Smásagnakeppni grunnskóla 2011 í tilefni Evrópska tungumáladagsins 26. september Þátttakendur: 269 Skólar: Borgarskóli, Breiðholtsskóli, Grandaskóli, Hlíðaskóli, Laugalækjaskóli Skipulag: Renata Emilsson Pesková Dómnefnd í úrslitum: Robert Berman, Samuel Lefever Mynd á fremri síðu: Gunnhildur Mist Gautsdóttir Stuðningsaðili: Bókaútgáfan Salka ehf. Útgáfa: Tungumálatorg
Innihald
I. flokkur Diljá Sól Jörundsdóttir Lísa Björk Hannesdóttir Þorgeir Pétur Áss Sigurðsson og Sigvaldi Eggertsson Magnús Stormur Magnússon Brynja Árnadóttir Ísak Sævarsson
II. flokkur
5.-6. bekkir Grandaskóli Grandaskóli Grandaskóli Hlíðaskóli Hlíðaskóli Hlíðaskóli
7.-8. bekkir
Anna Rós Arnadóttir A Short Story
Hlíðaskóli
Kristýn Ýr Jónsdóttir What If?
Hlíðaskóli
Rannveig Karlsdóttir The Cemetery
Hlíðaskóli
III. flokkur Hugrún Lind Hafsteinsdóttir A Week In My Life
9.-10. bekkir Laugalækjarskóli
Kristín Andrea Aikman Laugalækjarskóli The Girl Who Wasn’t Cool Enough For Life When Everyone Else Was ... Not
Kristrún Guðnadóttir A Second Chance Rafnar Friðriksson Gigantica Unnur Sólveig Guðnadóttir The Legend of Cedany‘s Eve
Breiðholtsskóli Laugalækjarskóli Breiðholtsskóli
I. flokkur
5.-6. bekkir
II. flokkur
7.-8. bekkir A Short Story
The woman screamed. “No, don’t!” The white foggy creature was coming closer and closer. It was hungry - hungry for blood. It left a trail of drool on the old wood floor as it reached for the woman. “Noooooooooo!!!” Elisabeth rubbed her eyes. She had fallen asleep when reading. She sat in the back of the car. She was on her way to Akureyri with her parents. The weather was very good and it was a bright, sunny day. All of a sudden the sun stopped shining. In a second everything went dark. The wind was getting stronger. In just a moment the weather had completely turned around. The wind had grown so strong that the doors on the car flew open. The seat belts ripped apart and the last thing that Elisabeth heard were her mom and dad screaming as she rolled out of the car. Then everything went dark. Elisabeth woke up lying on the ground. She stood up and realized that she was alone. She could not see the road anymore. She was in the middle of nowhere, cold and scared. She started crying, but when she had recovered she decided to try to find her way back to the road. When she had walked for about half an hour, and was almost giving up she saw a house. It was an old house made of wood. She walked up to it. It looked like it was about to fall down any second. She decided to knock on the door, and ask for help. Knock, knock, knock. No one answered. She knocked harder. When she did that, the door fell off it’s hinges. She coughed as the dust went into her nose. She walked inside. It was very dark, and she couldn’t see a thing. She started looking for a phone. This was the creepiest house that Elisabeth had ever seen. All of a sudden she felt that she stood on something wet. She heard a slow breath right next to her. She stood frozen for a second, afraid to breathe. Suddenly a candle was lit. Elisabeth screamed as she saw a white, foggy, drooling creature holding a candle and a knife. It threw the candle away. It landed on the wood floor, and in just ten seconds almost everything was on fire. The creature emitted a strange sound as it was suffocating. It held Elisabeth’s neck and was about to plug her with the knife. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Elisabeth woke up in a shock. She needed a moment to realize that she was at home in her bed but not in a strange house with scary creatures. “Elisabeth, wake up, I’ve got great news. We are going to Akureyri tomorrow!” her mom said from the kitchen. Elisabeth sighed.
