The Tickle Monster in Fairy Land ... by Nina

One day Rose went to Grapesparkle's little house. As best fairy friends they had their backpacks all packed and they were all ready to go to the Forest of Frizz.

They waved goodbye to Grapesparkle's mum and off they flew to the Forest of Frizz.

Meanwhile there was this strange looking house with some windows and a door on a bush. The person who lived inside was...

The Tickle Monster, having his breakfast (which was a banana, his favourite fruit) and a cup of dandelion tea... yum, yum...

Rose Fairy and Grapesparkle Fairy arrived at the Forest of Frizz but then, oh no, it started to rain. But luckily Rose was prepared and brought an umbrella.

They walked through the forest and saw the Tickle Monster's house but they didn't know it was his house.

Suddenly the door opened. The Tickle Monster jumped out and said "tickle time" and started tickling the two fairies. They got a big surprise.

The Tickle Monster invited them inside for lunch.

The Tickle Monster served them bananas, blueberries and grapes, followed by radish and beetroot soup, but they didn't really know if they'd like it.

Rose tried hers with salt but it tasted disgusting because obviously fruit does not taste good with salt.

The Tickle Monster wanted to look smart so he put on his top hat. Rose had an idea to give the Tickle Monster a present, but what will it be? A picture of the Queen of the ABC's.

Then they went to the garden to pick some vegetables. The Tickle Monster with his smart top hat came out of the kitchen into the lounge room with some floaty fluff cakes for everyone.

Then they waved goodbye to the Tickle Monster and flew back home.

 The end.

Inside the tree ... by Etta

The moment the door shut Sarah cried out for help. She had been kidnapped by the wickedest bird, Gorgonzola. The bird was not really a bird. Sarah knew that because she could read minds. Gorgonzola was a witch and she always wore a top hat because it stored secret magic in it.

Before she was kidnapped, Sarah had been living with her Grandma, Alaska. Alaska was a witch, like Gorgonzola, and they were enemies. Gorgonzola wanted to capture Sarah because Sarah had a birthmark that could shoot out thousands of gold and silver coins when it was pressed.

One day Sarah was playing with her friends in the park near her little house. They were trying to catch rabbits. Sarah caught one and all of a sudden it turned into a fierce looking monster bird with a sharp beak that was so long it knocked over anything in its way. It was Gorgonzola. ‘Now I’ll be rich’, Gorgonzola screeched as she grabbed Sarah and dragged her towards a massive tree that was as fat as six elephants. Then she cackled:

Polka dolka partridge pie,
Let me in and say goodbye

At this the tree opened and Gorgonzola pushed Sarah inside.

Now she was locked inside Gorgonzola’s tree while every day Gorgonzola would go out. Inside, there was slime dripping down the walls. Sarah was kept in a jail along with 8 pixies. The pixies wore dirty ragged green clothes. There were 3 girl pixies with blond hair and 5 boy pixies with midnight black hair.

‘No one cares for us’, the girl pixies cried.

‘I do’, replied Sarah.

‘Really?’ they all said hopefully.

‘Yes, really’, Sarah said.

‘Can you help us?’ they asked excitedly, as they climbed onto Sarah’s shoulders.

‘How can I help you when you are in this tree jail and so am I?’ she whispered, knowing that Gorgonzola was somewhere in the darkness.

Suddenly, they heard a screech.

‘Hey’, a voice boomed.

‘Oh no’, the pixies whispered, ‘that must be Gorgonzola’. They jumped off Sarah’s shoulders and into the pockets of her skirt.

Sarah stood back a couple of steps. She saw Gorgonzola reach out for a leather boot that she always used to hit her prisoners with. Sarah did not run away or try to hide. She just stood still. The boot came down very fast and hit her on her cheek.

‘That will teach you a lesson’, Gorgonzola squawked, as she walked away.

Sarah started to cry. One of the boy pixies started to comfort her, and then all the others joined him.

‘How can we escape? How can we go home?’ Sarah asked, as tears sprouted from her eyes.

The pixies sighed, ‘There is only one solution. We must dig a hole’.

‘But why haven’t you tried that already?’ asked Sarah.

‘Because we were waiting for a human to come and help us’, they replied.

‘But we have nothing to dig a tunnel with’, said Sarah.

They thought for a long while. They thought they could use shovels, forks or spoons but they had none of these. One of the girl pixies picked up Sarah’s hair clip, which had fallen onto the ground.

She said excitedly, ‘I have an idea. We could use the hair clip to dig!’

All the other pixies nodded in agreement and Sarah started to dig straight away.

Sarah and the pixies took turns digging until they were so exhausted they could hardly breathe.

Outside in the moonlight the trees rustled. How Sarah longed to go back to her Grandma’s house!

But the tunnel was only one meter long. Sarah was just about to give up when a baby wombat popped his head out of the dirt. He was soft and cuddly. He looked like he had just been born. Sarah stared at him as he said, ‘My name is Brownie. What’s yours?’

‘My name is Sarah. A terrible witch called Gorgonzola kidnapped me and trapped me in a tree and now we are digging a tunnel to get to freedom.’

‘I can help you dig the tunnel’, squealed Brownie.

‘That would be the best thing ever!!’ Sarah and the pixies yelled cheerfully.

Brownie stretched out his paws and began digging. The faster he dug the more excited Sarah and the pixies became.  Finally, Brownie dug far enough until they saw a speck of light. Sarah squealed with delight and the pixies jumped with joy. They climbed up towards the light and took a deep breath of the glorious fresh air.

But Gorgonzola had heard them. She screeched, waving her hands in the air, and she ran after them. Sarah screamed and picked Brownie up and the pixies ran up her leg and into her pockets.  The wild chase began.

Gorgonzola slipped and hit a tree. She screamed and pulled a ribbon out of her top hat that could make her run faster than a cheetah, but Sarah had read her mind.

She knew up ahead was her neighbour’s garden - the grass was the same colour as her dress which was yellow. She kept running until she reached the garden and hid in the grass. Gorgonzola ran past her.

When she saw that Gorgonzola was gone, Sarah stood up and slowly walked towards her Grandma’s little cottage. She found her Grandma sitting on the porch crying.

‘Surprise’, Sarah yelled, as she jumped into her Grandma’s arms.

Her Grandma reached out and hugged her tightly and said ‘I’m so glad to see you, where have you been?’

The Library Book ... by Ruth

Tessa and Ruby were close friends for a long time. In fact, they're still friends. Their friendship began when the girls were in their third year at Scarlett Primary School and now Tessa is the school's librarian and one of two principals. The other principal is Ruby, who is also a wonderful teacher.

One day, Tessa got a student teacher Cassy, but Cassy wasn't into returning books, scanning books and talking about books. In fact, she was really shy and more interested in drawing than reading. She was so good at drawing that she was legendary at Scarlett Primary School. She was so good that when the library was open at lunchtime, everyone would come and draw on their notebooks while they watched Cassy doodling. She was so good, that the sketch pads that Cassy and the children used were official library books.

One sunny school day, while Cassy was showing the kids how to sketch a scarecrow, Ruby glanced over at one of the girl’s drawings of a scarecrow wearing a top hat. This girl’s name was Roxie, and her scarecrow was surrounded by a garden filled with glorious vegetables and flowers. The lovable scarecrow looked more real than a drawing, more real than a painting, more real than a photo, more real than a video... REAL!

The scarecrow was alive! It was the exact same one as the girl Roxie drew! Everyone stared and gasped. Instead of being a kind scarecrow, slapping high fives and telling jokes, he shoved display racks down and yelled swear words. In short, he was a monster.

Roxie hurriedly flipped through her notebook to get as far as she could from the page with the offensive scarecrow on it. She turned to a new page just then and a tiny prep kid's scribble leaped off the page and roared like a dinosaur while rudely chewing up books. And on another page, when Cassy's drawing of an adorable panda left the page and got patted; the kid who was patting got scratched and a fountain of blood poured out of his arm.

To everyone's surprise, Cassy cautioned: “This notebook must be haunted! The haunting happens annually. The drawings have the same qualities as the illustrators' imaginations except that they are evil. To stop this madness you have to get in that book and burn it. To get into the book you just have to put your hands and a pencil on the page you want to go in and imagine being in the book.” Roxie, Tessa, Ruby and Cassy each put a pencil on a page in one of the notebooks, closed their eyes and imagined being in the book. Suddenly they were in a beautiful garden with a T-shaped post in the middle. Then Ruby realised that they were in the notebook.

Cassy went to the end of the garden and pointed to the last flower that no one could see behind. “Come over here and push,” she said. The others puzzled over that command but soon they came over to the end of the garden (where they could just see the flower and swirling blackness) and pushed.

Suddenly, they were in a new double page. Half of it formerly had the scribble dinosaur but it was now blank. And the other half had a rushing waterfall, which had been occupied by Cassy’s panda. Roxy took off her shoes and socks then rushed to the waterfall and started to wade in it. “No, don’t do that, unless you want to leave your shoes and socks behind, of course,” warned Cassy. Then Tessa yelled, “Follow me!” and leapt across some stepping stones that no one else had noticed before.

