s good news. She survived the first surgery. I stop her right there and I say, “No, you have the wrong owner. My dog is at the hospital but just for constipation. Like there's no surgery involved. You've mixed something up.”

The woman apologizes and says, “Can you just hold for a minute,” and she clicks off.

As I’m waiting for her to come back I’m thinking about how awful this must be for someone that they're waiting for their dog to live or die through surgery. My dog is named Kaleigh. She's a four-year-old Lhasa Apso. She's a tiny little white thing that lives in my heart. She is my best friend in the world and I can’t imagine how terrible it would be to be waiting for this phone call that someone in the world is waiting for right now.

When the woman clicks back she says, “Your name is Matthew Dicks, right?” And I say, “Yes.” And she says, “Your dog is Kaleigh, right?” And I say, “Yes.”

And she says, “Mr. Dicks, your dog just went through spinal surgery and she's getting ready to go through her second surgery.”

Now, I’m annoyed. I don't mind that there's a mistake but don’t make it twice. So I say, “Listen, unless you did surgery that I didn’t permit, or you did surgery on the wrong dog, this is wrong. You're calling the wrong person. My dog is constipated. We left her at the hospital. She got a laxative and they recommended we leave her overnight for observation.”

And the woman says, “Can you just hold one more time?” She clicks off again and I’m just sitting on the phone thinking like, “Who is taking care of my dog and why can’t they match up owner and pet properly?”

When the phone clicks again, it’s a man now. He identifies himself as Dr. Lindgren. He says, “Is your name Matthew Dicks,” and I say, “Yes.” He says, “Is your dog Kaleigh,” and I say, “Yes.”

And he says, “Mr. Dicks, I just completed spinal surgery on your dog and I’m getting ready to do the second surgery. She has a ruptured disc in her back.”

And I say, “That’s not possible. She's constipated.”

And he says, “Mr. Dicks, we spoke last night in the middle of the night. I explained all of this to you and you gave me permission to do this surgery.”

And my heart sinks. I think I know exactly what’s happened. So I ask him, “Can I call you back in a couple of minutes,” and he says, “No. I will be operating on your dog. We can’t wait.”

So he gives me the name and the number of another doctor and he says, “Call this doctor for information.”

I hang up the phone and I run. I run out of my classroom and I take a left up the ramp to my fiancé’s classroom. She works two doors down from me. When I left this morning she was still asleep but she's probably coming in right now. It’s about the time she comes to work.

As I burst through her door she's coming through the opposite door. She's got her coat on. She's got bags. I’m panting. She looks up at me and she says, “Is Kaleigh okay?”

And I say, “Do you know about a surgery?”

Photo by Nicholas Santasier.

She says, “Yes.” Now I know exactly what has happened.

I've been sleepwalking all of my life. Since I was a little boy I would get out of bed a couple hours after going to sleep and come down the stairs and I'd sit on the couch next to my parents. They would be watching a movie or the Celtics. Sometimes I would just sit and I'd stare at the TV but a lot of the times I would talk to them and they would talk back to me.

They would ask me questions that I would never acknowledge in real life. They're like horrible people who would just draw information from me that no child would ever admit to. Like what girls do I like and what teachers do I hate and which one of them do I like the most right now. Then the next morning at breakfast they would bring all this stuff back up and make fun of me. It was a joy to live with these people.

But I did this all the time. People imagine sleepwalkers as someone who closed their eyes and sort of wander around the room with their hands outstretched but it’s really not like that at all. I always describe it as having two operating systems. I have the primary one, which is operating right now taking care of all of my functions, but when I go to sleep occasionally a second operating system comes online.

It’s just like the first one. I can do just about everything that I can do awake that I’m doing while I’m sleepwalking except the two operating systems don’t know that each other exist and so I never remember anything that I’m doing while I’m sleepwalking.

I'll get out of bed. It’s usually a couple hours after a person has gone to sleep that they'll start sleepwalking. Just before REM sleep is about to begin, people will get up and start wandering around. Sleepwalkers tend to get out of bed and sleepwalk at times of stress, when they're over-tired, if they’ve taken a medication they've never taken before, or they're in a new place, a new bed or a new location they've never been in before.

So when I was a boy scout, we would go camping in the woods and I would get out of my tent in the middle of the night and just walk into the woods, into the dark, until I tripped on a root or a rock and it woke me up. Then I would look around and I'd have no idea where I was in the dark so I'd have to sit at the base of a tree and I'd wait all night until eventually my friends at camp would wake up. I'd hear them and I'd be able to wander my way back to camp.

When I got older and I was on my own, I was a McDonald’s manager and I would often find myself, I'd wake up I'd be behind the wheel of my car in the parking lot with my McDonald’s uniform on just ready to drive away but, thankfully, never actually doing so. But it was a terrifying thing to figure out in am I in the parking lot or am I actually driving somewhere down the street.

Nowadays, sleepwalking takes me to many places. I often find myself sitting on the couch at night with the remote in my hand pointing it at the TV that is not on. The thing I do most often is I eat cereal at night. And I only know this because I'll come down in the morning and I'll find a half-eaten bowl of cheerios on the counter. Oftentimes there's a book or a magazine next to it and it’s open and I have no recollection of reading the pages, and I don't even really know if I did. But I’m consuming vast quantities of cereal in the middle of the night.

Recently, I made the terrible decision of agreeing to two deadlines to two different books at the same time which no writer should ever, ever do, and so I was under a lot of pressure. One morning I came down and I found that my laptop was open and there were 500 words written on my laptop for the novel I was working on that I have no recollection of ever writing. The words didn’t actually match what was already there. They were the beginning of the next chapter, but they were good enough that they are still the beginning of the next chapter.