Anna Rós Arnadóttir, 8. bekkur, Hlíðaskóli
What if? Tom sat by the kitchen table, looking quite nervous, waiting for the news that Megan was about to tell him. When she started talking he watched her lips move while taking in every word she said. He did not believe it. Why? What did I do wrong, he thought. ,,We are just not right for each other, I think we would be better off as friends“ she said. Friends? Tom was shocked, her words echoing in his mind. He stood up, took his jacket and ran out the door. He got into his car, started the engine and drove away. Caitlin was a receptionist at FedEx. It was 18:55, 5 minutes left of work. She was looking forward to the birthday party that her best friend was having at 8 o‘clock. She had to hurry from work to be ready for the party on time. Caitlin checked the watch on her wrist - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 19:00. She logged of the computer, rushed off the chair and turned off the lights. On her way out she heard her name called ,,Umm..Caitlin?“ It was David the box boy. Why now - she thought. ,,What David?“. She tried to say it as gently as she could. ,,Uhh, umm“. He was trying to get the words out of his mouth but it was not going very well. ,,David.. I‘m kind of in a hurry“. Caitlin looked at the clock it was 19:05 and it took her at least 20 minutes to get home. ,,Yeah, of course. Umm, I was just wondering if you wanted to.. maybe, uh.., I do not know.. go out sometime?“. David stood there smiling waiting for her to respond. He was small with dark hair. He was 16 years old, in high school, he was just a kid. Caitlin laughed. ,,You should maybe ask someone at your age“. She walked to her car and drove home. The traffic was heavy but she got home at 19:25. She parked the car and ran inside. She took a shower and got dressed. It was 19:40 and she was not done wrapping up the present. She looked for giftpaper but did not find any. She could not give her best friend an unwrapped gift. Luckily Papyrus was right across the street. She ran out the door and in to Papyrus, but Papyrus is a store that sells all kinds of giftpaper, birthday and greeting cards. She chose some paper and got in to the line. The man in front of her was obviously in no hurry at all. ,,Hmm.. which should I choose“ he sort of spoke to himself. The man was maybe 60 years old, small and chubby with red hair. The man was wearing a plumbing overall labelled Bob the plumber. ,,What do you think?“. He asked the lady at the counter but she said that he should choose the one he thought was prettier. ,,What do you think?“ he said as he turned to Caitlin showing her the cards. They were practically the same. One of the card was with a puppy saying ,,Get Well!“ and the other one was a puppy with a hat saying the same thing. ,,Take this one“ she pointed at the card that had the puppy with the hat. ,,Well okay, you seem like a girl with good taste, I‘ll take this one“. He laught a deep rough laughter, paid and walked out of the store. Once again Caitlin looked at the clock, it was 19:50. She payed for the paper and ran out of the store and back to her home. She wrapped the present, a blue blouse and a pair of diamond earrings. She put the present in her bag and walked out the door. When she was halfway down the stairs she remembered that she had forgotten her coat. She went back to the apartment and looked for the coat. She spotted the coat in the living room and grabbed it. Then the phone rang. ,,Ohh“ It was 8:05 so the party had just started. She picked up the phone. It was a salesman. ,,Hello I was wondering if you were intrest..“ She said that she was not intrested and hung up. The party was at a club few a blocks away. She got out the door and thought ,,Finally“. Tom had been driving for hours and was now in downtown London. It was 8 o‘clock and it was starting to get dark. He looked out the car window and saw all the people going in and out of clubs and bars. Then it started to rain. It started with just a few drops but then in a split second it became heavy, like it was being poured out of a bucket. He did not see anything out the window. Suddenly he saw a person coming out of nowhere. He had no control of the car, he was driving to fast.
It was the middle of december and cold outside. The birthday party was only a few minutes away when it started to rain. Caitlin loved the rain. She took a few dance steps, going circles around the light posts. She saw across the street the big red building where the party was held. She leaned her head back getting the rain right on her face. ,,Hey, Caitlin“ It was her best friend Michelle yelling from across the street. Caitlin started walking. ,,Caitlin, Watch out“. What happened? What am I doing here? Where is this place? Caitlin stood in a giant lobby with white floor and white walls. In the middle of the lobby was a big golden fountain where two little angels sat, one playing the harp and the other one playing on the violin. In one corner of the room there was a desk. Behind the desk was a man in a white suite holding a giant golden key. ,,Hello, may I ask who you are?“ Caitlin froze. ,,Uh, I‘m Caitlin De‘ Laurentis“. The man opened a drawer and looked in some files. ,,Yeah, here it is. And by the way, my name is Peter“ Peter? Ohh, where am I - she thought. ,,So, you lived in London, you are 22 years old and you died in a car accident,sort of, because Tom‘s girlfriend broke up with him“. I‘M DEAD? This could not be happening, she repeated to herself. ,, Tom – who is Tom? So it is all because of this Tom‘s girlfriend that this happened?“. ,,Among other things, you could say that“. ,,But why me?“ She asked. ,,Dear, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time“. ,,So what if David had not stalled me, I had not forgotten to buy gift paper, Bob the plumber had not been so slow, I had not forgotten my coat and not caught the call from the salesman and finally what if Tom‘s girlfriend had not broken up with him?“ ,,Well, then you would not be standing here“. The End. Kristýn Ýr Jónsdóttir, 8. bekkur, Hlíðaskóli
