The Cave in the Forest

Melissa lived in a small, blue, thatched cottage on Monserat. She had six cats and four dogs, as well as keeping two goats and a cow for milk. Unfortunately there were also a few mice running around her parents’ smallholding.

The day was the hottest it had been in four weeks. Melissa was cycling home from school for the second time along the shortcut she had discovered the previous day. She watched a lizard climbing hurriedly up a mahogany tree and smiled.  Melissa loved watching nature.

Her bike crashed into the tree. She lay sprawled on the dry, cracked earth beneath the tree. After a few moments, she got up stiffly and started to pick up her bicycle. It was then that she spotted a small cave at the side of a volcano. Melissa leaned her bike against the mahogany tree and walked over to get a closer look. Light streamed in through the holes in the cave’s roof.  It was not at all like the dark caves in the spooky stories Melissa had read. In fact, it was beautiful. Melissa took a step forward into the cave. The floor had been weathered smooth by centuries of wear from water dripping in through the cracks in the roof.

Melissa admired the cave for a few minutes before remembering that she had to go back home to milk the cow and goats. She stepped out of the cave and ran to her bike. Quickly, Melissa got onto her bicycle and cycled home. When she got there, Melissa parked her bike and ran off to milk the cow and goats.

Once she finished her chores it was not as warm as it had been earlier in the day, so Melissa cycled back to the cave to explore some more. This time, she took eight pieces of plantain so she could stay longer without getting hungry. When she got there, Melissa parked her bike outside the cave and ran into it. She decided to go deeper this time and when she did, she saw the most amazing thing: it looked like an ostrich egg but it sparkled and had all the colours of the rainbow on it. Melissa stared at it for a long time. It must be some sort of egg. I wonder what egg it is. Melissa thought. After that, she picked it up and examined it carefully. It weighed as much as a small cat.

Soon after that, she ate some of her plantain. After eating a bit she touched the egg again. As soon as she took her hand away, the egg started to rock. It rocked back and forth a few times and then it cracked. The crack spread around the egg before it broke in half. Out of the egg came the sweetest baby eagle; or at least it looked like one. It was an eagle down to the waist but from there it became a lion. Melissa stared in wonder at the tiny animal. It looked up at her with wide brown eyes and crawled towards her. The girl put out her hand to stroke the small creature. It felt softer than cotton wool.

“Aren’t you adorable,” Melissa cooed. “But what are you?” She remembered that when she was in year two she had studied mythical creatures. It was then that she had seen a picture of a strange animal. The one in front of her resembled it perfectly except for being a lot smaller. Melissa tried to remember what it was called.

“You’re a gliffin,” she said. “No, what’s it called?” “I know,” she exclaimed. “You’re a griffin!”

“Cheep” uttered the griffin. From her pocket, she took a big piece of plantain and placed it on the ground in front of the griffin. The griffin sniffed it and looked up. “Go on, eat it,” Melissa encouraged. The creature ignored the piece of food and pecked at an ant on the floor of the cave. In a split second, it came to her. The griffin needs meat, thought Melissa. If it does not get any, it will die. Finally, Melissa waved at the puzzled griffin and ran to her bike.

Although it sounded crazy, Melissa knew that she had to find food for the tiny creature and she needed to do it fast. She did not know where she would find meat. It was very expensive in the village. When she reached home, Melissa placed her bike next to the shed and ran into the house. When she got into the kitchen a disgusting sight met her eyes. A dead mouse lay on the ground under the stove. The mouse’s head had been torn off and Melissa guessed that a cat had been playing with it. She made a face and kicked it further under the stove. As well as not wanting to, Melissa had more important things to do than clean it up. She walked to the larder and checked in it for some meat. There was none. She looked in the cupboard. There was none there. She opened the oven door to see if there were any meatballs left over from last night’s supper. Her mother always put leftover food in the oven to stop the ants finding it. It was completely empty!

How could she have forgotten, there was a mouse right under where she was looking! Melissa took a rag from the cupboard and wrapped the mouse in it. She held it by the corner at arm’s length as she walked outside to her bike. Melissa dumped it in the bike’s basket and shot like a bullet over to the griffin’s cave. The griffin was fast asleep so she placed the mouse next to the lonely chick. Melissa cycled home feeling happy that she’d done a good deed.

