 Dolce Dimension
By Oskar MacDonald One day there was a baby, who, on his third birthday received a wand. His mum and dad told him he wasn’t allowed to use the wand until he became friends with it. Unfortunately, Max had no idea what his mum and dad were talking about, so he waved the wand and a portal opened up above his crib and sucked him in. He landed on a chocolate ground. He started to cry, as his bum was as bruised as an apple that had been used to play tennis. When his tears finally stopped, he realized that his wand was gone. He looked left and right, up and down but it was nowhere to be seen. He stood up and suddenly a gingerbread man came running towards him screaming ‘yum!’ He looked around, wondering what the racket was, and found a rope that was made out of musk sticks. As most babies would, he started playing with the rope, not really knowing what he was doing. Suddenly, the rope that he was playing with, which was attached to a gingerbread decoration, pulled the decoration down onto the gingerbread man, who was just about to eat Max. A long chewy python with sharp lollie fangs slithered up to Max and bought him back to his lollie packet house. Max loved his new life with his new lollie snake friend. Every day for four years he ate 100, 000, 000 lollies. He was soon very fat; as fat as a whale shark! One day, Max noticed some menus, and he saw that one of the items on the menu was a boy with salt! But he was too late, for the lollie snake had already fattened him up, salted him and just then, gobbled him down. In the left part of the belly, Max found his wand! He waved the wand and a portal appeared in the snake’s belly. He jumped in the portal and found himself at home. All was quiet; it was the middle of the night. He wondered if it was all a dream, until he noticed he had chocolate ice cream on his face. The Fairy Fashion Show by Yen Poh-Lin One morning, I woke up and felt all tingly. I realised that there was a fluttering fairy next to me, I was about to scream. “Ssshhh,” said the little fairy, before I could scream. I was about to say something but before I could, the little fairy started talking again! She said, “my name is Florence.” I was still tingling but more furiously than ever, all of a sudden I shot down to Florence’s size and I stopped tingling. “Ahhhhh!” I screamed in a squeaky voice, once I had found it. Florence continued, “Tonight is the fairy fashion show, and a human is a sign of pure luck. So I am bringing you to Fairyland to go to the fashion show.” As she was saying show she did a loop the loop; “you are a guest of honour!” She waved her wand and we were whisked off to Fairyland. When we got to Fairyland, we landed in Florence’s toadstool house. Florence held out a beautiful aqua dress, “this morning while you were asleep I got you this!” “I love it,” I exclaimed. “Go change into it,” said Florence. I went to change into my new dress. Then we did each other’s hair, Florence put pearls in my hair and I put flowers in hers. At noon the carriage arrived to take us to the fashion show, it was pulled by eight rainbow unicorns. We hopped in the carriage and it whisked us off to the fashion show. At the fashion show the fairies showed off their designs. Then the Fairy King and Queen went on stage and asked me to come up. When I came up there was a loud round of applause. When it was finished, we went back to Florence’s house, she thanked me with a snack of jelly. Then I went through the portal back home, safe and sound. Now every year I go back to Fairyland for the magical fairy fashion show. Imagine by Isabella Cremasco One dark, stormy day, I was walking in The Mountains of Despair. I was wearing two gloves and a big beanie. Because it was so cold, my fingers were nearly frozen. But at least I was wearing a large warm jacket. Then I walked down the rocky stepping stones. They were really wobbly and I fell into The Bubble River. Then I started to swim to shore. When I got out of The Bubble River, I was soaking wet. I saw a dry towel sitting on a bunch of beautiful blossoms. I walked to the botanical blossoms. I took the towel and I thought to myself that it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Behind the blossoms I saw a purple door. I walked to the door and I opened it and I saw my whole family. Horrorland By Leonidas Tiras I was at home playing a cool, awesome video game called Fizz Popper. When you drink it, you go flying in the sky like a rocket. It is magnificent!! The TV started to go wrong, it said “good bye”. I did not understand what the amazing TV said to me. I teleported into a deep, bubbly river. I think it was made of Fizz Popper, suddenly there was a big shape of an enormous