Come tell us a story

We hope, that our readers are enjoying the monthly story writing exercise. Here are some of the stories received in response to last month's prompts. This time there were very few contributions, all being accommodated on these pages today, but we hope that you will put on your thinking caps and get to work with the story ideas given below.

Do not feel disheartened if you are not told your story is 'the best.' All the stories received so far have made interesting reading and as you know, tastes differ, so it is left to readers to enjoy reading, and you, writers, to do your best to make the stories exciting, entertaining, and thought-provoking.

Do continue the story of Segax and the Mystery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, sending in Chapter 2. You now have time – extended up to November 11, — to write what you think happens next to Segax and his companions.

Read the first chapter again from the Notes issue of October 7, 2007. (Weblink: http://archive.gulfnews.com/
articles/07/10/06/10158539.html) Then use the same characters and bring in some more action. You may get one or both of Segax's classmates, Haven Jackson and Axel Gillian, or his cousin, Oliver Cardaz, to find something or do something significant.

Try to explain any one of these: why there are sculptures of Howard Carter and Lord Carnavaron inside the tomb, the mark on Zeke's face, what happened to him, or what was found in the room. Build up the suspense and end the chapter on a high point, opening up possibilities for the next part of the story.

Here are some more free writing ideas based on articles that have appeared in the main edition of Gulf News and in Notes. Web links are provided to these articles in case you missed them in print.

Idea: 1

Articles to read:

Being there: Gulf News October 26
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com
/friday/Issues/10158472.html

Schoolchildren learn art of giving to less fortunate: Gulf News October 27
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation
/Society/10163046.html
Adding another string to UAE's bow: Gulf News October 27
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/
Leisure/10163027.html
Six bullets in the belly: Gulf News October 27
Weblink: http://archive.gulfnews.com
/weekend/interview/10162659.html
Young robot designers: Notes October 28
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/
notes/Students/10163163.html

Read the articles listed above. Now imagine that you (or your main character) have just completed an important school/college project that involved work with two other classmates who did not agree with you at all.

There were many misunderstandings and arguments but at last it is over. You come home late, tired, and find a message waiting for you from your best friend. "Desperate. Come immediately," the message says. You rush out of the house again. Suddenly a masked figure rushes at you in the dark…. Build up a story and use any one of these sentences or any other sentence from the articles you have read as the last sentence of your story.

Idea: 2

Articles to read:

Opening minds: Gulf News October 26
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/friday/
People/10157322.html
What I risked as an Iraqi journalist: Gulf News October 26
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/opinion/
columns/region/10162677.html
Passion for creative design offers canvas of opportunity: Gulf News October 27
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/
Society/10163061.html
Tailor is toast of coma man's village: Gulf News October 27
Weblink: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/
Society/10163060.html

Read these articles. They have some details about different people and in terms of writer's, of different characters.

Could you create a very distinctive, unforgettable character of your own?

Now imagine that this character suddenly lands in a situation that puts him completely out of his depth.

For example, a hardworking character, who hates to sit idle, is shipwrecked and lands in a place where no one does any work. All the people do in that place is picnic and party…

Or a wonderful musician finds himself/herself in a town where singing has been banned because….. (Make something happen at each stage of this story.) What happens next?

Develop a short story using either of these writing ideas as a take-off point.

Guidelines to remember

Writing Tips: Endings

Ellen's Mission

Walking past the thicket of bushes, she carried herself ahead. Ellen, that was her name, gifted to her by her brother. The only gift given to her, which she possessed up to this day. Talking of Ellen, we would have to discuss quite a lot. Good natured and humorous, she was capable of almost everything. You would have noticed that when I started, I had told you that she was walking ahead, past the thicket of grasses. She was on a quest left to her by her late brother before he left to rest in peace, away from all the wonders of this world.

Ellen had not known her parents. They had left her along with her brother. Before his death, her brother had told her, "Walk along the shores of the Tank Ahado River, where you will be able to find a chest. Open it and you will get what you need.

You can come across changes in life. But remember, you cannot discover new oceans unless you lose sight of the shore."

So here she was, trying with all her might to find that hidden chest, maybe with a lot of treasure for her, thought Ellen. Coming across masses of people scattered all over the shore, enjoying the day, Ellen decided she would take the empty path on the other side. She walked for a couple of miles, then a patch of deep purple on a rock face caught her attention. Walking over, she saw an inverted door sealing the entrance to what could be a cave or tunnel behind it. With great hard work, she pulled the door open and saw a tunnel.