I am writing books in my sleep. That is serious productivity. So it’s not totally weird that I've had this phone call with this veterinary person but it is really kind of crazy.

Elysha doesn’t even believe at first that this has happened. She says, “Matt, we were awake. We turned on the lights. You were on the phone.”

And I say, “I don't remember any of it.” I say, “What is happening?”

And she tells me that in the middle of the night they discover that it wasn’t constipation, that Kaleigh was having a spinal issue and that she had a rupture in one of the discs, which is something that happens to these little dogs with these long backs. So the doctor told us that she had to have a first surgery to clear out the debris and she had a 50% chance of surviving that surgery. And then she would have to have a second surgery, the one that’s happening right now, which would restabilize her spine. And she has a 50% chance of surviving that surgery.

Even if she survives both of them, she has a less than 50% chance of really ever walking again. It’s most likely that she's going to end up in a doggie wheelchair with her hind legs on wheels and her front legs pulling her around. And that for the rest of her life, we will have to catheter her and have a colostomy bag because she won’t be able to do any of those functions for herself.

The operation costs $7,000, which is the amount of money that we have saved for our upcoming honeymoon. And I ask Elysha, “We agreed to all that?” And she says, “Yes.”

I didn’t realize that there were different depths of love. Like Kaleigh is our dog, but at the time she's my dog. I started with her and she's not an easy dog to live with. And Elysha said yes instantly, without question. I started at my future wife and I just couldn’t believe how much more I was in love with her.

So I wait for the phone call which comes three hours later and they say she survived the second surgery. And I say, “Do you think she’ll walk?” And he said, “It’s very unlikely but we don’t know. It will be a long time before we know.”

I get to bring Kaleigh home three days after the surgery. We have to get the house ready before we bring her home. She can’t jump up or down off anything so we take our bed down because she sleeps with us at night. We sleep on a mattress on the floor and we built a cage around the mattress because we can’t even let her get off the mattress. So for months Elysha, myself and Kaleigh will sleep on the floor on a mattress in a cage.

We pushed things up against the furniture that she often jumps up on because we really can’t have her come up on anything at all.

When we bring her home, she's a waste of what she used to be. She has lost weight and she's shaven. But the worst thing is she's just sad. She's a dog who just had a terrible thing happen to her and she has no idea why someone has done this thing. And there's no way to explain to her that this terrible thing had to happen to you so you could keep living. She walks around with her head down and I know that she's in incredible pain.

So we put her on a towel next to us on that first night and she's just lying there. She really hasn’t moved at all. We watch TV and we wait until she finally falls asleep then we move over to the couch. We’re watching TV on the couch when I see her head pick up. She looks at me and she starts to struggle up on her front legs. I want to stop her because it’s too early for her to even try to walk around but I watch as she lifts up her hind legs too. Before I know it, she's standing on all four legs and she starts to hobble over towards us one tiny step at a time. She's walking.

Kaleigh at home in Connecticut. Photo provided by Matthew Dicks.

I call the doctor the next day and I tell him, I say, “She's already walking,” and he says, “That’s impossible.” And I say, “I know, but it happened.”

Kaleigh is 16 years old today and she is still with me. Every morning I wake up and the first thing I do is I check to see if she's still breathing, because she is an old dog. She has bad skin that makes the entire house smell. She is completely deaf. She is slightly blind. She doesn’t run anymore but she hobbles around our house and she eats and she snores and she still sits at my feet while I write every single morning.

I've been asked many, many times, “Do you think you would have made that decision if you hadn’t been sleepwalking? If you had been fully awake would you have agreed to those ridiculous odds and spent that enormous amount of money on your dog?”

And I understand the question. It’s a reasonable question to ask if you're not me. But if you're me, you know that Kaleigh was a thing that I loved as much as anything else in the world, and she still is. She is a member of our family.

If you're me or if you're Elysha you know that there really wasn’t a decision to make that night whether you were awake or whether you were asleep. When the doctor called and gave us the odds and told us how much it was going to cost, I know it was an easy decision. It was a decision I could have made in my sleep. Thank you.

Part 2: Simon Donner

It’s 2:00 a.m. I’m in Madagascar. It is the middle of the wet season. The air is completely still and it’s hot. That type of sticky tropical heat where you don’t want anything to touch your skin.

So I’m lying on top of the sheets, I would levitate above them if I could, and I’m completely naked. Listen, no one said science is pretty. And I just desperately want to get to sleep.

And then a man falls out the window above me and lands on top of me on the bed.

The trip had not been going well. I'd come to Madagascar to visit a coral reef field program. It was a project being run by a conservation group. At the time, my research was more on the computer modeling side. I was studying how climate change was affecting the world’s coral reefs. I started doing field work, but I felt that I needed to learn more about how to run a project like the one these people had. They were nice enough to say I could come as a visiting scientist for six weeks or a couple of months.

So I pack myself off there, traveled around Madagascar, but they warned me one thing. I might be coming a little bit off schedule and I might miss their transport. The city nearby was only 150 kilometers away so I thought, what’s the big deal? I’m sure I can get there.

I did miss the transport. So I was able to find out with some help that there was a fishing company, a French company that drove trucks up and down the coast picking up squid from all the villages. I managed to get a lift from the fishing company. Again, they warned me it’s wet season and humid. It might be a little bit slow. The roads aren’t that good during the wet season.

But it’s only 150 kilometers. How long could it possibly take? I mean, it was the coast. It’s as flat as a board. There's no mountains to cross. So I was like, you know, maybe a few hours or something.

So I was waiting. When the man landed on me, there was some confusion. He was French, a French expat, of which there are many in the coastal towns of Madagascar. He was drunk and, as I said, he was quite confused. We exchanged some words. The words were spoken in a variety of different languages and I can’t really recount any of them here. That’s for the best.

