Tag: stories by children

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: The Boy with no Talent

Alphabet Soup

THE BOY WITH NO TALENT
by Caitlyn, 9, NSW

Charlie looked like the rest of his family – tall, dark-headed with greenish, bluish eyes – but the unique thing about him was that he was … normal!

Yep. All of his family had a special talent. For instance, his mum was a famous cook and his sister knew LEGO like the back of her hand but Charlie was just plain normal. People said he would find his talent soon enough but he had now waited eleven years for that moment and he was doubting that he had a talent at all. Charlie lived on a planet called Zog where everyone had a talent. He often thought of running off to a distant planet called Earth where he wouldn’t stand out.

Child partially hidden behind a stack of library books. Photo from pexels.comAs Charlie trudged to school one morning thinking about the teasing he would face, he bumped into his teacher, Miss Primrose. She excitedly told him about a talent show for showcasing the students’ talents. Charlie anxiously asked if it was compulsory and unfortunately it was. So that’s how Charlie ended up in the school library, searching for a book that would help him find his talent in time for the show. He made a list of possible talents.

Over the next few days, Charlie tried everything from kung fu to talking to animals. The days drifted by; a week and it’s not gymnastics; five days and it’s not swimming; three days and it’s definitely not cake making. By the time Charlie had two days left, he had almost given up hope.

Charlie sighed. One more thing to try … sprinting. It probably wouldn’t be his talent. After all, he hated cross country and triathlons were definitely not his favourite but he still got his dad to time him sprinting 100m. One minute and forty seconds. Dang it! That wasn’t Charlie’s talent either. His first four legs were co-ordinated, but legs five and six? Well, not so much.

“One day left,” was Charlie’s only thought as he dragged himself to school the next day. As he slumped into his seat at the front of the classroom his mind drifted to tomorrow where he would be humiliated beyond belief.

—

“A special announcer will announce all of the acts, but not do one themselves,” stated Miss Primrose.

Had Charlie heard correctly? Could it be possible?
Miss Primrose continued, “The person to announce will be … Charlie!” Charlie’s mind was buzzing. He really could just announce?
“I would love to!” he exclaimed.

On the night of the talent show, Charlie wasn’t scared at all. He was excited. As he started speaking, the words seemed to flow easily out of his mouth. It was amazing. The audience was dumbfounded and his parents beamed with pride. He had found his talent.

So that was how the boy with no talent ended up as a public speaker, prime minister and dad to three delightful children. All with a talent!

This is Caitlyn’s first story for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR story, poem, artwork or book review, check out our submission guidelines.

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: How to Make a Friend

Alphabet Soup

HOW TO MAKE A FRIEND: A PENGUIN’S GUIDE

by Aaron, 6, New York, USA

Pengy is a penguin for sure. He lives in the New York aquarium. He is trying to find a new friend but he can’t. He is on a different schedule to all the other penguins because he goes swimming while they eat. And when they go swimming, Pengy goes to nap and he naps for the rest of the day.  So Pengy wanted to switch his schedule so he could be with the other penguins longer.

One day, Pengy the penguin was swimming around looking for friends. They all swam and dropped their eggs in the water and Pengy went to save them. The other penguins knew that Pengy took their eggs so then they started a fight. Next, they found that the other penguins laid eggs so they also took them. Then the zoo keeper finds out that the penguins are having a fight and then they separated all the penguins so they are separate from Pengy.

So because of the fight, one of the zookeepers decided to take one of the penguins and train them to be on the same schedule as Pengy. But when Pengy and the other penguin had eggs at the same time, they had a fight because there were penguins falling in the water and they didn’t know whose was whose so they fought over them.

So they split all the penguins away from Pengy and his friend to a different enclosure while all the other eggs were hatching. Then one of the eggs started to hatch but they didn’t have any water or ice to slide on. The enclosure was warm to keep the penguin eggs warm because they didn’t have feathers yet. But once they started hatching, they were moved back to be with Pengy.

Pengy was happy because they were all on his routine so he got a lot of friends to swim with.

The end … for now.

