40 Tall Tales by Midpoint Creative

forty

A collection of stories created by pupils of Milford NS, Limerick; Limerick School Project NS, Limerick; Let’s Educate Together NS, Mungret and the University of Limerick Community

Introduction “…Once upon a time, in a faraway place, a story was told. That story led back to here and now, and was told again; only this time, it was slightly different…” The Story of ‘Forty Tall Tales’ ‘Forty Tall Tales’ began life as part of the UL Arts Office’s programme of events celebrating forty years of the University of Limerick. Pupils from local national schools – Milford NS, Limerick School Project NS and Let’s Educate Together NS, Mungret – were invited to participate in a storytelling event with local wordsmith Greg O’Shaughnessy. Through the children’s energy and enthusiasm we realised they too had their own tales for telling. Each school was sent a series of suggested titles that reflected aspects of the University’s physical environment. Some were used and many more were invented by the children. The authors range from Senior Infants to Fifth Class. Members from the University’s academic, administrative, artistic and student communities were also asked to contribute. The world of Story is one of our earliest and most immediate experiences of the power of the arts; the words of storytelling give life to the greater narratives of each of us. They bring order and meaning to the strange and unfamiliar, they give us swords and shields, amulets and talismans and we return to our story armed with another piece of the puzzle. Every story tells a tale that is worth reading and underneath each one there are other stories; and so it goes on.

Patricia Moriarty UL Arts Office, Student Affairs Division, University of Limerick September 2013 2

page

Milford National School

Limerick School Project National School

Let’s Educate Together National School, Mungret

University of Limerick

A Necklace of Swan’s Feathers The Tree of Magpies The Haunted Mansion The Adventure The Riparian Wind Rapunzel in the Sky with Tomato Soup The Same Day The Bridge That Came Alive The Bridge That Came Alive Time The Mermaid of Water Magic The House That Changed Colours

Ruth McCarthy Beth Newe Adrian Siuda-Martin Rachel Murray Yasna Tofail Annick Frohburg Calum O’Grady Hannah O’Connor Ronan O’Hare Saoirse Exton Geneviève F. Hayes Aidan Williams

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 13 14 15 16

The River That Lost Its Water Edward and the Silver Apples The Secret of the Trees The Magic Chessboard The Message the Bees Brought Tunnels of Glass A Library with No Books The Silver Needles The Faeries’ Fountain The Faeries’ Fountain The Faeries’ Fountain

Ròisìn Murphy Bartek Bednarski Fionn O’Dwyer Clodagh Hannah Darragh Ryan Odhran O’Dwyer Zoha Panezai Joey Roberts Byrne Lucy Allen and Emily McNamara Aleyna Keskin Caitlin Ryan Desmond

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 27 28

The Door in the Tall Tree The Door in the Tall Tree Jim’s Stones How the Bridge Turned Black The Salmon Who Leapt Too High The Salmon Who Leapt Too High The Mill on the River

Isabelle Nash Paddy Brosnan Keane Amy Monahan, Gosia Hourigan, Ben Collin and Patricia Valaykodi Isabelle Binchy, Leo Plesiak, Rolf Upite and Mozan Khir Tina Filipak Mantas Stasynas Ellen Shaw-Kelly

30 30 32

The Door in the Tall Tree Yvonne Davis Kathleen and the Enchanted Crystals Bernadette Walsh The Heron That Fell Out Of the Tree Paul Lee The Secret Room in Plassey House Mikael Fernstrom The Missing Houses of Plassey Rebecca O’Hare and Kilmurry Village Martin the Fox Eoin Devereux “Giorraíonn Beirt Bòthar” Sarah O’Rourke The White Lady Mary Nunan The Girl Who Swallowed an Acorn Padraigín Ní Mhuircheartaigh The Flowerpot Thief Greg O’Shaughnessy

33 35 35 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47

from

Milford National School

the

necklace

swan's feathers by Ruth McCarthy

Once upon a time, there was a baby swan. His parents named him Rodger but his friends called him Rodge. One day a witch approached Rodge and put a curse on him. He was now…. a baby dragon! His parents kicked him out because they thought that he had eaten their baby. Rodge went into the woods and curled up beside a tree. A girl called Leea came along and saw him. She poked him to wake him up. “Aaaah!” said Rodge. “Aaaah!” said Leea. “You can TALK?!” “Yes I can” replied Rodge. “What happened to you?” said Leea. “A wicked witch put a curse on me and turned me from a swan into a dragon”. “Wow, that’s terrible. Maybe you would like to come and stay with me?” “Yes, I’d love to!” said Rodge. Leea took little Rodge home to her parents’ house. In her dad’s shed, she found a box that he wasn’t using. She cut a hole in it so Rodge could go in and out of it. Rodge thought it was so comfy and soon he fell fast asleep inside. After an hour, Leea woke him up so he could go and have tea with her Mom and Dad. They got a big shock when they first met him, but soon they got used to him. Leea read a book about dragons and it said that they like to eat flowers. So, the next day, Leea and Rodger went off into the fields to pick some. Leea picked a big white flower and gave it to Rodger to eat. As soon as he ate it, he started to grow feathers! A bright light flashed around him and whoosh! He was back to his rightful self – A SWAN!! The next day, Rodger had to leave for home. He gave kind Leea a beautiful necklace of his new feathers for her to remember him by. 5

Tree

the of

Magpies by Beth Newe

Bang, crash, crunch! One dark stormy day in Castletroy beside the river bank lots of trees and nests fell down. One tree and one nest did not. All the magpies were on this tree. The magpies were so hungry, so cold and so alone as their parents had gone looking for food. Suddenly one of the magpies fell from the tree and could not get back up; the rest of the magpies in the nest could not get down to him as they could not fly yet. He was stuck. However he was lucky as he had found food beside the tree. He wanted to share the food with his family but sadly they were up and he was down. The magpies in the tree were shouting “help us, help”! They missed their brother and didn’t like being separated. After all they were a family. After many hours of chirping they fell asleep, totally exhausted. Much later when they woke up they were surprised to see that they were no longer up in the sky but were on a rusty red truck that was travelling very fast on the motorway out of Limerick. They then thought of their missing brother and decided to look for him. They snuck out of the truck and jumped on to the road when the truck slowed down. 6

They looked around and saw that they were in a bog, near Birdhill. Suddenly they heard something, a big red fox appeared. He looked hungry. When he heard the magpies screeching he ran and ran, they had frightened him so much that he forgot he was hungry and ran home to his den. On they went, back to UL looking for their lost brother. As they got close to Castletroy they saw a cat but thankfully the cat did not see them, phew! Then suddenly, out of the bush their brother appeared. “Brother, brother” they screeched, “we have found you.” After they had hugged they heard of his adventure in following the big red truck that took them. They were so happy now. They followed their brother back to the river to get food and find a new home. Their new home was in a hedge this time and it was O so cosy. They soon fell asleep, happy and full. By the time they awoke it was spring time and the flowers were blooming. The bees and butterflies were everywhere and their mum and dad had found them. They were so happy now and they had lots of new friends around them in their new home.

the

haunted

Mansion by Adrian Siuda-Martin

Once upon a time there was a haunted mansion on the outskirts of a town. Its walls were wrecked. The house stood in the middle of an abandoned park. It was occupied by zombies and many other scary monsters. The creatures used to come out of the house every night. They were giving all the town citizens huge frights.

He went to the house the following day. He noticed that the zombies were nothing more than just ordinary robots. And the monsters were robots too. He went back to the town hall and told everybody what he had seen.

One evening the mayor set up a meeting. He wanted to stop the zombies and monsters terrifying the people. He asked for someone brave enough to put up his hand up. The volunteer would have to go to the house to find out what kind of creatures were there.

The mayor sighed. “So now you know my never told secret” he said. “I use robots to scare away people who would want to visit the old house. I store some treasures in the basement”. He went on, “You see, I used to be a pirate captain. I got lots and lots of gold, coins and other valuables from many ships and islands.”

A little brave boy called Owen spoke up. “I will go there no matter what. I know the monsters don’t come out at day so it would be safe to visit the house at daylight.”

