Alive

2011 Creative Writing Competition Winner – Year 8

Jack’s eyes flickered open and immediately slammed shut again in the gleam of the sun. He could easily have fell asleep on the gritty sidewalk he was lying on. Jack wasn’t aware of where he was, his memory was clouded. He managed to open his eyes to two slits, what met him was a tranquil blue sky with a blazing sun, if it wasn’t for the sidewalk Jack would’ve said he was on the beach. Ever so slowly the feeling started coming back to his arms and legs. He coughed uncontrollably. Then for the first time a thought struck him, where am I and why am I lying on the sidewalk. Steadily he got to his feet, he still felt extremely dazed so it wasn’t an easy procedure. His legs wobbled but he managed to stay standing. Jack looked around. He knew exactly where he was; in fact he was a mere five yards from his own house. Then another thought struck him, where were all the people? The usually bubbling streets of New York were completely deserted. Not a soul in sight, nor were there any cars on the roads, all was quiet as if he was the only person left on Earth.

Whilst trying to remember just what had happened Jack noticed that the front door of his house hung ajar. Crime rates were high and it was no surprise to Jack that someone had broken in. So maybe a burglar had knocked him out and dumped him on the sidewalk? Well might as well see what’s been nicked Jack thought to himself. Jack slowly approached the house not so much in fear but to prevent himself from nose diving into the sidewalk. He walked into the house through the door frame half covered by the battered door. Looking into the front room he could see all his furniture had been well and truly wrecked. In front of him was the kitchen, he walked towards it and suddenly stopped. What was that? There it was again, a sort of murmuring sound followed by chomping. It was coming from the kitchen, Jack pressed himself against the door and peered around it, the fridge was open but the fact there was a young boy standing in front of it took him away from that detail. So he was been burgled by an infant?

“Hello”, said Jack. The boy murmured something under his breath; Jack stepped into the room and could see the child was eating something with his back to him. “Are you lost?” Jack asked as he approached the boy. Again in an inaudible voice the boy said something. “Hello, I need you to answer me please”. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder which immediately triggered him to turn around. The sight that met Jack left him stunned. The boy’s eyes were red and swollen, his nose was horrifically broken and he was completely covered in blood from head to toe. Then Jack’s gaze met the child’s hands, he had several fingers missing on both of them. “A-a-a-are you okay?” The boy growled and unexpectedly lashed at him. Jack jumped back “Calm down”, he said. This only seemed to make the child angrier, he leapt at Jack and grabbed on to him, he could feel the child’s head close to his neck, god damn it he was going to bite. The boy wriggled around, Jack tried franticly to get him off but he was unbelievably strong. He could see the boy’s eyes and for a second they met, Jack saw emptiness. Then there was a bang and the boys head erupted into a mass of blood and flesh, the remainder of his body crumpled to kitchen floor, Jack stared at the horrible scene, a puddle of blood was quickly forming and bits of the child’s head were splattered on the wall. Jack swivelled around, now in front of him was a young woman reloading a shotgun. “Well I’ve just saved your life, would it be too much to ask for a thank you”. The room fell silent. “Er...thanks”, stuttered Jack. The woman smiled.

“Hi I’m Lindsey and I’m in charge now”

Jack had followed Lindsey out of his house and they were now walking down the street outside. Again it was eerily quiet; Jack was replaying the events that had happened back at his house. Finally he broke the silence. “Mind telling me what’s going on”, asked Jack.

“Hell”, Lindsey answered.

“What?!” Jack exclaimed. Lindsey finally turned towards him and stared into his eyes. “You could call this hell, why? Because if this isn’t the apocalypse then I don’t know what is”

“What the hell are you on about?” Jack shouted. Lindsey slapped him hard around the face. “ Don’t you dare talk to me like that, now listen, the dead are rising right here right now and they’re hungry and they are gonna kill us both if we’re not careful”, Lindsey boomed. Jack laughed.

