Black Country Connecting Stories Anthology 2021 by literacytrust

An Anthology By Black Country

JOURNEYS JOURNEYS

This book belongs to

Journeys Connecting Stories Anthology Black Country

Supported by Arts Council England.

Cover Illustration © Chanté Timothy, 2021.

Design and content © National Literacy Trust, 2021

Design by Kireli Studio.

All enquiries around this anthology should be directed to: contact@literacytrust.org.uk The National Literacy Trust is a registered charity no. 1116260 and a company limited by guarantee no. 5836486 registered in England and Wales and a registered charity in Scotland no. SC042944. Registered address: 68 South Lambeth Road, London SW8 1RL.

With Thanks...

The National Literacy Trust is a charity dedicated to improving reading, writing, speaking and listening skills so that everyone has the best possible chance of success in school, work and life. We support communities, schools and early years settings and campaign to make

We would like to thank Arts Council England for funding and supporting the Connecting Stories project. We would also like to thank Old Barn books and Simon and Schuster, as well as authors A.M. Dassu and Benjamin Dean, who generously supported this anthology. A massive

literacy a priority. Delivered by the National Literacy Trust and funded by

thanks to the numerous community champions and corporate volunteers

Arts Council England, Connecting Stories aims to increase children and

who have kindly donated their time to help bring this anthology together:

young people's interest in reading and writing, and to promote diverse voices and stories. Connecting Stories provides a programme of exciting

Atlantic Books

Felicia Tennant

events, such as virtual author visits, creative writing competitions and

Margaret Duff

James Kingett

activities for families to enjoy.

Faber

Saffron Alexander

Charlotte Kim

Dawn Claypole

Pearson

Saffron Alexander

Allison Potter

Emile Tambeh

Cambridge University Press

Sheena Carman

Sally Atkinson

Gaganpreet Kaur Basra

Emerald Press

Michael Leyland

Tahera Sultana

Jenna Lee

Jan Papworth

Hannah Fogg

Rhona Drever

And finally, thank you to all of the children who took part to share their wonderful stories.

A word from children’s author, A.M. Dassu It was a real pleasure to read entries from the Black Country! I have been

everything and everyone around me and completely become part of

so impressed by the quality of writing. These young writers have huge

another world. I learn so much about others but also myself. Stories about

potential and I hope they’ll continue to write with such imagination and

the lives of others help us to understand the world and experience its

flair. Growing up, I wrote poems and short stories in my free time but I

beauty. We can experience different cultures, religions, identities, family

didn’t really think about getting them published. I thought it would be too

set-ups and lifestyles through stories, and what’s brilliant is that all of this

hard, and so it is a real delight to see such young voices being able to see

is possible from the comfort of our own home or school.

their words published in a book. I know that as children sometimes we can feel alone in our struggles and don’t always feel we belong. Growing up, I didn't really seek to find anyone like me in books or magazines. And so when I started writing for children, I wanted to write books that were different to those that are already out there – books that had characters of all backgrounds and ages. I wanted to write stories that would show readers a different side to a story that we all think we know. Boy, Everywhere challenges stereotypes; it shows that what you see in the news isn’t always the full story and encourages readers to focus on what and who refugees leave behind and how hard it is to start again. Writing is such a powerful form of communication. It’s a useful tool in all areas of life, not just in stories. You can entertain, inform and even influence people through writing, so it’s a skill really worth having! And the best thing about being an author is that anyone can become one! What makes a writer stand out is the way they show something or make people feel. Reading helps you explore worlds you’d never have imagined, I love it because when I’m reading a good book, I am able to switch off from

A. M. Dassu, author of Boy, Everywhere

A word from children’s author, Benjamin Dean

A Word from our Hub Manager, Gaganpreet Kaur Basra

I am delighted to have had the pleasure of reading entries from the

Reading the entries from Black Country has been a brilliant experience,

Black Country. All entries included in this anthology have captured the

these stories have really made the local voices from the Black Country shine.

spirit of the theme, ‘Our Journeys’, in such imaginative and original ways. Anthologies traditionally don’t include the voices of children. Yet these are the very groups of people with the most creative ideas and the most relevant experiences! We’ve collected the best young voices from across the Black Country and gathered them all in these pages.

Story writing can have a number of benefits for children and young people. Alongside developing reading, writing and language skills, story writing also provides an emotional outlet to express thoughts and feelings. Most importantly it is a great way to develop imagination and creativity in a fun way.

Creative writing is such a powerful outlet for children to find imaginative

I hope you have as much fun reading this anthology as I had helping to

ways to express themselves, and the stories I read proved that young

get these entries together, and above all I hope that they convince you of

writers have an endless wealth of creativity and inspiration to draw from.

how important it is to read the stories of others, and to tell your own story.

Both reading and writing are powerful tools that enable us to unlock imagination, creativity, empathy and compassion. They enable us to explore endless worlds and unlimited stories. And, most importantly, they have the power to help us find ourselves. Whether it be in the pages of a book already written, or in the pen you hold ready to write stories of your own, words have the power to help us feel less alone. Benjamin Dean

Gaganpreet Kaur Basra, The Black Country

Contents Winning Entry Nevaeh J, 8 ....................................... 18

Second Place Entry Amrisa D, 10 ..................................... 21

All Entries Arjan K, 10 .............................................. 25 Ayat A ....................................................... 26 Muhammad A, 8 .................................... 28 Abeera K, 10 ........................................... 29 Amelia H.W, Yr 4.................................... 31 Amiee S, 10 ............................................ 32 Umayrah R, 10 ....................................... 34 Connie D, 10 ........................................... 36 Muhammad I, 7 ..................................... 38 Aizah S, 7................................................. 39 Muhammad Shaheer K, 7 .................. 40 Maseehullah K, 8 .................................. 40 Hooria M, 8 ............................................. 41 Maariya S, 8 ............................................ 42 Daya KG, 7............................................... 43 Daud K, 9 ................................................. 44 Haris D, 8 ................................................. 45 Muhammad H, 7.................................... 46 Ubaydullah R, 7..................................... 47 Adiyan M, 7 ............................................. 48 Abdallah Y, 7........................................... 48 Easha H, 7 ............................................... 51 Yuvraaj C, 9 ............................................. 52

Zarva H, 8 ................................................ 53 Imogen H, 9 ............................................ 54 Iqra M, 8 .................................................. 56 Imogen O, 9 ............................................ 57 Mahbub K, 9 ........................................... 59 Ibrahim C, 8 ............................................ 59 Halima A, 9 ............................................. 60 Nibras A, 7............................................... 61 Sukhroop K, 9 ........................................ 62 Amina C, 10 ............................................ 64 Alfie T, 10 ................................................ 65 Dharin M, 9 ............................................. 67 Ayza A, 10................................................ 69 Lillie-Mae B, Yr 4 .................................. 72 Ewan V, 9 ................................................. 73 Kenzie A, 9 .............................................. 74 Charlie D, 9 ............................................. 76 Ellie FC, 9 ................................................ 77 Esme G, 9 ................................................ 80 Gracie B, 9 ............................................... 82 Katelin R, Yr 4 ........................................ 84 Magdalena C, 8 ..................................... 85 Myles H, 9 ............................................... 86

Priya H, 9 ................................................. 88 Sienna B, 9 .............................................. 90 Mysha M-H, 10 ...................................... 92 Jessica P, 10 ............................................ 94 Myah G, Yr 4 ........................................... 96 Jessica H, 10 .......................................... 97 Ruby D, 8 ................................................. 99 Faiza A, 11 ...........................................100 Federico S, 10 ......................................102 Tia K, 7 ...................................................103 Reuban – Raj B, 10 .............................105 Joshua L, 10 ..........................................107 Chloe T, 10 ............................................109 Ahdia A, 10 ...........................................111 Arliss T, Yr 4 ..........................................112 Heidi C-H, 10 ........................................113 Charis S, 9 .............................................115 Ubaid W, 10 .........................................117 Laiba A, 10 ............................................118 Maryam A, 10 .......................................119 Lilly J, Yr 4 .............................................120 Maryam H, 10 ......................................121 Sithel R, 6..............................................123 Abdalla A, 7 ..........................................124 Palak R, 6...............................................124 Aarhoi C, 6 ............................................125 Amolika N, 11 ......................................126 Manjot M, 7...........................................128 Jay A, 7....................................................128 Darcie H, 7 ............................................129 Cameron L ...........................................129 Aaliyah K, 7...........................................130 Aaliyah K, 7...........................................131 Victoria C, 7 ..........................................132 Harper L, 7 ............................................133

Shubdeep, 7..........................................133 Louie H, 10 ...........................................134 Selena C, 7 ............................................135 Maisy L C, 9...........................................136 Letisha L, 10 .........................................137 Finley B, 7..............................................139 Zack J, Yr 4.............................................140 Ronnie W, 8 ...........................................141 Anum B, 9..............................................142 Farhaan C, 10.......................................143 Jana J, 8 ..................................................145 Rosalie B-F, 10 ....................................146 Abeera K, 10 .........................................149 Zayan A, 7..............................................151

The Adventure To The Stone Age After weeks and months of learning my lessons at home, My eyes were tired, I wanted some time alone. Today, I didn’t want to use screens, just my imagination, So, I used a cardboard box to build a space station.

Winning Entry

I filled my bag with supplies and snacks, and headed into space. But I must’ve taken a wrong turn, what is this place? I peered through the cut-out window of the delivery box, and all I could see was dirt, dust and rocks. I slowly climbed over the steps with a clutter, but sadly, I dropped my toast full of butter. Then, I decided it was time to explore.

Nevaeh J, 8

Starting with that cave over there, which I couldn’t ignore. Deep inside, I found a Stone Age family. At first, they didn’t at all like me. Next, I said “I’m not going to hurt you.” They grunted “oooo OOOO oooo!” As, like you, I couldn’t understand them well, but then, in my head, it rang a bell. I pulled out my tablet and opened Google translate. I noticed the top left corner had a weird date, It said 2000BC, So, I took a screenshot quickly. Then I held out my tablet for the hairy, man to speak, It’s a good job I’ve got Wi-Fi, although the signal was weak.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

The robotic voice said “I’ve never seen your kind, who are you?” I reply “I come from the future. What’s that smell? Mammoth stew?” The mum quickly gave me a bowl, I was hungry, so it was nice. But then they offered me a kebab made from two roasted mice. One of the children showed me their family artwork wall, How did they paint so high? They must have been tall.

Second Place Entry

I noticed they only drew with red and brown, and then, I remembered my supplies, I bet they’ve never seen a pen! I searched my coat and checked every pocket, I told them to follow me back to my rocket, When we arrived, I gave the children my snacks. They’d never seen crisps let alone three packs. I gave them all of the pens, all the colours of the rainbow, Their eyes opened wide; they especially loved the yellow.

Amrisa D, 10

With a wave and a smile, I said ‘Goodbye’. I spotted an asteroid in the distance and said ‘The end is nigh!’ They ran back to their cave to try and find safety. I jumped in my rocket and headed home in time for tea.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

So I picked Ahmed up and set off. When I looked around, I saw broken

yet. My breath ran out so I stopped for a second. What was I doing? I could

lampposts everywhere. I almost hurt my foot from all the sharp glass on the

have been shot any second!

floor that had fallen from the shattered windows above. No one would ever believe it was once such a beautiful place with ice cream stands, coffee shops and wonderful buildings. Never.

BOOM! BAM! Two bullets flew in my direction. So again, I ran. Phew! Finally I reached the end of the road. As I looked around my mind was in a muddle. Where was I? Don’t tell me I was lost. I found an old tree stump so

The buildings were now skeletons with the remains of what looked like

I sat down like I was homeless and cried until my eyes became sore. Then I

doors. An old, rusty car was standing there like a tortoise if it had nowhere

felt like I was helpless to Granny.

to go. Nowhere at all. And it made a clunking noise like it wanted to talk to me. Scattered on the floor were sandy bricks and tiles and the rooftops of the demolished houses were covered with dirt. As I looked for trees, I noticed that they were going to disappear soon due to the bombing. The unwanted wind bit me as if it hated me and I was extremely worried. I really couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t. A brick zoomed past my head like the wind and clicked me back into the present. I needed to help Granny and deliver that medicine. I had to. I didn’t care about the amazingly dangerous journey, but I had to do this for her, after all she was the only adult in my family who lived with me and cared. I stared at my surroundings. A guard scanning the place for invaders. As I stopped daydreaming I noticed the rusty chains, which meant a checkpoint. The flag danced in the strong wind and I could tell it was the flag of my rivals. What would happen next? Would I get caught? All of a sudden, I heard men loading

Fed up and tired, I heard footsteps - was it one of the gunmen? A spooky silhouette tiptoed around. “You OK?” I gasped. But I shouldn’t have. It was a boy, about my age, dressed in baggy clothes and his face looked like somebody had splattered mud all over it. I had to tell him. So I blurted it all out, Granny, Dr Leila and everything else. I knew he’d help me. I spoke too soon. As quick as a flash, the boy disappeared. Tears started falling down. Was I not liked? No, that couldn’t be true. A few minutes later, the boy came back, a big grin on his face. What could all this excitement be about? A crumpled piece of paper was shoved in my face at that very moment. Sighing with relief, I carefully opened it. “A map!” I exclaimed. There was a cross marked on Dr Leila’s house, a light at the end of a tunnel. The unknown boy beamed with delight when he saw the look on my face. Time to get that medicine.

up their guns. My heart was pounding. I was stuck. But no. This was crucial. I ran. As fast as my legs could carry me. Luckily, the gunmen weren’t that close

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Arjan K, 10 Our Journey Far away in a mysterious, foreign land called Ravensdale only magical people lived there. The population of it is only small so it is quite spacious but the worst thing is that it is on a different planet called Zimatopatopia, which is

All Entries

twelve times bigger than the Earth, and there are only a population of no people. Can you believe it? The place called Ravensdale has no people. Well in England, to be specific London, there are three ten-year-old boys that found out about the planet Zimatopatopia. By the way, their names were Jack, Bill and Bob. Jack is very talkative; Bill is extremely silly and Bob is so intelligent for his age. So, they all made a masterplan to get to the peculiar planet. They all came up with a phenomenal idea and it was to fly in a space ship and get to the enigmatic planet. So, they buckled up their seatbelts and got ready to blast off into space to find this planet. They were going 99mph, so they were going really fast (it was life-threatening). Once they finally got there, they felt like they were dreaming there was chocolate everywhere. There were chocolate rivers, chocolate buildings and an overwhelming amount more so they stayed there forever and never came back to the earth ever again. The end

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Ayat A

“Oh no” cried the princess. “Don’t worry, I have a plan,” said the man. He got a branch laid it out on the broken bridge. “Just step on the branch young girl” said the man.

“I order you, Princess Anastasia, to find your dad King Edward the Wise. He has been missing for two weeks and hasn’t been seen. He was supposed

“Ok,” said Anastasia nervously.

to be on a journey to defeat Bob the Evil but he hasn’t returned home.

“You’ll be fine, don’t be nervous,” said the man. They climbed the branch.

You are now on a mission to find your dad. Take this map, it will help you.

It was getting dark, so they took a break. They made a fire together. The man

If you followed it correctly it would have led you to a vimay, it’s called Magic

found out that the girl had blisters on her hands so the man waved his staff

Lane,” said the Queen.

without the girl looking. The blisters were gone.

The map was a gold colour. It was ancient and magical. The ancient map felt

They followed the path and there was a door. It said ‘find five keys to open

smooth on the princess’s fingers. The princess blew the dust off the map and

it’ so they did. They opened the doors and they arrived at Magic Lane. They

she was ready to set off on her journey. She skipped her way to the forest until

knocked on the door and there was a sorcerer.

it started to get windy and even more windy and more windy. Eventually her map blew off. She tried to catch it but she couldn’t. She cried hopelessly. She saw an old man. He had a long beard, a wrinkly face, pale skin and he had a staff in his hand. The mysterious figure asked: “Why are you crying?”

The old man screamed: “My twin.” When they came in the house they saw Anastasia’s dad in a cage. the princess screamed: “My dad!” The twins fought and the old man won. They lived happily ever after.

The princess answered. “My map has flown away because of the wind. I’m on a journey to find my dad, will you help me?” asked Anastasia. “Of course I will. I live there.” “Brilliant.” said Anastasia happily. They climbed up the mountain and had a snow ball fight. They followed the path. There was a half-broken bridge. 26

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Muhammad A, 8

On the day I had to go to Pakistan I got in my car and went to the airport. On the way I saw lush green trees, tall enormous houses and speedy cars, buses and bikes. I also saw birds, planes flying in the sky. Once I reached the airport I saw planes taking off and landing. I even saw people going in and out of the planes with their luggage.