On the next page, there was a little house, which was the illustrator’s dream home. Instead of a roof, the house had a painted rainbow as well as some grass painted at the bottom of it. They walked inside the house and looked at the bathroom, the lounge room and the bedrooms. Just as the girls were leaving, Cassy said, “The inside of this house is just pure imagination.” And then she asked, “Are you ready to leave this world?” The others said, “Yes.” The student teacher fished a matchbox out of her pocket and grabbed a matchstick. She lit the match and then pressed it on the page.

Suddenly, they were back in the library. The scarecrow, the scribble dinosaur and the panda had vanished. And the notebook had turned into a blank sheet of paper. Tessa scrunched up the page and put it in the bin. Everything was back to normal. Ruby thought Cassy would make a great art teacher, but Tessa thought she would make a great librarian since she was not so shy and she had shown that she could be bold and brave at the right time

The Mysterious Box ... by Agnes

“Henry, can you go to the shops to get some milk please?” Mrs Ivanhoe said to her son Henry. Henry got up from his warm comfortable seat and stepped out into the cold wintry streets of London. His family had moved there from Melbourne, Australia. Henry hated it there. It was cold, dreary and miserable. Henry walked up to the local shops and went down the “milk” aisle. Suddenly a strange man in a big top hat walked past. What a strange man, even weird for London Henry thought. Curious, Henry followed the strange man to a little house. “What are you doin’ in these parts of London lad?” Henry turned around surprised to find an old man facing him. “Um, well I was just curious of that man that just entered that house over there” Henry said while pointing to the little house. “Ahh, young Mr Jenkins, strange lad always wearin’ that top hat of his. I’d get goin if I was you. Don’t want to be hangin’ around these parts at this time of day”

“Where’ve you been Henry? Your father and I have been worried sick” exclaimed Mrs Ivanhoe at the dinner table. Henry was so lost in thought he didn’t even blink. “It’s no use Kelly” Mr Ivanhoe sighed. That night Henry tossed and turned in bed. Who is this Mr Jenkins? Why does he always wear that silly top hat? WHY! “I must investigate tomorrow morning” Henry told himself.

The next morning Henry went to the shops and waited for Mr Jenkins to walk past the “milk” aisle. Finally after waiting for what seemed like forever, the strange man walked past. This must be a daily thing Henry thought. He followed the man to the same house, except this time Henry waited in his garden and looked through the only window of the house. Mr Jenkins had walked in the small room which Henry assumed was the kitchen and dialled a number on the old fashioned telephone “Yes, I have the boy... of course he’s right in the garden... yes, and eavesdropping” the strange man said into the phone. “Surprise!”BANG! Henry felt a heavy object fall on his head, and lay on the garden bed unconscious.

Henry woke up to find himself sitting on a rickety old chair in a little room, bound by ropes. “Hello?” Henry yelled helplessly. Henry yelled and yelled but no one came. He had to find a way to get out of this chair and escape from this place, wherever it was. Henry used all his strength to unbind the ropes but couldn’t quite do it, “It’s no use I’m going to be stuck here forever.” He sighed. Suddenly Henry heard big footsteps outside his door. A squat man walked in and glared at Henry. “Tell me what you know and I’ll let you go” is all he said. Henry gulped. “Know about what? I don’t know what you’re talking about sir”, Henry said honestly. “HAHAHA, very funny, don’t play dumb kid, I know you want the box” The man laughed. What box? Henry was really confused. He had no idea what the man was talking about. After a while Henry thought of a great idea, he would pretend to act all guilty and pretend that he was planning to steal the box and he’d be let go. “You’re right sir, I was planning to steal the box. You caught me red handed”, Henry said with a mournful look on his face. The man looked at him suspiciously and slowly untied the ropes around Henry’s wrist. The man dragged Henry down a steep set of stairs and said “Mr. Jenkins and I have our eyes on you” and with that slammed the door.

Henry walked the long walk home and got a lecture about sneaking off. He needed to know more about this box and why it was so special.  Henry decided that the next morning before school he would follow Mr. Jenkins to his little house and search for the box in the garden and if he couldn’t find it there, in Mr. Jenkins house.

“Here I am in the supermarket again” Henry said quietly. “Henry, what are you doing here?” Henry spun around to find Mia, one of his classmates at school. “Uh, I was just getting some milk for my mum.” He quickly grabbed some milk and pretended to walk up to the counter and as soon as he got there he snuck back down a different aisle. Henry waited for Mia to go and continued hiding in the milk aisle. About 5 minutes later Mr. Jenkins walked past and Henry followed him, more cautiously this time. He sneaked into his garden and started to search for the box “Nothing here”, Henry sighed. Henry decided to wait for Mr. Jenkins to leave his house.  He would sneak in through a window and if he’s lucky Mr. Jenkins might leave the door open. Finally Mr. Jenkins left, but unfortunately didn’t leave the door open or unlocked, so Henry walked around the house and found a slightly opened just open enough for him to crawl through. He quietly crept along the hallway into what he assumed was Mr. Jenkins’ bedroom. Henry raided all the drawers, but found no information about the box or the actual box. Next he looked in the lounge room and found a piece of paper saying ‘up, up, left’. It must be a clue of some sort Henry thought. He put the note in his pocket for safe keeping and searched for more clues but had no luck. CLICK! Oh no Mr. Jenkins was back. Henry had to hide. He quickly slid under the couch and hoped he wouldn’t get caught. RING! RING! Mr. Jenkins picked up his old telephone and answered. “Hello... You what?!... Yes! I heard you... I told you to keep him locked up until I came... YOU ‘forgot’ well you’re fired! ...Yes fired, good day.” Mr. Jenkins dropped the phone fuming and muttering curse words under his breath. How was Henry going to get out of this mess? Finally he had his chance when Mr. Jenkins went into another room. Henry snuck over to the door and quietly snuck out. “I’m glad I got SOMETHING out of that” Henry sighed.

Henry quickly hurried to catch the bus to the station closest to his school. Luckily Henry had only spent around 40 minutes inside Mr. Jenkins house. He’d only be a bit late for school. The bus finally came and Henry rushed over from the stop to school. Mrs. Dashby, his teacher, wasn’t going to be happy with Henry.

After school Henry took the bus to the town Mr. Jenkins lived in and had another quick look in the garden. This time he found an old shoe, a beer cap and lots of other pieces of junk. Suddenly Henry heard big footsteps walking into Mr. Jenkins home. Henry wondered who it was. It couldn’t be that other man he encountered earlier, he was fired. Mr. Jenkins is obviously finding a worthy companion to do all his dirty work. Henry tried eavesdropping on the conversation but couldn’t hear a word, although he did hear one word that the other man said “monster”.  But could it possibly have anything to do with the box? Henry had to find out and he had an idea that just might work.

Henry waited outside the little house in a disguise. He had dressed up in his father’s clothes, which just fitted Henry since he was abnormally tall for his age. He was waiting for Mr. Jenkins to greet him and take him inside. The door opened and Mr. Jenkins appeared in his familiar top hat and suit. “Hello sir, I’m assuming you’re Elliot. I’m Mr. Jenkins, hosting the interviews”. Henry merely nodded so Mr. Jenkins wouldn’t recognise his voice. Henry stepped inside the house and asked where the bathroom was. Mr. Jenkins answered ‘up, up, left’. The exact same words as on the note. It must be where the next clue is Henry thought. He climbed up the two storeys of stairs and turned left into the bathroom. Henry searched through the drawers but had no luck, and had to leave before it got too suspicious. Just as he was about to leave the bathroom he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. Another piece of paper that said ‘locked inside a cupboard’. The note was obviously talking about the box so Henry pocketed it and rushed downstairs. Henry apologised for his inconvenience and continued the interview hoping to get some information about the box.

Unfortunately Mr. Jenkins only went through the rules and what kind of person he was looking for.
Henry had finally memorised the way to Mr. Jenkins house from the shops and it actually wasn’t that hard to remember. There was one problem though. Mr. Jenkins wanted Henry to be his companion. That was why he was there. The good news was he was minding the house for Mr. Jenkins, so he could look for that locked cupboard, but only if Mr. Jenkins left the keys with Henry. “Come in Elliot, I shall give you a tour since you’re new”, Said Mr. Jenkins gesturing towards the door. Henry walked in and went on a tour of the house. When the tour was over he realised that Mr. Jenkins had forgotten one room. “Excuse me sir, I was just wondering what that room over there leads to?” Henry said in his best manly voice pointing towards the mysterious room. Mr. Jenkins reply was that it was strictly out of bounds and even Henry couldn’t go inside. That must be where the box is Henry thought. Mr. Jenkins handed Henry the keys and left the house. Henry straight away went upstairs to the locked room and tested all the keys. He had no luck, but there was one key left. “Let’s hope this works”. Henry closed his eyes... it fits! Henry twisted the key, opened the door and walked inside. He couldn’t believe he was this close to finding the box. Henry looked around the room for a cupboard and found one at the far end of the room. If he went on his tip-toes he would just be able to reach it. Henry found an old rusty key on the key ring that Mr. Jenkins had given him and thought it must be the key that opened the cupboard. Henry tested it out and the cupboard door wouldn’t budge. Just as he was about to give up, the cupboard gave way. Inside was a big old box .Henry took it out of the cupboard and tried a key that was different from all the others. It was a big old-fashioned one, like one out of a fairytale. The box unlocked. Henry gasped, the thing inside the box was absolutely beautiful and old with age. It was Michelangelo’s ‘David’ bust, one of the most famous sculptures in the world. Henry wondered if it was the original. A sudden thought came into Henry’s mind. This is the ‘missing’ sculpture that everyone was talking about. He had to return it to the museum. Henry rushed out of the house with the bust and the box.

