“Pat built a house. The house collapsed.” What do you think of that story?

He built a house of straw and sticks.

Do you think that story is too short?

Yes.

Can you tell me what else happened?

He built another house out of bricks so it wouldn’t fall down.

Let’s tell the story again, and fill in some more details.

Pat built a house. He built it out of straw. On Tuesday. He built it so he could live in it. His house fell. It collapsed to the ground because it was windy and the wind was so strong that it blew the house right down. On Saturday, Pat built a new house out of brick so it wouldn’t fall down. He was happy when he built his new house because it stayed together and didn’t fall apart.