This is Aaron’s first story for Alphabet Soup. To send us YOUR story, poem, artwork or book review, check out our submission guidelines.

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: My Alien Friend

Alphabet Soup

My alien friend

by Anouksha, 10, VIC

Today at school we had art. The teacher said that you could draw anything you wanted to draw. I drew a spotty alien with four arms, two tentacles and an eye. Behind it in the background was planet Mars with a beautiful starry night sky to go with it. We were allowed to take our artwork home so I took it home and stuck it on my bedroom door.

The next day I woke up to a rustling sound. I looked everywhere but all I could see was my very own room with nothing unusual. That was strange. Then I kept on looking for the mystery sound. Wait a minute, suddenly my alien artwork I did at art yesterday caught my eye. It was MOVING!!! Suddenly out popped an ALIEN!!! It popped out from my alien artwork. I screamed and then mum came in. I pointed my finger straight at the alien but then it vanished! I told mum there was an alien before but it vanished. Mum took no notice of it and said I was daydreaming but I wasn’t.

Just when Mum left, the alien reappeared! I didn’t scream again because I’m pretty sure the alien would vanish again. Suddenly the alien started talking in a really weird language that I did not understand. I gave a puzzled look in return. Well, I guess the alien understood because the alien gave me a pair of headphones. I put it on my head and when the alien spoke, it would translate into English. “That is so cool” I said.

The alien said: “My name is Zing Zang. I have been transported to earth by your wonderful alien drawing, but I can’t find my way back to Mars. Can you help me?”
“Sure,” I replied. “Tomorrow we can camp outside in tents so we might be able to find Mars,” I suggested.
“Ok,” said Zing Zang.

It was nearly night. We set our tents up and we were now gazing into the stars.Stars. Photo from pexels.com

“All I can see is billions and billions of stars,” said Zing Zang. After a few minutes I heard Zing Zang shout out “Spaceship,spaceship,spaceship!”
“Zing Zang did you find Mars?” I asked surprised.

“No, but I found a spaceship that was a spaceship from Mars,” Replied Zing Zang. “Now all we have to do to get their attention is turn around 3 times, jump two times and clap,” said Zing Zang.

So we turned around 3 times, jumped 2 times and clapped. Suddenly a big shiny spaceship landed on our garden. Our garden was big enough for the spaceship to land. The spaceship landed and signalled something to Zing Zang. I gave Zing Zang a great big hug even though he was pretty slimy! Zing Zang walked into the spaceship and then I waved goodbye. The spaceship zoomed away into the starry night sky. In the sky the Spaceship was as small as a speck of dust.
“Oh no, I forgot to give Zing Zang the headphones,” I said. At least I could keep it to remember Zing Zang.

“Anouksha, Anouksha,” said someone. Tap, Tap! I woke up and saw my mum tapping on my shoulder and saying wake up. So all this was a dream?
“Awww” I moaned. I wish it was real. When my mum left I heard a rustling sound. “Maybe this wasn’t a dream after all.”

This is Anouksha’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

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Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: No Cake!

Alphabet Soup

NO CAKE

by Joshua, 8, NSW

“Hooray, hooray! It’s my birthday!”

On 8th September I turned 8, but today is 9th September. At ten-thirty, my birthday party began. Every friend arrived right on time!

“It’s time for games, everyone,” Mum said, clapping her hands. Dad took a huge piece of paper and stuck it on the floor with Blu Tack. Then we drew a game of hopscotch on the paper and we played it.

When we were playing the games, an uninvited brother of a friend also came. He saw my birthday cake! After we finished the games we saw that the birthday cake was all gone! Luckily we found the little brother. But no birthday cake! I felt a bit sad.

The brother had a picture of a cupcake on his shirt. It gave me an idea! I told Mum my idea.

She said, “What a good idea for a birthday surprise!”

She quickly got a shopping bag and ran out the door. Mum came back with white sugar, flour, eggs, cinnamon, butter, oil, some icing sugar and blue pink, red and yellow food colouring. Then mum and I got ready.

