“The Secret Garden” Creative Writing Winners

The end of Term 6 also marks the end of this term’s creative writing competition, with the theme of “The Secret Garden”, inspired by all the warm summer weather we have had this term! There were many fantastic entries, it was a difficult decision to make as they were all so amazing! Thanks to everyone who participated, it was so enjoyable to read all the imaginative stories and everybody’s take on this term’s theme! We can’t wait to read next term’s stories!

So, without further ado, the winner is…

Isabella S!!! Congrats!!! We thoroughly enjoyed reading it – we thought it was such a different approach to the theme, that was just so suspenseful! 

And! The runners up are…

Nethuli G and Ruby D! Well done and thanks to everyone that took part!  Ellie, Niamh and Rachel.

Here is the winning entry, enjoy reading!

A tall, desolate, abandoned building towered over me. I glanced at the paper, and then back to it. Do I have the right address? It’s… not all it’s cracked up to be. And apparently there’s free accommodation for me, but I’m not so sure I want it anymore.It is a dark, dreadful, abandoned hotel. I don’t know if I want to work here. I take a breath. I walk over to the front doors, hanging off its hinges slightly. I let myself in.

However, it looks brilliant inside. It’s very surprising. There is a huge chandelier hanging from the very high ceiling, and through some glass doors, there is a beautiful garden, which seems miles long. I went up to the receptionist. “ Hi, I’m here for the… overnight receptionist job?” I said, reading from a piece of paper. “ Ah, yes,” he replied,” We’ve been waiting for you. Here is a list of rules. Good day!” I’m confused. Isn’t he meant to at least show me what to do? I opened the piece of folded paper he gave me. This is the list: 

• Do not make eye contact with anyone past 2:30 in the morning
• Do not go into the garden, but the guests can.
• If a customer comes at 1am and asks for room 103, do not speak to him or make eye contact. Just hand him the key and keep your head down until he leaves.
• If the lights flicker or black out, evacuate everyone in the building.
• If a guest asks for room number 491, do the same, and then lockdown the building. There is no room 491.
• Your room is room 66, your uniform is there.

Is this a joke? I’m guessing it is, because otherwise, I would cry.It is nearly my shift. I went to get changed.I ran to the reception desk, as it is my shift. The first few hours go smoothly. No one comes now, it’s boring, and my break is in half an hour. I take a glance at the garden. It looks even prettier in the moonlight. 

It’s kind of…hypnotising… I walk towards it. It’s pulling me in. No one is going to know, right? I walk in. The flowers are shining. The rose bush gleams. I walk deeper. Suddenly, the flower heads bit me, and they wouldn’t let go. I screamed as they took out my eyes. But… they didn’t kill me. They put a new set of eyes in my sockets. They let me see the garden in a whole new way. It extended for miles. It is full of life, and colour. It is not night; it is day. I turned back, and the hotel was gone.I fell back, into the tall grass and flowers.It was soft on my skin.I looked up into the sky, and knew that I would stay here forever, with all the flora and fauna around me.There was a pond near, and apple trees; I would survive.