Creative Writing Competition Winners 2022

Crackle,

by Drew Hodgkins, aged 9

Crackle dodged the looming cloud. It stung to touch them; they brushed his green, static wires running through his dog-like black fur, stopped only by a mossy green tip on his ears, paws and tail. He twisted his head; he was hungry and by the sound of it there was a Klorton nearby. Crackle controlled the weather of the human world from the sky, a lonely duty. The Klortons, his prey, were like glowing rabbits. The sky was full of Gluntos, who were like bees to the humans. They played with him, but always faded. Crackle snapped his head around swiftly: he heard prey. He nimbly tried to bound over a gap in the clouds, but scrambled for grip and tumbled into the human world below.

“HELP!” he yelped to the nothingness. Crackle was panicking – there was water below. He had electric powers and water harmed him. He knew clouds were water, but Crackle had always floated lightly. He landed, finally leaping to the ground by calling a cloud to him to ride. All too quickly, he was down in a human city, in an alleyway. What would he eat?

“Get over here. NOW!” Crackle raced faster than anything, being pure energy. When he eventually skidded to a halt in front of them, he was whisked into a leathery, warm wing and something sent him to sleep.

He was thrown into a clearing hidden away from the open world. A huge creature was in front of him. It was scaly and winged, horns running down its back. It had a long tail and a looming face with kind eyes. A cruel-looking, scarred unicorn said, “Eat.” Crackle dipped his head into the rabbit placed in front of him, not knowing if it would be his last…