monster. It came out, it was a massive giant called Gus. It tried to eat me but I dove down and drank the bubbly water, I started to fly. I flew all the way to a blossom park. I remember there was a game called Botanical Blossom. It was amazing. There were garden gnomes coming up from the ground, then the night of the living dummy came out with his friends. I ran into the forest as fast as I could, they were chasing me. I saw a pack of wolves chasing me as well, then I tripped over a twig and fell into a field of blossoms. When I woke up, I was in bed sleeping quietly. I hope it never happens again! Musical Tree By Maggie Harrison There once was a pixie called Pixels who lived in a tree house in Melbourne. One day, the house flooded, so she decided she would have to leave her tree house in the park for a new home. Before she could even finish packing her soggy, wet belongings, there was a loud bang at her door, and an angry voice shouted ‘let me in, let me in or I’ll chop down your tree house!’ But Pixels knew it wasn’t a good idea to let strangers into your house, unless you were totally stupid, so she closed her bag and snuck out the back door. She locked it with a key and flew off to Chinatown to ask her friend if she could stay at her place for a while, until the flood subsided. When she got to Chinatown she turned left into the drainpipe then straight down all the way to Pixietown. However, a changeling, the same one that had been knocking on her tree house door, was following Pixel. He broke the drainpipe in half in anger as the magical door to Pixietown had closed behind Pixel. The changeling had an evil idea – if he could change into a pixie, he could sneak into Pixietown unnoticed and steal the blue gem, which was the source of all the pixie’s power. The changeling sung the magic words and in a flash, he looked like a common pixie and made it through the gate. But Pixels knew she was being followed because she heard the changeling splashing in the puddles she had left in her trail, and she rallied an army of pixies. They put on their thistle armor and set off for battle, but they didn’t know which pixie was the changeling! Pixel came up with a plan to uncover the changeling’s identity. She knew that changelings are quick to anger, so she told the army of Pixies to start yelling out ‘changelings are ugly and smell like rotten old fairy dung!’ And soon enough, one of the pixies went bright red and, boom! He morphed back into his changeling form. The pixies scared him away with pixie dung balls and invited Pixels to live with them in the pixie Kingdom drainpipe. The Magical Giant By Gracie Luong Once upon at time, Morgan and Ella Bleau were in their room. They wanted treasure from Bob’s treasure shop. Bob told them not to steal his treasures or he would get mad. So Morgan and Ella Bleau decided to run away from their house and search for new treasure. They first stumbled upon Princess Brianna’s enchanted castle. They asked her for the treasure. Princess Brianna said “For Magnus the Giant?” “Who is that?” Ella Bleau replied “He’s a perilous and unfriendly giant who is always stealing my treasure” Princess Brianna said “Morgan and Ella Bleau, would you come and look for Magnus and give him fake treasure so he’ll leave me alone?” They said “Yes”. They found Magnus outside the castle. Magnus asked “Are your names Morgan and Ella Bleau?” “Yes” They replied. “C’mon, let’s go to the potion rooms in different castles,” Magnus said. Suddenly Magnus caught a glimpse of the decoy treasure. His eyes opened wide. Magnus freaked out. Magnus said “Is that treasure for me?” “Yes,” said Morgan. Magnus grabbed the treasure. Morgan and Ella Bleau followed Magnus to a dragon’s cave where they saw all the treasure he had ever stolen. Ella Bleau said “Can we make a potion Magnus?” Magnus said, “Yes.” Magnus said, “One magic potion before you go to Dungeon Town” Morgan hated Magnus’ breath because it smelled like poop. She offered to get the ingredients to get away from Magnus’ breath. However Morgan was very naughty. When Magnus asked for frog’s legs Morgan gave him pine needles. When Magnus asked for rubies Morgan gave him fake rubies from the fake treasure. Magnus stirred the cauldron. Rainbow smoke came out. BANG! Suddenly out popped the witch’s baby, Baby Peter! Baby Peter loved eating treasure. He was very hungry. He ate all the gold coins, diamonds, emeralds, garnets and sapphires. He ate all the treasure in the entire kingdom! Magnus was furious! Morgan and Ella Bleau leapt out of the cave and onto a dragon’s back away from the bad monster. They flew home. Morgan and Ella Bleau felt glad to be back home. They didn’t feel like treasure any more.