Henry caught the bus to the museum and rushed inside just before it closed. He ran to the reception desk and asked to speak to the owner of the museum. “It’s very important”, Henry said. The receptionist immediately called for the owner. The owner entered the room and walked calmly with two body guards behind him. Henry explained the very long story and showed the owner the box and opened it. The owner thanked Henry very much and the next day Henry was all over the news and on TV. Mr. Jenkins was arrested and sent to court, and everything was the way it should be.

Michaelangelo's "David" bust

Hide and seek ... by Wei Li

I pulled up by a broken little house. I opened my car door and stepped out, immediately greeted by a chilling wind. I paused for a moment and looked around carefully. The sun had just dipped below the horizon, depriving me of its warmth.

Pulling my coat a little tighter around me, I tried to ignore the shadows that were darting between the trees. Somewhere in the distance dogs barked wildly, as if warning away something dangerous.

There was a gravelly path leading up to the house lined with dying weeds, probably the neglected garden. I slowly walked up towards it and pushed the rusty gate aside. A smashed in mailbox displayed the number one and two-thirds of a cracked three. I pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of my pocket and checked the address once again, scowling as the howling wind snatched it away. Shivering slightly, I reached my hand out to twist the doorknob.

My heartbeat thumped at a steady pace, pulsing against my chest. My fingers were less than centimetres away from the door -

“Ion!” An excited voice said, throwing the door open.

I nearly jumped backward with shock. “Geez, Damion! Don’t give your guests heart attacks! It is pretty rude.”

Damion shrugged, rolling his eyes. “Sorry to ruin your moment, Ion. I knew you always had wanted to be in a ‘haunted’ house…”

“Come on, man! Let me in already!”

Damion grinned and stepped aside. The moment I walked in I was greeted by a chorus of voices, previously blocked by the soundproof walls. I laughed madly at my ignorance and picked up a soda can, popping open the tab. Everyone was dancing, laughing, chatting or doing all those things at once.

I was so lost in watching the party goers that I got startled by a hand that clapped my shoulder. “Nice hat there, Ion! You’re like the only person who went that far!” He gestured at my head while shaking his own. “Wow, that is just pure Sherlock.”

I looked at his outfit, which was just a grey jacket over another bland grey shirt. Tilting my head to the side I took my top hat off and placed it, lopsided, on his head. “Now you can match the theme of this party.” After a thoughtful moment I grabbed my hat back and placed it back it on my own head.

I walked on and searched for the host, Damion. The food was good but I wanted something more, something to do with the theme of the party. Soon enough, I found him lounging on the couch, trying to fix his monocle. He looked absolutely ridiculous.

“Hey, Damion,” I drawled, making my first word nice and long. “What’re you doin’? Other than getting tangled in your costume.”

Damion looked annoyed. “I-I’m resting.”

“Well, are we going to do something more interesting? Something more…Sherlocky?

The host of the party looked up at me, without moving his head. “I don’t think ‘Sherlocky’ is a word,” he paused for a second and when he spoke his voice was deeper. “We’re going to play a game.”

The way he said ‘game’ was really creeping me out.

A few minutes later he stopped the music and called out over the chattering of the couple dozen people. Damion spread his arms out wide, in an attempt to quiet his guests. “As you probably already know, this party wasn’t just to meet up with you guys after my years of being abroad and sit around talking, no, we’re going to play a game. Surprise!” Damion grabbed a bag which rustled with the sound of paper rubbing together. “This game combines mystery with one of your favourite childhood games: hide and seek.”

I had to supress a little girlish shriek. Damion knew that my favourite kid game was hide and seek.

“In this bag there are twenty-three pieces of paper which are blank. This bag also contains one piece of paper which has the word ‘murderer’ written on it. You must keep the contents of your piece of paper to yourself. When the lights go out the murderer can start ‘murdering’ people. If the murderer tags you and whispers ‘You’re dead’ in your ear, you lie on the ground.”

This game’s rules were starting to get a little unnerving.

“If you find someone who is ‘dead’ you call out ‘I found a dead body!’ and the lights will go back on. Everyone will then come back here and we’ll have to guess who the murderer was.” He then started to open the bag, then stopped. “Also, the only things you can say are ‘You’re dead’ and ‘I found a dead body’. No murdering someone if you’re not the murderer. So basically, no cheating, I will know if you cheat. Oh, and we’re going to go to the three floor house behind this little house-shack.”

I turned around to see other people’s expressions. Some were mildly excited, some were bored, but surprisingly, there were none who were even remotely fearful. I shook my thoughts away.

Why should I be scared of a normal, childish game?

All the people in the house reached into the bag to select a piece of paper, even Damion. When I looked at mine my heart lifted slightly, only a little. At least I knew how to hide.

We all followed Damion out the door and around the back of the small house.

Outside, the moon shone with a dim silvery glow, which cast shadows everywhere I looked. My top hat’s shadow looked all warped and bent on the gravelly surface of the path. The shrivelled garden plants were like ghostly fingers, scrabbling for handholds on my pant-leg. Accompanied with the spikey dead grass on the steep hill we walked on and my extremely thin pants it was so very irritating. Irritating enough to almost take my mind off the monstrous house in front of me. Almost.

The house looked like a hungry beast, a monster which waited for its victims to walk into its mouth. The paint was left to peel and fall off the rotting wooden walls. Tall, curtained windows seemed like half-lidded eyes, staring intently at me.

I walked briskly to the back of the group, where Damion was. I turned my head towards him, keeping my eyes on the house. “Uh, Damion, my man. How exactly did you find this house? Why is there nobody here? Are you sure this isn’t illegal? What is this place anyways?”

“Hush, child,” Damion said in a mocking voice. “This place is totally fine. It’s fine.” He pat my back with a suddenly icy cold hand. “It’s fine.”

Our ‘party’ group reached the door to the menacing house and waited for Damion to come forth. Then our host opened the door. I noted that the room we were in was fully illuminated already. We all gathered in front of him, everyone but me with excited grins on their faces.

Damion then faced us all. Smiling, he placed a readied hand on the rusted light switch. “Let’s play.”

Then all went black.

Stumbling around in the darkness as I tried to avoid everyone else’s trampling feet. I placed my hands in front of me, attempting to find my way in the near blackness. Crazed footsteps and panicked breathing filled my ears. But the most prominent sound was the emptiness of voices.

I knew the ‘murderer’ was out there, I knew that I was lost in the dark, and I knew I couldn’t ditch the party without Damion finding out. He was a demon.

I opened my mouth to yell for Damion to stop this stupid game, but my throat was dry and raw. Confused, I tried again. No sounds. I clawed at my neck, desperately trying to get my voice out.

Two sets of pounding footsteps sounded behind me, awakening me from my frozen, flustered state. Leaping out of the corner I was in, I ran, careful to not make any too obvious sounds. I could’ve sworn my heart was the loudest thing in the room.

My hands felt a doorway and I threw myself in to the room. I froze with my back pressed against the icy cold wall and held my breath. The footsteps behind me ceased and I heard a little gurgle.

Then came a barely audible whisper which I strained to hear. I felt a chill when I heard a thud of something soft against wood. “You’re dead.”

I would’ve screamed if I had my voice. The murderer disappeared, leaving their victim behind. Cautiously, and with shaking hands, I approached the person on the ground. My fingers poked their skin. Cold.

They were gone.

I was horrified at the person in front of me. “I f-found a,” I cleared my throat, “I found a d-dead body.”

My eyes stung and I shielded them with my still shaking hands. Harsh, white lights shot on, illuminating the paling person in front of me.

The Demon Monster ... by Bella

CRACK! I woke with a start. Lightning was flashing outside and the thunder boomed. Another storm, I thought.

I have always hated storms. They are always so loud. I snuggled back down into the covers and tried to go back to sleep… I was staying at my Grandad's house which was situated on a lake at the edge of the woods. The wind blew tree shadows all over the walls which were quite eerie.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. I checked my alarm clock. 3 AM! Who could be up at this hour?! I was hoping Grandad would hear and answer it, so I waited a few minutes to see if they would go. The knocks got louder, but granddad did not wake up. I groaned and got out of bed. I desperately wanted to go back to sleep. When I opened the door I noticed three strange things straight away:

1. A man wearing a top hat stood in the doorway;
2. There was a long silvery-grey car parked outside that looked like a hearse;
3. Top Hat guy was wearing a badge that read: ‘Beast Control’.