Abeera K, 10

“Mum, can you tell us a story please,” said Etana, Leela’s daughter. “What story do you want?” “About you,” said Roman, Leela’s son. “Okay, let me take you back 26 years. This was a very stressful time. It was

My brother and my parents also went with me. At the airport there were announcements of flights when they were ready. My mum bought me and my brother some muffins and milkshakes. I was feeling happy and excited because I couldn’t wait to get there. We got on the plane when our announcement was made. I found my seat and sat there quickly, near to the window. When I looked out of the window I saw the wing of the plane and some part of the airport. When the plane took off on my left side I saw an alien called Bzoorp. He had four arms, ten fingers on all four hands and only one eye. When I asked him where he was from he said the answer in a funny language that nobody could understand.

when Covid was around and I was your age Etana,” Leela said. As she said this the room flashed all colours of the rainbow Leela and her kids had been transported back to the year 2020. “Mum, where are we?” Asked Etana with fear in her voice. “The year 2020,” Leela said with confidence. In front of them they could see Leela as a nine-year-old girl sitting on the sofa with her parents watching an announcement by the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. He was saying something like:

After some time I had my meal and had a nap. As soon as the plane landed

“I am deeply sorry to say that from the 16th of March 2020, the UK will go

I woke up and I saw everybody getting off their seats. I was tired but excited

into lockdown, meaning all non-essential contact should cease. All schools will

to see my family. That was my best journey to Pakistan.

be shutting since the virus hit so hard and the only people who are allowed in school are children whose parents are key workers and cannot work from home.” In the morning their mum walked into the room and said: “So, Jaya your teachers have posted work on Google Classroom and we need to check for

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

you two,” she said pointing at Anaiya and Leela. “Dunno!” replied Leela feeling very unsure. She printed some sheets out and it was A LOAD of work! By the end of the day, there was enough work to make a tornado out of it! Leela asked “Isn’t this a bit much work?”

“This carried on into 2021, but then the Covid vaccine was produced and things started to look brighter. We got to meet our family and friends again and Covid became a distant memory.” “Let’s go now,” said Leela The End

All three of them were as tired as a man who had run five marathons. This happened for two months, until the teachers in Anaiya and Leela’s school started posting work on an app called Google Classroom.

Amelia H.W, Yr 4

“What’s google classroom?” asked Etana “I’ll tell you another time,” said Leela. The kids wanted to see what it was like in the local area, so they took a very quiet bus ride to the local supermarket. It was crazy!! You had to line up outside and people were getting very annoyed with each other. Inside the store, shoppers were fighting over pasta, rice and flour which were in short supply but what shocked them the most was seeing people rolling in the aisles rowing over toilet paper, of all things! Leela took them back to her family home. “We spent a lot of time inside and had to miss out on tons of family celebrations it was a difficult and uncertain

Lots of snacks and pop. Video calls with family. I love KFC

time but we got to make friends with our neighbours and spend quality time as family,” Leela explained. “The teachers at our school worked extremely hard to make sure we had work and that we were ok.”

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Amiee S, 10

The car was stuck in some sand that had blown over from the beach, but not to worry because Mum had a plan! “Dad, push the car out of the sand as I try to drive out,” boasted Mum. Drive, drive, drive and the car slowly came out with the wheels covered in sand, and Dad too!

My holiday journey. My family (my Mum, Dad, brother, sister and I) were going on a camping holiday to warm and sunny Wales. Everyone was so excited and wanted to be there soon.

After a while, we had put up the tent and put everything inside it. Laying down sleeping bags and pulling clothes out of bags wasn’t much fun for me, but I was waiting patiently until we got to go to the beach.

We travelled to our destination in our car. We all had to be very patient as it takes a long time to get there. “One more hour until we get there,” shouted mom over the radio in the car. After a long journey I was getting tired of doing nothing, until I saw what I had been waiting for. “I see the sea!” I said looking at the turquoise water, waiting for someone else to notice.

Finally we got into the car, it felt so much bigger now without our tent and everything in it. I could finally stretch my legs! We drove along the road taking in the wonderful view of the sea, until we eventually got to the sandy beach. We spent all day building sand castles, drawing pictures in the sand and covering ourselves in it. We played in the sea as the sun started to set into the evening sky. It really was the best day

After a little while longer I could see a long, winding, narrow causeway

of my life!

leading to the campsite full of sand and nature. I was so excited as I knew we were finally there. I could smell the sea! Five minutes after we had got there we all surely wanted to explore the campsite and go to the beach but we still had to put up the tent. Whilst driving around looking for the perfect place to set up our camp, the car got stuck in the sand! “Hmm,” thought Mum, thinking about how to get it out. “I have an idea!” At the same time we had found a great space to put the tent and park too.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Umayrah R, 10

Obviously, that’s why I’m telling you this story. After creeping past, we met Merlin. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as expected, he turned out to be Moany Merlin rather than Marvellous Merlin. Alice negotiated with him for his so

Just Another Video Game Journey

called “spell”. It went like this: “Oshko-shlafee-go-nah-nee-lee!” A puff of

I’ve read many stories, none of which compare to this experience. It all

smoke and we faced the extremely tall Mount Jisapling.

started when me, my best friend, Alice, and my brother, Jake, gathered to play a video game. I found an old game, removed it from its rusty case, and we started playing. Suddenly, the room was spinning, and we landed in an unknown place. Alice said we were inside the game. Alice is never wrong.

We climbed forever! Well, not forever per-se but it felt like that. Eventually we reached the top and continued our quest. After numerous hours we spotted a perplexing glow inside a pitch-black, strangely intriguing cave.

We were inside the game! We were wandering around in what looked like a

“That must be the Stone!” We all exclaimed in excitement! I bravely offered

deserted battlefield.

to go in alone. But my companions refused. Alice grabbed my hand and

A talking pigeon that really helped greeted us. His name, well now I think about it, I don’t know his name. Anyway, he squealed: “For the answer you

reminded me we were in this together. Jake insisted he was going in even if it killed him! So, we all went in together and embraced the Stone.

seek, you must first answer my riddle. I walk on my bed, but I have no limbs,

Soon we realised our dependable guide, the pigeon that really helped, hadn’t

I have a mouth but no face, what am I?”

instructed us with what to do next. Jake, holding the Stone started glowing

“A river!” Alice shouted! Yep, like you, I’m still confused at how that was the

and looked poisoned. Alice then touched it and she started glowing too.

answer, but it was! The pigeon revealed to return home we needed to find

“Oh, well” I thought, and grabbed the stone. Weird choice, but then again

the Stone of Maldingthou. We had to navigate through a dangerous jungle

it got us home. Sorry for spoiling the story! Anyhow, the room was spinning

following which, on the highest peak of the main mountain, Mount Jisaplig

again, I opened my eyes, I was home! Beside me was the worst game in

we would find our answer. He reassured us the task was impossible, but with

history! I wanted that game to become history! I threw it out the window

only one hope, a wizard, Marvellous Merlin, could help.

only to be picked up curiously by my next-door neighbour! Great!

We reluctantly set off on our journey. Jake suggested we blast through the dangerous jungle, I declined. “We should sneak past,” I said, quickly followed by: “failing that, we run for our lives!” We continued through hastily, and guess what? We survived! 34

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Connie D, 10

I stood still to make sure it was okay to pass but soon regretted my choice. I ran onwards to Granny’s life. I ran. I jumped. I fell. My head hit the ground and I thought I saw my enemies reaching out. I picked myself up. This journey isn’t about me but my guardian. I was past. Exhausted but

I picked up Ahmed and set off. Beirut was horrible in war time. There were

determined, I continued walking. I looked back and I saw the blurry chained

street lamps sunbathing in the smoke. Nerves ran through my body. I tried

that had slowed me down. Was it too late to turn back? I didn’t want to

to tread carefully but no matter how hard I tried broken glass was digging

admit it but I was starting to give up. I was tired. I was lost. I had no hope.

into my tired feet.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure about my age walked out of a bombed house. The

SMASH! Windows were hanging from their houses like they had given up so I stepped away, trying not to hurt Ahmed. The city was a volcano about to erupt and I tried to imagine happy things but all that came to me was a grey blank wall standing as still as a statue. There were puddles of red ink from bodies that had tried to escape. All that was left of my once beautiful

boy finally came out into the smoky air and talked in a dark but shy voice. “You okay?” he said in a high-pitched tone like a bird singing. That’s when my emotions took over. I had tears dripping down my face, a stream running into an ocean. I told him about Granny and the checkpoint.

city was now a dump of rubbish. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach

I was shocked, he just walked off like I was a ghost. Now my tears weren’t a

and it swam away.

stream but a lake. Why, why when I want to do something nice for someone

An airplane was chasing me so I jumped out the way and luckily didn’t get killed. Memories were swimming towards my brain, I wanted them to escape

the world goes against me? Suddenly the miracle I had dreamed about came true. He was holding an old piece of parchment in his hands.

but soon realised nothing I wanted ever happened. I pushed through the

“For you, no money to pay, it help,” he said. I was so intrigued by the map he

pain of my broken heart as Granny was more important. I took a minute to

had given me - he was gone before I could say bye. A house that was known

take back the city that was once a dream. My heart was melting away and

by my eyes very well was marked Doctor Leila’s house. My heart stopped

before I knew it a rusty chain was blocking my way to Granny’s future life.

with relief. The hope that was once gone was back and I now knew to have

I soon noticed I was in a pool of hate, if anyone found me at another city’s

faith and believe in myself – I might just finish the journey after all.

checkpoint I would be joining my mother. The glass at either end of the checkpoint was as worn out as my legs. Where were the men that ended my city? I must run, now I have the chance.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Muhammad I, 7

Aizah S, 7

One day I was going to Bangladesh. In the aeroplane, while I was going to

Once, our dad woke us to a surprise. He said we were going to Europe!

the toilet, I saw a strange passenger in the toilet. He grinned at me and then

Me and my brother got really excited. We decided to pack up. We packed

THREE MORE EYES POPPED OUT! Then I started to think of what to

clothes, snacks, activity, books and homemade food (in case there isn’t any

do as I running away. Just then I ran to the pilot’s door and then threw them

halal food). Finally we were in the car. It was very boring. But luckily we had

on the floor. Next I made an announcement but then everyone started to

a pencil so I can play with my activity book. First we went to a city called

panic very, very extremely loudly!

Dover because we had to catch a ferry. When we were entering the ferry it looked like a big car park. Inside the ferry there were funny chickens doing

“Oops,” I said.

an Irish dance. It made me laugh. Suddenly, a magic door appeared. I went

Luckily someone phoned the police. Soon when the police came, they tried to arrest the alien but there was more than that! It had a discussion old a phoar on! The policed used all their might and put his head in the toilet and flushed it down. Finally every shouted: “Hooray.”

through it to see what the chickens were up to. Then we reached France. We slept in the car. But then the chickens got funnier! They were singing “happy birthday” while slapping, their arms, wriggling their toes and looking at their beaks.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Muhammad Shaheer K, 7

Hooria M, 8

Diary entry: My Journey to Pakistan I was at the boring airport of the planet Mars. Although the Earth is destroyed

One special day we woke up in the world of good and disasters. We were

by a sphere bomb. While I was watching TV at the airport, a small flying

packing everything in one enormous room. Suddenly everything we need to

ship crashed beside me. It was time to board the plane and two handsome

pack flew and it took two seconds to put the clothes in the suitcase. There

boys and I went to fix the crashed ship. Shortly, I heard a horrible and furious

were stairs so again the suitcase flew and it gave us a lift. We got to sit on the

voice of an evil person. He made Covid-19 germs by picking his nose. Since

suitcases and WHOOSH.

he was busy making germs the plane to Pakistan left and destroyed the airport. I felt glad because the person was dead and no one was harmed.

We put the suitcases in the magic car. When we sat in the car the car started to fly. The car asked: “Where would you like to go?” “That was strange!” said Hooria.

Maseehullah K, 8

Normally it takes about six hours to go to Italy. You know what? This was strange. It was the opposite of six hours. Instead it took us six minutes. Then six minutes later we arrived to Italy’s house. “Oh hello I missed you.”

When we got to Makkah we went to sleep because it was night. In the morning

Seven days later, and this is a secret. Shhhh. Don’t tell everyone. I don’t know

we were so tired we stayed in Makkah for two weeks then went Madina.

any secrets.

In Madina we went to two museums and in them we saw the old sheets of

The end

Kaaba how Nabawi looked before and the key to the Kaaba and on the way to them we saw a snake. On the way to Walsall in the aeroplane we saw a zombie and everyone got scared and we need to have an emergency landing and then we went back to Walsall.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Maariya S, 8

Daya KG, 7 My Journey To Bourne Vale Stables

Last year, me and my family went to visit my grandparents in India. The

Hi, I am Daya. I really like horses and one day I asked my parents if I could

journey was very exciting. I was sitting next to the windows in the plane. It was

have horse riding lessons. They said I could visit a horse stable. As soon

dark, warm, cosy and most of the people including my parents were sleeping,

as I stepped out of the car I ran to the horses. They were beautiful! I really

apart from a few who were watching TV. I was quiet hungry, as I didn’t eat

liked the white-faced roan named Brock and one with a black with a star on

much that day, and then I saw a magical cat outside the window carrying some

his forehead named Rio. I turned to my Daddy and begged him for riding

delicious chocolate and pink icing cakes, despite being pitch dark.

lessons here. In the office a tall man sat behind the desk, he asked how old I was and said he would put my name on the waiting list. I stood staring at all

I asked: “What is your name?”

the posters on the wall. I was extremely excited as we drove back home. Every

The cat replied: “My name is Arisha”. I asked for some cakes, as I was starving. Just then, a huge, fluffy, white rabbit started jumping on the clouds and snatching cakes from the cat. Suddenly, a handsome superhero called Cat Man appeared. He was wearing a red and blue coloured velvet cape. He snatched the cakes from the cat and distributed equally among me, rabbit and cat. Everyone was happy and enjoyed their delicious cakes.

single day I would ask my parents if the stables had called but the answer was always no. Every single night I would dream of the horses. Then eventually, six months later, they called and said I could have a lesson on Saturday. When Saturday finally arrived I jumped out of bed. I put on my black jodhpurs, a zebra patterned t-shirt, a warm gilet and a grey jacket with a pink flowery brooch. Mummy said there was still four whole hours to go! I kept looking at the clock on the microwave but it just didn’t seem to change. My sister wanted to play a horse game with me so I agreed. After

All of a sudden, I woke up, and realised it was a dream and I was now in India

what seemed like two minutes Mummy said it was time to go. I bolted down

with my grandparents who welcomed us with flower garlands and delicious

the stairs, pulled my boots on and raced out of the front door.

tasty sweets. When we reached their home, I saw the same cat (dream) except it wasn’t magical.

As Mummy drove I kept waggling my feet and squealing because I was so excited! I looked out of the car window and saw trees, houses and buildings passing by in a blur. We drove past my school. I saw the shop where Daddy usually buys his beers and some treats for my sister and I. I wasn’t bothered

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Haris D, 8

about treats today, the stables itself was my huge treat of the year! I imagined how it would feel to actually ride a real life horse at the age of seven. As I was daydreaming my sister was complaining inaudibly (something about it not being fair). I didn’t even realise the car had stopped until Mummy opened my door to let me out. At first I was sat back and relaxed. Suddenly I had butterflies In my tummy as I realised we were at the stables! I was nervous-cited (nervous and excited all at the same time). I walked over the arena with a beaming smile on my face. I mounted with my left foot in the left stirrup and jumped up. Suddenly my right foot was in the right stirrup. Quite soon after that I was walking, trotting, halting, circling and changing directions. I soon discovered that Pebbles and I were a perfect pair and this was the start of my horse riding journey.

A while ago I travelled to London because I was flying to Turkey, along with my mother. We parked our car in the car park and started taking out our luggage. Next moment I looked out behind my bag to see if everything was there then I saw a unicorn. I was happy. So much. I sat on it and it started moving. I nearly fell off it. I had fun with it. But then I had to go for my flight. I was going into the plane, then I sat down in the plane. After a while the plane was in the sky the pilot started singing and forgot to turn off the mic so passengers could hear him. Some joined in singing, some laughed. I slept in the plane for a while and then woke up. I looked outside the window and saw a chicken with two shining eyes and long legs. Finally after nearly a day of flying I got to Turkey. We put our suitcases in a car and

Daud K, 9

my grandmother came, and my mum’s younger sister was at the airport to welcome us.

As I woke up on this cold gloomy night I looked to the side I saw a green light through the window. I got out of the bed and put my slippers on to see what it was. I saw aliens in my back garden. I went outside and asked what they were doing they said: “You have been chosen to go to Planet Bang!” I was speechless. I just said “ok” and went in the space craft. The alien pressed a red button and we teleported to space. As I stepped out of the ship I was on Planet Bang. I could see other Aliens partying. There were cupcakes and snacks. We all partied and had a good time but after a bit I had to go.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Muhammad H, 7

Ubaydullah R, 7 The Journey to the amazing land of dreams

I am excited to go Pakistan and meet my grandparents. We are ready with

I was just checking if there was any mail, then I thought about a Lamborghini

our luggage at the airport. It is crowded with people ready to go around on

and an Audi and then there was a Cambald. I went inside with my family.

the plane and I can see it outside. It is long and big. I can’t wait to get on

Then it took us to a place that said BEWARE. We went inside and found

the plane. I am happy I am on the plane finding my seat. I can see the big

armour, shields and swords so we put them on then went deeper and fought

ground with lots of shinning lights all bright, ready to take off. I can hear

mobs. There were vampires, zombies, spiders, skeletons and much more.

the engine roaring and the plane starts to move. I am nervous.