The Cemetery It was a Friday night in October. It was almost nine in the evening and getting dark outside. Lily walked through the cemetery approaching her father’s grave. It was exactly two years since the car accident. She paused in front of the grave and looked at the cross above it. The tombstone was not there yet. She was used to greeting the grave just like it was her father in front of her, instead of the white cross and a few dead flowers. As usual she sat down in the grass and started chatting with her father. She believed that when she visited the grave his soul came to see her and listen to her. Every time she felt bad and wanted to talk she took a walk to the graveyard. “Hello, dad,” she said. “Did you know that today it is exactly two years since you had the accident?” Obviously there was no reply, she knew that. She continued. “I know I have asked you this many times before, but why did you leave? You should be home with mom, me and Russel, watching the Friday movie on TV with us.” She was silent for a while. Then she started to talk about her day. She told him how well she had done in the math test and so on. When she had talked for about twenty minutes she stood up. “I have to go, dad, or else mom will start worrying about me. But I will be back as soon as I can.” Then she continued her walk through the cemetery. She had only walked a few meters when she saw a man standing by one of the graves. He just stood there and stared at it. He was wearing a big coat with a hood so she could not see his face. A grey steam surrounded him. Suddenly the man looked at her. Lily was startled and hurried along. She heard footsteps behind her and was afraid to look back but when she did she saw nothing but crooked trees, the path, old tombstones and crosses. The man by the grave had vanished. Now she was in the oldest part of the graveyard. As she walked along she heard the footsteps again, only faster this time. She started running. She needed to get out of this place fast. But suddenly the man appeared in front of her and blocked her way. Now she could see him clearly. His coat was so long it touched the ground. His bony fingers stood out of the sleeves. When she looked at his face she felt his eyes, like sharp knives stabbing her. His lips were pursed and the nose tiny. His cheekbones stood out and his forehead was dry and wrinkled. The creature started to approach her and even though it looked more like he was gliding than walking she could clearly hear footsteps. Lily stepped back, she tried to run away but tripped and fell to the ground. She tried desperately to get up but before she could she felt someone grabbed her sweater from behind. She looked back and saw that the man was holding her. He opened his
mouth so Lily could see his yellow ugly teeth and a little white tongue pop out like a snake. Suddenly she felt horrible pain in her belly and fell down with her eyes tight closed. The creature grabbed her foot and started to drag her along with him. Lily screamed at the top of her lungs but no one could hear her. Lily realized that this could not be a human being at work. Then she fell into darkness. All of a sudden she saw a bright light and in it her father walking towards her with open arms. She ran to him as fast as she could and into his arms. Hand in hand they walked into eternity. * About a year later, a little girl is walking through that same cemetery with her father. She stops by a beautiful tombstone and reads out loud: Rest in Peace. Father and daughter, Lily and Jack Thompson. You will be missed.
Rannveig Karlsdóttir, 7. bekkur, Hlíðaskóli
III. flokkur
9.-10. bekkir
A week in my life Hi, my name is Alice Morgan and I am going to tell you about a week in my life. I am 15 years old and I live in London with my family. My mom’s name is Mary Morgan, probably soon-to-be Mary Rogers and my dad´s name is Ethan Morgan. My dad is 50 years old and my mom is 49. She teaches science in 6th grade and my dad is a repair man, so we do not have a lot of money. My brother’s name is Alexander Morgan and he causes trouble all the time! Monday October 3rd 7:30 am I woke up to the sound of my parents fighting over money problems. I went to the kitchen and had breakfast while they were yelling at each other. Finally I could leave the room to go and brush my teeth. On my way I looked into my older brother’s room to see if he had come home last night. The room was empty, didn’t come as a surprise. 6:00 pm I was walking home from school, tired as usually and all I was thinking about is how much homework I had to do when I got home. I was glad that my parents were not home so I could study in peace. 9:00 pm Dinner was horrible. My brother came home and my parents were yelling at him, because he had not been home since Saturday. I hurried to finish my dinner so I could go to my room to be alone. Tuesday October 4th 7:40 am I did not sleep well so I got dressed and went to the kitchen and on my way I saw my dad sleeping on the couch. I was not hungry so I decided to skip breakfast and went to school early, though it was only 7:30 am. 6:00 pm I went to my best friend’s house and studied there. Her name is Megan Wright and her family is really nice and they are always kind to me. Then I had to leave because Megan had to go to swimming practice. I really wanted to go with her, because I love swimming but I cannot do that because my parents cannot afford it. 9:00 pm Dinner was better than last night. It was completely silent and my brother was not home so my parents were not arguing with him. Then the phone rang. It was the police and they said Alexander was on the police station. Then the atmosphere became intense. My parents went to get him and I stayed home. They are still there. Wednesday October 5th 3:15 am I woke up when my parents came home with my brother from the police station. I went to see what he had done; he broke into a house a few blocks from here and stole a laptop. My parents had to pay a lot of money to bail him out. Fantastic!
