Way too Wordy Writing Challenge

Given this run-on sentence:

“Time dragged both slowly and painfully while the sun slowly rose into the sky, shining down on a small boy who was walking along a path kicking at rocks, and tossing sticks aimlessly through the air in an attempt to hit the small birds which were roosting in the blossom covered cherry trees that had dropped pink petals all over the ground as far as the eye could see.”

The thoughts it conveys:

It is spring.

It is morning.

It is a cherry orchard.

There is a small boy wreaking havoc.

Questions I wanted to answer:

Why is this small boy in the cherry orchard by himself anyhow?



A soft glow from the east overtook the night, already lending its warmth to the earth. The songbirds stirred in the trees as Jason wandered by. He didn’t understand why his grandfather couldn’t come for their walk through the cherry orchards. His parents had told him that ‘grandpa was going to be taking a nap for a long, long time.’ Who was he to play with now?

“Old people are so selfish sometimes,” he exclaimed to the cool spring morning.

Angrily he kicked some small stones that lay along the side of the path, knocking them a few steps ahead. It didn’t seem to help much. He sat down amongst the scattered petals of the cherry blossoms and leaned against the trunk of one of the trees and began to cry.

Sobbign, he said: “I miss my grandpa,” The only response was the mocking chatter of the birds in the trees that surrounded him.

“Stop laughing at me!” He picked up a stick and standing up, waved it in a threatening manner; yet they persisted. Sorrow turned to anger and once more he yelled “Stop laughing at me!” Finally, when Jason could contain himself no longer, he launched the stick toward the branch that they were roosting upon. His tear-filled eyes affected his aim and all that resulted was a frenzied panic in which his only companions took flight to find shelter somewhere else. He sat down once more and cried until sleep quieted him down and brought peace to his tired eyes.