We destroyed them all. Then we found lots of doors and went through

The plane has taken off safely and we are in the sky going through the clouds. I can smell something. Yes, time for lunch. I am so hungry. Time to nap, the lights all switched off. It was so noisy before, peace, at last. As I started to sleep, all of a sudden, the plane started to shake. I got scared and terrified. Everyone was scared and looking at each other I pulled the blanket over my head. There was a thunder storm outside.

one door that said uboydullah haunted? So we found some place that I can control. When we stumbled upon Robot and Dino Core and also a monster named Skrr that attacked us. Our new friends gave me some armour and I put it on then I found a dice that I put into Dino Core which turned into a giant robot with me inside it. We won! Then there was a button that I pressed and it brought me back so there was another button that could take me back and forth.

I peered out and could see the dark black sky and lighting. The pilot said not to worry, it all will be ok. Everyone started to tell jokes to each other to make them feel better. A person behind me said “What has a noise and flies but can’t smell? Air plane.” And everyone laughed. All of a sudden the plane started shaking it seemed like the storm stopped. Everyone was smiling after our long journey. It was time for landing. The plane reached the ground and everyone shouted “hurray”. We were at Pakistan.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Adiyan M, 7

After recovering from her accident, she decided to have a look at the loose timber and noticed something was beneath it. She admired the unusual, sparkly, purple book. She was now looking at it! She squeezed her hand through the gap and grabbed it, and without thinking, she opened it.

The Magical Glass There was a boy named Adiyan. Adiyan touched a designed glass on his desk. It took him to Glass Land and everything was made out of glass such as big big towers, trees, castles and more other magnificent things. Adiyan accidently walked into a dinosaur cage and the door shut. He didn’t really know it was a dinosaur cage so he wandered around for a bit. A big dinosaur

She looked at the page blankly, there was nothing written on the page until words started swirling into appearance. She read them in her mind. “Go forth”, they said. Katie obeyed the order and went to the next page, but no matter how many times she did it kept saying the same words: “Go forth!”

came to whack Aidyan out, but Adiyan rubbed the magical glass and it took

“Ok, I am” she answered impatiently. And this time it said “No literally

him back home. The end

say ‘go forth’.” So Katie again obeyed the book and said: “Go forth,” and a shaking tornado arrived. The tornado was very strong. It blew the house

Abdallah Y, 7

away but when the tornado stopped, she thought she was at home but when she went out of the house, she saw that she was in a totally different city. New world, new city. Katie looked around, it was like being inside a movie, only this time it was

Journey to the Lost City of Oz Hi I’m Katie, I was having a normal life with no strange things happening in my time until I found an abnormal book.

real. Not long later she noticed an unusual building shaped like a dragon, no one was around so she just went into the dragon-looking house. She was keen to know where she was. She instantly saw lots and lots of people and a

Curiosity does a lot

brown curved desk in the ocean blue room. Behind the desk was a dragon. She

“Katie! wake up the school bus is coming soon!” Mum called from downstairs.

thought it was scary, she felt like screaming. Being separated from home in a

Katie groaned and got up from bed, she did not want to go school again. Being new was not easy. As she got up from bed, she heard her mum mumble something before the front door hurriedly opened and closed. Just as she was about to enter the kitchen she stumbled over a loose timber of wood “Oww!” Katie exclaimed. 48

split second and with no warning was not enjoyable at all, but sooner or later, the dragon came to Katie and starting chatting with her like it was so normal. The dragon told her: “The city you’re in now is called Oz.” When Katie got out of the house they sent her to a school. She liked the fact

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Easha H, 7

that all the people she met cared. Everyone in school was chatting with each other, and just when she came in, a girl went up to her and said about what all these people were talking about and that Katie’s mum was so worried. Katie was extremely surprised. How can my mum have a friend in a different world? She said her name was Magest. She told Katie that everyone is talking

I went to the supermarket and bought some groceries and my favourite juice.

about the strongest magic in the land of Oz.

A man was paying at the till, his phone rang and he put his bag down and

Magest’s story starts here: “Once upon a time there was a knight. The knight was the most powerful in the city so some people wanted the knight to take the magic so he can win every war only by himself only using the sword, shield and magic. Some people did not want the knight to have it just in case the knight was evil and killed everyone. The people who wanted the knight to have the magic easily won the election but the knight sadly died another day. They don’t know who the magic will choose after the knight.” Welcome home When school was over, Katie was exhausted. She was definitely new to magic

moved to the side to talk to his friend on the phone. Whilst he was at it I went to pay for my stuff. After I paid my phone rang so I put my bag next to his and talked to my friend on the phone. The guy on the phone before me left with the wrong bag! Two minutes later I got off the phone and took his bag home. My mum was shouting at me for getting the wrong stuff. I told her I got everything on the list. Meanwhile at his house his mum was shouting at him for getting the wrong stuff too. Suddenly they realised they took each other’s bags they went to the shop and exchanged bags. The end.

school. As Katie walked out of school, Magest invited Katie to her home and so Katie accepted the invitation as she had nowhere else to go. But to her surprise, her mum was there, waiting impatiently to see her beloved daughter, and before she knew it, Katie was being squashed into a tight hug with her mum. In no longer than that, Katie found herself being dragged along the road and into a new house. She tried to absorb all this new information and city. Home Sweet Home Katie said: “I am tired of this big journey to the land of Oz. I hope you enjoyed this story. See you in my next book.” The End 50

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Yuvraaj C, 9

Zarva H, 8

My Journey to the Future

Journey to the Opposite World

One day I saw a ball. It said on there: “The Future”. I thought it was a present

Once there was a girl named Mia and her brother named Jack. They both

from my Mum, who was always nice, so I pressed a red button on it. Little

lived with their parents.

did I know, it was going to take me to the future! I then saw a ginormous pipe. As I was going through I could see colours like a rainbow everywhere. After 30 seconds I arrived at a high tech city. It looked like the inside of a laptop! They looked like humans except they were all wearing laser goggles they were an orangey, red. Also they had plasticky, rubber jackets. Just then I saw that instead of fruits growing on a tree, sweets were. I stood in amazement, I climbed a tree and ate one of the sweets. It was the greatest, most spectacular sweet I’ve ever tasted. But then I saw the greatest invention

One day Mia and Jack discovered a secret attic in their house with a funnylooking mirror. Jack touched the mirror and went through it. Mia chased after him. They saw a sign saying: “Welcome to Opposite World”. They both looked confused. They tried to find a way out. They saw a policeman. He stole Mia’s earrings. A robber arrested the policeman. It was dark and everyone was awake like it was morning! Finally they found a way out. The end.

ever. It was FLYING CARS! I’ve always dreamt about there being flying cars. And normally in the city it smelt like smog but here I thought the cars only ran on electric because I could smell no smog. The amount of sound was not that high, actually it was pretty normal. I felt the houses it was shiny and it felt like aluminium, I was amazed because normally aluminium is expensive. The ground was also made of aluminium! Because there was no smog, I could smell the cinnamon buns from the bakery. But that was enough for today, I switched the ball to “Present” and I pressed the red button and went home through the rainbow pipe.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Imogen H, 9

Instantly, I knew it was the golden sunflowers situated on my left who were singing. Picking myself up, I carefully jumped across a meandering stream. Whilst the bluebells and sunflowers continued to make a sound, I wandered around. Spotting some daisies, I knew they would soon blow my mind.

Picking up my paint brush, I delicately begin to create my art work. After a

Swaying from side to side, the daisies were now dazzling, dancing daisies.

while, the myriad of colours formed a picture of a carpet of bluebells, vibrant

Some flowers acted normal others were strange. Wondering if it was the end,

sunflowers, rows upon rows of daises and daffodils in the Saltwells Wood.

the playing of a trumpet could be heard from all around. From the corner

Many people had stared and walked away except one. She wore an ebony

of my eye, a vibrant daffodil continued the trumpet tune. Dancing along, I

black cape and hood. I didn’t get a glimpse of her face, all I remember was

galloped around the woodlands. All was fine until…

the mysterious figure clicking her fingers. Rubbing my eyes, I gazed endlessly at a wonder. Where am I? Why am I here? How am I here? Slowly turning my head, I spotted an element of my painting. Questions raced through my mind, like a rollercoaster ride and I

Admiring the breath-taking flowers, grinning from ear to ear, I raced around ignoring the bite of the wind. “Come on this way! Oops!” a voice echoed.

knew the answers were out of reach. Strolling further through the woods,

A loud bang could be heard afterwards, almost like the shattering of glass.

vibrant flowers passed as well as fascinating creatures. As the wind kissed my

Cascading down my forehead, a spot of water unexpectedly entered this

cheeks, pollen tickled my nose, causing me to sneeze. A cacophony of noises

world. Raindrops turned into a storm and slowly, one by one, step by step,

could be heard from all around. Chirps of birds, the blowing of the wind

the landscape began to fade, as well as my joy.

and the scurrying of the creatures. DING DONG!

Waking from my slumber, I instantly realised there was no bluebells ringing,

Slowly, I turned my head. I stopped. I stared. Scared, confused, astonished,

no singing sunflowers, no dazzling, dancing daisies and no trumpet playing

I observed the strange but beautiful woods checking for company. DING

daffodils. However, what I did see was an ordinary wood with my smudged

DONG! There it was again. This time my heart was beating as fast as a drum.

painting. Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t.

Without warning, when stepping forward, I stumbled hitting my elbow on the grass. Shocked in disbelief, I realised the delicate bluebells were moving, as well as ringing. Even though I was trembling with fear, my nerves were deserting me.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Imogen O, 9

to carry on with her adventure then she had to climb it. Just as she started scaling the mountain she saw a small dog whimpering and crying. It must be lost. As she edged closer, the dog looked up at Lizzy and

There was a girl, who was an average height and had brown hair, from a small town called Padville. The girl’s name is Lizzy. She lived in a small council house on an average-sized estate with delightful neighbours. Lizzy was one of those girls who loves the outdoors and exploring. Sometimes, she dreams that she is on an adventure in a forest fighting lions and wolves. In the morning, she woke up bright and early. She packed her bags with sandwiches, rope and water. Lizzy left the front door and slammed it shut behind her. The path outside her house was cracked and needed relaying but the builder and landlords were too lazy to do so. Her mum and dad were both at work, so they don’t know what Lizzy is planning.

stuck its tongue out. Tentatively, so she didn’t get bitten, she picked the dog up and took him on her adventure. So off they went scaling the mountain. When they reached the top, she took a deep breath and saw the drop. She had only brought sandwiches and rope, how was she going to get down? There was only one way! She found two logs so she put her backpack and the dog on one and her on the other. And together they slid down the mountain as if in unison. And as quick as a flash, they had made it. She stood up, brushed herself off and got her stuff. Suddenly, as she went round the bend, she saw a little shack that was furnished on the inside and covered in vines. The bike, which was outside, was covered in a mint green paint and gloss. So, together the opened

Across the road from her house is a restaurant called ‘The Sir Fredrick’ so

the oak door and peered inside. They saw a sofa so they sat down together

her journey started there. She went past the pub and down the road to the

and relaxed.

Padville Canal. There was a bridge across the canal. She had to face her fear of water. She had a mild case of aquaphobia so going on this bridge was a stepping stone to her fear being gone. Now that it was over, she took a deep breath and carried on walking. Lizzy tried to ring her mum but all she got was a voice message. Her mum and dad were terrible with technology so even answering their phones was a hard task. Just as she started to see a light at the end of the forest, Lizzy was shocked at what she saw next. She saw a gigantic mountain the size of eight double-decker buses. It was a deep grey with a snowy top and if she wanted

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Iqra M, 8

Mahbub K, 9

Trapped on the Island of Adventure

The journey to school

One day Iqra and the owl took a ship out on sea. One hour later there was a

Once upon a time I thought it was going to be a regular day but it surely

thunder storm and we got shipwrecked on Adventure Island. They woke up

was not. Me and my dad and brother’s set off. My dad said: “Hey, don’t, as

and went to find shelter. Nearby there was a little cave so they took shelter

roads look different.”

there. The next day they had a banana and fish for breakfast. After, they saw a note that said: “Beware, adventures be found”. Now they wanted to go more! They all started to collect materials like wood, leaves and animal leather. They did this to make another boat. The next day there was a mermaid, her name was Nideane. So Nicola, Iqra and the owl all worked together to build a boat. A few days later the boat was ready so they can’t wait to get back. So they said goodbye and set sail for home.

I said: “Yes but I think you should keep on going straight.” So he did we ran into a big problem the car ran out of gas and there was a tiger. My dad was fighting the tiger and my brothers ran to get some people to tame the tiger. But I could do it. My oldest brother and I fought the tiger for three hours five minutes and 3.5 seconds and he won then we went home and fell asleep and forgot everything. The end.

What a wonderful adventure. I bet they can’t wait for more!

Ibrahim C, 8 One day I was at home, but it was raining, yes raining. “It’s always boring rain, ugh, what should I do?” I thought. Bang, crack, ding, boom. “What? Oh, it’s the cat. I want a new one this one is naughty!” I said. So I had the idea to go on holiday, I called my sister and invited her on holiday to go to Africa. She got ready. 58

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Nibras A, 7

Chapter 2 We had an option to sail or fly. We sailed and finally we got to Africa. We stayed in a hotel called Farrier Hotel. There were tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars, snow leopards and cheetahs and more big cats.

Dear Diary, It was the Big Day. We were going to Canada so we did the stuff and saw a

We explored nature the next day, we picked a leopard egg up (we had permission

dragon. It said: “Hop on.” We went in time and I saw a UFO targeting us!

by our tour guide) but suddenly the egg cracked the baby leopard jumped onto

We saw a cheetah and we told the dragon he breathed his flaming blast fire to

my shoulder. Amimita said “aww”. After two minutes we went back to the

the UFO as a warning, so he flew us to the country and we were in Canada!

hotel and the leopard followed you. After we finished our holiday we sailed home, with the leopard. And that’s why we have a big garden at home.

We looked at the cool sights. We were at my cousin’s house and played Roblox after Monopoly. I won. After we ate lunch then went to a circus. My sister didn’t want to come because of clowns so my mum was there with my

Halima A, 9

sis, so we went to the circus. First we went to the rollercoaster, then horse riding after. We went home to my cousin’s house and after months we went back. The end.

Journey to Spain Hello, my name is Halima and today I am going to share with you my amazing and exiting journey to Spain. It all started when we were thinking where to go on holiday, then I suggested Spain and everyone agreed. So, later that day, we were all ready to go to Spain. When we got there, we booked our hotel. The ticket lady was very grumpy, and I still think she was a spy agent in disguise looking out for suspicious people. When we got to our hotel room, we unpacked and went to the city centre and bought some fresh, Spanish ice-cream and spent the day at the beach.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Sukhroop K, 9

watching the news and my parents tried to shield us away from watching what was going on in the outside world. We heard the grown-ups sometimes talking about it around us, but I think they were doing their best by shielding

The lockdown no one knew about... On March 23rd the world went into lockdown. For this had never been done before, therefore no one knew what was coming. It was almost as if the world stood still! I want to tell my part of the story of what I saw happening in front of my eyes. How no one could predict what was happening, or going to happen next or even how the world was going to get out of this disaster.

us away from negativity and concentrating on getting us through this. Everyone was trying to find something to do and occupy themselves. I tried to occupy myself by cooking, drawing, going on bike rides and the world were making NHS posters for our windows. Every Thursday I remember we would get out our pots and pans and go outside and clap for the NHS. Just to show them our appreciation of support. To thank them and show them

Things were about to change and fast. It was going to be a new world with big

their help wasn’t going unnoticed. I really saw all my neighbours make such

changes, with strict changes and changes no one had any control over. The

an effort and it was so nice to see everyone outside smiling, waving at each

only thing that had control over our world at the moment was a thing called

other and just having that sense of community. All the world wanted to do

coronavirus. The virus which changed the world we live in. A virus which

was see our family and friends.

changed our community, challenged our faith, shut down our education and silenced the world.

We all came to realise materialistic things don’t matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was all our loved ones’ health. We wanted to make sure

The government announced all the shops were closing unless you sold food

everyone around us was safe and nothing was going to happen. As everyone

produce, schools were closed unless you were a child of the NHS worker

had to listen to the government’s rules it was decided we could only go out

(known as a frontline worker), businesses were shut down, worship places

to exercise once a day. We were allowed out local where we could spend a

were closed, and the streets were empty.

maximum of one hour per day. It was the part of the day we looked forward

The Government for the United Kingdom advised the people to STAY AT HOME, STAY SAFE AND SAVE LIVES. We were all shocked to hear this very surprising news as no one expected the world to close down like this. The NHS has always been there to do its best to save lives. Never did we think they would be in a position where they wouldn’t be able to cope with the impact of this virus. As children we weren’t 62

to. We would go with our parents to ride our bikes, go for a walk around the block or go to the local park. The play areas were closed in parks, you could only go for walks. In my family we were making chocolate Rice Krispy cakes, cooking sushi with my dad, making banana bread and my favourite part was having barbecues in our garden. The world started to communicate through FaceTime, Zoom

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Alfie T, 10

and WhatsApp. Every grandparent in the world learnt how to communicate through gadgets. It was very hard not to be able to see our loved ones, so keeping in touch this way still meant we could keep in touch. People around us were losing their loved ones, seeing their loved ones ill, losing jobs and most of all losing hope. I’m too young to understand, I’m too afraid to ask and too innocent to even grasp what on Earth is going on? How will we get out of this? Where are we going from here?

