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

and the winners are...

As always it was a tough decision for the judges, but here are the winners of the Spring school holiday 2015 writing competition... (if you need a reminder of the words that needed to be included you can find them here...)

Category 1 : 7-8 years

• Erian, winner - "Puffy and the cupcakes"
• Charlie, runner-up - "The Cupcake Princess"

Category 2 : 9-10 years

• Agnes, winner - "The story of Princess Natalie and her kingdom"
• Sam, runner-up - "The Adventures of Feather Man"

Category 3 : 11-12 years

• Alex, winner - "Shadow of the light"
• Melisand, runner-up - "The Icing on the cupcake"

Congratulations to everyone!!

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 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 lost puppies ... by Hannah

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there were three little puppies. Their names were Hannah, Will and Maddie.

Hannah was the eldest, she was 6 years old. Will was second, 4 years old. And Maddie was still a baby and was 2 years old. Hannah looked after her little brother and sister.

One sunny morning their mum said "you can play outside". So Hannah packed her bag. Inside there was 1 chocolate bar, 3 apples, 2 mandarins, 1 pear and 3 slices of watermelon.

Chapter 2

"Goodbye mum", "look after your brother and sister Hannah!" "Okay mum." And off they went.

They took off down the street with their bag of snacks.

After five minutes of walking, Hannah noticed she couldn't see the park yet. It was usually right around the corner. They had made a wrong turn and had reached a forest they had never seen before.

"Oh no! What will we do?"

"Well we could climb a tree and see the way" said Hannah. So they did. But it didn't work.

"I've got an idea" said Will, "we can keep on walking and we might find our way".

"Great idea!" said Hannah. So they kept on walking but suddenly they found themselves in a mountain.

"I'm hungry" said Maddie, "we only have one chocolate bar."

"Okay I'll wait."

"I want to go home" said Maddie. "What will we do now?"

 "I don't know" said Hannah.

Just then it started to snow. "I see snowflakes" said Maddie, "me too" said Hannah.

Chapter 3

"Where are we?" said Maddie,

"I think we're in the mountain and it's winter" said Hannah.

"Can I have the blanket you packed Hannah" said Will, "sure" said Hannah.

"I see a fairy with a pom pom bag, wings and rainbow magic."

"Hello" said the fairy, "do you want me to take you home? What I'll do is sprinkle some fairy dust and I will show you the way home," and she did.

Ten minutes later they could see home. When home they said "bye", the fairy said "bye" and they all lived happily ever after.

The end

The magic scarf ... by Agnes

My name is Valerie Xzing (the X is silent). I’m eleven years old and I live with my Grandma Ethel since my parents died in a car accident. I’m a girl but not just any normal girl. I’ll tell you the story that turned my boring eleven year old life upside-down.

It was a stormy day in the middle of winter. I was sitting down and reading my favourite book ‘Harry Potter and the goblet of fire’. “Valerie, I need to go shopping, and you’re coming with me,” said Grandma Ethel. “I would let Faye your babysitter look after you but she still has tonsillitis. Silly girl, she shouldn’t be hanging around anyone who has tonsillitis.” I laughed quietly to myself because I was the one that Faye got it from. Grandma’s the silly one!

As Grandma and I were walking to the grocery store I spotted a scarf that was pink, grey and purple with little pink pom-poms on it. I really wanted it. “Gran, can I get that scarf? It’s really pretty and it will also keep me nice and warm”, I asked my Grandma. “I don’t know, that shop looks a bit strange to me.” She said in a worried voice. “Oh please, please, please can I get it”, I plead. My Grandma sighed and gave me some money. I ran off forgetting to thank her. I pushed open the door and a little bell rang as I stepped inside. I see an old lady behind the counter. I walk up to her. I pointed to the pink, grey and purple scarf. “Can I buy that scarf in the shop window?” The old lady stepped away from the counter, showing her scrawny legs. She certainly took her time getting the scarf. “That will be $20”, the old lady said in a wheezy voice once she finally got to the counter. “You know that scarf could hold magic powers. You never know with the things in this store”, the old woman added as I give her the money. I hurried out of the shop a little bit scared by what the old lady said.        