The name ‘Beast Control’ got me curious. Top Hat guy was the first to speak.

"Hello Miss. My name is Clarence. I’m here because I have been notified of sightings of a big shadow lurking around this house after dark."

This sent chills down my spine.

"Soooo…. Let me get this straight,” I said cautiously. “You’re telling me, that there is some kind of MONSTER lurking around our house?!”

“Yes. I am afraid so miss”. We had been talking quite loudly, and Grandad had woken up.

“What’s going on here?” boomed Grandad as he came down the stairs. “Milla...” he said in his stern voice, “I have told you not to open the door to strange people!”

“But Grandad, he said people have spotted something lurking around our house after dark!”

Grandad scowled. He hated getting up really early in the morning. He told me to go upstairs immediately. From my room I could still hear Grandad and Clarence talking and I could just make out what they were saying.

“Sir, please listen! What the young girl said is true!” Clarence cried. “Its 3am! And I do not believe in Monsters! Your people must have spotted an animal that lives in the wood. Now Go!”

I heard the door slam and watched him cross the garden to his car. As I watched the car drive off into the distance, I noticed a strangely shaped envelope lying on my desk. It had my name written on the front in very elegant writing. I tore it open and read the letter:

Dear Milla, 

Meet me at the mansion at the edge of the woods. 

Be there at midnight.

The next night I went to the old mansion at midnight like the letter said. It was a full moon tonight, so I could see where I was going. Three stories tall, strange for a house near a lake… I thought.

It moaned and groaned and creaked with age. As I climbed the porch stairs to the door, I had the strangest sense I was being watched.

Then I saw it. Twice the size of a full grown man, hairy, smelly, horns and spikes along its great big tail.

I wanted to run. I wanted to scream. But I was rooted to the spot and my throat was dry.

The monster roared. I screamed. I turned to run.

Bonk! I had forgotten to open the door! I fell to the ground just as the monster swiped where I was standing with his big sharp claws. I scrambled to my feet and sped off as fast as my legs would carry me. The monster ran after me. I tripped over a stone and grazed my knee. Whimpering I crawled backwards.

Suddenly, the door opened and someone shone a torch out at the monster. The beast roared and staggered backwards trying to block the blinding light. Quick as a flash I rolled out of the way and tripped the monster. It fell back with a roar and knocked its head on the way down, making it unconscious.

Whoever it was aimed the torch onto the creature. Now that the light was out of my eyes, I could see that it was Clarence.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Sorta” I replied pointing to my injured knee. He helped me inside and put a bandage on my leg to stop the bleeding.

“Stupid idea to wear shorts” I thought out loud.

“I have to agree with you there” said Clarence. “It’s quite cold too what exactly were you thinking when you put on shorts?” My face flushed with embarrassment.

“Uuugghhh, I guess I was really excited” I replied nervously.

“Well I’d better get that monster tied up before it comes too” said Clarence.

But when we turned around, the beast was gone.

“Drat!” he said. Shining the torch on the path we found that the creature had left foot prints. Clarence looked at me and said “Let’s go!” He grabbed the rope from his bag and we were off.

After an hour or so we were a little disheartened because we still hadn’t caught up to the monster. You could hear wolves howling in the distance and it was quite scary.

Finally we caught up to the monster. “Hmm… probably heading back to its den” I whispered.

Around 10 mins later we found the monster about to enter a cave. Quick as lightning Clarence lassoed the rope around the monster, putting it off balance and it toppled to the ground, knocking itself yet unconscious again!

“Yes!!” I yelled punching the air, but Clarence told me to be quiet as we could be found, there might be others. We hauled the monster back to the mansion and tied it to a chair.

“Milla, I need to make a call. If it wakes up hit it with this pan” Clarence said.

“Sure... ok” I said cheerfully. I don’t know why but I kind of liked the idea of hitting the monster with a frying pan, just like in the movies.

“Thanks” he said and walked outside.

The monster woke up that very moment. And I went crazy! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Woah! Settle down we don’t want to kill it!” said Clarence as he rushed back in.

“Ooops… my bad!” I said with a guilty smile.

Half an hour later, an old gypsy woman came in.

“Where is it?” she croaked. I showed her into the living room where the beast was tied up.

The old woman drew a circle around the chair with chalk and waved her hands muttering lots of strange incantations. When she was done, she turned and spoke to Clarence:

“It was a demon sent from hell. You must take the body to the little house at the end of the street and bury it deep in the garden… and Milla,” she said turning her head 180 degrees toward me, “you must never tell anyone about this. Swear it.” I crossed my heart, freaking out because she had done the impossible with her head!

“Good,” she said nodding, then her head turned back to Clarence. I shivered at the sight of it!

She nodded and smiled. “My work here is done. Now you two do the rest”.

She clapped 3 times and disappeared into the night.

I was so tired, I can’t remember going to the end of the street or doing anything else but going to bed.

The next day, I woke up thinking the nights events had to be a dream. My alarm clock read 2:15 pm!

“It’s past midday!” I cried out loud.

“Yes it is! Milla come downstairs. I have a surprise for you!” Grandad said.

Suddenly a loud noise startled me.

WOOF! WOOF!

“A DOG!?” I cried racing down the stairs. “You got me a puppy?? “

“Yup… sort of” he said with an ear-splitting grin. “I found it on the doorstep when I woke up this morning!”

I hugged the dog so hard and it leapt up on me and gave me a slobbery kiss. As it wagged its tail excitedly, I noticed that it had a few little spikes on it… reminding me of the monster’s tail…

THE END

Puffy and the cupcakes ... by Erian

Once upon a time there was a cat called Puffy. He had black fur, white feet and puffy cheeks.

Puffy worked at Snuffles Bakery which was owned by the mean Mr. John Snuffles.

Snuffles Bakery was known for making the best cupcakes in the world and Mr Snuffles told everyone he made them himself…but really, actually, it was Puffy who made the cupcakes.

No one knew that. No one knew Puffy worked hard all day and all night…

•  Shaking (the flour),
•  Cracking (the eggs),
•  Stirring in (the butter),
•  Adding (the sugar),
•  Mixing (the batter),
•  Baking (the cupcakes),
•  Icing (the top)

Over and over and over again; shaking, cracking, stirring, adding, mixing, baking, icing, shaking…And that was the rhythm of his day, every day

One day the Queen and her prince came to town to try the cupcakes - they had heard how good they were.

Mr. John Snuffles was at the counter to greet them. "Come in, come in, come try my cupcakes I make them myself!"

Poor Puffy knew this wasn’t true but he never told anyone and let them believe it was Mr. John Snuffles who made the delicious cakes.

For the queen's and the prince's visit, bossy Mr. John Snuffles had told the cat to make a special cupcake good enough for royalty.

The special cupcake had royal blue icing with a golden crown on top that you could eat.

Mr. John Snuffles was just telling the queen and prince how good his cupcakes were and how hard he worked day after day to make them just right when, suddenly, the cupcake boxes that had hidden Puffy working in the kitchen tipped over and everybody saw Puffy putting a golden crown on to royal blue icing. They all knew it was not Mr John Snuffles who'd been making these delicious cupcakes.

The queen and prince said that the bakery was now to be called ‘Puffy’s Bakery’, not ‘Snuffles Bakery’. They ordered 12 more delicious cupcakes and drove off back to their castle.

The cupcake princess ... by Charlie

The cupcake princess was still awake, frustrated by lack of sleep. Suddenly an idea popped into her head. She crept down the creaky staircase into the kitchen.

The castle tabby cat greeted her with a loud meow. "Shhhh" whispered the princess.

The princess opened the heavy pantry door. Before her lay the cupcake tin she had admired the day before. Being royalty has its advantages she thought.

She lifted the cupcake tin though she knew touching it was against the rules of the castle. She opened the lid and to her horror saw only one cupcake was left. There is a cupcake thief in the castle! How can I catch them? she thought. I will play a trick on the thief, so she covered the cupcake with salt and pepper.

Then she heard a strange screeching noise. She spun around and saw the castle cat. The cat kept on meowing until the Princess heard footsteps coming down the main corridor of the castle. The princess flashed with anger. Quickly she got the cupcake tin and put it quietly back into the pantry. She shut the door and slipped into the ballroom where there was a table with a rather large tablecloth that went down to the floor. She crawled under the table just in time…

The door swung open slowly and she saw a dark terrible shadow coming towards her. The princess was scared and wanted to scream but was too clever for that. A figure walked into the room. It was not a terrible demon but her older brother Erik. He smiled and then revealed the cupcake he had snuck into the pocket of his black hoodie.

He is the cupcake thief thought the princess. She smiled to herself as Eric sunk his teeth into the cupcake. "Arararrarrarrrrarrrrarrraragggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!" Erik spat the cupcake onto the floor then kicked it into the fire like a football. He stomped off upstairs with the rhythm of an angry elephant.

The princess had caught the cupcake thief red handed and was sure he’d never steal cupcakes again.

The cupcake princess lived mischievously ever after.

The story of Princess Natalie and her Kingdom ... by Agnes

In a kingdom far far away there lived a brave and amazing little girl called Natalie, the princess of Utonville. She lived with the beautiful King and Queen and her older brother Peter but suddenly something terrible happened. The year was 1715 when this terrible thing occurred.

