Writer
of the Month Competition Story
Read all the winning chapters from the writer of the month competition: Chapter One:
Home by Molly, aged 14, from Indonesia.
CHAPTER 1: Home
Paul didn't know what it was about the girl at the window that interested him so much.. maybe it was her amazing red hair, or her glistening green eyes. Or possibly her tanned skin, sprinkled with tiny freckles?
" No..." He thought, "it's not that..." Perhaps it was just the way she was gazing dreamily out the window of the small cafe.
" Doesn't really matter..." he said to himself. He hauled himself out of his chair and went up to the counter.
" That'll be £10.50 please." said the cashier.
" Oh, yeah...right...sure." Paul fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a few rumpled notes. He paid and walked out of the cafe. He couldn't help but turn around as he left, just to take one last glance at the red-head.
" It's cold!" he pulled his coat close around his lanky body and stomped his feet as he stood in the shelter of the bus stop.
" English weather..joy.." Paul thought. "Hi Becky." Paul said as he walked into his small London flat.
" Hi Dad."
" Go set the table, will ya? Dinner'll be ready soon."
He left her in the living room and walked into the kitchen.
" What to make? What to make?" he mumbled to himself, rummaging in the freezer. "We have... meat pies, fish fingers,sausage rolls,mmm, sausage rolls, they sound alright..."
Paul finished making dinner and brought it out to the table.
" Cmon.. supper's ready."
They sat down. As a family. Just the two of them. There was an awkward silence, same as every night.
" So.. how was school?" Paul asked
" Fine.." the fourteen year old played with her mash potatoes. Her brown hair hung loosely across her face.
" Don't ya like them?"
" What?" she looked up from her plate.
" The mash.. don't you like them? They got a bit burnt.. I didn't think you'd mind."
" Nah.. they're alright."
" That's good then."
They finished their supper in silence.
Becky went to her room. Paul emptied the last of their food into the rubbish bin, grabbed some water from the fridge and plonked himself down on the sofa.
He was getting old. He could feel it in his bones. Well, he wasn't getting old, he was still only in his early forties, but his body was getting weathered. He missed seeing his little girl. They hardly ever saw each other. Only really at dinner, and that wasn't very much, they never had anything to talk about. He missed her. Becky lay on her bed, gazing at the ceiling. Her dad had painted it yellow, like the sun. She liked it. They'd lived in that flat for as long as she could remember. Longer.
It had only ever been her and her dad. Never anyone else. Sometimes she got lonely, just the two of them.
Becky stood up and went over to her desk. She pulled out a pen and her writing book. She thought for a moment, but nothing came to her.
" Why can't I seem to write anything?!" she complained.
She waited, but creativity was busy elsewhere.
There was a gentle knock at the door.
" Becks?" her dad half-whispered. "Can I come in?"
" Yeah.. sure.." she put her pen down and turned to face the door.
" What you up to then?" he asked, setting himself down on her bed.
" Just trying to start a story."
" That's nice." Paul played with the folds in the bed-spread. "I was thinking..maybe you'd like to do something tomorrow.. you know, seeing as it's Saturday, and you don't have school."
" Umm.. yeah.. ok.. what'd you want to do?"
" I dunno.. maybe you want to go watch a film, or something? You could bring a friend, if you'd like."
" How about.. just us?" Becky said.
" Yeah! That would be really nice!" Paul smiled. "Yeah! I'll go check out what's playing." He got up and went into the living room to find the paper.
" This'll be nice." He thought to himself.
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Chapter Two:
Fun Days! by Lara, aged 13, from London, England.
CHAPTER 2: Fun Days!
Paul and Becky had a great time at the cinema...
Paul actually wished it never had to end.
He never usually got the chance to be with Becky - she always seemed to be busy, out with her mates or something; either that or he was at work all the time.
They went and saw a film - it wasn't actually very good after all but it was the thought that counts after all!
They went for dinner afterwards in a gorgeous little restaurant with red walls and gleaming candles.
Becky loved it - it was her favourite restaurant- it had also been her mum's favourite place, too...
"Is yyour food good?" Paul found himself trembling a little. He was anxious and wanted everything to be just right - he felt that nothing could spoil that evening...!
"Yes thanks, it's great," Becky replied. She was having an indian chicken curry and sure enough she seemed to enjoying it.
Paul chose the same - he didn't much like chicken curry; he hated any curry at all for that matter, but he wanted to have the same as Becky...
"Hows yours?" she asked him.
He silently choked on a very hot peice of chicken covered in red hot sauce. He reached over and had a LONG drink.
"It's great," he said somehow wishing he had never ordered it!