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 The Evil Aquarium
By Rowan Hiatt Once there was a penguin called Blaze, who was captured and brought to an evil aquarium. The aquarium was evil because the animals were not fed and kept in tiny enclosures. He found three other penguins by the names of Johnny, Dasher and Alfie. They all wanted to get out. One night, after they had gone to bed, he awoke to people knocking on the glass. He saw their big, ugly faces smooshed up against the glass. They were so ugly, that it forced the penguins to devise a plan. The penguins all agreed to jump into the water when no one was watching, which was only in the brief moments when a school tour ended. In the water, they found the drain and lifted it open. A gush of water shot out of the pool and the penguins rode the wave. They could taste the fresh air! But just before they reached the outside, they were caught. They were put back in the enclosure and just as the penguins thought it couldn’t get any worse, they realized they pool was now empty, and all because of their attempted escape. They made a plan that involved needing to break the glass. There was a spike of ice that Dasher broke off and used to smash a hole in the thick glass that the penguins could jump through. A visitor came past just at the right moment and the penguins hitched a ride in his backpack. After the visitor had seen all of the enclosures and spent an awful amount of time in the gift shop, he finally left the aquarium, allowing the penguins to escape once and for all. Dasher said, ‘we should go and see this girlfriend Blaze has been talking so much about’. And they couldn’t agree more. They set off to the ocean where a big current took them all the way to Antarctica. It didn’t take long to find Blaze’s girlfriend because she was waiting on the edge of an iceberg. Blaze and his girlfriend waddled off into the sunset. All About Robo Bunny By Josh McColl-Jones Once there was a bunny who was a robot. Robo Bunny 2000 was very adventurous. One day Robo Bunny was going somewhere when he saw other robots. The robots were hunters! They saw Robo Bunny and chased him. Then Robo Bunny tripped and fell into a flying car - the doors closed automatically. The robot hunters threw a spear at the car and went like “ARRRGHHH”. One of them shouted, “We’ll get him next time.” Then Robo Bunny flew somewhere safe, and stopped the flying car. But the car stopped so suddenly that Robo Bunny went flying through the window and crashed to the ground. So Robo Bunny got up and saw that he was in the middle of nowhere. He ran as fast as he could, jumped back in the car, and went back to his normal land. At the Zoo By David Yang I invited my friends to have a sleep over at the zoo. Then I said, “We all have to choose an animal to share an enclosure with and I choose first.” I chose the bunnies because they are really cuddly and fluffy. I slept well that night, so did my friends. The next morning when I woke up I saw two rabbits, each holding a carrot. They are giving me breakfast. I like rabbits so much! The rest of my friends slept with the polar bears because they are very warm with long, fluffy fur. Then all of a sudden, a bunny was born. I was really excited because now it shares a birthday with me. I felt so crazy that I bumped my head on the wall. A minute later, I went to eat breakfast with my friends. We ate delicious cupcakes and normal cakes. In The Zoo By Olga Chen One day, when I was trying to get out of the zoo, the door was locked. I tried to get out, but it did not work. So I said, “I will find a spot to sleep in the zoo.” I started looking for a spot to sleep in the zoo. But I kept looking and finding bad spots to sleep. So I went to the bears’ place. The bear was asleep and it did not stop sleeping when I touched it. So I used its fur as my blanket. The next morning, the bear woke up early. The door was unlocked and I could go home. Introduction to a Chapter Book Felix Tai I was flying high at dusk, soaring through the clouds, staring at the beautiful view of the sun. spying down at the furthest green trees. On the horizon, I saw other larger wings flapping towards me as I lowered myself down. Other red giants flew into the sky as our fire lit up the skies. Our fellow brown friends came to us from miles away tracking our hot beam of light. Other mystical creatures came from the sea, land and sky roaring the planet to our full potential. Every year all the great animals would gather to the imperial palace where the first mystical creature was born on this planet. The animal, called The Wings of Fire, was a Phoenix that flamed our old cold planet to a burst of nature and animals that landed in every land. I was one of the fires. I barely beamed the sky as I was learning the ways of the others in my first royal meeting. My friends were watching underneath me as we gathered more animals to the gathering of the year. Lucy the Giraffe Pirate Kimberley Choong Once upon a time there was a pirate giraffe named Lucy.She didn’t wear a pirate hat. Instead she wore a top hat. One day a fairy from Upside-Down Land passed the pirate ship and left fairy dust all over the pirate ship.A second later everybody started crying! Lucy had to find out what was wrong but then she remembered the fairy that had passed by. No wonder! The fairy had put fairy dust all over the pirate ship. She must have tried to be naughty. “I have to find the Fairy Queen. She will have the cure for this!” Lucy said. Off Lucy went with her backpack, steering the ship through storms and lightning till finally she reached Fairy Land. She left the ship at the dock. She went through the pink gate and then a land of happiness appeared. It was wonderful. Although she really wanted to get some fairy floss, she knew she had to get to the fairy queen’s castle. So she went on. When she got to the fairy queen, she asked her for the cure. Then she quickly went back and put the magic potion all over everybody. Everybody stopped crying and went back to normal. Then they lived happily ever after.  Space Shipping