After we were prepared, I told everybody to come to the table. When we all got to the table, we made and decorated our own cupcakes. With the icing sugar and food colouring, we wrote our own name. Mine said, Happy Birthday Joshua. I forgave the little brother and thanked him for coming. And I hope he comes again!

This is Joshua’s second story published with Alphabet Soup. His earlier story was The Mystery of the Thief! and you can read it here.  If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: The Wolf Girl

Alphabet Soup

THE WOLF GIRL

by Ella, 10, VIC

Mia is a girl who has been raised by wolves, the only family she remembers. She has learnt many things from her wolf family, such as hunting, climbing, stalking and pouncing. In her spare time, Mia collects stars to help with her fear of the dark. Mia enjoyed her life with the wolves, until one day, the unthinkable happened. While Mia was out sailing to catch fish for her and the wolves to eat, a boat sailed alongside her. The man on board was tall. Mia was terrified, but was alone and had nowhere to run.

The man grabbed her arm.
“ What are you doing?!” shrieked Mia.

The man didn’t answer her, but instead said,
“ Ya comin with me little girl!”
“I belong here!” screamed Mia.
“ Pfft!” said the old man, “so ya live in the woods, do ya?”
“For as long as I can remember!’ cried Mia.

The man didn’t care, and continued to pull Mia onto his boat.

For two years the man and his wife held her captive. Dirty and dressed in rags, she was taught how to make medicines to sell at the local town nearby. She was their slave. Every night Mia would cry and clutch her one star she still had from years ago, longing for her wolf family. Mia spent everyday making medicine, and waiting on the humans. Her lunch was nothing more than dry bread and curdled milk, while they feasted on salad and fresh fish that Mia caught. They would yell at Mia to hurry to the market in and sell the medicine. When she returned they would snatch the money, leaving Mia with nothing.

Meanwhile, in the woods, the wolves had never forgotten their Mia. Although they believed Mia had run away for another life, they never stopped searching for her. Finally, their search had come to an end. One night, as exhausted Mia lay sleeping, the wolves gently took her from her bed, and carried her onto their boat. Mia woke confused and dazed. She didn’t know what was going on. Had she been taken prisoner again?

The wolves were also confused and hurt, thinking that Mia had abandoned them all those years ago.

‘Why are you angry with me?’ shouted Mia.
‘You left us,’ growled the sad and angry wolf, slamming the door behind him.

Mia thought long and hard, and then it all began to make sense. She pieced it together in her mind. The day Mia was taken, the wolves believed she had run away. They didn’t understand she was taken from them, her canine family.

“ I was captured!” screamed Mia through the closed door.

The wolf returned, ready to listen.

“ I wouldn’t swap you guys for the world!” cried Mia.

The wolves embraced Mia and vowed to always protect her. Mia no longer felt scared of the dark. The pack remained on guard and hoped the evil humans would never return. Guess what …

THEY NEVER DID!

This is Ella’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers In Action: T-Rex Trouble

Alphabet Soup

T-REX TROUBLE

by Lachlan Cheung, 7, NSW

There was a 10-year-old boy named Sean who lived in a rainforest. He had a wooden perfumed treehouse. He loves living in the rainforest with the sloths. One sloth is his best friend named Charlie.

On Monday a massive T-Rex dinosaur came to destroy the rainforest. Sean knew this was going to happen because he knew the future. Sean knew his house and his friend Charlie would be destroyed. Sean went to get Charlie so they could escape. So off he went.

“Run” yelled Sean.
“OK I’m coming” said Charlie. Then Charlie moved his arm rrrrrreeeeeeaaaaalllllllyyyyy slowly.
“I will carry you” said Sean, grabbing Charlie and putting Charlie on his back.

Meanwhile the T-Rex was smashing through the rainforest.

Suddenly Sean remembered something from a book he read in the classroom. If you throw violins at a dinosaur it will calm it down. So Sean pulled out a mega phone from his pocket and ordered 3000 violins. The violins teleported and turned up next to Sean and Charlie.

They both started to throw the violins at the dinosaur. Charlie was slow but had good aim and hit the dinosaur in the eye. Sean was fast but his aim was terrible, he kept hitting the tree, which was a total waste of the violins.