12:00 noon I fell asleep during math class, my teacher was really frustrated. By the way, it is lunch time now so I can write. This morning was really awkward, because no one was talking to each other. Anyways, I have to go to English class. 9:00 pm I had dinner at Megan’s house. It was really nice. They had lasagne, and it was really good. Then I went home. I was surprised to see that my parents were talking normally to each other, based on the situation. It freaked me out, because something did not feel right. Thursday October 6th 8:00 am Breakfast was great. My mom made my favourite, pancakes with blueberries. My brother came and had some with us and they did not argue, which is very unusual. My dad was reading the news paper while we were eating. 5:00 pm When I came home I was able to study in the kitchen with my mom. I have been doing well in school, maybe it is because I was trying to think about something else than my parents fighting. It was a really nice moment to just sit with my mom and relax after studying. My brother came home and went straight to his room. My mom and I went to the supermarket to buy food for dinner. When we came home my dad was home. 10:00 pm Today I learned that even though tings start well they don’t always end well. My day was an example of that. Because at dinner my parents told me and Alexander, my brother, that they were getting a divorce. I knew that something was wrong. It was all so perfect today that it could not be anything normal. My brother’s reaction was not good. He stood up from the table and stormed out. On the other hand, me reaction was to cry, how typical me! My dad told me that he was moving out tomorrow and he would pick up his things around 3:00 pm. My mom was trying to comfort me and saying it was going to be okay, to no avail. I asked dad where he was going to live and he said that he was going to stay with his parents until he would find an apartment. Friday October 7th 10:00 am When I woke up this morning, all I was thinking about was that my dad is moving out. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and hair and hurried to school. And there was Megan and I talked to her but I did not want to tell her about the divorce yet. 5:00 pm I got home from school and there it was. My dad’s car was filled with his things. When I saw all his stuff outside, it all got so real, he really was leaving us. I got into the house and it was so empty, all his clothes, the tools, the books and all of his most important things. When the divorce gets through, a truck will come and pick up more and bigger things. My mom got home and they did not say a word to each other, she went directly into the house. When all was set in my dad’s car, he came in to say goodbye and kissed me on the cheek and left. 11:00 pm The three of us had dinner, most of the time it had been like that but then it was me, mom and my dad. It was not horrible because the tensity was gone. I helped my mom cleaning after dinner and then I spoke on the phone with Megan. Now I have to go to sleep even though it is not school tomorrow I am just so tired. Good night. Saturday October 8th
3:00 pm I woke up at 10:20 am and in the kitchen my mom was listening to the radio drinking tea and when I came in she asked me if I wanted some eggs and bacon. She has never done that before. When I finished my eggs and bacon I got dressed and went to Megan’s house.
Sunday October 9th 4:00 pm I had a sleepover with Megan at her house so I could not write much on Saturday, but it was really fun and I am going to write about last night and today. So, like you know I went to Megan and we went swimming in a local swimming pool where she practises and after that we had ice cream. We went back to her house and watched a movie. After that we went to sleep. 8:00 pm Back to the Sunday. Today I just got home and nothing special happened everything was just okay, so bye! In the end of the weekend I realised that the divorce was not as bad I thought it was. Because my mom and my dad were always arguing and saying bad words to each other so it was just good after all. Now I live at my dad’s house for a week and then with my mom for a week and they are nicer to each other. That was a week in my life. Hugrún Lind Hafsteinsdóttir, 9. bekkur, Laugalækjarskóli
The girl who wasn’t cool enough for life when everyone else was ... not „So, what‘s Nerdy Nottingham doing on Saturday night?“ Linda asked with a grin on her face. „Going to the party at Bob‘s house ... or doing her homework, perhaps“ she added and giggled. So did all the other kids in the school‘s cafeteria. Nancy blushed and hurried out. She knew all about the Bob‘s party ... and Linda knew full well that Nancy had not been invited. She was never invited to any parties ... except Rick‘s birthday party once a year – and Rick was never invited either ... except to her birthday party. They were the laughing stock of the other kids who called them „Nerdy“ and „Rocket“ because they both did unusually well at school and got the highest grades. And that was not considered „cool“. Nancy and Rick didn‘t talk a lot about how the others treated them. Through the years they had learned to accept the fact that they would never be part of the popular crowd. But deep down it hurt ... a lot. Nancy had sometimes fantasized about what it would be like to be „one of the girls“ and had even once – when she was twelve – voluntarily answered a few questions wrong in a test. Her teacher saw through that and had a talk with her where she explained to her that even though it might be hard to stand against the crowd – in the end she would have the last laugh. In the world of the grown ups „being stupid“ was definately not considered „cool“. – Since that talk Nancy had decided to be herself, clever as she was – and carried on getting top grades, watching movies and documentaries with Rick on Saturday nights ... and secretly dreaming of the day when her intelligence would not be laughed at. The years passed. Nancy and Rick graduated from high school, college and University. Rick had specialized in astronomy, economics and physics, had written many bestselling books about politics and economical matters. Nancy, on the other hand, had become a heart surgeon. They still remained best friends. So when Rick decided to run for president Nancy wholeheartedly supported him in every way she could. She just knew he would be able to do their country and the people good. One day at the hospital she was called in to do an emergency operation on a two year old boy with a serious heart disease. It was an operation very few people in the world could do because it needed very specific specialization. Nancy had spent two years in America specializing in
