Tuesday Story 4 - Eoin Colfer

[WP Central]

Darren slotted the bejewelled key into the wardrobe’s brass key. It turned in the slot with a sharp schnick. The door swung easily, though the hinges were old and rusted.
‘Those hinges are old and rusted,’ said Darren.
‘Yes,’ agreed Liam. ‘And yet the door swung easily.’
They stepped inside the wooden box and weren’t altogether surprised to find that it was not a box at all but a doorway to another dimension.
Darren scratched his head. ‘This is a bit like that book. You know the one with the wardrobe and the lion.’
‘Born Free?’ said Liam.
‘No. The other one.
‘The Lion King?’ said Liam, who would never win a Nobel Prize for anything.
‘Yep, that’s the one,’ said Darren, who was a kind boy really.
They passed through the wardrobe doorway and emerged several minutes later in the snow covered outskirts of an industrial town. The skyline was lined with burnt-out skyscrapers, their collapsed rooftops belching smoke into a grey sky.
‘Oh no,’ whispered Liam. ‘We’re in Scotland.’
‘No. No, look there,’ said Darren, pointing.
Liam followed his friend’s gesture to a line of huge.........

[Shea Reeder]

Liam followed his friend's gesture to a line of huge, white mountains covered with snow. Far away, they saw some odd-looking men, wearing skirts and playing bagpipes. Those men made Liam and Darren curious, so they decided to get closer. When they got closer, they couldn't believe their eyes.
“Ey-hay, oys-bay, ere-whay are-yay ou-yay oing-gay?” asked the men. Liam and Darren exchanged shocking looks. “What language is that? I don't understand,” said Liam. “I think they're speaking in Spanish,” said Darren. “Hola, como estas?”
“Huh? What you saying? We aren't Spanish,” said the men.
“Aha!!! They spoke in Pig-Latin,” said Darren. “Can you guys speak in English?”
“Yes, we can. We ain't that stupid.”
“Ok, ok, ok.....we understand. We ain't imbeciles. Anyway, my name is Darren and he is my best friend, Liam. What are yours?” asked Darren.
“My name is Antidisestablishmentarianism, he is Supercalifragilisticexpialidoacious.”
“Why do you have such long names?” asked Liam.
“My name, Super means Awesome, and him, Antidisestablishmentarianism is sometimes against the government.”
“LOL, so,why are you all wearing skirts?” asked Liam.
“These are not skirts, these are called kilts and they are very comfortable and fashionable. You see, because of those reasons above, men must wear kilts in this country; pants are not allowed,”
Liam and Darren dropped their jaws; their mouth was wide opened, “WHAT??” they exclaimed. Then, they screamed, and then swooned.

[Shea Reeder]

Above written by Alice and David from American International School, Vietnam

[WP Central]

Written by Ele Robinson, Sheringham High School, Norfolk, England.

Everything was too much. Each portal they went through got them further away from their home and now they had encountered strange men in skirts who spoke words that they couldn’t understand. The sky was grey, a colour that before had only been seen on the rags of prisoners. The colour of depression, of hardship. Liam felt a tear trail down his muddied cheek. He missed his home, his people, the rolling hills and great stretch of forests, the animals of the lagoons that would join in chorus for the night and its presence. Then the storm had come, and this same colour that erupted from this foreign sky had blanketed the blueness of his own homeland’s. The depression. It had never happened before, never in all the years of his ancestors. It swirled, scarring the young and scaring the elders. Faces swishing through the darkness, becoming imprinted on alls mind. The nights were the worst when gashes would appear in the sky, letting blackness seep and sheer evil ooze from the scratches that penetrated the once beautiful lands. Each time death would come. Sickness would enter the homes of the innocent. Of the people he should be protecting. As their prince he was there hope. But how could he find it if he couldn’t find the one man with the knowledge to put an end to it all.
“ Do you know a man named Erebus?”
“Of course. His name is known by all..”

[Nerine Chalmers, Qatar Academy]

Written by Sahana and Brianna at Qatar Academy


“Erebus is secretly hidden, you can only find him," the men paused and said to themselves. “Where is Erebus hidden? I know we’ll tell them to go to the insane witch doctor down at the base of the huge, white mountains.”
“To find her you must travel across the bridge of the Remaining Dead. Go through the temple of the Rising Sun and swim across the Toxinated Swamp. To find the master Omacious to get further instructions.”
“All that to find a stupid, insane witch doctor that we haven’t met or trust?” cried out Darren.
Liam so foolishly said “I’m staying right here.”
Suddenly vines sprung out of the ground. Twisting around Liam’s legs they wound so tight that he couldn’t take a step. Slowly he sunk to his knees in the cold, white snow.
“Aye, we can’t say stupid things like that around here. Now your friend must continue by himself. Before you can be freed. You have only a week to be back or else your friend will be sucked into the ground forever.” Said the Scottish men spookily.
After he got some riddles to help him on his way, Darren set off with the promise of returning within a week. Within an hour he was at the bridge of the Remaining Dead. The air was filled fog and skeletons were hanging in the air as if by a thread.
Cautiously Darren creped, quietly along the bridge. And after what seemed like forever he made it to the other side. Only to walk straight into the temple of the Rising Sun. Covered in gold it looked like bright rays of sun light. Suddenly the sun came out and Darren disappeared in a puff of smoke.
A moment later he found himself at the Toxinated Swamp. Filled with green ooze and bottles of poisoned blood it was enough to make anyone sick. Keeping his barf in and swam through the green slime. And found a childish man sitting on a rock and repeating “Omacious, Omacious, Omacious. “
And guess who that was.........