"Peter, what have you done?! Mother and Father will be so mad!" yelled Natalie as her brother Peter finished hiding the family riches in a ‘Safer’ place.

"I was just having some fun. And anyway there’s nothing else to do" argued Peter. "What is going on in here? Don’t tell me you two have been quarreling again." said Miss Sally, their maid who was standing in the door way with a glare on her face. The children stood up straight as Miss Sally walked into the room.

"Miss Sally, Peter was hiding the family riches into a ‘safer’ place apparently." Natalie confessed.

"WHAT!?" Miss Sally turned around with the biggest scowl the children had ever seen. "Where are they?" The children pointed to a large chest. Miss Sally took the riches out of the chest and hid it somewhere where the children would never find them. "No supper for you two tonight so off to bed" fumed Miss Sally.

Natalie lay awake in her bed listening to the cool breeze of the night when she heard someone yell "HELP", it came from Peter’s room. Natalie sat upright in bed and put on her slippers, She took her candle and tiptoed out of her room.  "Meow" Tibbles her cat came out from under her bed and followed Natalie. Natalie went inside her brother’s room and saw an empty bed and an open window. Someone had taken Peter.

Natalie had to find him. So Natalie went back to her room and got dressed in a dress, some scratchy stockings, some old boots and an ugly cardigan. She quickly got her satchel and went down into the kitchen. Natalie opened the larder door and took three apples, some cupcakes and biscuits, a leather flask to store water and some leftovers of last night’s dinner and put them in her satchel. Natalie tiptoed to the front door and slowly opened it. Then she closed the door and headed to the well to fill up her leather flask and off Natalie went into the darkness with her cat Tibbles.

It was morning when Peter regained consciousness. "Where am I?" Peter asked himself. "You’re in my house you idiot." said a scratchy and rough voice. Peter looked around and found himself locked up in chains and in an old dirty looking room and he saw a small man with grey tufts of hair sprouting out of his head.

"Why am I here? What do you want from me?" Peter yelled at the small man.

"I want to know where you keep the royal riches. You little children act like spoilt brats and you live in a world of royalty compared to us poor villagers. That’s why I want the royal treasures and that’s why I took you so your parents will take you back and give me the royal treasures in return." Peter sat there speechless. What was he going to do? How would he get out of this misery? The man walked away and got some stale bread and a flask of water and gave it to Peter. All day Peter thought and thought of his family and his little sister Natalie and how he would get out of this house, until he heard little footsteps coming down the stairs.

Natalie had searched for Peter all night but had no success. Suddenly when dawn approached she saw a dirty white handkerchief that looked similar to Peter’s one. He must be close by she thought. A man came out of a house nearby. Natalie walked up to him and asked "Have you seen my brother sir, he’s wearing a white night dress, he has brown hair and brown eyes." The man nodded and pointed to the house next door. "Thank you."

Natalie tried to open the door but it wouldn’t budge. So Natalie tried the window but that didn’t work either. Finally Natalie saw a ladder leading up to a window upstairs. So Natalie climbed it and tried to open the window and it opened! Natalie climbed through it and jumped off the window sill. There was only one room up there and it was the small man’s bedroom leading into a corridor and stairs. Natalie knew Peter wasn’t in that room because she heard loud snoring and Peter never snored. "Psst, Peter it's Natalie. Are you in here?" Natalie whispered into the poorly lit room.

"How did you find me?" Peter replied.

"I’ve been looking for you and I came across this village and looked around, until I found your white handkerchief on the doorstep. So I asked the man next door if he saw you and he pointed to this house, that’s how I found you. Thank good-" Natalie didn’t have time to finish her sentence when the children heard footsteps.

"Hide" Peter whispered to Natalie. Natalie could hear the rhythm of her heart beating in her ear as the footsteps became louder and louder.

"It’s time to go to sleep you brat." The small man said as he entered the room. Then it was pure darkness.

"Peter! Are you awake" Whispered Natalie when she heard snoring.

"Yes" Peter whispered back.

"MEOW" Meowed Tibbles.

"SHH! Tibbles, that man might wake up" explained Natalie. “Peter, we have to escape it’s our only chance” Peter stood up and led Natalie to what he thought was the door.

"I think this is the door" he said as he opened it. A whoosh of cool wind blew onto their faces as they stepped out of the house. "Where are you, ye little brat?" said a familiar scratchy and rough voice.

"Oh no, he’s awake quick Natalie" whispered Peter rapidly. The children ran as fast as they could along the cobbles until they reached the dark forest. The only way they could go was through the forest, they wouldn’t dare go back because they feared the terrors down that street. So they ran.

By the time the children were out of the forest they were gasping for breath "Which... way... is...
the... castle?" Peter panted. "I... think... it’s... this... way" replied Natalie, panting and pointing west. They ran and ran west until they saw in the distance a big castle. But suddenly the children heard footsteps coming closer and closer.

"Where are those two little brats?" said the familiar voice of the small man. The children fell silent and hid behind a bush.

"I’ve found them master" said another voice which came from right behind them. A man appeared with a hunchback with warts all over his face.

"Ahh, you can’t get away now you little brats." said the small man. "Now my companion Quasi has found you there’s no way of you escaping." Then came the sound of hissing and meowing.

"You’ve brought a little friend of yours. Well it’s just an old cat, it won’t do us any harm my companion. Now seize the children" cried the small man.

"Get off us" screamed Natalie. But the screaming didn’t help. Natalie bit the hunchback and started to run.

"OWW" the man screeched. In shock the small man let go of Peter and the children ran as fast as they could but the two men were catching up. "Hurry up Quasi! They’re getting away" complained the small man to his companion Quasi.

"This is our chance to escape" said Peter to Natalie. So they hid behind a bush and emerged when the men had passed. They finally reached the castle. They both stopped to look at it but realised they were running away from the men. Peter went up to the big double doors and knocked. ‘Knock, knock’ but the two men were already at the end of the forest so Peter kept knocking. "What is- Peter, Natalie where have you been?" asked the maid Miss Sally and gave them both a big hug. "We were worried sick me and your parents."

"Miss Sally there is no time to explain our absence please let us in" Peter explained. So Miss Sally let them in and locked the door.

"What happened?" asked Miss Sally. So the children explained what happened from the very beginning till the very end. Miss Sally was in shock after the children had finished the story. "What are your mother and father going to say about this?" said Miss Sally to herself. The children laughed and went upstairs and freshened up and went to bed. So from that day on the whole kingdom was happy and so were the king and queen, oh and Natalie and Peter and don’t forget Miss Sally. And those two wretched men, they were sent to prison to never return to Utonville again.

The Adventures of Feather Man ... by Sam

There was once a feather, who wanted to be more than what he was. A feather. So after years of training he came out of the pillow and set off to travel the world (the house). Of course once he got out he was faced with problems, but one thing he did not know was that he was actually royalty and his relative was the King of all Feathers in Port Melbourne. He was going to outer space (outside) and was so close to making it but he was sucked up by the vacuum...

Feather man was trapped in the vacuum cleaner... "How do I get out of here?" he thought. He looked around, there was more than one feather in this vacuum cleaner, it was like a refugee camp but worse, a lot worse. Feather man was not going to give up that easily so he got all the feathers' attention and gave an inspirational speech. "Are you guys just going to wait here for someone to get you out? Or are you going to get out and live your life?" He waited for a moment and then somebody shouted "We were waiting for someone like you". The crowd nodded. "Argh whatever!" feather man said as he started climbing up the vacuum tube. When he was finally out he jumped and started gliding for about 3 seconds and then a dog ate him... yep a dog...and there was also a cat prowling behind him.

Inside the dog's belly, feather man was sitting down and then he stood up angrily and shouted to himself, "OH COME ON REALLY... first the vacuum and now this". He looked around and saw two feathers playing poker. He took a seat and asked curiously "How long have you been here?" the two feathers didn't look up for 5 whole minutes. When they did one said gloomily "Ten years I reckon... and by the way the dog's name is Buster, he is an English Staffy". Feather man looked up and said, "I've heard horror stories about that dog! Why haven't you left? You could just go down the hatch..." the feathers looked at feather man very alarmed and both shouted "NO!!" Feather man understood why they said that, but he knew he had to do it, so he suffered the horror and was out.

