Earlier this year, as part of their Advanced Preparation Programme, some of our students submitted short stories to the Young Writers Stranger Sagas competition. Students aged 11-18 from schools and colleges all around the UK were challenged to write a mini saga – of just 100 words – after either choosing from one of eight opening lines, or starting a story from scratch.
We are delighted to announce that seven students have had their stories published and they now appear in a collection of short stories called Stranger Sagas: Mysterious Tales. As they are only 100 words, we thought we would share them with you here!
ABNORMAL by Hamed Al-Hosni
Once, three friends, Orion, Brooks and Thorn, decided to go to the village of Tombstone. People said that whoever goes there gets trapped. These friends didn’t care about that. It took them about three hours to get to Tombstone, but nothing seemed scary about the place. Walking around, Orion heard something from behind an old van. They decided to investigate. Easing towards the van, they only saw three bottles of water and decided to drink them. Soon, they felt dizzy and were surrounded by monsters before the darkness engulfed them.
RED END by Dmytro Pochkun
I heard a scream echo outside, then I woke up. It’s hard to be the last human on Earth, but now it’s harder to consider this place as home. Years of pollution almost destroyed Earth, so people are no longer living here. It’s quite hard to survive, maybe it would have been better to leave Earth with the others when they understood that the sun was almost extinguished. The sun is becoming redder every day and the Earth’s history will finish with my story. Although I still love this ugly place, every day is like living in penal servitude.
THEY SAY I WAS A TRAITOR, BUT WHERE IS THE JUSTICE OF THIS WORLD? by Zey Huang
Wars! Power! To her husband, the king, she was no longer an ally. He wanted her and her brother, the General, gone. With her brother heading the king’s army in the inhospitable plains, the king’s plan to murder her would only happen quickly. His plan to marry the princess to gain more power ignited his desire to poison her. Escape was her only saviour. One night, she fled to the neighbouring nation to seek help from their king. He quickly believed her story and helped her bring justice by killing the king and returning her brother to her.
A CALL FROM THE COLD by Sorravis Leepiboonsawats
Everything was as usual. I slept through my three-hour flight to Kiev from England to be awoken by the pilot as he landed. Yet, this time, as I got off the plane, the terminal looked derelict and abandoned. I walked around and could feel cool hands touch my shoulders, arms and legs. Fear gripped me. What was happening? Silence blanketed my ears, but in the distance, I could hear the muffled words of the pilot urging us to return to the plane. I ran towards it before the darkness could reach me.
HER EERIE SCREAM by Stephy Lin
On a darker night than usual, in a village, people went to bed very early to escape the cold. Arianna woke up startled because of a passing murder of crows above her house. The bedside clock read 3am. That was when she noticed movement through the window, accompanied by a strange light and a voice. Soon, the movement turned into a silhouette and she went over to the door out of curiosity. The last thing she remembered was a scream echoing outside.
The next day, she did not speak and no-one knew what had happened except for Arianna.
A STRANGER by Jim Zhang
A scream echoes outside. I wake up in my colleague Ben’s office. What am I doing here? I look on his desk, there is a note about transferring the brain to the robot. I freeze in fear. I touch his coffee mug and it’s still hot. Rushing to the door, I open it and am surprised to find weird instruments all over the living room with Ben on the floor. Next o his body is someone strapped to a chair, wearing identical clothes to mine! I look at his face, and it’s me! The gunshot rings, but it’s too late.
ABANDONED ROBOT by Cindy Chen
I was an abandoned robot left in the forest. I couldn’t move anything, except for my eyes. The only thing I registered was a thumping sound in the distance. Thump! An old man appeared before my eyes and grabbed me to see if I was repairable. Once I could move again, I was able to become a part of his family.
One day, two thieves broke into our house and shot the old man. Luckily, I fled with his grandson to the UFO he kept in the garden and escaped to the universe. Our journey began…
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