Storytelling Competition 2024 – Category 1
Ada – Aged 7
Right in front of her eyes was…
A banana world! She could not believe her eyes. It was all banana’s! The land was like banana’s and everything was made out of them, even the floor! It was unbelievable!
Alex started munching on them, surely this wasn’t too bad. As she gobbled them up something strange happened. Alex had to think for a minute. What was happening? She got it! The banana’s were coming to life!
The only thing Alex could do in this situation was run, so she did it, but what she didn’t know was that she was running towards the banana palace. Alex stopped, panting heavily and then she realised that the banana’s were surrounding Alex. Alex felt frozen to the spot, she could not move. Suddenly, she felt her heart pounding like it was going to pop out of her chest and she began to sweat all over. She closed her eyes but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and then realised that the banana’s were protecting the palace. Alex had to know more. There was an immense golden door shimmering in the light and these were beautiful turrets so tall that they went up to space. Alex had to have a plan to try and get inside. Alex looked at the clock tower. Suddenly, it struck midnight. DING! DONG! The banana’s marched into the majestic palace, leaving Alex on her own in the darkness.
Soon after Alex found a patch of moss under a big banana tree. She began to think of her plan. She got it! This morning Alex forgot to brush her teeth. So she now had dragon breath! Alex crept towards a tiny window and then inhaled, ready to let out her dragon breath. SWOOSH! The gas was in the palace. Moments after the window’s swung open. This was her opportunity. Alex crept into a big window and landed with a soft bump. Right in front of her was a locked door. Quickly she stole a key off a dozing guard and opened the door. She was blinded for a minute and then she realised she had discovered the one and only
GOLDEN! BANANA!
Erin – Aged 7 – WINNER
A rush of air blasted in Alex’s curious face causing him to stumble backwards onto the hard floor. Nervously, he crept towards it again once his eyes had adjusted to the emerald glow within. What a sight it was!! Hearing a slam of the door behind him, Alex knew this would be the perfect excuse for not completing his homework! Sweet sweet birdsong chirped above Alex’s head as he eagerly edged deeper into the secret forest.
The forest shone emerald green. Trees towered above Alex while vinipulent vines spiralled round the forest, strangling the immense trunks. ‘What is this place?’ Alex whispered to himself, his tummy in a fizz. A familiar but unknown thought struck Alex’s mind, igniting a strong curiosity to dive deeper. Alex stomped over twigs with a crunch and past huge, foamy waterfalls with sharp rocks. He felt his blood run cold as he spotted a small, crooked cabin with a watermill and the sound of whispers inside.
After observing the cabin for a while, Alex dared himself to explore within. He could feel his mouth drying and nervous energy flood through him as he cautiously and carefully entered the mysterious building. It revealed nothing! Emptiness. Abandoned. Alex’s head swarmed with questions- who, what, why? Turning back, he stormed out and rushed down a bendy path to explore more. Where were the voices coming from? Who did they belong to? He needed to search for answers.
After a while, Alex noticed the exact same sight- the small, crooked cottage appeared again. ‘I’ve just left this place, how am I here again?’ he questioned. Little did he know, Alex was being drawn to the cabin by a force that lived inside him and he couldn’t explain it.
Suddenly, Alex felt eyes watching him. He caught sight of a lean figure in a mint-green shrub. Their eyes fixed and everything went silent. Not a breath could be heard as Alex was rooted to the spot. The quiet stranger carefully crept towards Alex. ‘Alex?’ she whispered as soft as the evening breeze, her eyes searching deep into Alex’s. ‘You know who I am?’ he replied curiously. The mysterious woman had the kindest face and her mouth curled into the gentlest smile as she began to hum a wonderful tune. The strangest feeling struck Alex, right in the heart. He had heard this song before, but where?
Continuing the sweet tune, she led Alex back through the lush forest and to the magic door with the rusted knob. ’14 years ago, my 2 year old son vanished behind this awful door. For 14 years we have tried and tried to find my missing boy but it has been impossible.’ The woman fell to her knees. ‘You have finally returned, my son.’ Holding out a small, silver key, she gave Alex a choice as she wept at his feet. ‘You must do what must be done. Will you return through the door, or stay here my son? Stay home and never go back?’
Jacob – Aged 8
Light flooded over Alex along with the sound of distant barking. The sun was so bright, and warm like a summer’s day. Alex walked out and the first thing he saw was dogs, lots of them. He saw; labradors, chihuahuas, German shepherds, sheep dogs, bulldogs, French bulldogs, greyhounds and pomeranians.
Surrounding Alex were grassy fields, muddy puddles and tiny buildings no bigger than a normal sized kitchen table. Alex slowly wandered down a rocky path which led to a field. He saw a tiny machine roughly knee height in the centre. It was filled on top with green tennis balls. A labrador came running across the field, it was quite big, brown with white spots. As the dog came close the machine beeped and fired a ball high into the air, the dog jumped up and caught it expertly.
The further Alex walked the more strange things he saw. From far away the trees all looked normal but close up he noticed that each branch hanging down didn’t have fruit, instead, small dog treats were growing. Stuck to the tree trunks were small posters. Each poster he saw had the same things, in the middle a large picture of a fluffy cute cat, above the picture in huge blue writing was one word; “WANTED”.
At the end of the path was an area like a town centre. In the middle of this was a colossal golden statue of a very important looking dog. All around the statue was a pond of water where dogs of all sizes were happily swimming. Alex passed the town centre and walked down a miniature street, here he saw a small shop selling doggy ice cream. Next to this was a cinema with dogs all eating from a giant bucket of popcorn. On the screen were videos of cats falling into pianos, the dogs were barking like crazy every time the cats went in. Moving in slow circles around the paths and building Alex saw another robot machine, this one was making a soft humming noise. At the front was a spinning brush which was catching every dog hair it saw, then suddenly out the back a door opened and a beautiful dog pillow fell out which the nearest dog picked up in its mouth and ran off with.
A sudden voice boomed overhead, Alex looked up and saw speakers all the way up the street. The voice said “Good dog, good dog, good dog”. When this happened every dog around howled loudly and their tails started wagging like mad. As Alex ventured deeper into this amazing world of dogs he thought to himself, “this really appears to be a doggy paradise”. Alex felt happy here, that was until he heard an angry growl. Alex turned slowly, facing him was a huge, angry, snarling greyhound. The greyhound with his head low down slowly started walking towards Alex. Should he run back to Grandma’s, should he hide in a dog house? Fear filled Alex’s mind …