500 word story competition - A Tale of Time TIME TRAVEL
LOCKDOWN BOMBSHELL n Will Dodds was sprinting frantically across the grounds to his coach as though his life depended on it. He was seething at the fact that school was about to close for the fourth lockdown. “Loathsome Covid!” he thought crossly. He dashed across the patball court in front of the Shackleton building. His mind was focused on one thing: to get to the coach before it took off. He was weighed down by his filthy football kit, his collapsingViking longshipmodel, his leaden backpack, awinter coat, his sopping swimming bag, a tenoroon and a collection of books that Mrs Forbes had helped him choose from the library. Suddenly he felt a shock to his head and he tumbled to the ground. He woke up almost instantly, feeling dazed and confused but oddly unhurt. As he stood up, he heard a piercing noise. A boy, in a dark, woollen jumper and pale trousers appeared out of nowhere and reached for his elbow. “Come with me! We must hurry! If we don’t make it in time, we shall get into lots of trouble with Master Gilkes!” Will looked at the boy suspiciously. He didn’t recognise him from the coach or from his year group. “What?Who? And aren’t we meant to be heading into lockdown?” The boy replied: “That’s what I mean – we shan’t make it in time for lockdown if we don’t hurry. The nearest shelter is over there.” He pointed back to the Great Hall. The noise got louder, it was like a wailing sound. Will had heard that noise before on old war TV documentaries. Will and the mystery boy dived into a stairwell leading to the basement underneath theGreat Hall just in time to hear a supersonic boom. It echoed through the air andWill could feel the thunderous bang in his chest. “What the heck was that?” The boy glanced at him with a puzzled look on his slim, freckled face. “One presumes it was something to do with the Germans and their V1s. Perhaps the shock has got to your brain old boy!” Then it dawned on Will. He had travelled back in time to the Second World War! A wall calendar confirmed his suspicions. It declared the date was 10 th July, 1944. The boy shook his head impatiently. “We have had years of nightly bombs. Do you know they even shot – unsuccessfully - at my sisters from a swooping plane across East Dulwich Road? Right, the siren is over, it is time to leave.” The boys stumbled out of the shelter, blinking into the light and dust. The classrooms in front of them had been reduced to rubble. It had been the narrowest of escapes but the boy did not seem worried. He turned to Will and said, “Well, old boy, I think school will be closed for some time but anything has got to be better than the year they packed us off to Tonbridge!” Before Will could say anything, he could feel someone shaking his shoulder. It was the school nurse. “He looks a little dazed but he’s OK,” she said to his anxious- looking teacher. “Just a little bump to the head from a patball.” Will sheepishly got up and dusted himself off. “Oops sorry about that, must dash. It’s lockdown you know.” His teacher looked at him. “I know you feel sad about lockdown Will and you must remember that…” Will cut him off. “Yes I know Sir, this too shall pass.”
n Sam took a long, deep breath and then blew with all his might. The candles on his cake flickered and then went out. He closed his eyes tightly and made a wish. He had always been desperate to travel back in time and had wished for it every year on his birthday. His wish had never come true and, at the ripe old age of eleven, he was rapidly losing hope. After an exhausting day, Sam clambered into his bed. He felt weary but content as his eyes started to close like the doors of a lift. Moments later, his bed started to shake wildly and he woke with a start, his eyes darting around the room anxiously. Everything looked different. Sam had woken in the corner of a dark, wood panelled room. His bed was nowhere to be seen. He felt petrified and alone. At the front of the room, a familiar figure sat majestically on an ornate throne. He was fat like a stuffed goose. He had a red beard and a black hat tilted jauntily to one side. He wore a deep, crimson robe and around his neck hung a heavy, gold medallion. He sat before a table laden with food and ripped hungrily at a juicy leg of chicken as he slurped wine from an elaborate goblet. Sam rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He had found himself in the private quarters of Henry VIII. He shuffled further back into the shadowy corner, trembling. He had been learning about Henry VIII at school and knew about his foul behaviour and feared for his life. He was only eleven and that felt much too young to die! Suddenly, the heavy doors to the chamber swung open and a nurse entered nervously. She was carrying a small, tightly wrapped package that was whimpering quietly. “You may approach me,” bellowed Henry. “What news do you have for me?” “I come with good news. You are now the father of a baby girl and Queen Katherine is recovering well.” “A baby girl?” Henry thundered. “Why is that good news? Everyone knows I want a boy. This is an embarrassment. Take the baby away.” Henry threw his goblet furiously across the room and then burped loudly. Sam knew what was going to happen next. He knew about Henry’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon because she couldn’t give him a baby boy. There would be five more wives and lots of horrible executions. He plucked up all of his courage and strode into the middle of the room. “Henry, I hereby inform you that not one, but two of your daughters will be queens of England! Women can be great leaders too.” “Who is this boy wearing peculiar clothes who dares to speak to me?” Henry boomed before burping again. Sam replied, “I am from the future and I can prove it.” He held out his phone and showed Henry a picture of him playing with his brother. Henry gasped in amazement. He stared at the picture of Sam and the Dulwich College crest on the clothes he was wearing. “He must speak the truth,” Henry exclaimed, “He is a time traveller with a noble coat of arms.” At that moment, the room shook wildly again. Sam knew he was headed home. He was thrilled his time travel dream had come true and couldn’t wait for his next birthday wish. Maybe he would meet Richard the Lionheart next time…
Oscar Williams, Year 3
Zac McQuoid, Year 4
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