I tried giving my 8th-grade daughter a handmade "story" and this is what happened... (★Update added later)

"Daddy, tell me a story."
That's what my daughter used to beg for at her bedside when she was little.

Seeing her in 8th grade now, reading such difficult books,
"Wow, she's grown up."
I felt happy about her growth, but for some reason, a little lonely too...

Alright, then"I'll surprise her by writing a 'story'."
I wrote a "story" for the first time in my life.

Once I started, it was tough. My writing was bad, and I lacked patience.
I spent every day tapping away on my smartphone on the train.
But for some reason, halfway through, I got so caught up in it that I forgot why I started writing in the first place, and before I knew it, it had become a 142-page epic.

I printed it out on copy paper.
I stapled it together and taped it up by hand.

The book was finally finished.

...Wait, why did I write this again?
Oh right, my daughter.

Hold on a second.
Thinking about it calmly... this is a bit cringey for a dad.
Giving something like this to a daughter right in the middle of her rebellious phase... This is a bad idea.

But... I couldn't overcome the curiosity of "what would happen if I gave it to her."

With a pounding heart, I handed it to her...

My daughter flipped through the pages,
"Too long."
She tossed it on the table and said, "I'll read it later."

...Yeah, I figured. Of course she would.
She's busy with school. She's busy with everything.
It's fine. It's fine.
The time I spent writing it was really fun. So fun I even forgot my purpose.
Oh, I was even surprised that I could write that much myself.

But...
I'll try one more time.

"I'll leave this here," I said, and gently placed it on her favorite sofa.
"Okay," she replied.

Then, the next day...

It was under her discarded clothes.

Uh... yeah. It's fine, yeah.
Thank you for the fun time, regardless of all that.

★An update from later. A few years later...

My second daughter reached 8th grade too.
I did my best and wrote a second story.

I gathered my courage and tried talking to her...

"Huh?"

...As expected, I couldn't get her to read it. lol

(*① Here is the unfortunate "first story" that my eldest daughter didn't read ↓)

(*② Here is the unfortunate "second" new story that my second daughter didn't read ↓ 2025/01)