Nobody trusted the mayor from that day on. People didn’t like him any more because he gave them such a fright and pretended to know nothing about it.

the

ADVENTURE by Rachel Murray

Once upon a time there was girl named Jessie and a boy named Jack who lived in Limerick. One day they went for a walk to the University. They started to explore and went to the janitor’s supply room. Jessie slipped on the wet floor and hit off the timber panel on the wall. Suddenly the panel opened revealing a dark and dingy corridor. They were afraid but they decided to be brave, so they walked into the scary corridor. Suddenly their eyes lit up when they saw an enchanted Forest. There was birds singing, rabbits dancing and the most beautiful flowers and trees they had ever seen. Suddenly ten baby bears appeared from behind the trees. The bears asked them if they would like to meet their friends. Jessie and Jack said they would love to. They were surprised to see that their friends were fairies and goblins. The fairies and goblins took the children to their palace where there were more fairies and goblins dancing and casting spells. Jessie and Jack were feeling very hungry by now and asked the bears for some food. The bears took the children to their kitchen; a fairy with a huge white hat met them and told them to call her chef. The children ate so much beautiful food they thought they would burst. They went to say goodbye to everyone but the fairies had a big surprise for them. They gave them a magic goblin book and some fairy dust. “Thank you so much” they said. They used their surprise to become what they always wanted to be. Jessie became the best singer ever in the school choir and Jack became the best player in his school team. They both lived happily ever after.

the

riparian

wind

by Yasna Tofail

Diya made her way down the mossy river bank. It was a day like any other. “Ah,” she thought. “It’s so nice to relax here. The river bank is so peaceful and calm.” Diya’s thoughts were interrupted by a young willow warbler singing high in nearby chestnut tree. She smiled. “Oh dear little willow warbler,” she thought. “How wonderful it must be to soar high in the clouds. How I wonder where you go to at night time.” Just then, a cool breeze blew across her path. At that moment, Diya realised that the wind was calling out to her. She ran in its direction to see where it would take her. As Diya ran, the little animals of the Riparian forest started running with her. They seemed to want to follow, for when she stopped to let them run back, the otter said “Please go on. If you do, we’ll follow.” Diya was astonished not only at the merry band of animals that had congregated from the dense undergrowth of the forest, but at the fact that one of them was speaking. “You can talk?” she asked the otter. “No,” he replied. “You can just understand me, that’s all.” The other animals chattered, grunted and howled in agreement. “OK,” said Diya. “You can follow me.” Diya understood from the resulting chorus that the animals were grateful. Diya nodded before continuing to follow the wind. The other animals willingly followed her. The new friends were really enjoying their new adventure.

They ran over the Black bridge, past the fishermen’s cottages and river islands. As they ran the wind sang a song about their journey. ‘As you run with the wind, You’ll open your eyes, You’ll see the world, Like never before, You’ll see beauty and life Wherever you go.’ In Diya’s heart, she knew she would always find this happiness in the shade of the forest. However, all good things must come to an end, and slowly, but surely, the wind died down. Diya slowed down. The animals slowed down. They were all breathless, but also happy. “Thank you,” whispered the wind, “for running with me.” 9

rapunzelin the sky with

Tomato soup by Annick Frohburg (with some help from her dad)

Rapunzel has very long hair, actually very, very supadupa long hair. She got trapped on the top floor of the tallest skyscraper in town, but no one knows how it really happened. She was rather lucky because there was a large stash of cans of tomato soup for her to eat. But eating tomato soup every day can be very boring. She tried to eat everything else instead, even her own hair. But even if you dip it in tomato sauce eating your own hair does not taste very nice. So Rapunzel needed to get out and came up with this idea: she was very good at making paper planes, so she folded every large piece of paper into loads of different paper planes, and wrote on them: HELP ME. REWARD: TOMATO SOUP. Soon the fire brigade arrived. Someone had called them when they saw flames of bright red coming out of the top-floor windows, which in fact was Rapunzel’s hair and not fire at all. At the reception there was a big woman and she was really mean. She didn’t let the fire brigade up the stairs. And the elevator was broken anyway. Meanwhile, one of the paper planes had made its way through the small window of a small workshop in a small house. The guy who makes clothes, who lived there and 10

often is called a tailor, really loved tomato soup and wanted to get the reward. He knew that Rapunzel was not really in trouble and that there was no fire because at the top he could see a blond patch of hair. How could he help Rapunzel? The Tailor stitched together every scrap of fabric he could find in his workshop to make a hot-air balloon. And he heated the air inside with his little camp cooker. (He would need that anyway to boil the tomato soup.) He flew to the top of the skyscraper and rescued Rapunzel and all that was left of the cans of tomato soup. After heating up all the tomato soup no fuel was left in the camping stove, and because he didn’t bring another one, he needed a good idea. So Rapunzel, because she was very clever, suggested making a giant parachute out of the hot-air balloon. And so they did and got down safely. And after all that they got married. Of course. And every day Rapunzel made tomato soup for the tailor.

the

same day

by Calum O’Grady

Mr Brown wakes up at 9.00am and it is a beautiful morning. He is going on a holiday and he decides that he is going on an adventure to Spain. He flies to Spain. He rents a small white house. It is a bit dusty and scary. In the afternoon he goes swimming outside. He gets out of the swimming pool and dries himself. Then he sunbathes and he is scorching hot. When he is there he gets invited to a party. After the party it was very late. He felt very tired and went to sleep. Mr Brown wakes up and gets out of bed. He gets out of bed the same way as yesterday. He has his breakfast. Now he wonders why this has happened. He tries to get somebody to help him and gets confused as people are saying the same words as yesterday. He couldn’t believe his ears, then he gets a terrible shock and then he faints! He gets up and has his dinner. He gets so annoyed that the day has been the same as yesterday that he starts hitting everybody! He starts to slap peoples’ faces to get them to wake up. The next thing that happens is that the police get called and take Mr Brown away. He gets put into a cell at the police station. After a while he finds a sharp knife and cuts the door open. He gets out and lets out all the other prisoners. They all start to destroy the police station. He goes back to the house he is staying in and goes to bed and sleeps. He wakes up and finds that the day is different to yesterday. He has his breakfast and goes off to a meeting. He visits a restaurant with his friends, stays until 12 midnight. He goes to bed and wakes up finding himself in bed. It was all a dream! 11

the

bridge came alive that

Long ago there was a girl in high school called Chloe. She was 17 and was always picked on by three mean girls named Louisiana, Cerella & Maple. They thought they were really cool, but they weren’t. Chloe did not like being picked on and wanted to find a way to teach the three mean girls a lesson. Chloe had a friend called Leonie with amazing magic powers. Every day all the children crossed this old rusty bridge on their way to school and one day when Chloe and Leonie were crossing the bridge Chloe had an idea. She said to Leonie “I know a way that we can put a stop to this mean stuff. I need you to use your magic powers to make this bridge very scary. Could you make it come alive? If the bridge is alive then we can use the bridge to teach the girls a lesson that they will never forget”. Leonie agreed to try a spell. “Abrakadabra one, two, three make this bridge come alive for me”. Then all of a sudden the bridge started to huff and puff. The spell worked! Chloe and Leonie passed notes to the other children to tell them all that the bridge was alive but they did not tell Louisiana, Cerella & Maple. When the three girls walked onto the bridge on their way home from school the bridge started to rise up, up, up then down, down, down and the girls fell into the water, SPLASH! Someone threw them three life buoys and so they got onto dry land. The bridge roared at the girls and said “this is what happens when you pick on other children”. Louisiana, Cerella & Maple were not happy but they had learnt their lesson. The next day they came into school with a sorry card and present for Chloe and Leonie. The teacher asked why the girls were giving Chloe and Leonie a card and the girls explained that they had done something wrong and this was a sorry card and present. The teacher was very proud of the children and gave them all a lollipop. Chloe and Leonie were very happy.

by Hannah O’Connor

Long, long ago in a small country town there was a long grey bridge, but this bridge wasn’t any old bridge. During the day there was nothing unusual about it but rumours say the bridge came alive at night. One day Sean told his grandson Jimmy about the bridge. On a dark and spooky night Jimmy went out to the bridge to see if his granddad was telling the truth. He crept up to it and hid in a bush to see if anything would happen. And something did!! He saw the bridge come alive and dance around in the river. Jimmy ran back to the town and woke everyone to tell them what was happening. When they went to the bridge to see for themselves, it wasn’t moving so they all went home. Once they were all gone the bridge stood up and started moving around in the river again. Jimmy got everyone to go back to the bridge but it had returned to its spot in time before anyone saw it, so they all left again. Then Jimmy got really angry. He started shouting at the bridge saying things like “everyone thinks I’m crazy because you won’t move when anyone else is around, why won’t you move?” Just then the bridge stood up taller than ever and walked over to Jimmy. It actually spoke to him. The bridge told Jimmy that his family were very special and they were the only ones who could see the bridge move. This was because his great, great, great, grandfather built the bridge and made a wish that it would always keep his family in touch with each other, so if any of the family moved away then the bridge could follow them and give them a way home.

by Ronan O’Hare

time

by Saoirse Exton

I looked up from my work. “We need more screws,” I shouted, going in to the workshop, picking up a piece of wood from the bench. I turned to see my friend Aisling who was helping me, but something was different. I quickly ran outside. Where was my tree house? I ran around the garden. There was nothing there. I ran back to the workshop. Aisling wasn’t there! Instead, there stood a little boy, about 6. “Who are you?” “I’m Dave,” he answered. “Dave who?” “Dave Miller.” That’s my second name! Then, I heard a bomb! Dave looked scared. “Don’t worry,” I told him, “bombs went away from this area after World War Two.”

