Westerville writing contest 2022: Category grades 3-5
First place: "The Crazy Girl" by Gwendolynn Bennett
Second place: "My Bear" by Absa Sene
Third place: "The Time Machine" by Lexie Rismiller
Honorable mention: "Tiny Crabs" by Grace Cady
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First place
"The Crazy Girl"
By Gwendolynn Bennett
When Stella woke up she decided she wanted to go out to the park for the day. She grabbed two water bottles, her wallet, and her phone, and she put them all in her purse.
As Stella was walking to the park, she noticed how pretty the grass was, the bright flowers, and the colorful trees. “Oh, I love being outside!” said Stella excitedly. Then something tall and big stopped Stella. She looked up and saw a giant HIPPO! She was startled. It was huge! Stella thought she was hallucinating, so she blinked a couple of times. Then, the hippo was gone! She was really confused but kept walking to the park anyway.
Stella finally arrived at the park, and saw it was really busy. There was a swing open, so she got on the swing. Stella looked up and saw a tiny MONKEY on the playground. She decided to ask someone if they saw the monkey. To her right was a little girl, she asked, “Hey, by any chance did you see that tiny monkey on the playground?”
“What? No. What are you talking about?” questioned the little girl.
Stella sighed, “Never mind. Sorry,” said Stella.
Stella thought she was going crazy. She also thought it was possible she was dehydrated, so she reached into her purse and pulled out one of her water bottles, took a couple of sips, then put her water back in her bag. She got up and started to play on the slides on the playground. After playing for a bit, she wanted to swing some more. Stella sat down on the swing, put her purse on the ground next to her, then… A GORILLA! There was a gorilla standing on top of the slide dancing.
Stella was stunned. She couldn’t stop staring at the gorilla. Suddenly, a KANGAROO came up and snatched Stella’s purse from the ground. Without thinking, she sprang up and started to run after it. She ran for what felt like forever, until finally she had to come to a stop to take a break. She only stopped for a second, but that was all it took for the kangaroo to get away. Stella was extremely sad because that was her favorite bag. She regretted that she had stopped and really regretted leaving the house to go to the park.
Suddenly, the sky turned gray. Stella was so confused. “What is going on?” she thought. This made Stella even sadder. Sunshine and blue skies were the reason she loved being outside. As she was walking home something enormous and low to the ground stealthily moved towards her. Stella looked down and saw a giant, creepy ALLIGATOR standing right in front of her. “AAAHHHHH!” screamed Stella. She started to run away, and it started to chase her. She knew she was running for her life. Then, the alligator lunged and snatched the heel of her shoe. She screamed so loudly again. “Help!” exclaimed Stella. The hippo that Stella saw earlier came running by and stepped on the alligator’s tail. Instantly, it let go of her foot. Stella raced home.
Once she was in her home, she locked the door, ran to her room and collapsed on her bed. Then she drifted off to sleep. An hour later she awoke to the sound of a television in the other room. Stella looked around, and realized that it had all been a dream. She was so relieved. She thought she was going crazy. Suddenly, from the television in the other room, Stella heard the news anchorwoman break the news that there was an animal breakout at the zoo earlier that afternoon. Stella fell back onto her bed in total shock. It was then that her mother yelled to her, “Honey, I think I just saw a kangaroo run by our house carrying your favorite purse.”
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Second place
"My Bear"
By Absa Sene
One day, in a small cottage in the woods, Lia woke up bright and early, as she always did, to do her chores. Suddenly, she heard a little howl coming from the woods. The howl sounded like someone calling for help. This was unusual since you never hear anything at this hour. Lia wanted to go towards the sound, but she had her doubts. Her grandmother, who lived with her, told her to not go deep into the woods because of the trolls and monsters there. Lia never believed Grandma Ma’s stories about the woods, but what if they were true? Lia thought, “You know what? I am going to help whoever is crying out!” Lia quietly went to her room trying not to wake Grandma Ma and grabbed her supplies. Then, she headed outside and went towards the little howl.
Lia was curious about the peculiar sound coming from the woods. The howl got louder and louder each step she took. Finally she found herself in front of a pit with a bear cub stuck inside. Lia knew she had to do something. She took a long rope out of her backpack. She tied the rope around the nearest tree and climbed down into the pit. Lia picked up the cub and said “It's okay. I’ve got you little bear.” Using all of her strength, she pulled both of them up to safety. She held the terrified cub close to her and sang a little song her mother used to sing to her before she died. After the cub felt safe, they headed back to the cottage. All Lia had to do now was reason with Grandma Ma to let the bear cub live with them in the cottage.
Lia went back to Grandma Ma’s house and said, “Grandma Ma, I found a bear cub in the woods! Can we keep him, please?”
“No! It’s too dangerous to have a bear in the house, sweety! I am too old for this!” reasoned Grandma Ma
“Please!” begged Lia.
“Oh no you don’t. Not the cute little innocent eyes!” said Grandma Ma.
Lia persisted.
“Okay, fine! You can keep it, but you are responsible for that cub, okay?” said Grandma Ma.
“Okay,” said Lia.
Then Lia set up everything the cub would need, and played with him. That night Lia taught the cub to sleep on a little rug that was just for him.
What Lia didn’t know was that there were two very hungry hunters, George and Harry, hunting the bear. “We need to find that bear! We can't give up, Harry!” yelled George with an English accent.
“Be patient, George. We’ll find him soon.” murmured Harry in a calm voice.
After hours of hunting, they gave up. They stopped near an old oak tree for the night. Little did they know how close they were to the bear and Lia’s house.
The next morning while Lia did her chores with the little bear by her side, keeping her company, the hunters had set off to find the bear.