The T-Rex became stronger and then Sean remembered from the book that for a T-Rex you have to play the guitar to calm him down. Sean ran to his treehouse with Charlie on his back, grabbed his guitar from his bedroom and sat on the deck and started strumming.

“Oh … here comes my cow with the pig … ” sang Sean.
“Raaaaaa … ” said the T-Rex.

Then something unexpected happened. The T-Rex was becoming friendly and thanked Sean for the lovely music and started dancing. The three became friends and every time the T-Rex came, Sean played the guitar.

 

This is Lachlan’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: Ping Pong

Alphabet Soup

PING PONG

by Lakota, 7, WA

Tom was scared of ping pong. He was five years old and was in Year One. His hobbies were soccer, football, ice hockey, hockey, rugby but not ping pong. When Tom was eight he got into sea creatures. He liked killer whales the best!

Tom also loved surfing with his dad.

For Tom’s birthday he had an underwater party. People dressed up as underwater animals. Tom invited six friends, their names were: OLLY, SAM, GUS, FINN AND FRANKIE. Tom’s best presents were a bike, bow and arrow, Lego plane and a magic book.

One day Tom was at the beach surfing with his dad when he saw a ping pong ball in the water. He screamed until the lifesavers came to save him and ask what made him scream. So Tom told the lifesavers that he had been screaming because there was a ping pong ball in the water and that he was scared of everything to do with ping pong.

Tom also had to tell his mum and twin sisters, Myla and Lakota, and got into lots of trouble for just a simple thing to be scared of. One of his punishments was to tell everyone in his family on his mum’s and dad’s sides on the phone, with his twin sisters, mum and dad looking him in the eye. Another one of his punishments was no sweets for seven days. The last one was to tidy up the house instead of the cleaner doing it, without getting money for it.

When Tom was ten, his favourite colours were white, black and orange. It’s quite funny because those are the colours of ping pong balls and Tom still didn’t like ping pong.

When Tom was 12, all his friends played ping pong but not Tom of course. One day, Tom was walking in the games room in the apartment building where he lives when he bumped his thigh on the corner of the ping pong table, but he didn’t notice. He went to pick up the ping pong ball and bat, but he didn’t notice. Then a guy came in with a ping pong bat and started playing with Tom but Tom still didn’t notice. When Tom finally noticed that he was playing, he got quite a big shock but in the end it became his favourite game and he was the best at it in his whole school.

—

This is Lakota’s first story published with Alphabet Soup. If YOU would like to send us a story, drawing, poem, or book review, check out our submission guidelines. Happy writing!

Young Writers in Action

Young writers in action: There are aliens in my backyard!

Alphabet Soup
THERE ARE ALIENS IN MY BACKYARD!
by Shristuti Srirapu, 8, India
 

…..It was a stormy night. Ralph was doing his homework. He was writing an essay on UFOs.

…..“Ralph! Go to bed. It is already 10:30. You can finish your essay tomorrow” screamed his mum.

…..Ralph changed into his pjs, brushed his teeth and climbed into his comfy bed. Ralph was just drifting off to sleep when an unfamiliar buzzing noise rang through his ears. Ralph looked outside the window. He could not believe his eyes. He was seeing a UFO along with an UWP (Unidentified Wierd People a.k.a aliens). He pinched himself. “Ouch,” he thought.

…..The aliens were purple with four legs, one eye and no ears and a small antenna.

…..“What are they doing?” Ralph thought. He squinted. They were playing in his play structure. Finally they left. Ralph fell back into his sleep.

…..“Ugh, morning already?” Suddenly he remembered about the aliens.

…..“MUM, Mum, Mum, Mum, Mum!” he called running down the stairs. “Last night I saw the aliens,” he said.

…..“Honey, I think you are imagining things. Maybe you got stressed about your essay and started imagining about aliens,” said his mum.

…..“I was not imagining things. They were purple with one eye and four legs and a little antenna and they were playing in our play structure and, and, and, and … ” His voice trailed off.