It was a Sunday evening and I was feeling scared. School was tomorrow morning and I was not looking forward to it! I picked up my Nintendo Switch to distract my worrying mind and it took me to the first game I had been playing. Immediately, I got sucked into the

To be continued…

game like a vacuum cleaner! Am I asleep? I screamed! I felt petrified, I tried stamping my feet as hard as I could to test the ground I was standing on, only to realise it was hard as a rock.

Amina C, 10

Looking around all I could see were the grassy planes I recognised from playing the game with islands and a humongous castle shadowing in the background. Feelings of fear changed to feelings of excitement!

My journey

I yelled: “No way is this real!”

When I was a baby, I went to a journey maybe.

I saw a pipe and I hurriedly climbed into the clear pipe. I had always wanted

The bright blue sky was waving goodbye, but why?

to do this but never in a million lives did I think I would be doing this for

The sea’s huge waves,

real! I realised I was floating like a balloon flying through the air.

Were calling out names.

I reached another world. This world was empty apart from the islands and

Next to the sand,

the castle. It was hot and sandy, it was a desert. This is a world I recognised

Is where the sea meets the land.

again, I wasn’t sure about this one, it was too hot and I could barely breathe.

People were surrounding me,

I tried to jump, and I leaped into the air like a spring. This was awesome!

Whilst having a cup of tea.

Trying to run was astonishing, I was as fast as lightening, like no other

The journey was about to end,

human could ever be!

Why couldn’t it extend? 64

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Dharin M, 9

Looking down at my clothes, I could see they had changed! Where had my pyjamas gone? Thankfully, I wasn’t naked, I had an impressive pair of shiny brown boots a white jazzy pair of gloves and finally an amazing blue cap! This outfit was much cooler!

The Broken Bridge

While exploring the world, I approached the island and jumped onto it, I had been zapped into the island! I was transported into a weird place where everything was pink and solid. I wondered what was happening. There were yellow blocks with question marks and spooky eyes, I was frightened. I hit them with my hand, but amazingly it did not hurt. A cherry appeared. The cherry was ginormous! I touched the cherry and a reflection of me appeared,

On a rainy Thursday evening, as I walked home, I saw the amazing Captain D. I took two deep breaths and went to talk to him even though I was super nervous. “Hi Captain D, how are you?” I asked. “Hi Dharin, I’m good.” He shouted out loud.

or so I thought.

“How do you know my name?” I questioned Captain D.

It was a clone, another Freddie just like me! Every move I made the clone did

“Well, you’re a news reporter. Hey see you tomorrow,” he replied.

too. Turtles which stood up with horrible yellow skin were surrounding me, I jumped on the turtle then he jumped out of his shell in shock! Manoeuvring around in the shell made me feel dizzy from all the bouncing around. Exploring this magical world has made me feel very tired! I reached for a pole which had suddenly appeared in front of me, I slid down the pole and arrived at the foot of a long path. Could this be my way home?

That went well. I have got to go to bed now. Seven hours later What a good dream I had. Time to get changed to go to work. I am in the studio now. Hello Taylor, Ewan and cameraman Roman. As soon as I was about to say the weather forecast my new mate Captain D crashed through the building and told me the bridge is broken in half. So, we all rushed to Lego City Bridge just to see, it was ok. When I got back, Captain D did not come back so I got on with the weather forecast. He came back later and said he has a splinter in his knee but there was nothing there! By then it was night, so I went home to sleep. In the morning I was late because I had overslept. Captain D came back again and shouted: “I have lost a nail”.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Ayza A, 10

You know what, his nail was perfectly fine. Later that day Captain D rushed back and shouted: “The bridge is really broken.” It took an hour to get there and he was lying again. The next day I woke up earlier and when I got to the studio my manager said everyone gets a day off from being at work. So, I went home, got changed and started to watch TV. The next few days had passed and Captain D kept on saying the bridge was broken until one day the bridge was really broken. The bridge was broken due to the heavy rain. I ran to Captain D and said there was a little boy on the bridge we needed to save him.

World’s Weakest to World’s Strongest. In a world of demons, adventurers and mages, trouble is bound to come and that was the case for Hunter Drange. In this world status and power was all that mattered and being weak was no option at all. Hunter was part of the Adventurers’ Guild despite his lack of ability and swordsmanship. Today he was going to be bounded for winter as grave danger awaited him. Hunter was terrified he was not ready for this mission he was not strong and

I said: “Do you have a rope?” Captain D said no so we searched for a rope

did not have muscles like the others. He was weak he tried training each

which took a long time – at least two hours – but, in the end, we found one.

day getting prepared for this mission but he could just not get strong. Then

Captain D was far too strong and heavy to swing over, so I said I would. I

Hunter’s worst day of his life was just about to begin.

swung at least seven times until Captain D pulled me up and tried to swing towards a little boy. I tried again because in Lego City we never leave a person behind. I swung again and landed near the boy. The boy ran away from me. I told him: “I am here to save you.” He came to me and we swung and landed on the other side of the bridge. I asked a few people if they were his parents, then I saw his parents, so I told the boy to go to his parents. They were so happy to be reunited.

He was training before he had to go and do the biggest fight of his life and ended up being late. His boss was really mad at him he had already informed him that the others had left so he ran for his life and luckily he was able to catch up with them. They said: “We have to walk five miles to get there.” Hunter said really loudly: “Five miles? That is such a long walk.” He thought they were going in a vehicle or something. He never thought he was going to walk to the cave of his enemies. Hunter walked and walked and finally arrived. Even another group was there and had already started fighting. “I guess they did not know we were coming.”

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

I was so terrified my whole body was sweating and my heart trembling with

lives. I woke up one morning and a miracle happened: I became a strong

fear, I knew my life was going to end today. Then all of a sudden I saw the

boy. Not any old strong boy, the strongest boy in our city.

leader of the aliens for some reason he looked like a robot but the scary thing was that he was so big and enormous. All of us got our weapons out. I got my super sharp sword. I was able to break his leg off and one of his hands. It was so hard to defeat him.

I still had the bruises from before but I have to say that was the longest journey of my life. The End.

So I got the strongest weapon out to end this fight once and for all, and have the life we have always dreamed of. The weapon was the super strong baton! Ran straight to the leader and stunned him multiple times. I think we destroyed him after all these years. Finally this fight is over. At least, that’s what I thought. But I was wrong there were a thousand of them. Myself and the others had no idea how we were going to destroy all these aliens. My stun baton did not have that much battery left. So we had to make the right decision to just go right in the crowd and to just fight with our bare hands. “But I don’t know if I can do that, I am so weak I just wish I was a strong boy.” But no time for chit chatting, let’s fight! These aliens are really strong. They punched our guts. We were hurt, we could not fight anymore. I guess we go home and just give up on our planet. Then out of nowhere this person comes flying down from the sky. I asked who he was but he didn’t say all I know is that he had lasers coming out of his eyes it was so cool and magnificent. I loved it. All of us got up and decided to help him out. Then all the aliens disappeared into thin air even the leader did too. I said to everybody: “Let’s go home!” And so we went home to enjoy the rest of our

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Lillie-Mae B, Yr 4

Ewan V, 9

Me and Roby Vaughan, the characters, of this story were trudging through the damp misty rainforest. We were running out of water and we were getting thirstier by the minutes. After a while we found lots of exotic fruits that were edible so we put ten delicious juicy pineapples and melons in our rucksack, which also had a magnifying glass, bottles, two cameras and a first aid kit. Hard teams work, stay safe. It’s life in lockdown is not great. Clapping on Wednesdays

Five hours ago we had to separate from our guide, taking pictures of exotic animals that were all types of colours: Red, blue, yellow, orange, black, violet, green and turquoise. There were some stag beetles, parrots, iguanas, caterpillars and lizards. After two hours looking for a river we decided to get our shovels and start to dig down into the coarse dirt covered with tree ferns and colourful flowers. After three exhausting hours we found some old rotting branches and broke one with my shovel. When it broke it we found a canteen full of cool, refreshing water so we filled up our bottles and had some fruit to eat. As we started to search for our guide we heard a low humming sound we looked up there was a rescue helicopter and the crew sending down a ladder. We climbed up and asked if they’d give us a cup of hot chocolate.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Kenzie A, 9

“Quick we need to secure the house from the storm!” yelled Dad. Everyone frantically dashed around the house apart from Millie. She could feel the magic bubbling inside here. Bravely, she ventured outside and walked

Millie’s Mysterious Magic Millie was a young girl aged eight, who lived with her family in a beach hut in the beautiful country of Barbados where the gentle lapping of the waves and singing of birds could be heard. Mysteriously, strange happenings were occurring at their home. Objects flew across the rooms, windows shattered and lights turned on and off. One morning, around the kitchen table, Millie’s mum exclaimed tiredly: “I think we may have a ghost. There is no other explanation to why these things are happening”. Suddenly Jake yelled: “Duck!” Everyone dived under the table as a pile of

slowly to the edge of the sea. She couldn’t hear her family screaming at her to stop, all she could concentrate on was controlling the storm. As she raised her hands towards the sea and sky the storm stopped instantly. All was calm. Millie fell, completely exhausted, onto the beach. Millie’s mum ran to her crying: “Millie are you ok? What happened?” Jake yelled: “Wow, that was great. How did you do that?” Millie whispered shakily: “I knew I just had to stop the storm.” “Come on lets go home,” Dad replied.

books flew into the room at speed.

“I agree. For hot chocolate and marshmallows,” replied Mum.

“Where’s Millie?” Jake asked.

“Sound good to me,” an exhausted Millie whispered.

Millie was stood there with a vacant look on her face. Suddenly Jake leapt from under the table and pushed Millie. Almost immediately the books stopped. Creeping from under the table Dad questioned shakily: “What just happened?” Millie whispered: “I think it was me. I seem to be able to move things and transport to different places by just thinking or when my moods change.” Mum looked shocked: “It’s ok Millie. We will help you.” Between the sea and the sky rumbling could be heard. The rain poured down and the wind thrashed against the windows, causing trees to sway dangerously.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Charlie D, 9

Before long the dragon edged closer towards the brothers. Working together Rhys and Charlie catapulted the potion towards the dragon. Slowly the dragon collapsed into a heap onto the floor. Amazed at what they had done,

The Two Brothers

Rhys and Charlie stood opened mouthed, looking at each other. They both

The TV lit up and flickered illuminating the room. In a blink of an eye we

reached out and wrapped their arms around each other, holding each other

was teleported in to a magical jungle. There were trees as tall as skyscrapers,

in a sweet embrace.

flowers glistening in the beautiful sun. I closed my eyes for a minute, imagining I was in a dream. What happened next was magical. The two brothers, Rhys and Charlie, heard scuffling all around them. Feeling

They did it. With Rhys finding his courage and Charlie’s quick thinking they worked together and took down the dragon returning to the jungle to its magical enchanting place.

extremely anxious, Rhys stood as still as a statue, trembling with fear. Charlie was more eager to find out what all the scuffling was. Out of nowhere they

Ellie FC, 9

was surrounded by gigantic spiders. They were edging closer and closer but they weren’t attacking. Rhys and Charlie then realised they weren’t in danger. The spiders were friendly. Just then, without warning, the rain started falling like a waterfall hitting everything with golf ball sized raindrops. In the distance we saw an enormous shadow behind the trees. Staring at them, with electric blue dazzling eyes, was an extremely angry dragon. Charlie realised perhaps the dragon was the one controlling the weather.

Lost in the magic One day, a curious, kind-hearted girl named Melisa was walking through the forest when just then she saw something yellow glowing! She looked at it then thought: “Wow! I have never seen this ever!” So, she touched it, and she got trapped in a sun-yellow and eggplant-purple wormhole! She looked around and noticed lots of clocks going anti clockwise, as if she was moving

Rhys, silently watching what was happening nervously, cuddled up to the spiders. Immediately Charlie came up with a plan. Charlie was going to make a potion to put the dragon to sleep. Courageously, Charlie scurried around to find things, with the help from the spiders there in front of them was the potion which was going to save them and turn the jungle back to its magical pleasant place.

into the past. At that very exact moment, two children were walking into the courtyard together and their names were Toby and Layla. Just then, they both saw a girl falling from the sky! They ran straight over but they had collapsed before they could of caught them. So instead, they just took the girl to the nurse.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

The next day, the patient woke up – it was Melisa! She hit her head hard but

forest. In the forest something yellow like back in the other forest before she

remembered what happened but also forgot who brought her into the nurse.

came to the magic school was glowing and calling Melisa’s name to come

So, she asked who brought her in the nurse explained that Toby and Layla

back to the future! She sat down and thought if she should go.

had found her and took her to the hospital. Then she asked what year it was. Then the nurse replied: “1900.” She thought oh my! Then she felt her pain healing like someone used magic to heal it! She looked around the hospital and realised she was in a magic realm! The headmaster wanted to talk to Melisa and ask how she got here so then Melisa explained every detail. The headmaster was a very understanding man and said now she was there she could always learn a bit of magic. So, then she replied excitingly with a yes! After a month Melisa made friends with Toby and Layla and got a bunny and named it Fluffy. One day, Melisa thought about where she was from and how much she missed it but also thought about her life in the magic realm. So, then she thought about using magic to get in the Enchanted Forest to go see home for a day. Then the amazing idea came to Melisa’s head! Toby and Layla were going to meet with Melisa in the courtyard that very day so Melisa thought they could help too! After Toby and Layla agreed to help, they all went to find a book with a spell to help them get to the Enchanted Forest. It took a few hours, but they finally found a book. Melisa made a potion and then tried it on Fluffy, her bunny. Fluffy ran outside then grew into a hefty bunny with teeth like razors! Fluffy ran to the Enchanted Forest and broke the barrier to it. This was not what Melisa wanted to do so she kept following Fluffy into the

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Esme G, 9

“My name is Henry, I guess you’re here to look for the other animals?” questioned Henry. “Yes we are, would you please help us?” I asked politely.

Lost at the circus I never thought a simple game of hide and seek could turn into this. When

Henry started to walk off and we followed him quickly. Suddenly, Sienna

my friend Sienna came over Mum told us we had thirty minutes until lunch

squirmed “I think I’ve trodden in something.”

so we decided to go upstairs and play for a bit. I told Imogen to count to ten: “One, two, three, four…”

“Oh Sienna, that reeks!” I exclaimed whilst holding my nose. Sienna wiped her sticky shoe in the grass and we carried on walking.

“Ok Sienna, let’s hide. Hmm, how about inside my cupboard?” “Ok,” Sienna whispered quietly. Once we got in the cupboard I noticed a black door in the back of it, something inside my head told me we should

“So Sienna, where would you be hiding if you were an animal?” asked Henry. “I would probably be hiding in... Bed!”

go in, so we did and you wouldn’t believe what was inside. It was a circus!

“The caravans down there are the ones the animals sleep in,” pointed Henry

But not just any old circus, it was an animal circus.

with his sharp claw. We ran rapidly towards the caravan, I opened the door

All of a sudden, we were met with this funny guy with a top hat, he said

forcefully and there in front of our eyes, were about fifty animals!

he was the Ringmaster and all of his animals were lost and it was mine and

Without warning, the strangest thing happened. A golden key appeared on

Sienna’s job to find all of them. Of course, me and Sienna did it because who

Henry’s collar. “It’s time for you to go home girls, but don’t be sad, this key

doesn’t like animals? Me and Sienna thought to ourselves where would we

allows you to come back. Oh, and say hello to Imogen from her friend Henry”.

be hiding if we were animals?

The end.

We both shouted: “In the food truck!” We checked all of the food trucks but the last one we checked we were face to face with an enormous lion! “Hello there, don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” pleaded the lion. “Sienna, is it me or is this lion talking?” I whispered. “It’s not you, Esmee, I can hear him too,” replied Sienna.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Gracie B, 9

“You won’t get away with this Midnight.” “Or will I? Hahahaha!” “Aw” said Willow, “we’ll never find your wings.”

A fairy who earned its wings. A long time ago, lived a fairy called Summer. Summer was a kind fairy and loved all plants and flowers in the summer. There was one thing about Summer that was strange she had no wings. On the first day of summer, Summer went to the leaf library to look at some books with her friend Willow. And she found a book about wings and mythology. “Hmm, that’s strange.” she said. “We come here every Sunday in the afternoon and we have never seen this book,” said Summer.