After rushing through her chores the next morning Melissa raced over to the cave. She wanted to check on the griffin before finding it some more food. When she got there the griffin was cleaning itself and there was no sign of the mouse. “Did you enjoy your supper?” she grinned, patting the small creature’s head.

The ground vibrated as a frightening creature limped slowly into the cave. It was the size of a large cupboard, had huge white talons and its eyes were fierce. It held a deer in its beak; the beak looked like a hammer’s claw. Melissa shut her eyes and screamed.

The big griffin glanced at her for a moment, and then put down the deer.

Together mother and baby griffin devoured  the deer, completely ignoring Melissa.

One of her wings was covered with blood and had a bandage round it. Slowly Melissa stepped out of the cave and the baby griffin whimpered as she left but as she turned and looked into its eyes Melissa had a feeling that their paths were destined to cross again.

The Crystal and the Horse

Aidan was a hard working alchemist. He had spent the whole morning looking up in all sorts of books where to find the legendary Moon plant, which was said to turn copper to silver. Now he was tired and decided to take a stroll outside for some fresh air. He stepped out into the chilly night and let the cold air fill his lungs.

As Aidan trudged through the desolate snow filled park, he heaved a sigh of relief. It was so nice being outside after a whole day of being cramped in his small and stuffy house.

There was a scream. Everything went quiet. Even the birds stopped their usual scrabbling around. An eerie silence filled the night air, followed by a scratchy noise in the bushes.

Aidan ran, but he didn’t know where he was going. All he wanted was to get away from the creepy park. Soon afterwards, Aidan found himself in a dark forest. The trees were covered in lichen and moss and the ground was littered with damp leaves. The smell of decomposing twigs wafted through the air. Aidan stopped to catch his breath, and that was when he heard footsteps behind him. He barely had time to turn around when a figure dressed in a black hooded cloak started to chase him. Out of nowhere, another one appeared and the sound of footsteps doubled.

Aidan started to run again. He ducked under the low branches of a very young oak tree, leapt over a stream and almost tripped over a log. He couldn’t go on for much longer.  His legs were aching and he was nearly out of breath.

Before very long, Aidan was forced to stop. He could hear the footsteps of his pursuers becoming louder and louder but he couldn’t run any more. All of a sudden there was a whinny. A white riderless horse with a sleek coat appeared and walked up to him. Without a second thought, he climbed onto the horse’s back. The horse didn’t need to be told; he galloped away as fast as lightning. After fifteen minutes of running, the horse slowed into a canter and then stopped in a clearing.

As Aidan dismounted, he collapsed. He was tired, shocked, confused. Also, he didn’t know what to do. After a while, Aidan muttered a quick thanks to the horse, expecting him to ignore it. Then Aidan heard a voice. It said, “You’re welcome.”

Aidan looked around for a person but there was nobody there.

The voice repeated itself, “You’re welcome.”

This time, he saw the horse’s mouth move.

“What did you say?” the tired man asked.

“Can’t you hear me?” exclaimed the horse.

Aidan was astounded. The only time he had come across the concept of talking horses had been in books, but never in real life. Aidan walked away. He needed to have some time to think and get used to things. Weird things are happening. I’ve been chased for no reason that I know of. There’s a talking horse. Where am I? When will I get back? Questions buzzed through his head. After a long time, Aidan walked back to the horse and sat down next to him.

“What happened?” Aidan asked at last.

The horse paused. “A few hours ago, a knight --Don Orogoth was his name --  was seated upon my back; we were riding to a party. Then, we reached the forest that you and I met in. We stopped for a drink by a tiny stream and just as Don Orogoth stooped down to drink, he tripped over something and fell half into the tiny stream. When he got out, he saw what he had tripped over. It was a big crystal, about the size of an ostrich egg. After admiring it for a while, he decided to give it to the host of the party. Don Orogoth placed it in a sack, got onto me and we began our journey once more. But no sooner had we started, a figure dressed in a black hooded cloak, jumped out of the bushes, he (or she, we couldn’t see its face) could run amazingly fast. I galloped away as quickly as I could. I could sense that the figure intended to do us no good. Unfortunately, the figure some how managed to capture Don Orogoth. I tried to kick our attacker but it split into two, one half defending itself, and the other dragging the poor knight away. After that, the half that was fighting me, disappeared into the trees. At the time, I did not know what was happening but now, I presume we were attacked because someone else was looking for the crystal. Luckily I have it with me.”

