Creative Writing Competition 2023

Na Valentinovo su objavljeni rezultati natjecanja u kreativnom pisanju na engleskom jeziku za osnovne škole. Sudjelovale su četiri učenice naše škole u dvjema kategorijama (5. i 6. razred te 7. i 8. razred). Najbolji uspjeh, 10. mjesto od 94 pristigle priče, ostvarila je učenica Rima J. (7. a). Čestitke i mentoru, učitelju Anti Žderiću. Keep up the good work!

Saving Our Souls

The year 2222

The body is the vessel of the soul that takes it through space and time. My name is Terra Salvatore and this is my message to you. We crave saving because the Earth has almost reached the point of no return. In this day and age, we live in a world where breathing is restricted for the air we breathe is toxic. Where one needs to worry about every single breath. Where even a simple act of going outside for a few minutes can kill you. They say that it's safer to stay inside. Then why am I doing this? It's the only way to survive.

I can't breathe! I need air! Urgently! While grabbing my oxygen can, I looked at my clock. It was 3 am. I opened the can and took a thirsty sip. That would do for a few hours. How was that enough you might ask? Humans have evolved in a way that a single sip of oxygen is enough to keep you alive for a few hours. Unless you go outside. That's a whole different story.

The thing is, the government doesn't want you to go outside because there is a way. There is a way to fix all this. I'm determined to find it as soon as possible.

The year 2217

“Mom, dad please don't leave me!”

“We are running out of money, soon enough there won't be any to buy oxygen cans. We have to go. We need to find a way.”

The year 2222

Those were the last words I had ever heard from them. So here I am, five years later with nothing but what they left —millions of questions.

In their honor, I will continue and finish their mission. And I have a plan for how to do it. The only question is, will it work?

If I wanted to fix this, I would need to go where it all started. And that would be in 2022. We have always learned that the air is toxic because previous generations weren't conscious enough, they didn't think about the consequences. Well, I am going to show them the inevitable consequences.

I rushed to the attic. When I was little, my parents used to tell me stories about the time machine that they had made. I didn't believe them. But now, it all made perfect sense. My parents travelling a lot, being obsessed with finding the 'solution'. I suppose it runs in our family.

Opening the attic door I scanned the whole room. Standing there, I felt blood freeze in my veins. Where is it?!

“You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?“, a little mean voice said.

“Stop. Just stop! I can't deal with you right now,“ I screamed.

I fell to my knees and cried it all out. What's a point of a plan if you can't make it come true?

When I calmed down, I asked myself, “Where would they put it?“

And then it came to me.

How was I so stupid? I had this book that my parents gave me for my 13th birthday. It contained a beautiful necklace with a key. A beautiful antique key. And, there was a note that had a riddle written on it.

“I’m an old relative whose hands can’t hold anything and eyes can’t see anything.”

The year 2216

“Here you go sweetie, happy birthday!“

“Remember, you can use this only once.“

“Fine.“, I said while rolling my eyes.

I wasn't happy about the present so I didn't even try to solve the riddle. Until now.

The year 2222

A grandfather's clock! Of course.

I rushed to my room and went straight to prepare oxygen. I had to go outside. This was my only chance. I needed to unlock the grandfather clock that was in my parent's old lab. I had never been there, but I knew all about it.

After a 20-minute drive, I arrived at the mystery spot. Opening the lab I thought that all my childhood wishes came true. As a child, all I wanted was to visit this place. But now, standing in an old rusty lab, I was a bit disappointed. It was impossible to look for a clock if I couldn't see anything because of the dust. There was work to do for certain.

After 30 minutes, the lab was all clean. Now I could start searching.

– an hour later –

Why wasn't anything there? Where could it be? All I could feel was utter rage. I grabbed an old glass bottle and threw it on the floor. Rushing to the bookshelf I tried to move the bottle away, but instead, it just moved itself to the right revealing… the grandfather's clock!

I tried to grab my necklace while shivering but an alert came in. I knew that sound very well. I only had half an hour of oxygen so I'd better hurry.

While I was unlocking the clock, a note fell from there. Reading it, I shut my eyes. I already knew what the note had said. This was my last time in this lab. If I went there again, I would not be coming back. At least not in this life.

If this was the sacrifice I needed to make for humanity… then I would do it, without any remorse.

