Creative Writing Competition Winners

When Ellis noticed that it wasn’t his grandma at the end of the cord he was disappointed. He felt he’d let her down. It should be a new beginning but without her it didn’t seem the same. Ellis was grateful for her sacrifice. However he couldn’t come to terms with his destiny. How could he be happy when his grandma was left in the mysterious sink-hole?

Ellis ate one of potatoes which were in the grandma’s box and decided to rescue her. He knew he could build a new vehicle for traveling in both directions. Ellis started looking for useful items. The more items he found, the more hope he had for saving her. The days and weeks went by. The vehicle wasn’t ready yet. He started to worry about her. What if he was too late? Ellis rid himself of the bad thoughts and focused on his goal. He worked harder than before.

After a couple of months the vehicle was ready. Ellis was proud of his work. Not wasting more time he sat in his plane and started the rescue journey. The way back wasn’t easy. Avoiding rocks and debris weren’t the only difficulties he encountered. His mind was full of memories. It looked like a tunnel with pictures and short videos from the whole of his life in the hole.

Finally, Ellis landed in the place where he used to live. He started looking for his grandmother. However he couldn’t find her. The hole looked worse than before. There was much more rubbish and his old house was gutted. Ellis ran to the building, opened the main door and went into the room.

At the beginning he didn’t see anything that would help him to find grandma. Suddenly, he noticed someone’s hand hanging from the dilapidated couch. He came closer and saw his grandma. She was so weak. Holding her hand he helped her to move to the vehicle. When they both were inside his grandma looked into his eyes. “You shouldn’t have come back here” she said.

“I couldn’t leave you here”, he replied. “You were always by my side and I owe everything to you. The better place was our dream and you should be there with me.” He started the vehicle.

A sparse room filled with darkness; only broken by the transient light expelling from the translucent screens. Q’s face appears out of the darkness; a pale face filled with despair. His manicured nails are being violated by his clenched jaws! His teeth churn down on them, a mix of grinding and grunting fills the room. A singular scintillating bead of sweat takes a hazardous journey. His trimmed yet curled cowlick is the origin. It runs over the mountainous ridges perched upon his polite eyebrows.

Within his free hand he clutches an elegant ivory silk handkerchief, to wipe his brow. His knee moves independently yet in-tune with a seamstresses embroidery needle, frantically threading a great tapestry. The chair rattles from side to side desperately clinging to the foundations beneath. The monitor has the out line of a man’s body; filled with moving red dots, surrounded by a maze off information.

His fingers run across the keyboards like mice scurrying across the floor; he becomes agitated. The enter key is ever so gently pushed down. His heart bangs against his fragile ribs! while he has thoughts of pending doom, he takes his hand and covers his chest in an attempt to keep his heart from bursting free. His once well manicured hands become clammy, he reaches for the silky smooth handkerchief once more to re-educate his disloyal hands. His lips purse as the number finally starts to decrease. It is agonisingly slow; losing only a few digits. But then to his absolute delight the numbers take on a race against time, and before long has completely deprecated. Q jumps to attention, “ I knew it!”

He drops back down seemingly exhausted. As he lands on the spinning chair below he uses his tip toes and turns around… James is rapidly putting his shirt back on “ I knew I could count on you Q” Everyone in the world, believes him to be perished in the explosion, James wants to keep it that way. “ you must keep his secret forever “ (his release from the curse put upon him by Safin before his untimely death).

James races off in his car. A thousand thoughts cascade through his mind like tsunami. His destination becomes an overwhelming thought, as he races against the clock to gain extra time with his newly found family. An eternity awaits him as he navigates the windy mountains. Madeleine stairs out of her window shrouded in melancholy… her precious child gracefully sat upon her hip; enveloped in her arms. The innocent piecing baby, blue eyes penetrate the frosted pains; they cascade over the glacier that was once teaming with life.

With a joyous embrace they are now complete. Madeleine asks “is it over James?”.  His reply is a sweet embrace and a nod of acceptation, he is finally free to live his life after death. A single word is said that completes him. “Dada”.

Louise Clark is an ordinary girl from a small town in England. She worked at a café, until the place closed down, leaving her jobless. Feeling bummed, Lou goes job hunting and takes the best available job in her small town as a care worker got a quadriplegic man named Will Traynor.

Will is a young business executive and extreme sports enthusiast whose life was forever changed two years earlier when he was hit by a motorcycle whilst crossing the street, leaving him almost completely paralysed. His mother, Camilla, tells Lou that her job will be to monitor him all hours of the say, even though he already has a professional who takes care of his medical needs.