Feather man needed to shower. He glided for several days meeting new friends along the way. Finally he came to the great shower. He needed to turn the tap on, but he wasn't strong enough. Suddenly he heard a low growl. Feather man spun around to see Buster outside the shower ready to attack! Feather man had an idea - if he could get Buster to jump at the shower tap and turn it on he would have his shower. When Buster attacked he failed badly, he just ran with a surprising rhythm and speed and slammed right into the shower door. Man, that fat dog could run, he was like a lightening bolt. Feather man had been doing a lot of intense training and jumped right over Buster like a calm relaxed angel (an angel dripping with sweat). Buster came at him again and feather man was struck down to the ground and hard. He pulled out his trusty boomerang, throwing it at the shower tap it turned on - toe biting cold water slammed down on Buster and that fat dog was out. Feather man caught his boomerang and laughed to himself as nice cold water poured down on him. He got out of the shower and saw a little (massive to him) curious drooling 3 year old staring down at him. "OH NO"

He had a small head start and was sprinting with the toddler right behind him. The toddler had a half-eaten, licked chocolate cupcake in his hand. For the toddler this was a playful game but for feather man this was a matter of life or death. He made it into the toddler’s room and hid under the bed. He spied a motorbike and a hot wheels track and hopped onto the motorbike and rocketed down the track. The toddler did not have a clue what was going on, but that didn't stop him from racing after the motorbike. Feather man was near the end of the track and skidded to a halt. He had escaped the toddler but not the walls and crashed right into one while he was looking back and laughing.

Feather man hopped out of the crashed car. Needing supplies he went back into the kids’ room and found military clothes his size and a remote control plane that shot little pellets. He was ready! His first target was the shower and he fired heaps of bullets. The shower recovered quickly and fired the coldest water it had. Feather man jumped out of the plane hitting the tap off (don't ask me how it turned on in the first place) and the shower fell to the ground. Next was the toddler. He was easy, just fire a few pellets and he was off crying and running away. Next, the vacuum cleaner. He jumped out and was sucked in, but that was his plan! Inside he saw the other feathers were still there. "Come on my brothers we can destroy this!” This time he heard a massive cheer and they all got out of the vacuum and attacked it except some stupid feather named Hiccup went to the front and tried to tame it. He got sucked in but crashed the vacuum. After the battle the feathers returned home (apart from that guy called Hiccup), only the dog and feather man were left standing. Feather man took off his military clothes and looked like a plain old feather. Buster ran at him and feather man knew it was the end. He would never start his new journey and so he closed his eyes and waited but nothing happened. He opened his eyes to get a nice warm lick from Buster. Buster had let feather man go! He hugged the dog and floated out the door and into space (the world).

Disclaimer: Nothing was harmed in this story apart from some feather who crashed a plane into a vacuum cleaner.

Shadow of the light ... by Alex

Silent as a shadow a little cat as black as the moonless night slipped across the cobblestone wall. As if it thought it was royalty it perched itself on the wall gazing upon the dirty alley. Darkness swirled around the cat as if to suit its purpose.

Suddenly a shabby old tabby cat slipped into the starlit alley.

"Lord Noir, Blanc is moving across the country, he is going to the moonlight ball." grunted the tabby.

"I will be there, he can’t have a party without me." Noir whispered back and then he was gone.

As Blanc walked into the ball the smell of fresh cupcakes and the rhythm of music came to greet him.

The ballroom was vast and there was no sign of immediate threats.

Gliding in amongst the chattering cats a string quartet was playing a tune that Blanc didn’t recognize.

A cat came through carrying a china platter loaded with cupcakes decorated to perfection.

Suddenly darkness fell over the ballroom, the doors burst open and the buzz of chatter shut off in almost an instant. A cold breeze rushed in sending a shiver up Blanc’s spine. A dark figure briskly strode into the room, all eyes darting towards him. He was pure black from head to tail.

"Blanc! I know you are here, show yourself!" shouted the figure. Blanc leaped onto the stage, tendrils of darkness shooting towards him like a bullet from a gun. The black cat leaped towards him.

"Noir!" cried Blanc, "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you! Dancing!" answered Noir.

"What, dancing with fire?" asked Blanc while a barrage of fireballs white from heat shot from his paw.

"Exactly!" screeched Noir as one of the fireballs hit his tail. Shadows swirled around him forming pitch-black armor. A blazing inferno swirled around Blanc until nothing was visible but the flames. Noir tried to find weaknesses in the fire but whenever he tried he got heavily charred.

Suddenly the fire died down and Blanc was once again visible. Rods of fire swirled around Blanc occasionally frying the shadows that neared him.

"Everyone out!!!" ordered Blanc.

Frantically the other cats rushed for the door like a herd of wild buffalo. Blanc threw a knife at Noir distracting him for a second. That was all Blanc needed. He threw one of the blazing rods at the roof right above Noir’s head, the roof started to fall. Blanc started to run and before Noir had realized what he had done it was too late. A sickening crunch was heard and a blood curdling screech and then all was silent.

That night a mournful silence hung round the town until the sunlight of the morning proclaimed a new day. Still the town was quieter than usual. The buzz of the town died to a quiet whisper. Then the rumors began…

The icing on the cupcake ... by Melisand

Picture this: a peaceful country village with thatched cottages lining the cobblestone streets, the respectful townspeople going about their business in a friendly and cheerful way. Presumably, you think that the citizens are human but they are not, they're Patty Pan People. Patty Pan People are just like us from the neck down but their heads are cupcakes, their faces are made of lollies and their hair is cream cheese icing. Their - or what we call a - brain is the soft, fluffy sponge cake in the middle, which could explain the events in this story...

The story begins on the night of the annual Squashing Scream, a few years ago. Every year one Patty Pan Person is deprived of their hair by the evil were-cat which haunts the village on the night of the Squashing Scream.

Quentin wished her friends a happy Squashing Scream and walked home from her job at the hair-salon just as the sun was setting. In her joyful frame of mind she forgot to hang up her Philadelphia cream cheese packets to ward off the cat. Consequently, as she got ready for bed the cat lurked stealthily around her house waiting for her to fall asleep.

"Ooh, what an awful dream I had last night," said Quentin to her pet Guinea Pig when she woke the next morning. "I dreamt that this year the evil were-cat came and licked MY hair off ... and ate my sprinkle decoration!"

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" squeaked her Guinea Pig frantically ... but not understanding she went downstairs to get ready.

After her breakfast she put on her favourite outfit and twirled around in front of the mirror...

"Aaaah!" she screamed, "my hair is gone! It wasn't a dream! I was the victim of the Squashing Scream Were-cat!" and she burst into uncontrollable tears.

Quite a while later after she had regained her composure she decided that she would go to the hair-salon and get some hair extensions before work. Feeling much happier, she headed off to work.

Everyone at the hair-salon felt very sorry for her and even offered to do her hair extensions for free. But when they went to get the cream cheese icing they found, to their dismay, that they had run out! Quentin's friend Maria telephoned the Icing Factory but they didn't have any either.

"Maybe the cat was still starving after it licked my hair so it went to the factory for more icing," suggested Quentin, but no one thought that likely.

Dolefully Quentin took up her position behind the counter at reception and thought about how she could get some more hair.

"Ah-ha!" exclaimed Quentin around noon. "I'll go and pay Mixer Morris a visit at the factory," and that she did.

Unfortunately for Quentin, the people on the bus weren't as sympathetic as the hairdressers. She was only on the first step when the bus driver grumbled "Get off me bus! Where's ya hair? Being seen in public without ya hair is a disgrace! Get off me bus!"

Then the passengers chimed in "It's a disgrace, A DISGRACE..." they agreed.

"You know how it was the Squashing Scream last night" said one, "I bet her hair was taken then!"

"She might still be haunted by the were-cat," offered another.

"Get off me bus!" the grouchy bus driver snarled.

So poor Quentin had a long, and embarrassing, walk to the icing factory which was on the outskirts of town.

Eventually Quentin arrived at the factory but as soon as she opened the door she knew something was wrong.

CLUG CLUG EEEEEEEK! CLUG EEK EEK EEK RUMBLE RUMBLE! CLUG CLUG EEEEEEEK!

"What funny noises the machines are making," Quentin muttered to herself. "I'd better investigate!"

She peered around the gloomy factory, when she saw Mixer Morris she knew something was wrong with him too.

"Hello... Qqqquentin," he stuttered, "I ccan't ... do anything at a ccccconsistent rate. Cccan you ... please help ... me and the mmmachines?"

"Sure and I think I know what the problem is; you've lost your rhythm! If I help you to get your rhythm back you could stir the main whisk. The other machines could follow you and hey presto everyone is in time again!" Quentin enthusiastically replied, "let's start straight away!"

But unfortunately this was easier said than done.

Morris and Quentin thought hard.

"What about," suggested Morris "I learn a rhythmical dance and stir to it?"

"Good idea, I'll teach you a foxtrot. Slow quick quick, slow quick quick. See, easy" demonstrated Quentin, dancing around the machines.

Morris finally got the hang of the very basic rhythm!

"Gosh Quentin that was difficult, my spongy brain couldn't keep up!"

Quentin crossed her fingers as Morris nervously walked over to the main mixer and grabbed hold of the whisk. Heaving really hard, Morris got the whisk moving to his rhythm. Slowly the other machines joined in too; going from eek eek rumble clug clug to rumble clug clug (slow quick quick) rumble clug clug (slow quick quick).

As Morris let go of the mixer he gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh Quentin! Thank you so so much. You have saved my factory and helped all the hair-salons and their hairdressers in all the nearby towns. I cannot express how grateful I am in words ... but please accept this gift card for your hair salon as a token of my gratitude. Your help has meant more to me than being visited by Patty Pan royalty. Thank you!"