“Zombies? Really, sorry I wasn’t aware the dead were walking”, Jack said sarcastically. “What would you say that was back at the house then?” Lindsey asked. Jack went silent. “Well...answer me!” she shouted. Jack raised his finger and pointed over Lindsey’s shoulder. Lindsey turned slowly, “Oh damn it, run!” she screamed looking at the charge of zombies. She turned and ran, Jack followed suit, the group was slow but one or two of them were fast. Jack kept looking over his shoulder and consequently tripped and fell. Lindsey sighed and readied her shotgun. “Stay down!” she shouted. Jack obliged and she fired a shot at the closest zombie, hitting him in the stomach, growling it crumpled to its knees. Franticly reloading Lindsey fired another shot at a large on rushing female zombie, the bullet pierced the flesh on the arm, she yelled but stayed standing. Once again she reloaded hitting the male zombie in the face as he was getting back up. Next she hit the female zombie in the stomach and went to reload again. “Damn it!” she shouted as she realised she was out of ammo. Lindsey looked at Jack. “Up!” Jack sprung to his feet as the female zombie flung a hand at him. He scrambled away and quickly ran towards Lindsey and he assumed safety. “Now what?” he asked. Lindsey looked at the scramble of zombies more had joined the pack and the new one’s were faster. “We run!” she screamed as she charge away, Jack stood there for a moment and then followed. It was tiring running up hill and the zombies were getting ever closer, the two of them were on their last legs. Just when it looked like all hope was lost the roar of a car engine was followed by the appearance of two Ferraris, they swerved around the two of them and smashed into the pack of zombies taking them down like bowling pins.

Four people now stood at the top of the hill. Jack was franticly trying to find out what was going on. Lindsey simply pointed. Jack looked out at the city, and froze, hundreds, no thousands of them. This wasn’t a joke…

©Jake Winwood

A job beyond the grave

2011 Creative Writing Competition Winner – Year 7

          Busy days, busy days. People are dropping dead everywhere and expect me to clear it all up. You know, it’s not an easy job being Death. It’s not even a war. But, I remember World War II as well as anything– I’ve never worked so hard in my life! I never get any credit for what I do because no-one can see me or know when I’m coming (a few people being the exception). I’ve had my job for 150 years now and I was hired when I died. You’re probably wondering now, how I died, well it’s simple, I was murdered. Murdered by my own father in fact. The filthy lying murderer. Well now I’ve told you that, I suppose you’d want to hear how it happened. Here goes...