“Or will we?” said Gracie. “I have a flashlight attached to Milo’s lead.” “Yes!” Later that day the girls got to the top of the mountain. “Look,” said Willow, “there’s a door.” “Oh let’s go inside,” said Summer. Inside there were hundreds

“Well,” said Willow, “open it!”

of mirrors, crowns and Summer’s wings.

“Ok,” said Summer. That night it was light so Summer read her book outside.

“What is this place?” said Laila. A shadow came out

“Chapter one, wingless fairies. What?!” she said. The next morning Summer phoned all her friends, Gracie, Laila and Willow.

of the darkness. “Well, well, well. I knew you would come here.”

Later on all of Summer’s friends got to her house and Gracie brought Milo.

“Go away Midnight,” said Summer.

“OK girls, we’re going to the mountain to find my wings.”

“No I want your wings.”

“Ok,” she said. That very afternoon the girls got onto the route to the

“Why don’t you just leave us alone?”

mountains. “I’m going to get something out of my bag,” said Summer. Bang! The sky went black.

“No,” said Midnight, “How about this? We battle, if I lose, you get your wings and I’ll undo the spell. If not they’re all mine!” Later that day the spell was broken and Summer got her wings.

“Argh,” they screamed. “Haha, you’ll never find your wings now Summer they’re all mine!” 82

The end.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Katelin R, Yr 4

Magdalena C, 8 The Glowing Garden One ordinary day in one ordinary street a little girl was lying in bed when she saw a beautiful gold, glittery, glowing mist in the garden. It was only dawn but she crept out of bed to get a closer look. Down the stairs she skipped in

Answering the phone. We cannot meet in real life. Lockdown is boring.

her white, frilly nightgown. She flew through the hall whilst grabbing her slippers and robe. But when she approached the light her speed decreased. She cautiously opened the door when she stepped into the garden she found herself sliding down a magic portal, but the question was where does it lead to?. When she got to the bottom she realised that she was in a cavern. So, she strolled along the sliding path of crystals. She walked on and on and found four silk fairies singing to their heart’s desire but it did not go on for long. She stepped into a deep muddy trench. The only way out was another magical place. It was the only route, so she followed it into another magical land that had unicorns and mermaids, leprechauns and many more mythical creatures like that. She walked on but slipped and ended up in bed. She got out of bed but saw no bright light anymore “Was it a dream?” She thought to herself, maybe it was...

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Myles H, 9

Max, still shaking replied: “We’re lost, we need to make our way back to our treehouse.” The hunter turned to look in the direction Charlie was pointing. Not

The mysterious jungle Charlie rubbed his eyes in disbelief. He appeared to be on the floor, deep within an enormous jungle which was home to some rather odd looking vegetation and wildlife.

believing them, he grabbed hold of Charlie’s arm. Max, luckily managed to step back to avoid being captured. He quickly ran away before the hunter could catch him. Stopping to catch his breath, Max turned around. He could see that Charlie was not too far behind him. So he decided to hide behind

“Max!” he shouted, “where are you?”

a strange looking plant.

“I’m over here,” responded Max.

Once the hunter and Charlie had passed, he crept out and quietly followed

Charlie turned around to see his best friend standing behind him. “Where are we?” questioned Charlie.

behind them. They were heading towards a dark, ominous looking cave. Max could just about make out that Charlie had been locked into a cage. Out of nowhere, Max had a plan. He remembered passing by an edge of a cliff and

“I’m not sure, it’s as if we’re in the middle of nowhere,” Max replied, looking rather confused. In the distance, behind a giant tree, they could just make out the edge of something familiar.

maybe just maybe he could trick the hunter into falling off. Max shouted: “Oi, over here! Come and get me,” trying to grab his attention. The hunter saw him and started to give chase. Max ran and hid behind a

“Is that your treehouse?” asked Charlie. However, before Max could answer

rock at the cliff’s edge, waiting for the hunter. As he approached the cliff,

they heard a faint rustling noise in the distance, which was getting closer

Max jumped out and startled him, quickly grabbing the keys before pushing

and closer.

him over the edge. Max then ran back as fast as he could to rescue Charlie.

“Quick!” whispered Max, “let’s hide behind this.” Just as they were about to

Upon opening the cage, Charlie jumped out and squeezed his friend extremely

hide, something appeared behind them.

tightly. “Thank you, I thought I’d never see you again” he sighed in relief. They

A deep, husky voice roared: “Stop right there!” Slowly, Charlie and Max, turned around trembling with fear. In front of them stood a towering bulk of a man, dressed in clothes crafted from dead animals. “What do you think you’re doing?” he questioned. 86

both ran out of the cave towards the treehouse, not stopping until they got there. Still puffing and panting, Charlie reached out to open the door, when suddenly, he woke up in his bedroom. No Max, no jungle and no tree house. Had it all just been a dream?

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Priya H, 9

Sparkles made a squealing noise and through the candyfloss clouds appeared a beautiful Candy Queen. Her sparkling wand was glistening in the sun, her marshmallow crown looked sugary delicious, and her dress was covered with

Alice’s Candy Adventure.

edible flowers. Alice was amazed but she was very sad, as she knew that she

One bright sunny day, there was a little girl called Alice. She was playing in her

had wandered off without her parents and couldn’t get home. She asked the

garden and noticed her mother was busy with all the housework. As she was

Candy Queen if she could help.

playing, she saw a vibrant pink and purple butterfly and began to follow it. She was so excited she didn’t realise how far she had wandered off from home. The butterfly flew and flew, but dangerously led Alice into the forest alone. As she was walking, she discovered a rainbow and headed straight towards it as she thought there would be a pot of gold. Instead, there was a sign for

“Don’t worry Alice” calmly said the queen, “I will use my magical powers.” They started to walk along the rocky road pavement back towards the rainbow. Just before she sent Alice back they sat down and spoke about how important it is not to wander off alone. This time Alice was very lucky..

Candy Land and Alice decided to explore it. Her piercing blue eyes could not believe what she was seeing. There were candy floss clouds, flowerbeds of scrumptious cupcakes, caramel apple trees, lollipop flowers, a skittle rainbow and a clear lake with the freshest water she has ever tasted. Alice was enjoying exploring this fantastic land of candy. It was every child’s dream. She ate and ate until her belly could not take any more and decided to have a little rest on the emerald green grass. She fell into a deep sleep when all of a sudden she felt something licking her face and jumped up into the air. It was a magical unicorn with a name tag, Sparkles. Sparkles was as white as snow with a large shiny unicorn horn with a band of colours. She was ecstatic to see someone else on the land and wanted to play with Alice. They played together all day and ate more and more candy and cakes but then Alice became worried because she needed to get back home but couldn’t find the way out.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Sienna B, 9

was too! In the corner of the cave Lily saw a dark-haired figure approaching her. It was Mal, the worst criminal in Candy Land. She had escaped from prison that morning and befriended Clara on her way to school.

The Candy Land Unicorn Lily is like every other young girl, she lives with her sister, Millie, and her mum, in a house made from candy in Candy Land. In Candy Land everyone has powers but with Lily there is one big difference, she has a power much more magical and secret. Lily has the ability to turn into a unicorn. One day, when walking into school with Millie, they passed Clara, the school bully. Clara bullies Lily all day, every day because she thinks Lily doesn’t have any powers. After Lily and Millie walked past Clara, Clara used her powers and created a river of gobstoppers under Lily’s feet that made her fall. Clara laughed and Lily was angry with her for being so mean. Later that night Lily heard a scream coming from Millie’s bedroom. She quietly tiptoed down the hall and peered into Millie’s room. Millie was gone! There was nothing but a few gobstoppers lying on the floor. Suddenly, Lily remembered what Clara had done to her that very day and wondered whether she would be cruel enough to kidnap her sister to cause her pain.

Mal had convinced Clara to kidnap Millie, to lure Lily to the cave, as she believed that Lily had got special powers and wanted them for herself. But Mal had tricked Clara, and when she returned with Millie, Mal threw Clara into the cage as well. Mal challenged Lily to a duel. If Mal was to win she would gain all of Lily’s powers, but if Lily won she would free her sister and Clara, and return Mal to the police. They duelled for hours, but when Lily missed Mal and hit the wall behind her by accident the wall started to crumble and fell onto Mal trapping her so she couldn’t escape. Lily changed back into her normal self and found the key to the cage in one of Mal’s pockets. She opened the lock and freed her sister and Clara. Millie was safe, Mal was returned to prison, Lily kept her unicorn powers and Clara was so very grateful she promised never to bully anyone ever again. The end.

Lily realised that all she needed to do was to think about the people she loved to be able to release the powers to turn into a unicorn. So with a twist of fairy dust Lily transformed into an elegant, pearl white unicorn with a diamond encrusted horn and a shimmering, golden mane. Lily started galloping in the direction of Candy Woods on the outskirts of town, towards a cave that Clara spent a lot of time in. When she finally arrived at Clara’s cave she noticed that not only was Millie trapped in a cage, Clara

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Mysha M-H, 10

On the plane, my brother made the mistake of looking out the window – luckily before we started flying – and remembered he was scared of heights. As we went up, I had to block the window from his sight whilst sucking my gumdrop. But as we were ten minutes into the flight, I let my guard down and

Dear Diary,

he saw. His mouth turned into an O and he cried for ages, even louder and

Today was amazing! You will never guess where I’m writing this, even after a thousand guesses. Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. It’s Japan! Yes, actual Japan. Not the name of a Japan-themed hotel. I boarded the plane from England this morning, which took a great deal of trouble surprisingly.

longer than the babies! When he stopped crying, it was because he fell asleep. Once we reached Osaka, it was 10pm there. Our eyes were feeling heavier than a hammer, but we somehow managed to stagger to the place where we collected our suitcases. Despite our closing eyes, we were just about able to

The trip to the airport was tricky. Our tyre went flat in the middle of the

distinguish our suitcase from other peoples’. As we went out, we saw the kind

motorway, which led to a very unfortunate crash. My dad had to make a

Japanese couple my mum was telling us about. They were waiting for us in

lot of calls and write down information, and luckily got help from a very

their car, which had a sign spread out across the top of the windshield that

nice couple in a shiny red BMW. No one got hurt luckily, except the cars of

read ‘welcome’ with lots of pretty flowers.

course, especially ours!

As we hopped into the car, my mum thanked them yet again for letting us

Eventually, we got towed and took a bus to the airport. They scan to check

stay with them for a week. Five minutes later, we arrived and stood in awe

you aren’t carrying a weapon. It was a great deal of trouble as well, as my

at a lovely, one-storey house with sliding doors and a veranda, which they

brother refused to put his Iron Man toy into the basket. I presume the whole

called a Minka. Inside, we sat on a cushion each and they poured us some

airport heard him scream: “I don’t want to!” and Canada heard my mum

tea called Oolong.

scream “Ayaan!”

As we were already in our pyjamas, we just jumped into bed. I am very tired,

Half an hour later, he put the toy into it after being bribed with a chocolate bar, which I didn’t get, as he was being rewarded for horrendous behaviour.

but I needed to tell you about this amazing day. Goodnight!

Luckily, waiting to board the plane ran smoothly, and so did going up the ramp. We thought we were finally doing it right, but turns out it was dumb luck.

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Jessica P, 10

A huge vortex was whirring away. Seeing his parents take their last breath before being pulled into the gloomy hole, which was like a whirlpool, and they were going out of sight. Adrian fell to his knees and cried.

October 31st It’s the day before Halloween and things are starting to get heated. Kids are trying to seek the right size for their blood-curdling Halloween costumes. And shivers are being sent down spines. The most creative boy in the whole town, named Adrian Mongola, lives in a small, eerie and shadowy street with miniature, rusty council houses dotted in the darkness.

Once he had finally stopped crying, he decided he was going to try and stop the vortex. He picked up a line prop from his garden and began chasing down the powerful whirlpool. It suddenly changed direction and began dragging him into its grasp. Trying to escape, Adrian was frightened and he was breathing heavily. Whilst getting closer to no escape, Adrian’s body was tired and he couldn’t fight the vortex force any longer. He woke up scared back in his bedroom. He thought to himself that he was lucky it was just a dream. He raced downstairs but his parents were still nowhere to be seen... So was it?

On Halloween morning, Adrian felt famished. He felt like he could eat a horse he was that hungry! The boy listened. The small council house he was living in seemed too quiet. He couldn’t hear his parents arguing, not even a single bird tweet. All of a sudden, Adrian realised that his parents went in the attic last night and he never heard them go to bed. He searched through his thoughts and came to a smart conclusion. He should go and look in the attic. In the attic, his parents were nowhere to be seen. Adrian was intensely focused on the land beyond the hair-raising trees. When seeing beyond the horizon, the boy was aghast!

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Myah G, Yr 4

Jessica H, 10 Camping fever Don’t you hate it when parents are adventurous? By adventurous I mean making you go camping in the middle of winter. That’s what Mum and Dad have decided to do during the Christmas holidays. My friends would love to go camping any time of the year but not me. I thought that when I told them the devastating news, they would feel bad for me but instead they

I was so happy.

congratulated me and said that they wished they could come too. That was

I got to open some toys.

not what I was expecting.

Now I can eat candy.

Once I finished school Dad told me to start packing. Mum made sure I had loads of thermal jumpers, vests and woolly socks. When I’d finished, I got in Dad’s old banger of a car. It choked and spluttered when Dad pressed down on the pedal. I secretly hoped it would break down on the driveway so we didn’t have to go. Eventually we started moving. My little brother Oliver decided it would be a great time to keep singing songs off Peppa Pig. Was my holiday going to end in a disaster? When we were on the motorway Oliver was screaming the name of every fast food restaurant we went past. Mum got fed up with him so she took him to the nearest restaurant whilst me and Dad waited in the car. As soon as they both climbed back in Dad sped off again. “Chicken nuggets everywhere!” shouted Oliver shoving one in my face. “Get off Oliver! I don’t want your greasy chicken nuggets in my face!”

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

“Kids be quiet I’m trying to drive!” yelled Dad. “Oh, honey, don’t stress you’ll feel much better once you’ve climbed that mountain!” said Mum. I would not have come on this journey if I knew I had to climb a mountain.

actually did enjoy it! My holiday ended out awesome and now I want to do it all over again. Probably without Oliver shoving soggy chicken nuggets in my face. Now I know that being adventurous isn’t really a bad thing. (Apart from

When we finally arrived, Oliver shoved yet another chicken nugget in my face. “Why is this soggy Oliver?” I asked.

when you‘re freezing in the tent and your little brother is annoying you whilst your parents are singing a really old-fashioned song. I think you might agree that then adventure is a bad thing.)

“Because I sucked it so it would last longer!” He said beaming. Suddenly it started pouring down. Dad was upset because we couldn’t put the tent up yet. Mum said we could climb the mountain whilst we were waiting. Dad agreed and we set off. The

Ruby D, 8

mountain was covered in moss and it was soaking. Oliver started crying so Mum had to pick him up. We went past bikers and hikers and runners. We went up the huge grey cliff and didn’t slip. We passed crying adults and smiling children. It was only a few steps away until we got to the top! Oliver thought this was a great time to jump down from Mum’s arm and walk all the way back down to the enormous grey cliff. We had to rescue him. This time Dad almost slipped coming down it. We reached Oliver and had to climb it all over again. When we eventually reached the top of the mountain it had stopped raining and the sun was shining. Then out of nowhere a beautiful rainbow appeared over us. Mum took a family selfie and sent it to all our family members.

July 9th 2019 This morning I woke up so excited to go on holiday with my cousin Ivy and her Mum and Dad. My Mom, Dad and my brother Dylan. In Girona it was really, really hot and I was so, so, so, so happy and I was so, so, so, so excited to be on holiday with my cousin who thinks I’m her sister, but I’m not her sister. It was really, really hot today. It was the most amazing day ever. We spent the whole day in and out of the pool and eating ice-cream. We even had matching swimming costumes. I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and jump in the pool.

We began the journey down. Dad was overjoyed because he was able to put up the tent. I actually got my own bed because at home I have to share a bed

Goodnight.

with Oliver. I can’t say this camping trip was the best experience ever but I 98

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Faiza A, 11

As soon as she opened the door a cold, empty eerie smell came leaping towards her. She went inside and covered her face with the purple scarf she had wrapped around her neck. Whilst she was going to her storeroom, the

Fear

hairs on her neck stuck up straight like the flags set on a tall building. She

So it all started off with a young girl aged 11 called Faiza who was very curious

walked down the narrow hallway which was had a very uneven surface. She

in the outside world. She lived with her family in England’s capital, London.

found her store and opened the door and – whoosh! – the same black ghost

She had two younger sisters who were very keen in playing and crafting. Unlike

came dashing out.

their big sister who loved writing and going out and exploring. She lived in a flat which was very vast and spacious. Underneath that flat was a sinister storeroom. (Well, anyway, she thought it was sinister). She used to go there often with her mum just to grab a few things but she never felt secure down there. She used to see a black ghost type thing and she had told her mum many times but her mum always told it was nonsense. But she knew it was not.

