Short Story Competition
n For this year’s Short Story Competition, pupils were challenged to write a story of 500 words or fewer inspired by our Book Week theme, “Marvellous Mysteries and Clever Crimes”. After time to plan their plots, pupils wrote their stories in class, which were then anonymously shortlisted before the final judging by Mr Fletcher, the College Head of Libraries. The winning stories were read aloud in assembly, and we were all captivated by the inventive plot twists, vivid descriptions, and creative flair on display.
The Attack of Venice Leo (Year 3)
On a glorious summer day in Piazza San Marco, Venice, Baby John, Eddie (aged 9) and teenage Malory were going sightseeing. Eddie was excited because she had learnt about The Bell Tower (Campanile), architectural museums and canals. Being the eldest, Malory took charge of this educational trip, so she gave them a healthy breakfast and packed nutritious snacks. Soon after Malory said “It’s going to be a challenge to put baby John in a buggy and see the sites.” And so, they made their way to the piazza. When they got to their destination it was bustling with energy from tourists, guides and cafes. Although Eddie was fascinated by the St Mark’s Lion, Malory with the Campanile and Baby John… the pigeons. Mischievously, he unbuckled his strap and crawled away but he was soon lost amongst a thousand legs. Later, Eddie tried to point out the lion to Baby John by saying “…. Baby John, look…” that’s when they realised, he was missing! In a rush, Eddie ran to Malory “He’s gone! He’s kidnapped!” The colour drained from Malory’s face and they started sobbing. They went to the nearest carabinieri and gave a description of John and they were given a radio to chat with. “Let’s go back to the Campanile” Eddie said. So they rushed up the 323 steps and when they reached the top they were out of breath. Even when they looked down people were as small as a grain of sand. Malory got the binos, that she had borrowed
from a tourist, and looked from the museums to the cafes and saw Baby John wailing with a stranger so they summoned the carabinieri. When the man looked back, he saw the carabinieri and panicked. He ran and jumped into a gondola, pushed off and started rowing, fast… The carabinieri took chase in their blue and white boat. As they got closer, one of them jumped off into the gondola. Unfortunately the kidnapper managed to push him off. Another tried to approach from a bridge “Now you’re going in just like your friend!” said the kidnapper. However, Baby John, in his panic decided to bite the kidnappers leg causing him to jump! Before he knew it, the carabinieri had handcuffs firmly on the wrists of the kidnapper. Baby John was returned to Eddie and Malory and the kidnapper never set foot into the piazza again.
The Curse of the Missing Books Zakir (Year 4)
Once, at Dulwich College Junior School there was a talented group of investigators: Max, the genius who was brilliant at finding mysterious clues, Kai who was superb at solving puzzles, codes and mysteries and Owen, the leader of the group. They were passionate readers with a keen sense of adventure. Just before the school’s exciting book fair, some prized books mysteriously vanished from the library. The investigators were determined to solve this bizarre case. Max one day, found a crumpled piece of paper with peculiar, vibrant marks. They were near the modern art room, the crowded gym andthe state-of-the-art science lab. The investigators were overjoyed to hear this. They decied to investigate each location carefully. First, they went to the art room. Kai found a golden, glimmering key but Owen told Max and Kai to ignore it (Kai still kept in in his pocket). Then they followed the trail to the bustling science lab
where they found an old piece of parchment. It told them to go to the gym where they would find the culprit. Suddenly, Kai noticed that Owen had disappeared. Max had also noticed the same thing. They started searching everywhere for Owen but after a while, they decided to carry on with their case. When they left the science lab, they suddently had a suspicion that Owen was on the side of the thief. Meanwhile, Owen had just run to Chris (the thief) to tell him that Max and Kai knew where he was. Chris told Owen to distract the investigators otherwise they would be caught but Owen suddenly felt a pang of guilt, he had betrayed Max and Kai....
The investigators had just entered the gym, the trail had led them to some machinery. Behind the machinery was a locker.
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