I found a piece of paper lying on the floor in my room. I reproduce it below in its entirety, including spelling and grammatical compositions, although I can’t show you the drawing.
C.T.A. NEWS
Four friends are forming a new organisation. The C.T.A. is the name. Matthew (last name deleted) is a 10 year old boy happy and kind and his sister Esther, a bright happy Girl. Abel intelligent but capable of rages and Ilsa, a girl who does not (underlined twice) adore every language.
These four friends all injoy exercicing, to play and love mysteries!
Writen and illustrated by Ilsa.
We had the following conversation.
Me: “Is the CTA a secret?”
Ilsa: “Not anymore. It used to be, but Elliot found the paper.”
Me: “What is the CTA?”
Ilsa (shrugs): “I don’t know. Abel wanted to name it that.”
Abel: “No I didn’t. I wanted CIS.”
Me: “What’s CIS?”
Abel: “I don’t know.”
Me: “So it’s not secret? So you wouldn’t mind me telling people about it?”
Ilsa: “No.”
Me: “What if I put it on my blog?”
Ilsa: “Sure. It’s not a secret. But why would anyone care?”
Maybe you don’t. But who couldn’t love a 9 year old who describes herself as “a girl who does not adore every language” ? Not me. She really cuts right to the heart of what’s important in describing someone. I see a great future ahead 🙂
PS the weird thing is that I posted this yesterday, saw it on the blog, and today it’s not there. I’ll have to tell Ilsa, since she loves mysteries!
Planet Nomad 
9 comments
October 20, 2006 at 11:40 am
Jodi
Wow, for someone who does not adore every language, she sure has a good grasp on English!
October 20, 2006 at 2:23 pm
meredith
My 8 year old is just getting into secret clubs, and secret member lists to be hidden at all costs from a little sister. A little sister who can’t even read yet, so the hiding part is a little redundant.
October 20, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Shannon @ Rocks in my Dryer
I see a great blog in her future!
October 20, 2006 at 5:59 pm
Wacky Mommy
Wacky Girl and her friends started a new club, too, a backlash to the Cheetah Girls club started by the wild girls at school. She tells me, “I’m the vice-president! And…” complicated rules followed. The number game, who is required to play and how (they jump around on the numbered squares on the playground); then you jump rope, but you can’t jump rope before the number game. And everyone is allowed in. “That is part of our rules — if you want to get into our club you do.” (That made me happy, hearing that.) I wish we spoke more languages than one here!
October 21, 2006 at 12:36 am
Julie Q.
I love your story (drat, I wish I could underline love…just imagine it).
I helped form a club in 6th grade. The paper trail (along with the many secret acronyms) is essential for authenticity. Our club was A.W.A. (Associated Wierdos of America). I think our only club meeting involved smuggling a jug of milk and box of Capt’n Crunch to school and having a feast in the lunchroom. Yes we thought we’d reached the height of coolness.
October 21, 2006 at 3:19 am
Pieces
I just love that they don’t know what the initials stand for. It sounds cool–that is all that matters!
October 22, 2006 at 11:58 pm
Fin de Ramadan « Planet Nomad
[…] I suspect the attraction this time was Matthew, of CTA fame. His family had been invited for the feast (end of Ramadan) and he invited Ilsa to join them. For some reason, this sounded wonderfully exotic to her. I’m not taking it personally. She thinks her life is boring and longs for adventure. I’ve tried to explain that many people would think locust plagues, drinking fresh camel’s milk out of a wooden bowl, or sleeping under the desert stars were adventures, but she is not convinced. I personally blame Hollywood, although I must admit our special effects are not that impressive. Also the soundtrack to our lives isn’t very good. Maybe we need a better agent. […]
October 25, 2006 at 11:39 am
Kristi
She will be writing novels one day! How brilliant is this line- “Abel intelligent but capable of rages.”?
October 28, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Michelle
CTS, CIS, CSI what’s the difference anyway?