“3….2….1…” We all ran in different directions. We all set off to find the treasure that held and was the answer to all of life’s problems. I knew the forest like it was my own home, I knew where the mutated creatures lived, where not to go and the most of all I knew where IT was hidden.
I head north into the easiest, quickest and safest direction…. I hear a howl from the East, someone’s in trouble! Should I help? No, it’s the survival of the fittest, but can I actually do that? Leave someone behind? I feel my heart beating against my chest. It’s either risk my chance at finding my precious prize or be heartless and go on. I have to win or else I’ll die of humiliation. In the same direction there's a scream followed by a vicious growl.
Time passes by and every now then I hear my name get called out. Could it be the Goblin, waiting for me? Has someone hit the jackpot? I don’t give up, I push away the thoughts and carry on. I know this path so well I could close my eyes and I’d still get out of here without a scratch. I hear footsteps approaching…..
My first instinct was to leap into one of the bushes.
“Come out, it’s time to go.” A voice calls out harshly.
“You really think she’s going to come out? Come out you spoilt brat, it’s OVER.” Spits another, their voice is familiar, annoying and irritating.
Is the hunt really over or are they trying to spoil my victory? I sneak out of the bush, behind a tree and off I went following my never ending journey….
I’m close, so close I can smell the victory. Just a few more steps…. I walk closer I see it shining, almost blinding me….. I see another figure on the other side. I leap onto the egg, before mum pulls me up by the ear.
“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you, I called your name out a hundred times? I even sent your brother and his friends out to search for you. You had me worried so much!” She goes on but I’m just happy I got my egg to be honest. I hate losing and this was my ninth year round that I won the Easter hunt. Next year it will be a decade. I wonder if the people taking my resume will be impressed.
I shuffled back into the house where Ally, and Ben stood there waiting for me. I look around the room for that one person who’s missing…. I see Lucy sitting with an ice pack over her bloody knee, next to dad. Poor girl, our dog isn’t usually this vicious.
“Happy Easter and Birthday Katy!” Everyone shout.
Points:
Time spent:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
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The first sentence doesn't flow very well compered the rest of the story. I like the way you told it, so that it sounded more like an enchanted wood with magical creatures in it than a back yard forest. This makes it easier for the reader to get absorbed in the story. The ending is very creative, but the last word I think is supposed to say shouted. It is not perfect and needs more work, but is a good start.
Hello, znale1! I'm here to leave you a helpful review!
I'm not sure who the narrator is talking about. If they are talking about their mother, I feel like it's not a very realistic choice for a child to be thinking about their mother. I used to be afraid to even think anything like that about my mom. I think that a more realistic choice would be to use "giant" instead of goblin. That way, a sense of size difference is conveyed, and something that shows that particular character as something looming over the narrator, but doesn't have the insulting connotation.I understand how this is supposed to start out as one thing and then turn into another, but I think that the two worlds should be a little more connected. For example:
Two things about this. First, it should be "from" instead of "in" at the beginning because in implies that the narrator is going that way, which they aren't. The other thing is the content. I do appreciate how you connected it to the end, but the end is very lighthearted, and a dog bite is nothing to laugh at. By law, if a dog bites, they're to be put down. This family might not put the dog down, but it just mars an otherwise nice ending. Maybe you could say that you hear barking, and have the sister trip over the dog and scrape her knee? As if they were playing? I think it would fit the tone of the story better overall.
At the end, I feel like you should just remove the birthday part, as there's nothing that really points to it being the narrator's birthday until that point. It was an added detail that didn't really do anything for the story.
Now onto the grammar portion of the review.
You had a lot of comma splices and run-on sentences, as well as a few errors in tense. I'll do my best to highlight and explain what you should do to them to make them grammatically correct.
This is a run-on. You can fix it by breaking it up into smaller sentences. I also suggest using italics for "IT" instead of capitalizing it because it will look more professional.
Here, try this:
You can't really head into a direction. I mean, you can, but you can't enter it, which is what you've got going on here. Also, you use too many periods in your ellipsis. In fact, you do it consistently throughout the piece. Ellipses don't need periods after them, even if you're ending a sentence with them. Furthermore, I don't really see a good reason for you to use an ellipsis there. A period would create a stronger effect than trailing off into nothingness.
Try this:
This is a comma splice sentence. It has no conjunction, only a comma. You can fix this by putting a semi-colon where the comma is instead of the comma.
While I don't think that this is technically grammatically incorrect, it is awkward sounding. I suggest putting an em dash where the comma is instead to create more of a pause than just a natural comma pause. Commas are for natural pauses, but you need stronger punctuation for realizations such as this one.