By Ava Paterson 21st July, 1976 We’ve been stuck on this weird planet for days. I went to this planet to investigate the weird creature. Linda, Lalya and I were all ready to land. Then boom, clash and crash - we landed our ship but were soo close to exploding. We crashed, half of us were alive, half terrified and exhausted. We’ve walked not that far away from our ship. We’ve made a little camp with the remains of our ship. Linda stayed at the camp, and Layla came with me. We were looking for the space place. It had lots of buttons for communication. Layla suddenly started running back to to Linda. She yelled, “Stay there!” So I stayed, and about five minutes later, Layla ran back with Linda. Linda said something was following her when she went to get more parts from the spaceship. Suddenly, it came. The one we called ET. It was a robot dog and it had lots of mechanical fails. It started to chase us, everyone was screaming. We were nearly at the space station, when i tripped in a big hole. ET was right on me. Suddenly the ground started to shake. I was in the air - I must have fallen in a big air pipe. It suddenly stopped. Layla then came up a different air pipe and was next to me. Linda then jumped on to the roof of the space station. She then yelled, “Come on!” We both jumped and landed in the station. Linda jumped down and screamed, ET was right there! It came closer and asked, “Do you like home? Way home number phone?” I gave him my phone number, then suddenly, Linda, Layla and I were at my mum’s work… with ET. 10 Days Later… 31st July 1976 Now ET lives with me at my mum’s work, in the air vents. We eat white chocolate. Layla, Linda and I visit ET everyday. But one thing never changes, my phone number. Spaceship By Caitlin Arcena I’ve been stuck on this planet for six months. I crashed here on a mission to find a new planet to live on. I didn’t go alone. I went with Commander Lightning and Chief Buzz. Our spaceship ran out of gas, making it crash into the nearest planet to it. The impact caused it to smash into a million pieces, so I’m stuck here. My co-workers and I have walked many kilometres since the crash. When we were on the ship, this place had electromagnetic fields in places. That’s what I’m looking for, electromagnetic areas to call the agency for a rescue craft. I’ve always felt that someone was watching me, and I was correct. Terrified of the giant snake monster, I turned around and ran with the Commander and Chief. As I watched the monster, I tripped on the snake’s tail. I tried to get up but I couldn’t. Out of the snake’s mouth was my boss, Donny Donanto. The snake was actually the rescue craft, the ETR, an Extra Terrestrial Rescuer. They found out that we crashed and came searching for us. Finally, I made my way back to Earth. Spaceship Disaster By Charlotte Paterson I have been stuck on this planet for one second and I am suffering. I went to this planet to see what it is like to be on another plant. I was with my three best friends, Bob, Oscar and Bobo. They all were pretty, especially Oscar. My spaceship got out of control and crash. I have walked about a metre since I was on my ship and I can still see our awesome spaceship. I am looking for a mysterious monster. Two seconds later, I realised something was following me. It had one fang, one eye, two crocodile teeth and one big fat slimy and squishy body. I twas the crocofangeye. I tripped and fell. I tried getting up but I couldn’t and the monster picked me up and said; “Where’s Sammie Sprinkler?” “It’s ooonnn Eeearth,” I said, frightened. He dropped me and an off to Sammie Sprinkler. I ran off and never went back to the moon again. The White Box |
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This Easter, 'follow the eggs' to read how one child gets his memories back - with the help of some very special, very strange eggs.
Follow the eggs around Greythorn Central in Balwyn North during the Easter holidays. Our 'walking book', The Child With No Stories, will be displayed in shop windows from Saturday 1st to Sunday 16th April. You can even win an Easter goodie bag if you answer five questions correctly!
Here's what to do:
Published Easter Books
Read below a snippet from the Prologue. Over the Easter period, we'll add other story snippets so stay tuned to find out what happens when the eggs start to crack open!
Here's what to do:
- Grab a Story Sheet from Creative Write-it (1B Sylvander Street) or Boroondara Eye Care (264 Doncaster Road).
- Start your journey at Creative Write-it, where you can read the full Prologue (see below for a snippet).
- Continue onto Doncaster Road to read more stories on both sides of the road.
- As you go, answer five questions correctly to get an Easter egg goodie bag.
- Take your Story Sheet to Boroondara Eye Care and receive your prize!
Published Easter Books
- Email us to pre-order your discounted copy of The Child With No Stories, which will be published in Term 2, 2017 ($15 each, RRP $25). All stories were written by young writers aged 6 to 14 at our Balwyn North studio.
- Want to win a FREE copy of our 2015 Easter book, The Hot Cross Bun Bandit? Share the joy of our walking book on Instagram or Facebook and tag us at #greythornstories and #creativewriteit to go in the draw to win one of five copies.
Read below a snippet from the Prologue. Over the Easter period, we'll add other story snippets so stay tuned to find out what happens when the eggs start to crack open!