"Before I go there is something that you can do for me in return. Do you have any spare icing that I can use for my hair temporarily, so that I can get a bus ride home? It's getting quite late."

"I would like to say yes but all I can offer you is some of my hair!" and he wiped some of his own hay coloured hair onto Quentin's head in a rather bedraggled arrangement.

"I'm very sorry that my hairstyling skills are incompetent but it should serve the purpose," he apologised.

"It doesn't bother me at all and I am very appreciative of your help. Thank you and I hope to see you tomorrow with the delivery!"

The next morning Quentin skipped happily into work. She handed over the gift card and explained her story from the day before. Shortly after she finished speaking, ding, dong! the doorbell rang. "That'll be Mixer Morris with our cream cheese icing" said Quentin running excitedly towards the door.

"Aaah, Quentin, just the person I was hoping to see" started Morris, "I have enclosed a small amount of emerald dye with the icing delivery. I thought the colour would look nice in your new hairstyle!"

"Why thank you Morris. I love the colour! I shall be today's first customer!" said Quentin with a blush.

At the end of the day she emerged from the salon with a beautifully stylish emerald green swirl and a grin on her face. She was so pleased that she had her hair back. That evening she promised her pet Guinea Pig she would never forget to hang up her Philadelphia packets on the night of the Squashing Scream again...

the winning stories...

Imaginations were certainly fired up with some impressive entries into our recent winter holiday writing competition in which 5 key words needed to be used: wings, snowflakes, pom poms, winter and magic... here are the winning entries.

7-8 year old category

Mikayla, winner

Minecraft world

Hannah, runner-up

The lost puppies

9-10 year old category

Agnes, winner

The magic scarf

Sofia, runner-up

Nature fantasy

11-12 year old category

Rose, winner

It's good to be different

Jemima, runner-up

The magic jumper

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful entries submitted.

The magic jumper ... by Jemima

Brrrr it’s freezing - I can’t believe Winter has arrived.

I wake up to hear the loud noise of my alarm clock, a hand-me-down from my mum which came from her mum. I didn’t want that alarm clock but my mum gets up extra early and works the whole day 6am to 9pm, so I need something to wake me and I can’t afford a new one.

But wait, I’m late! I guess I slept through my first alarm. I throw on my clothes. Oh no! My favourite jumper is in the wash and I don’t have time to wash it so I’ll just have to wear the jumper my mum knitted me. It’s the one with the bird on the back and it has wide wings and pom poms on the rim. I’m so embarrassed - Why today? Why?

I run outside and grab my bike (well my mum’s bike, she catches the tram on Fridays). I race to school and just make it in time for our first lesson. I try to cover my jumper as much as possible.

The day goes by so quickly and the next I know, I’m on the school front steps quickly grabbing my bike. I cycle home without stopping except at the lights, maybe a bit too fast because I hit a rock and snowflakes cover me… WHAT? It doesn’t even snow in Australia (at least not where I live!) I’ve ever actually touched snow. I search through my bag to find my gloves. It’s even colder then before - and that was cold!

I get up off the ground and it's snowing everywhere. I can’t see my way home, this is going to be tricky. I’m lost. I see a lonely tree all by itself covered in snow. Moving quickly towards it, trying not to get caught in the blizzard, I get to the tree and shut my eyes. For a funny moment I start thinking that I’m floating. I open my eyes and I am floating.

Oh My God!!! My jumper with the bird on the back, it’s wings are fluttering. That’s what’s making me fly. I am getting the hang of things when BANG! I hit the floor. That’s strange - I was so high and when I fell I didn’t feel any pain? Oh that’s right, the pom poms and the snow make it a soft landing. I stand up and try again but I keep falling. I try again and again but it’s not working. I think about my mum - she’s probably thinking I would be home by now. But it’s not my fault if I’m late, I can’t see my way home. How could this just happen? It’s magic!

I start floating up again. This is my last shot and I need to get it right. I start flying to the side. YAY! It’s working. But I still can’t see my way home. But then I realise there are no houses or schools or shops - nothing - just nothing, only the lonely tree. "Where am I?" I shout and see a figure that I hope will save me.

The figure comes closer and closer. It’s the only thing I see besides the lonely tree. The figure is alone. Then I see it clearly - it’s a little girl with a small dress covered with snowflakes. "Hello dear you seem lost?" she says. "As a matter of fact I am lost and was wondering if you could help me find my way. I was riding my bike and it hit a rock and snowflakes covered me and then I started to float and my jumper was making me…"

"Whoa, slow down dear you are talking way to fast. Wait, did you say jumper?"

"Yeah, it was making me fly. I think it might be magical"

"It can’t be, but maybe it is…"

"Is what?" I ask.

"A long time ago, there was this magic jumper with pom poms on the rim and a bird with wide wings, It’s just like that jumper but it went missing."

"Well it can’t be because my mum knitted it, or did she?"

"Well dear, you better come with me. The only person who can prove it is the Master - he knows everything."

We walk until we find a small little Kingdom. "This is where the Master lives and all the other workers" says the girl.

The gate opens and we go inside. "May I ask you what your name is?" I ask the girl.

"Well my nickname is ‘Pinkie’ because I'm the smallest worker so you can just call me that."

When we reach a big door, two guards look at Pinkie and open the gates. "Only the workers and the guards can go in the Master’s room" she says in a whisper. "You have to be quiet because the Master hates loud noise."

In front of us we see a throne with a tall person sitting in it. "I have something to show you." says Pinkie.

"WHAT?!" he booms.

"I found a girl lost and she has a magical jumper. We were wondering if it’s the one that went missing".

"Hmmm" he stands up and examines it. "It sure looks like the real thing. Does it fly?"

"Yes" I say.

"Well the only jumper to fly is that one you have so it’s the jumper that went missing. You are a very lucky young lady and this jumper needs to be shared with the world."

"But how?" I ask.

"You’ll find a way."

I was confused. I didn't know how to share it with the world, hopefully I can find a way. Pinkie and I leave the room and go outside.

"Do you need help finding your home?" Pinkie asks.

"I’ll manage." I say.

"Ok, it was nice meeting you" says Pinkie.

I run to the tree and pick up my bike. I start riding home and strangely hit the same rock again. Next I’m lying on the footpath. "That was strange" I say puzzled.

I see the familiar houses and quickly ride home to mine. My mum’s home and after giving her a big hug, I ask, "Mum can I donate my knitted jumper?"

"Sure", mum says, "maybe it’s time for another kid to experience the magic!"

She must have known all along.

Minecraft World ... by Mikayla

I opened my eyes and I couldn’t believe what I saw, I was in Minecraft! It was a cold winter’s day, with snowflakes falling around me. I was happy and excited, I didn’t know what to do first. Minecraft was a very weird place. Everything, including me, was made of 3D blocks in all different colors. It was very strange to see myself made of 3D blocks…I knew what I had to do first, I needed to build a house to be safe from the monsters. I built with brick blocks, diamond blocks, and dirt blocks. It was fun to make but it took a long time and it was tiring, so I took a nap on the couch and went to sleep.

When I woke up I realised that I wasn’t in my house I was in somebody else’s house! I didn’t know whose house it was, so I panicked. Suddenly something even worse was happening, hundreds of little pom-poms were coming towards me. When they got very close I realised they were actually four-legged green monsters in disguise. I knew these monsters were called creepers because I have played Minecraft before. I also knew that creepers blow up when they get close to you. Before I knew it, one of the creepers had gotten close to me and then, BOOM, it blew up. 

As the blast went off I felt myself falling through the air. I landed with a thump. I found myself in a very dark and quiet place. I was relieved I had survived the creepers blast and was safe from them but then I heard a scary noise. I didn’t know where it was coming from. I thought the place was a mine so I started to dig my way out. I wasn’t strong enough so I tried to find another way out. I asked myself ‘how did I get from my comfy bed to here?’ I closed my eyes and wished the magic that got me into Minecraft would get me out again. When I opened my eyes I was out of the mine but not Minecraft. I needed to find a way out of Minecraft and back home. 

The winter’s air was getting colder and snowflakes had started to fall gently on my face. I was getting cold. I walked and walked until I found a strange box that was green and white. I thought it was called an end-portal. I climbed up on top of the portal and it transported me inside. The first thing I saw was a huge dragon! The dragon was purple and had very big wings, it was very scary. I walked back slowly, and said to myself ‘I shouldn’t have come in here’. The dragon came closer and closer until IT ATE ME!! I was inside a dragon…. it was not fun. I didn’t know how I could get out, it was dark and scary in there. Snowflakes had begun to fall on the dragon’s nose, just as he went to lick one off his nose I jumped right out of his open mouth. He was so big and I was so small that he didn’t even notice me jump out and creep away. 

I didn’t know where I was, I knew I’d gone into the end-portal but what did that mean? I looked and looked but I couldn’t see anything so I walked until I found a little shop, inside was a big strong-looking man sleeping. He was snoring very loudly, and the shop was a mess. I accidentally stepped on one of the cereal boxes and the man woke up. He was very angry; he walked closer and closer until he was in front of me towering over me. He asked me if I wanted his shop because he didn’t want it anymore. I said “y..y..e..ee..sss” because I was scared, but I shouldn’t have because he told me I had to keep it. I didn’t want to own a shop, I wanted to get back into my comfy bed, but there was no escape now because he had locked me in. I shouted and screamed but no one could hear me, I tried again and again but still no one could hear me. 