difficult operations such as this one which made her the only surgeon in the country capable of saving this little boy. Just before she rushed into the operation room – she was introduced to the parents of the little boy. Thirty one years had passed – but she never the less immediately recognized the mother. Linda – the girl who had made her highschool years hell – now stood there with tears in her eyes and had to put the fate of her precious son into the hands of the girl she had tormented for years. While Nancy prepared for the operation, put on her clothes and gloves, glimpses of her teenage years flashed before her eyes. Linda mocking her and Rick, making fun of their clothes, glasses, grades and non-existent social life. Linda tearing up her homework on the way home, bringing her to tears and posting a picture of Nancy crying, on her Facebook page. Thirty one years had passed – but just seeing Linda again – brought back all those memories, anger and hurt. Nancy was upset when she entered the operation room – but as soon as she saw the boy on the operating table she knew she would do all she could to save him. No matter what. She next met Linda two days later at the little boy‘s bedside. His life had been saved by little Miss Nerdy Nottingham. And his mother knew it. She broke down as soon as she saw Dr. Nottingham enter the room, took her hand and said: „I don‘t know where to begin, doctor. I have never been as mean to anyone as you ... and I‘ve never been as grateful to anyone as you. I am truly sorry for how I treated you – and deeply grateful how you treated my son. I have always secretly admired your intelligence – but now I know you‘re also extremely graceful and mature“. Nancy smiled and said: „No hard feelings, Linda – You‘re welcome“. To her own surprise she felt she meant every word. The day where nobody mocked her intelligence had arrived – and she was grateful to her teacher for not letting her become stupid to be cool. Kristín Andrea Aikman, 9. bekkur , Laugalækjaskóli
A second chance “Congratulations Michael! You closed that deal like a master. In all my twenty five years in this business I have never seen such amazing business sense,” said George, the CEO of Lancecorp a big financial company in California. “Thank you George I told you I couldn’t fail and I was right I nailed it!,” said Michael. “Yes of course but it´s just sad that over 350 people will lose their jobs.” “Oh please George these people knew it was coming, we only speeded up the process.” “Yes I suppose that we did I just think it could have gone a little smother that’s all.” “Well Gorge there is nothing we can do about it now, we could just stand here, be sad and feel guilty about our great deal or we can shake hands, feel good, go home and celebrate with our family’s and maybe tomorrow go out for a drink.” “How do you feel about that?” said Michael. “Ahh, you’re right my good man! I will see you tomorrow.” They shook hands and went their separate ways. Michael walked past his office and thought to himself “this is the last time I will be in this little shit hole, I am too good to be here I deserve to be in a big office with a great view.” “I am so happy that Will died, that old bastard didn’t even have the strength to take the elevator without almost passing out.” Michael laughed and walk in the elevator. He was at the 25th floor and saw that the clock was almost eleven. He had promised his wife Alice that he would go and get her favourite movie the Notebook and have a cosy night with her. “God damn it I don’t want to watch that movie for the fifth time,” mumbled Michael to himself. “I just don’t want to waste any of my precious tears to this filth.” “Why can’t she pick a movie that makes her edgy and excited not some movie that makes her eyes baggy and red and her face puffy and sad looking.” “Well maybe there is some hope that the movie has been rented out and then we can instead focus on my success.” Michael grinned as he walked out of the elevator and was feeling like he was on the top of the world. “Have a pleasant evening mister Stock” said the night guard to Michael, “thank you Andrew I will, I sure will,” said Michael whit a grin on his face. He walked to his car in a hurry he couldn’t wait to get home. He started the car and put on the song “Every day I am hustling” and drove off into the night. A car came driving down a dark hillside rode in California. The black BMW was way over speed limit. In the car you could see a man miming the song “Every day I am hustling.” Michael was thinking to himself “I hope this horrible movie has been stolen from the video store, because this night is supposed to be about me and me alone.” As he was going down this hillside rode suddenly some creature jumped in front of his car. His wonderful thought about himself came to a brief halt and he slammed the brakes and in that same moment the car started to slide to the left and it slid 180° and slams through the safety fence backwards the car plumed into the darkness. In those split seconds before the car went off the road. Michael could see through the front windshield as the car had turned, the creature standing calmly and staring him in the eyes (a creature he had never seen before in his whole life and wondered if such a creature did even exist).The car descended until the headlights faded into the darkness. Michael woke up in an unfamiliar room. He was shivering and terrified. “Where the hell am I!” screamed Michael and you could hear the angry tone in his voice. He was sitting on a stone carved chair that was cold and wet, the only light in the room was shining on the chair. Michael attempted to stand up but it was like he was glued to the chair. “What is this! Somebody help me!” called Michael. Then all of a sudden a crooked ugly red light appeared to his right and made Michael feel like he was in hell. Suddenly a bright white yellow beautiful light appeared to his left which slightly evened the red light out and made him feel more at ease. “Am I dead?” asked Michael and wondered if this was reality or if this was just