“What?” he shrieked. “There’s no such thing as World War Two!” “Yes there is,” I argued. “No there isn’t,” he said. Then I asked him what date it was. He said it was 1918. “What?” I cried. “I was born in 2005!” He gave me a funny look and stared at the piece of wood in my hand. I suddenly noticed that the house was the same as mine, and I realised he must be my granddad, only small! I told him that he would one day have a little girl, called Clare, who would marry a man called Carl, and then his little girl would give birth to another little girl, called Becky. (Who is me.) He smiled at me and said, “I’d love to have a granddaughter.” Then his face fell. “But my granddads both died, and so did my two grans.” I was thinking about this now. They would have been my great great grandparents. “How did they die?” I questioned. “They died when a bomb crashed on top of them,” he said, weeping. “Are you sad about anything else?” I asked. “Yes,” he replied. “Daddy’s gone to fight.” I said, “I know how you feel.” “You do?” he said, still crying. “Yes,” I said. “My friend Aisling disappeared, today!” “What?” he gasped. “I think I know where she is! She’s in 2013.” “How do you know that?” I asked uneasily. “Oh, simple!” said an older voice. I spun around to see my great grandmother looking at me. “I know who you are. You’re my great granddaughter.” I gasped. “How..do..you..know?” I said, as a shiver ran down my spine. She pointed to the piece of wood in my hand. “Hold tight,” she said. “Think of 2013 and you will return there!” Soon it was 2013 again, and my granddad was there. He told me of a little girl who had told the future. He and Aisling had just finished the work we had to do and everybody was happy and content.

the

mermaidof water magic by Geneviève F. Hayes

Far away in Fairyland, there was a small stretch of water, which was known to all fairy folk as the Mermaid Pool. In the pool there were lots of mermaids. The mermaids had plenty of room in the pool, and liked to play games like tail ball, to keep their tails warm. One of them, whose name was Jade, was by far the prettiest. She had red~orange curls and a jade green tail. She was also the cleverest and she was called the Mermaid of Water Magic. She was good friends with Shannon the Ocean Fairy. She could also swim on air, and she often helped Kirsty, Rachel and Shannon with missions involving water. The fairies’ enemy was Jack Frost. One day, the three enchanted shells, which were Jade’s magical objects, went missing. This had happened before and Jade called Shannon, who at once agreed to help her. They used magic to transport themselves into the human world where they met Kirsty and Rachel and also asked them to help. The girls agreed and Shannon used magic to see where the first shell, which was called the dawn shell, was located. It transpired it was in Greenleaf, which was a little seaside village where Kirsty’s Gran lived. They swam under the sea and went to an old Spanish galleon shipwreck. The goblins were there and they had the dawn shell. At first they wouldn’t give it back, but when Jade’s lobster friends came up and snapped at their ankles, they threw it across the cave with such force that Jade had to use magic to catch it. Otherwise the four of them would have fallen to the ground with the force of it. The next day, they set off to look for the twilight shell, which was also in Greenleaf. They dived under the sea and discovered that it had made night fall in the middle of the day. Jade fixed a sparkle to her wand and it acted like a torch, lighting up the sea for miles. Jade’s dolphin friends helped them find the goblins that had hidden the twilight shell. Jade flicked her tail and immediately a stream of copies of her tail went shooting through the water. Everyone followed the stream of tails and they led to a rock where the twilight shell was. “Hurray!”, shouted Jade. “Now we only have to find the moon shell.”

The next day they went to Ireland, which was a little island, and they discovered that the goblins had hidden it at the very top of the tallest oak tree, which was 2000 metres tall. It was a magic tree. “How are we going to get it down”, cried Kirsty, “it’s way too tall to fly”. “I know”, said Jade, “I can use magic to make the tree fall down and then we can put it back again”. They did so, and then suddenly the goblins appeared from nowhere. “Give us back the shell”, they cried. “Never”, cried Jade. She flicked her tail and immediately they were all swept away in a whirl of rainbow coloured bubbles. Back in Fairyland, the King and Queen were delighted. “This calls for a party”, they cried. “Why not have a beach party to celebrate the season of summer?” They did, and Jack Frost never stole any water objects again because he didn’t trust his dimwitted goblins!!

the

house

that

changed

by Aidan Williams

colours Once upon a time there was a family called the Milestones. Mum and Dad were called Mark and Amey and the kids were Oscar, Rory and James. They had a dog called Buster. They had just moved into a house on the edge of Creepwood forest but they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know the mystery that was ahead of them. Their only neighbour was Mr Mercury. Hidden in a secret room in the attic was a precious stone called a Glowstone. The Glowstone was priceless because it could power electricity for a whole country. Each night at midnight the Glowstone would light up and make the house change its colour to yellow and gold. Mr. Mercury was the only one who knew the stone was there and how valuable it was, because it was his brother Eoin who had found it at the core of the Earth. Eoin had died mysteriously a few years earlier.

One evening Mr Mercury knocked on the door. He told the Milestones that he had a power cut and he wanted to check their electricity supply in the attic. Oscar was a bit suspicious of his new neighbour, so he and Buster followed him to the attic. When Mr Mercury was coming down with the Glowstone in a bag, Oscar tried to open the bag and Mr Mercury tried to run away. Buster came to the rescue by biting Mr Mercury in the leg. Rory called the police who were delighted the children had caught the evil Mr Mercury in the act. They took him to prison and locked him away. The Milestones used the Glowstone to provide power supply to all the televisions in the country so no-one would ever miss their favourite television programme ever again. 16

from

Limerick School Project National School

river that lost it's water

the

by Róisín Murphy

Lily was walking down to the river, clasping the daisy she had picked earlier. She skipped to the river she had always visited as a child. After a while, she was at the river or at least what was left of it. She noticed immediately that the river’s water was draining rapidly. “Help, help!” shouted a mysterious voice. “Who is there?” replied Lily. “I’m Crystal, the talking river. Glozell, the evil but glamorous witch said that she would drain my water if I let Fifi the Fairy bathe in my water.” As Crystal spoke the sky turned grey. “Mwah ha-ha!” shouted the witch. “Having fun, Crystal?” “Glozell!” shouted Lily. Immediately Glozell hovered down to Lily with her minions by her side. “What is all this about?” asked Lily out of curiosity. “Well…” said Glozell, “Fifi is my sister.” “What?” gasped Crystal. “Yeah, I got the good looks and she got the wings,” said Glozell, fixing her black greasy hair. “Anyway, Fifi was always the most popular and I felt jealous. Then I thought, hey let’s put a spell on her, and I did just that!” Suddenly Fifi appeared. “She put the water spell on me,” Fifi explained. “It’s a spell where my wings will die unless I give them water every day.” 18

“So that’s why you didn’t want Fifi to bathe in my water!” exclaimed Crystal. “Correct!” said Glozell. “But… now I regret the spell.” “Then you know what to do,” said Lily. “Right!” said Glozell. “Take away the water spell and make Fifi the Fairy feel well!” Suddenly Fifi’s wings felt stronger. “Oh, thank you!” shouted Fifi. “Ahem!” coughed Crystal. “Oh yes!” beamed Glozell. “Mmm… Instead of making Crystal drain pile down lots of rain!” Instantly Crystal began to get bigger and bigger. “Well, I better go!” said Lily. “Wait!” shouted Glozell. “Yes?” replied Lily. Together Crystal, Glozell and Fifi shouted, “Thank you!” Lily smiled and continued walking.

