An Entire Story Using Only One Syllable Words: Word

From the next room, Beth heard James, her six year old son, sing at the top of his lungs, “At the first was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Then, she heard him sing some more words to the same tune. Beth knew that he must have made them up. "At the last will be the Word; the Word will be with God, and the Word will be God." 

Next, she heard him pray. 

"Dear God, I hate school and I hate words! Jay says that I am bad. I write my words wrong. The kids at school all laugh at me when I try to write. Please help me to learn how to write my words right so that Jay does not get so mad at me, all of the time."

Beth went in the room and handed James a piece of white chalk and a chalk board.

"Hi there, son," she said, as she kissed him on his cheek, and hugged him tight. 

"Let him write just one word right, please God?" she said. "James, can you write the word god for me?"

"I cannot write the word god right yet," said James. "I know that I write god wrong all of the time."

"Sure you can," said Beth. She saw his sad face and put her hand on his hand. "Write dog then."

"I can not write dog right," said James. "If I can not write words right, then I am bad, right? Jay says that I am bad."

"Wrong! You are not bad! Just write one word for me, right now," his mom said. She saw tears well up in his eyes. "Write the word dog."

"Bad dog?" said James. "All right, I will write dog. I cannot write the word bad right yet. I know that I write that word wrong, too."

"Try hard for me and I will help you." Beth gave him a smile. "Just write dog, not bad." She saw her son write the word god for dog. She saw what he had just done. "Some day you will write and you will write well," she told James. "You will, I know."

"I cannot write right, but I can draw," James said. He saw the word that he had just put on the chalk board. He was not sure if he it was right or not.

Beth had an idea. Now she knew how to help her son learn to spell and write words the right way. "Draw a dog." She saw him draw a stick dog. "Good! That is a dog."

"Now write god," she said. She saw him write the word dog, by the stick dog.

"I can not draw god," said James. "I can write the word god, but did I write it right?"

"No," his mom said. "You wrote the word dog for god."

"I can not do it right," said James, with tears in his eyes. "I get those words wrong."

"Try to draw God," said Beth. She did not want to see her son give up. She saw James put a big heart on the chalk board. "Good, now write god." Once more, James wrote the word dog for god.

"I can not write, but I can draw. Is it right now?" His mom she shook her head. "I give up," he said.

"You wrote the word god for dog and the word dog for god," Beth said. "They are both wrong, but hey, do not give up yet."

"I am so bad. For god, I write dog and for dog, I write god?" James thought. "That is not right, is it?" He saw his mom frown. "Please do not yell at me like Jay does, all the time."

"I will not yell at you, James. Just trust me, please. I am your mom," she said. "God loves you and I love you, too.You are not bad. You just need to learn how to spell and write."

"I know. My dog does too," said James. "Hey, I like pop. May I please have a can of pop, mom?"

"Yes, but can you draw a can of pop for me, first?" Beth said. She did not know if he could draw that or not.

"I like that word," said James. "I know that I can write the word pop right."

Beth saw him write the word pop on the chalk board, by the can of pop that he had just drawn. "Good boy!"

"I did it! I can write right! That is a can of pop. This is a straw." He saw the smile on her face. "The word pop is right when I write it, Right?"

"Yes, it is right. Now draw a man," Beth said. She knew that he could draw a stick man. "Good, now write dad."

She saw her son draw a stick man and write the word dad, the right way.

"I can draw you too, mom, but with a skirt." By the smile on her face, he could tell that what he had just done was just fine.

"Sure, why not? Write mom too."

James did just that and wrote the word mom. The word mom was right too.

"Mom, why is pop p-o-p, dad is d-a-d, mom is m-o-m and dog is d-o-g and god is g-o-d? That can not be right."

"But it is right. Words are not the same when you write."

"So if I draw a dog, I put d-o-g, right? That is right, right? I guess I just have to learn that one. And god is g-o-d."

"Right, some words, you just have to learn to write right."

"I can not draw God. Can you draw God for me, mom?"

Beth did not speak.

"I can draw a heart. That means love. God loves me," James said. "I know that." 

"Write this word," said Beth, as she wrote the word love, right next to the heart. "Love."

"That is a new word for me. It is not a hard word to write," said James. "I can do that."

"Now write this word." Beth wrote the word boy for him.

"I know what that word is. That is boy. I can draw a boy," Beth saw him draw a stick boy.

"That is me!" James saw Beth's smile. "Dad, mom, me and my dog and God, that is love."

"At the first was the Word; the Word was with God and the Word was God. At the last will be the Word; the Word will be with God and the Word will be God. Mom, I like words." James said, as he sang. "I think I like school too."

Beth knew that it would be hard for James to learn to how to spell all of his words right, but she knew that he could learn to write and would do so in time. In her heart, she sang his song for joy, as James drew one more dog. By it, he wrote the word dog. It was right for the first time.

"I have two dogs now," he said. "Thanks mom and thank you God!" Then, he wrote the word god right too.