The ghost spun and spun and spun and spun around her and Faiza’s mind exploded with terror. She calmed down and started taking deep breaths and thought maybe the thing would calm down if she calmed down. The ghost emerged behind Faiza and opened its eyes wide and so did she. It was twirling around and around with a big smile on its face. She asked its name but nothing so she decided he would be called Fear.

She always thought about it and pictured what that thing could do to her. It made her feel very tense. One day her mum told her to go to the store herself and her heart started melting and beating faster and faster each second. A tremendous wave of fear washed over her face. Her brown cheeks started to get pinker and pinker and pinker until they were totally red. She was thinking of regretting it straight away but then she thought of thinking that maybe she could trap it or see if she could find out what it actually was. So she went to her room which was always very tidy unless her sisters had brought their own mess and garbage to her room. She grabbed a net just in case and she went down there with full protection. She went down the rugged rocky strewn stairs which lead to a very dark and damp door. The door was made out of metal and was always left open. That door was very heavy. She pulled it with her bare hands and a bunch of old rusty dust which flew right into her face. 100

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Federico S, 10

Then I spat it all out. I told him how I needed to get to Dr Lelia and how Granny was very ill. But he simply smirked and ran off. I don’t know why but I started sobbing like icicles melting on top of a gutter. Devastated and hopeless, I saw the same silhouette that the small boy had. It was him ! He

I picked up Ahmed and set off. Afraid. I walked down the narrow, sandy street in the middle of nowhere whilst being cautious so I didn’t step in the mess of rubble. I looked up at the flats and saw balconies crumbling like the edge of an apple pie. Next to it, I saw a black hole that looked at me which was where a clock was supposed to be. The only way me and Latif could tell the time. Gone. I looked back down and then in front and I saw a rusty lamppost, I don’t know why but

had a big smile on his face. “Here, will this help?” he said. He gave me a small piece of paper, which pinpointed where Dr Lelia’s chemist was. After that interaction, a glimmer of hope sparked in my chest. I was in a whole new set of emotions, the buildings were singing and the clouds were dancing. For once I had a glimmer of hope.

I had the urge to touch it, so I went up and prodded it. PING! A piece of metal went flying through the air. I was lucky I didn’t get hit. I stumbled across a small stump at the bottom of a tree. It was as if a giant had eaten it. I was distraught.

Tia K, 7

SLAM! A lamppost fell on the ground and I snapped back into my task. I needed to get to Dr Leila. Now. I was distraught because of the mess my city was in. I didn’t realise that the check point was right in front of me. Suddenly a long metal chain was blocking my way. Currently, there were no militia men but the opposite flag was swaying in the wind. I wondered where were they? I said to myself, this is my chance. I sprinted towards the chain like a tiger towards its prey. I was running as fast as I ever could. I still didn’t see any soldiers. This was my chance. I jumped. And made it across. But then, I saw two men with big, loaded guns and they were running fast. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw hope and what I mean by that is an alleyway. I

Our Journey In a magical house on top of the trees wind is blowing everywhere where another journey begins. Max and Fiona buttoned up to go on another adventure. Can you guess what it was? Well, they were going to Space. So, they jumped into their space costumes and hopped inside the Rocket Ship. Five, four, three, two, one, blast off! And they were off into Space. Zoom! And they landed.

sprinted towards it - once I was in it I was safe for now.

“I can jump so high,” said Max.

As I was in the alleyway I saw a strange, mucky figure. Then he ran up to me in

“It’s magic,” said Fiona.

his rags of clothing and cuts, bruises plastered all over him. “You good?” he asked. 102

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Reuban – Raj B, 10

“No it isn’t, it’s gravity,” said a voice coming from behind the spaceship. The creature came out, it was green, sloppy, short and skinny. Can you guess what it was? Well, it was an alien! And he said: “I can do anything for anyone.” So, Max and Fiona said: “Jump off the Moon!”

I picked up Ahmed, doubting myself. Eventually I set off. Alone. Knowing

But the alien wasn’t afraid at all because he’d done this many times so he got

that I might not live to see daylight again. I looked around at my once

ready and jumped. But he floated because of gravity so Max and Fiona tried

beautiful city. Thousands, millions of broken windows in the walls were

it and it worked with them as well. So they did that for an hour and then

hanging sorrowfully like teeth. I could hear the cries of fallen soldiers

they asked to do a back flip and he did so they asked him so many things

echoing in my ear.

that he got a bit tired so he said: “Time for lunch.” So, they ate cheese sandwiches and then they said: “Can we sleep here?” and the alien said sure so in the morning they asked to play for one more hour but the alien was too tired so they asked for the alien to take them home. But he couldn’t do that so they went and told their parents and family members all about what happened.

Help. The once bright clear sky was hiding itself under a thick blanket of smoke. Gravel fell from gaping buildings like a volcano erupting. Bombs dropped. It was an earthquake when they hit the ground, leaving no one to live. I felt trapped, scared, and I wanted to turn back. I know I can’t. My heart was pounding, the adrenaline was going to my head. I hesitantly

The end.

took a step, then I took another. I looked down. I had stepped on an arm. Suddenly I jumped with a multitude of fear and landed in a pool of blood. My worst nightmare had become reality . I could see my hope fading away. No! My eyes mirrored the burning flames that slowly faded like a candle. Boom! A bomb dropped in the distance. I was jolted back to reality. Suddenly the sense of urgency hit my mind. Granny. I needed to get her medicine or else. No - I wouldn’t let it happen. No matter what, I will carry on this suicide mission. My mind was flabbergasted. My jaw was dropping. My once beautiful city had become a disaster zone.

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Joshua L, 10

I wasn’t aware of the checkpoint right in front of my eyes. I determinately walked forwards, my feet dodging around the broken twisted vines that engulfed the poor city. Then I realised the checkpoint belonged to my enemy. My eyes saddened. My face red. Suddenly a skinny figure approached me. “Who are you?” I said in an anxious tone. The figure was a young boy, about my age. He had a multitude of cuts all over him and he was engulfed in mud. Then all of a sudden he spoke. “Ok, you?”

So I picked up Ahmed and set off. As soon as we got outside, everything was ruined. Absolutely ruined. The metal bars from lampposts tried to grab me as they were scattered everywhere like a flock of birds. The towers were broken into pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. I knew I had to look more. I ran as fast as I could to get to the town square while trying to avoid the devastating pieces from my city. I tried to think about what happened, then bam! It hit me. This place used

I replied “no“ and told him everything about Granny and that I needed

to be where hotels and apartments were. Now all that was left was some

to get to Dr Leila’s. Then with not a second to waste he stormed off, like a

dirty water supplies, and that was it. Nothing else. The buildings were a

cheetah running after his prey. I felt alone, scared and most of all worried. I

disaster area, shot into nothing but empty and darkness. Some pieces of

started to cry, a waterfall from my eyes. Then the young boy came back with

gravel were on the ground, trees were just damp, decaying leaves now.

a piece of paper, swishing side to side in the wind. My eyes widened - what

There was nothing good to be seen, and this was my city, that I lived in

on Earth was it? Every step he took my curiosity became stronger. He then

just like everyone else.

showed me the piece of paper, it was a map to Dr Leila’s. I suddenly jumped with joy, there was hope for my journey after all.

A single swish of an airplane made me realise that I needed to get back to getting Granny’s medicine. If I don’t get her medicine Granny will die! All the destruction got me carried away so I didn’t even see the checkpoint about twenty metres ahead. Diving through the air, tons of bricks came down blocking a much shorter and much safer path to Dr Leila’s house. At that second, I saw fallen chains and dirty bomb shells. I then realised that there was another path to the right, it was filled with nothing but air. It was too quiet, but it was the only way. This was my chance.

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Chloe T, 10

Faster. Faster, I went. I could hear the gunshots ahead but I had to go. There was no time to be scared. Then, two people with guns showed up behind me. I ran faster. Even faster. I ran straight into the action. Then quickly, I jumped and dived. I was safe. I ran down the alley, looking for hope. I found none. I didn’t know what to do. Crying and sighing, I almost quit, but I couldn’t. I was Granny’s hope, she placed everything in my heart. Now all that was left was disappointment. I cried even more. I was a waterfall. Suddenly, a little girl wearing dark blue clothes came up to me.

I picked up Ahmed and set off. What was in front of me left me breathless though it wasn’t in a good way. I stood there horror struck, looking around me. There were dead bodies on the floor. I tried to think of a happy memory. I couldn’t. I looked around at the broken buildings with terror. Where the glass should have been were openings of caves waiting to gobble me up. There

“You look sad. Anything wrong?” I tried to tell her about my Granny and

wasn’t a hint of the trees except the burnt stumps amongst the gravel. They

how I needed to get to Dr Leila’s house but all that came out was gibberish. I

were gone. There was a fire sizzling somewhere. The twisted fences and the

tried and tried but then I was able to tell her. Once I told her, the girl just ran

overgrown weeds were in all directions . The war had ruined the city. My city.

off into the dark abyss. I was heartbroken. I thought she didn’t understand English for a second, but then she came back with a random piece of paper.

A lamppost fell behind and brought me back to my senses. Granny needed her medication or she would pass away. I knew my journey would be difficult,

“For you, hope your Granny gets the medicine.” It was the address to Dr

going across the green line, but I really needed to get the medication from

Leila’s house and I was near, well not that near. I felt extremely lucky to find

Dr Leila.

this girl, now I was determined and had hope for the rest of my journey.

I had been too busy and frozen with disbelief that I hadn’t seen the next checkpoint which lay in front of me, about twenty yards away. Swishing lightly in the wind, a long rusting chain was blocking my way. Through the smoke, I barely saw the bomb shells and twisted metal bars. Beside me were the skeletons of buildings with broken glass as sharp as sharks teeth. I needed to go now. This could be my only chance. I started to sprint. I jumped over. I ran. Ran. Then I saw two gunmen appearing like they had teleported. They were like cats catching a mouse. My head was spinning. One of them grabbed at me but did no more than rip my floral skirt. I ran off rapidly and I knew I was safe. Safe, but not for long.

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I was still sprinting away when I noticed that I had somehow become lost. I

Ahdia A, 10

didn’t have a clue where I was. Bewildered and hopeless, I fell to the ground and dissolved into tears. It was too much to register in my head. I put my hands to my face and I sobbed so much that my tears could fill an ocean. I was too busy crying that I didn’t notice the boy next to me. He looked close

I walked into the scene. Shivering, alone. The sky was dull like it was tired of

to my age and was covered head to toe in mud. His clothes were cleaning

war. All the buildings were looking scared. Dead even. The whole place was

cloths and he probably had a nice friendly face but his face was covered in

like a haunted old mansion and time seemed to get slower. It felt like I was

mud as an old dustbin.

there forever. For infinity. I came across what would have been bright trees bursting with a green but the colour was long gone, but still it felt like the

“You ok?“ he asked me.

trees were whispering my name. For some reason I could hear a boom and

I couldn’t hold it anymore. I burst out about my Granny, and let him see the

crackle like the fighting was here. They had left my home like this. The place

address that I was trying to get to. When he looked at it he laughed and ran

wasn’t a city but a destroyed forest. Frightened. I rushed out of the street as

off to a nearby house. I thought that he would help me but instead he ran

fast as my legs would take me and dashed out. It was painful for me to visit

away. My tears flew down my face again, I couldn’t hold it back. Devastated,

what had once been my home.

I lay down on the chipped step and cried away. Suddenly out of nowhere, the boy came back to me. He had a small piece of paper in his hand and threw it towards my face.

The wind brushed past my hair as I entered enemy territory. I could see the green and white flag dancing in the wind. The chains were a barrier preventing me from passing, but it took my attention from the real mess. Hollow empty

“For you, it help, I think,” he said smiling. Grinning and waving, he ran back

buildings hovered over me like bats. Glass in every single corner. Dirt covered

into the ruin of his house. I looked down at the piece of paper that he had

the walls and rubble took over the city. Was I looking at a vast desert or my

given me. I couldn’t even said thank you as he had run away too fast. It was a

city? Without warning two men jumped out of the building. Fast. I figured

piece of paper from a map, on it was marked Dr Leila’s house. Finally, I had

they had seen me and had loaded guns. I was thinking to turn back, but I

some hope. New hope. I stood back up and ran away. Now to save my Granny.

needed to keep going for granny. I thought I heard a boom, so I ran as fast as I could. Faster and faster. My heart stopped. I closed my eyes. Was I dead? No. I had made it passed the checkpoint. I kept running until I noticed I still had no idea where Doctor Leila was. Like a helpless baby, I began to wail. I just couldn’t take it. I focused on my

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Heidi C-H, 10

crying so I didn’t notice the boy approaching me. He was wearing rags and was so dirty I couldn’t see his face. The wind danced in the background as he asked me if I was ok. Defeated and deflated, I bled out my woes to him. I told him how much I needed to get to Doctor Leila. He chuckled and dashed

The jungle tale

to what I suppose was his house. I started to weep again, it was hopeless. To

Janet and Thor were walking through the dense, thick jungle. The rain was

my surprise he came back to me and this time he had some paper.

light on their heads, and it was foggy. Janet and Thor felt hot and sticky with

“For you, it help, I think”. He went back to the rubble, so then I took a closer look. It was a map to Doctor Leila’s! Once again, I ran to save Granny!

sweat. They went to dry off and cool down in a cave and they saw a glimpse and sparkle of blue. Green dust was buried in the cave and all over the rocks. When they went to investigate the glistening, they found the magic clock that

Arliss T, Yr 4

had been hidden by Princess Katherine. She had hidden it many years ago so bad people could not use it, so the legend says. The clock was galaxy blue and instead of numbers it had roman numerals on. It had turquoise sparkles all over with a star shining on it. Janet and Thor could not believe their eyes and their luck. When they held the clock, they felt the hands and it felt like silk but not as flexible, they moved it slightly and it transported them to an island like no other. Janet and Thor walked through the cave since it was still there, and they saw a magnificent sight!

2020 stress.

Green palm trees with coconuts on were all around them and the animals

News said to lockdown at home... Why? Stress has come to mind.

here were rhinos and hippos and colourful parrots. They had never seen such a sight but somebody else was here and they brought diggers and wrecking balls and were knocking down trees as fast as lightning. They had to run. “But what about the animals? We have to get them to safety,” explained Janet. “There is no time we have to get out of here, the only thing we haven’t got is time” shouted Thor.

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Charis S, 9

All the animals were captured, all except for a colourful parrot and he flew to a tree. Janet and Thor ran to it and the parrot flew to another and they ran to it and that carried on until they got to a palace and then a woman dressed in black walked out and headed to the cave. “I wish the animals were here,” wished Janet.

Sapphire’s Magical Journey Sapphire hopped off her brand new purple bike that she’d recently gotten for her birthday and was just about to ask some nearby children to play with

“I don’t. The hippo could run us over and kill us and the rhino could stab us

her, when she noticed a glowing red bo-staff (a magic stick) underneath the

with his horn, that is taking a wish for granted,” explained Thor.

climbing frame. Curiously, she picked it up. But, at the slightest touch she

Suddenly, the ground started shaking and the colourful parrot said: “Your wish has been granted, your wish has been granted” over and over again. The woman in black revealed herself and she was wearing a crown and lovely golden locks came down to her shoulders which had beautiful rainbow gems all over the dress. It was Princess Katherine and she was heading towards

was instantly teleported into what appeared to be another world. Glistening beneath the bright blue sky was a beautiful crystal clear stream. As she drew near, with every breath she could smell the aroma of morning dew, her favourite smell of nature. Surrounding her were beautiful trees that had healthy, green leaves on every branch. Amazed, she decided to roam around but soon got hungry. A humongous

the cave. Sneakily Janet and Thor were following her, and they saw the clock in the Princess’s arms, and she hung it in the cave. All the animals were charging as quickly as possible, and they had to hurry up. They ran when the clock was hidden and moved the clock hands forward, and they were babies, the next time they did it they were old, and then they did it and they were normal again.

shadow towering above her caught her eye. It was a hawthorn tree laden with juicy, red berries. Decidedly, she climbed up the tree and reached out towards the nearest branch to grab a bunch. Unwittingly, she let go of the bo-staff and it plummeted into the stream. “Oh no!” Sapphire screamed in horror. Turning around to look at what she had just done, she forgot about being

“Sometimes you have to have an adventure,” said Thor. “Race you to the ice-cream shop,” said Janet.

hungry and sprang off the tree onto the grassy terrain. Head bowed down in despair, she paced up and down muttering to herself. Then, she glanced up and saw a thoughtful face staring back at her. “Hi! I’m Genevieve, what’s your name?” a little girl, who had green eyes and brown curly hair, enquired.

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Ubaid W, 10

“Um-I... it’s Sapphire!” she stuttered. Sapphire told Genevieve what had happened to her bo-staff and she agreed to help her find it. So, they set off walking along the path of the stream. “There it is!” Sapphire exclaimed. Suddenly, as quick as a flash, a winged lion swooped down and clutched the bo-staff in its teeth. Tears filled Sapphire’s eyes as she watched the lion fly away with the only thing that could take her back home.