edward and the silver apples by Bartek Bednarski

Once upon a time there was a boy called Edward. He lived in a small village called Hawazaya. Hawazaya was in a forest and was really muddy and had no roads or paths. Edward lived in a small house made of mud. He didn’t have a bed, so he slept on the ground. As you can see, he was very poor. One day he went into the forest to catch squirrels. Then when he was about to shoot a squirrel he saw something shiny behind the bushes. He went towards it. He saw it was a tree with silver apples on it. Quick as a flash he began putting them in his sack. Then when his sack was full he ran home to show them to his mom. When he arrived home he showed the silver apples to his mom. But his mom started eating them! She had never seen silver and didn’t even know what silver was. Of course, she couldn’t bite into them because they were silver, so she got mad and told Edward to throw them out. She grounded him from going outside to play with his friends. He tried to explain, but she didn’t want to hear it. He was so mad because he knew they could be rich, if only his mom knew what silver was. Then he got an idea. He could take his mom to the market place and show her how much they could buy with just one silver apple. He found her and told her to come quick to the marketplace. Then he bought 4 loaves of bread, 3 kg of ham and 4 litres of milk. That’s when his mom finally believed him, and from then on they never had to starve again. 19

the

secret of the

trees

by Fionn O’Dwyer It was a beautiful, sunny day in the forest of Curraghmore. The River Clodagh was rippling, the sun was shining down on the water and the scent of the honeysuckle was just amazing. On this day a young boy named Draíocht was walking through the woods. He had been visiting his grandparents, and he got so sick of being at their house because he was used to watching TV on a 50-inch flatscreen and their television was like a tiny cottage with an extension built on the back. Draíocht thought it was a serious Stone Age artefact, just like his grandparents. So that’s why he decided to go for a walk. As he walked through the woods he started to whistle. There was a rustling in the trees. He found this a bit strange, so he whistled even louder. Right before his very eyes the forest seemed to come alive. He looked at his right and saw a young ash tree strutting his stuff. He looked to his left and saw two middle-aged cherry blossoms waltzing. He thought that he must have been dreaming. Draíocht pinched his arm to see if he was hallucinating. He shook his head and then looked straight ahead. He saw an ancient fir tree stretching his branches as if he was doing a warm-up so that he wouldn’t get any cramps. Then the fir tree started into a graceful performance. He moved very slowly but very elegantly. Draíocht figured out that it was much harder for the old tree to dance than the younger ones, but he realised that all the trees enjoyed dancing equally. So Draíocht questioned the thoughts he had about his grandparents earlier. He realised his grandparents couldn’t be as capable as his parents at being active but they had so many stories to share and so much advice to give. He felt like a pig for having been unfair to them. Draíocht was thankful to the trees for sharing their dancing secrets with him because that made him realise that whatever age you are you should still be appreciated. 20

the

magic

chessboard by Clodagh Hannan

Tommy and Joy were playing chess. Their favourite game was chess and they played it a lot. It was Joy’s birthday and they were talking about what she might get. They hoped she would get a chessboard. In the morning Joy felt excited. She woke Tommy and they rushed down the stairs. “Happy birthday!” said their mum. Joy got an art set. Her dad told her that Uncle Peter would be coming for dinner. Uncle Peter arrived with a present. Joy opened it. It was a chessboard, but not a normal one. It had pictures carved on it, pictures of war. Their father snatched it from her and put it away. Uncle Peter left. The next day the children took down the chessboard. They started to play, but immediately they were lifted up in a whirlwind. When they woke up they saw an icy river and dead plants and trees. They felt scared. Suddenly a penguin came over and said, “My name is Edmund. Follow me.” Soon they came to a magnificent castle. They walked down a corridor until they came to a huge room. Seated on two thrones were a beautiful queen and a handsome king. “Welcome,” said the king. “There will be a war against evil Violetta and her supporters. Help us.”

The next day as they stood in the battlefield they felt scared. They had all of the good side behind them, but it didn’t help. Suddenly it grew cold. “They’re here.” Violetta and her disgusting creatures arrived. They started battling. There was blood and screaming. Joy fell on the ground, and Tommy rushed to her. He saw the queen fighting Violetta. Everything went quiet. Violetta fell to the ground. All evil disappeared. Joy was fine. Tommy was happy. They were rewarded with wonderful gifts. “Thank you,” said the king and queen. Tommy and Joy went home. “Oh, there you are,” said their mum. “Where have you been? I was getting worried.” Tommy and Joy laughed.

the

message bees brought the

by Darragh Ryan

In a land full of bees everyone was happy. Well, almost everyone, every bee and every bug. The flies did not like the bees and wanted to attack Beeland. Buzz knew this and he wanted to stop them. Buzz went to the bee wizard and told him his plan. “I want to make a magic wall. Can you help me?” asked Buzz. “Yes,” answered the wizard. “Use this red powder.” Buzz took the powder and thanked the wizard. He ran away excitedly. When Buzz got to where he wanted to build the wall he saw Zizz, the messenger bee, coming toward him shouting, “The flies are coming!” Buzz just carried on sprinkling the red powder until suddenly a wall appeared out of nowhere. Zizz was right. It was just in time because the flies were indeed coming. The flies saw the wall and used their magic to make it disappear. “Ha, ha!” laughed the flies. Buzz went to the wizard again. This time Buzz got green powder. He used it all at once. The green powder made a big green plant, but the flies were able to make that disappear too. He began to wonder, “What if we trap the flies?” So Buzz went straight to the wizard and asked him for honey powder. “Okay,” came the reply, “here you go.” “Thank you,” said Buzz and off he went. He flew all over the land spreading the powder which turned the ground into honey, and this time when the flies came they got stuck. The Queen Bee came and gave a message to the flies. It went like this: “Go away or you will end up stuck in honey until the day you die.” Now that was one sticky message that the bees brought back to the flies! 22

tunnels of

glass

by Odhran O’Dwyer One day John, while out exploring, came upon a beautiful waterfall. Many people had seen the waterfall but never the cave behind it. John walked through the waterfall and found tunnels made of glass. These glass tunnels were elegant yet frightening because each one projected visuals of what the future would hold for humankind unless certain human behaviours changed. The God of Hate knew what John had seen and believed that he should exterminate John as those tunnels of glass were created by the Gods and only ever meant to be seen by Gods. The God of Love also knew what John had seen but thought that John was the only person able to destroy Hate, which would lead to a peaceful Earth. Hate followed John all over the world. John had already stopped World War III, the Swiss Civil War and the Leaning Tower of Pisa from crashing to the ground. Every time Hate tried to make his move the God of Love shielded John with the best of her magic. Hate was distraught, so he decided his next move would be his final attack in the battle of Hate versus John and it would be successful.

After averting more disasters, John decided to have a holiday in Athens. The God of Love couldn’t use her magic in Athens as this was the city where Zeus ruled and the God of Love didn’t dare offend him. Hate found a perfect place to attack. John was alone in an amphitheatre. Hate attacked. John’s position was not good. Weaponless and injured he summoned all of his will power, and images of the tunnels of glass came back to him. Now the tunnels were projecting the Apocalypse which could be diverted if the God of Hate could be destroyed. John screamed and the ground beneath Hate opened and swallowed him down into the Underworld. Hate rued the day that John came upon the tunnels of glass, but humankind will be forever grateful.

LIBRARY WITH NO BOOKS by Zoha Panezai

Once there was a book person called Jess. Book people, just so you know, are little people that live in books. They usually prefer library books. Jess was brave and kind. She looked after all the books on her shelf very well indeed. One day Jess woke up and went outside her book house. Her book was the only book on the shelf. Feeling both worried and curious, Jess investigated the matter. After going three times around the library, she was sure she was the only living thing in the building. There were no books in the library either. Jess looked at the big library clock from the highest shelf. She was just about to climb down when a piece of card caught her eye. She scrambled over to the slightly dusty card. “Yes!” she cried after a quick look at the card. “Yee-hah. I’ve found a book card!” But Jess’s voice trailed away into a vast distance because she had seen a note written quickly and messily on the back of the card. It was addressed, “To Jess…” As it was addressed to her, she had to read the note. 24

The note stated, “To Jess – I know you probably want to know where everyone and all the books have gone. I will proceed to give you directions to find the books. Not the people though, which you must find yourself. Firstly, you must go to where your favourite book would stand. Then you must find out who had the book, your favourite one, last. Then go to Shelf 3B and you will find every book in the library.” Jess did all she was told in the note. At last, when she arrived at Shelf 3B she found all the books squashed together. Jess felt proud of herself. Suddenly, without any kind of warning, the librarian, the customers, a large frog (he had written the note) and all the other book people jumped out and yelled, “Surprise! Happy birthday, Jess!” Jess felt very happy, the happiest she’d ever felt. All her friends had organised a surprise birthday party for her! Everyone spent the rest of the day laughing, eating and celebrating. It was Jess’s best birthday ever!

