I’ve not had much time to write recently due to family commitments, so when I saw that Susanna Hill was running a Valentiny Writing Contest, I really wanted to take part.
The brief was to write a Valentine’s Day story for children with a maximum of 214 words (2/14 for Valentine’s Day!) in which someone feels curious. I don’t often write to a brief, so thought this would be a fun writing exercise to stop my writing brain from completely seizing up!
Time was still super tight, as my eldest was off school recuperating from surgery, so I ended up writing the story at around midnight on Valentine’s Day night only a few hours before the US deadline. So I’m pretty thrilled that the story below, which I wrote during this late night writing splurge, gained an Honourable Mention in the category: “We Loved It But Not Curious Enough!”
When Love Gives You Wings
By Kate Thompson
206 words
Winston wriggled, writhed and wormed
beneath the squelchy mud,
when suddenly his wormy den
was shaken by a THUD!
“Aaargh!” he cried, “Oh what was that?!
I’d better go and see!”
He popped above the ground and gasped,
“A card addressed to me?!”
The heart-shaped card was painted red,
with blobs of green and blue.
“But who’s it from?” said Winston,
“Hmm… they must have left a clue!”
He looked around and grinned,
“Aha! A blobby painty trail!
I’ll simply follow where it leads
to find who sent my mail!”
Winston wriggled onwards
‘til the trail came to an end.
“Oh no!” he cried. “I’ve failed
to find my Valentine’s Day friend!”
He sat and hugged his special card,
as tears filled up his eyes.
But suddenly from up above him,
someone yelled… “SURPRISE!”
Out jumped Bee and Butterfly,
as Winston grinned with glee.
“Oh, thank you both! I can’t believe
you made this card for me!”
“It’s more than just a card!” they laughed,
“Just pull on those two strings,
and WHOOSH! the hearts will open up
and make…
… a pair of wings!”
These days Winston wriggles, writhes
and whooshes through the air -
a flutterworm with two best friends
who always will be there.
It’s worth keeping an eye out for these little contests. They don’t need to take up a lot of your time, but they are a great opportunity to write something to a deadline that may be outside of your normal comfort zone. You’ve nothing to lose by taking part, so you may as well give them a go!