Storytelling Competition 2026 Category 2
Entrant: Khloe – age 11
Hansel and Gretel
This is a re-write story of Hansel and Gretel. As we are aware, their mum died and their dad got with an evil stepmum and she tried to get rid of them and they got caught by an evil witch and blah, blah, blah. But this story’s different…
Once upon a time, there was a brother and sister, Hansel and Gretel, and their stepmum and dad. One night, they went camping but the next morning, the parents left leaving only Hansel and Gretel together all alone. They woke up in a panic so they wandered off to go back home. But then they stumbled across a gingerbread house.
“Whoa!” said Gretel in amazement. “Let’s go look!” she said with hunger so they walked to the house.
“Let’s eat some!” said Hansel with sparkles in his eyes.
“Yes!” replied Gretel in a hurry. So they walked over to the magical gingerbread house and they started to eat from the delicious and scrumptious walls until the door swung open and the evil witch waddled out.
“Oh do come in darlings – you must be starving!” she said.
So they walked in hesitantly and they saw the yummy cakes and sweets but what they didn’t notice was that there were cages for the two of them! So when they ran to the delicious desserts, they were trapped! Every day, the witch was giving them sweets to fatten them up but she was actually helping them as secretly, the desserts gave the innocent kids powers without any of them knowing.
Then came the day when the evil witch was going to kill them and Hansel was first. She unlocked the cage door and then Hansel turned her into a gingerbread man! And then he unlocked Gretel, unlocked the front door and dashed outside with the evil witch following them. Until… a fox came and ate her!
The end.
Entrant: Milly – age 12
Beyond the Bridge
The true epilogue to The Billy Goats Gruff
“Then Big Billy Goat rammed the grotesque troll off the bridge, sending him plummeting into the bitter water below. Big Billy goat trotted over to the luscious meadow, joining his brothers, living happily ever after. The end.” Every child has been told this story. Only…that wasn’t the end, nor was it particularly happy.
Who do those three mangy fleabags think they are anyway?! The ungrateful beasts ruined their land, then turfed me off mine! Outrageous!
I’m Bob, but you know me as the bridge troll. This is my story; the true story.
…I plunged down into the rushing river below, submerged in icy waters I desperately clawed to the surface, gasping for air. I couldn’t go back to my bridge, not now that it was goat territory. Furthermore, I may have been irradicated from my home, but I had an ounce of dignity left; enough to not go back there. No, I must venture on downstream for a fresh start for myself – a new beginning. I grabbed hold of a gnarled log and let the current take me to what I hoped would be a new home.
The long journey downriver allowed for quiet contemplation of events. Although loathed to admit it, I did see error in my ways and secretly vowed to not to let history repeat itself.
After what seemed like an eternity floating past acres of empty fields, I saw a smudge of life along the horizon. As I drew closer, my mouth fell open in shock. Thriving forests loomed above, adorned with plump, succulent violet fruit: double the size of even the biggest billy goat!
I left the sanctuary of my log and swam to the bank.
The perfect eutopia stood before me, with blooming vibrant shrubs, sprouting from every corner of the wood. Luminous indigo creepers twisted around enormous trunks, stretching towards sunlight. The wood was a hive of activity, the air alive with a symphony of weird, wonderful sounds. I reached up and grabbed one of the voluptuous fruits. Sinking my teeth deep into its sumptuous flesh: flavour unlike anything I had tasted before exploded in my mouth, tantalizing my tastebuds!
“All this time,” I thought to myself, “I never knew what I was missing only a few miles away from the meadow! This is better than any goat could ever taste!”
I did briefly ponder if I should share my newfound paradise with the goats, but then I realized: they always believed the grass was greener on the other side- my side, so why not let them believe that?
That was the day I discovered happiness unlike anything I’d felt before. I felt whole and complete, living out my days in a state of ecstasy, munching down on delectable fruit. I never ate billy goat again and I will never go back.
That day, as the afternoon sun lulled me to sleep, my stomach and heart content, I realized I too had found my happily ever after.
The (real) end.
Entrant: Aaron – age 14
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty was an eggstraordinary climber. He could climb anywhere and to showcase this, every day he climbed a wall and would sit upon it waving merrily at anyone who passed. He loved the eggcitement, and how he could see the picturesque views.
However, one dreary day, Humpty was sat on his wall when BASH CRASH SMASH! He’d had a great fall, and was lying on the ground. He sat up knowing something was wrong. He noticed a long thin crack along his shell and his eyes became watery. The King’s horses and soldiers came running over, lending support to his shaking body.
“I’m…cracked,” he muttered.
“Don’t worry Humpty,” a horse said, “It isn’t that bad, you’ll be fine!”
Although Humpty felt far from fine, “Can you help me? Fix me?”
“No, we can’t put you back together again, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on anything,” a soldier said.
“I’m never going to climb ever again,” Humpty announced to no one in particular.
“Oh Humpty,” another soldier sighed, “Ever again is a long time. Because you feel scared of climbing, doesn’t mean you should never do it again.”
“Why don’t you rest a while and try again some other time?” a soldier smiled.
“I guess…” Humpty replied, “But my crack…”
“Your crack shows that you lived. You fell, but got back up,” a horse said.
“I guess so,” Humpty pondered.
And so he tried to start climbing again. Every day he approached the wall. He was so eggstemely scared that the first day, all he did was lay a hand on the stone. Then, everyday he advanced slightly, climbing 1 brick, then 2 and 3, and so on. Across his attempts, he soon found himself back able to reach the top of the wall. He found the wall eggstra special and far more beautiful as he studied its curves and outcrops. He learned to be more careful and patient and to not rush into his tasks.
One morning, he ran into the soldiers and horses below the wall.
“Hello Humpty!” they called in unison.
He waved and began his steady climb up the wall. When he reached the top, he smiled down to the eggcemplary group, saying, “Thank you! You helped me face my fear!”
“Don’t worry about it Humpty! What you’ve achieved is eggcellent!” they smiled.
Humpty felt a deep pride inside him, not that he’d climbed the wall, but that he’d not given up, and now, he could get back to what he enjoyed most!