a horrible nightmare. “Michael stock welcome to your own self conscience, you can look at us as judges of your past conscience,” said the red light. “This is insane,” Michael said, “I am not listening, this is just a very unfunny joke and I am not going to be made a fool of, so I demand a rational explanation from the person who is responsible for this and I ...” All of a sudden Michael could hear a loud voice, “Silence”! Said the red light with such an angry tone that Michael felt his heart beat faster than ever and he felt like he was going to faint. And then an angel like voice said “Michael Stock do you think you have lived an honest and just live and been rightful and fair to the people around you,?” said the white yellow light very calmly. Michael hesitated and then cleared his dry throat and answered “I think I have been a good person, but of course I have had my flaws, but nobody is perfect.” said Michael with a neurotic smile. “Look! I just closed the biggest business deal in the century and I was going to watch the Notebook for the fifth time doesn’t that show how much of a loving person I am.” “Still sarcastic mister funny man, I like it” said the red light. “Hmm... Have you ever thought about those 350 people who lost their jobs because of your amazing business deal and how you affected their life´s,” said the white yellow light even more calmly then before. “You should be so proud of yourself, I would be...” said the red light. “But I..I..just wrapped up the biggest dea... Michael was interrupted. “Jake Shelton just took his life few hours ago. He was one of the people how lost their jobs after you made your marvellous deal” said the white yellow light. “I, I, I... but Michael suddenly fell silent. “Do you think that’s funny;” said the white yellow light. Sometime had past(but there was no way for Michael to know how long he had been here), but he had an eerie feeling that time was irrelevant in this place with the discussion continuing between the red light, white yellow light and he himself. He started to feel sick and his head started to spin and everything went black. But the last thing Michael heard was the faint voice of the white yellow light saying to him “choose your actions carefully you never know what the consequences are”. Michael woke up in a hospital bed. A year had passed and he had been in a coma for the entire time. His wife Alice was sitting next to him reading to him the Notebook. Michael started crying he had surely been given a second chance, but would he use it wisely? Only time will tell. Kristrún Guðnadóttir, 10. bekkur, Breiðholtsskóli
Gigantica In a universe we don´t know there is an island named Gigantica. On Gigantica there is a village named Little Giant. Little Giant is in a little valley with mountains all around and a little forest grows near the village where the townspeople get their fruits and vegetables. There is also a river that runs near the village where the people get their water. The people in the village live a peaceful life or they would if the giants didn´t live next door. The giants terrorize the people and trash their houses and steal their food. The people try to fight back dressed in armor with bows, arrows, shields and swords. The giants are about four meters tall and have giant wooden bats. Sometimes the people capture and kill the giants but they never can completely kill them all because the people don´t know where the giants live. Smiths and builders work in the village. The smiths work in the armory making armor and weapons and the builders repair and rebuild the trashed houses. Daniel lives in the village. Daniel is 14 years old with dark short hair and blue eyes. He is very fit and strong because he is always training so when he is old enough he can fight the giants. Daniel’s fathers name is Poldevon and he is one of the best smiths in the village. He is always working in the armory making armor and weapons so he is always home late. Since Daniel’s father is always home late and his mother Juliana died when he was young life is sometimes hard and Daniel needs to take care of himself. Daniel is always in a bad mood when the giants invade the village stealing food. Because he doesn´t want to hide with the other kids, he wants to fight. One time when the giants came all the kids ran to the cave they always hid in. But before they could cover the entrance of the cave with leaves the giants saw them and came running at them. Then Daniel took up his sword that he always carried around with him. His father forged him the sword on his tenth birthday and the sword was made of the best steel his father could find, it was light but very strong and the hilt was beautiful with colorful stones on it. It was the most precious thing Daniel had. And with the sword Daniel stung and slashed the giants but they were too many and they grabbed Daniel. The people of the town were always busy fighting the giants that they didn´t notice the giants holding Daniel between them. Daniel struggled but the giants were too strong, they took Daniel’s sword and then one of them struck Daniel with his bat and everything went blank. When Daniel woke up he had a terrible headache and when he opened his eyes he saw that he was in a cell and there were pickets but Daniel noticed they were getting rusty. Then the door was opened and a giant walked in and threw some meat at Daniel and put a glass of water on the floor. Daniel found immediately how hungry he was and finished the food in no time. The giant left and locked the doors. Now Daniel started thinking how he would get out of there. He thought about the giants and how strong they were and he couldn´t fight the giant who brought the food because he didn´t have his sword. But the giants are dumb so Daniel thought he would trick the giant who gave him the food, now he only had to wait. Next time the giant came with food Daniel said “hey why don´t you give me my sword, I am locked in this cell and I can´t do anything with it or are you maybe too scared”. “I´M NOT SCARED” yelled the giant and threw Daniel’s sword between the rims on Daniel’s cell. “SEE I´M NOT SCARED I GAVE YOU YOUR SWORD” screamed the giant and rushed away. After making sure the giant was gone Daniel rushed to the rims and tried to weaken the rims by cutting and slicing them. But even how rusty the rims were they were still too strong. Daniel was devastated, he had been so sure that this would work, but he would never give up.