But we came to a mutual understanding that he had entered the wrong room and he had also entered the room the wrong way. So he was nice enough to leave out the door and I tried to get back to sleep.

A day later, and I mean a day in the scientific sense, it was exactly 24 hours later, I climbed out of that same bed, unglued myself from the sheets basically, and walked off to go and pick up the truck. I was a bit suspicious as to why I had to meet it at 2:00 a.m. but that’s what they told me.

So we loaded on some bags, 50 kilogram bags of rice. They made sure the fish coolers in the back were all secure. I got on, there were a few other passengers, and off we went.

It was a bumpy ride. It was not good for somebody with a lower-back problem but I was surviving. It was kind of an interesting adventure. We forded some rivers, we passed on this road. There was part sand, part rock. It was kind of exciting. We got stuck in the mud. By hour three, that got a little tiresome, but we kept going. We were able to get back out.

Then at some point getting around lunchtime I was told, “Oh, the truck stops in the next village. That’s as far as it goes.” And we were only maybe like a third of the way. But they said, “Don’t worry. There's another truck. You can just get on the next one.”

And there was another truck. The driver was nice enough to say I could sit next to him. I was like, okay. I'll sit on the seat next to him. Not the passenger seat. That was like an actual seat. Next to the driver, between the driver and the passenger seat. Well, it wasn’t really a seat. There was no back and there was no base really either, actually. There was no pad. It was really just the metal frame, like the outer frame of the truck. So that was really the only thing between me and the engine block.

It was hot. I moved side to side probably once every two minutes to just avoid scalding my butt, basically. Definitely it was not good sitting on a metal seat for my lower back, although the heat probably helped a little bit. It was therapeutic.

So we travelled on. We stopped in some villages. We unloaded rice. We loaded squid. Got back off. And the day kept going on and it started to get dark and it didn’t seem like we were anywhere near where I was going yet. And it became clear that when it got dark we weren’t going any further.

So we stopped in another village and they said, “We have to spend the night here. This truck, this is as far as it goes. But don’t worry. There will be another one. You can take it in the morning.”

And everyone is very generous and hospitable. They let me stay in somebody’s hut on the beach and they fed us dinner, they fed us breakfast. And I was all excited about the next truck.

And I would ask around, “Le camion, is it here?” It turned out no truck. In fact, nobody had seen the third truck in days, which is something you think they might have mentioned earlier.

So I was stuck. I wandered off to the beach and started thinking about whether it would be possible to buy one of the local fishermen’s canoes and I could paddle it up shore. Whether that would be culturally appropriate to even ask?

And someone came up to me and said, “Oh, you're going to the Andavadoaka. We can drive you almost all the way there.”

I said, “Okay. Great.” And he had a boat and he was a lovely guy. His name was Dominic. It sounded great.

He says, “We’re just getting ready to leave.”

I said, “Okay,” and I ran and grabbed my backpack, ran down to the beach and waited for about five hours. And then we got in the boat and then we took off.

It turned out to be a little bit of a milk run. I think more accurately I would call it a squid run. We stopped in a village. It wasn’t clear why at first. We got out and Dominic went up the beach and they had a little thing set up there with a scale. He weighed a bunch of squid and then he gave the fishermen some money, and then all the guys in the boat loaded them to the coolers and we got back into the boat. And then off we went again.

So I learned that the reason Dominic was going up and down the coast, he was part of this massive global supply chain for squid. They buy the squid from these fishermen in these tiny little villages, the Vezo people that do this fishing in the coast of Madagascar. They buy the squid, transport in their little boat on ice, move onto the trucks, the trucks then move them to the port, from the port gets on a ship, goes on another ship and ends up in somebody’s dinner plate somewhere. We were just at the very beginning of that supply chain.

So we stop at another village. At that point I’m like, well, I’m in Madagascar. When in Madagascar I guess this is what you do, so I help load squid and everything. We did this a number of times. Time passed and basically we reached the last village of his stop pretty much right as it was getting dark. We were going through blasting rain out on the ocean so actually it was at the point we were cold.

Simon Donner shares his story at the Anza Club in Vancouver. Photo by Rob Shaer.

We land on the beach and this is the end of the run. This is the end of Dominic’s run and I’m not actually at the field site yet.

So they tell me, “You can stay here. Don’t worry. Just you'll stay in the village tonight and tomorrow morning another boat can take you the last 15 kilometers or so.” Dominic and the squid will go back the other way. So it’s great.

We walk over to a series of huts and Dominic and I walk to the one he normally stays in, that the village is nice enough to let him stay in. He looks at the double bed in the village, it’s not really a bed, I would say. It’s a double-mattress on the ground. I’m sorry, in the hut. And he looks at me and he just says, “Ca va? Is this okay?”

So of course it’s okay. At this point I’m used to sleeping with strangers here so that’s fine. So we settled into bed, smelling of squid of course.

Got up in the morning. People made us a very nice breakfast. I asked around, “Is there a boat? You think somebody could just give me a lift up the coast?”

So I go in and, “No, no, no. No boats. It’s not possible. The wind is going the wrong way. You can’t do it at this time of the year.” I surmised from that that there's also no engines that could push someone that way.

So at that point I was starting to get a little bit desperate. It had been two days and I was only trying to go 150 kilometers. Somebody then said, “Well, if you wait until 11:00 a.m. you can take a Zebu .”

Now, my French, and I’m ashamed as a Canadian to say this, is not that great. I wasn’t exactly sure what they were saying but I was confident that ‘Zebu’ is not a word that I'd heard in French before. What could it possibly be? I kept hearing ‘ Zebu ’, ‘ Zebu ’, ‘ Zebu ’. Wait. Zebu like the cattle? Which is like the word they use for cows.

And that’s what he meant. So I was like, “So I’m riding a cow? What’s the plan here?”

