Early Years and Juniors
Whole School Story
This week, a number of our boys collaborated to put together a ‘Whole School Story’ as part of World Literacy Day.
The stimulus was ‘Stig of the Dump’ which is currently being read to Year 2 as part of their Stone Age topic. The Year 2 boys then set the scene and came up with the first part of an original story which was passed up the school through Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 for the older boys to extend.
Read their full story, below.
It was a damp and miserable Saturday morning and Tom was bored. He just didn’t know what to do. His parents had made him come camping again! He hated camping! They’d let him bring his dog, Buster, this time. That was something at least. Tom spotted a conker on the ground. He had an idea – conker hunting in the forest! He told his mum where he was going and off he went with Buster by his side.
The forest was cold and dark, but Tom felt brave with Buster by his side. They walked slowly through the forest, with Tom stopping occasionally to pick up the odd conker. There weren’t as many as he’d expected to find. Suddenly just ahead Tom spotted a clearing. “I’m sure they’re conker trees beyond that clearing, Buster. Let’s go!”
Tom started to run and Buster followed quickly behind. They ran through the trees and into the clearing. At once Tom and Buster skidded to a halt.
“Wow!” exclaimed Tom. Buster looked equally impressed beside him. Tom couldn’t believe what he saw. It was a castle! A ruined castle, yes, but a castle nonetheless. The remains of an enormous castle stood in front of him. There was no roof and vines were climbing all over the stones, but it had one very impressive tower remaining that seemed to Tom to be the size of a skyscraper.
As Tom and Buster began to slowly circle the ruins they came upon the remains of the gateway and drawbridge. Tom could tell from these that the castle must once have been an amazing sight. The thought of going in made him quite nervous, but his excitement about his new discovery was too much and in he went, dragging a reluctant Buster behind him.
The inside of what was left of the castle was not quite as impressive as the outside. The ground was littered with huge stones that had fallen from the castle wall and getting through felt like an obstacle course. Amongst the rubble Tom spotted a couple of bones and what he thought might be a broken skull. A shiver went down his spine! He looked nervously at Buster.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” Tom could tell Buster felt the same but his curiosity got the better of him. He was close to the tower now and was desperate to see inside. Tom summoned up some courage. “Come on, boy. It’s only a pile of old stones. What’s so scary about that?”
Tom fought back his fear and ran towards the tower. From outside he could see that the spiral staircase looked intact and seemed fairly safe. In he went and up the stairs, treading carefully so as not to slip on the moss covered stone. It seemed to take forever to get to the top but when he did it was worth the wait. He could see for miles! The campsite he and his parents were staying at looked tiny, and the river behind was nothing but a thin blue line on the landscape.
He walked round the top of the tower, unable to take his eyes off the incredible view. Just then his foot bumped something on the ground. It was a large metal ring attached to a trap door. Tom couldn’t resist pushing his foot down on the wood to see how strong it was. It didn’t feel too safe.
Suddenly the wood gave way and his foot disappeared through a hole, along with most of his leg! Tom screamed and Buster bolted down the stairs in shock. Tom tried to pull himself up but he wasn’t strong enough. It felt like his body was being dragged through the hole. He put out his hand and tried to pull harder but just then the rest of the wooden trap door gave way and Tom found himself falling into a pitch black hole. He landed on something slippery. Now he was sliding through the darkness, plummeting to the ground. Tom squeezed his eyes shut and waited for it to end. Finally he hit the bottom with a splash. His eyes were still squeezed tightly shut but eventually he built up the courage to open them. When he did, he could not believe what he saw.
Tom found himself lying in a shallow pool of water at the bottom of a deep pit. The water was cold, still and dark. Through the water he could see carvings on an old mossy slab of limestone. Buster was at the top of the trapdoor peering down at him. Buster was barking loudly with his front legs bent and stiff.
Tom cried for help but his voice just echoed around the empty walls and slowly faded away into the lonely stones. Tom gave up crying after half an hour because no one was coming and his voice was hoarse. On the other side of the room Tom saw an old stair case and climbed to the top of it. As he glared at the stones that formed the map he recognised some symbols and he thought he could find the way out.
Tom leant back against the cold rocks and felt a shiver as he slowly realised that the stones were moving. All of the rocks started to crumble and fall away as he realised that it was collapsing in on him. Taking cover he dived into the space behind him.
After several seconds the rocks stopped tumbling and Tom glanced behind him and saw that some of the rocks were glowing golden bright colours. Tom noticed that on one of the golden rocks was some writing. He knelt down to look at the words more carefully. The letters were saying something about moving the rocks to get back into the chamber and the stone map. He touched one of the golden rocks to move it but suddenly drew back his hand because it was boiling hot.
Tom decided to look around him to work out a way of removing the golden rocks and taking them to the map. He started towards the other end of the room whilst nervously biting his nails. Faintly, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a small stone tablet encrusted with stones and jewels in a variety of shapes and sizes.
On closer inspection, he realised that one of the stones was missing. He suddenly remembered the conkers he and Buster collected in the forest. Carefully he placed his hand in his pocket and reached for a conker. Just as he was about to place it in the tablet a cool breeze blew. Tom started. Did he hear a voice?
‘The rocks,’ it said.
Tom put the conker on the tablet. A shimmer of light fell on the tablet as the stones shifted around opening of the chamber.
Each stone seemed to move in one long arc. Each stone was exactly the same distance from the next until they formed a perfect circle in front of Tom. The stones began to glow again and Tom could feel the heat emanating from each stone, warming his face and hands. As the final stone moved into position a glow formed in the centre of the circle.
Slowly, the glow subsided and an intense darkness replaced it. Tom looked into the darkness, it was all encompassing and seemed to draw him closer and closer. He could feel himself becoming lost to the darkness and all his fear left him. From within the darkness a voice rumbled. “Tom, step towards me, become one with me.” The voice was low and comforting. “If you step to me, you will escape this world.”
Tom felt drawn to the circle but there was something nagging him. Quietly beyond the darkness he could hear another noise, familiar, but from long ago. The noise became louder and louder until Tom recognised Buster’s growl. His dog’s barking brought him back to reality and the deadly situation he was in, but it was too late. The circle of darkness was expanding around him, it drew him in and he could not resist its’ pull, “Tom, Tom, Tom…” the darkness spoke to his very soul.
Darkness. He was alone again surrounded by darkness and silence. It was impenetrable. He walked within the silence and time seemed to stop. In front of him a tiny pin-prick of light appeared. It grew and grew, the warmth providing his only solitude. As the light grew he could make out a scene within him, it was the campsite where he was staying. Slowly, the darkness and silence retreated around him, replaced by grass and trees and sunshine.
“Tom, Tom, Tom…” the voice no longer rumbled but seemed almost musical. It was his Mum. She came running to him, “Where on earth did you get to? We’ve been looking for you.” Tom stared at his Mum dumbfounded. He was literally struck dumb. “Where’s Buster?” his Mum asked smiling and ruffling his hair.
Tom looked at his Mum with amazement, “I really have no idea.”
His Mum was quiet, “Hmmmm,” she said turning him round and leading him back to their tent, “I think you have some serious explaining to do young man.”