400 Word Storytelling Competition
Tudor Stories On a bitter winter day I was running to the science lab at school. When I got there I sat down and looked at a heavy bunch of papers on my desk. One stood out from all the others. Its brackground was neon green, its writing was dark brown and it was signed ‘Time Travel Department’. With trembling hands I picked it up and read: TOP SECRET. There is a time machine in the Lower School bicycle shed. Put the code MEGANA905REEP into the punch pad, the floor will open up and a lift will appear and take you into a roomwith a tall box. Open the door of the box. This is the time machine. It is voice activated. Say the date and place and it will take you there. DANGER. If you stay in a different time for too long the time wormhole will leak and random times will start crashing into other ones. “I have always wanted to time travel,” I whispered to myself. I had to go find this machine. Duplicitously, I put my hand up and said, “Please may I go to the loo?” “Yes you may Max,” replied Miss Cosford. So I went off but in the direction of the shed. I punched the code into the pad and went down the elevator. I opened the door of the time machine but instead of me going in someone came out! He had a beard, a frilly ruff and an enormous pair of pantaloons as big as prize-winning pumpkins. I asked what his name was and he said it was Sir Francis Drake. I quickly shouted, “My House in Dulwich College is named after you!” “It must be the best house,” exclaimed Drake. He looked as proud as a lion. I felt bad for him when I admitted that we were second last. He demanded to know who was in the lead. “SIDNEY?” he screeched. “That feeble bookworm couldn’t even captain a boat of caterpillars across a puddle.” He looked so disgusted that I decided to change the subject and take him to lunch. I was super excited to take him to the Christison Hall and introduce him to my friends. By the look on his face I knew he was enjoying the food. However, before he could take one more bite a ginormous dark blue and purple vortex appeared in the grey sky and history and the future poured out. First a Nazi plane crash-landed on to a rugby post, the Eiffel Tower blocked the road, fleets of flying police cars zoomed round and round in circles with their sirens screeching and dead bodies of Ancient Romans and Greeks fell to the ground. I suddenly remembered the warning and told him to leave before we were all blown up by a World War Two bomb. He hailed a flying taxi and cannoned straight into the mysterious portal. As soon as he left, all of the past and future gracefully hovered up into the sky. As the vibrant skies closed a scroll fell out and landed in my hands. I opened and read: Sic Parvis Magna. “What does this mean?” I thought. An impatient voice snarled in my ear, “Greatness from small beginnings. Drake will achieve excellence with courage.” Max Gregory (Drake House and Year 3 winner)
Alleyn’s Animals ‘Caw, Caw’. ‘It’s Hawkey, he’s back,’ screamed a little ecstatic hare named Chestnut. Gooseberry and Goose-grass gathered round to listen to what the puffed-out hawk was saying. ‘Big danger, in Dulwich, must not go there, gasped Hawkey. The little group of animals were clustered around a big rock on the edge of Hampton Court Gardens. They made sure to stay away from the Palace because they knew what King Henry VIII liked to do to animals. ‘Bear pit. Big hole where humans put bears in and dogs attack. Must not go there. Very dangerous,’ exclaimed a worried voice. ‘We must go there,’ cried Chestnut, ‘we have to save the animals.’ ‘Hear, hear,’ said the two brothers, Gooseberry and Goose-grass. That night they snuck out of the burrows and headed towards Dulwich. They had persuaded a reluctant Hawkey to tell them the way although the route was perilous. Hawkey had told them to search for a new school and a kind man named Edward Alleyn. ‘There it is,’ hissed Gooseberry. A school loomed in the distance. It wasn’t that big but still beautiful. Now all they had to do was find Edward Alleyn. They scampered forward towards the tower of the chapel. ‘Maybe he is up there?’ questioned Goose-grass. Meanwhile, Hawkey had been captured by Henry VIII’s hunting group. They were going to have a tremendous feast and put him in a pie along with three and twenty blackbirds! Back in Dulwich, the hares were climbing up the long, spiral staircase to get to the chapel tower. Moments later they were at the top and saw a kind, young man. ‘Are you Edward Alleyn?’ said Goose-grass. ‘I am. Do you need my help? I have just finished building this school.’ The hares told him what they had heard about the bear pits and Edward Alleyn agreed to help them. They set out in the dead of night. After a while, they had reached the bear pit by the River Thames. At the back of the arena, they found a manky, old shed and they heard animal noises. Edward Alleyn distracted the guards by suggesting he put on a play in the bear pit. Meanwhile, the hares were nibbling through the ropes that bound the captured animals. A couple of minutes later they were finished and the bears and dogs rushed out and returned to the wild. One bear had become friends with the hares and stayed with them on their journey back to Hampton Court. Back at the palace, King Henry had just cut open the pie. Hawkey flew out like an arrow shot from a cross bow and stole his crown! He shot out of the window and headed to the burrows, the crown still in his claws. As he reached the burrows he dropped the crown and it just so happened that it fell on the bear’s head! ‘Now we have our own king,’ laughed the animals. Max Count (Howard House and Year 4 winner)
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