It is Sunday morning and I wake up by the bright light of the glimmering sun. Mum comes to my room with my scrumptious breakfast. “Eat up!” Mum said joyfully, “we’re going to the beach remember,” once I finished my breakfast I went to get ready.

Gently hugging her, Genevieve comforted: “I know a friend who can help us retrieve it!” She whistled, and in a split second, a bright blue bird with a bears head and legs came dashing through the sky. Sapphire stared at the peculiar creature that had just landed beside Genevieve and wiping her tears questioned: “What is that and who is he?”

Once I got ready I was shocked to see a load of luggage bags packed so I got to work right away. I put the spades, buckets, frisbee and beach ball in one suitcase. Then I put my favourite swimming suit, sunglasses and sunscreen in other suitcase I was so excited that I jumped into the car through the window instead of using

With a stern look on its face, the bird corrected “You mean SHE, and my

the door then a few minutes later the rest of my family came into the car. When

name is Majestica!”

we got onto the motorway I saw people dancing on top of their car roofs.

She ushered the two girls onto her back and took off as if she knew exactly

Once we went passed the dancing people we got stuck in traffic. I opened

where the lion would be. Gliding through the sky, the bear-headed bird soared

the window because it was hot and the air smelt like warm scrumptious

high and low until finally she caught sight of the lion resting under a tree.

donuts with yummy sprinkles on top. The next thing I see when I look out

Forgetting that she had the children on her back, Majestica swooped down

the window is the beach that way! We’re finally at the beach.

and pecked its head. The lion angrily snarled and dropped it. Quickly Sapphire grabbed hold of the glowing bo-staff and immediately was back in the park again. Although Sapphire was saddened that she didn’t say goodbye to her new friends, she knew that she would see them again.

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Laiba A, 10

Maryam A, 10 My Journey starts on a ferry

In a small cave in a town lived a brave dragon by a cottage. His roar is as

My journey begins when I was getting ready to go on the ferry on a hot,

loud as thunder and voice as quiet as a mouse. Every night he would snore

summer day. I was super-duper excited to go because it was my first time

which to the city was a huge boredom. I had to stop this terrible beast. So

ever. We set off on the ferry with lots of other people. The ferry was pretty

at night tiptoed my way into the cave finally plugged his nose went to bed

huge and it had two decks.

with no absolute boredom.

When the ferry began moving, water started splashing. There was room for

I was wrong he came back. I had to do something that’s it. I had an idea. Night

people to rest or take a nap. It started getting darker so we ate our dinner

came and I tiptoed in and confidently threw his most precious jewel which

and set off to bed.

would take years to get. He quickly ran out and flew away he never came back. Well, that’s what we thought…

When we woke up we were in France. We quickly ate our breakfast and rushed to our hotel, we rushed because we all were really excited. Then we went to the park and rode lots of rides too, it was so much fun! It had been a week or more in France. So it was our last day in France and we had to go back home (sad)! That day another ferry came from the UK that we had to go on. But... but I’m so lucky that the ferry had already left so it won’t come for another week. Then we stayed there for another week (yay). Obviously the ferry came this time, we were not late at all. We went back to the UK and guess what, my journey ends in the UK.

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Lilly J, Yr 4

Maryam H, 10 The Dream One morning on a winter’s day Kate and Alexa got a text message from their teachers saying “your winter holiday has now begun. Have fun!” Kate and Alexa were jumping up and down with joy.

I live with my cat,

“Don’t you think we should go somewhere?” asked Alexa.

his name is Mylo, he is cute,

“Good idea!” answered Kate. Kate and Alexa started to check where to go for places on their laptops. All of a sudden Kate gasped.

he’s very silly.

“What?” said Alexa “We can go to this hotel that I found, and they have a fun fair on the ground floor!” exclaimed Kate. “Brilliant!” shouted Alexa, “well, come on then let’s get packing.” Kate and Alexa spent the whole morning packing. They left at 5pm. Kate got a notification saying the Green Lane was blocked. “You can take two lanes: Pearl Lane takes three hours, Abandon Lane takes one hour.” “Kate, Abandon Lane is abandoned!” gulped Alexa. “Are you scared, Alexa?” said Kate. “No! I didn’t say I am scared. It’s just... it’s going to be dark,” answered Alexa.

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“It’s ok if you’re scared,” said Kate, “but we are still going that way, I mean what can go wrong?”

Alexa tapped Kate’s back and said: “Let’s get you some breakfast.” After breakfast Alexa had an idea. She took her to the farm so she could forget

“Everything!” screamed Alexa.

about her dream. So Alexa took Kate to the farm and she forgot everything.

“Come on, these bags aren’t going down themselves,” said Kate.

(Well, nearly everything).

“You will regret this Kate, I am telling you,” Alexa told her.

Sithel R, 6

Alexa and Kate got into the car and by the time they left it was dark and all the street lights were on. As they entered Abandon Lane, Alexa shivered. She knew something terrible was going to happen. “Why are you shivering? Are you cold?” As Kate was talking a hand slammed the window next to Kate.

Journey It was a sunny day. I was coming home from school in the afternoon when I saw shops, buses and cars. In the bus I saw people and I saw they were sitting

“Argh!” The girls screamed

on a chair. As I pass by I saw house on the road and I saw people staring at

The hand was covered in dark, red blood dripping onto the floor. “Now do you regret it?” shouted Alexa.

the people and some people wave at me. And some like my mum stare in the garden, and my sister. And suddenly I saw a car was flying up in the sky. It began to rain and I was

Suddenly a voice from the shadow said: “What is your name sweetheart?

still there. And I pass by and I saw a bus was stopped at me and a bus driver

Where do you live? Don’t worry I won’t hurt you… Only if you tell me

said: “Come in the bus.”

your name and where you live!” He said in a deep voice. After that the hand lowered down and left a big dark, red hand print on the window. Kate woke up and screamed. Alexa came running into her room.

But I said: “I cannot, I am going home.” “I will take you home,” said the bus driver and I sit on a chair and the bus driver goes and I was home.

“What on Earth happened!” exclaimed Alexa. “A bad dream,” said Kate.

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Abdalla A, 7

Aarhoi C, 6

Journey

Once upon a time it was a rainy blue thunder night when I was sleeping, a

I woke up in bed, it was very creepy. I went downstairs. Nobody was there in

mysterious portal dashed to my room. I wondered what it was doing. I went

the kitchen at night, then I saw a creepy monster. It showed me something but

in the portal. It took me to a dark firework. There was a challenge, it was

it was a glorious hole. Then I went in there but it was a very long way. I ran

if I get all emeralds within half an hour I will get back home. But I tried to

then I reached the end of the way but there was a floating pickle on the sky.

avoid the fire traps and I won all the emeralds. But there was a boss battle, but I turned super! I hit the boss with an electric shock! And the boss was defeated then I won and teleported to home. The End.

Still I had to work more. There were some clouds that I jumped on and jumped. I saw a floating pig but it looked like a pile. Then a friendly bike but it was floating off the pig. The friendly bike said: “Hop on me”. He watched and put me in a car but, it’s the same shape car! But I saw a house! It was very brownish and golden-ish but it’s the same house shape as my house.

Palak R, 6

I went in the house there was a funny pig there. He said: “Do you want to be my friend? I saw you.” But I hopped on him and we flew away and it was already morning. I went

Journey

home, my mum was there safely. I ate my dinner. At home but my mum

On my way home I saw an unicorn then I saw Super Girl. After then I got

even invited the floating pig and the floating bike! I took them but the bike

home, I heard a flash then I opened the door. Poof! I was in Cinderella’s

ate nothing because he wasn’t human.

story and I saw Cinderella going to the ball and she let me go with her we both were dancing. Then I said bye to her and jumped in the portal. After that I was a mermaid then I saw Ariel and I had a little fun with her. Then I jumped in it again! Then I was invisible. Ah! I said but it was just a dream. Finally I cuddled up with my mum and fell asleep. The End. 124

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Amolika N, 11

a distinctly marked trail! Toto began to sniff at it as if there was something there. “There’s nothing there Toto!” laughed Leo patting Toto’s head affectionately. There was a flash and the children and Toto found themselves in a jungle!

Ring, ring! Emma woke with a start and yawned as she turned her alarm clock off. She sat in bed sleepily trying to recall her, by far, most exciting dream. It came to her at last! She had been stuck in a jungle and—

There was a heavy rainfall as Emma, Toto and Leo plodded through the forest. They had been looking for a shelter all day and they had found a wooden shed. Emma had gone to look for water while Leo looked for food. They got to the shed and shut the door firmly behind them. “This is all I

“Emma! Come downstairs for breakfast!” shouted her Mum.

could find,” said Leo and placed two bunches of bananas on the table.

Emma flopped down the stairs to find a very excited dog, Toto, waiting for

The next day was better than the last. Leo and Emma had decided to make

her. He jumped at her and licked her as she sat down at the table. Emma

a raft, it was the only way to get out of there. Leo collected the logs and

and Toto were like best friends! Emma gobbled down her breakfast and

Emma gathered some vines. By the time they finished making the raft it

rushed upstairs to get ready for school. She glanced at her watch while she

was very dark.

was pulling on her clothes. “Oh no,” she thought “I’m late.”

Emma was the first to wake up. Leo was asleep as well as Toto. She decided

Emma said goodbye to her mother and walked outside with Toto trotting

to explore the jungle so she set off. Emma came to a clearing with a lovely

beside her, her school allowed pets and if they didn’t, Emma had clearly said

crystal-clear lake! Emma suddenly wished that Leo and Toto were there with

she wouldn’t have gone there. She finally arrived and clipped Toto onto a leash.

her so they could splash around! She felt shivers go down her spine and spun

The school had a strict policy that all pets had to be under control on a leash.

around automatically to face two jet black panthers circling her. There was

Emma walked into class and sat down beside her best friend, Leo. She took all

no way out. She was trapped…

her books out as Toto made himself comfortable on her lap. The teacher walked in, Mr Drinkwater. The bell rang and the class settled down. “Good morning everyone,” announced the teacher. “Today we will be doing different activities about the Amazon Rainforest. Please get into pairs and start working.” As usual, Emma, Toto and Leo found an empty table and started the work. “Ooh, this looks interesting!” pointed out Leo. The was a big red X followed by 126

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Manjot M, 7

Darcie H, 7 Journey

One day I was playing in my room. Suddenly, I saw a shiny emerald and

Once upon a time, I was playing with my friend all of a sudden there was a

when I touched it, ears and a tail came onto me. There was a mark on my

floating portal and a wizard came out of the portal and then the wizard took

cheek. Then I became the most powerful alpha ever! I was so afraid that I ran

me and my friend, too.

to tell my sister and parents. They told me not to go to school or everyone will be jealous. So, from that day I was home schooled. Then after a year I asked my parents to let me go out and see my friends. They told me that since I am an alpha, they will think I am mean and will not like me. I did not

Then I was in a cage, and my friend too, and then the wizard spied on us and my friend cried, and me too. And the wizard had a potion and he forced us to drink it and we turned to a witch.

listen to them and went out. Then my friends did not like me and I realised

And the wizard was scared and then then we broke the bars and we got to the

my mistake. But some of my friends still liked me and I was happy. I knew

portal and we scared my mum and dad and I said: “It’s Darcie! And Mum

it was a bad choice but my friends comforted me. Then it was time for me

said: “Is that you Darcie?”

to go home so I went home, ate dinner and went to sleep.

Cameron L Jay A, 7

My journey in a space ship. There was me. I started the engine. The engine was very loud, my ears were ringing. I felt scared to go to Mars. “Three, two, one,

My journey to Space, but it was half-Space and half-jungle. It was fun, amazing. There were monkeys, tigers, lions and aliens. I could see a palm tree with eight coconuts on the palm tree. I loved it. The animals were soft, I brought my pet panda and bear. I had sun until it rained and snowed the next day I saw one more coconut on the palm tree. It was giant I brought twenty bottles of water. I landed safely. 128

go! We are in Space.” Wow. I’ve never seen all these planets, look I see Mars. It’s red and hot. Finally, I land. I step out of the spaceship, my feet were burning. It was very hot. In the distance I saw something green. I walked a bit closer and I still could not see it. I looked behind me and there was an alien, but the alien was nice we played hide and seek. He won, it was so fun. The end. 129

Connecting Stories Anthology from Black Country

Aaliyah K, 7

On my journey to my palace I saw a pretty purple unicorn and I named her

As I walked into the museum, I saw a dinosaur fossil and I was amazed by it.

Pretty Purple. I asked the unicorn if she could help me get home and she

My mum started to look at the paintings but I found it boring so I started

said yes.

running around. Before long, I got lost and I stumbled upon a time machine.

Then I saw a roaring dragon which I think didn’t have a nice day because

I entered the land of the dinosaurs.

it came breathing fire and I was feeling nervous. But it just had a cut in its

There were green bushes, thousands of trees and high mountains. The land

nose and I helped him.

was very beautiful, peaceful and colourful. Out of the corner of my eye, I

Then I had some bubble gum but this was no ordinary bubble gum. It made me invisible because I thought I heard a noise but I was right. To my surprise there were laser beams shooting out. I was feeling so scared. I shouted: “Help! Help!” Then guards came and helped me. I said: “Thank you so much, I almost got killed. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be alive right now.”

saw a diplodocus eating leaves from some trees. I climbed the tree and gave some leaves to the diplodocus and I touched its face. It licked my hand and we became friends. After that, I jumped on the diplodocus’ back and started riding it. It took me to the watering hole and bent down so it could drink water so I decided to get off. I also saw a pterodactyl carrying their eggs as they swooped over me. Suddenly, I heard a scary sound of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I was really frightened as it charged

He said: “You’re welcome. I think you need to go home now.”

towards me. Just in time, the diplodocus bashes the T-Rex with its long neck. After that the triceratops swiftly runs towards the T-Rex with its sharp pointy

“Yes, I do can you take me home?”

horns. Next came an ankylosaurus who swooshes its tail like a wrecking-ball.

“Yes, this is your home. I’m the king.”

Finally, a stegosaurus finishes the job by scaring it with its colour changing plates.

“Aw! I’m so happy to see you!” I shouted, “Let me tell you what happened...”

I smiled as I saw the T-Rex running off into the distance. Suddenly, I heard my mum calling me so I went back through the time machine to the museum. I told the whole story to my mum. It had been a unique and memorable experience!

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Victoria C, 7

Harper L, 7 Journey

Once upon a time there was a princess and her name was Lyla. She was

Once upon a time I was at the park with my friends. Suddenly there was a

wearing a red rose dress on her birthday. She became fifteen and she got a

big storm and we ran as fast as we could but we were too late. And we got

special gift. It was a magical necklace. It had a fire gem but the other gems

sucked up in different places. We looked around and saw a diamond and we

were missing. But it was not any necklace! It was a fire gem necklace.

walked there and met in the middle then I started floating. I saw a vent and

It teleported her to a magical forest. A plant said: “Hello, you need to pass the obstacles.”

when I opened, it was me: I was back home eating my tea. Then morning came. I got dressed and I rode my bike to school and it

Lyla used her necklace to help her pass the obstacles. Then she walked to the next obstacle. She finished the second one! Lyla went to the last obstacle. Then she got the very last gem. Lyla was teleported to her castle. Princess Lyla told her parents what happened. Her parents were amazed!

started to get bumpy. Then it was just a bump. Then I went to school and went home. I played with my toys and did some homework. I played on my computer with my cousin and went to bed and brushed my teeth. I made my bed, got dressed and walked to school and got home and played with my friends.

They were happy and hugged each other. The end.

Shubdeep, 7 My journey to Mars. I bought a spaceship. The spaceship looks green and red. It makes a crash sound when it crashes. I see aliens trying to destroy the spaceship. I saw a rocket flying above Space and Mars. I saw a magical crystal. I did touch it because it was dangerous. Then I landed at a castle. There were so many knights there was a king. It was so big. I flew away in my spaceship because it was so big I was so scared because there was a big giant chasing me finally I got home safe. 132

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Louie H, 10

walk into school teachers are all in a line to greet us which is very unusual so we start to walk slower and more weary. As we get into class we have nowhere to sit. We look at each other in shock at what we are faced with. Before us is

Llama school

a class full of llamas and we are the teachers. The llamas say “good morning

It was a warm sunny day, not like any other. As my mum and I set off for

Mr C, good morning Mr T,” over and over again until I wake up with a jump.

school it all felt different. As I looked around our street the houses were brightly coloured, just like a rainbow. The sky was a clear blue and birds were singing. As I held onto my mum’s hand and walked beside her, I took a deep breath in through my nose. The smell was very familiar but I couldn’t

My mum says: “Good morning sleepy, time to get ready for school.” I jumped up with excitement and rushed to get ready to see what awaited me on my journey to school today.

put my finger on it. Rabbits hopping passed us and an elephant sitting in a garden was having a cup of tea. “What’s going on?” I thought to myself. The smell kept tickling my nose until

Selena C, 7

finally I shouted: “Yes! That’s it!” It was the smell of fresh pancakes covered in strawberries and chocolate. My mouth was watering at the thought. My mum said: “What is it, babe?”