It turned out it was an ox cart and it was leaving at 11:00 a.m. I don't know if that’s the schedule. I didn’t look on the posting, but there's no app. So I was like, “Well, this is what, you know, when in Madagascar…”

So at 11:00 a.m. I loaded onto the ox cart together with the ox cart driver’s son, a lovely local guy named Dolph, a whole pile of our bags. The cart was only about 3’ by 5’. It was tied in there, and a 15-horsepower boat engine.

I don't know why the engine was there. I really wanted to ask somebody, “Couldn’t we just be using it?” But it didn’t seem appropriate at the time. I was happy at least there was some sort of transportation. So we go off in the ox cart, we cross at low tide and we’re back on the road. It looks like I’m actually finally getting there.

But an ox cart is not the most comfortable thing in the world. We’re bouncing over these rocks on the road and it is just killing my back. I can’t believe it. I’m almost there and I feel like I can’t take it. So I jump out of the ox cart and think I'll just walk. It’s not going that fast anyways.

Then of course it picks up speed. So I start running beside it and I ended up running the last 10 to 12 kilometers of this trip holding on to an ox cart, just so they didn’t get away from me and everything. I basically look like a Malagasy secret service agent protecting the ox cart.

When we got there it took in total sixty hours. That’s six-zero hours. If you do the math and I’m a scientist and I had a lot of time to kill, so I did the math, it’s about two-and-a-half kilometers an hour, which is what I probably could have walked. If you count the days I was waiting in the town just for the truck, I actually could have swam there.

But it was a great trip. What’s fascinating about it to me all these years later, this was over 10 years ago for me, as in now what I do at UBC, I've been doing field research for a number of years now. I've done projects in a number of different countries in all sorts of different conditions and I've had to negotiate for boats, for trains, for planes. I literally tried to stop a 737 from taking off once because it didn’t have our gear in it. I've done all these things and I have photos of these, just all these great memories all around my office. They're all in the office walls.

And there's one photo that’s kind of out of place. It’s not on the wall. It’s right next to my desk and it’s of the truck. The very first truck. I like looking at that photo because the truth is I don't remember anything I learned from that field project that visit, and I was there for like six weeks I think. But I remember this trip really well.

And that’s the thing about science. These days in science, there's so much obsession about the findings. You need to get the publication out, you want to make sure it’s getting attention. But science is about the process. Science is about the journey to the findings. It’s about how you got there. It’s about the steps that you took.

The truck always reminds me that. It is about the journey. It is about the journey and not the destination. Thank you.

PSLE English Composition tips: Two ways to plot ‘An unexpected discovery’ & model composition

August has been a very busy month for our P6 students. Aside from rigorously preparing for the PSLE Oral examination, we have also been preparing for the Preliminary examinations.

Aside from our weekly writing practices , to prepare them further, I will also plan out the list of the SA1 compositions with my classes.

This will allow them to be confident should a similar theme come out for the prelim. It is also a way for us to see how we can manipulate past plots into new themes.

My students have been lucky this year for the Paper 1 Preliminary themes . Some of the themes not on the list such as friendship and perseverance were done this year in class while others had themes that were in the SA1 list!

In my next post, I will put up the list of the Preliminary Composition themes that my students had so that you too can plan at home.

However, today, I will write about a theme that many schools had for their SA1. The theme of something ‘unexpected’ seemed to have been a common theme in many schools. From a surprise to an unexpected discovery , students had to write about being surprised.

I decided to use this as one of our compositions topics in August.

PSLE composition illustration for the model on the theme of an unexpected discovery

We discussed two possible ways to write this story. One was to discover a physical object unexpectedly, such as money or weapons. This would be a story with suspense and descriptive action.

The second way was to discover something unexpectedly about a family member or yourself such as adoption papers or a family secret. This composition would be more emotional and would require the use of characterisation.

While the second way may seem more difficult, both compositions, when written well, can garner a good score.

Below is Sarah’s, one of my P6 students, composition. She has been working hard all year to achieve her PSLE English goal and watching the effort she has put in to improve all year, makes me sure that she will meet the target for the PSLE.

I am happy to feature her composition on the blog today. She chose to write the second way suggested – discovering a family secret. Sarah’s story is emotional and yet she has made sure to use the theme.

PSLE English Composition model on the theme of ‘ An Unexpected Discovery ‘

Note to students

The model compositions in this blog are to help students generate ideas and to be used as a guide. Students are not allowed to copy the model compositions and then pass them off as their own work, especially in school. It is called plagiarism.

“$4000? Father only left us $4000? What did he do with the rest of the money that he had?” I exclaimed, after my father’s funeral.

A million different possibilities raced through my mind. Could he have had another secret family? I thought to myself.

“Sally, trust your father. I am sure that he had done something good with the money that he had,” my mother said giving me a pat on my back.

It did not matter what my mother said. I resented my father ever since then. To me, he was not a good father. He was selfish and greedy. What kind of a father would leave his daughter and wife $4000 after his death? Before my father’s death, he was the sole breadwinner of the family. However, after his unexpected death, my mother had to take up the responsibility of being the sole breadwinner just to support the family, put food on the table and pay the bills.

One day, when I arrived home from school, I asked my mother where my old report book was kept.

“Mrs. Tan, my English teacher needs the old report book by tomorrow for administration purposes,” I told my mother as she was preparing to rush off for her afternoon shift at work.

“The basement!” called my mother as she hurried out of the door.

Why is my report book kept in the basement? I wondered. I put down my bag, took out our torchlight, and made my way down to the basement. I opened the wooden door leading to the basement. Walking down the flight of old stairs, it creaked beneath me. I switched on the torchlight in my hand to make my way around. There were cobwebs and dust everywhere due to the lack of maintenance. The bulbs in the lamps needed to be changed too. The basement was filled with boxes of my father’s belongings, placed there after his death. I walked around the basement looking through the boxes for my report book.

