That Old Washing Machine

Text type: Recount. Purpose: Entertain

WALT use different sentence starters

I know I can do this when:

• My sentences start with different words
• Capital letters to start sentences and for proper nouns
• Some short, sharp sentences
• Some complex sentences
• Speech marks for talking / new line for each talker (Taylor)
• Group sentences into paragraphs (Maia)

My key words: skip, garage, washing machine

At last it looked like my skip was arriving. A big truck started to reverse down the driveway towards our garage. On the back of the truck was a mechanical crane device and an enormous shiny orange skip. In order to get the skip off the truck, the driver had to hop out and operate the crane. “Where do you want it?” asked the driver.

“Just in front of the basketball hoop will be great,” I replied. “Do you think I will have room to get my car out?”

“Yeah, sweet as,” the driver reassured me, as he walked towards the controls on the back of his truck. To me, it was like he was operating a spaceship, the way he was using multiple buttons, pulleys and shafts to control the crane. To him, it was as easy as pie. Yet there was no doubt of the skill involved in getting the three cubic metre bin to sail through the air and land on the perfect spot. Did I mention how narrow my driveway is?

I thanked him for such a great job and just like that, the truck was gone. Left on the driveway was this huge orange skip. It was just waiting to be filled. Timidly, I opened the garage. It was a rubbish dump sprinkled with precious items such as my bike. Staring back at me was the stubborn broken washing machine. There was a battle looming. I strode up to it. Then, very slowly, I moved it side to side, closer to the skip. Eventually, it was time to lift the beast. With all my might I heaved it into the air. I had lifted it close to the ledge of the skip, but it still wasn't high enough. For a split second, I thought the weight might be too much and I would collapse in a heap. As though I had transformed into a weightlifter, I gave one last determined effort and lifted the washing machine up above the skip. Bang! It crashed down into the skip with a satisfying metallic clunk.

There would be smaller battles to come, as I filled the skip. I shouldn't really mention the panic that seized me into action, as the driver reversed down the driveway to pick up the skip and I hadn't quite cleared the garage yet. Nevermind the stuck TV, when I just had to pull it so hard that the power cord ripped out of the set. The driver had it right when he said “that’ll do it”. Forget about the extra rubbish that might have found a temporary home in the skip - I managed to clear it up anyway. Yes, the real story was that I fought that old washing machine and I won.

Sheena Cameron's Sentence Opener Ladder