I lay down in my bed, awake, staring at my pet galah Snowflakes. “HELLO”, he screeched, spreading his wings. “Shush, Snowflakes”, I whisper. There was a flashing light in the hallway. What was it? I got out of my bed and followed the light. It led me to my scarf, which was lying on the floor. I picked it up and examined it. “Nothing unusual”, I thought. I put it on and I went back to my room and looked at Snowflakes. Before my eyes, Snowflakes turned into a beautiful bird made of glimmering ice. I gasped. And it looked like there was a barrier protecting Snowflakes from something. Then I realised that of course, it’s to protect the ice from the sun! I sat down on the floor, thinking of all the amazing things I could do with this magic scarf.

I woke up to find myself curled up in a ball on the floor. Memories of last night came rushing through my head. I picked up the scarf and put it on and looked at a doll Grandma had given me. I hated that doll. I stared at its plastic eyes and it turned into ice and melted. “Huh” I say. I realised then that the scarf turns things I love into ice with protective barriers, and it melts things I hate.

“What is that little girl doing with that scarf, Gumball”, Willow says to her dog while watching me melting things and turning things into ice. Willow lives in the house across the road. “WOOF” Gumball barks, “You’re right Gumball, the scarf must have magic powers. We have to steal it. You know how much I love the cold weather.”

I walk into the kitchen to find some pancakes and a note from Grandma: Good morning Valerie. I’ve gone to the gym as usual, help yourself to some pancakes. Love Grandma Ethel.

I quickly eat my pancakes and get ready to go for a walk. I leave the house forgetting to lock the door. I also leave my scarf behind because I am scared that I will turn someone into ice.

“Hmm, looks like they have both left the house" says Willow, while staring from her bedroom window, watching Valerie walk down the street. "This is the perfect time to steal the scarf Gumball.” Willow gets dressed, walks across the road to Valerie’s house and quietly opens the gate. Her heels clip-clop on the cobblestone as she walks to the front door. The door is unlocked. She sneaks around the house to Valerie’s bedroom. The scarf is on the bedside table. Grabbing it, Willow rushes across the road back to her house.

When I get back from my walk Grandma’s at home watching some TV. I walk into the living room. “Hi Gran” I say. “Where have you been?”, she asks casually. “I just went on a walk”, I answer, but Grandma seems to be more interested in what’s on TV than me so I go back to my room. The scarf’s gone! I look everywhere but there is no sign of it. Now I’m worried. I grab my notebook and a pen, run out  onto the street and go up and down the street door-knocking, asking my neighbours if they’ve seen anyone wearing a pink, grey and purple scarf with pink pom-poms. Just when I was about to give up someone tells me “I saw that lady across the road from you holding the exact same scarf you’re talking about.” That was all the information I needed. I walk back to my house and into my room to figure out a plan to get my scarf back.  

When I hear Grandma snoring, I jump out of my bed already dressed and get my torch. I quietly walk out of the house and across the road to Willow’s house. I try to open the front gate, but it won’t budge. I try climbing it but there are big spikes on top. Then I see a gap between the gate and the fence that I might be able to fit through. I squeeze through and it works! Suddenly I hear growling. I look down to see a little dog. The dog starts barking. I squeeze back out to the other side of the fence. “I need something to distract it” I say to myself.  Then I remember the piece of meat Grandma bought earlier today that we were going to have for dinner tomorrow. “Aha, I can use that big piece of meat”, I say to myself. "I could get the piece of meat that we’re having for dinner tomorrow” I run back to my house and open the fridge. Right in front of me is a big steak wrapped in glad-wrap. I take the steak and walk back to Willow’s house. This time, before I squeeze through the gap I throw the steak over the fence. When I get through the gap the dog is already chewing on the steak.

