Hi, Vine Sliver here. This is my first story that I'm posting on this website so please be kind. Remember how nervous you were about your first story. In school we had to a writing assignment about Huckleberry Finn and I wrote this. I thought it was pretty good so I'll put on here. Reviews are very welcome, especially constructive criticism. Enjoy!

After Miss Watson kept on going about this Jebus fellow and how he died and came back to life, I went up to my room. I left the window open to catch a summer breeze and it blew right into my room and messed up all my papers. After I started reading and writin, I started keeping a diary to remember important stuff. I picked up the mess of papers and looked over my first entry.

May 20th, 1843

I was walkin through the woods today when I saw a huckleberry bush and thought of my mother. I wasn't my pap who named me Huckleberry, it was my ma. They were her favorite and she ate the berries off the bush while she was pregnant with me. I really do miss ma. Pap was always horrible to me but Ma wasn't. When I was little she'd take me to our secret place in the woods when Pap was getting drunk. Ma had soft long brown hair and bright green eyes that looked like they were smiling. When Pap got drunk she would take me out to our place and hold me close and sing to me. Ma would make up all sorts of stories for me about the sky, animals, and river. There wasn't a hurtful bone in her body and I've always wondered how she wound up with Pap. I asked her this once and she said that Pap wasn't always the he was now.

"Besides, if I hadn't me him I wouldn't have my little Huckleberry to love."

One time I found a little blue jay with a busted wing. I took it to Ma and she made a splint and nursed it back to health. Ma always thought of everybody else before herself. When Pa came home drunk and mad as a bull (which was often), she would try to calm him down and protect me from him. One day Pap came home angrier than usual. Apparently he lost money gambling and was thrown of a bar for being too drunk, if that was even possible for Pap. I had been playing with my wooden toys that Ma had whittled out of wood for me. I had set up a game where soldiers were fighting the injuns. Pap slammed the door open and slipped on my toys. He was mad.

"I've had it with stupid brat of yours!" Pap went on cursing me and everyone else. Ma ran and grabbed me and stood in front of me protectively.

"C'mon dear, Huckleberry is just a little boy and didn't mean to upset you," she said pleadingly.

"I've had enough of your whining and guff," Pap said as he smacked her across the face. Ma flew backward and her head and neck slammed against the hearth of the fireplace with a sickening thud. Pap ran out of the room. Ma wasn't moving. I walked over to her and shook her gently.

"Ma, wake up." I thought she was sleeping. Then I saw that her eyes were open and her head was at an odd angle.

"Ma?" I asked. It began to dawn on me that something was wrong. She didn't answer I buried my head into her chest and began to cry. I know now that Pap killed her. He didn't mean to and he even seemed a little sorry about it. I'm glad he's gone. After Ma died things became a lot worse and a lot darker. But hey, I'm not with Pap now and the widow is good to me. I'm sure Ma would be proud of me because I can read and write and that's something she always wanted to do.

Sincerely,

Huckleberry Finn

I sorted the pages back into the diary. I had only listened to Miss Watson because she said my ma was with Jebus. Well, Jebus better be real good to Ma because she deserves the best. If he's not I'll have to have a little talk with him.