I took my diary, with the cryptic message in it, and courageously stepped into the clock.

The next thing I knew, everything turned black.

“Will at least something change? Are we going to save our souls?“, I asked myself while slowly drowsing.

Rima Janči, 7. a

Diamond To Die For

Imagine me looking through the window, hoping Miss Lester is coming in with a new case. Can't help noticing the sky covered in clouds, one of them sparkling like a true diamond. How marvelous!

On my desk, there is a golden plate with my name on it; detective Arthur Cannister. Next to the golden plate stands an old telephone. My assistant, Miss Lester, enters my office saying the police want to speak to me. I lift the telephone handset. ''Detective Cannister, this is Sheriff McClide. There has been a murder downtown and Scotland Yard's director specifically wants you to investigate this particular case. Come to 13 Blackhammer Street.'' ''Okay, see you in ten.'' – I reply.

I took my coat and left in a rush. Blackhammer Street was an old street. It had a lot of balconies filled with

flowers. There was a car parked in front of every house, but the house I was looking for had the number 13 on

the door. In front of the house, there were a lot of police officers. One was with the neighbors, the other

interrogating the girl who had found the body, and the third was helping the CSI unit. However, one of them

was acting a little bit suspicious, but I thought it was me. Detectives are always doubtful. I approached Sheriff

McClide. ''So, where is the body?'' – I asked.

The sheriff dragged me inside the house. The house was nice and modern, everything being in its place.

Of course, forensics officers were checking the dead man first. The victim was a male in his early thirties. He

was killed with a knife stabbed right through his heart. He died approximately between 7 am and 8 am. Cops

were looking everywhere trying to find the murder weapon.

I went to the lady who had found the body. Her name was Sally Muron. First I started with simple questions:

''Do you know that man?'' ''Yes. That was my boss, Jack. I work at a nearby restaurant as a cook and he was

the chef.'' – she replied.'' ''What was he doing in your house?'' – I asked her. ''I don't know'' – she replied –

''Usually, we end at 4 pm. Sometimes he gives me a ride home, but today he wasn't at work so I got worried.''

''Okay, thank you for your time. Please call me if you can think of anything that could help us,'' I gave her my phone number and left.

First I went to the restaurant where Jack had worked. His employees were not much of a help so I headed for his apartment. But first, I called Miss Laster to check if the CSI unit had already found anything useful. His apartment was on Unicorn Street. Wow, his apartment was so big it even had two floors. I started to look for some unusual things. I looked behind every sofa and wardrobe, and then behind the paintings.

Bingo! Behind the painting with flowers, there was a safe. After some time, I finally found a big key. It fit perfectly and I opened the safe. In the safe, there was a little bag and in it was the biggest and probably the most precious diamond in the world. I was about to take it when suddenly someone hit me in the head and everything went dark. Soon, my eyes opened and I found myself duct-taped to a chair in a dark room like a garage. I found myself abducted by a strong-looking guy. On his left arm, there was a colorful tattoo. It had a skull and around it were a lot of daisies. Then it hit me; back at the crime scene in the living room, there was a painting that looked the same as the man's tattoo.

''Where am I? Who are you? Where is the diamond?'' - I asked. He just smirked at me and replied: ''You think

that I'm going to tell you that?'' That guy looked familiar but then I remembered the officer that was acting a

little bit weird at the crime scene. Bingo, again! The man was standing in front of a metal table, holding some

wires and, guessing from my experience, making a bomb. Next to the tools, on the table there was a knife.

I couldn't see very well, but I think there was blood in it. I bet it was Jack's blood. All of a sudden, two other

guys entered and they had the same tattoo as my kidnapper. They were fiercely arguing about Jack. Then

I figured it out: Jack was a part of a group that was dealing drugs. I heard them talking about how my

kidnapper had killed Jack because he wanted to tell the police about their plan to steal the diamond, which

was practically priceless.

Then they came to me, but before they could say anything, we heard a loud knock on the door. It was the

cops. Probably Miss Laster had found out something and tried to call me several times. She was worried so she

and some officers went to Jack's apartment. They searched the whole building and now they were looking in

the building's garages. One of the officers broke the door and they entered the garage where I was. The police

arrested my kidnapper and one of his accomplices. Miss Laster freed me, but the first thing on my mind was to

warn the police about the third guy who had just escaped with the diamond in his backpack.

