Year 7 Writing Submission Winner

At our welcome evening last year, our incoming Year 7s were invited to develop and submit a piece of writing. It was wonderful to have a variety of submissions. Amelie Pratt’s short narrative was our winning piece. It is published here for you to enjoy!

Dr Jodi Williams

English Faculty Leader

The Mythic Forests: The Fall of the Guardian

By Amelie Pratt, Year 7

Towering trees reached towards the heavens with long twisted branches. Soft green grass padded the forest floor, untouched by tamed feet for thousands of years. Birds were silent. Almost as if they were asleep. Almost as if something was there.

Huge, hooved feet clomped on the ground, disturbing the perfect waves of healthy greenery. Almond-shaped eyes flitted over the overgrown bushes and knobbly tree roots, searching.

Something had disturbed its slumber.

It was not the birds. The large but rarely used brain of the Guardian knew that. The birds were quiet. Waiting. Watching. Nor was it the bears, who often passed through this area, for it was winter, and the huge beasts would be asleep, untroubled and fat.

No, it was something far worse, something that should not be here.

A human.

The Guardian walked through the seemingly abandoned forest, scanning the thorny brush for the thing that brought nothing but death and misfortune to all the animals in the woods. The thing that was destined to die.

Despite his perfect hearing and flawless vision, Grandi did not register the small being stalking him, like a nasty cat creeping up on its clueless prey.

So to his great surprise he felt a dull pain in his long, tall legs. He turned to see a small boy standing on only his skinny hind legs, a small fuzz of autumn-leaf brown fur atop his heart-shaped head. In his paw lay a rifle, pointed at the massive beast that stood before him.

His vision started to blur. The boy became distant, and Grandi fell.

Before the horrified eyes of all the woodland creatures, their fierce protector and leader crumpled to the ground, unmoving.