500 Words 2025/26: read a finalist's story from the 5-7 category

Remember, spelling, punctuation and grammar are not taken into account for a 500 Words story, therefore all the top 50 stories have been published how they were submitted.

The Day The Grass Got Loud by Simran M.

It all started on a Tuesday. Not a special Tuesday, not a holiday or a birthday or even a particularly sunny one. Just a regular, slightly damp Tuesday in the town of Ajobur. But that was the day the grass started talking.Not whispering, not rustling in the wind. Talking. Loudly."Oi! Watch where you step!" shouted a patch near the post office.Mrs. Penelope Crumb, who was on her way to mail a letter to her cousin in Norway, nearly dropped her purse. "Excuse me?" she said, peering down at the lawn, pushing her glasses down to her nose."You heard me, lady," the grass snapped. "You think we like being stomped on all day? We got feelings too, y'know!"By noon, the entire town was in chaos. Lawns were yelling at joggers, meadows were gossiping about cows, and the football pitch refused to host the afternoon match unless someone brought it a smoothie.Mayor Blibber gathered an emergency meeting in the town hall. "This is unacceptable," he declared, mispronouncing the word. "We must negotiate with the grass."A group was formed: two florists, a poet, and a child named Marvin who lied that he could speak fluent lawn. They approached the town square cautiously, where the grass had gathered in clumps."We demand respect!" the grass bellowed. "And hats. Tiny hats for every blade of us."The poet, whose name was Lark, tried to reason. "Surely, but won't the hats block the sun?You need sunlight ." "We'll take sunglasses then," the grass replied. "Stylish ones." The argument went on for hours. Marvin translated the more complex grass languages, which were apparently about how the humans insult them and hurt their feelings.It had been five hours now, and the fight hadn't been getting any better. In fact, it got worse. Everybody that saw this attempted to help, but it only made the grass ask for more things. "I want a skirt!" went a blade. "I want a polo shirt!" shouted another. Soon, everyone (all of the grass) were screaming requests for hats and pieces of clothing.The florists, Lark and Marvin had just about enough. "That's it!" Lark yelled, " I've had enough! Is it THAT hard to just stop…erm…BLABBERING!" The group departed, followed by the people who tried to help; the ones that had giant frowns on their faces, even though they had no clue about what was going on. The grass had a plot to get what they want that started just the very next day…The next day, people were being woken up at 3 to 5:30 AM! The grass had made miniature signs that read 'we won't stop' or 'we want visors!'. In sync, they chanted " We will stay! We won't go! Unless you give us a nice polo!"Marvin got so angry that he got out his lawnmower and mowed wherever there was grass in Ajobur.Then no one was bothered by the grass ever again.

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