[Bev Humphrey, Woolwich Poly, UK]

Omacious. He was sitting on the rock repeating his name “Omacious, Omacious” he was saying to himself Darren climbed up the rock and was trying to speak to Omacious but he wasn`t listening “OI!” Darren said, Omacious spoke “I have a name you know it is omansious or is it omacious I’m not sure it’s one of the two?” Darren spoke once again “its omacious” he reaped his name again “Omacious, Omacious, Omacious” “Oh my goodness, just tell me how to get to Erebus” “ok, ok I will tell you” “You jump off the edge off this cliff behind me “What!!!” Darren screamed. “ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT I HAVE JUMP OFF THIS CLIFF!!!” “Yeah pretty much” Darren had agreed to jump off it was the only way to meet Erebus. OMACIOUS SAID” A ONE, TWO AN JUMP” Darren didn’t move a muscle he mumbled to himself I ain’t jumping no cliff this man must be mad “I heard that” one two and jump Darren never moved once again omacious said “for the last time, one two and ju… before you could say Michael Chapman omacious pushed him. All you could hear was AHHHHHHHHHHHH…

BY Joshua and Mathys of Woolwich Polytechnic

[kgarnett]

He felt himself falling through the air, the wind rushing through his hair. Tears gushing from his eyes as he plunged into the unknown. Suddenly he was in the cold water, gasping for air. He looked up at the last glimmer of sun in the cold winter sky, realising he was moving with the current of the water. He looked down-stream, noticing the terrifying rapids, he desperately tried to swim to the side of the river, but all efforts were futile. BANG. He smashed into a rock and held on for dear life. In all the madness and commotion he spotted a cloaked figure wearing a wooden mask. He shouted for help but the figure didn’t move. He shouted again, this time the figure gave a glance. This was no man. This something, or someone, lifted a crooked wooden staff, and banged it against the snow covered ground. Gradually, Darren felt the force of the water weaken. The figure waded into the fading current, and just as Darren lost his grip a strong hand grabbed him. Darren looked through the mask into the eyes of his saviour…
By Adil A, Ronan G and Michael H Elizabeth College, Guernsey, Channel Islands.

[Margaret Bell,NthLanarkshireLibs]

He looked into the eyes of Erebus and fainted! When he came to, no-one was around, he sat up and realised he was in the middle of nowhere. He was surronded by miles and miles of snow. He walked for what seemed like miles until he reached an igloo and it was obvious someone was living there. He crawled inside and saw a sofa which looked very cosy but cold. When he climbed the steps into the kitchen, he bumped into a figure who asked him what he was doing in his house? "Oh please tell me where I can find Erebus" says Darren, "I need his help to cure my sick people". "I am Prince Darren and my people are sick and dying". The man said "well I can help you, because I am Erebus, but I have many enemies so you must prove that you are a friend". I was just about to explain when the world shattered around us when the igloo collapsed in pieces and a ferocious Polar Bear who seemed possessed by demons controlling his body started to attack us. Erebus grabbed my hand and the bear chased us.....

[Margie Godwin]

Written by Kendarrius Godfrey, Marcus Jackson, Pierre Goldsmith, Carroll Jr. High School, Monroe, LA, USA
through a tunnel that was extremely dark and cold. In seconds we were outside again with the bear chasing us. After a while we climbed a tree, to keep away from the bear. The sky grew dark as night was approaching, the forest began to grow quiet as the animals went to their homes for the night. Soon the bear fell asleep and we could hear his snoring. It was easy for us to creep quietly away into the night without waking up the fierce bear. As we were walking, we felt a breeze blowing down our necks. It was very chilly. We heard a noise coming from the brush behind us. We turned and saw the bear with blood dripping from his mouth. As the bear began to approach us, we slowly began to back up. Then the bear charged. We quickly ran as fast as we could but our speed was no match for the bear. "Let's cut that way," shouted Erebus. We cut through the path that leads to a hill. When we got to the top of the hill, we realized there was no place to go. We were trapped. We stopped and turned to face the bear thinking that our deaths would come quickly. The bear reared up on his hind legs, roared at us and then fell to the ground. We thought it was over but we had to make sure. As we approached the bear, we stopped to check and see if he were dead. A grateful sigh escaped our lips as we realized the bear truly was dead. "Once again thank you Erebus for helping us and curing my people." Those were the last words I ever said to him as I walked through the night to go home.