Thank you for accepting the writing challenge! Enjoy the stories that were inspired by the picture of an intriguing wooden house in a mysterious forest ... is it magic, a happy place or downright haunted?

  

Years past when Anthony was poor, and he was still living in a small cottage, Anthony couldn’t go out of his home. He only had home school. Anthony's mean step mother (Lora) always said to Anthony “ you shouldn't be going out there! You know you have chores. He imagined what it would be like being free beyond the clouds. He just wished he had a big, big, big ladder to climb up and see, explore, search etc.

 

One night Anthony was still awake, not sleeping but thinking to himself, if he could just open the front door and maybe go explore. He had never done that before! But what if his stepmom catches him sneaking out? Meh what could go wrong. He went to his closet and got his jacket,then sneakily tiptoed to the front door then shut it quietly.

 

Anthony was shocked of what he saw “FREEDOM!’’

He shouted. “Oops didn’t mean to shout that loud’’

Anthony  skipped like a happy dwarf till he approached a big big big ladder. It looked like the one he was thinking of in his imagination “Cool I'll use this ladder to explore above and beyond but how will I carry it? It looks like a thousand pounds or less” Replied Anthony. A voice from a distance responded “ Hey kiddo my name is Happyblack but you can just call me Happy. I’ll help you carry that big ladder. It looks tough to carry it on my own, but luckily I am with my mates here”, said Happyblack. “Thank you so much, Happy!” 20 minutes later 

“There you go Anthony” “Thanks Happy” Anthony climbed the ladder and then accidentily fell down. Luckily Happy saved him but then the ladder clasped and then it broke. So Anthony didn’t get to have his journey. He was sad in the end but at least he got to see the world more. The end!!!

By Sarah Kinred

 

In a thick dense forest in my backyard there is an old house next to a river bank. We were playing hide and seek together and I hid in my play house. No-one found me, so I was wandering around. Then I heard something move and it was my cat, Santi! He jumped at me and I fell over. My friends found me and I was happy I found Santi.

By Brosnan Quarrie

 

By Conrad Bell

By Isabella  Quarrie

The Magical Treehouse

One gloomy day there was a boy named Peter. He lived in a cottage next to a forest.

The next day he decided to go into the forest, but little did he  know that the forest was magical. After about thirty minutes he found a treehouse.

Inside the tree house there were lots of magical books! They were flying around like butterflies. 

They started attacking Peter the instance he entered the room. The instance

they started attacking him, he started running in the opposite direction. After that he made it back to the cottage and he never entered the forest again.

 

By Nathan Bantjes

I was taking a walk around the woods just down the road from my house, when I found a little creepy

cottage. I walked towards it with a little torch that I always carry around and went inside the cottage.

My best friend Jack was there with me and we had a look inside then we heard a strange noise from

the ceiling. There was a big crack in the ceiling like someone tried to come out.

So we cut the ceiling and helped a homeless man come out of the ceiling. 

The man was very scary and very dirty, so Jack and I helped him get new stuff and a little apartment

for the next 4 months. We met up with him 4 months later and he looked like a businessman.

He got a job and even got a girlfriend. Jack and I were very proud of him so we went to lunch

and that was when we found out that guy that we don’t know the name of bought a 4 million dollar

house and wants us to live in it with him. We were very surprised and accepted the offer.  

The end 

Finley Bissex

By Avyan Handa

By Aarean Kapor

Enjoy Rachel's text about her MERC experience

MERC camp was an amazing experience and I really liked it not only because I could do stuff that is not the normal stuff but because that it was different from the normal sweaty camp. 

On MERC, we could do scavenger hunts and play inside tents, plus we could also make a scavenger hunt so people who were not the camp's creators could bask in the fun of knowing that other people are going to explore what you created. 

Before the MERC camp started, we could also go and roast marshmallows and bread. Even though I forgot my stick, the staff gave me a spare stick. We had to go and walk back from the MERC camp instead of a bus, too. I was very sweaty coming back from the camp. Unlike real camps, MERC didn't involve you sleeping in a tent, but that's still okay.

By Rachel Loke

Maya wrote this story in her own time - read her text, but be aware ... it's a very spooky story and the gruesome content may not be suitable for all age groups!!!

 

THE SHADOW MAN

A long long time ago there lived a family of five.The wife jemma,the husband Nick,The oldest child Jessica,the middle child hannah,and the youngest child jade.Jade was the nicest,the most loving and the favourite child.hannah the middle child used to be the favourite,until Jade was born,although Jessica thought jade was quite cute and annoying at the same time.

One day while Jessica,Hannah,and Jade were walking home they bumped into an old “friend” well actually they were a enemy.”we meet again” said the enemy “what do you want lily?” Said Jessica.”I just came to warn you…” said lily/the enemy devilishly.”warn us about what?” Asked Jade curiously.”You should hurry home and check on your mum” said lily as evil as the joker.”err okay?” Said Jade with a bit more curiosity.So they walked home with a lot of curiosity.When they got home they saw their mother on the couch terrified,as if she saw a ghost or heard one. “Mum? Are you ok?” Asked Hannah.Their mum was too terrified to even speak! “T-the S-shadow-“ stuttered their mother.”What shadow?” Asked all of them with unison.”i-it was alive…” “the shadow was alive?” Asked Hannah curiously.” 