January 1861
              Willow Cottage was covered in overgrown leaves, several of the windows were smashed and the door hung off its hinges. The garden consisted of nothing but weeds and thorns. A fierce wind entered the house through the shattered windows causing the things inside to be knocked over or broken. The house overall looked as uninviting as ever.  Despite the unpleasant state of the house, it was still used as a home. It was home to the Jones family. The father was uncontrollably violent and often treated other people like dirt, and his wife was rather the opposite. She was called Lucy and was forced to marry Derrick Jones, as her family supposedly got on well with his. The remaining member of the family was me – John Jones.                                          
         Like my mother, I despised Derrick and we planned to run away but it was not to be. The day of our planned escape we found out that my mother’s dad was murdered. To show our respect we decided to stay for the funeral (which my father refused to go to) and to not run away. My mother’s family needed her more than ever.
        One dull evening, when Lucy was with her family, I saw my father in the living room. However, he was not the only one because I could hear shrieks of pain coming from another person. I went to investigate. The sight was something you wouldn’t want to look twice at. A bloody mass lay upon the floor, clearly desperate for help. He was writhing and wincing whenever my father hit him.
        ‘Why don’t you just keep your nose out of my business,’ my father yelled. ‘Answer me you useless lump.’
        I hid behind the sofa and to my astonishment I recognized the man at once. He was my Uncle. I always thought they got on well together but I was most definitely wrong.
        ‘HOW DARE YOU THREATEN ME,’ my father continued. ‘ANSWER ME!’
        My uncle spoke in sharp breaths. ‘Please – I – didn’t – mean – to – do – this.’
        ‘GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN’T JUST KILL YOU NOW!’
        I had plucked up enough courage to speak and I would do anything in my power to help my uncle.
        ‘I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t kill him now.’ I tried to make my voice sound confident and fear free. But somehow this didn’t seem to work.
        ‘YOU DARE TELL LUCY – ‘he stopped mid-way in his sentence because I had interrupted him.
        ‘What. Tell her you’re a filthy murderer, of course I’m gonna tell her. Oh and I bet you anything that it was you who murdered my grandfather as well, didn’t you.’ I don’t know what came over me. I had never spoken to someone like that before...ever. I was going to get it now, I knew it.
        ‘If you don’t tell Lucy, I won’t kill your beloved uncle.’ He pleaded.
        ‘Well, he already looks dead to me now anyway’. This was true because he had stopped writhing on the ground and by the looks of things, he’d also stopped breathing. My father was now looking worried as he stared at the dead body on the ground. If that didn’t add to his troubles, my mother would arrive any minute. I didn’t know what to feel as I stared into my father’s cold black eyes. He stared back into mine as though he wished me a painful death (which was what I would certainly get if I didn’t get out of his way soon).
         I ran to the door and saw a figure getting bigger and bigger, this must be my mother because no-one else would want to come to this excuse for a house. She became more visible as time wore on. When my mother was drawing nearer to the house I ran to her.
        ‘Mother, please – come – now.’
        ‘Whatever could be the problem, John dear?’ She said, eyeing the anxious look etched upon my face.
        ‘No time – for – explanations – follow me.’ I ran with my mother at my tail towards the house again. It seemed like years when we finally reached the front door.
        ‘Right mother, be careful.’ I finally drew my breath back and tip-toed my way to the living room door. And there he was. My father had picked up a knife and clutched it so hard he was shaking. My mother screamed deafeningly.
        ‘I-I-Is th-that my b-brother?’ She asked with a petrified expression wrapped around her face.
        ‘YES!’ My father bellowed. He smacked his fist against the dining table and one of the legs dropped off causing the table to collapse. I and my mother had to jump out of the way for this unexpected event. My mother had started to cry uncontrollably and she too collapsed to the ground like the table. My father had a blank expression on his face as he looked at his wife lying despairingly on the ground. He walked towards me with the knife still held tightly in his hand and looked at me face to face. There was complete and utter silence only broken by my mother’s sobs.
        ‘Why did you tell her’? He said in a dangerously low voice. I didn’t know what to say to this so I fixed my eyes on my mother as though in a trance. There was going to be two murders tonight, I could sense it. Unless I gave my father a decent answer (which I surely couldn’t) that knife would slice me up into smithereens.
        ‘Well, I suppose there’s only one thing for it then.’ He brandished the knife in front of my face and my mother screamed. My father showed no sign of remorse as far as I could tell. He lifted up the knife and plunged it into my stomach.

        150 years later...
When I look back on it each time, it makes me hate my father more and more. One more thing I wish to know is what happened to my mother. Death must have come to her at one point but how it met her I don’t know.
        You must welcome ten new people into the arms of Death.
How I said, people are dropping like flies, there won’t be any people left at this rate. Anyway, I have to go and recruit more people to help me with my job. And boy, do I need it.
       

©Jasmine Samra

Journey through the Island Of Euthiopia

The starting point is the Gemstone Cave. This is where the islanders kept their most precious possession, until the 28^th of Euthiopiary. The people of Euthiopia have no idea what happened to this gem. However, they are giving rewards to people who can investigate what actually happened and the new location of the gem.

The next stop is over the Surprising Bridge which leads to the River Of Euthiopia. This is where the good fairies cast their spells in order to keep their island and people safe. To get across to the other side, you have to know something. You may think it is easy to cross but it’s not. There is a secret password that only true fairies know about. They have to say the password in their mind before they are invited to cross. When they have said this, a line of steps unravel over the river, allowing them to cross. I am forbidden to tell the password to anyone other than true fairies so no one will ever know what it is.