I try to open the front door, I look around. There is a gate leading to the back garden. It’s open. I walk through the gate to the back door. Holding my breath, I twist the door handle. I’m in luck, the back door opens. I calmly walk inside the house and turn on my torch and flick the torch light around the room. I’m in the kitchen. I keep flicking the torch light around and then I spot something pink on a little table. I pick it up. It’s my scarf! Suddenly, “BANG!”, a door somewhere in the house slams shut. I hear creaking floorboards. Someone is walking around the house. A shadowy figure appears, coming ever closer. In a panic now, I quickly hide under the little table as the figure comes into view. The figure stops right beside me. I can hear it breathing. “Who’s there”, it growls. “I know you’re there”. At this point I’m scared witless. Clutching the scarf, I make a dash for the back door, run to the fence, out through the gap as if my life depended on it. “I will get that scarf back don’t you worry!” I hear a distant voice say, as I run across the road, home.

Next morning, I wake up at 10:00am. I’m still super tired after what happened the night before.
“Valerie, where are you. You haven’t been up this late since that sleepover you had”,  my Grandma says crossly. Grandma is standing right beside my bed. “Valerie, do you know where the piece of meat we were going to have tonight is?” Her voice sounds a bit cross.

“Grandma, it’s a long story...”, I say.

THE END

Nature fantasy ... by Sofia

I found one! The most beautiful fairy right in front of my eyes,
waving its wings like it was trying to fly up to the sky that was as clear as rice.
With a lot of magic in its hand,
and a quick gesture with its wand,
its feet gracefully landed on the soft grass,
that is when I finally saw that her eyes looked as easy to break as glass.
I took it in my palm,
it looked so calm.

On my walk to my granny´s house,
I couldn´t even hear a mouse.
All I could think about,
was I wanted to shout,
I wanted to shout that I had found a fairy to anyone who heard,
but I knew the existence of fairies shouldn´t be shared,
well, that was what a fairy once told me,
that fairy also told me her name was Amy.

“Granny, I found a fairy today”
she looked as fragile as hay,
my hand stretched out to show her,
“I always find fairies in summer,
but this year I am finding them in winter,
although they are very rare”
at that comment she went very white,
as if she wasn´t feeling alright.

The next day it was snowing,
but I hated not exploring.
So I went outside,
I kept thinking that my granny was sick but I always pushed the thought aside.
With snowflakes brushing my face,
I kept walking quickly like it was a race.
Finally I found an elf on the ground,
just looking around.
With some pom poms on top of its hat,
it looked like a green cat.

So once again I took the unusual creature in my hand,
that is when I noticed what it had on its neck - a tiny green band.
I kept on looking,
then suddenly the most amazing and magical creature was in front of me - the angel king.
It looked so beautiful with all that snow on its nose,
so I thought he probably knows,
so I asked him why my granny was so pale yesterday,
yesterday was a normal day,
although I did find a fairy,
but she shouldn´t worry.

It's good to be different ... by Rose

I close my eyes.

I imagine a winter wonderland as I sit listening to the Frozen soundtrack on my pineapple retro headphones. "I love imagining" I say to my best friend Riley or ‘Pom Pom’ as I like to call her.

After school we sit waiting for the bus, with me in my ruffled school dress and my polka dot socks and Riley in her wacky poncho covered with pom poms (now you know how she got her nickname!), overlaying her sports uniform with a deer brooch.

I think to myself, "I understand why people think we’re weird, we wear daggy outdated clothes and I tell people things that I imagine which of course they think is a whole lot of nonsense". You see, I wish that people could understand me. I know my best friend Riley is always there for me but half the time even she tells me to stop imagining and to get on with life. It also doesn’t help being the only girl in the family.

After what seems like forever, the bus finally arrives. We both find our seats and then watch people with their heads buried in their phones. Then something catches my eye. A woman unravels her hand crocheted scarf to reveal a strange object. I whisper something to Riley and we both get off at the same stop as the woman. You may be thinking ‘STALKER!’ but let me explain. This woman looks like she has the same taste that Riley and I have and there’s something special about her. Something that is different. Unique. So that’s why we follow her and by the way you’d probably do the same if you were in our situation.

When we reach what seems to be her house, we see the woman use the strange object to unlock the door. "Why doesn’t she just use keys like everyone else?" I whisper. "I don’t know" says Riley with a tone in her voice that makes me kind of frightened.