You have a typo here. You missed the and in every now and then.
This is a comma splice sentence. I suggest breaking this one up into two sentences, as the thoughts are unrelated enough and both independent clauses, so they can stand on their own. Put a period where the comma is.
The rest of the story is in present tense, so you should change "was" to "is."
When writing dialogue, you should end the dialogue with a comma if you're going to put a dialogue tag after it. You do, but you used a period. Put a comma after "go" instead of a period.
While using a t for past tense is regional, I'm just going to add that "spoiled" is the correct spelling where I am. Also, I'm giving you the same note here as the previous note: use a comma at the end of dialogue. You also have a comma splice here. Put a period after "another" and you'll have it all fixed up.
Take out the comma after egg.
This is a comma splice. Also, the second half isn't a question. Punctuate it like this:
Put a comma after "on."
Take out the comma after Ally. You only need a comma before a conjunction when you are connecting two independent clauses in a compound sentence. Here, you're just listing names.
In closing, I feel like this could be fleshed out a little more. Give us more excitement in the hunt. Perhaps refer to the treasure as "the golden egg." Anything made of gold can sound like treasure. Also, an interesting idea would be that the "mother goose" is guarding the golden egg, which would be a nice spin on it. I would also describe the surroundings just a touch more.
I hope that this review proves useful to you! Happy YWSing!
Hey Morrigan!
I just wanted to say this review didn't help me at all, other than bring my self-esteem extremely low.
"I head north into the easiest, quickest and safest direction%u2026.
You can't really head into a direction. I mean, you can, but you can't enter it, which is what you've got going on here."
I never said I entered the direction, in fact no where in there does it even infer about entering a direction. The line infers to heading into a direction.
The commas are there to show the reader to show where there's a break. You know there are books that do that. Where I have put the commas actually make sense:
"I leap onto the egg, before mum pulls me by the ear." This sentence can be turned around:
"Before mum pulls me by the ear, I leap onto the egg." if it can be turned around it means it's a complex sentence.
I would have appreciated this review if you didn't have to pluck out every single mistake.
-znale1
Hey,
I only did it because I saw that you have trouble with run-ons and comma splices. I helped you out because grammar is important to improve clarity.
Also, you don't need a comma in all complex sentences. The way you turn it around has a correctly used comma in it, but that is because you turn "before mum pulls me by the ear into a modifier instead of the main action of the sentence. I'm majoring in English and just finished my traditional gramma r course, so all of this is fresh in my mind.
Also, you don't need a comma in all complex sentences. The way you turn it around has a correctly used comma in it, but that is because you turn "before mum pulls me by the ear into a modifier instead of the main action of the sentence. I'm majoring in English and just finished my traditional gramma r course, so all of this is fresh in my mind.
Look I literally don't care about your life, I'm only replying to you because you were being a snob to the guy who reviewed your work. People in YWS are young, most of them don't major in English. I for one don't need a know-it-all trying to bring me down. I'll say this thank you for the help but you shouldn't do these super long paragraphs of reviewing, because whoever the person your reviewing will feel like a FAILURE. You should just sum it up in simple and short sentences.
Hey there Valkyrie here to leave a review!

Firstly, I enjoyed this piece. It didn't end how I thought it would when I started reading this piece which is great, I love it when a story can surprise me. From the first sentence I was intrigued to find out more and with each new sentence you gave a little bit more away. This piece had a great pace to it so well done.
Now for improvements. This sentence, "We all set off to find the treasure that held and was the answer to all of life’s problems." It is a good sentence and grabs the readers attention; wanting to know what the answer is... But you never give us that answer. Yes by the end of the story we know it is just an easter egg hunt however, you don't actually explain why this character felt the treasure held the answer to all life's problems. So I would advise many changing this or adding a bit more towards the end to describe why it was so important.
Also, the ending seemed a bit rushed. The last line we only just find out it is their birthday and why does everyone suddenly shout it when they walk in? It seems a little random. Oh, and you have a little typo on your last word.
Hope this review helps! Keep up the good work with pieces like this.
Thank you, this review was definitely very helpful!

-znale1
This is good. And cute. Not at all what I was expecting and I was hooked immediately. This was different and hust great!
The story is very interesting and takes unexpected turns in such a short time. It works, even though it happens so fast. I am glad you wrote this and am happy I took the time to read it.
Very well done! I look forward to reading more by you!
Thank you so much, this review made my day
!