…..“Hmmmmmmmm,” sighed Ralph’s mum. “Anyway, eat your breakfast or you are going to be late for school,” his mother told him.

…..At school all Ralph could think was aliens, aliens, aliens.

 

…..That night the same thing happened. The aliens got out of their spaceship, played in his playstructure and left.

…..“Tuesday, that means PHYSICAL EDUCATION,” thought Ralph waking up. The ALIENS!!! They had come last night.

…..“MUM, Mum, Mum, Mum!” Ralph called running down. “The aliens came again, the aliens came again!”

…..“Honey I better take you to a doctor. You finished that yesterday,” said his mum.

…..“I DONT NEED TO GO TO A DOCTOR!” shouted Ralph.

…..“Anyway, eat up” said his mum.

…..That night Ralph heard a buzz but something heavy dropped on the ground. He looked outside the window. He only saw some paper. No aliens, no spaceship. Ralph slipped into his slippers and tiptoed downstairs and out of the door. There stood some paper and something else.

…..“I will see what the paper says and then I will look at the gadget,” thought Ralph.

…..He picked up the paper and read.

…..Dear, we do not know your name. We found a bigger play structure and would like to play in that. We would not be coming back. Anyway we left you a present.

…..Ralph picked up the gadget. It was a small spaceship. He liked it.

…..“I finally have proof but I do not want anyone looking for them. They will be hunting and searching for them. I won’t show anybody,” he thought.

 

…..The next day he got up.

…..“G’morning, Mum,” he said.

…..“Ralph you did not see any aliens?” asked his mum.

…..“Nope,” Ralph replied.

…..“Get ready, your bus will almost be there,” said his mum.

 

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: Gary the Gritty Camel Loses his Glasses

Alphabet Soup

GARY THE GRITTY CAMEL LOSES HIS GLASSES

by Bailey, 8, QLD

One day Gary the camel was going to the River Nile for a bath.

“I hate grit. It’s in my ears, my fur, my mouth and in my hair. It’s everywhere!” complained Gary as he trudged down to the river. Just as he was stepping in to take a bath, his glasses slipped off! “Oh dear! Now I’ll have to get a new pair of glasses”, said Gary. So off he went to the shops at Cairo to get some new glasses.

Without his glasses, Gary had a lot of trouble seeing clearly. Not before long Gary came to a Hairdresser.

“Can I buy some glasses please?” asked Gary.
“Sorry”, said Kerri the Hairdresser.  “We don’t sell glasses but I can give you a haircut”.
“Okay” said Gary, feeling disappointed.

BUUZZZZ! In no time at all he had a new haircut. Then he thanked Kerri the hairdresser and off he went to find some glasses.

After a while Gary found a Beauty Parlour.

“Can I buy some glasses please?” asked Gary.
“Sorry”, said Tina the Beautician. “We don’t sell glasses but I can shampoo and perfume your fur for you”.
“Okay” said Gary disappointed.

SCRUB, SCRUB, SQUIRT!!! In no time at all he had his fur washed and perfumed. Gary thanked Tina the Beautician, and then off he went to buy some new glasses.

Ten minutes later, he came to a hat shop.

“Can I buy some glasses please?” he asked Terry the Hatter.
“Sorry” said Terry. “We don’t sell glasses but I can make you a hat?” offered Terry.
“Okay” said Gary disappointed. TAP! TAP! TAP! In no time at all, Gary had a new hat. He thanked Terry the Hatter, and then off he went to find some new glasses.

As he entered the next shop, he was sure he’d found the glasses shop.

“Can I buy some glasses please?” asked Gary.
“Sorry”, said Bronwyn the Tailor. “We don’t sell glasses but I can give you some clothes”.
“Okay”, said Gary still feeling disappointed. Suddenly the sweet smell of lollies wafted up his nose. So he thanked Bronwyn the Tailor and off he went following that sweet smell.

In the lolly shop Gary bought a Gobstopper.

“Be very careful with it”, said Chris the Candy Man. “You don’t want to break a … ” But it was too late; Gary had already broken his tooth.

“Ouch! That hurts!” Gary howled to Chris the Candy Man as he left the shop.

