About Mooncussers
The winning story for writers in Years 7, 8 and 9 in the ISEB and IAPS 2025 Time to Write competition, Mooncussers, is a dark and mysterious tale about a reluctant young saboteur who regretfully carries out her mooncusser duties - luring ships to their end on the rocks of Cuckoo Moon’s Bay. Although this deadly purpose serves the greater good of the village, Maria can’t shake her feelings of guilt, regret and despair.
“An exceptionally clever and well-constructed story that unfolds wave after wave.” The Time to Write judging panel.
About the writer
Florence Hayman is from the UK and was 14 years old at the time of writing Mooncussers. Reflecting on her story, she said, “Mooncusser has been one of my favourite words for a very long time, but it was only when I began research for this competition that I properly discovered what a mooncusser was. A land pirate, lighting a false flame in the place of sabotaged beacons and lighthouses, luring ships onto the rocks. I began to wonder who would do something like this, and why.”
About the illustrator
Libby Hyde is an illustrator from Kent, specialising in visual development for animation. She loves to create fun and dynamic illustrations for storytelling. She is currently studying illustration at Arts University Bournemouth.
Mooncussers
Written
by Florence
Hayman
Illustrated by Libby Hyde
Pa wakes me at midnight. In the soft light of his candle, his face is golden, flickering. I catch my breath, because nighttime wake-up calls can mean only one thing. “A ship?” I whisper, my voice hoarse. He ignores my question, already pulling on his boots and overcoat. “It is time, Maria,” he says, regret tinging his voice blue, “it is time.”
We slip out of the door, frosty grass tickling the hem of my thin dress. I shiver in the starkness of the night air, its rough embrace stealing the breath from my lungs and the feeling from my fingers. Above us, the sky is moonless, dim and swollen with the promise of fresh snow. Mist clings to the trees like a sorcerer’s cloak. It is the sort of night that is perfect for our purpose.
I stoop to lower a bucket into our well, then fill a pail with its contents. The water swirls against the chipped ceramic, every drop illuminated in my lantern’s glow. I will need the water later, but for now it is merely a weight to carry, when I already have a weight of a very different kind preying on my mind.
We diverge at the cliff path, Pa stealing down to the beach and me continuing furtively along it, like a ghost in the darkness. The silence rings in my ears, and I fight back the tears that threaten to fall. I tiptoe, afraid of disturbing the night’s eerie calm, but I needn’t worry. No one is here but me.
There, in the distance, through the mist, is the Beacon, the one thing between ships lost at sea and the rocks sharp as teeth that cluster around Cuckoo’s Moon Bay. A beautiful, lifesaving light. I pause for the briefest of seconds, allowing myself to watch its amber flame. Shielding my brow, I turn seawards. There, on the horizon, as I suspected, is a ship. A schooner, and a large one at that, floundering on stormy waters. I gaze at it, and know that I will be one of the last people to see it afloat. The wind picks up, whipping my hair into tumbling snakes, and before I can think, I heave the bucket onto my shoulder and tip its contents onto the Beacon. It extinguishes with a soft snake’s hiss. I feel that there should be more; something to mark the enormity of what I have just done. But there is nothing, just the lap of tides on the shore.
The darkness pounces, like a wild beast, but very soon I see Pa’s answering glow, as close to the rocks as he can get. A false flame, a will-o’the-wisp in the darkness. “I’m sorry,” I whisper as the schooner changes its course. I can almost hear the creak of its sails, the swooshing, whooshing of the ocean against the keel. Later, screams, though I bite my lip, hard enough to draw blood, to stop thinking about that.
The next morning, winter sun shining bright in our eyes, we go to the beach once more. Sure enough, the wrack line is thick with salvage, a dark scar against the sand. It is early; we are the only ones awake at this hour, but later, there will be discovery, and questions needing answers. No, we don’t know why the schooner was wrecked. Nor do we have any idea how the Beacon, usually so resistant to wind and rain, was extinguished. Yes, a great tragedy. But - a beach full of its cargo. Lace, delicate as freshly fallen snowflakes. Spices named like enchantments. Rum to warm the stomach. Timber and coal that will burn in the stoves of half of the cottages in Cuckoo’s Moon Bay this winter. Perhaps, if we are lucky, the gleam of something else. Gold, silver, jewels; bracelets and bangles, crowns and coronets, rings and rubies, diamonds and diadems. Pirate treasure. Surely we can be forgiven? When our whole village benefits? But, as the gulls caw in the morning, I tip my face to the sky and let tears, salty as the sea, stream down my face.
THE END
About Time to Write
Following the success of Time to Write 2024, ISEB partnered with IAPS to bring the international creative writing competition back for 2025. Time to Write was open to all schools everywhere, and asked young writers to submit short stories written in response to the theme ‘Light’.
More than 3000 pupils from schools all over the world entered the competition, with entries shortlisted collaboratively by a pool of judges using cutting-edge adaptive comparative judgement technology, in partnership with RM Compare. This resulted in a reliable, fair and accurate ranking of entries.
The top ten stories in each category were reviewed by a panel of judges, including children’s book authors, a senior researcher from the University of Winchester, heads of English from St Swithun’s School and York House School, a literary events interviewer, and a senior lecturer from Arts University Bournemouth.
To find out more about ISEB and IAPS’s Time to Write competition for schools, visit write.iseb.co.uk.
ISEB and IAPS would like to thank RM Compare; the judging panel Ali Sparkes, Naomi Anson, Dr Ellen Spencer, Marc Knight, Rebecca Fletcher, Sarah Bentley and Vincent Larkin; the talented illustrators who helped bring each story to life; sponsors Arts University Bournemouth, Oxford University Press, Scanning Pens and Team Elite; everyone involved in the shortlisting process; and, most importantly, all the young writers who took part in the Time to Write 2025 competition.
The four winning stories for Time to Write 2025
Maria and her Pa live in a lighthouse in Cuckoo’s Moon Bay. But they are no ordinary lighthouse keepers - they are mooncussers, bound to a regretful purpose. If their terrible actions serve the good of the entire village, can Maria reconcile her conflicting emotions and find forgiveness?
The winning story in the category for writers in Years 7, 8 and 9 in the 2025 ISEB and IAPS Time to Write international creative writing competition.
“An engaging and beautifully executed story with a highly original start, accomplished voice and character, and fabulous use of dialogue.”
The Time to Write judging panel.