the

SILVER

NEEDLES

by Joey Roberts Byrne

Once upon a time there were seven silver needles scattered all over the world. With one on each continent, they were hidden by ancient people a long time ago. But they were stolen by a gang called “The Stealers”. They had already managed to find six needles. If they could get the seventh needle, the power of the silver needles would make then unstoppable. The last needle was hidden in Texas in America. The military sent out 150 soldiers. They knew where the last needle was hidden and they wanted to get back the other six needles as well. The military had the upper hand with 150 soldiers vs. 12 Stealers. But it wouldn’t be quite so easy because “The Stealers” were expert ninjas. At this point, “The Stealers” had been looking for the last needle for 11 days, and they were getting closer to the needle’s site. It wouldn’t take them more than two days to locate it. The soldiers that were at the site were getting tired, so the military changed them for another 150, like a tag team. One of the newly arrived soldiers heard “The Stealers” pull up in their car. The bad thing was that they arrived at night, which suited the ninjas but made a bad situation for the soldiers. All they could really see was a car and black shadows. Almost immediately, seven soldiers were already down. Five soldiers rushed towards the car, but when they got there they realised two of “The Stealers” were protecting the car. The five soldiers called for back-up. Fortunately, the soldiers gained the upper hand and two of “The Stealers” were down. After a long while, the soldiers subdued “The Stealers”. They got the other six needles and returned them to their rightful places. “The Stealers” were sent to jail and never seen again.

the

Faeries'

Fountain

For many centuries, fairies had lived in Plassey; it was their home. At any time of the year if you passed by the fountain you would hear the faint buzz of talking. Why the fountain, you ask? Because it was where the queen lived. The faeries waited on her day and night bringing her whatever she called for. You could even call them slaves. It was a hard life. The faeries were always planning ways to conquer the queen, but of course that had never happened. One day the faeries were having yet another meeting on how to beat the queen. When one of the faeries was talking about putting poison into her drink, the door suddenly burst open! “How dare you plot revenge against me! You are my slaves. YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS HAVING MEETINGS ON HOW TO KILL ME!” She took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. “You were some of my best workers and now I have to kill you.” The queen gave an evil laugh. “Octo,” she screamed, “get in here with your sharpest axe.” “Yes, your majesty.” Octo came rushing in with some kind of chopping block and an axe so big he could hardly carry it. “Run!” cried one of the faeries, but it was too late. Octo had locked all the doors and there were army faeries coming in the window. Meanwhile, outside the fountain, the fountain cleaner noticed some commotion. “Wow, that place is getting very busy with them little creatures. I’d better call the exterminator.” A quick call was all it would take. Inside the fountain, the axe was just over the first faery’s head. Simultaneously, outside, the fountain cleaner said, “I’ll just spray this gas and this fountain will be good as new!”

by Lucy Allen and Emily McNamara

Rose and I set off together to our secret place in the woods. As we approached it, we stopped and looked around, just in case anybody was watching. It appeared there wasn’t. We pushed back the magic leaves and forced the door open. Before we knew it, all the Water Fairies gathered around us. They were terribly upset and implored us to help them. Their homes located around the old fountain had been destroyed. One fairy with beautiful golden hair and deep blue eyes looked very distressed. “Please! Help us! You must!” she pleaded. All of a sudden her eyes turned a fiery red, and she said, “If you fail to, you shall also lose your lives”! Rose and I looked each other and we knew we had no choice but to spin into action. Rather calmly we both agreed to get started and help the fraught fairies. I whistled a sweet melody and Starlight, my unicorn, immediately came galloping down from a rainbow. Rose and I got up on Starlight’s back and off we went! Starlight took us to the Water Fairies’ village. We both gasped! All before us had been destroyed. Everything had been wiped out. Rose and I decided the best thing to do was to go to the King at Diamond Castle for help. Luck was on our side and the King agreed to see us. We begged the King to help us rebuild the fairies’ village that surrounded the fountain. He was reluctant at first, but seeing the tears in our eyes, he slowly began to relent. He finally agreed but had one condition. We must befriend his obnoxious daughter for six months! Not an easy task at all! It didn’t take us long to realise though that we had no choice. We agreed. We could think about his daughter Elvinia later and how we would be able to tolerate the insufferable girl! The King sent us off with Wizard Wilmoth and before we knew it the fairies’ village in the ancient fountain was rebuilt. It is more beautiful than before. We both felt terribly proud! We both slept very soundly that night and had some beautiful dreams.

by Aleyna Keskin 27

the

Faeries' FOUNTAIN by Caitlin Ryan-Desmond

Today I went on a picnic because the sun was shining and the sky was clear. I left home and ran down the path to the forest. I could hear the birds singing and the wind whooshing through the trees. The forest seemed to be alive. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some mushrooms. I bent down and started to pick them. Suddenly I noticed a small creature sitting on one of the mushrooms. I was about to flick it off when it spoke.

“Please don’t hurt me!” “Did you just speak?” I said amazed. “Well of course I did. I am a faery and faeries can talk,” she explained. I didn’t move but just stared at her. She could tell I was shocked. “Don’t be alarmed. I’m Golden, and this is Rosa and Dewdrop,” Golden continued. Two more faeries flew from behind me. “What’s your name?” they asked. “My name is Violet,” I said. “I wonder could you help us?” said Rosa. “What do you need help with?” I asked curiously. “We need to get our fountain crystal back,” replied Golden. “Lauri has stolen it from us,” cried Dewdrop. “Lauri?” I asked, puzzled. “Lauri is the faery of darkness. She has stolen our crystal, and if she learns how to harness the power she will destroy everything in the forest,” explained Rosa. “Oh dear that’s awful. Do you know where Lauri is?” I asked. “I do,” said Golden. “This way.” I followed the tiny faeries through the forest up to a big stone wall. “Lauri’s castle is behind this wall,” said Rosa. BANG! Lauri was waiting and trapped Golden, Rosa and Dewdrop in a magic trance. Zap! Zap! Balls of magic came zooming past me. Lauri came flying at me, but I swung my picnic basket in the air and captured Lauri. Her spell on the faeries was broken. We had defeated Lauri and rescued the crystal. The crystal was returned and the fountain flowed freely again. The faeries thanked me for my braveness and asked me to close my eyes. When I opened them I was back home. How could that be? Was it real or just a dream?

from

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Educate Together National School, Mungret

the

door

in the

One evening in the forest, a little cat heard a knock on his front door. He opened the door of his tall tree house. He saw a bear and a rabbit in front of him. They were new to the forest and wanted to say hello. The cat, the bear and the rabbit all became friends. The next morning, Cat heard another knock. He tried to open the door to his house but it wouldn’t open up. He could hear his new friends outside and he called for help. Cat’s new friends heard him and wanted to help. Bear and Rabbit found a big rock and broke down the door! Cat was free and he was very happy to have his new friends!

by Isabelle Nash

tall

tree

Jack was at school one day, looking out the window. It was a cold, dark day and when school was finished he went home. Once at home he went down to his shed. He had a club and he wanted to organise a meeting so he put letters in the mailboxes of the members. At four o’clock Peter, Leon, Susie and Pam arrived and they had a little party. When it was over Leon was walking home and he saw a door in a tall tree. He wondered what was inside so he called back to Jack’s house to get him. They returned and climbed the tall tree and found the door Leon had seen. They opened the door and were amazed to see diamonds and jewels that were all wrapped up in newspaper. Suddenly they heard someone coming up the tree. They quickly climbed up to a high branch. There were two men and one said to the other “Jim we better get the diamonds out of here before the police find us.” Jack then took out his phone and rang the police. The police came in seconds and surrounded the tree. When the crooks went down they were caught by the police.

by Paddy Brosnan Keane

jim's stones

by Amy Monahan, Gosia Hourigan, Ben Collin and Patricia Valaykodi

Once upon a time there was a boy named Jim. He found some stones in the woods. Five were pink and some more were yellow. They were all the same size, like grapes. Jim picked up the stones and showed them to his mom. Then he went outside to play. He played Jumping Jacks with the stones. Nest day Jim took his stones to show them to his class. Everyone thought they were beautiful. On the way home from school, something bad happened. Jim lost his stones. They fell out through a hole in his school bag. Jim really wanted to get more pink and yellow stones so he went back to the woods. He dashed all around but couldn’t find any as nice as the ones he’d lost. He searched everywhere. Then he noticed it was getting dark. He looked for the path home but he couldn’t see it. He was lost. Just then Jim saw a shiny pink stone about the size of a grape. It was one of his own. He picked it up and kept walking that way. Soon he saw another stone. That was one of his too. He kept walking that way. Then he found another and another until he had all his stones back. They led him home. He was happy that he got home. His Mammy was proud.

how the

bridge turnedblack by Isabelle Binchy, Leo Plesiak, Rolf Upite and Mozan Khir

There was once a volcano near a bridge and there was a treasure in it. A fierce dragon was guarding it. Some children who lived on the other side of the river liked to play nearby. Their names were Isabelle, Mozan, Leo and Rolf. They had a little buggy and a tour bus. Leo drove the bus and Mozan drove the buggy. Even though he was fierce, the dragon liked to play “I Spy with my Dragon’s Eye” with Isabelle and Paul. One day the volcano erupted. The eruption was scary. Red lava went everywhere. The children were scared. The bridge got covered with ash. It turned black. The children were in danger. They were frightened. “Our bus and buggy are ruined. We need new ones”, said Rolf. “The bridge is ruined too. It’s all black. We can’t get across”, said Isabelle. “We are stranded.” “I hate this place”, said Leo. Leo was brave. Just then the dragon woke from sleeping. “Can you be quiet?” he said to the children. “I’m still tired.” “I spy with my little eye something beginning with B.B.,” said Mozan. “Now what could that be?” asked the Dragon. Then he saw it. “Black Bridge. Don’t worry; I will give you a lift home on my back.”

