Jo Cotterill https://jocotterill.com

14/11/2019

Don't Get Caught
Carys pulled herself slowly out of the river, coughing. The water tasted of sludge and other things she didn’t dare think about. The grass of the riverbank was slippery under her hands, and her body felt leaden, weighed down by the jacket with its numerous pockets. She hoped the watertight case for her phone really was watertight. She couldn’t afford to lose her GPS tracker. Even an hour’s travel in the wrong direction could be fatal. Everything depended on her making this journey on time.
A low rumble made her freeze, crouched low to the ground. An engine – a motorbike, sounded like. They couldn’t have found her already, could they? Her heart speeded up, pumping blood so forcefully around her body that it thudded in her ears, making it hard to hear. She raised her head slightly, taking in her surroundings. There was a barn not far ahead. She calculated the distance. Nine seconds at a flat-out run, probably.
She made a snap decision and…

8 Comments

Sarah Cook

15/11/2019 00:11:43

Ran as fast as her legs could carry her, the cry of a motorbike’s engine was dragging on behind. Her heart pounding as she sped across the dry grass. All of a sudden a gunshot rang in her ears. She felt the bullet whizzing past. The shooter had missed by a slight distance. The sound of another gunshot was heard and something hit her right in the neck. Surprisingly it only felt like a needle, poking slightly into her skin. She began to feel drowsy as she dropped onto the floor. It wasn't a bullet, it was a trank. As she fell, her mind began racing as her past came back to her. She felt chains around her wrists. She was in a boat. She could faintly remember where she was going. She was tied against a pole by a chain and was locked in a dark room. The door had been opened and there was the man. The same man that was after her now. She was dragged to her feet. The man began to speak.

“They call me Doctor Death. You better strengthen those puny arms of yours. Your going to be mining for a long time.” Her mind began calculating an escape route, she needed to see her family, thankfully her phone was still hidden in her jacket. “Stay here. I must speak with the captain,” he snarled as he chained her arms to the pole again. The man seemed to forget to close the door. She saw the man drop the key before he left. She reached her long leg out and pulled the key towards her. Finally it reached around the same spot that her hands were tied. She put the key into the key hole and heard a click. She turned the key and the chain fell off her arms. Carys slowly stood and crept up the stairs to the edge of the boat. She decides to leap over the side of the boat …….. As her eyes began to open Carys takes one look at her surroundings and gasped….

Alex, Mia and Hamish
Christ the King Australia

Nikki Heath

15/11/2019 09:57:15

“What on earth am I doing?” she wondered. Slowly, I dived into the deep valley of water, my skin feeling the stinging pain. I looked up and saw the miles of endless blue dipping over the horizon. The boat sluggishly bounced up and down, up and down, and a sudden urge to vomit arose. At least she had escaped the grasp of the evil and cursed hands of ‘Doctor Death’. The boat slowly sailed away and she was left to her own impending doom! The boat had travelled so far away that distance seemed to lose all meaning. An hour had passed, Martina was still treading water! Her feet were aching, shivers were running down her spine! Heart pounding, pulse racing, a sudden rush of adrenalin kicked in. She realised she must get out of here. If she didn’t, her life would slowly perish away, fading away like the wisps of sunlight before the darkness of night. She paddled, swum, flailing, and ended up in a frantic movement unexplainable! I gave up and was laying on my back in the great expanse of water. My affliction could let me go on no longer. I gave up, and I slowly drifted away into the slumber of death…

By Ibrahim, The Manchester Grammar School

Cerys Cooper, Jessica Randall, Holly-May Everitt, Pranavi Kajanarul link

15/11/2019 12:54:45

She ran but her legs weren’t strong enough and she tripped over a log, she fell back and hit her head. Carys was unconscious, the last thing she saw was three giant men peering over her innocent, pale, frightened face. The three men carried her in a filthy sack and chucked her in the back of a pick-up truck. Four hours later, Carys started to blink. She was relieved to be alive, but something was wrong. She started feeling unspeakably cold; as quick as a flash, she held her breath…

The weight was unbearable, she tried to grab a rock but only managed to touch a shell. 5 seconds later, the girl was able to breathe. As if by magic, she suddenly transformed into the most beautiful being… a mermaid.