Prologue from The Child With No Stories
by Mia Sudianto
“I was on my way home, just taking the normal route, when the ground started to shake. An earthquake was the first thing that popped into my head but when I looked around everyone was walking just fine. Maybe I was imagining things, I thought, so I took a step forward. Big mistake. My legs turned to jelly and I found myself lying on the ground. And that’s the last thing I remember.”
The doctor looked at me then at the screen while I looked around the room. It wasn’t that big. It was painted light blue and there were little stuffed animals in the corner. There were two people sitting next to me. They looked familiar but I had no idea who they were.
“Um… excuse me miss,” I said to the woman sitting next to me. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
The woman burst into tears and ran out of the room. The man gave me a strange look, sad and hurt, then ran after the woman.
“Doctor, what’s wrong with me?” I asked.
“Son, you have amnesia.”
The doctor looked at me then at the screen while I looked around the room. It wasn’t that big. It was painted light blue and there were little stuffed animals in the corner. There were two people sitting next to me. They looked familiar but I had no idea who they were.
“Um… excuse me miss,” I said to the woman sitting next to me. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
The woman burst into tears and ran out of the room. The man gave me a strange look, sad and hurt, then ran after the woman.
“Doctor, what’s wrong with me?” I asked.
“Son, you have amnesia.”
We had such a fabulous year, going to school and community events and fetes, meeting so many creative young people, and working with children and teens in our Schools Program. Although we said some sad good-byes to our after-school writing clubs in schools, we're looking forward to many more school visits and community events in 2017!
School fetes and festivals
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Boroondara Park Primary School Fair in November was a blast, creating comics and mini books with kids with huge imaginations.
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St Margaret Mary's School Fete in October was super fun, wearing super costumes, watching ideas come to life, and creating new superheroes.
School programs and publications
 Serpell Primary School students focused on creating hilarious stories for their newspapers, The Disaster Daily and Strange Animal News. Students of Serpell also published The Lost Tales of Serpell Primary, a whimsical book about lost things. |  This was the fourth year of running our term-long short story course with Tintern Grammar School. Fourteen talented students wrote some of the most magical stories you'll ever read and we held our first-ever book launch at the school. |  Three creative writers at Templestowe College enjoyed their first peek at the anthology we published with the Year 7 students. The 91 stories were written as part of our six-week short story course with the whole year level. |
Village Arts Festival It was a beautiful day at the Village Arts Festival at Edinburgh Gardens, right around the corner from our new sutdio. We met heaps of fabulous families and kids, made mini books and wrote 50 word stories inside this amazing, giant inflatable sculpture... | Farewell to after-school clubs This term we said goodbye to our after-school clubs at Serpell Primary, Balwyn Primary and Milgate Primary. We are so grateful to these schools for welcoming us in to share our after-school programs with so many enthusiastic writers. |
Every year we publish books - our own anthologies, school anthologies and books written by our students. This year, we published eight books - the most ever! The best thing is how much talent, commitment and creativity you'll find between the pages of these publications. Congratulations to all the published authors - you deserve to feel very proud!
Delightful student anthologies as part of our Schools Program
Each year we run our Schools Programs at primary and secondary schools, and many finish with a fabulous publication. This year, we visited Serpell Primary School, Tintern Grammar School, and Templestowe College. Let us know if your school might be interested in one of our short story programs.
 We are again delighted to work with the talented students of Serpell Primary in our four-week program. This year, the stories were inspired by the glorious Lost Things by Shaun Tan, which led to beautiful stories of whimsy. A legendary apple pie. A secret Bush Man. An ambitious blade of grass. A lily with a calling. A coral who takes a chance. A singing sapling. A branch who dreams of a more meaningful life. A pondering pond. Magical trees. A glimmer of hope in a desolate landscape. An elephant who discovers truth and freedom. The Lost Tales of Serpell Primary have been found... |  Tintern Grammar School was one of the first schools where we ran our eight-week short story program, specifically aimed at inspiring and encouraging strong writers, and 2016 was our fourth year at the school! The 14 delightful and creative stories you'll find in this volume all have an element of magical realism, taking you from walking mountains and whispering leaves, to ghosts who need to let go and grieving people who need to learn how to live. Tintern Stories Volume 3 will captivate you... |  In our second year at Templestowe College we worked with the whole of Year 7 - more than 130 young people! They wrote incredible stories on the theme 'change in circumstance'. These 91 funny, emotional, beautiful, heart-breaking, joyful, honest, thrilling stories are testament to the skills and courage of the students at this school. Dive into this book and read about young people's dreams, fears, passions, hopes and griefs. Templestowe Stories Volume 3 might just change you a bit. |
Our very own anthologies - Faraway and Writ-Bits
 Where is faraway? What is faraway? Who is faraway? Young writers aged 7 - 18 around Australia were asked to respond to the theme of 'faraway' with a short story, poem, or illustration. From funny and gross to heartfelt and sensitive, over 100 young creatives explored concepts of time, place, memory, friendship and identity. This anthology contains the winning and highly commended entries from the 2016 Creative Write-it Faraway Competition. Get ready to be taken on a journey... |  Writ-Bits 2016 is a succulent selection of delicious, bite-sized pieces from the young authors at Creative Write-it. This year our literary selection is served in six courses: Appetisers, small writ-bits to stimulate your literary appetite; Entrées, light reading with full flavour; Salads, crisp and refreshing writ-bits before the substantial reading; Meat, our heartier fare, in tone and subject matter; Desserts, the short and sweet literary treats; and Digestifs, delectable writ-bits to finish off your meal. You won't go hungry for a good read! |
Books our students have written and published this year!