The Dragon flew across the river. He brought the children home. The children were happy. “Yippee!” they said. “We didn’t have to go across that black bridge.” 33

the

salmon who leapt too high Once upon a time, a lovely little fish called Rosie lived in a big river. One day, one of the bigger fish dared Rosie to jump as high as she could. She jumped so high that she saw lots of amazing things – sea horses, dolphins, sea lions, birds, planets, a rocket, even the moon! Finally Rosie landed in water, she realised she was in Poland! But Rosie was very sad because she couldn’t understand any of the Polish fish when they spoke to her. Rosie stayed up all day and all night learning as much Polish as she could. The next day, she was able to understand the Polish fish and talk to them. She told them it was her birthday in a few days and she was missing her friends at home. On Rosie’s birthday, a rainbow fish called to her new house in Poland. He gave her a Super Fish toy. It had a letter that said “Please come to my house at 9 o’clock.” Rosie said she would see the rainbow fish later. At 9 o’clock she got to the house. When she opened the door, she saw that they had a big surprise birthday party for her. “Urodziny!” She loved her new Polish friends.

by Tina Filipak

Once upon a time there lived a man called Mr. Fisherman. He had a lovely wife called Mrs. Fisherman. Mr. and Mrs. Fisherman lived near a big river and they loved to go out fishing on their boat. One day, they were out on the boat and they were sad because they hadn’t caught a fish all day. Suddenly a great big fish jumped out of the river and straight into Mrs. Fisherman’s handbag! Mr. and Mrs. Fisherman couldn’t believe it, but they were very happy and they went home to a lovely salmon dinner that night.

by Mantas Stasynas 35

the

mill on the

river

by Ellen Shaw-Kelly

There was once a family called the Mills. Everyone called them that because they all worked on the big mill on the river. Their names were Mr. Mill, Mrs. Mill, Milly Mill and Molly Mill. Unfortunately the Mills did not have many friends. This was because they only ever went into town to sell their flour. They weren’t very friendly to the villagers, and when they had sold their flour they just went straight back to the mill. One day, as Milly and Molly were walking home from school by the river, they spotted a big problem with the mill. The mill wasn’t spinning like it usually did and that meant it was really broken. Milly and Molly rushed in to tell Mr. and Mrs. Mill the news. They were shocked and Mr. Mill called the mill engineer straight away. The engineer came, but he couldn’t figure out how the mill had stopped working. With no flour to sell, the Mills were soon down to their last €2. The Mills decided to go to town to see what they could afford as they were very hungry. They tried to buy bread from the bakery, but they did not have enough money. However the baker knew about the mill, and he let them have a loaf for free. Next they went to the butchers – same thing. And again at the supermarket! The Mills went to bed with full stomachs that night, while Mr. Mill thought of what to do next. The next morning Mr. Mill went to the village. He decided to make a speech to the villagers – “Villagers, thank you for your kindness. I would like if we could now be friends.” The villagers became friends with the Mill family, and decided to help them to fix the mill. Everyone worked together to fix the mill and they all lived happily ever after.

from

University of Limerick Community

the

door

tall

in the

tree

by Yvonne Davis It was a sunny day, a warm breeze gently brushed back Tara’s golden brown curls from her pretty round face. She was happy today, her brothers had just finished school for summer… she was three and next year she would be going to school too. They were going to have a picnic in Plassey under the shade of the Monterey Cypress tree. Mom had packed the scruffy, multicoloured rug that looked itchy but was as soft as velvet. There were tasty treats to eat too, like chicken and crusty bread, but the food she liked most was the yummy chocolate cake. She loved to come to this spot, it seemed so magical. The tree reached over the buildings and its spiky limbs swayed in the wind. It must be the tallest tree she had ever seen. The roots were like hidden arches overlapping each other. They looked like doorways into another world. She often thought maybe fairies had their home there. She remembered months ago she and her brothers wandered away from their Mom and Dad in search of interesting things to collect like swan feathers, pine cones, leaves and berries. Tara and her brother Finn liked to make pictures with the things they found. Finn was very creative and helped Tara with the scissors and glue when she needed it. While they had been searching for good things, Tara’s dog Bailey, who was her best old buddy and pal started to snuffle around in the warren of roots under the tree. Bailey began to whimper and that gave them a fright. They cautiously went over to see what had upset Bailey and found she was looking down on an ever so tiny baby rabbit. First they thought it must 38

be frightened of them but then Cormac her oldest brother, who was eleven, said ‘I think it must be hurt’. Ever so gently Cormac picked up the shivering ball of fur. He was no bigger than Tara’s two little hands. He was very soft and his brown coat was only interrupted by a single white patch over his left eye. Immediately they could see there was a little spot of blood on the rabbit’s back left paw. Cormac carried the little rabbit back to the blanket, it was trembling but he was very gentle. Tara’s Mom said there was a little thorn stuck in the baby rabbit’s foot and she was able to pluck it out very quickly. Tara wondered if she might ask could she keep the rabbit as a pet, she could call him Mr. Patch, but her Daddy said ‘Best put him back where you found him so his parents won’t think he is lost’. Cormac picked up the rabbit and the three of them went back to where the found him. Finn had tucked away some carrot sticks in his pocket and told Tara to put them down by the roots of the tree for the bunny to have whenever he felt better. Tara had brought carrot sticks again today. She wondered if the bunny had been okay and made his way home. As they were setting up the blanket and putting out the goodies Tara went to the foot of the tree and put out the carrot sticks. It was the last place she had seen Mr. Patch. She and her brothers played for most of the afternoon and then just as they were about to pack up Cormac said ‘Look Tara, it’s Mr. Patch!’. She looked over and saw the tiny ball of fluff had grown but he still had a small white patch over his left eye. He was with two smaller balls of fur. They were happily eating the carrot sticks Tara had left out earlier. ‘I think Mr. Patch should be called Mrs. Patch’ said Finn, ‘they seem to be her two babies’. Tara was so pleased that they had put the baby rabbit back now it had baby rabbits of its own. They watched for a long time and then the family of rabbits hopped back into the roots of the huge tree and disappeared. ‘Rabbits live there not fairies’ thought Tara.

crystals and the enchanted

kathleen

by Bernadette Walsh

On the summer evening of Leeney’s eighth birthday (for that is what everybody called her, even though her proper name was Kathleen) her dad came home from work with a small brown box in his hand. “What is it dad?” said Leeney. “You and I must be very careful opening this box” her dad said as he placed it precisely on the table “This is a test-tube holder” and he took out a rectangular–shaped timber frame, about half the size of a shoebox with glass in all the sides and bottom and a glass lid. “Inside you can see six little glass tubes called ‘test tubes’, each with a different coloured liquid”. Leeney loved everything that had different colours like her favourite shoes and dresses and the many coloured pencils she did her homework with and all the maps of different countries in her geography book. She always figured that colour made everything much more interesting than greys and blacks or even white. “You must mind this box very carefully” he said “and when you get older I will show you some very strange things you can do with these coloured liquids to make even more coloured liquids and maybe even some new shapes that you have never seen before…things called ‘crystals’. We will put it in your bedroom on the high shelf where you will be able to see it”.

of the tube and circled around Leeney. The longer Leeney gazed in wonderment the more and more she felt herself floating away, out the open window and up into the sky. She looked down and far below her she saw mountains and fields full of flowers of every colour she had ever seen and most she had never seen; clusters of tall and small trees of every size and shape. Birds and butterflies in multitudes of colour seemed to be everywhere, flitting and flying into and out of the trees and onto the flowers, singing and warbling the sweetest sounds. Then she felt herself floating… down, down, down and suddenly with a plop she landed in the middle of a sea of marigolds. A star-shaped blue balloon drifted across the marigolds and as it blew near her she reached out to catch the string hanging from it. It gently pulled her along and in the distance she could hear the sounds of voices and music and laughter. She gazed down on a beach with silver sand and lots and lots of people, old and young and not-so-young, but they were different people from any she knew from her geography lessons. Leeney stepped onto the sand and slid gently down a slope then WUMP…she landed with a thud - in her own bedroom! It was the summer night of the 21st June. She must have fallen asleep gazing at those fascinating-looking crystals.