When the door swings open with a loud creak we both jump and then work up the nerve to go inside, being very quiet so that the woman doesn’t hear us.

"OMG!" I squeal forgetting to contain my excitement. Riley turns to nudge me but it’s too late. The woman has heard and has spun around on her heel with an expression that surprises me. It’s a cheery and bubbly expression, a look like she’d just won a million dollars.

And so is mine. Even though I’m kind of shocked about her finding us, I’m surprised because this house isn't just an ordinary one painted with white walls, timber floorboards, updated kitchen and an en suite. This is a one of a kind.

"It’s a retro 50’s style house. Everything we’ve dreamed of right here. No modern day pretty, in style house that all the popular and cute girls think that’s hot right now. What don’t you get?" I say to Riley.

"I get it Sam." says Riley. "It’s just I follow the rules of my parents. I don’t just barge into peoples houses like we did just then. I respect and care for other peoples properties."

"I don’t think you’re barging into my property" says the woman in a kind tone.

"Didn’t you read the sign?"

"What sign" I say turning towards Riley with a confused expression.

"The sign on the front veranda that says ‘All welcome to the wacky & bright" the woman replies.

I’m kind of freaking out because I’ve never met a lady who’s as calm as she is. I want to ask how, but I can’t work up the nerve.

"What if some stranger comes in, what would happen then?" asks Riley.

"No one ever comes, they think I’m the weird one and they don’t bother talking. Too busy minding their own boring lives I guess" says the woman in a sad tone.

"Well guess what, we don’t think your weird we think your cool just like us" I say to the woman.

"And this place is like magic, I don’t know anyone who could resist magic" Riley chirps in.

"You think so?" asks the woman.

"Yeah, truly" I say.

"I’d love for you to stay, but won’t your parents be worried?" asks the woman again.

"No because Riley’s staying at my place for the night, and my dad thinks we’re going shopping. Plus my dad doesn’t care where we go anyway" I say thinking about my family.

So we go inside and drink a nice cup of hot chocolate.

There are so many things on the walls. There are homemade blankets embroidered with butterflies with the most colourful wings, leather couches, stuffed birds, checked floors, juke boxes, and snowflakes stuck on the walls to make it look like Narnia.

"This would be a lovely place to live in" I say to the woman as she comes in bringing a plate full of cookies.

"It is dear, but it’s better right at 4 o’clock because then the whole room becomes magical and everything comes alive" she says.

"Really?" I ask.

"Yes really, but only if you imagine" says the woman.

"I told you imagining was good" I say trying to tease Riley.

"Like I would of known" Riley says poking her tongue out at me.

"Anyway" says the woman, "it’s nearly 4 o’clock now so you better start imagining!"

We all close our eyes. I can see Riley struggling but I think "She’ll get used to it," so I stop looking at others and start concentrating on myself.

Suddenly the whole room lights up with a twinkling sound that’s hard to get over. Everything starts to come alive and then I hear music. I see people dancing and having a great time. I feel like I’m in ‘Teen Beach Movie’ because everything looks just like that.

The woman says "What are you waiting for? Let’s party!"

So we all start to dance, meet new people, and have a great time.

Eventually, everything starts to disappear and fade away until all that’s left is the woman’s house. Before we know it, it’s time to go so we say our goodbyes to the woman.

Suddenly I realise that Riley and I don’t know the woman’s name so I ask, "Excuse me, would you mind telling us your name?"

The woman replies "You don’t need to know my name and I don’t need to know yours, all that matters is that we know each other’s personalities and what we have in common".

"What? So names don’t matter to you, it’s the imagination that counts?" Riley asks.

"Exactly my dear" the woman replies.

"You know what, that’s exactly right" both Riley and I say in complete unison.

"You’ve learnt something, haven’t you?" the woman says.

"I think we have" I reply with an expression on my face that shows that I’m sad to go.

So we end up leaving and I say to Riley, "I don’t care if others think I’m weird. I’m going to stand up for what I believe in just like what that woman does, because I know that imagining is a great form of magic".

Riley agrees.

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.