 On the left, you can see the Grand Fairy Utopia’s Kingdom. The Queen Fairy has speakers for visitors that have come. However, no one is allowed to enter unless the Queen has arranged to meet you.

 On the opposite side of the kingdom, is one out of the many Euthiopia Travel Bus Stops. This stop goes to and back from different destinations such as the Euthiopia Resort and the Mysterious jungle.

Further along the path there is the Pirate Pub, where you can enjoy the rest of your stay on the island.

At the end of the island is the bus stop by the Euthiopia Sea, where you can travel on a boat to go back home. After you have received a magical stone, you may visit the island as many times as you like. You have to hold the stone in one hand and say Euthiopia 3 times. This will transport you to the island. After the steps are repeated you will be transported on to a boat to go back home. We hope you visit the island soon.

©Kiran Dhillon

WHAT IF RAIN WAS A DEADLY POISON!

It would work because the CO₂ gases that we produce would go into the rain clouds and the clouds would turn it into poison. Then it would rain poison.

People’s lives would change because you could not go outside when it rained. If one drop were to touch your skin it would burn. If you drank it you would change into a vampire. It would affect people going out shopping in the rain because obviously you couldn’t do that. Children would not have to go to school when it rained because it would be dangerous and risky. It would affect you if you went on holiday, because if it rained you would have to rush straight inside. All transport would have to be waterproof so you can’t walk. Medicine would have to be more advanced to cure the burns and if the doctors were lucky they could save a person before they transformed into a vampire.

This rain would be called poirain because it is a chemical mixture of poison and rain. It is quite strange because we don’t know if anything else could happen.

You could show documentaries but you couldn’t actually report standing in it because you get poisoned. It is very strange to us human beings as we don’t have much knowledge about this mysterious object we just know that it is poisonous...

© Asha Dhillon 

What if people could fly?

We could go anywhere

Anywhere without,

Petrol costs,

Bus fare,

Taxi fare,

Aeroplane costs,

Ferry fare…ect.

We could fly to the other side of the world,

We could go to places we’ve never been before.

It would be easier to get to school,

We could go to shops in other countries like

In New York, Paris and Italy…

It would be the greatest thing that ever happened to our life.

(except if you were scared of heights)   

© Kira King

What if clouds were alive?

You could jump high in the sky and bounce on them. The clouds would be as soft as cotton wool and they could gently drift down to you. And they would carry you up to the sky to watch the other clouds drift to people. The view would be amazing because you could see the whole town right beneath you.

      

         Sleep was banned

It would be weird because you would never be tired, and you probably will never have thought the word NIGHT existed. It would be quite strange to know that you would always have boosts of energy to keep you going throughout the day. You would never be tired! 

         People never stopped growing

You would probably change your name or town to something like Gigantica or Mr.E.Normous. You would have to change your house height, travel and cloth sizes nearly every week! Plus, you could then have a Giant height contest in the town. That would be fun!

         Rain was a deadly poison

Everyone would be screaming everywhere to get indoors when it rained, and everyone wouldn’t know that plants existed. Some scientists might try and create remedies for Rain Poison.

© Kiran Dhillon

What if...

To be able to fly you would first get a running start. While you are getting a running start, you must say a phrase “fly up” with a very posh voice just like a superhero would. Make sure any shoelaces are tied and that you’re very relaxed otherwise you won’t be able to fly at all with many things in your mind.

 People’s lives would change forever because you wouldn’t have to spend money on buying a car or using any public services. With the money you’d save you could live a luxury. Also flying is mega speed so you will never be late for anything. Whether it would be a meeting your job anything.

Flying could affect many things. Such as hopping rather than making your legs tired by walking around the shopping centre you could fly round instead. Also you could get your shopping done way quicker than usual rather than the normal hour in the shopping centre. Flying would also affect schools because parents wouldn’t have to do the school run all the time. The children would also be on time at school every single time. With family holidays you wouldn’t have to spend any money on transport.

It would be all over the news for many years to come because no one would ever think that we could fly. You could fly all around the world without spending anything whatsoever.

What if all of us could actually fly…

©Simran Sekhon