<\/p>\n
Last week, we were privileged to be part of the UEA FLY Festival<\/a> (Festival of Literature for Young people). Ink Sweat and Tears\u00a0<\/em>supported the final event, a superbly enthusiastic POETRY SLAM (with thanks to Luke Wright, Molly Naylor, Tim Clare, Mark Gristo and MC Mixy for making it such an energetic and inspiring occasion and kudos to the kids from\u00a0Pakefield, City Academy Norwich and City of Norwich School for taking up the challenge so well.) In addition, Kate co-judged the Short Story Competition with the brilliant\u00a0Alexander Gordon Smith<\/a>\u00a0(\u00a0<\/em><\/em>The Fury, the\u00a0<\/em><\/em>Furnace\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/em>Inventors\u00a0series)<\/em>, a favourite festival author, who also wrote the story\u2019s opening. It is featured below with the winning endings from the 11-14 age group to follow. \u00a0Prepare to be intrigued.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0*****<\/p>\n Who knew that something so simple as falling asleep on the bus could lead to something so horrific…<\/p>\n \u201cHello?\u201d I shout, making my way down the coach. The seats are empty, except for the coats and bags strewn everywhere. It\u2019s like every single person in my class has just vanished into thin air. The teacher too, although that\u2019s not exactly a terrible loss. Sunlight streams through the filthy windows, making it hard to see anything outside. I could swear I was only asleep for a minute!<\/p>\n I walk to the open doors and squint into the shimmering heat. We\u2019re supposed to be at the University of East Anglia, some festival or other where there are loads of authors. It doesn\u2019t look much like a university out there, though. There are no people, for one, just a long, empty street lined with trees. The only living thing in sight is a rabbit, which eyes me suspiciously as I clamber out of the coach.<\/p>\n Where is everyone?<\/p>\n \u201cHello?\u201d I say again, my voice trembling. My pounding heart is the loudest thing in the world. \u201cIs anybody there?”<\/p>\n There\u2019s a building straight ahead and the door stands open. I glance left and right at the deserted campus. Then, swallowing my growing terror, I walk inside\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n <\/p>\n FIRST PLACE:\u00a0 JAKE BOUD (14) COLCHESTER ROYAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n …The receptionist surveys me through wiry spectacles, eyes narrowed and looking incredibly suspicious.<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d Her voice is as hostile as her expression, ice-cold and disturbing.<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026 Yes\u2026 Um\u2026\u201d I stutter, words tumbling out of my mouth. I notice that my throat suddenly feels dry as the Sahara. I stop speaking, and nervously peer up at her hawk-like face as she glares at me.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just the nasty looking receptionist which is foreboding about this strange place. The desk she sits behind is in ruins, legs poking out at awkward angles, with a thick layer of dust coating it and her computer, looking about fifty years old. The ceiling is covered by a network of spider webs, and there are huge menacing-looking cracks criss-crossing its surface.<\/p>\n The woman tilts her head slightly, as though figuring out what to do with me. From the way she\u2019s looking at me, I guess she\u2019s wondering whether I\u2019d taste nice with sauce.<\/p>\n After what seems like a lifetime, her expression clears as she makes up her mind. I tense, anticipating the worst, but she leans back and jabs a long crooked finger at a door on my left. \u201cThrough there,\u201d she says dismissively, and turns back to the rusting computer monitor.<\/p>\n I drag my eyes towards the door she had indicated, and immediately notice that it\u2019s cleaner and better-kept than the rest of my surroundings. I tentatively start towards it.<\/p>\n I reach the door and try to peer through the darkened glass but I can see only blackness. I calm myself, nervously push open the door and step inside\u2026<\/p>\n And am greeted by the face of the receptionist, glaring down at me behind those awful spectacles. I jump back in shock, a terrified yelp escaping from my mouth. I spin around, and where the door I had just come through was I see only a cracked, brownish wall.<\/p>\n Terrified, I turn back to the woman. She\u2019s looking at me with a half-amused expression, and pointing to the door on the left again. It seems to be my only hope of escaping this awful place, so I sprint towards it, yank the door open\u2026<\/p>\n And skid to a halt in front of the reception desk.<\/p>\n The receptionist is laughing. And as she laughs, the walls shift, melting and reforming around me as if they too are laughing at me. But as they morph, I notice a little square of light, a little window into the outside world, open up behind her.<\/p>\n Without a second thought, I charge for the light, knocking aside the startled, squawking receptionist and diving through the gap into the world.<\/p>\n Bright sunshine beats down into my eyes as I lie there and I gasp in the fresh air gratefully. And then a dark shape blocks out that wonderful sunlight, and I see my teacher looking down at me in amazement, my classmates gathered behind him and also staring at me in wonder. \u201cTom?\u201d my teacher asks. \u201cWhat are you doing down there?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n <\/p>\n