“Where can my report book be?” I muttered under my breath.

One of the boxes caught my eye. The box was sealed tightly like it was protecting a secret. I compared it to the other boxes around and it was the only sealed box. What could be inside? I thought to myself, making my way to the box. Dusting off the layer of white dust on the top, I used a penknife on the shelf to open it up. Sweat trickled down my forehead as I cut through the last piece of tape. What could be inside this box that had to be taped up? What would I discover about my father? I wondered.

“1, 2, 3,” I counted to myself before finally opening the box. Peering inside, I discovered that there were many different letters. Picking them out one by one, I read through them. They were all addressed to my father and they were from different organisations and people. Each letter was filled with words of gratitude, thanking my father for his kind donation. Orphans wrote about how grateful they were that my father had helped them with their school fees and sick people thanked my father for helping to pay for the medical bills that they could not afford. I could not believe my eyes! Finding these letters was truly an unexpected discovery. I then understood why there were so many people I did not know at my father’s funeral. They must have been the people to whom he had donated his money to.

Tears welled up in my eyes. Had I really known my father? The more I read the letters, the more I started to understand him. My father was not a selfish and greedy man. Instead, he was a generous and selfless man. He had donated his money to those who needed it more than him.

After a long time in the basement reading each of those letters, I closed up the box again . Finding out my father’s true personality was an unexpected discovery. I learnt one of the most important lessons of my life that day and I promised to always remember him for the generous man that he was.

Check the other articles from this section

SOTA Primary 6 Creative Writing Competition 2021
Phrases to describe pride and embarrassment
P6 English Composition model: Being punished
Creative Similes – How to use them and score in your PSLE compositions
P6 2021 SA1 List of Composition Themes
P6 Composition Being Late
List of P6 2020 English composition Preliminary Themes
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Incident with or about your family

Incident with or about your family - Essay Example

Subject: English
Type: Essay
Level: Masters
Pages: 1 (250 words)
Downloads: 18
Author: leonebartell

Extract of sample "Incident with or about your family"

An Incident with a Family College: When I was a small child, my parents used to work much more than they do today. They did not have a lot of time to look after me; so, they sent me to a nursery school. Sometimes, my grandparents helped my parents to take care of me but they were quite busy at that moment as well. Therefore, a preschool appeared to be the best choice for them and for me, too.My parents worked a lot to provide for the family so that I lacked nothing. Usually, I was among the children in the group who were the last to be picked up.

Today, I understand my parents had no other choice. Sometimes, my grandparents picked me up and took home. Overall, as it happened very often, I got used to it. I did not worry that my parents would forget about me. In fact, I liked spending time at nursery, and it was not a problem for me to wait a bit more than other children. One day, I was waiting for my parents to pick me up and take home. Usually, I was not the last child to wait for their parents, and some kids were still at nursery when my parents came.

That time I was the last one. Nobody came, and a nursery teacher took me home by herself. When I came home, my parents were really shocked, and shocked is too easy a word. It appeared they thought my grandparents would pick me up, and the latter thought it was my parents turn. It was a lesson for them, and since that time I was among the first to be picked up in the group.

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English Essay on “A Strange Incident” English Essay-Paragraph-Speech for Class 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 CBSE Students and competitive Examination.

A Strange Incident

One evening while returning home from school, a strange incident took place.

As my annual examinations were approaching, I had begun to attend extra classes.

As you know, evenings in hill stations are very misty. On this particular evening too, a mist lay thick all over. It was impossible to see clearly, so I got off my bicycle and began walking with it.

There was not a single person on the street but suddenly in the distance, I saw the figure of a man. I started walking faster but as I approached him, I noticed something odd. He seemed to be floating in the air! His feet were not even touching the ground! Afraid, yet fascinated, I just could not take my eyes off him.

Soon I got this strange feeling that the man had stopped and was waiting for me to pass. Beads of perspiration trickled down my face while my heart pounded loudly with fear. Then, as I crossed his path, the stranger held out a hand and said, “Go home quickly son. Don’t waste your time.” Not daring to look at his face, I sped home as fast as I could. I cycled as though ten tigers were chasing me!

At my house, I found my mother talking to a crowd of people outside. Breathless, I ran to her. She hugged me and wept, “Thank goodness you’ve come! Your father has had a heart attack, and we’re taking him to hospital. Now, be a brave girl and give him a smile.”

Holding my father’s hand on the way to the hospital, I remembered the strange man who had given me such an important message on this cold, misty evening. Silently, I thanked him for speeding me on my way to be with my family, in their hour of need.

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3 Unity Stories That Teach You The Strength Is In Unity

Stories About Unity That Teach Where There Is Unity There Is Strength

“Unity makes the family strong, unity makes society strong and unity makes the nation strong. That’s why we should stay united.”

– Pawan Pratap Singh

Best Stories of Unity For Kids As Unity Is Strength: We all know the strength of unity but to teach kids about its importance in life we are going to share two wonderful stories, which will help them to understand its significance in a simple and interesting way. You can find more encouraging stories in our Stories Section to entertain and educate your children in their leisure time.

1. A Story on Unity Is Strength: A Farmer And His Four Sons

Ramu was a hardworking farmer. Throughout the day he used to work hard in the fields and strive for the comfort of his family. His wife had passed away a long time ago and now he lived with his four sons. His sons were also married, but they did not pay much attention to the needs of the family.

Neither did they work with their father in the fields nor did they live together harmoniously. Often the four brothers used to fight with each other on the slightest issue. Ramu was very distressed by their behavior. He instructed his sons to live together many times, but everyone ignored his advice.

