Thursday, 1 November 2018

'The Gates of Secrets' - story writing competition winner Conor O' Donnell!

Congratulations to Conor O' Donnell who won a short story competition with his story, 'The Gates of Secrets'.

Conor won a signed copy of the book 'The Girl who ate the Stars' by Caroline Busher.


Here's Conor's winning story...


The night sky was full of stars but no moon, but it didn’t matter they had lights on their bikes. Tommy, Jack and Joey were on their bikes cycling home. Tommy and Joey were friends since play school, and they met Jack in primary school, the boys were all about 14, and just came back from a day of exploring. They passed by a pharmaceutical company, the lights were on, that was unusual, it normally closed at 9:00pm and it was now 11:30pm. There was a red BMW parked outside. When they got home their parents told them not to be out late in future. The next day they went to visit their grannies at the nursing home. When they got there they noticed the red BMW pull up and a grey haired man hopped out and entered the nursing home. Walking into the visiting area the boys noticed the grey haired man talking to a group of elderly men and women. The grannies were together playing cards, the boys sat down at the table with them. Tommy’s granny had grey hair and a flamboyant jacket, Joey’s granny had pink hair and a yellow t shirt saying “grannies rock”, Jack’s granny had blonde hair and wore black. They had a lovely evening together. The very next day it was all over the news, some of the elderly folk from the local nursing home had gone missing. The boys rushed to check their grannies were at the nursing home. They were relieved to see their grannies were safe. The police arrived at the scene. The boys asked the police if they could help with the search and were told it was too dangerous. However that was not an option for the boys as they needed to find the old women immediately. To begin with they searched the forest and cycled towards the lake. The boys just started searching when they found a Zimmer frame. Meanwhile the police were searching around the lake when they found a set of false teeth. The police thought the grannies had committed suicide. The boys reported what they had found. The police decided the boys could help as they had found some valuable clues. Later that day Tommy got a call that his granny had gone missing and this encouraged him to search even harder. They set off early the next day on their bikes to find more clues. They enter the forest a second time, and after hours of searching they finally found a wall. Seeing that there was a wall there must be a gate, they kept on walking until they found a way in. At last they discovered a gate, unfortunately it was locked. Fortunately, another clue, the red BMW from the nursing home was parked nearby. Inside the car they saw a flamboyant jacket. This meant the grannies were beyond the gate and they must get them out. They climbed the gate to see a beautiful house stood on the grounds of a picturesque garden. There was also a Sauna, a Jacuzzi, a tennis court and a swimming pool, it had it all. All of the grannies and granddads were having a great time. Tommy noticed his granny sitting in the Jacuzzi; she certainly looked like she was happy there. A big group of granddads were playing golf. There was a mini village with a coffee shop, a post office a shopping centre, a library, a gift shop, a bank, a boutique, a hair dressers, a park, a hotel, and a restaurant. Tommy went over and asked his granny to explain what was going on. His granny explained everything, and why Alex from the pharmaceutical company, had brought them here. Alex a scientist had made something amazing. It was a healing therapy, that fixed all aches and pains, gave energy and improved eyesight and hearing ability. The old people who had Zimmer frames no longer needed them anymore as they were now fit and healthy. They no longer needed glasses or false teeth as their eyesight had improved dramatically and their teeth had grown back completely. The old people had given their consent to Alex, from the pharmaceutical company, to be part of this wonderful idea, and in return they would get a luxurious lifestyle, so it was perfectly legal. The police decided not to prosecute the company as the benefits of the experiment were outstanding and what Alex had accomplished changed the world forever.