The next time the giant came with food he didn´t see Daniel. He looked between the rims and saw nothing, he checked the door and it was locked. He took his key, opened the door and walked into the room and looked better under the bed. Then Daniel who had been hiding behind the door ran out. Daniel ran up some stairs and saw on the end of the hallway a giant door. He ran at the door and could just barely open it. The sunlight was so bright that Daniel thought that he was blind for few seconds. Then he heard the giants coming after him and he ran away. Daniel knew where he was and memorized the locations of the doors who were very well hidden and ran with 20 giants behind him to the village. There he saw all the people gathered around and his dad standing on a chair with a glass in his hand making a speech. Cheers to Daniel, a brave boy and my son who was taken by the giants while protecting the children “CHEERS”. “DAD” Daniel screamed. “Da Da Daniel is that you” said Poldevon. “Yes it´s me” said Daniel “but we have to talk later the giants are coming and I know where they live”. “Okay Daniel as you wish” then Poldevon screamed that the giants were coming and everybody went in their armor and got their weapons. “Daniel you must go with the other kids” said Poldevon. “NO” screamed Daniel I am going to fight. “Okay I guess you deserve it if you want to” said Poldevon though he didn´t like the idea. Then the giants came and the people attacked them and forced them back. Daniel sliced and stung and swung his sword like a swords master. After a short battle the giants ran away. I know where the live screamed Daniel to the people and they screamed in celebration. They ran to the hidden doors. We should put something in front of the doors so they will be trapped in there forever. Some people and Poldevon climbed up the mountains and pushed down big rocks that sealed the doors and people celebrated. There was a festival that night to celebrate that the giants were gone and the people of Gigantica never forgot that day and the story was told generations after that. Rafnar Friðriksson, 9. bekkur, Laugalækjaskóli
The legend of Cedany‘s eve „Stop that noise!“ shouted Mrs. Coleman at her five guffawing children who almost bowled her over when they ran down the big curved staircase in the foyer. She stooped to pick up
the silverware which she had dropped down the stairs. Didn‘t I have more? she thought as she sat back and counted four forks and three knives.
„Here you are,“ said a young woman dressed in a long black skirt and a white long-sleeved shirt and passed her the rest of the silverware.
„Oh, thank you, Michelle,“ said Mrs. Coleman gently. Then it was like she came to her senses. „Didn‘t I hire you as a nanny over the year?“ said Mrs. Coleman reprovingly. „That‘s right,“ said Michelle with expressionless face.
„Then go do your job and shut the kids up so we can keep preparing for Cedany‘s eve! Everything has to be perfect!“ said Mrs. Coleman frantically. Michelle nodded once and
walked firmly along the hallway the children had ran along. „And take off that ridiculous little hat, it is Cedany‘s eve for god‘s sake!“ shouted Mrs. Coleman after her. Michelle just adjusted the little black hat on her head and walked onwards along the hallway. The hat
was decorated with scruffy flowers which once had been colourful and vivid. Take off my
hat! Hah! thought Michelle. Mrs Coleman could just as had asked her to take off her ears! The hat was part of her, it was characteristic, like some people always had the same haircut. Michelle was a clever young woman and she didn‘t have to look behind every door on the hallway, she knew exactly where the children were. The second innermost door was slidely ajar. She inhaled deeply and swung the door open. She heard a scream which muffled in the end like someone had put a hand over the screamer‘s mouth. „Aha, I thought so!“ said Michelle triumphantly to the stunned children. „So are you longing to go to bed early without a dessert?“ she asked, lifting her eyebrows and folding her arms. „‘Cause if you gobble it all up now, I‘m pretty sure your mother will kill you.“ The children backed hastily away from the ginormous pudding bowl on the centre of the larder table. „Now, I won‘t tell your mother about this as long as you stay out of the larder. Now come with me, I think it‘s best if we all spend a little time far away from the other household, especially your mother,“ said Michelle, turned around and walked smoothly out of the larder. The children followed her silently, still shocked after being caught red-handed. „Shut the door, please,“ said Michelle without looking back. The children followed her to the foyer, up the curved staircase and into the sitting room with the big windows. You could only see the night and the snow outside them now, white darkness. Michelle sat down on the sofa and put her spectacles on. Then she thrusted her hand between the sofacushions and drew out a little bag and out of the bag she drew out knitting
needles and something that didn‘t looked like anything you could knit. Michelle didn‘t knit very well, but that didn‘t stop her. She found it fascinating to be able to create clothes out of only one thread of yarn. She also liked to find something to do with her hands when she sat down.