That night, long after Leeney’s birthday party was over and she was supposed to be asleep in bed, being a very curious little girl she quietly pulled a chair over to the high shelf and lifted the box down ever so carefully and opened it.

She looked around her room. All looked exactly as before , only now one of the test tubes had a little more liquid in it than all the others and one had a little less! So it wasn’t all a dream, she HAD poured some of the liquid from one tube to the other… Then she noticed a string hanging down near her. She looked up and saw a blue balloon near the ceiling.

She wondered what her father had meant about the shapes called ‘crystals’ so she took one of the test-tubes and with great care poured a little of the coloured liquid from that tube into another. Several tiny, tiny things like seeds began to appear in the tube, with mirrorlike sides and sharp angles and edges. More and more of these began to appear and at the same time a kind of mist rose up from the top

How strange that the balloon was in her bedroom. Where had it come from? Did it blow in the window? Did she bring it from the marigold field? Had she been in a marigold field? No one would believe that! She couldn’t believe it herself. But Leeney was also a very clever little girl. She was going to keep all this to herself - for now.

the

heron

that

out fell

The Heronry beside the University of Limerick’s White House was a hive of activity. The half a dozen Heron nests were like terminal buildings at Shannon airport with all the flights of these huge graceful birds landing and taking off. The heron parents were frazzled with the efforts to increase the frequency of food to meet the demand of their growing chicks in preparation to fledge from the nest. On one nest situated at the edge of the branches another drama unfolded, Herminie the Heron was the last chick left in the nest as her brothers and sisters had long since fledged due in no small part to the fact she was a very fussy eater, which for a Heron was the talk of the Heronry. Flight number 43 that day from the Shannon River to Nest number 4 was coming in to land with a huge bug-eyed frog clasped in the beak of Herminie’s father. “ughhhh, I don’t like frogs I told you” piped up the scrawny young Heron “slimy creatures with googly eyes” and she shuddered at the thought. The heron equivalent of broccoli – little Herminie with eyes closed and beak puckered up tight turned away from her dad’s persistent efforts to feed her and suddenly she felt an unusually quick paced breeze pick up which seemed to ruffle all her feathers from head to toe. A loud GRAWWP made Herminie open her eyes to realise she was tumbling towards the ground and the loud GRAWWP was her father trying to warn her while attempting to gobble down her frog dinner. As the ridiculous sight of her father fading from view and the legs of a frog kicking out from under his beak he finally 40

of the

tree

by Paul Lee

managed to swallow the misfortunate frog and screech out a very brief instruction – “open out your wings Herminie”! Instinctively as the pines leaves disappeared from view and the feathery lump of feathers dive bombed rapidly through the huge gnarled branches of bark - Herminie outstretched her wings and like a parachute unfurling there was a soft whoompf as the wind caught the outstretched wings and the blur of feathers turned into a graceful scene of a heron gliding through the air. “I can fly” she muttered then the growing excitement of the realisation that she was actually flying “I CAN FLY” she screamed followed by a very giddy “whoooooo look-a-me, look-a-me, and look-a-me” As the service truck parked adjacent to the ornamental stream loomed large into the beady eyes of Herminie – the realisation that she did not know how to land quickly replaced the feelings of elation with dread as she closed her eyes, braced for impact and released an involuntary birdy-poo before smacking into the side of the delivery truck with wings outspread. She bounced backwards stunned and landed on the wall running by the stream only to perform a perfect pirouette and land head first into the muddy little stream. Dazed she emerged with a mop of pond weed draped over her head to sound of a feathery applause from the Heronry followed by guffaws of laughter.

the

secret room plasseyhouse in

by Mikael Fernstrom

During the spring semester of 2010, a class of postgraduates were preparing to do an art project, projecting animations on Plassey House at twilight. In addition to creating computer animations, they had to measure the building, make sketches and calculations to figure out how to get their projected animations to perfectly match the building. On the very night of the show, one flickering light remained in one of the windows. A large audience was gathered for the event. The students wanted all the lights of the building turned off, to make the most of their projections. They eventually called UL security to get into the building and turn the light off, but there was no door to be found inside that would match the room with the window with the flickering light. As they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t turn off the light, the show had to start at the right time at twilight and finish at nightfall. When the show ended, the light disappeared.

For some unknown reason, the projector the students used also blew up at the end of the show, and it was impossible to repair it. Did the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; show disturb the spirits of the old house? As you may know, many old buildings from the 18th century have secret passageways and hidden rooms, for whatever reason. Perhaps there was a reason for it, or just a fun feature to facilitate surprising noble guests at fancy dinners. Sometimes secret rooms and passageways were built to allow the owner to escape or to enter and leave the property without being seen. Next time you walk past Plassey House, count the windows on the outside of the building. Then go inside the building and see if you can find all the windows. You may discover that sometimes there is a difference!

the

missing

houses of plassey and

kilmurry village

by Rebecca O’Hare

It has always been a mystery, the absence of House 38 and House 24. It has been long rumoured that the absence of a house number brings good fortune and luck on a new student development, that an abundance of luck and ‘exam passing’ skills will fall upon those who reside in the area for years to come. It is well documented that students past and present who have lived in Plassey & Kilmurry Village have never once had to repeat an exam, return home early from a J1 visa or experience the wrath of an angry Village Manager. As a result, the waiting list for both villages, often extends into the thousands. The words Plassey & Kilmurry derive from the ancient Gaelic words, Plas-eige and Cill- mhor-aige, which is understood to translate as ‘Druid’s School’. In Celtic times, the numbers 38 and 24 represented a pagan culture and often proved to be a lethal and unproductive combination, bringing with it minimum life success. Construction work in Plassey Village came to a halt in the 1980’s when local druid and fairy tree worshipper Arch’hanetal O’Rourke informed college authorities that a cleansing of the land must take place before construction work continued. Arch’hanetal was adamant that the academic careers of prospective students would be at “great risk” and that it was necessary to halt works for 7 days and 7 nights. Upon the wise advice of Arch’hanetal, the number 38 was removed from Plassey Village and subsequently, following a consultation, 24 from Kilmurry Village. Druid documentation and a number of photographic images of the ‘cleansing of the lands’ can be viewed at the Glucksman Library UL. However they cannot be viewed on the 3rd day of the 8th month or the 2nd day of the 4th month.

martin the fox It had been snowing hard for six days and six nights. In places, there was over two feet of snow on the ground. The weather was so bad that the Minister for Education had ordered that all schools be closed for a week. Jack lay in bed listening to the howling icy Polar winds while the snow was swirling and twirling and dancing outside. Suddenly, there was a muffled thud. Snowballs were being thrown at his bedroom window. “Those Snotty Murphys must be attacking the house”, he thought. The Snottys were the local hards and always causing trouble. They threw stones at snoozing cats, stole other children’s toys and, once, drew moustaches and glasses on all of the paintings in the university’s art gallery. Jack slowly put his feet on the cold knotty wooden floorboards. In the darkness he found his way to the frosted window and peered through the tiny gap between the heavy curtains. It was snowing even harder now. Jack could barely make out the redbricked terrace on the other side of Castle Street. The cars were shrouded in a thick white blanket. There were no Murphys to be seen. He went back to bed and crawled under the covers. Warm as toast, Jack soon felt sleepy again. However, the noise at the window started once more. Thud! Thud! Thud! “I’m going to tell the Snotty Murphys what they can do with their snowballs!” he said, as he sprang out of bed. This time he opened the curtains very quickly. A red fox was crouched in the yard below Jack’s window. “And about time too” said the shivering fox. “That fox has just spoken to me” thought Jack. “Open the window. I’m very very cold and I need to come in.” said the fox. Jack opened the window as far as it would go. The fox climbed on to the garden wall. From there, he jumped on to the cotton wool covered roof of the garden shed. Then, he leapt on to the narrow window ledge. He walked gingerly along the white-topped ledge up to the open window leaving a trail of small paw-prints behind.

by Eoin Devereux

“I thought I wasn’t going to make it there!” exclaimed the fox as he jumped through the open window shaking the snow from his brush-like tail. Still in disbelief, Jack looked at the fox. The first thing he noticed was that his eyes were as black as coal. The fox was about the same size as a tomcat. He was plump and his face was slightly grey. However, the fur underneath his pointy chin was snow white. So were his paws which looked like two pairs of matching socks. Jack guessed that the fox must be about six or seven years old. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Martin the Fox. My friends call me Martin” said the fox. Jack told him his name. “Oh, I knew that already” said the fox. “What do you want?” asked Jack. “Just a place to stay warm for the night” pleaded the fox. “I am sick and tired of all of that snow.” “No problem. You can stay here as long as you don’t make any noise. I thought that you were one of the Snotty Murphys up to divilment as usual” Jack replied. “Oh, I know all about them and their carry on” said the fox. “Remember the best way to deal with bullies is to stand up to the leader of the pack. That will soon sort them out!” As he gave this advice he tapped his nose with one of his front paws. Jack got back into bed. Martin the Fox soon settled down on an old army overcoat on the floor. The overcoat had belonged to Jack’s grandfather who had fought in the muddy, bloody trenches in the Great War. The exhausted fox went to sleep almost immediately, his head nestled between his front paws. “That’s strange” thought Jack “how did the fox know my name and all about the Murphys?” Jack was sure that he must be dreaming. However, the sound of Martin the Fox’s gentle snoring from the floor convinced him that something magical had actually happened. He could not wait until the next day to tell his parents and friends all about the fox. But that is another story for another day.