 Madelyn Between Worlds is the debut novel by Amanda Ching. The story is about a young girl discovering the extent of her power. Madelyn always knew magic existed, but it had never been a part of her comfortable life. After a blazing row with her mother, Madelyn is sent to stay with her strict, aloof aunt, and her life changes forever. Now she knows about the truths veiled behind her edited history. Congratulations, Amanda, on your beautiful debut publication! |  Callum Farquhar worked on Magic Hut all year every Saturday afternoon at our Creative Writing Club in Balwyn North. This is his exciting debut novel... After another rejection, fourteen-year-old orphan Stephaan decides to go on a quest to bring his parents back from the dead. But that doesn’t seem possible... Facing challenges on the way, what will be required to get his loved ones back? Congratulations, Callum, on such a thrilling debut publication! |  Isabella Woodcock worked on Saturday afternoons at our Creative Writing Club in Balwyn North. She wrote, edited and published this excellent story... When Rosie and Ollie are transported to the 19th century Tasmania they’re puzzled as to how they got there and more puzzled about how to get back. Follow the children on a journey full of funny moments, historical facts, big personalities and mozzies. LOADS of mozzies. Congratulations, Isabella, on your fabulous debut publication! |
Nostalgia by Rebecca Cole
First Prize Short Story 14-18 year olds
From my stomach, that’s where this pain started. Like a small marble rolling around on the wooden floorboards that line the bottom of this boat. I lift my eyes to the stars as the waves provide a water bed on which the sky sleeps. The pain has dissipated now. It’s in my blood. It’s in my veins being pumped without permission. It’s forcing me to feel when all I want is numbness.
Feel. The dark night is lit by the breeze that brushes my hair across my nose, sticking to the makeup that is smudged in an unsightly way over my peppered face.
It’s surging now, convulsing. My throat is a trapdoor; my words are caught between my tongue and teeth. Like water entering my lungs, constricting, compressing, suffocating my already fragile breath. Like a pit, dug deep in my chest, aching to be filled.
I grip the side of this boat and the sea splashes, sparingly along my knuckles. Alright! Enough! I tear the pale handkerchief in my teeth and lay myself down upon the splinters. The salty air rests itself on my nose.
Bullets. The golden sand that once was mistaken for treasure was now stained the colour of deep and dying roses. The mountains, governing the valley, stood permanently snow-capped, a necklace of frosty clouds hung lowly.
That day the sun struggled feebly down the crack in the wall plaster, illuminating the dust like fairy lights I once saw at school. Once. School. A long time ago.
That night my Father, his beard so long it touched the rim of his tea cup, rolled me into a blanket, like I was a food inside pita bread.
“Abbi?” my voice was worn with sleep, grated, whispering.
“Hush, my darling, the Sun is still sleeping. You do not want to wake Him.”
I wanted to trust him, to believe that the noise outside my plywood walls, the yells, the screams... I wanted to trust him that those noises would not wake the sun, that it would not wake me.
Fire. It roared out of the mouths of the stone buildings, engulfing everything.
Water. Drifted us away, tried to make us stay, indecisive, without reason, couldn’t be reasoned with.
And on those fateful nights my father would lift my eyes unto the stars.
“Be still, daughter. Know that I am with you.” He, with his course hands from working, he, with his weary smile, he gently tucked a white handkerchief into my frightened figures.
And so I twist it. The pain now gone. Tears have cleaned the makeup off my face. The boat is still.