The next thing was that we were both going to my office because I had to do some unavoidable paperwork.

On our way we met Sally Muron who seemed to be in a big hurry. ''That odd diamond cloud is still there'',

I thought to myself, ''and the sky looks so dazzling''. To my regret, there was no time to rest. We still needed

to get a hold of the diamond to live for.

Martina Buršić, 6. b

The Calling

Recently there was a shy girl named Alexandra, but everybody called her Alex. She had short black hair and blue eyes and was different from her peers. She believed in ghosts, the sixth sense and magic. No student in her school knew her voice because she never talked. She meditated every evening. She was voiceless but clever and fearless. Keep on reading to find out what I mean by that.

At school, there were bullies who hated her because she was smarter than anyone. She had the biggest IQ and she had a photographic memory. Bullies used to hurt her every day but Alex would always find a way how to run away. She lived with her mom because her dad died in a car accident. The bullies were called Jamie, Nick (aka The Boss), Adam, John and Rick. They called themselves The Bad Bosses. They were bosses for bullying.

Alex had only one friend, Samantha, whose nickname was Sam. One day the bullies made a trap for Alex. When Alex came to school, the bullies were avoiding her at first. Alex knew there was something suspicious. When Alex started looking for Sam, she found her in an empty classroom. Alex asked: ''Why are you here?'', and, at the same moment, the bullies came out and Nick said: „Well, well, look who finally said a word.'' Then Jamie pulled out some scissors and Alex screamed: ''HEEEELLLLLLP!!!!!'' The principal came in and saw Jamie with the scissors. ''The Bad Bosses will get expelled. They deserve it!'', Alex thought.

For some reason, Sam was mad at Alex and started to yell at her. She offended her and wanted to hit her: "This is all your fault! You will pay for this!'' Alex was confused: "What is going on, what is wrong with you?! I've just saved you!'' Sam became even angrier and said: ''They will be expelled because of you!! You will pay for that!!" At that moment Alex realized that Sam was not her friend at all! Sam was not even on her side! Sam was one of the Bosses! Alex was stunned, all her emotions got mixed up and she just burst into tears and ran away.

The next day she didn't go to school. She blocked Sam on her social media and never wanted to talk to her ever again. Last year, on her birthday, she made a wish to have a stronger mind, to be more powerful so that no one could hurt her again. The next day Sam came to Alex and said: ''Hey loser, why are you sad? You can't go and cry to your daddy? Ha, ha!''. Alex became furious. She wanted to slap Sam but, instead, she just stretched out her hands and screamed: "AAAAAHHHH!!"

At that moment, the electrical current came out of her hands. Sam fell to the floor. Alex was shocked and started to run as fast as she could just to get home and to be safe and alone. After she got herself together, she tried to stretch again and it worked again. She was exhausted. She remembered her birthday wish. "It came true!" thought Alex, "What should I do now?". That was her last thought before she fell asleep.

The next day she came to school and Sam came to Alex and tried to say something. Alex gave her the look that nobody could forget so she ran away. After school she tried to find her, to make friends with other kids but she couldn't. It was very difficult for her to trust anybody ever again.

A week after, when she was going home to rest, Sam and her minions attacked Alex. Just to explain, Sam's minions are Anne, Sheila, Sarah and Dakota – her new friends. Sam said: ''What are you going to do now, huh?''. Then Dakota grabbed Alex's arms and folded them behind her back as Sheila held her legs. It wasn't all because Anne suddenly pulled out a pair of scissors. Sam's command was to cut her hair, but Alex stretched her arms and electricity strongly repulsed the bullies, every one of them except Sam. Sarah, Dakota and Anne ran away. Sam said: ''Sheila, attack her!'', but Sheila frowned, kicked Sam's leg and ran away.

Sam pleadingly looked at Alex and said: ''Alex, I'm sorry, you are my only true friend, help me!''. Alex was disappointed and replied: ''You cheated on me, you tricked me, I saved you and you were making fun of me and bullying me. Now you want a truce! No, Sam. It's not gonna work. You're not worthy. I'd rather be alone than with fake friends. BYE!''