In the middle of the night, I heard a strange sound in my room. I woke up

I answered: “The smell. I know what it is, Mum.”

but I didn’t see anything there. Suddenly, my bed started to shake and there was a little saucer flying in my room. I tried to break it but it was made out

We continued to walk to school. Children laughing and mums talking is

of metal, but then I destroyed it and I was really happy. But there was more

what surrounded us as we got closer to school. Each house a different colour,

and it tried to kill me, but I killed all of them.

the sky getting brighter and the grass was turning orange the further we walked. I see my friend just in front. “Mum, can I go?” I asked.

My sister came and she said: “Oh my gosh.” My sister said: “And what has come in our room?” “Well, there were lots of little flying saucers flying in our room,” I said. “Never

“Yes, you can babe. Have a good day and I’ll see you later.”

mind.” And then we tidied our room and then we lived happily ever after.

I ran to catch up with my friend by the gates. “Wait for me,” I shouted. As we

The End.

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Maisy L C, 9

Letisha L, 10

Mountain action

Jack and the Transporter

I was walking up a steep snowy mountain when I fell into a dark damp

Jack was walking down the street with his friends, Max, Katy, and John. School

hole that led to an unexpected cave. That had different coloured crystals

had just finished, and they were going home. Suddenly an old creepy man

all around it. It looked very ancient. I admired every crystal to be round.

wearing a black coat came near Katy. He looked suspicious and frightening.

I walked down for there were holes but I ignored them. I saw the end, it was a dead end. Lots of skeletons appeared from the hole. I was petrified. I

“Hello, little girl. Would you like my item?” asked the man.

dodged their arrows and ran as far as I could. I saw a glowing stone, maybe

“Yeah, sure!” replied Katy. It was purple with lots of orange buttons and a

it was one of the crystals. I picked it up, it shocked me but helped me get

greenish display. “What’s this and what does it do?” Katy asked the man,

out the mountain. I got out I thumped and cheered until I saw a hoard of

but he was gone.

zombies were slowly walking to me, I ran away from them I saw a bow and arrow so I grabbed it. There were fifty zombies. How am I going to defeat

“That was weird.” said Max. “Hey, what does that button do?”

them? I will just have to run down two mountains. I see my mum. I’m going

“I’d better check,” Katy said. Click. Fizz! Bang! Zap! As quick as a flash, they

to run to her.

were gone. “Huh, where are we? We should look around,” Max said. There were plants all around them. The floor was coated in little multi-coloured leaves as the sky was filled with a light blue sky and soft and fluffy cotton candy-like clouds. The coconut trees looked great in the tropical sky as the colourful leaves fall to the ground. Suddenly, a loud roar filled the air as they continued to explore their surroundings. It was a dinosaur! “ROAR!” “Who are you?” said the dinosaur. “Y... You talk?” asked Katy in confusion. 136

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“Yes, I do talk. I’m Tony the T-rex!” replied the dinosaur. “Oh, I’m Katy. Where am I?” she said. “You’re in Dinotopia, where the dinosaurs live. This is a secret and magical land where anything can happen. There are lots of dinosaurs, but I am the only one who talks in English. All the other dinosaurs speak in the dinosaur language.” explained Tony.

reading books and doing so, fuelling his imagination and wanted to be an author when he got older. When he was 16, he lived a happy life writing lots of books about him, his dreams, and his friends and became the number one author and writer. He became very famous and very popular with fans all over the world thanks to his dream about Dinotopia. Everyone loved his books, and he was very happy.

“I thought dinosaurs went extinct!” Max said curiously. “Some did,” Tony said. “Okay, how do I get back into my world?” asked John.

Finley B, 7

“What do you mean?” Tony asked. “Well, we live in Dudley. That is where we live.” John explained. “What’s Dudley?” Tony said questionably.

One day I was in bed. Suddenly my door creaked open and I was being brave but it was an alien so I knocked the alien over so I had time to run. So I went downstairs and I packed all of my supplies and I went to my grandad’s house and he said “what are you doing up at this time of night?” And I said “because

“Oh no!” Jack said in frustration.

there’s an alien inside my house” and he let me in and we watched TV together.

Suddenly, the machine made a funny noise. Bang! Zap! “Huh?” Jack said. He was in his bedroom and his alarm clock rang and glowed 6.00am. Luckily, it was just a dream, so Jack got ready for school and went to the library to read some dinosaur books as he got an interest to them. He told his friends about his awesome dream. He told him about how Dinotopia was. It was a short dream, but it was still exciting for him. He entered in a Word Competition, wrote his dream down and entered it. He won first prize and won a great prize of lots of books. He continued 138

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Zack J, Yr 4

Ronnie W, 8

One warm summer’s day Boxie’s mum drove him to the colossal, white airport to go to the massive, sunny Spain beach. When Boxie was on the plane he patiently, happily waited for two and a half hours to get to Spain. He was very excited. Trump not president

Two and a half hours later, the plane driver said “you have arrived at your destination.” Boxie quickly ran out of the plane, running around jumping.

Eat food 24/7

His mum said should we go to the beach. Boxie said yes and everyone else

Minecraft is the best.

ran out of the plane to play on the beach. Suddenly, the ground shook and a massive octopus appeared on the beach. Everyone screamed Argh! The massive octopus took Boxie and he fell asleep. When he woke up three turquoise squids saved his life. The ground shook again the octopus kept swimming past them and the three squids took Boxie back to the beach. When he was back his mum was waiting for him. “You’re alive!” shouted Mum. Boxie said: “Let’s go home.” On the plane Boxie was safe from the octopus now! Or was he...

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Anum B, 9

Farhaan C, 10

My Journey As I was a baby,

As the alarm went off, Farhaan was trying to find the off button and groaned.

Was it a dream maybe?

He sat up from his bed and he tried to find the alarm it was on the floor – he

This was my first trip,

probably knocked it off when he was sleeping. Jeff, Farhaan’s monkey, was

I wasn’t going to kip.

up and ready for another adventure. He went downstairs and saw his dad

I was floating in the air,

eating pancakes, his favourite. He rushed down the stairs while his mum was

Without a care.

filling up the plate full of pancakes but Jeff reached in for one and Farhaan

Is that a cloud?

slapped his hand gently.

Oh, my what have I found?

As he was walking down the road to Dylan’s house, Farhaan and Jeff saw

The baby blue sky,

some doughnuts but Farhaan didn’t have any money and he kept on walking.

Was passing by.

When they reached Dylan’s house he was still sleeping so Jeff tickled Dylan

The sky had seen many people,

and he woke up. Dylan got changed and ate his breakfast while Jeff was

As we flew over the steeple.

walking everywhere.

The ladies in red, Went about setting the spread.

They walked out of the house and went to the shopping mall they walked

The smell of food,

past the gaming shop and saw the brand new game that just came out. They

Put everyone in a good mood!

were trying to raise money to get it. They were just £10 short so they went

We were about to land,

to the pawn shop. When they got to the pawn shop they both gave their

I wasn’t feeling grand.

silver chains and it was worth £18. They got their £18 and walked out but

My journey was about to end,

Farhaan realised Jeff had gone. They checked in the pawn shop they couldn’t

Why could it not extend?

find him. They looked everywhere. “Where could he be? Is he in the nut shop?” They checked thoroughly but couldn’t find anywhere. Dylan said he could be back in Farhaan’s house. They

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Jana J, 8

came home and checked in his bedroom, but no luck. He went downstairs and then they went into the forest that’s where his house was that we built together but he wasn’t there either. They were walking around the house when Farhaan remembered about the doughnuts they went down to the

Adventure to go to school

shop and were looking around when someone touched on Dylan’s back. They

One day I woke up from my beautiful bed, then I brushed my teeth to go to

turned around and nothing was there. It kept on happening but they went

school. I ate my breakfast. When I went to school I saw my teacher saying

the other way around and it was nothing they were so confused.

we are going to have a trip. When we go on the trip I saw a big octopus.

Their heads were spinning but as they turned around something caught Farhaan’s eye. He saw something move behind him. It was Jeff. He came here because he wanted a doughnut and luckily enough Farhaan grabbed his wallet because he thought he was going to take a taxi so the three of them got doughnuts and they went to buy the game and it was a long line. They waited a couple of hours and then it was their turn. It was the last one left they bought it and went to Farhaan’s. It was a massive hill so they waited a bit and spotted a massive billboard saying “Welcome to Star Lake”. That’s new, he thought, and they carried on walking and when they got home they started to play the game.

My teacher ran away and the other teacher hits him on his body. Then we continued our journey. Then my friends and I took the lunch bag from the each other’s bags. And we were very excited to eat our food because we are very hungry. When me and my friends ate my lunch I saw a big creature and me and my friends got a special gun to disappear all of the big creatures. We sat on a chair that has flowers. My friends and I drank the juice together and ate fruit. Then my friends and I played and had a lot of fun on this trip because we got a lot of adventurers. The next day me and my friends played so, so, so many games and there was music, we danced a lot. We played with the magic game and someone floated up in the air. My friends draw lots of things on our faces, butterfliers and flowers. There was a person selling ice cream cones.

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Rosalie B-F, 10

and there were long tendrils of ivy hanging down, some almost touching the water. We ventured into the cavern. It was so big we felt like ants. The walls were jagged, and a lot of rubble was on the floor. Several holes in the roof of

A Wander in the Woods

the cavern were letting in light. Looking around there were dark patches on the

It was dark and gloomy, the air crackled like electricity. We felt a quivering

walls that seemed to be moving. We realised they were covered in thousands of

sensation, the smell of the undergrowth was heady and pungent. Walking

trilobites, creatures that lived millions of years ago. Both Nan and I shuddered.

through the woods we felt threatened, dark shadows moved around us! Suddenly a bright light appeared, blinding us temporarily! As our eyes grew used to the light, we could see a wizened old man in a long robe holding

I suddenly had a thought that scared but also excited me! Whispering I said: “Do you think we have gone back in time?”

a crooked staff. As we stared, he smiled and said: “Good you have finally

Looking quite shocked Nan said: “Yes I think we have!” Then we heard a

arrived, now we can go!” Before we could speak, we were whirling though

loud roaring noise, looking up we saw a large ferocious dinosaur looking

the cosmos on an adventure of a lifetime.

down through one of the openings in the roof. It was a T-Rex, we could not

It was a lovely, warm summer’s day so I went for a walk with Nan and

believe our eyes! It started to pound on the roof to break it open to get to us!

Grandad. We went to Warren’s Hall Nature Park, which was close to their

We ran through the cavern as quick as possible, which was difficult because

home. We slowly walked down past the pools, Cobb’s Engine House and to

of the uneven floor. There was also a narrow stream running through it.

the canal and tunnel that lay at the bottom of the hill. As we walked along the

We did not know what to do when I shouted out: “I am going to call our

towpath of the canal it became very dark, gloomy and a little claustrophobic.

dragons for help.”

We saw a shimmering in the air that caused the water to ripple. Suddenly a misty fog appeared and enveloped us. I called out to Nan and Grandad: “What’s happening?” As the fog disappeared, we found ourselves at the other end of the tunnel.

“But those are only make-believe in our stories. But it’s worth a try, go on then quickly,” Nan shouted back. “Nan we are being chased by a T-Rex, why are you doubting calling the dragons?” I gave out my usual call, within a few seconds we heard the rush

Nan replied: “Keep together because this is not normal, and we don’t know

of wind from the dragons’ wings as they came to us. We quickly got on them

what else might happen.”

and flew out of the cavern and away from the T-Rex. Then we realised there

As we came out of the tunnel, we found ourselves facing a massive cavern. It was quite beautiful. The limestone rocks were covered in bright green moss 146

was another problem! The T-Rex, realising it had lost its prey, us, headed off towards a small settlement of mud huts. It was going to attack the people.

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Abeera K, 10

We had to do something! Flying quickly, we all attacked the T-Rex using our fire-breathing dragons. We battled it for some time until it gave and finally lumbered away. The people were safe! It was difficult but we managed to communicate. They were surprised to see us and scared at first but realised we meant no harm as we had saved them. They offered us a sweet drink made from honey and water also some berries and some sort of cooked meat – we did not try to find out what it was!

Chloe’s adventure to the Land of Sweets It was a bright, sunny morning on the day before Chloe’s birthday. Her alarm was ringing on her bedside table and was vibrating through her room. As soon as her parents woke up, they rushed down to the kitchen whilst Chloe’s little sister, Sophie, followed along with her dressing gown wrapped around her.

It was getting dark, and we needed to try to get back home, but how? We retraced our steps we saw shimmering in the air again. The misty fog appeared,

“Can we get my birthday presents today?’’ asked Chloe, full of curiosity.

the dragons disappeared, and the fog enveloped us. When it cleared, we were

“I don’t see why not, between me and your dad, we haven’t decided to buy

back in the entrance to the canal tunnel in the park. Did that really happen

anything at all yet,’’ replied her mother.

or was it the effects of being in the dark tunnel? I put my hand into my jacket pocket and pulled something out. In my hand was a fossil of a trilobite! It must have happened we must have gone through a time shifting portal!

“Let’s go!” shouted Sophie. They all got dressed very quickly and rushed to their luxury BMW convertible that can have the ability to go a hundred miles per hour. In a few minutes, the family had a tyre puncture on the front, left wheel and the car almost skidded across the different lanes of the road. Chloe clutched onto her sister’s hand and opened the car door to get out. When the two of them came out to look for their parents, a gentle flutter of wings brushed against their cheeks as they realised that glitter was floating down on them. A breeze came to them a few seconds later and it was soon whisking them up into the sky and towards the rainbow clouds. “Rainbow clouds?’’ the girls both exclaimed at the same time. The wind pulled to the side and was hovering above the fizzy sherbet grounds in the sky. It was absolutely freezing. Freezing because the sherbet was edible snow!

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Zayan A, 7

“Is this the land of sweets, in the ocean blue sky?’’ asked Sophie. A fairy blurred passed them and stopped to a halt in front. She was wearing a flowing dress with the hems of it tiered up like a moderate sized cake fit for a party. The fairy’s wand was tipped with neon pink and so was her blonde, flowing

A trip to Paris and back.

hair which had two little butterfly clips attached. Both girls gave a gasp of

One day we decided to go to Paris in France. The following day we went into

excitement and anxiety.

the EuroTunnel. We saw flashing lights and the shiny speedy train which we

“Hi girls, I was wondering if you could help me find the Princess of Unicorns because she has some very important work to do in this town of sherbet,’’ she explained. “By the way, my name is Fern and I look after the fields of pandicorns with their diets, training and flying,’’ Fern added. “We’d love to help but we don’t know this place at all,’’ replied Sophie. “Did you bring us here Fern?” inquired Chloe. “Yes, I did because I knew that both of you believe in magic so I’m sure that you would keep a secret, won’t you?’’ she said. The princess was coming

got onto. I was very excited! The train operator said: “Welcome on board! Get your seatbelts on.” A few minutes later the train started to move and it felt like we were moving at approximately 803mph. About 8,160 seconds later we had reached France, the biggest country in EU. When we arrived to the city of Calais, we met a French man who was wearing a black, strange looking hat. He greeted us by saying: “Bonjour!” We did not understand anything else he said but made our way to Paris.

towards the group and was wearing the most beautiful gown and she had

We then went to the money exchange office and traded £50 for Euros. Later

silk wings coming out of her back. She declared that the girls could go back

we went to Disneyland and went on about nine rides.

and that there has been no time taken in the world below. “I hope to see you very soon, take care, bye!’’ the princess called after them. That was the last bit of magic for the day but there is always something lurking behind the corner.

On day two we had croissants for breakfast and headed to the Eiffel Tower. I even bought a model of it. We had slimy snails for lunch and mouthwateringly delicious profiteroles for dessert. After that we went back to Disneyland and went up high on the Ferris wheel. Finally, we went back to the train and made our way back home. I decided that if we came again we should learn French first! The end.

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Participating Schools With thanks to the following schools, whose students’ wonderful work is included in this anthology: Abu Bakr Primary School All Saints National Academy Bantock Primary School Bramford Primary School Brook Primary School Crocketts Community Primary school Ferndale Primary School

The End

Kates Hill Primary School Mayfield Preparatory School Netherton C of E Primary School Nishkham Primary School North Walsall Prime Academy School Oak Meadow Primary School Palfrey Junior School PennyHill Primary School Rakegate Primary School Ruckleigh School Springfield Primary School St Michaels Catholic Primary Academy

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Journeys By Black Country Connecting Stories, funded by Arts Council England, aims to increase children and young people's interest in reading and writing, and to promote diverse voices and stories. Children and young people were invited to take part in a creative writing competition which has been judged by publishers, authors and community champions. This anthology celebrates their creativity and hard work. We hope all entrants feel extremely proud to see their story published and that this gives them the confidence and passion to continue writing.

“Congratulations to all the young writers featured in this anthology. I am so impressed by their imaginative and creative stories – a must-read!”

Jonathan Douglas CBE Chief Executive, National Literacy Trust