April 4, 2015

My 13-year-old daughter wrote a story for the Radio 2 writing competition ‘500 Words’. Sadly she didn’t get selected for the next round but I still love this story and I’m very proud of her talent so I’m sharing it here.

“I WANT MY MUMMY!”

I opend the big box I was here with today it was full of books There waz also wun sheet of paper and Im riting this on it

I have red some books, since I last rote. I found one called ‘DICTIONARY’, by a man called Oxford. It was boring but I am learnin more about words

Today I had my bath in the sea, like mummy taught me, and picked some shells (the ones with fish in them). I went inland, and picked fruit, and drank from my stream. I had a nap when it got hot, and red a bit of a fairytail book.

I have read all the eesy books, and have started one called ‘Robinson Crusoe.’ It has a man on a island on the front. Im stuck on a island to.

Today I fininshed Robinson Crusoe, so I went for a walk round the island. I saw footprints in the sand. I got excited, cos I thought it was from Man Friday. Turns out it was my own. I had walked round in a circle. I hate that book.

I found a bit of paper in one of the books. It was from a news story from 1975. It was about a plane crash. Planes are bad. I fell out of a plane. It was scary. My mummy was stuck in the plane. I miss her and daddy.

It has been about three summers since I arrived on the island, and I have read half the books. What will I do when I run out of books?

I found a parrot today. It had rainbow feathers. I want to keep him and I have called him Captain Flint, after Long John Silver’s bird. I drew a map of the island, and started looking for treasure. I didn’t find any. I really hate books about people stuck on islands!

It is winter now, and I am very cold. I am reading a book called ‘Diary of Anne Frank.’ I am keeping a diary too. I’m not the unluckiest person who ever lived, I used to think I was. I lost my mum, and it hurt me so much, but Otto Frank lost his whole family. At least my daddy is alive, somewhere. Maybe he thinks I am dead.

I finished the penultimate book today. Books have been the only thing that kept me sane here, without them, I’d have gone mad. My pain over losing my family would have torn me in two if they hadn’t been there to guide me on the island. I don’t know how i’ll cope when I finish the last one. I couldn’t read the title of the last book, as it was turned over. I leaned over, falling into the crate, before turning over the book. It was thick, and my arms hurt from my days fruit collection, so it took me a while. It was called ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Building a Boat’.

Family


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