About The Girls
The winning story for writers in Years 3 and 4 in the ISEB and IAPS 2026 Time to Write competition, The Girls, is a story about two girls born at the same time to different parents, whose lives are bound together by an unbreakable golden thread. When a mysterious note containing a set of cryptic instructions appears, the girls must put aside their differences and come together to solve the puzzle and find a resolution.
“Imaginative. Funny. Creative. There is a bit of magic in this genuinely lovely piece of writing.” The Time to Write judging panel.
About the writer
Iona Spence is from the UK and was 7 years old at the time of writing The Girls. Reflecting on her story, she said, “I wanted to write something about friendship that included the golden thread. From that the idea just popped into my head, and it unravelled from there. My favourite part of the story is when the two girls are walking through the jungle. It was fun to write about them walking through the jungle with no supplies, searching around them. I wanted readers to feel happy but sad for the two girls. It starts off as a jumbled-up puzzle but then it has a happy ending. I had fun writing it.”
About the illustrator
Evie Abbott is a Hampshire based illustrator, specialising in mixed media illustration. She creates a wide variety of work, the majority being children’s books as well as editorial illustration. She loves to use a variety of textures and vibrant colours in her work.
The Girls
Written by Iona Spence
Illustrated by Evie Abbott
One scarlet night in a hospital as dark as a haunted forest, two girls were born, one named Rosy, one named Ruby. They were born at the same time, but with different parents. As soon as they faced each other their hearts turned as hard as rock. A strange thing happened… This thick golden piece of thread came out of their hands tying them together. The grown-ups tugged and tugged trying to untie it but it wouldn’t snap. So, they had to live in the same house with beds touching each other.
As they grew, they argued like angry bulls. They liked such different things. Ruby loved rubies and played cello, Rosy preferred roses and the piano. Ruby was stern and Rosy was gentle and kind.
One morning, when the sun got out of bed and shone brighter than ever, the two girls woke. They found a note under their pillow. It said:
“Go to the green place where animals live, And you must stop and forgive.
If you be kind You will find peace of mind.”
Rosy looked at Ruby in amazement and fear. Ruby just looked excited because she wanted to discover the meaning of the note. The girls argued. “I think we should stay here,” said Rosy. “No! We should finally have an adventure,” shouted Ruby, like a roaring lion. After lots of upset, the girls played rock, paper, scissors to decide and Ruby won. Rosy was still nervous but she decided it would be best to follow Ruby to untangle the mystery.
“We need to solve the mystery of the poem in the note,” said Ruby. “The green place must be the jungle that’s 18 miles away,” frowned Rosy. Then she smiled. “We can steal a car.”
At midnight, the girls stole a Mini and drove with difficulty to the jungle. It looked dark and huge, like a giant mouth ready to eat the girls up. For the first time in their lives, they held hands and bravely stepped forward. They walked for hours in the hot, burning jungle until Rosy remembered that they had forgotten their water. They searched and finally found a river.
After filling their hats with water and gulping it down, the girls noticed a pair of sinister, yellow eyes looking at them. The eyes rose up and then the girls noticed that it was a... crocodile. It looked fierce, with drooling yellow teeth.
The girls suddenly realised that they needed to work together to defeat the crocodile. “I’ve got a plan,” squealed Rosy. She whispered to Ruby and then they went far back into the jungle and found some coconuts. When they returned to the river, they put the coconut in the middle of the golden thread. Then, they asked a happy monkey to pull the coconut far back and slingshot it right into the crocodile’s nose. The hurt crocodile sped away to the animal hospital and no one ever saw him again.
Rosy and Ruby hugged and laughed until they noticed that the thread was gone! Poof! “Yay,” said Ruby excitedly. She ran apart from Rosy, but then came back. “We’re free! But now that we’re friends, we can still be close.”
They went home and played a card game all day long. And they were friends forever.
THE
END
About Time to Write
Building on two successful years of Time to Write, ISEB partnered with IAPS to bring the international creative writing competition back for a third year in 2026. Time to Write was open to all schools everywhere and asked young writers to submit short stories written in response to the theme ‘thread’.
Almost 3,000 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 a children’s book editor from Oxford University Press, a literary events interviewer, a senior lecturer from Arts University Bournemouth, and Heads of English from St Swithun’s School, Marlborough House Vinehall School, and York House School.
To find out more about the ISEB and IAPS Time to Write 2026 competition for schools, visit write.iseb.co.uk.
ISEB and IAPS would like to thank RM Compare; the judging panel Emma Drage, James Cole, Marc Knight, Naomi Anson, Rebecca Fletcher and Rebecca Henderson; the talented illustrators who helped bring each story to life; sponsors Arts University Bournemouth, Oxford University Press, Team Elite and Voxblock; everyone involved in the shortlisting process; and, most importantly, all the young writers who took part in the Time to Write 2026 competition.
The four winning stories of Time to Write 2026
Rosy and Ruby, born to different parents at the same time, have been forced to live their entire lives bound together by an unbreakable golden thread. When a mysterious note appears one day, the girls must come together to solve the mystery. Can a dangerous adventure help the pair see just how much their powerful connection means to them?
The winning story in the category for writers in Years 3 and 4 in the 2026 ISEB and IAPS Time to Write international writing competition.
“A lovely message about tolerance and friendship.” The Time to Write judging panel.