I look into the heavens and see the beauty of the space, the constellations, the nebulas in all their miraculous colours as if God himself took a paintbrush and carefully sculpted the very essence of the universe. And when I look up to the skies, I remember the stars, the boat, the water and the fire. I remember my Abbi, he will come back.
Feel. The dark night is lit by the breeze that brushes my hair across my nose, sticking to the makeup that is smudged in an unsightly way over my peppered face.
It’s surging now, convulsing. My throat is a trapdoor; my words are caught between my tongue and teeth. Like water entering my lungs, constricting, compressing, suffocating my already fragile breath. Like a pit, dug deep in my chest, aching to be filled.
I grip the side of this boat and the sea splashes, sparingly along my knuckles. Alright! Enough! I tear the pale handkerchief in my teeth and lay myself down upon the splinters. The salty air rests itself on my nose.
Bullets. The golden sand that once was mistaken for treasure was now stained the colour of deep and dying roses. The mountains, governing the valley, stood permanently snow-capped, a necklace of frosty clouds hung lowly.
That day the sun struggled feebly down the crack in the wall plaster, illuminating the dust like fairy lights I once saw at school. Once. School. A long time ago.
That night my Father, his beard so long it touched the rim of his tea cup, rolled me into a blanket, like I was a food inside pita bread.
“Abbi?” my voice was worn with sleep, grated, whispering.
“Hush, my darling, the Sun is still sleeping. You do not want to wake Him.”
I wanted to trust him, to believe that the noise outside my plywood walls, the yells, the screams... I wanted to trust him that those noises would not wake the sun, that it would not wake me.
Fire. It roared out of the mouths of the stone buildings, engulfing everything.
Water. Drifted us away, tried to make us stay, indecisive, without reason, couldn’t be reasoned with.
And on those fateful nights my father would lift my eyes unto the stars.
“Be still, daughter. Know that I am with you.” He, with his course hands from working, he, with his weary smile, he gently tucked a white handkerchief into my frightened figures.
And so I twist it. The pain now gone. Tears have cleaned the makeup off my face. The boat is still.
I look into the heavens and see the beauty of the space, the constellations, the nebulas in all their miraculous colours as if God himself took a paintbrush and carefully sculpted the very essence of the universe. And when I look up to the skies, I remember the stars, the boat, the water and the fire. I remember my Abbi, he will come back.
Untitled by Aalliyah Woods
First Prize Illustration 14-18 year olds
A 'Place' Far From My Own by Sarah Plant
First Prize Poetry 14-18 year olds
She lives in a ‘place’ so faraway.
A ‘place' where love is exiled…
She is a wife deprived of sanity;
From a man who thrives on profanity!
Her face resembles the turmoil of torture.
The heartache of hopelessness,
And the darkest depths of despair.
For she is a soul that has been restrained,
And forced to endure pain.
A woman stripped of her name,
And told she is to blame.
A victim of Domestic Violence…
A ‘place' where love is exiled…
She is a wife deprived of sanity;
From a man who thrives on profanity!
Her face resembles the turmoil of torture.
The heartache of hopelessness,
And the darkest depths of despair.
For she is a soul that has been restrained,
And forced to endure pain.
A woman stripped of her name,
And told she is to blame.
A victim of Domestic Violence…
The Red Hood: The Classroom of Doom by Katie Henderson
First Prize Short Story 10-13 year olds
The stars shine high above my head, casting a pale glow over my destination: the Tower of London. That's where the Queen's precious crown jewels sit on their ancient velvet pillow. Tonight was the night. Tonight The Red Hood was going to obliterate the record as the youngest thief ever to steal the crown jewels. A challenge worthy of my talents. Shame I wouldn't get to keep them – GRANDMA had made me promise to return them after two weeks. Still, it would be hilarious to see the fuss I caused; a plain 13-year-old with braces. I crept towards the tower and started scaling the wall, fingers slipping easily into the gaps between the bricks. Soon I was at the top of the wall, a guard started to turn towards me and...
“Jasmine, could you please answer question 15?” the voice asked. Strange, it sounded just like Mr Grem. Before my eyes, the Tower of London melted away and I was left sitting in a hard plastic chair, with Mr Grem, the owner of the voice, staring at me desperately. Blinking, I looked down at the book on my small, white desk. I began searching frantically for question 15. There it was, second last.
“110, sir,” I answered, hoping it was correct.
“Finally,” he roared. “Someone who has been paying attention to my lessons!” I couldn't help smiling. If only he knew. Around me I heard my classmates whisper 'teacher's pet' and 'geek', followed by 'freak'. I groaned inwardly and wished, not for the first time, that I didn't have to be undercover. In fact, they should count themselves lucky that I was; otherwise, I probably would have made their school experience a lot more uncomfortable a long, long time ago.