Ramu was getting old while working hard and one day it came when he took to bed. Knowing his end time was soon, he took out a trick to convince his sons. He asked for a small bundle of sticks from one of his sons.

Then he asked his four sons to break that bundle of wood, but no one could succeed in breaking it. Then he untied the bundle and asked them to break each and every piece of wood. This time each one broke his own stick. Then Ramu explained to his sons and said –

“You have seen! When the bundle of sticks was tied together, none of you could break it. But when it was taken apart, each one broke it easily. Like that bundle of wood, if you four brothers live together, no one will be able to harm you. But if you keep fighting like this, anyone will easily defeat you.”

Hearing their father’s words of wisdom, the four brothers were disillusioned and promised their father to always be together.

Moral of The Story: Scholars have rightly said that there can never be as much power in a single person in the world as there is in unity. On the strength of unity, man can achieve even the impossible. That’s why we should always stay together with our friends and family.

2. Pigeons & Bird Catcher: An Inspiring Story on Unity Is Strength

A famous panchtantra story that tells strength is in unity.

This story is taken from the Panchatantra. It also appears in the Mahabharata. The story teaches kids about the strength of unity. A long time ago, there lived a flock of pigeons in a dense forest. All the pigeons used to search for food and water during the daytime and return to their nest before nightfall. An old and wise pigeon was the leader of that flock.

All pigeons respect him a lot because of his wise and prudent advice. One day, they were searching for food here and there but unfortunately, they could not find it. Being distressed, when they were returning to their nest, some of the pigeons saw a lot of wheat grains scattered on the ground.

Because of the hunger, they at once decided to fly towards the ground. The leader of pigeons also saw that wheat grains and he became suspicious at once. He advised the pigeons not to eat them. When one of the pigeons asked the reason behind this decision, the wise pigeon said,

“Friends, today morning, when we were flying in the sky in search of food, I had seen that there was no wheat grain present in this place. Now, in the meantime, how these wheat grains occur in this desolate part of the forest. Surely someone has put the grains here to catch us.”

One of the pigeons said, “But, there is no hunter present here. Also, we do not see any trap here. Soon it would be evening and we could hardly find food anywhere. We all are hungry so we must not lose this golden chance.” Almost every pigeon supported his reason.

The wise leader insisted on not to eat the grains. But no one listened to him and all of them went down to the ground to eat wheat grains. Actually, It was a trap set by a bird catcher to catch the pigeons. It was carefully buried below the wheat grains, that’s why pigeons could not see it.

How The Unity of Pigeons Saved Their Life

But as soon as they sat on the grains and started eating their feet got stuck into the net. pigeons found that they could not move their feet. Then they understood that it was a trap. They started flapping their wings but they could not get rid of the net. The wise leader of the pigeons was safe as he did not come to eat the grains.

He saw all of this but he could do nothing for them. Soon after, the pigeons got trapped in the net, a bird-catcher, who was hiding behind a nearby tree went in the direction of the birds and trap. All of the pigeons saw him coming and they began to cry for help.

But how could they find help in a dense forest? The leader of the pigeons was watching all this from a safe distance. He advised his flock to fly together and carry the net with them. Seeing the upcoming danger, all the pigeons did what the wise pigeon told them to do.

They started flying together, with their feet trapped in the net. When the bird-catcher saw the pigeons flying with the net he ran in the same direction as their flight. The net was heavy and all the pigeons were nervous so they were not able to fly fast and high in the sky.

When the wise leader saw the bird-catcher running on the ground, he encouraged his fellow pigeons to fly high and fast toward the dense part of the forest. All the pigeons followed the advice of their leader and came to a safe place away from the bird catcher.

The wise pigeon then called his friend Mouse who helped them by cutting the net using his sharp teeth. All the pigeons thanked the wise pigeon for his help and praised his sharp wit.

Moral of The Story: The best strength lies in unity and integrity.

3. The Story of Two Bulls & A Lion: What Is The Strength of Unity

A short story about unity that teaches a great lesson.

Once there lived two bulls named Heera and Moti in a forest. There was a strong friendship between them. Both of the bulls would graze together in the forest as well as rest together. If ever any trouble came, both of them would support each other. As time passed, the story of their friendship kept spreading throughout the forest.

The forest was full of different types of wild animals. A lion named Sher Singh also lived in it. Sher Singh was very strong and cruel. He used to kill animals for hunting every day. Because of this, all the animals were very afraid of him. Sher Singh also tried to hunt Heera and Moti several times.

But he was not successful because firstly both the bulls were tall, healthy, and strong, and secondly they always faced the attacks of Sher Singh together. Once he found Heera alone and even caught him. But at the same time, hearing his friend’s call, Moti came running without any delay.

And the two friends made Sher Singh run away by injuring him with their horns. After two failed attacks by Sher Singh, both bulls used to graze the grass together, and for this reason, he never got a chance to attack them again.

But both bulls had become an eyesore for Sher Singh and he wanted to hunt them by any means. Since he could not come forward and fight them, he decided to carry out a trick to get his work done. Sher Singh, somehow, made a friendship with Moti Bull by showing fake affection and companionship.

Then gradually he started creating a rift between Heera and Moti. Whenever Sher Singh met Moti, he would trick him and say, “My dear friend, Moti! You are an innocent guy but look how selfish your friend is. He eats the green grass himself and leaves the dry grass for you.”

Unity Story: How A Wicked Lion Killed Both The Bulls

As Moti Bull was a little less intelligent he easily got influenced by sly Sher Singh’s words. Moti acted according to what Sher Singh had advised, and he started grazing grass in the denser part of the forest, far away from Heera. Heera asked Moti many times why he was behaving in this way.

As Moti who was under the influence of cunning Sher Singh, he never disclosed the real truth. Gradually the distance between Heera and Moti kept increasing and both of them started moving away from each other.

