Rays of Hope chapter 8: wannabe a poet

Hey everyone, sorry it took me so long. To be frank, I had to put it away for a while due to lack of time. Sadly... my writing
days had to be cut short for a while. School and all, I have time.. for now. But soon enough.. *sigh* but I'll really try to update
more regulary.

On a side note, thank you everyone for all your reviews and everything :D Well... though it might not be the best chapter... enjoy!

It was a quiet afternoon inside the turtle lair. Five little children sat surrounding an elderly rat. The rat was teaching his children how to
read and write because, even though they were growing up inside the sewers, there was no excuse to be illiterate. The youngest of the
children, a little girl with snowy white hair, currently sat bend over a book about wildlife. Suddenly she came upon a picture of an insect
with the most beautiful colours she had ever seen.

'Master Splinter? What is this bug called? It's pretty.'

'Ah that, my child, is a butterfly.'

'butt-a'-fly'

'No Hope, butterfly. Bu-ter-fly'

'Bu-ter-fly… butterfly!'

'Very good little one.'

Raphael looked over her shoulder.

'That's not pretty, it's yucky!'

'Is not!'

'Is too'

'Is not'

'Is too'

'Is not, not, not!'

'Is too, too, too. It's a bug so there!'

'Raphael! Leave your sister alone, we know you don't like insects but she's allowed to think it's pretty.'

Hope stuck out her tongue at Raph.

'Now my children, put away your books. You can go play now.'

The five children hurried to put the materials away. Hope was carrying the books towards the bookcase but Raph bumped into her and one
of the books fell off the stack. It fell open on the floor and as Hope went to pick it up she saw a lot of words and a picture of a butterfly.

'Master Splinter? What is this?'

'Let me see little one.'

She handed him the book.

'This is called poem Hope.'

'I thought that poems had to rhyme.'

'Not at all my child. Poems can come in many different forms.'

'Will you read it to me master Splinter?'

'Of course, come sit with me.'

Master Splinter went to sit in his chair and Hope sat on his lap. He silently read the poem for himself after which he read it out loud for his daughter.

'Life is like butterfly wings,
Bright and soft but fragile.
Easily wrinkled and torn apart.
Life is just as amazing as butterflies.
So many shape's and sizes, and when the wings open…
A flash, a rainbow of colours.
Life is like a candle flame too.
Dancing with fickle forms of light.
Beams of light tear through the darkness,
Until a soft breeze lets her die.
But even with wind and with tears in her wings
Life goes on.
Always dancing, fluttering.
And when a butterfly passes,
Everything stills
For a butterfly flying up to the sky.
Always carries a flame.

Hope was silent throughout the poem and she remained silent after it was finished. She had closed her eyes and a gentle smile graced her
features. Her small body rested against Splinter's chest and for a short while, father and daughter shared a moment of peace. It was
Hope who broke the silence.

'Thank you Sensei,' she said, beaming up at him.

Hope slid from his lap and ran towards the television. She snatched the remote from Mikey, earning a 'HEY,' and soon she was engrossed
in the game. Master Splinter look at the little girl, a thoughtful expression on his face.

-----

Several weeks passed after Splinter read to Hope. The children were, once again, gathered around the old rat.
Splinter gazed at the faces of his children. Michelangelo and Hope looked half asleep, Raphael look as if he'd rather be anywhere but there
and even Donatello and Leonardo looked less than eager to learn.

'Children, today we will work on poetry. I want each of you to write a poem about something you like. Had them in when you are finished
and it has to have at least four sentences.'

Several groans reached his ears but soon they all were writing.

Raph was first to finish followed by Mikey. The duo handed in their work and they ran off to do who-knows-what. Next to finish was Donny
and eventually only Hope was left. She sat hunched over her scrap of paper, her tongue peeking out from between her lips and a look
of pure concentration on her face.

It took Hope about an hour to finish. Master Splinter took her poem and he send her off to play. The old rat was curious about their work
and he took the poems with him as he reclined in his favourite chair. He read the poems of the boys first, frowning slightly at Raphael's
words. Hope's poem surprised him a little, it was actually really well written considering her age. He looked up and a gentle smile graced
his features as he gazed at his daughter, at his little poet.

Poet,

I wanna be a poet,
Someone who plays with words.
But I'm gonna be a ninja,
so I can kick some shell.
but who says I can't be a ninja,
and be a poet as well.

So what did you think? and be honest.... actually, I might change and tweek this chapter a little bit but I decided to upload it anyways
since it's been a while since I posted. I just want you all to know that I'm about half way done with the next chapter and I'm already
thinking about the chapter after that. Thing is tough, after chapter 9 I'm going to update some of my other stories like 'Between
Dark and Light,' 'Losing Hope' and 'On Wings of Chaos.' I also might post the first chapter of my new Justice League fic and
the songfic about transformers.

Well... all that's left to say is, read and review :) Siriously people, I love review.

For those who are wondering, the poems are both mine (it may not seem like it but I'm a published poet here in the Netherlands)
For those who want to know what the boys wrote just send me a message and I'll send it to you.