I looked up at the the clock above Mr Grem's balding head. It proudly proclaimed that 2:30pm was, rather unfortunately, the time. I scowled at it. Why was it that when I was on a job, time was my best buddy, but here in the classroom, my immortal enemy? Why did it make home time – and those beautiful gems – so far away? Mr Grem started talking again and I tried to pay attention as best as I could. Slowly, painfully, the seconds trickled by, followed sloth-like by the minutes. After what felt like an age, it was 3:00pm. Home time, precious home time, was only half an hour of boredom away.
At last the bell rang. The beautiful bell, freeing me from the classroom of doom. In a blink I packed up my things and shoved them into the depths of my backpack. Around me, other kids were doing the same. Finally I would be free of Mr Grem and his navy blue suit. Free of the whitewashed halls. Free of the screaming jostling kids. I raced through the winding corridors and out the front entrance, my mind already far away, sneaking towards those royal jewels.
“Jasmine, could you please answer question 15?” the voice asked. Strange, it sounded just like Mr Grem. Before my eyes, the Tower of London melted away and I was left sitting in a hard plastic chair, with Mr Grem, the owner of the voice, staring at me desperately. Blinking, I looked down at the book on my small, white desk. I began searching frantically for question 15. There it was, second last.
“110, sir,” I answered, hoping it was correct.
“Finally,” he roared. “Someone who has been paying attention to my lessons!” I couldn't help smiling. If only he knew. Around me I heard my classmates whisper 'teacher's pet' and 'geek', followed by 'freak'. I groaned inwardly and wished, not for the first time, that I didn't have to be undercover. In fact, they should count themselves lucky that I was; otherwise, I probably would have made their school experience a lot more uncomfortable a long, long time ago.
I looked up at the the clock above Mr Grem's balding head. It proudly proclaimed that 2:30pm was, rather unfortunately, the time. I scowled at it. Why was it that when I was on a job, time was my best buddy, but here in the classroom, my immortal enemy? Why did it make home time – and those beautiful gems – so far away? Mr Grem started talking again and I tried to pay attention as best as I could. Slowly, painfully, the seconds trickled by, followed sloth-like by the minutes. After what felt like an age, it was 3:00pm. Home time, precious home time, was only half an hour of boredom away.
At last the bell rang. The beautiful bell, freeing me from the classroom of doom. In a blink I packed up my things and shoved them into the depths of my backpack. Around me, other kids were doing the same. Finally I would be free of Mr Grem and his navy blue suit. Free of the whitewashed halls. Free of the screaming jostling kids. I raced through the winding corridors and out the front entrance, my mind already far away, sneaking towards those royal jewels.
Untitled by Artche Maligat
First Prize Illustration 10-13 year olds
Why you Shouldn't be Tempted by Callum Farquhar
First Prize Poetry 10-13 year olds
Confectionary surrounds me,
Pink, blue, green colours filling me with joy,
She’s standing straight, looking down, foot tapping angrily.
My knees thud on the floor, hands grasp together,
She turns around rudely and storms off,
I clench my fist and grind my teeth together,
Then shrug my little shoulders and stare at the candy again,
I finally pick a sweet raspberry lollipop,
I swivel around, but I don’t see her paying.
I start to feel butterflies and look around me.
My tiny scared heart bangs up against my chest.
Everything makes me seem small, faraway, vulnerable.
I drop my candy and sprint around the aisles in panic,
I race out the store, my mother sitting down on a bench.
Relief fills my body, soon turning to guilt as she yells at me over and over again.
Pink, blue, green colours filling me with joy,
She’s standing straight, looking down, foot tapping angrily.
My knees thud on the floor, hands grasp together,
She turns around rudely and storms off,
I clench my fist and grind my teeth together,
Then shrug my little shoulders and stare at the candy again,
I finally pick a sweet raspberry lollipop,
I swivel around, but I don’t see her paying.
I start to feel butterflies and look around me.
My tiny scared heart bangs up against my chest.
Everything makes me seem small, faraway, vulnerable.
I drop my candy and sprint around the aisles in panic,
I race out the store, my mother sitting down on a bench.
Relief fills my body, soon turning to guilt as she yells at me over and over again.
Creative Write-it
Where young writers (and some older ones) write.
All material is published with the provision that it is the writer's own work. If any material submitted to us for publication is found to be copied or in any way constitutes an infringement of someone else's copyright, it will be removed. Copyright remains with the young authors.
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