Since Sher Singh had never attacked Moti bull for a long time, Moti started considering him as his friend. Under the influence of Sher Singh, Moti used to go far away to graze grass. One day, when he was busy grazing grass, Sher Singh came secretly and grabbed Moti by the neck.

Since he had complete trust in Sher Singh, Moti often remained unaware of his arrival. But Moti’s trust in Sher Singh cost him a lot. The lion held his neck in such a way that Moti could not even utter a word in his defense. And within a short span of time, Sher Singh killed him.

Today, Sher Singh was very happy because he had gotten his favorite prey. A few days after killing Moti, he also killed Heera, because being left alone, he could no longer face Sher Singh’s brutal attack.

So, kids did you see, in the absence of the strength of unity, how Sher Singh made both the bulls his prey? If they had not been seduced by the lion and separated, both of them would have been alive.

However, due to the divisions among themselves and the power of unity being broken, both of them had to lose their lives.

Moral of The Story: Unity is Strength!

“The power of unity is amazing. Together, any living being can not only do the most difficult tasks with ease but can also face the biggest adversity with ease.”

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Essay on Happy Incident in My Life

Students are often asked to write an essay on Happy Incident in My Life in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Happy Incident in My Life

The unexpected surprise.

One day, after school, I found a small box at my doorstep. Wondering who it could be from, I quickly opened it.

A Delightful Discovery

Inside the box was a cute little puppy, with a note from my parents saying it was my new pet. I was overjoyed as I had always wanted a pet.

Life with My Pet

Having the puppy brought so much happiness. We played, studied, and even slept together. This was the happiest incident of my life, a surprise that brought endless joy.

250 Words Essay on Happy Incident in My Life

The serendipitous encounter.

Life is a beautiful journey filled with a myriad of experiences, each one unique and transformative. One such happy incident that left an indelible imprint on my life was a serendipitous encounter with a stranger at a local library, which later turned into a life-changing friendship.

The Unforeseen Meeting

One quiet afternoon, engrossed in a book, I was interrupted by a stranger’s query about a philosophical text. The initial annoyance quickly gave way to an engaging conversation that spanned from literature to life’s complexities. The stranger, named Alex, was a Philosophy major, and our shared interest in understanding life’s intricacies sparked an immediate connection.

The Profound Impact

The chance meeting with Alex was not just a fleeting interaction. It evolved into a profound friendship that enriched my perspectives about life. Alex introduced me to diverse philosophical ideologies, encouraging me to question the status quo and develop my critical thinking skills. This intellectual stimulation was a refreshing departure from my routine, fostering personal growth and broadening my worldview.

The Enduring Happiness

The unexpected encounter with Alex was indeed a happy incident that brought lasting joy and growth in my life. It reinforced the belief that happiness can be found in the most unexpected places and that every encounter has the potential to transform our lives in unimaginable ways.

In conclusion, life’s beauty lies in its unpredictability and the potential for joy in every moment. As we navigate through life, let’s remain open to new experiences and encounters, for they might just be the happy incidents that shape our lives and enrich our journey.

500 Words Essay on Happy Incident in My Life

Life is a beautiful journey, punctuated by moments of joy, sorrow, triumph, and defeat. Among these myriad emotions, the ones that we cherish the most are the happy incidents, those serendipitous encounters that leave an indelible mark on our lives. One such incident in my life occurred during my college years, which not only brought immense joy but also significantly impacted my life trajectory.

The Unplanned Trip

It was the summer of my second year in college, a time of exploration and self-discovery. A group of friends and I decided to embark on an unplanned road trip to a nearby town. The spontaneity of the trip, the thrill of the unknown, and the camaraderie among friends were exhilarating. Little did I know that this trip would lead to a happy incident that would change my life.

The Unexpected Meeting

While exploring the town, we stumbled upon a local book fair. Being an avid reader, I was drawn to the myriad of books, their pages whispering untold stories. As I was engrossed in a book, I bumped into a stranger who happened to share my enthusiasm for literature. Our conversation flowed naturally, from our favorite authors to the influence of literature on society. This unexpected meeting with a stranger at a book fair in an unknown town was the happy incident I had been unaware I was seeking.

A New Path Unfolds

The stranger was a professor of literature at a renowned university. Our shared passion for literature led to a mentor-mentee relationship. He introduced me to various literary theories and perspectives that I had been oblivious to. This encounter not only enhanced my understanding of literature but also inspired me to pursue a career in it. I switched my major from engineering to literature in my final year of college, a decision that was met with surprise and skepticism. However, I was confident in the path I had chosen, all thanks to the happy incident at the book fair.

The Lasting Impact

Looking back, that unplanned trip and the subsequent encounter at the book fair have had a profound impact on my life. It not only brought me immense joy at the moment but also shaped my future. Today, as a literature professor, I often recount this incident to my students to emphasize the role of serendipity in life.

In conclusion, life is an unpredictable journey with its share of happy incidents. These incidents, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem at the time, have the potential to change our lives in unimaginable ways. As John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” So, embrace these happy incidents and let them guide you on your path.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on Happiest Moment in Your Life
Essay on Goals in Life
Essay on Yoga a Way of Life

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

An Unexpected Incident

Do you think good deeds always pay off? If you think so, think again…

Here I was, in the park near my house, immersed in the one and only game of the year – ‘Pokemon Go’.

As I was sauntering along the path, the cool gentle breeze caressed against my chubby cheeks. Suddenly , upon spotting my ‘prized prey’, I sprinted like a horse of a gladiator to catch it.

The chase was a tiring one. After successfully capturing a few Pokemons to my heart’s content, I realised how exhausted I was. This time I darted not to catch a Pokemon but to a bench to ‘catch’ my breath. I was dead beat.