Bev Humphrey

15/11/2019 10:57:31

Everything was black. She woke up to a a monstrous blue sea of loneliness, she felt a surge of adrenaline flow through her hyperthermia prone body. She took in her surroundings and started to configure a plan, she analysed the direction of the current; she started to gather some driftwood to make a raft. She was trained in these types of situations and she knew that she might not see land for weeks! She searched for her phone it was gone, she remembered that she got caught on a log and it probably was snagged on a branch. She had the provisions to survive for a week but after that she would have to find dry land. But this is easier said than done because any minute she could here the roaring engines of Doctor Death’s men speeding for her blood...

Bev Humphrey

15/11/2019 10:58:43

Rhys, Raines foundation

Bev Humphrey

15/11/2019 13:55:17

The sound of Doctor Death’s men were getting louder and time was running out. She quickly got out the rope inside of my bag and tied the ropes to the pieces of wood she gathered. She was so far away she didn’t need to worry about the men all she needed to worry about was the fact that her survival was her first priority. So off she was again typical her on a new different adventure. This time, she knew nothing she learnt could possibly help her out in this very moment ,her future depended on every action she took, as she reminded herself.

Emanuela
Raines Foundation School

Warren Wood Primary Academy

15/11/2019 14:58:41

Somehow, she managed to pull herself out with her bare hands and she hopped onto the pavement and disappeared into the bushes; hiding herself in the bush, she whispered to herself “Where am I going to go now?” Her turquoise tail glistened in the sunlight as many tears ran down her pail face. She tried to hold back her tears but her tears kept pushing out.

Abruptly, a golden object fell out of the ombre sky and landed in front of her. She stared at the object curious to find out what it was. “I wish this could make a difference.” She thought to herself…

All of a sudden, a blue magical genie appeared before her. “YOU ASKED FOR A WISH!” He bellowed. Carys looked up and glared at the genie. “Y- yes, well I was really talking to myself.” Carys mumbled. She could barely talk because of the shock the genie had given her. “I am Hokos Pokos, genie of wishes and master of magic.”

Davina Kattah, Elsie Ogubuike and Maria Chinkova

Christina Nguyen

15/11/2019 20:30:31

Carys stared at the genie, his presence bringing an upheaval of nervousness in her blood, her palms becoming clammy as she attempted to produce a sentence.
“Hello? Are you there, or have you awoken? I mean- Are you okay?” said the genie, his voice becoming shaky and nervous.
Carys had a moment of epiphany as she glanced down at her tail, realizing what her first wish shall be.
“M-My first wish is..I want to be human again. I want to have legs!” Carys demanded, becoming agitated with her scaly legs. Hokos Pokos nodded, and Carys was lifted to the air slowly. As she was lifted, she felt each of her scales fall one by one, after about 20 seconds, she was back to her normal self. She smiled for the first time in years, feeling like this Hokos Pokos thing could help her escape this world.
She began to want more, and she brainstormed for another wish, a greater one perhaps! She thought to herself “What is something I have always wanted to do?”, and it dawned on her. The one person that ruined her life was Doctor Death. He took everything away from her, including her family and her sidekick, Brett, who was willing to risk his life for Carys. It was time he tasted his own medicine.
“Hokos!” She called.
“Yes..?”
“ I wish to eliminate Doctor Death from this world, once and for all!”
Hokos Pokos paused for a minute, hesitating to work his magic. Finally, Hokos nodded and started spinning, creating a tornado with dirt and grass. After a few minutes, Hokos stopped and uttered exhaustedly, “It is done.”
Carys went to thank the genie, but she stopped. Hokos Pokos started glitching, his face making multiple expressions at once, and his body, twitching and squirming as it came towards her.
“Gooood B-B-Byeee” Said Hokos in a very high, scratchy voice.
Hokos dissolved into the grass, and soon after that, the grass changed to water and then to sand. The solid ground Carys used to stand on now melted and moved like a waterbed. The sky switched to the color green and red, causing Carys to close her strained eyes. Carys began to feel extremely lightheaded and dehydrated, and she passed out right onto the melting ground.
Immediately, she opened her eyes, gasping for air. But when she opened her eyes, she saw a white and clean room, full of men in masks. One of them, who was on a computer, said
“15 seconds. Impressive!”
Carys began to worry. “What just happened?!” She cried.
The old man without a mask stepped forward.
“Why, we put you under a simulation! Congratulations! You are the first person to beat ‘Doctor Death’! Everyone you met was programmed into your brain and our wonderful scientists responded to everything you said!” He laughed. The man’s voice echoed and echoed in Carys’ brain until she blacked out from sobbing, closing her eyes once again. Who knows where she’ll end up next..
Hannah B. and Grace Kelly S. - Robert E. Lee Junior High

Jo Cotterill https://jocotterill.com

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