And since then, Alex has turned to helping others who have been bullied so they would never feel alone and abandoned. She truly is a superhero to many of her newly found friends. She feels like she is saving the whole world when helping a single friend. She has found her voice – and her calling.

Zara Capan, 5. b

Sleepwalkers of Mott Haven

Vinnie suffered from insomnia, which was why she went to make pancakes at 2:43 am. She spent the last three hours working on an essay on why pottery is important to society. It was due tomorrow and shewill pass.

But it was snack time now. Vinnie opened the door of her bedroom instantly noticing a weird shift in energy. Her brown sphynx cat, Neo, jumped off the bed and hid under it.

Okay, loser. More food for me.

She stepped into the living room, turning the lights on. After that, her first instinct was to scream.

Her second instinct, however, won.

“Who the…”

“I CAN EXPLAIN!”

On her kitchen floor was sitting a dirty, skinny, blond guy with a cut on his cheek. Eating Nutella.

It wasn’t Vinnie’s Nutella, no, she was allergic to chocolate. But it very much was Vinnie's kitchen and spoon.

“Well, no, I can’t explain.”

“I’ll call the cops!” Vinnie yelled, reaching for her gun or anything dangerous at all. She always had something when she was out of the house. Lived in a bad neighborhood her whole life.

But Vinnie wasn’t out of the house this time.

She didn’t have a gun in her pocket or a taser in her bag. She was in her Spider-man pajamas, harmless except for the punches she could throw.

God, I can’t die! I’m young! Not even 23!

Vinnie thought she heard God’s answer, and They said: Ooh, look, you aren't dying. That dude isn’t a real threat!

And unquestionably, when she got a better look, Vinnie could see this man looked scared. Running from something. Or someone.

“Who are you? You aren’t from Mott Haven for sure... Where are you from?” She asked him, not sure what to do. “Who are you running from?”

The guy wouldn’t answer.

“I usually don’t do this but I am going to call the cops!”

“Max Evans... I’m Max,” he said. “Your...erm your house was the closest. I had to escape, uh, I owe something to someone and- and he said... I don’t even know.”

Something to someone. Not very helpful, Vinnie thought.

“Where you from?”

“Riverdale.”

“Cool. Now, I need names,” she said, “I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

Max was silent again but Vinnie took the gun from the table and flashed it.

“I owe Norville Aileanach some money and a favor,” Max said finally, looking Vinnie in the eyes.

She did not like what she heard. “You owe Shaggy Aileanach money and a favor?!”

Bad, bad. Very bad (she thought to herself).

She spoke again: “Get out. Can’t help you. You’re beyond my saving rank.”

“What? You can’t leave me high and dry! I’m desperate!”

“Dead is your middle name. Shaggy is a nasty person to mess with! We went to school together until he dropped out in, like, 8th grade,” she said, “I was friends with him! We’re still on friendly terms!”

Vinnie felt like a bad person for thinking like this, but she most definitely couldn’t risk messing up her relationship with Shaggy. Max should clean his mess up - himself

But then she remembered the time when her little sister Lottie messed with some thugs.

Vinnie’s older sister, Narcissa, had to deal with it. She was barely 17.

Max kind of reminded her of those times.

I cannot believe I’ll do this. Dear God. I am so going to regret it.

“Max, my full name is Lavinia Cruz and I will help you.” She saw him release a breath he was holding. “You owe me. A lot.”

“Thank you so, so much.”

“Don’t thank me yet.”

Vinnie called her buddies; in a few minutes, she knew Jordan, Elio, Jude, and Una were coming to meet her at 6 am to make a deal in front of Romero’s.

5:53 am, Thursday

Vinnie woke up very calm. She even slept well.

Then she remembered Max Evans and instantly felt the calm leaving her body.

6:08 am, Thursday

Elio and Vinnie made a deal to find Max somewhere to sleep until they figured out what to do. Jordan and Jude took him to Jordan’s to give him a little makeover. Just clean him and stuff. Una was Shaggy’s favorite cousin, and she said she would try to find out about his intentions.

7:32 am, Thursday

Vinnie got ready for college. She made herself a sandwich and headed out. Carpe diem!

She didn’t expect a guy, messy, smoking a cigarette, at her doorstep. His look stopped her in her tracks.

“Where is he, Vinnie?” Shaggy asked.

Nika Maček, 7. b