When he finally got over the pain of his broken tooth, Gary came to another shop.

“Can I buy some glasses please?” Gary whimpered to the receptionist behind the counter.
“Sorry”, said Dali the receptionist. “We don’t sell glasses but I can get Cameron the Dentist to fix and clean your teeth”.
“Yes, please,” said Gary, feeling relieved. Not before long Gary had sparkling clean teeth.

He thanked Cameron the Dentist who said, “I know an Optometrist called Peter, he’s a friend of mine. I’ll take you to see him”. And with that, they headed off to meet Peter the Optometrist.

Finally Gary had found the right place to buy a new pair of glasses. Without delay, he chose a smart and shiny new pair, and looked in the mirror. He was surprised to see the camel staring back at him. His hair was trimmed, his ears were clipped, his fur was washed and perfumed. He had a new hat, a brown and blue shawl and his teeth were clean and sparkling. He was no longer a spitty, nitty, gritty camel. Now he was Gary the spunky, funky, hunky camel! He wasn’t disappointed anymore, he was delightedly distinguished!

The End

Young Writers in Action

Young Writers in Action: Thing’s Lighthouse

Alphabet Soup

Thing’s Lighthouse by Emmy, 10, VIC

“Mr Sappa will never know that we’ve snuck off to explore the lighthouse.”

Tim and Annabella were supposed to be putting up the other sixer’s tent. “It’ll be interesting, so let’s go!”

Soon they were dismounting their horses in front of the old, creaking, ramshackle ruin. Venturing in, Tim spied a ‘thing’ on the wall that looked like a mix of black liquorice and clear jelly. Annabella tried in vain to stop Tim scooping the ‘thing’ into a jar.

“Don’t Tim, it might be dangerous.”

“Auuuh, you worry too much. It’ll be fine.”

Annabella suddenly realised what time it was. They had to rush back before it was noticed that they were gone!

One wild horseride later they were huffing and puffing outside the stable. Tim ran to place his jar full of the ‘thing’ under a pillow in his tent while Annabella unharnessed the horses. Just before the others arrived they started to put up the other tent again. A line of proud cubs trotted in on their horses showing off a new badge on their sleeves. That night after dinner, Tim tried crawling into bed. The ‘thing’ wasn’t in its jar, it was on his pillow! Tim’s face turned white. He felt an icy hand around his heart. Arh! He jumped up and ran outside.

Annabella looked up from helping the younger girls get ready for bed to see Tim waving wildly through the window of her tent. Annabella ran outside. The look on Tim’s face told her everything.

“OK, let’s go” was all she said.

Twenty minutes later, after stuffing ‘the thing’ into a much larger jar they snuck past the front gate of the camp to the road, went up to the top of the hill, around the KEEP OUT sign of the lighthouse and through its creaky wooden door. They opened the lid of the jar and the ‘thing’ slithered out onto the floor and quivered. BOOM! the lighthouse shook and the ground seemed to tremble beneath their feet.

“RUN” screamed Tim to Annabella, “RUN get yourself out of here and RUN, I’ll handle things here, you go. I’ll make sure the thing doesn’t escape.” She seized his hand, “Tim you’re a great mate,” and with a quick kiss on his cheek she was gone.

Tim turned to face the now heaving black mass. He tried dodging the hissing poison being shot at him. After a while the shots seemed to be getting closer and closer. While he was dodging, Annabella arrived, puffing, with some policemen close behind. A shot of poison flew at her.

“NO” cried Tim. And with that he threw himself right into the ‘thing’. The poison froze and then dropped to the ground at Annabella’s feet. There was a fizzing, boiling sound, and the walls started cracking and falling down in chunks. Then the roof started falling. As Annabella ran out the door the last of the roof fell. She watched in amazement as Tim pulled himself out of the even more ruined lighthouse, cut and bruised but otherwise OK.

“Let’s go back” he said weakly.

“Yeah” said Annabella.

–

This is one of a selection of stories we have featured from Carey Baptist Grammar School in Victoria over the last week. Thanks to all the students for sharing your talents with us!