She walked down the rough stone stairs of the tunnel. The floor was made up of what seemed to be graphite. Ellen saw a faint glow in the distance. Even though she was afraid, she went towards it. As she neared, the glow became so penetrating and bright that she couldn't see what was behind it. Then came a sound, loud enough to make anyone deaf. It asked Ellen. "Ask what you want, for I am destined to grant it to you. I am your brother's spirit, he has long hidden here. Don't scurry for I am no foe but a friend."

Though she was shocked, Ellen grabbed her courage and answered. "I just want to stay happy, and make others happy. I have the good memories of my brother with me."

"Then I may change you into an angel of good hopes and wishes. You will grant them to anybody you want. I will be waiting for you here, till you tire of it and return to me," said the spirit.

But Ellen, getting what she wanted now, has not returned to the spirit yet, as she has not retired from doing good for people. There she is, even now, constantly fighting with the ones who dominate and create nightmares in order to help us have sweet dreams. Constantly advising us to keep away all our tension and to live for tomorrow. There she is right next to us, giving us hope always, in times of any disaster.
I can feel her right next to me. Can't you? If you don't, you will, after you read this.

Fatima Siyabudeen
Std 8A, Abudhabi Indian School, Abu Dhabi

Traces of Existence

The spacecraft door slid open to a dusty view. I step down into an atmosphere of suffocating air; not a soul in sight. It looks as if a giant tornado raged over this place for years and now has left everything deserted. I take a few steps forward until Bren and Hept, my fellow space travelers, join me.

This is the year 2600. Araz, that's me, Bren and Hept - my classmates; we are studying for a degree in space science. We are working on a report to be handed at the university, the topic, "Nuclear Energy - Boon/Bane." We are against the concept, so naturally, this is the best place to be - Bren, my best friend, would infer about the atmospheric conditions, I would collect specimens and Hept, the class brain, would supervise us and send necessary signals.

I stop about 20 metres away from the spacecraft, recollecting the history of this place - that it once was a habitable world.

All kinds of creatures flourished here. Then one day, this place experienced a massive nuclear war. A global war took place in which nuclear weapons were involved and then at some point, all of a sudden, some of the massive nuclear weapons malfunctioned, the cause unknown. And the result – total devastation. No one lived - from the smallest to the biggest species - everyone perished. As time passed, the remains got fossilized under layers of poisonous dust, the climatic conditions worsened; the whole scene looked like a painting of an artist who in his despair painted the whole landscape dark, grey and despairing.

I start shovelling the dust deposits of an extremely toxic chemical - Xi-571. "First, collect some of the topmost dust samples," signals Hept. I obediently take out the trichloropolymerix packets, shove in some dust and carefully seal it and put it in my kit.

Then I dig the ground some more and unveil the fossilized organisms - those which once lived on this planet. I take out a bigger packet and put in the treasures I collected -a fossilized bug and a tiny shrew-like structure. A bigger stone unveils a small bird-like structure. Madame Vilova will be very happy with my finds. Then I finally collect a sample of soil.

Bret's done too. He's got the temperature, humidity, etc. Hept checks out our findings. He's satisfied. Thank God. We head back towards our spacecraft. We pass through special anti-radiation screens to remove even the minutest traces of radiation. We settle down and fasten our seat belts.

3 – 2 – 1 - Take Off.

Through the journey back home, I browse through our findings and neatly arrange our report. After proofreading it, I hand it out to the perfectionist - Hept. He reads it, then promptly titles the report, 'Aftermath of the Nuclear War on Earth.'

And underneath, he enters our portfolio. Group No. 3. Members - Hept Marrof, Bren Stral and Araz T., Species- Humasorix, Planet- Epito.

Needa Aslam Q.
11th Science, Gulf Indian High School, Dubai

The snow ghost

Staring at the sunlit beach through his terrace, Tim, a weather reporter, was enjoying his leave from work. Tim normally took a walk at a nearby park a few blocks away but right now he just wanted to relax and he began reading a 10-year-old magazine from the book rack. As he turned the pages, he noticed the article about an incident that happened in Canada. Unfortunately, he was a part of that incident.

"This is not good!" Tim had shouted to his two colleagues.

"Are you kidding? This is the worst day I've ever had!" Bill had shouted back.

Another person who was a part of the group was Ted, who shouted, "You think you have it bad, consider my condition! I am carrying the equipment you know!"