Unfortunately, Will is bitter when Lou first meets him and subjects him to cruelty. With time however, he slowly warms to Lou and their friendship grows closer and closer. They begin  to connect, sharing jokes and treating one another with straightforward honesty. Will encourages Lou to explore interests outside of her comfort zone whilst Lou gives Will practical assistance and helps him to feel less depressed.

After several weeks on the job, Lou overhears a conversation between Will’s mother and sister. She learnt that Will once attempted suicide and is still determined to commit assisted suicide. He has agreed with his mother that he will wait six months before going to Switzerland to take his own life.

Although Lou is terrified by this revelation, she has a plan. She plans to take will on a series of adventures to show him that life is still worth living. Lou and Will attend numerous events; horse races, concerts, art gallery shows and a romantic night at the symphony all with moderate success.

When Will’s six-month period is almost over, Lou plans a trip to California, but Will becomes sick, making the trip impossible. At the last minute, Lou plans another trip to Mauritius. They spend a blissful vacation where she is amazed by her growing feeling towards Will.

On their final night in Mauritius, Lou kisses Will and declares her love for him. She tells him that she knows about his plan to commit suicide and tries to convince him to live so they can be together, but Will refuses. He asks Lou to accompany him to Switzerland for his scheduled death. Lou reacts angrily, refusing to speak to Will when they return home and that she will never go to Dignitas in Switzerland.

Lou is distraught when she returns home, in spite of her family’s best attempts to cheer her up. She receives a call from Will’s mother begging her to come to Switzerland. Lou, having realised that she wants to convince Will one last time to stay alive, mixed with a burning desire to see him, decides to go to speak with Will.

Lou arrives in Switzerland and has a conversation with Will in which they express their love for one another. She gives will her forgiveness and lays beside him, trying to show him that he’s loved then kneels in front of him, begging him not to take his life. Lous confesses once again that she truly believes he is the man she was looking for, that he is her soulmate and can’t live without him. On hearing Lou’s confession, he takes her hands in his and starts to kiss them.

After a time-jump, Lou finds herself in Paris at Will’s favourite café, with him by her side. He smiles at her and gives her a kiss on the forehead whilst enjoying a cup of coffee  on this beautiful morning. After breakfast, Lou and Will decide to go for a walk on the streets of beautiful, romantic, and magical Paris.

“As long as we stick together, we’ll be fine. Come on.” Leon’s words had killed Claire, but she had to find Chris. “You’re looking for your brother, right? We’ll be fine, I’ll look after Sherry, I promise.” At this, Sherry nodded. She looked tearful; Claire hugged her, promising she’d stay in touch.

Their first stop was a gas station, where Leon managed to get money, food, and a first aid kit. They stopped next at a motel, ensuring they both had somewhere to sleep. He had to sort out the GSW, and quickly. There was already a high chance it could be infected, given all the sewer wading he’d done earlier in the day, and he didn’t want to wait any longer to sort it. Sherry had been absolutely exhausted, which made sense. The poor kid had been infected with the G-virus and was barely treated in time. If anything, he was amazed by how little she had seemed affected by it. But the minute they’d arrived, she’d all but collapsed onto the motel bed. And so, he decided to use the time she was asleep to treat the wound. He just grit his teeth as he cleaned it and stitched it as best as he could. It was nowhere near hospital quality, but it would hold.

They were safe for a while. During that time, Leon learnt a lot about looking after a kid. They travelled once or twice, taking a bus to a new motel, only paying with cash. People were looking for Sherry and Leon, they had to be careful. She quickly became like a younger sister to him, and he looked out for her, making sure she didn’t watch the news, especially after Raccoon’s destruction. He knew their luck was due to run out, but he was determined to pretend it was all okay. Sherry didn’t need that fear.

When that knock on the door eventually arrived, Leon had genuinely considered getting Sherry out of there, and running yet again. But she was only twelve. She had her whole life ahead of her. Besides, there were more agents outside. There was no point. Sherry was silent. That in itself was a statement. With a heavy heart, and blood like ice, Leon opened the door, which the agents were pounding on. Sherry had been crying quietly, so they chose a small mercy, and let them stay together for as long as possible. He kept an eye on her, trying to be as reassuring as possible.

Leon hadn’t expected to be blackmailed into taking a role with them, but they’d threatened her safety. He’d only been looking after Sherry for two months, but he had to keep her safe. They’d only insinuated that they knew too much, but given his history, with his family, it made his stomach turn. He agreed, for Sherry’s safety, to join what would become US-STRATCOM. Little did he know, Sherry would be “protected” (experimented on) in by Simmons himself, only speaking to Claire.