14/10/15 Cliff McNish http://www.cliffmcnish.com

[WP Central]

Nearly Christmas Day. Outside Appleyard Cottage, snow falls, sculpting the fields, and its bitterly cold.  

Not that the dead care. In the tiny cottage, a set of bodies. A family, at various angles. Some lie more natural than others. Atop the pile, the mother. Her husband is below her. His arm made it between the wooden beams far enough to clasp her hand before she died.

She shouldn’t have died. Neither of them should ever have died.

Their son lies lifeless at the door. His broken hand covers his face, smelling of the thing that has killed them all.

That thing is still with them. Interleaved between husband and wife. Its body forms a crazy set of twists. Face down, its nose rests in the cleft between the father’s arm and shoulder.

Legs ensnared within arms within faces.

This is how they will be found.

[Sarah Love Mandurah Cath Coll WA]

The moon was shining as bright as a child's eyes on Christmas Day. It stayed suspended above the snowy alpine peaks. On this Christmas Eve, the silence was suffocating; the only thing to be heard was the soft footsteps coming from the cottage. The rotting, wooden door creaked open. The second son stepped out into the moonlight, his eyes blood red, with what appeared to be a satisfied smile on his face. His footsteps left a deliberate trail in the snow as he headed in the direction of the settlement. He chuckled, as his eyes glowed red with malice. Those that had wronged him wouldn't rise to see the light of Christmas Day.
Andreana, Abbey, and Indi, Mandurah Catholic College

[Annalise Taylor]

He remembered that Christmas day. When he was six, his family left him behind when they were going for a Christmas holiday in Seville in Spain. When they were enjoying their holiday he was home alone. His family came for him eventually but he had run away. Many years later he came back to his little cottage were he once lived with his family. But now it wasn’t to say hello but to take his revenge by killing them. So they won’t see a second time the light of Christmas day.

Yukimi, Isabella, Camille

International Community School, London, UK

[Leah Falkingham]

Every Christmas he returns to the cottage to see if anything had changed, he had been repeating this process for the past three years. His memories flooded through his mind when he saw the blood stained windows, the bolted doors and the vines growing on the walls. This one very Christmas at the age of 15 he returned to see a bright sight of a new painted door, sparkling clean windows and brand new plants.

Suddenly he saw a shadowy figure appear around the corner, he asked: “Excuse me son, can I help you?” His voice was like his fathers, croaky and calm. The figure approached him slowly with his hunched back and his crooked walking stick; as the figure crept toward the light he started to reveal himself then he saw a sight he wished he never seen…

Oliver, Harry, Elliot, Glen and Matthew: Chantry Middle School, UK.

[Hollie Rush]

The nearing figure possessed similar features to that of the cold corpse that was his father. That old, bent and broken nose hooked itself from the face of the man was the one the young boy inherited. Grey strings of what may have been a respectable head of hair clung on with desperate angst.

“Pay attention lad, could have had you by now.” The words intended a threatening meaning, but nothing changed within the boy. He was colder now than ever.

 

He released himself from the cover of the shadows. Lanky, elongated limbs which appeared weighted down by the oversized hands he’d been graced, ones which would have crafted masterpieces in an art book.
“You’ve always had my attention, just not in an oppressive way.” He grinned, but it never reached the demonic eyes that had ashamed his family.

 

Noticing the old visitors distraction, he begun to explain the horrors hidden within the walls of the house he still claimed as his own.

 

“I’ve always liked them. Though sometimes, they’re the bane of my life.” He hardly paused before his anecdote begun again. “My family never appreciated the beauty of purple. They were even embarrassed to take me abroad.” He shared a smirk with the ground like they were sharing a secret. “Such a shame.”

 

Eloise and Kathryn, Ashlyns School, UK

[WP Central]

The old man shrank back, shielding his face from the glow from the youth's purple skin, the colour having been hidden by the shadow he was standing in previously. "You must be Kai, my.......grandson," the man croaked, "you're right, my son (your father0 never appreciated the powers that come from embracing the very special nature of this house but you - you're different, I can see that. You didn't need to kill them all though lad. Sorry I wasn't about to guide you - it could have been so different -  but I am now.....so what do we do next?"

Bev Humphrey

Write Path Founder

[Clare Bond]

He now had two options; dispose of the evidence hoping that there intelligent enough to cover the mistake, or hand him over to the police. Neither of these options seemed like a possibility to the son. He’d left a deliberate trail, the enforcers of the law will pick up on this no matter how hard they try to hide it. He couldn’t admit the crime either for the police will never understand what truly forced the teen to commit this sin. The grandfather was now willing to stand up for the boy so he couldn’t lose this trust. Never in his life has he been brought so close to a family member. The grandfather was older, he was wiser and definitely had more experience in the subject of murder. With the boy torn it was up to him to decide the future for the two them.
Poppy and Lilly
Knutsford Academy.

[Allison Painich]

Instead of standing out in the gloomy night, Kai's grandfather invited him inside.  "What might your name be?" Kai asked.  "Dodge Harrison, but you can call me me Grandpa Dodge, or GD for short," he replied.  Exhausted, Kai took a seat on the couch  while GD walked into the other room. As Kai was waiting, he heard a distinct mumble in the room his grandfather was currently in.  Grandpa Dodge came back out of the room with an upset look on his face.  "What's wrong, Grandpa Dodge?"  Kai asked.  Before GD gets to answer, there is a knock on the day.  Kai answered the door and the police put him in handcuffs.  "What's going on?" Kai yells.  "I'm so sorry," Grandpa Dodge mumbles between sobs.  Grandpa Dodge spends the rest of Kai's jail time in quiet sorrow realizing he's lost the last family member he had left in his life.

Ayana and Al'Licia 

Lee Jr High School 

Monroe, Louisiana, USA