“Then shouldn’t we give it to them?” Aidan asked.

“What are you talking about? It’s dangerous! They’re evil! They will cast a bad spell with the stone,” replied the horse.

“So what shall we do?” asked Aidan. “We’ll find a place to sleep for the night and then hide the crystal,” answered the horse.

They trotted for a while till they reached a small farmhouse. Aidan knocked on the door. A man opened it and when Aidan asked if he and his horse could stay for the night. The man replied, “Of course.”

It turned out that the man who opened the door, was not the farmer. In fact, he was the farmer’s son. He told Aidan to wait at the door while he told his father that they were staying for the night. A few moments later, the farmer’s son reappeared with his father and introduced Aidan to him. The farmer’s name was Arthur.

That evening, the horse slept in the stables and Aidan slept in the spare room.

Unknown to Aidan, at midnight, there was a knock at the door. The farmer, Arthur, put on his dressing gown and crept downstairs. Cautiously, he opened the door. A strange person dressed in along black hooded cloak stood at the doorway.

“If you see a man and a white horse, let me know. I will be here.” The stranger handed Arthur a map and pointed to a small patch of land. The stranger then turned and left.

Arthur was quite shocked at the visit. He sat down at the table and wondered what to do. He didn’t know whether to trust Aidan or the stranger who came to the door. The stranger did look a bit scary but then again he had just met Aidan. Arthur stared at the map.

Finally he made up his mind…

When Aidan came downstairs the following morning, Arthur told him the someone had come to the door last night asking for Aidan and that the person had told him that he would be in the forest. Aidan thanked the farmer and walked to the stables. He spoke to the horse and they discussed where they should go.

Aidan reported to the horse his conversation with Arthur. “Lets go in the direction of river opposite the forest,” suggested the horse. “That would be the most obvious thing to do, but we can’t totally trust the farmer,” Aidan replied. “ true, but where can we go then?,” asked the horse. Aidan told him that it would be possible for them go in neither direction, and instead go to the meadows and hide the stone.

It was not long before they got there, but Aidan was still tired. They sat down to rest for a while. After some time, the horse got up and stretched his legs. “Come on Aidan, we better hide the crystal before its dark,” he said.

Aidan stood up and yawned. “Alright,” he mumbled. A few minutes later, Aidan and the horse were talking over where to hide the crystal. Aidan thought that they should hide it in the bushes but the horse thought it would be better to bury it. In the end, they went with the horse’s plan.

That night, Aidan made a shelter out of sticks and leaves to sleep in. It was not much but it would give them protection from bad weather.

They woke up early the next morning. Aidan offered the horse to live at his house because the horse had nowhere to stay. The horse said yes. The journey back was very long and they got lost several times; otherwise they were unharmed.

When they got to Aidan’s house, Aidan made the horse promise never to speak to or in front of anybody except himself; you never knew whether people meant to do you good or not. He was worried someone would come asking for the crystal.

It was not long before the horse settled into his new home. When Aidan ever went to feed the horse, they would always chat about their adventure. This time it was something different that they talked about. The horse had just finished a mouthful of hay. All of a sudden he asked “What about Don Orogoth?” “Well, That’s another story…” Said Aidan.

A Visit from Antarctica

I wrote this story when I was eight and entered it into a competition. The first paragraph was set by the judges. I was one of the winners and got book tokens from the sponsor, The Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, London, UK. 



“All right, all right, I'm coming!” shouted Tim as the knocking grew louder. He hurried down the stairs pulling on his tartan dressing gown, tore open the door and peered out into the winter garden, barely visible in the cold dawn light. There was nobody there.