All three of them hadn't really volunteered to report about the weather conditions in the Canadian mountains in the middle of winter but a very threatening letter of termination was waiting for them if they didn't do the job. Tim couldn't decide whether the heavy snow or the continuous bickering between Ted and Bill irritated him more. Instead of listening Tim focused on finding shelter. As they walked further Tim noticed a faint light ahead. As they walked nearer they saw that the light came from an old mansion. Tim wondered why a mansion this big had been built in the mountains. As they entered through the doors they saw that the mansion was old and deserted with a lot of cobwebs and dust around the place. But how come there was a light in one of the rooms? "Why don't we split up?" suggested Tim.

As Tim walked up the stairs, he saw a lot of things scattered around on the floor. Tim picked up a picture of a normal-looking family, but there was something strange about one of the people's faces - it was blurred. Then suddenly Bill called out, "Hey, Tim, come down here!"

Tim asked, "Have you guys found anything?"

Ted said, "Yeah, there was a picture down the corridor with no face on it." At this Tim showed them the family picture with the blurred face. All of them were confused and suddenly a white cloaked and hooded man appeared on the stairs and came gliding down. When he stopped at the base of the stairs, he took off the hood and where there was supposed to be a head was a severed neck. At this sight all three of them ran out of the house, screaming at the top of their voices. Once they were at a safe distance, they looked back and found that the mansion was in rubble.

Determined to solve this phenomenon they asked nearby villagers about it. Instead of explanations, all they got was a newspaper about the incident. It all began, it seemed, when the father of the family got depressed because he lost his job and their wealth was nearly gone. Unable to cope with these problems the father murdered his family, burnt the mansion and killed himself.

Tim kept the newspaper as a souvenir but every now and then as he stared at the picture, Tim could see a white figure staring out of one of the windows.

Marc Daryl Enerva Medenilla
grade four , Pristine Private School, Dubai

Tommy's Delusions

She didn't exist.

It has been known that Human Beings were inclined to create their own worlds, forcing themselves to absorb their own perception of reality. They excluded everything that they perceived as utterly unconventional and illogical, they became cowards of their own shadows. Tommy was a Human Being, and he was susceptible to that method of defence. Whenever someone fakes a punch, yes, you tend to shrink back - but he wasn't in any danger. Because she wasn't there.

"Go. Away." The boy could feel the scary woman's stare behind him. Tommy had his back facing the mirror, but he certainly wasn't afraid of some measly object meant for vanity. He didn't want to believe that she was in the mirror because it was simply impossible. He believed what he wanted to believe, saw what he wanted to see, because that's what human beings do.

The old lady's unwavering stare was blank, unemotional, her lips tight in a thin line, eyes veiled over her nonexistent soul, which made it hollow and unnaturally dead. Her clothes accentuated the imposing atmosphere she exuded, which was a dark kind of dress, an old dress. One that hid every inch of skin on her body except her pale, thin face. She wasn't speaking.

She was looking at him. And Tommy hated it. Occasionally he thought she'd moved whenever he dared to make a passing glance at her. Her movements were more like shadows being cast over a wall, moving and disappearing just as quickly as it came, it was like she was and wasn't at the same time.

He was just being delusional.

The feeling of being watched and controlled, in Tommy's opinion, was worse than being flogged to death, or being murdered in cold blood. He had carried this excruciating burden ever since his parents forced that mirror on him, and all it did so far was turn his mind to tangles.

"You don't exist." The boy whimpered, rubbing the back of his hand against his tear-stained cheeks roughly, concentrating upon the touch, forcing his mind to believe the truth in his voice.

Tommy looked over his shoulder, and then jerked his neck back, hyperventilating, cursing himself for doing something tactlessly. The old lady was still there. She was still there.

Why was she STILL there?

Fear claimed him; it ate him, and made him strengthen his convictions.

The mirror was just a mirror: an object of vanity and NOTHING more. "You're not here. I don't even know what I'm talking about." The boy inhaled sharply, he turned his head so that the corner of his eye saw the mirror, shrouded in a dimming wave of light.

"You don't exist."

There must be some explanation related to Science ...a trick of the light, a psychological muddle in his brain, a flaw of the human body. He was alive, and she was but a memory of a nonexistent dimension that his mind and environment had accidentally conceived.

Tommy left the room...numbly.

Linea Louise C. Taguibulos
Second Year, Emirates Aviation College, Dubai