Participating Schools
The Clumsy Boy
There was a clumsy boy who lived in a cottage with his dog. He was evicted from the cottage, because he was so clumsy. He was fired from every job. He didn’t have enough money to rent the cottage anymore. The owner threw them out, because the clumsy boy had broken everything.
It was a damp, foggy day when they were walking. He went to stroke his dog, but he wasn’t there. He was all alone and didn’t know where he was. He lay by the valley and cried himself to sleep. When he woke up, the tall, clumsy boy found a scruffy, unusual bag in the sparking, blue river. It was a black, battered leather bag. The tall, clumsy boy dropped the disgraceful bag and the silver, rusty lock smashed hard against the rocky stones. In the damaged, black bag the clumsy boy spotted his dog’s thick, shiny collar. He pulled it out and gazed at it. The clumsy boy then saw a creepy, old, grumpy man and he started shouting at him. “What are you doing here?” asked the old man.
“My dog has gone missing, can you help me find him?” the clumsy boy sadly said.
“Well that’s strange, my cows have gone missing too,” the old man said, sounding curious. “The two cows disappeared out of no where. I’ll help you, if you help me.”
It was very mysterious. “My dog went missing while I was out searching for a home,” the clumsy boy said.
Suddenly the clumsy boy had something else in his bag. He pulled them out and showed them to the man. They were his shiny, gold cow bells. The old man and clumsy boy were astonished. They had no idea what had happened. “I know, when I was young there was a log that I used to go to. It was called my thinking log. I believe it is still there. Let’s go,” suggested the old man.
The old man and clumsy boy trotted up to the log on the hills. As they were walking up the hill the clumsy boy tripped over something. It was covered with mildew. The old man took it and washed in the river. It was shiny gold and on the bottom there was the strangest thing. It was a picture of the dog and the two cows. “Now what would a picture of our animals be doing on this piece of gold?” asked the clumsy boy.
After thinking for a while on the thinking log, they saw a funny looking, smelly cottage. The clumsy boy made a plan. He would go into the cottage. “Let’s go in,” insisted the boy.
“No, no! We can’t go in. The witches live there!” cried the old man,
“So they must know why our animals are disappearing,” explained the clumsy boy.
“I’m out, you can” said the old man
“Come on, let’s go in,” said the clumsy boy.
They walked into the cottage, leaving the door shut behind them. It was big, brown, grimy and dark. Pots and pans hung from hooks and plates filled the sink. Bits of food were scattered everywhere. Suddenly, they heard the witches come back. “Quick, they’re coming, let’s hide in this cupboard,” said the old man.
He opened the slimy, creaky door. But it was no ordinary cupboard, it was a secret cupboard filled with spells. There was a green, bubbling cauldron. They fell down the stairs with a THUD! They heard witches talk. “Blah Blah Blah DOG Blah Blah Blah COW Blah Blah Blah NO ONE WILL SUSPECT,” they muttered.
“Oh no, they know about the disappearing animals, it must be them,” said the boy.
“Told you it was a bad idea. Now be quiet or they’ll hear us,” whispered the old man.
Just as he said it, the clumsy boy knocked over a potion. SMASH! The black haired witches barged in. Their black eyes glared at them. “HA HA, now we’ll turn you into frogs,” cackled the young witch.
“But why did you take our animals?” asked the boy.
“We are getting revenge for what the people of the valley did to us. They drove us out, so now we live here, planning revenge,” the older witch laughed.
The witches were about to cast a spell on the boy and the old man. They were so scared. “Hubble bubble…” they began to chant.
The clumsy boy was trembling so much that he dropped the bag and the collar fell out. The old witch ran to grab it, but she tripped over the collar. The young witch nearly cast a spell, but the cow bells had scattered all over the greasy floor. The spell reflected off the cow bells and bounced off the walls. Then suddenly it hit one of the potions, the love potion. It blew up into a pink gas shaped as a heart. The spell exploded over everyone. They fell deeply in love. The old man fell in love with the old witch and the clumsy boy fell in love with the young witch. The witch said, “If you want your animals back you must drop something precious into the river.”
They didn’t care about the animals now, they were in love. They dropped the gold into the river and had their animals back. The clumsy boy and the young witch lived on one side of the valley and the old man and the old witch lived on the other side of the valley and they all lived happily ever after.
Artists - Natman Andrews, Rafe McFenton, Sasha Gibbons
Pontybrenin | Townhill