The children sat down on the rug in front of the fireplace and stared at her, open-
mouthed.
„Well, children,“ Michelle said. „Do you know why we celebrate Cedany‘s eve?“ The chil-
dren shook their heads. „Why am I not surprised,“ muttered Michelle and then raised her
voice: „Well, people today celabrate it because it‘s tradition. We eat good food, decorate our house and put on our finest clothes because we have always done that on Cedany‘s eve for
as long as we remember. But now people have forgotten the real reason of why we celabrate Cedany‘s eve.“ She cleared her throat and glanced at the children before she continued.
„Well, about eight hunderd years ago the almanac was a little bit different than the one you know. The months were fewer and the year was shorter. The month that you would call October was then called Panthuary and it had thirty three days. In those days were
prophecies about every single thing, and one of the biggest was about Panthuary the thirty third. People born on that day were said to be a great hero and they would keep the world around this one in bay. However, it was very rare if someone was born on Panthuary the thirty third because it only came up every fifty years, kind of like leap year.
The world around this one belonged to the Barkeypo, or in our language: „The Father Of
Those Who Aren‘t Alive But Aren‘t Quite Dead Either“. People who died because of accidents or of diseases went to him when their heart stopped beating. He offered them to go on into death or join in his realm. But he tricked them to take the second choice so he could create an army and take over our world. But one day, on Panthuary the thirty third, actually, a boy
was born. He was called Hetinger. You probably recognise the name, Laura?“ The oldest girl nodded. The childrens‘ eyes were as big as soup plates as they listened with their ears
pricked. Michelle nodded aprovingly and continued: „Hetinger grew up to be a fine young man, he had the looks of a great hero and he outclassed his contemporaries in every way.
And one day he met a girl called Cedany.“ Laura and her younger sister, Becka strained up and looked excitingly at each other. Michelle smiled a little and counted the stitches. „As
you may have guessed, they fell in love,“ she said and the girls chortled. „But the Barkeypo had plans to kill Hetinger. It had to be a copper-bottomed plan because the prophecy only gave you one chance to get rid of the hero for good. Then one day he got his chance.
Hetinger and Cedany got engaged and at the engagement party, the Barkeypo slid a little
colourless but deadly poison into Hetinger‘s drink. He didn‘t notice it, but Cedany smelled it. She recognised it because her mother had showed the poison to her when she was learning
to be a herbalist. She knew she had to do something to save Hetinger‘s life so she ripped the glass out of his hand and knocked back the drink in one sip. At the first seconds nothing
happened and Hetinger stared at her, shocked. But then she collapsed and everything went black.
When she opened her eyes again she saw a man stand over her. It was the Barkeypo and he was screaming with anger. That silly girl had subverted his only chance to rule the world. He decided that she would go back to the world of the living as a unknown person, but everyone she knew would think that Cedany had died. She wouldn‘t be able to contact
Hetinger in any way and they would never meet again. She would watch him move on with his life and fall in love again and later be a great king, all without her. She would never die so they couldn‘t even unite in death. But the Barkeypo wasn‘t all evil and when he had
calmed down a little he told her that this day would always be remembered by her nation. The sacrifice would live on in her nation‘s heart and they would celabrate her courage and selflessness every year on her death anniversary. And as a riminder of why she was still
walking on the earth he turned one lock of her dark brown hair snow white so she would always think of this moment when she saw it. Then everything went black again and when
she came to herself, the first thing she saw was a white lock of hair before her eyes. And that is why we celabrate Cedany‘s eve,“ finished Michelle. „What!“ yelled Tom, the youngest boy. „That makes no sense!“ „But what happened to Cedany?“ asked Becka. „I guess she‘s around here somewhere where nobody notices her,“ said Michelle as she put away her knittings.
„But how do you know she lived if the Barkeypo said that everyone would think she died,“ said Laura incredulously. „That‘s a good question, Laura,“ said Michelle. „I guess storyies always expose more and more of themselves as they get older,“ she said as she stood up. „I‘m going to see if it is safe for us to show ourselves out there.“ She left the children talking and went to her bedroom down the hall. She looked into the big mirror on the wardrobe door and closed her eyes.
Pull yourself together, woman, don‘t show him you care, she thought angrily. She opened her eyes and brushed a white lock of brown hair under the little black hat with the scruffy flowers. Unnur Sólveig Guðnadóttir, 10. FK, Breiðholtsskóli