Giorraíonn Beirt by Sarah O’Rourke

A fanfare of music wafted through the Concert Hall, she straightened her mortarboard, the procession had begun. The moment she had anticipated for four years had finally arrived. Memories welled up inside her, the ups and downs, the setbacks and the opportunities, but most of all the friends she had made through a chance encounter. In her eagerness to get away from home for a taste of freedom and independent living, she had never entertained any thoughts about the challenges that the transition from Secondary School to College might pose. It hadn’t dawned on her that she would feel overwhelmed by the lack of familiarity, the size of the campus, the number of students and, most of all, by homesickness. It was Week 3 and as she dragged her feet across the Living Bridge she was considering dropping out of College. Her eyes were downcast and she hadn’t noticed anyone join her until she heard, ”How’re you doing?” From the tone she realised that this was not a casual greeting but a sincere question. Words didn’t come easily as she was experiencing a tidal wave of emotions. However, as they walked she began to feel safe in the company of the other and blurted out what was going on for her. She was feeling lonely, isolated, bewildered and confused. Her companion listened respectfully and said quietly “Today is not the day to make decisions. Go gently.” They reached Teach Fáilte in the Student Square, and she was invited in for a cup of tea.

Bóthar The steaming warmth of tea, the comfortable room, but most of all the banter of the company helped her to feel welcome and included. She was drawn to the slogan on her blue mug, “Talking is a sign of strength, not of weakness”. It reminded her of a sean fhocal that she had learned in Primary School, “Giorraíonn beirt bothár”- two people shorten the road. Now she understood what it meant and she felt a new hope. Little had she realised that September morning how significant this haven on campus would become for her. This space would not only provide the hospitality of a cup of tea but also the hospitality of listening. She would invite other students to this centre of welcome, a safe place, where stories were shared and listened to with patience and respect, the stories of the ordinary and not so ordinary. It was here that she met students from many countries, creeds and disciplines. It was here that she became involved in volunteering. It was here that she learned to commit, focus, believe and achieve. It was here that she met some of her best friends. It was here ... she heard her name being called. The President smiled and shook her hand as she received her parchment. She said a heartfelt “Thank You”. Proudly clutching her scroll she knew UL had been good to her and for her. She had been informed and transformed.

the

white lady

The White Lady lives in the spaces between words. Without her itwouldbedifficulttotellwhereonewordbeginsandanotherwordends. The White Lady also lives in the spaces between letters. Moving easily with their shapes and sounds, their tones and texture. She holds them. She loves the hard edge of a single T. Its explosive sound: Tat, tit, tot. And the way it softens when coupled with the letter h. Th th th – that, that, that. She also loves the soft curves of the letter S. SenSuouS. Like silk on her skin. Like a snake, mysterious and simultaneously scary. Some say spiritual. But she knows its shadow side too. Shouting and Screaming. Slap down black and burning. Hell bent as it sucks in and spits out all and Sundry. And Saturday too.

by Mary Nunan

The White Lady loves to perch on the edge of those dots that are sometimes used to leave a sentence hanging………. Legs dangling gaze turned imagining the sea and sky. Not waiting, not wanting………even for an ice-cream cone. The comma is the White Lady’s breath; a soft exhalation. It gives us pause. The pause is the cause of her appearance and disappearance. Sounds cease, words fade, momentarily. We sense her silence, which is some thing and simultaneously no thing. The White Lady is silence. She is breath. She is space.

The White Lady turns on full stops. The small black hole drilled into the paper thrills her. She finds colons tantalizing: looking back through the gates, as a passenger in the convertible of the unfolding sentence, she feels the meaning of the words becoming amplified in the rear view mirror. TANTALIZING – GNIZILATNAT.

the

girl who swallowed an Acorn

by Padraigín Nì Mhuircheartaigh

Long Ago in the Far Away place stood a Tree taller and broader than all others. The branches held the clouds up in the Sky and the Sun and Moon nestled in its boughs. At night the Stars sat on its leaves and lit the way for lonely travellers. The Girl stood at the top of the Hill and looked down over the Lonely Plain. Swirls of bluebirds, flutters of butterflies and darts of swallows covered the Tree like jewels. “The Fruits of the Tree will satisfy the hunger of all the Land” she thought, thinking the colours were those of berries. “I must pick some before I leave.” The Girl made her way down and down and on to the Dusty Road. “If I hurry I will be there before the Night Time falls. “ But the Dusty Road was long and winding and the Tree seemed further and further away every time she turned a corner. Soon the Sun left the Tree and the Moon moved over to take its place. The colours of the fruits faded as the bluebirds, butterflies and swallows went to sleep. The Girl cried and cried as she took her last steps to reach the mighty space beneath the Tree. Because she could not see through her tears she tripped and fell and found that she was lying on a bumpy, lumpy bed of Acorns. Hungry from her travels the Girl picked one up and swallowed it down in a huge gulp. Through the rustle of the leaves she heard a voice say ... “No Thunder Clap nor Lightning Rod Will make you fear my dear But Stars and Moon will be your map To guide you on from here “ 46

the

flowerpot thief by Greg O’Shaughnessy

“I’m not happy,” said the Banker. “Not happy at all.” “Perhaps you have a belly-ache,” said the Doctor. “Let me examine you.” “Nothing wrong with me,” said the Banker. “The town is in the grip of a crime wave.” “Good heavens,” said the Doctor. “What has happened?” “This morning, there was a flowerpot on my door step, with a bright yellow sunflower in it, smiling up at me.” “A flowerpot, you say? With a sunflower in it?” “Yes indeed,” said the Banker. “A stolen flowerpot, obviously. And no policeman to track down the thief and return it to its owner.” “I don’t follow you,” said the doctor. “What makes you think it was stolen?” “What makes me think it was stolen? Are you mad, Sir? Who in his right mind would give away a perfectly good flowerpot, especially with the added value of a sunflower? Nonsense! It’s this new policeman. He’s not doing his job.” “Really?” said the Doctor. “I hear he’s a very nice man. I hear that he doesn’t mind in the slightest if people have no bells on their bicycles. I’m told he lets the children play ball in the street and sometimes he even joins in their games. People say he’s much nicer than the old policeman.” “Nonsense,” said the banker. “We don’t pay him to be nice. We pay him to catch criminals. The last policeman wouldn’t stand for these crimes.”

The Doctor smiled. “Like leaving flowerpots on people’s doorsteps?” “Exactly,” said the Banker. “Exactly. Nothing in this world is free. Nothing.” “Well,” said the Doctor, “I must be off to visit my patients. Call me if you need anything.” That evening, when the Doctor opened his garden gate, he found a dark figure hunched at his doorstep. The man jumped up, startled. “Oh!” he shouted. “Oh, it’s only you, Doctor. You gave me a fright.” “I’m sorry about that, Sergeant,” said the Doctor. “I see you brought my sunflower. “I did indeed,” said the policeman. “I brought one to the Banker this morning but there was no answer to my knock, so I left it on his doorstep. Will you remind him next time you see him?” “I certainly will, Sergeant,” said the Doctor. “Good evening to you and thanks.” “You’re welcome, Doctor,” said the policeman.

acknowledgements The UL Arts Office would like to thank all those involved in this project, particularly: The Principals, teachers and children from Milford NS, Limerick School Project NS and Limerick Let’s Educate Together NS, Mungret Siobhan Fenton, Méabh de Buitléir; Matt Wallen, Collette Neville, Karen Gleason, Ger O’Connell, Claire McInerney; Pauline Ryan, Eilin Mulcahy and Clair Hahessy Bourn Vincent Gallery Committee Yvonne Davis, University of Limerick Visual Arts Manager Greg O’Shaughnessy

Illustrations:

Damaris Smyth

Book Design:

Paul Ruane, Midpoint Creative

“…Once upon a time, in a faraway place, a story was told. That story led back to here and now, and was told again; only this time, it was slightly different…”