Tim closed the door and thought, “ Could it be a ghost or an animal or who could it be?”

Then, Tim heard the knock on the door again. This time, as he opened the door he said, “Who are you?”

Tim heard a small weak voice coming from below him. It was saying that it was cold and lost. Tim looked down and saw a tiny baby penguin. He felt sorry for it so he picked it up and said, “Don't worry.” They went into the house and Tim splashed some warm water on the baby penguin and rubbed it dry with a hand towel. The penguin felt much better.

Tim told the baby penguin that his name was “Tim” asked what its name was. It told him that its name was Oshia. That night, Oshia the baby penguin slept in an empty tissue box with a hankerchief on top of him as a blanket. It was hard for Tim to go to sleep because he was so excited about his new friend but because he kept thinking and thinking about Oshia his head got tired and he fell asleep.

In the morning Tim was so excited and he ran to the tissue box to see whether Oshia was awake. Tim saw Oshia dancing about with excitement. Oshia said that he was so happy to have a new friend. Tim interrupted Oshia's dancing and said, “Come downstairs and have some toast with anchovies.”

“I only want anchovies, not toast,” said Oshia.

“Okay,” said Tim. “Would you like yours raw or would you like to try it fried?”

“I would prefer it raw because I am used to that,” said Oshia.

“I'll have it raw too,” said Tim. “I forgot you only had raw anchovies in Antartica.”

After they had breakfast, Tim and Oshia went to the forest. Tim was so impressed when Oshia jumped from tree to tree. Tim asked Oshia how he learnt to jump such long distances. Oshia told Tim that his uncle was a rockhopper penguin and his uncle taught him how to jump.

“But there are no trees in Antartica,” said Tim. “Where do you jump over there?'

“From iceberg to iceberg, of course,” said Oshia.

Later on that day, Tim and Oshia went home and had fish and chips. Oshia found out that he actually liked chips and mayonnaise, but he hated tomato sauce because it was sour, especially Heinz's. Soon it was bed time. Tim was tired, but Oshia was even more tired because he had been jumping from tree to tree. Oshia fell asleep straight away but Tim kept thinking about what had happened and kept wondering what would happen tomorrow. Soon fell asleep. Tim dreamt he was dancing to the song of penguins with Oshia.

The next morning Oshia woke up first and decided to surprise Tim with breakfast. Luckily he remembered where everything was kept, so he went downstairs and made breakfast. When Tim woke up he heard a lot of noise from the kitchen. He was really worried. He raced down the stairs to see what Oshia was doing. When Tim saw what Oshia did he was very happy and thanked Oshia. He had not had anybody prepare breakfast for him in ten years. They had a lovely breakfast. together.

Tim quickly showered and got dressed before going to the forest with Oshia. At first Oshia jumped from tree to tree, but suddenly Oshia stopped jumping and started chatting to a blackbird. Soon Oshia and the blackbird started to play. They played for so long that Tim thought that Oshia had forgotten about him. Tim felt a little sad. But after Oshia had finished playing, he ran over to Tim and told him that he had made a new friend. The blackbird's name was Blobby, and every day after that, Oshia and Tim went to the forest to play with Blobby. Sometimes Blobby went home with them and taught them to sing and and to make lots of bird sounds.

Then one day Tim had his dream again. It was the same dream. He was dancing to the song of penguins. He decided that he would travel to Antarctica. Oshia loved the idea. Tim packed his things and took Oshia and Blobby along.

The penguins were happy to see Oshia again. Every night, the penguins stood in a circle to sing and dance. Tim and Blobby joined them. In the mornings they all dived in between icebergs to fish for their lunch. Tim got used to the ice and the cold, but after one month he wanted to go home and he told Oshia and Blobby this. Blobby decided to stay on in Antartica. He liked being the only blackbird in the penguin colony.

Tim and Oshia visited each other many times. When they were at Tim's house, they carried on going to the forest every day to play and for Oshia to jump from tree to tree. One day Tim told a joke. Oshia laughed and laughed because he had never heard a joke before.

“I love you, Oshia you are my best friend,” said Tim.

“I love you too,” said Oshia.