In no time at all, the hunters stumbled across the little cottage in the woods. At exactly the same time, Lia, the bear cub, and the hunters laid eyes on one another.
“Hey kid, give us that bear right now!” yelled Harry.
“No! This is my bear!” Lia stammered.
“Give it to us now!” yelled George.
Then they saw Lia and the cub run as fast as they could inside the cottage! Lia grabbed the phone and called the police. Then, she told Grandma Ma what was happening. Lia, Grandma Ma, and the bear hid in the bedroom.
“Hey kid! We ain't gonna hurt ya! Just give us the bear,” they both said.
Lia clutched the bear while Grandma Ma clutched them. Suddenly the unwelcome hunters entered the house. Lia was so scared! She held her breath while they were searching for them. She could hear their footsteps getting closer to the bedroom door.
Both hunters burst through the door. “Ha! You thought you could hide from us!” said George
It was then that the police arrived and ordered the hunters to the floor. Once Grandma Ma and Lia were safe, the police explained that the two men were poachers that they had been searching for. However, they also explained that the bear cub is a protected animal that can’t live in a person’s home. Lia was happy that the cub was safe, but sad that he couldn’t stay with her. They told her that they would place him in a reserve near town where he would be taken care of. Now, every morning when Lia finishes her chores, she walks to the reserve to visit her bear.
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Third place
"The Time Machine"
By Lexie Rismiller
There once was a boy that found a time machine. At first he didn’t even know what it was or what to do with it. He brought it home anyway. He hid it from everyone, even his best friend. Whatever it was, it didn’t work. He sat there mad as he examined the writing on it. Finally, he came to the conclusion that it was a time machine. It said that you have to find a river crystal in order for it to work. “What river!?” yelled the boy. Suddenly he heard footsteps coming from the hallway. It was his mom. He quickly shoved the time machine in his closet just as his mom walked in.
“Why are you yelling?” asked his mom.
“Um, I don’t know,” said the boy.
“Okay…Well, it’s time to eat,” said his mom.
“Okay. Then, let’s go eat,” replied the boy. He was quick to get his mother out of his room.
After dinner, the boy raced up to his room. He pulled the time machine out of his closet and read the writing over and over again. Then it came to him that there was a river close to where he found the time machine, so he ran downstairs, put his shoes and jacket on, and told his parents he was leaving.
His father asked, “Where are you going? It is seven o’clock at night.”
“Um…Um…I just want to go look at the moon. It is a full moon tonight,” the boy answered.
“Okay. But come inside in ten minutes,” replied his mother.
“I will,” responded the boy, realizing he now had only ten minutes to get to the river and find the crystal.
So, he ran to the river, jumped into the shallow water and started to feel around. He kept on feeling rocks. Finally, he found a crystal. The boy realized that he had time to spare, but he didn’t use up the spare time. Instead, he ran home.
By the time he got home, his mom and dad were heading to bed. “Goodnight! I love you!” he yelled.
Then, he ran up the stairs to his bedroom, shut and locked the door behind him, and went straight to his closet. He pulled the door open and pulled the time machine out. The boy quickly and excitedly shoved the crystal in the little opening, the only opening where a crystal would fit. The time machine made a funny but quiet noise and turned on. “Oh My God! It works! I thought it was worthless, but I was wrong!” thought the boy. He suddenly realized just how useful it could be, the many things that he could do with this time machine.
However, he didn’t trust the time machine yet, so he snuck downstairs and got the television remote control. Then, he quietly snuck back upstairs. Looking back over the writing on the time machine, he discovered a way to set a timer for the amount of time you want to spend in the future or the past. He set the timer for ten seconds into the future. Then he said to himself, “Please work. Please work.” He hit a button on the time machine, and a big blue circle appeared, hovering over the floor. He lifted his hand that held the remote in it and threw the remote into the big blue circle. The boy timed it in his head. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,” he counted. Then, the remote popped out of the big blue circle and hit the boy on the head. The boy fell to the ground with a thud which woke up his parents. They immediately ran to his room. Before his parents walked in, he got off the floor, shoved the time machine into the closet, and shut the door. Then, he jumped into his bed.
His parents walked in. “What happened?” asked his mother.
“I…I…I fell out of bed,” said the boy.
“Well, are you okay?” asked his father.
“My head hurts,” he answered.
“Come over here, and let us see,” So, the boy got out of bed and walked over to them. “Why are your clothes all wet?” they asked.
“It…It was wet outside, and I slipped,” he stuttered.
“So, you were going to sleep in wet clothes?” asked his father.
“Yep,” the boy responded.
“Get changed and go get an ice pack out of the freezer,” instructed his mother.
“I will,” he assured them.
The boy waited until he heard no footsteps on the floor. Then, he opened the closet door and looked at the time machine. “Wow! I have the whole future in front of me.” he said to himself. Then he realized he had the entire past behind him as well.
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Honorable mention
"Tiny Crabs"
By Grace Cady
there I lay in the sand
building sand castles
look up and see tiny crabs
dart across the baking sand
swish swish, caught two
put them in there new home
don't escape little crabs
dig munch crunch Dig
two crab
squirming to the ocean
back at home
safe and sound?
swish swish bounce
a scuba diver!
swim wiggle swim flap
closer and closer
grab and go
throw throw
into a bin sealed
with metal
two crabs stuck
spill into glass
for all to see
forever!
crack crack
spill out the crabs
a human! With a bucket
grabs them and
RUNS
fast fast spillll CrAsh
drive drive
he spills them on the
baking sand says goodbye
and the crabs waves a claw
and they turn around
to the waving waves they go
forever
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Westerville writing contest 2022: Category grades 3-5
