Short Stories

THE GUARDIAN OF THE GATES OF HELL

A short story by Ashe Reeves (Year 13)

Sleeping soundly beneath the crust of Earth, a raging beast rested. With a mane of fire and a breath of death, he slept unmoving until his job was needed. When the blood moon set across the horizon, he awoke, three sets of eyes blinking and focusing in the dark, studying the eternal darkness until he could see clearly. Teal scales, dulled by the jagged stones and rocks surrounding the monster, lay impenetrable on his hide. Hissing, a serpent's head uncoiled around the large boulder from whence it rested and hovered just above the beast's torso. Large blazing echoes cascaded down the beast's maw, licking at its teeth and pooling on the cavern floor. Three great collars, spiked with iron and chained to the wall, rested heavily around the creature's broad necks.

The behemoth snarled and snapped its powerful jaws at those walking past, its red eyes flaring with unkempt fury, fire barreling out of its jaws as its wrath grew.

The wall behind the monster cracked. The chain became loose. Cerberus was free.

Large paws buried themselves in the rock beneath him as he let out a roar of victory; flames coloured a dull red shifting to an electric blue as energy was reinvigorated into the beast. His tail thrashed against the souls of the damned as his fire caused incurable pain and suffering, an eternal burn that shall never heal scarred across their skin.

Silence swept over the area, the whispering of death only overpowered by the whimpering of the colossal beast. Increasing in volume, the whispers descend into chaos as The Unseen enters the realm, The Giver Of Death coming to tame his unruly canine. Enslaving this beast was no easy feat, but for the lord of death such a task became trivial and easy. He simply held out his hand and Cerberus bowed his head in shame. Hades let out a sigh of annoyance. Purple wisps escaped the God’s hand and encased the thick chain, reattaching it to the wall. Raising himself back up, the unseen wraith slipped back through the gates and left Cerberus to his eternal duty.

A short story by Kaya Akyuz, Year 7

I woke up from my spiraling trance in a dimly lit room. All I saw was a melting candle dripping - it was very bizarre, like the room was tilted upside down. I stood up and tumbled into the chipped-paint covered wall. I didn’t think much of it because I am very clumsy. I looked at the clock on the wall and it read: 3AM. I felt a cold bony hand creep up my shoulder…I didn’t even want to know what it was, so I ran to the door slipping every step of the way. “YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM ME,” the voice yelled down the corridor. I used my sharp reaction skills to clutch on to the rusty door handle, my bony fingers wrapping around the cold handle. I opened it and that’s all I remember….

This time I woke up in a sweat. I saw a man and I pieced two and two together and I realieds it was him. I started chasing him but he just disappeared. I heard echoes around the room.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”

I bolted and bumped into an elederly man. “Oh, thank the Lord!” I shouted with a great relief in my voice, but a hissing voice whispered out, “Bad luck…”

THE WILD

By Harriett Pritchard, Year 7

The wild is a mysterious place if you ask me, as you never know what could jump out at you. You can never predict the wild because of its uniqueness. All the animals lie in the grass, all the noises you can hear… Beautiful as it is, it is being damaged in all sorts of ways: pollution, deforestation, climate change. We need to protect and help wildlife to survive, by not littering and keeping fields and playgrounds clean !