I pushed on the front door a thousand times and I finally got out, but the guy was still there so I had to stay hidden. After a few minutes he went away, but that meant I had to walk until I found something again and so that’s what I did. I found a small house that looked like the one I had built when I first entered Minecraft. It was mine! I walked inside and found another person inside. She was small and friendly, she asked me why I was in her house. I said to her that it wasn’t her house it was mine. She looked confused and wandered off. 

After the girl left my house I realised she had put a crafting table inside. I went closer to it and touched it, just at that time I remembered that if you touch a crafting table you can make things. I made a sword with a stick and two oak wood planks. I was desperate to get out of Minecraft and back home. I didn’t know if it would work, but I tried to break my way out of Minecraft with my sword. I found a wall and I started to hit it with my sword, some of it broke but the rest didn’t. I wasn’t getting anywhere, I felt so frustrated that I sat down and started to cry. I always imagined that it would be so much fun to be in Minecraft, but it was just hard. I noticed snowflakes falling again, but this time they were sparkly and glimmering. I wondered if they were magic. I closed my eyes and made a wish, I had never wished that hard before.

I opened my eyes and I was in my very comfy bed at last. I looked out the window and saw snowflakes falling, but I couldn’t figure out if it had all been a dream or it had really happened. All I knew was that I was safe and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to play Minecraft again.

THE END.

and here they are... the winning entries

The wait is over! Here are the winners and winning entries of the recent library writing competition...

7-8 age group:

• Raff, aged 8, winner - "The Bees of Big Bottom Road"

• Hope, aged 7, runner up - "The bees and Mr Strict"

9-10 age group:

• Melisand, aged 10, winner - "The Ancient Bees of Egypt"

• Jemima, aged 10, equal runner up - "Mixed flowers"

• Rose, aged 10, equal runner up - "Perfect, perfect, perfect!"

11-12 age group:

•  Jack, aged 11, winner - "Insanity" 

  Thanks to everyone who submitted entries and congratulations to the winners and runners-up!

The Bees and Mr Strict ... by Hope

In an empty grassland area there was a lonely sunflower. It was the only flower in the grassland. One sunny day 5 bees came along, the bees sucked the nectar from the sunflower. The bees wanted to make gooey and sticky honey. The sunflower liked that the bees were taking it’s nectar because it would help it grow and see more parts of the world.

Just at that moment Mr Strict the teacher of a school came along and caught the bees. He said, “You bad bees, you are killing this flower”. The bees felt scared and nervous. The sunflower thought that Mr Strict did not really know anything!

Mr Strict took the bees into his school. It was a school for anyone who was being bad. It was for animals or humans. When they got there, there was a silence. One of the bees spoke, “What will our mothers say when we don’t come home tonight?” “I don’t know and I don’t care” said Mr Strict. The bees had to do all really, really hard kinds of work at the school. They had to answer questions that there was no answer to, for example, what is a U.F.A? Another hard kind of work they had to do was take-away sums and Brain Non-Smart Quests where there were really hard questions written down on a cardboard card and you have to be the first one to answer it.

Mr Strict had a servant named Mrs Proudlove. She helped the children answer questions incorrectly because she was on Mr Strict’s side. Mr Strict called for Mrs Proudlove. If the bees answered a question incorrectly they got a punishment like the cane or having to clean up.

One day Mrs Proudlove saw Mr Strict be extra mean. He was pushing one of the bees. She thought that she would change sides. She didn’t like Mr Strict anymore. She thought she would help the bees out. Mrs Proudlove started teaching Mr Strict what was good and what was bad to distract him. The bees went to the window and flew out of the window. Mr Strict was not watching. Mrs Proudlove helped them out of the horrible school.

The bees flew back to the flower with a basket full of seeds. They planted all kinds of different seeds like poppies, more sunflowers, daffodils, daisies and jasmine. It would look beautiful!

The reason that they planted the seeds was because the sunflower was lonely and so they planted friends for it. They waited for the seedlings to grow. They got a lot of nectar when they did grow and made a lot of honey. The sunflower was not lonely anymore and it was happy. The bees left a pot of honey on the step of the school with a note for Mrs Proudlove. Then they flew back to their hive and told their mother about the adventure they had that day.

The Bees of Big Bottom Road ... by Raff

Hello, my name is Buzzz. I am a little bee, I am only six months old and I have black and yellow stripes but under my tummy I have an orange stripe. I’m very creative and I think that the world can be a very spectacular place.  I live in Big Bottom Road. There are 99,432,118 bees in my family. The family is owned by a lovely flower-loving lady called Ms Proudlove and her horrible, mean, nasty husband Mr Strict. We live in the yard and they live in a neat little house. It isn’t very big because Ms Proudlove and Mr Strict don’t have enough money.

Today, like any other, was a normal day. Mr Strict was feeling angry, Ms Proudlove was feeling happy. I was feeling good about myself because I was going to help my dad make honey but the problem was that my family of bees wasn’t producing enough honey every day and this was making Mr Strict even grumpier as he liked to have his usual honey and toast in the morning. 

This was very bad news so it had to be dealt with in the Bee Council, which was basically a bunch of old bees with white fur talking about boring stuff all day long. They had a long boring talk about honey and toast and then the Council came up with a dashing idea to solve this problem. The solution was that some commando bees would have to be smuggled in a basket into Mr Strict and Ms Proudlove’s house to replace the scarce honey with a new jar. They were doing this because Mr Strict did not like going out and fetching the honey and he didn’t like buying it either, so the bees had to do all the work.

They were only recruiting young and strong bees to be commandos and they thought I might be good for the job. At first my dad didn’t think it was a great idea but then the Council persuaded him to let me join. When I joined up they gave me a leaf helmet which was very big and covered up my whole face. I felt very scared, what if we were caught? It would be a terrible thing and Mr Strict might try to hit us with a spatula!

At midnight we ventured across the yard until we got to the house. We could not get inside so we had to hide ourselves inside a basket of seeds with the jar of new honey and there we slept until the morning when Ms Proudlove came to collect the basket. When she went away to watch her favourite cooking show, we quickly flew out of the basket carrying the jar. It felt as heavy as a giant  boulder but we managed to get it inside the pantry. The pantry was dark and we couldn’t feel our way through but then we realised we were in amongst lots of jars. Suddenly we heard footsteps!

It was Mr Strict.! He had come for his usual honey and toast. We couldn’t figure out what to do but then I had an idea. I had noticed a hole in the cupboard. I quickly told my idea to my fellow bees so we squeezed out from between the jars and then zoomed straight out the hole like a bullet from a gun and we went through little cracks in the bricks which were covered with overgrowing weeds like the tentacles of an octopus. We struggled through the weeds until we finally blasted out and crossed the yard to home. We were welcomed back with a big party for me and my fellow bees and my father and my family were very happy and very proud of me.

Oh, and by the way, Mr Strict had his honey and toast and was only half as grumpy as usual.

Mixed flowers ... by Jemima

It was a hot summers day, all the bees were out collecting pollen from the flowers in Mr Strict’s front garden. Mr Strict was a very strict man, he hated the idea of bees buzzing in his garden.

The only person he cared for and said hello to every day was Mrs Proudlove, a widow that lived next door to him.

One day Mrs Proudlove was holding a basket full of dead daises and he said to her “Hello Mrs Proudlove, what a lovely day it is, how are you?” Mrs Proudlove just shrugged.

“What's the matter Mrs Proudlove?” “My beautiful daises are dead” she cried angrily.

Mrs Proudlove loved her daises so much, she always watered them each day and if she would go out she would check her daises so they would look beautiful when people walked past.

Mr Strict also had daises but he didn’t buy them because once when Mrs Proudlove was planting her daises she accidentally spilt seeds in Mr Strict's front yard. Because he cared for her so much he also watered them every day.

“Are you going anywhere Mrs Proudlove?” Mr Strict asked. “Well I was but not anymore because my daises are dead” she answered.

Then Mr Strict said to her “You can go out and do your shopping and I will take care of your daises for you.”

Mrs Proudlove was so happy she could do her shopping that she skipped happily to her car.

Mr Strict thought for a moment, how would he fix this problem? BINGO! He had an idea.

Mr Strict drove down to the local nursery and bought a packet full of daisy seeds. He drove his car back home and started to plant them.

When Mrs Proudlove came home she saw Mr Strict planting daisy seeds and she was so happy.

The next few weeks past and Mrs Proudlove started to notice that her daises weren’t growing but sunflowers were. Mrs Proudlove thought for a minute, maybe Mr Strict put sunflower seeds in her garden and thought they were daisy seeds.

Some more weeks past and the sunflowers grew bigger, brighter, and better.

Soon Mrs Proudlove forgot all about her daises because she loved her sunflowers even more.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you that some of the daisy seeds blew into Mr Strict’s front yard too.