Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all! My emergency chocolate jar is once again filled (Godiva truffles for the curious. Thanks, Honey!) so the writing may commence. Just in time for children’s author Susanna Hill’s super fun ValenTINY contest. Like last year, our wordcount is a mere 214 words (mine is that exactly) and to shake things up a bit, must have someone feeling guilty.
As usual, I get my inspiration from my kiddos, so as Dinosaur Boy clutched the sprinkles for his class Ice Cream Valentine’s Day party, inspiration struck. Oh, the messes we can make with all those teensy bits!
And you may recall my characters, Bean and Jilly, from previous contest entries. If there’s a potential mess to be had, and a friendship to make everything all right, they clamor to be included.
Y’all enjoy!
Bean & Jilly and the Valentine’s Day Sprinkles
Bean walked into his preschool classroom as if his sneakers were marshmallows.
“Why are you walking funny?” Jilly asked.
“I don’t want to drop the sprinkles for today’s Valentine Ice Cream party,” he said.
“Sprinkles!” Jilly said. “Can I see?”
Bean shook his head. “You might spill them.”
“Are they unicorn sprinkles?”
“No, hearts. I picked them out myself.”
“I love hearts! Are you sure I can’t hold them?”
“No.”
At the activity table, Jilly pinched clay into a heart. “I’ll give you this heart if I can see your sprinkles.”
Bean shook his head.
Jilly narrowed her eyes.
In the art center, Jilly made a goopy, gluey paper heart. “I’ll give you this heart if I can smell the sprinkles.”
Bean shook his head.
Jilly wrinkled her nose.
On the playground, Jilly plucked a heart-shaped leaf just for Bean. “Can I touch the sprinkles with my pinkie?”
“Nope.”
Jilly stomped her foot.
At lunch, Bean’s banana tasted boring. The teacher won’t miss a couple sprinkles, he thought.
He wiggled the lid. Then jiggled…
…plop!…
…plink and scatter.
Bean’s heart sank to his toes. “Now I don’t have anything to bring to the class party!”
Except…
… the decorations: a clay heart, a goopy, gluey paper heart, and a heart-shaped leaf. Bean hugged Jilly.
candice marley conner 
Jilly to the rescue!
I love their names! Easter story for them next?
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Thanks, Rebekah! I did actually name them after jellybeans so I should write them an Easter story next, haha
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Ahhh! Yay for friends like Jilly! I always need rescuing too! Sweet! Best of luck!
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Thanks, Ciara!
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Three cheers for friendship! I’m always eager to read about the antics of Jilly & Bean I also realllllly dislike the mess sprinkles can make. Great job and good luck!
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Thank you, Jennifer! I feel like sprinkles are glitter in candy form, haha
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“…plop!…
…plink and scatter.” Oh no!
I love the relationship between Jilly and Bean. And I can fully picture this whole story in my head with all of your sensory details. Love it. Good luck!
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Thank you, Heather! When I was trying to think of the onomatopoeia words to describe the sounds of falling sprinkles, for a wild moment I considered dropping them to make it authentic but luckily came to my senses and googled it instead, lol!
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Omg so cute! Love that he finally couldn’t resist
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Right?! The whole time I was writing it, I thought Jilly would be the one to spill the sprinkles and feel guilty, so the ending didn’t go as I expected, haha
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That’s awesome, so cool that stories make up their own minds😊
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I think that’s one of my favorite parts of the writing process ✍🏻💚
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Agreed!
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Oh my goodness! Poor Bean! He held out for so long against all of Jilly’s pleading and in the end was undone by a boring banana! 🙂 You set up the story so well. I was sure Jilly was going to make a grab for those sprinkles or sneak them away from Bean or something… so I was surprised that it was Bean who couldn’t resist! Nicely done, Candice! Thanks for joining in the Valentiny fun!
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Thank you, Susanna, it surprised me too, haha. I love it when characters take over their story. And thank you again for hosting this super fun contest!
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