Na m e : ___ Date: _
Directions: Compare and contrast the two versions of this event.- How are the stories the same? ___
- How are the stories different? ____
- Whose version do you believe? Why? ____
Miss Mabel Marble, Head Mistress at
Meadow School for Little Ladies:
It was nearly 11:20 on the night of October
5th. I had just rolled my hair in curlers and
was about to fasten my night bonnet when
I heard a noise that sounded very much
like a shower of rain; however, the forecast
had not predicted rain and I smelled no
moisture in the air. Still the trickling sound
continued. I parted the curtains to see a
frightening occurrence—sand flying out of
the playground sandbox, and landing on
the roof of the school. I also saw Loretta Fay
Flowers near the sandbox pointing up to
the sky, and directing the sand, as if she
had magical powers in her fingertips. I
have always known there was something
strange about that child. Something a good
scolding has been unable to cure. She was
purposely trying to cover the school
building in sand.
Loretta Fay Flowers, Eleven-Year-Old
Student at Meadow School for Little
Ladies:
On October 5th at 11:20, I was awakened
by a strange sound—the sound of sand
flying from the sandbox in the school
playground onto the roof of the school
building. I ran outside to get a better look.
I saw Miss Mabel Marble looking out the
window of her bedroom. She had a strange
twisted antenna in her hair, as if she were
from another planet. She was pointing at
the sand, making it fly through the sky
onto the school building. There aren’t
many children who aren’t terrified of Miss
Mabel Marble, and now I know why. She’s
a space creature pretending to be a
headmistress so she can capture poor little
girls and send them to another planet in
outer space.