Stories

Welcome to our Library of Stories. Please click on the story title to read Chapter 1.
These are collaborative story openings created by school groups and community groups.
Each participant writes their own Chapter 2.

The Legacy of Thomas

A colourful image of three people in a boat rowing towards a port with some boats docked at it. There is also a boat further out at sea. There are mountains in the background as well as houses and palm trees dotted along the coast.
Illustration by Eileen Niell

Fort Hill Integrated College, Year 10
14th December 2023

Once upon a time Thomas was on a boat in the middle of the ocean, playing with a bouncy ball.  He was on the boat with his two siblings because he had to evacuate to a new home. He was heart-broken and terrified to be leaving because there was a war going on and he couldn’t be with his parents.  He also felt relieved...

The Forgotten Sword 

Victoria Primary School, P7
13th December 2023

“Have you ever hidden a time capsule before? Because Sir William Wigglesworth had hidden something.” 
He had hidden something magical. Before he died he hid it inside an immortal pig...

Jack's Journey

St. Moninna's Primary School, P5
12th December 2023An elf flying a sleigh pulled by puppies while Santa looks up at them from the ground, he is angry and covered in snow, with escaped reindeer running around in the background

Santa did not look happy; he was covered in snow. Santa crashed into the snow and it went all over him. There was no Christmas spirit in his sleigh. 

When You Name a Skunk


Illustration: Emma Tomlinson

Dominican College, Fortwilliam, Y8 & Y9
6th December 2023

“I’ve repeatedly been told that I need to work on the farm, but I’ve always been interested in getting an education,” wrote Theo in his journal in bed one night. This is what his mother had wanted. She had disappeared less than a year ago, and everyone proclaimed her dead. 

Theo had woken up from a recurring nightmare. Every time this happened, he wrote in his journal. 

His mother had unexpectedly disappeared the previous year, on Tuesday, 7th of December 1923...

Sophia and the Powerful, Winged, 50-year-old Snake

Young authors from Stranmillis University College Literacy Intervention ProgrammeA young girl with brown hair wearing a pink dress and a yellow and orange winged snake on a green background
5th December, 2023

One afternoon, Sophia was coming out of her school. It was a hot and sunny day and she was thinking about getting a snake as a pet. When she got home, she waited excitedly for her mum and dad to get home from work.

She asked her mum, “Can I get a snake please? I PROMISE that I will take care of it!”...

Ollie to the Rescue

Carr Primary School, P7
28th November 2023

When Ollie was born he had a huge head three times the size of its body. He had an alien mum and an alien dad by his side. He had a big sister called Ellie. 

He was born in the Marsian Royal hospital on Mars. They didn’t use medicine, only alien magic.

One day Pugsley ran away. He was chasing an alien bird and he chased it all the way up to the highest point on Mars. Pugsley jumped to grab the bird but because gravity was weak there, he started flying away...

Flying to the Rescue

Harding Memorial Integrated Primary School, GLSC 
23rd November 2023

It was the end of a good day, a fantastic day. Jumbo Bird was playing hide-and-seek with Cheese and Quackers in the grassy hills while Jumbo Bird was fetching broccoli for her wonderful children and friends. Cheese and Quackers was swimming on the water with their wings. They had spiky wings, and you could see the bones because they were very skinny...

Mazie the Dinosaur

St Moninna's PS, P5
21st November 2023Two dinosaurs making houses appear by stomping their feet

One day when Mazie was young she didn’t have a family and then another dinosaur family adopted her because they saw her abandoned in the forest. 

When the family adopted Mazie they realised that she was allergic to cake, and it was her so-called sister’s birthday...

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