When they were done, they had dessert -the same of course! Chocolate cake. Luckily they both loved this!
After paying they got up to leave but suddenly something caught Paul's eyes -or rather someONE! It was that girl again... the girl from the window of that cafe!
"Come on dad!" Becky tugged on his sleeve, "Let's go!"
"Hang on a minute," Paul reluctantly but slowly walked over to the front door of the restaurant slowing his steps as he got closer and closer to the girl.
Who was she and why was he so fascinated be her?!
He looked at her and felt like he had known her all his life... but of course, it couldn't be true.
Sure enough he walked out of the restaurant after his persistant daughter and together they walked back home again.
Paul regretted leaving as he thought he would never see her again but he knew Becky would know something was wrong if he simply stood there gaping all night....!
"Goodnight Beck," he said as he switched off her bedroom light.
He turned to leave the room.
"Dad?" Becky called after him.
He went back in, "yes Becky?" he replied.
"Thanks," she said.
"For what?"
"For a great day!"
"That's ok - I enjoyed it too!" he said "Night,"
"Night dad..."
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of Page Chapter Three:
Happy Endings by Saffron, aged 13, from Santa Rosa, USA.
CHAPTER 3: Happy Endings
Paul slept uneasily that night, plagued by dreams of the red-headed woman. He awoke almost every hour, once speaking a word: Chelsea.
The next morning, he sat at the table with Becky, dark shadows under his eyes. He crunched down his cereal, emotionless.
"Dad? Are you okay?" Becky asked, ignoring the bowl of cheerios in front of her, getting soggier by the minute.
"What?" Paul blinked hard a few times, then shook his head vigourously, as if to banish sleepiness. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well."
"Oh." His daughter sounded disappointed. "'Cause, well, I was hoping that maybe we could do something today, 'cause yesterday was so fun. But if you're feeling bad-"
"No! No! I'll have a cup of coffee, and I'll wake up." Paul wasn't about to miss spending time with Becky just because he had odd dreams about a mysterious woman. "Where would you like to go?"
A few cups of coffee and two hours later, Paul and Becky were in the car on their way to the bowling alley. Becky had remembered when she was little, when her dad and mom were still together, they used to all go bowling together. Now that she and her dad were becoming closer, she thought they should relive some happy memories from the past.
They stopped at a red light, and Paul switched on the radio. It was a country western-song; Paul hated country western. The light turned green, and he put his foot on the gas while changing the station.
"Dad! Look out!" Becky screamed. Paul looked up, seeing a green van crossing their path. He slammed his foot on the break, but it was too late. The cars collided; the van flipped onto its side, and Paul's truck refused to stop, scraping the van across the ground until it rammed into a telephone pole.
Stunned, but unhurt, Becky and Paul sat for a moment in their car. Becky recuperated first, and unbuckled her seat belt, leaving the door open as she ran out. Paul followed her lead, running over to the van and peering through the window, broken. Miraculously, the driver’s seat had remained uncrushed. A woman lay shocked, held down by her seat-belt.
"Ma'am, are you hurt?" Paul asked. He heard sirens in the distance, and studied the woman's face. To his surprise, he realized it was the woman he had seen in the window the other day!
"N-no," she stuttered, pushing red hair away from her face with one hand. "I- I think I can get out." She slowly unbuckled herself, carfully manouvering herself out the window. Paul quickly knocked the broken glass still stuck in the edges out, and helped the lady out of the car.
An ambulance pulled up beside them, and two men in white rushed out. They began to question everyone, asking if anyone was hurt. Though all three involved in the accident said they were fine, they were taken to the hospital as a precaution. While Becky was being examined, Paul and the lady sat in a room together, talking. The lady said her name was Chelsea, and confessed that the accident had been her fault. She had had odd dreams the night before and was so tired she didn't see the red light. She looked nervous when she mentioned the dreams, but Paul then told her about his- and her appearance in them.
"My dreams were about you too!" She blurted out when he had finished talking. "What do you think that means?"
Becky came back from the examination room, and Paul introduced her to Chelsea. Becky asked her dad if, now that they knew everything was alright, he was still up to bowling. He agreed, and even invited Chelsea along, to 'take her away from worrying about her car insurance, for at least a few minutes'. She laughed, and submitted, and went on to have a great time.
A few weeks later, Paul and Chelsea were dating. Becky really liked her dad's new friend, and encouraged him to get closer to her. Two years flew by, and Chelsea asked Paul to marry her. He said yes, and before they knew it, they had given Becky a little sister to keep her company.
The lonely years were gone, and even though Paul and Becky missed Becky's mom, they both agreed that Chelsea did a wonderful job of filling the part.
THE END
The End
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