Millie C and Emily H in Year 8 have impressed publishing firm CAAB publishing, by producing original and inventive creative writing. The two have been regularly attending our Creative Writing club and entered a competition set by the publishing firm that required them to write a short story featuring a magic taxi ride. CAAB loved their work, and sent them certificates and goody bags to celebrate their impressively rich and imaginative short stories; Millie’s featuring an Orient Express-style murder mystery, and Emily’s a time-travelling secret agent. The English department are really proud of them and impressed by their achievements!
Read their pieces below.
New York Orient Express
By now I guess you’ve all heard of the Orient Express. You know: the movie and the book, the one where loads of people die, and they are all plotting agents (this one man, well…yes…enough about that). This is the New York version. Instead of a train it’s a taxi. Instead of ordinary people there are elves. I know. I know elves aren’t real but if they weren’t real then how is this a true story?
It all started when five elves (Annie, Mia, Josh, Beth and Ian) shared one magical taxi. It wasn’t any ordinary taxi… It could get bigger or smaller depending on how many people were in it. Each person had their own room on this taxi. They were all going on a road trip to Egypt. I don’t know why – the books didn’t tell me that piece of information. Enough of me babbling on let’s get on with the story, shall we?
Once upon a time a long, long time ago there were these five elves Annie, Mia, Josh, Beth and Ian. They all booked this road trip to Egypt. What they didn’t know is that it would be the bumpiest road trip of their life.
Annie, Mia, Beth and Ian were all friends so they booked the trip together but Josh was someone they didn’t like because back in 1943 Annie and Ian had had a little baby girl… Five years later she died in a fire. No one knew how it started or who started it, but they all had the same gut instinct that it was Josh who started the fire.
Way back when, Josh and Ian used to be the best of friends but when Josh finally got a girlfriend Ian got jealous and cast a love spell on her so she would be his forever. Her name was Annie and Josh swore to Ian that he would destroy the one that Ian loved the most. That’s why they thought Josh did what he did that night.
It was the day of the trip. They had all put their bags in the trunk when Josh rocked up with his P.A: Jacob. In Josh’s eyes the look on the others’ faces when they saw him was hilarious. but what he did not know was that this would be the last time he would ever go anywhere.
They all got in the taxi, sat down at the bar and Annie used her powers (she had water powers) and poured everyone a drink. Then Ian (his power was spells) popped a pill into Josh’s drink, but Josh knew better than that and said he wasn’t thirsty and went to his cabin because it was getting late. Josh lit a fire in his room because that was his power and he could control how it would move and spread so it wouldn’t set anything on fire. He knew that he would be murdered that night if he slept so he stayed up and made shapes of people and animals to pass his time.
The next day Beth and Josh got up and went to get some breakfast. The options were toast, bagels or a full English. Beth (who had the ability to cook with her mind) cooked the food then they heard a scream and it sounded like Mia. So they all ran to her room and they found her…. dead.
Ian and Annie were apparently in their room and Josh and Beth were eating so who was it? They were too far away from the police station so they decided to calm down and try to figure out who it was.
The day went by very slowly. They all sat in their room awake because they didn’t want to be next.
They all accidentally fell asleep but they hadn’t been asleep for long when they heard two screams! Beth, Josh and Jacob ran to Annie and Ian’s room. They saw them both dead on her bed. There was a bloody knife wrapped up on the side of the bed with the name Beth written on it. Beth screamed and started hysterically crying on the floor, then ran into her room and locked the door.
She finally came out and calmed down. She cooked some macaroni cheese with broccoli and carrots because that was her favourite meal of all time. Josh came out to make sure it was okay and gave her some water. He lit a fire so they wouldn’t get cold because it was negative 18 degrees. By that time, keep in mind it was 1 am.
Josh left to go get something from the trunk. The taxi pulled to a quick stop so all the survivors ran to the front of the taxi to see what had happened. The taxi driver was DEAD.
Ok so everyone was freaking out by now. Everyone was dropping like flies. The killer was either Josh, Beth or Jacob but who was it? They all started to back away from each other one foot at a time. They chose all the food and their drinks so they wouldn’t starve.
Josh went to Beth’s room saying ‘We have to stick together,’ because they both thought it was Jacob. They locked the door and fell asleep.
When Josh woke up he found Beth… dead. He was guessing that she got poisoned, but how did the person get in because the door was locked the whole time?
He guessed it must be Jacob so he stabbed him right in the heart but he could not look because he was his best friend. He knew he had to do it. At least he could finally go to sleep in peace.
In the middle of the night Josh woke up to mumbling. Who was that? Josh was thinking it was the others, but how were they alive when he saw them dead?