As I was resting, I noticed a few people playing with their adorable dogs. There was one particular owner who caught my fancy as he appeared to be more or less my age. He was playing with a frisbee with his agile and juvenile dog. I was enjoying the rapport between the master and his pet.

After a few exchanges, the wind blew a bit more violently changing the course of one of the throws causing the frisbee to land relatively close to where I was sitting. Genuinely, wanting to do a good deed I bent down to pick it when suddenly, I felt a set of sharp teeth sinking into my wrist!

“Ah!!!” I bawled my lungs out as I winced in pain.

Unfortunately, the apparent size of the dog and the intensity of the bite were disproportionate! The owner rushed to the spot looking very remorseful and upset.

“I’m so sorry but you really shouldn’t have touched the frisbee as my dog is very possessive about it and must have thought that you were taking it away from him. He’s cheeky but usually doesn’t bite,” he said ruefully.

With his arms akimbo, he lashed a tirade at the dog. However, the dog could not be blamed as its reaction was second nature to it.

The owner informed my parents on what had happened and accompanied me to the a poly clinic nearby.

Luckily for me, it was not a serious bite and could be sorted out with a simple jab and a small plaster.

The owner apologised yet again. As he was leaving, he gave a small piece of advice which was to concur with the owner before petting a dog or touching any article related to it. I nodded my head in agreement.

As I was heading home, I began to reflect on my actions. I had come to a conclusion that it was good to extend a helping hand but sometimes being overindulgent can actually misfire.

The Power of Unity

They broke the sticks easily one by one. Then he wanted his sons to take three stick from the bunch and break them too. Then they tried to break the sticks, but they couldn’t. They tried harder, but they couldn’t break it. Then he told his sons, “No one can hurt you if you stick to each other like these sticks. But if you are divided like one stick, you can be broken easily.”

Moral: Unity creates power.

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Similar to the woman in “Verses upon the burning of our house”, my house had a small fire ten years ago. In the fire I lost many prized possessions and a sense of home. In fact, my room had the most damage because the fire was right above me. My family and I felt lost, but as the time went on through the construction and renovation of my home, I was able to cope with our loss as I watched my parents in awe as they looked at this tragic event as something positive. They showed me to look on the bright side of things and never give up hope. In the poem “Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 10th 1666” Anne Bradstreet had a similar event when her house suddenly lit into flames in the middle of the night. Throughout the poem she learns to…

Helping The Homeless Research Paper

Around the little family, fire trucks and ambulances screamed to a halt. Neighbors from across the street were emerging in their pajamas with blankets for the victims. Next to the girls, the grandmother cried quietly. She had owned the property for 40 years, and all of her memories were burning in the fire. As the firefighters struggled to put out the flames, the grandmother watched her entire life go up in smoke.…

This is a defination essay about "Personal Strength"

I remember, as a small girl, watching my mother run across the street, into a white framed house, that was bursting with flames. My mother, a very small woman, ran through a doorway of flames and pulled Mr. Miller, our elderly neighbor, to safety from his burning house. He lived alone and was trying to prepare his dinner, when some how he lost consciousness and a grease fire ignited the flames, resulting in the total destruction of his home.…

Within this essay, the author will reflect on a critical incident using a reflective model. In order to guide the author undertake this reflection, Johns (2002) reflective model will be utilised. As the first stage of Johns reflective model asks for the description of the event, the descriptive part will be attached (see appendix A). In accordance with the NMC Code of Professional Conduct (2008) the names of the individual involved have been changed using pseudonym in the form of James, Jennifer and Christina for the purpose of maintaining confidentiality. This reflection has been chosen as it has shown the author the inadequacies on her part as a student nurse. Also to highlight the need for the author and professionals to have an accurate documentation as it plays an important role in providing effective nursing care. Therefore, this provides me with the opportunity to have a better understanding and ways to improve my documentation skills.…

Asmaa-Personal Narrative

I was trying to wake up and trick my mind into believing that all of the buildings collapsing, people dying, gunshots firing was not real at all. Unfortunately none of the violence was ending, and at that point I knew i could not trick myself anymore. This was real. As I stand there crying my eyes out with no one familiar around me, I heard someone call my name with sirens going off at the same time. There were people crying, getting shot, dying, weeping all around me. There were dead bodies of people i had seen on the streets while walking. I stopped for a second and saw my friends walking towards me telling me to run to the bus as soon as possible. I did not want to go not knowing where my family was but that was my only choice to get home safe and to ease my mother's worries. I walked out and heard my friends in my bus screaming my name in the saddest matter and tones of voices. I could hear them holding back their tears, but at the same time i could hardly understand them because of all the tears they were shedding. When i got on the bus it was overflowing with kids and people, because the driver wanted to fit as many passengers as he possibly could transport. Many kids in the bus had no idea where their friends and siblings were, so i knew i was not alone. I finally arrived at my home and my mother was there waiting, trying to comfort me. She had been crying and…

Personal Narrative-Para-SA-Sara

I was sitting at the computer desk in the upstairs loft, I had just finished my homework and began to check my phone, when I hear this loud thunder and lightening like sound and my house had shook like there was an earthquake. I was very confused and hadn’t realized what had happened, and as I look down all I can see is white insulation all over my desk and in my mouth. I could my brother Corey faintly yelling my name, “SARA SARA SARA?! ARE YOU OKAY?!”. I couldn’t respond I was in such a shock but I eventually responded with “Yes, I’m okay”. I stood up out of my chair and turned around to see this giant hole in the roof of my house.…

Person Statement

Although I was able to help this family in a small way, it is not enough. This experience has opened my eyes to see how necessary it is to help those in need. It is far too easy for us to just sweep problems under the rug and pretend they do not exist. I now know how important it is for people…

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