TINY STORIES Writing Competition: Winner and Runner-Up

We are VERY EXCITED to reveal the WINNER from our TINY STORIES COMPETITION: Henry Epstein!

Henry is a young writer and avid reader who has just turned 12. For his birthday, he received two guinea pigs, Truffle and Parsnip, who are keeping him busy (alongside writing, of course!).

Henry’s story – ‘A Fisherman’s Tale‘ – is a proper fairy tale (with a more realistic moral than most!) and works perfectly as a TINY STORY, delivering everything within the 300 word limit.

You can listen to  ‘A Fisherman’s Tale’ by heading over to soundcloud.com/lichfieldfestival and you can read the story here:

There once was a poor fisherman who lived in an old shack next to a small lake that had barely any fish. One day he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to find an old man wearing a grey cloak that was singed. The old man asked for something to eat, as he said his house had burned down and he had not eaten for days.

Sadly the fisherman took his very last fish and handed it to the old person. The old man smirked and threw down his cloak to reveal he was a powerful wizard.

He said: “For your kindness and heart I give you an enchanted fishing rod. Write what you desire in a letter, attach it to the hook and cast it off, then reel in what you wished for.”

The fisherman thanked the old man and happily skipped to the lake holding a pen and a bundle of paper with the fishing rod over his shoulder.

In his first letter he wrote, ‘I wish for a barrel full of salmon’. He waited excitedly until he felt the line tug. He reeled it in… and found a barrel overflowing with fish!

He jumped with joy and set to work. After that he asked for diamonds, gold, silk, gems and a sandwich, because he was a bit peckish.

I know you’re waiting for a moral of the story, such as ‘money can’t buy everything’, but I regret to inform you that he had a happy life with a loving wife and family. He died at the age of 103 surrounded by great riches.

He never did know what happened to his magic fishing rod, but his son became a famous fisherman and somehow always got the biggest and the best fish!

 

Huge congratulations to Henry for penning a fantastic story – it’s certainly not easy writing a tale in miniature! The Lichfield Festival Team are sure we’ll see your name up in lights soon!

 

In addition, we are also pleased to share that the RUNNER-UP is: Tabitha Giddings!

Tabitha is 13 and she enjoys reading, writing, singing, dancing and playing with her cat. Tabitha’s distinctive voice and interesting use of imagery really impressed the judges who are certain she’ll have a successful writing career ahead of her!

Here is Tabitha’s ‘A Busy Street Corner‘:

A busy street corner. Smog. Chatter. Whispers. People who would never again see each other. Cold, hard glances. Smiles. Friends. Enemies. Streetlamps casting eerie shadows. A big, embellished, gold sign. Secrets. Mysteries. People in trench coats. People in summer dresses. Drugs. Presents.

I sit there, atop a cold, hard park bench, five feet away from the up-down-back-forward that is a busy street corner in NYC. I make notes in my small book, leather, 400 lined pages, $6.99 on sale. I see you, him, her, them – everyone. I have nothing better to do with my time than to sit there, every day, every night, watching, looking. Remembering people I would otherwise forget. I feed the pigeons – if I don’t, who will?

The skyline is grey, almost as if mourning the pitiful pattern today’s world has sunk into. 9 to 5. Your reality is my nightmare. I’d rather sit here, watching, noticing, than hurry about with my eyes closed and my mouth stuffed with an apple like a roasted pig. You might say I’m filled with hatred, resentment; I’d say it was the opposite. Rather, I sit here, quietly, making notes and taking notes. This is what I was always meant to do. I don’t want to forget. If I forget then I’ll be nothing but an empty shell of a person. So I fill myself up with memories where the happiness should have been. I never forget a thing.

 

Thank you to everyone who entered – your stories were brilliant and we hope you all continue writing! If you ever fancy being a Young Critic for us in the future, let us know!