A day past and they were all sitting in the lounge watching a movie.Their mother paused the movie to get a drink,so did Jessica and Hannah.Jade noticed something.Something strange,what looked like a shadow man with a coat and a top hat.she went closer..and closer...and closer to the shadow until she saw there was no man there.It was just a shadow with no man.She looked around to see if the light was shining on a action figure,but there was no action figure at all.The shadow then turned to her...He then disappeared into thin air...She was too scared to speak or even tell her family.When they all went to sleep,Jade laid there in her bed wondering If it was capable of well hurting anyone.But it was only a shadow...shadows can’t hold anything or possibly touch anyone...right?The next day Jessica went to Jade and asked “Jade...have you seen anything terrifying?” Have you..?” Asked Jade “I asked first!” “Ok ok! I have seen this well…shadow man..” said Jade terrified. “Same…” said Jessica. “How about hannah have you asked her?” Asked Jade. “No not yet..”

That day after history class lily came up to them. “Why hello Jessica” said lily “lily you know Jade is right here and you don’t bother to say hello to her.” Said Jessica frustratingly. “Oh right..didn’t see you there Jade” said lily sarcastically.”what do you want lily”said Jade. “Oh nothing I just am here to tell you you should be careful when you talk about the shadow man to other people” said lily “wait lily are you behind the shadow man!?” Asked jade curiously. “Oh no I’m not it’s just my father got murdered by the shadow man” said lily a little bit sadder then usual. “Wait wat how?” Asked Jade and Jessica in unison. “Just don’t look into its eyes and don’t let it see you” said lily “toodles!”. “ lily wait.Why do you care about us all of a sudden?” Asked Jade. “Well I-“ “Jessica,Jade why are you talking to..her” asked hannah.“Because we want to.after all you can’t control our lives.your not the oldest” said Jade.

“Do I really care” Asked hannah rhetorically. “Oh yeah I forgot you never cared about anything not even us” said Jade frustratingly. “come on Jade let’s just go to class…” said Jessica. When they got to biology class they noticed that lily has skipped class again, “typical lily” whispered Jessica to Jade. “Mhmmm always skipping class-“ “JADE AND JESSICA STOP TALKING IN CLASS” interrupted mrs honey. “Sorry mrs honey we were whispering not talking” said Jessica. “ principles office NOW BOTH OF YOU” yelled mrs honey.When they  both arrived at the principles office….They saw The principle dead in his chair...They saw the shadow man and his eyes...Jessica quickly closed her eyes shut and closed Jades eyes too.As soon as the shadow man disappeared,they screamed.Alarming all teachers and staff. “AHHHHHH SOMEBODY HELP!!!” Cried Jade. “WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED” shouted the janitor. As Jade froze with fear still looking at the hole in the principles head that the shadow man burned threw…. 

The policemen searched houses,buildings but still couldn’t find the deadly shadow man...The next morning Jade got out of bed To fetch her phone.She turned it on and she saw THAT IT WAS CHRISTMAS!!!B But just a day ago it was Easter. “Santa?” Said Jade excitingly but when that “Santa” turned around..It was the shadow man.The shadow man looked 3D for once! How can that be? He held a gun to her...SHE WOKE UP WITH FEAR! Turns out that was only a dream and it was still Easter.She jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom.She puked everywhere! “Jade are you alright?” Asked Jessica. “I-I’m fine just had a bad dream” said Jade. “Are you really sure?” Asked Jessica “I said I’m fine ok” said Jade frustratingly.The next day when Their mum switched the news on the T.V...They finally found the shadow man!! But how did they find him? Well that’s another story to tell.They all lived in peace from that day on.

                               

                                          THE END!

Maya Ploos van Amstel

Enjoy the explanation texts by Elly, Gabriel and Benjamin. They were studying some interesting scientific facts and share them with us.

Why are whiskers important for cats?

Do you know why cats have whiskers?

Whiskers don’t just look cute. They move around and help the cat to hunt.

Whiskers are sensory tools like eyes or ears. 

Cats can’t see very well so they pick up air movement with their whiskers to hunt.

Cats can feel, ‘’I can fit there! “, when they try to fit into a tight space. If the cats can’t fit, the whiskers touch.

Now I know why whiskers are important for cats, I feel very surprised.

Thank you.

Elly Lee

Cats Have Whiskers

Do you know why cats have whiskers? Whiskers don't just look cute.They move around and help the cat hunt.

Cats can’t see very well what is close to them. The cat can see well what is far away. The cat’s whiskers help the cat to hunt. When a mouse is too close to them, the whiskers point forward and pick up the air movement of the moving mouse.

The cat has whiskers for playing. For example, the cat tries to fit into a box. If the cat’s whiskers touch the box, it knows. “I can’t fit!”

I didn’t know anything about whiskers, but now I know lots. 

By Gabriel Walfrido

Do you know why cats have whiskers? Whiskers don’t just look cute. They move around and help the cat to hunt. 

Cats have whiskers, because cats can’t see very well.  Whiskers help cats to hunt. Cats have noses, ears, eyes, mouths and paws, but cats also have whiskers. They are also a sensory tool. The cat's whiskers can feel air move, when a mouse is running past.

Whiskers show people how the cat is feeling.

If the whiskers are pointing away from the cat, that

means the cat is happy. If the whiskers are pulled back, it means that the cat is angry.

I feel surprised about the whiskers. I thought the cat's whiskers were not important, but I found out the whiskers are very important for the cat.

By Benjamin Lee