They explained that it was all a trick to get him scared and to think that he was the only one left on the magical taxi.
Then Annie and Ian said “This is for my sweet little girl,” and stabbed him in the chest.
THE END
– By Millie C,Year 8
Taxi + Magic
Jon was an extremely quiet man, someone who always kept himself … well … to himself. But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters now is his trip to London. Why did he go to London? I don’t know, he could have gone anywhere and he chose London. Sorry, I am getting distracted, let’s just get on with the story.
He was coming back from whatever he was doing and stopped at the edge of the road to call a taxi. Ok side note he was wearing a face mask and Jon was very strict about the rules. He was waiting there for about 5 minutes then a taxi finally arrived. He called this taxi and it pulled over. The Taxi didn’t look like a normal taxi. It was a dark brown and had no adverts on it. However Jon didn’t pay much attention, he just got straight in. The taxi driver was a female with dark brown hair, like the colour of the taxi. The woman was also wearing a face mask so that pleased Jon. It was only around a 10 minute drive back to his hotel. Jon never wore a watch so it was only rough.
20 minutes had gone but Jon didn’t really realise.
Then 30.
Then 40. Jon thought it was taking a long time so he asked the driver how much longer, but she didn’t answer. Suddenly flashing lights blinded Jon’s sight, then they were gone, just gone.
The taxi stopped and Jon got out. Everything seemed different. The hotel looked newer, the flats nearby were empty, the streets were bustling with people and nobody was socially distanced or wearing a face mask. This made Jon feel really uneasy because just this morning had he seen everybody wearing a face mask. Everybody was looking at Jon strangely.
Ok earlier I might have lied, I do know what Jon was doing in London. He is a member of MI4, an organization that deals with unknown creations, findings or inventions. As a member of this organisation Jon knows what to do when you feel uneasy.
Jon went to the nearby tesco and got a newspaper and looked at the date. “OH MY GOSH!” screamed Jon. Silence fell and everyone stopped to look at Jon. The Newspaper read, Sunday 26th May 2018 . Jon’s mind was blown. Through all of his 35 years at MI4 no one has ever encountered time travel. Everything rushed to Jon’s mind all at once, who created this, how did I travel back 2 years, is it alien, what happened to the taxi, is this the actual past or just another dimension?
Poor Jon, his mind filled with questions he knew he couldn’t answer – well at least not now. He knew he had to find that taxi and get back to MI4.
He left Tesco and went back to where the taxi dropped him off. It had truly gone. He started running round the streets of London asking people if they had seen the taxi that he described. Nobody had seen it. Then suddenly an idea popped into his head. Why don’t I go to the MI4 headquarters and see if they can help me?
20 minutes later he got there. He went inside, it looked exactly how he remembered it. He rushed straight to his Boss and asked him everything he had to ask. However his boss said that he could only answer one question. He said “I have some info that I should have told you a long time ago, this taxi was invented by future you. He came back here and left it to us. There is only one way to get back.”
“How, how, how?!”
“I was given a riddle, The peak is high but the keys are low, find the deepest valley in the british countryside and you can go home.”
“Thank you so much,” said Jon. “Now I gotta dash.”
Jon couldn’t work out the riddle, so he went back to Tesco to buy some dinner. While he was eating he saw a leaflet for the Peak District. Wait a sec… Wasn’t that a part of the riddle? Jon realised the riddle must mean the keys are at the valley of the Peak District. Jon went to bed that night determined to get to the Peak District in the morning.
He woke up at 5:00 am, went straight to the train station and booked a ticket to the Peak District. He got there at 6:30 am. He asked where the deepest valley was and the tourist said it was he valley at the bottom of the Roaches. Jon got there on a private buggy that he had paid for. There it was… the key! Jon ran to it but hesitated before touching it. What might happen when he touched it?. But he needed to get home so he plucked up the courage and just touched it. But nothing happened. He got a train back to London and went to MI4.
Turns out his boss had left the last bit of the clue, it was “The lock is mined beneath the soil” This one was a lot easier for Jon to figure out. Cornwall: the mines. He travelled to the biggest mine in Cornwall and saw the lock. he put the keys in and gave them a turn.
Jon saw all the flashing lights again. He was back in the taxi. He arrived at the hotel and saw an old man with a newspaper. He was back! Everything was normal. Everyone was social distancing and everyone was wearing a face mask.
Jon rushed to his boss and his boss explained everything. They sat there for at least five hours. Just talking about time travel. The last couple of days had been very stressful for Jon.
Ok, Ok I know exactly what question you want answered. Who am I? Well, I am Jon. Well not this Jon but future Jon and this was my story of time travel. Well taxi time travel.
THE END
– By Emily H,Year 8