Short Story Competition - March 2024
The aim of the short story competition was to foster creativity, hone writing skills, and encourage literary expression among students. It provided a platform for budding writers to showcase their talents and gain recognition for their work. It was also a celebration of originality at a time where AI has become synonymous to plagiarism.
Grade 7 | Rughoonundon Ayush
Once upon a time there was a little boy living in a far village. His name was Rohan and he was fond of animals. One day, while returning home from school, he saw a poor little dog drowning in the nearby river. In less than no time, he called for assistance. A passer-by offered his help and rescued the dog. Rohan, without hesitation, took the little dog home.
The little dog was shivering with cold and it was hungry. Rohan, with the help of his father, put the dog in a warm place in the garage. His mother cooked some hot meat with rice which they fed the dog. The family was happy to adopt the animal which Rohan named “Ami” which means friend in French. As days passed by, Ami grew and became stronger. He accompanied Rohan to the village playground every Sunday. He used to escort his father to the market and look after the family all day and night.
One day Rohan’s parents had to visit his uncle who was seriously ill. Rohan and his sister were home alone with Ami. It started making dark when someone knocked at the door. Rohan’s sister looked through the window and saw two burglars trying to break into their house. Ami, without wasting time, jumped on one of the burglars. The later hit the poor animal with a metal bar. Ami was injured but continued to bite the intruders. He was barking ferociously and loudly. Rohan’s neighbours were attracted by the noise and came to the rescue. The robbers were caught and handed to the police.
A few minutes later, Rohan’s parents came back. They were made aware of what had happened. They were terrified but happy to know that everyone was safe. They offered to bring Ami to the vet as it was injured. The latter recovered within a few days. Rohan and his family were proud of their friend. True friend is always loyal, faithful and trustworthy like their own Ami.
Grade 8 | Tyler Maurimootoo
The Culinary Chronicles:Taco Ninja’s Mission
In the culinary kingdom of Flavorville, a delicious problem unfolded as good fight with evil. Taco Ninja, a formidable warrior with a mastery of tortilla-based martial arts, emerged as the defender of diversity in food. His mission: to preserve harmony among the various cuisines.
Opposing him was the Pizza Bandit, a tasty villain whose appetite for chaos knew no end. With his peperoni minigun and his mozzarella sabres, he wanted to monopolize the taste buds of Flavorville, leaving no room for other culinary delights.
As the city prepared for an epic battle of extra proportions, Taco Ninja embarked on a quest to prevent the Pizza Bandit's wicked plans. Armed with a jalapeño throwing stars gun and guacamole grenades, he traversed the streets with courage and determination.
In a climactic clash of sprinkles, Taco Ninja and the Pizza Bandit faced off in an epic battle that shook the very villagers of Flavorville. Cheese and salsa flew as the two delicious warriors exchanged blasts, each fighting for the future of food cuisine.
With a final hit of his secret superpower the salsa cyclone where Taco Ninja can summon a cyclone of spicy salsa leaving his enemies defeated. Taco Ninja emerged successful, defeating the Pizza Bandit, and restoring balance to Flavorville. As the citizens rejoiced, they celebrated the victory of good over evil and the delicious diversity that united them all.
Grade 9 | Rutah Ganika
LOVE
Everyone starts their love life thinking that love is JUST being attracted to someone, but it isn't. Love is erratic!Love is scientific!
Sometimes it is unfated, sometimes it is planned and most of the time it can be out of nowhere. Well that also doesn't mean that your love story has to fit one of these categories.
Princess Azulia of the Lapis dynasty was seen as a prim and proper lady. She owned up to her Kingdom's name heritage;respectable,clean,innocuous,skillful and most importantly they were known for breaking the perennial culture of using concubines.
Until Princess Azulia's "blaue blume" bloomed during the placid spring. Princess Azulia was always seen as a respected noble with great talents that left the whole country in awe;one of them was fencing and she used it to her advantage as often as she could,especially when taking away her lovers from their parents' grip.
Princess Azulia was a peculiar person in deed.She was talented but had very weird tastes,both in partners and activities.The Princess was a fan of mazes,chess,pool and poker and loved inviting her lovers or concubines to play with her but she always seemed to forget to publically annonce that the game was over.When she got bored she just disappeared.
Inconclusion she seemed like an insensitive rich noble lady that just came from a respected family but her lovers thought other wise.She was a person who gave love to those whom she thought deserved it .She would organise lavish events for them tailored to their taste and preference with grand performances that would cost not just an arm and a leg but a whole life.
She would order renowned painters to paint portraits of her and her partners but during her engagement with Lord Antonie,it felt like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed everyday.
Instead of ordering the creation of lavish paintings, she would order the destruction of grand artworks that were found in Lord Antonie's residence.She became a vile woman after her betrothal.
To relieve her stress, she decided to procure a set of concubines who would entertain her when and where she desired. They would play the clowns, act like Mozart, act like a walking-talking play dolls and even drunkards, if she desired; some would say that the concubines were more that puppets than entertainers.
During her time with Lord Antonie, she would attend lavish tea parties where she would meet nobles of differing backgrounds. One of her acquaintances was General Lordwick Decaine , who as his title suggested a general for the Lapis army.
General Lordwick Decaine came from a prestigious family who had served nobles and elites for years; Whether it was in the army or as a Palace staff. General Lordwick was a respectable man from the Lapis kingdom who did not have a problematic past or record until his encounter with Princess Azulia.
The two paramours became a subject of topic during the dinner hours for many families. One would start the conversation, the other would continue but they were shut down by the unwanted third person who swore that this was to never be talked about again and swore that they were cursed or bedevilled.
The Princess and the general would sneak away to " The Garden of Eternal Grace " together to spend their time together in secret. They sent pigeons with love letters to each other with
heart-felt poems and notes. They would express every emotion in existence through those flying pieces of paper drenched in ink.
During Lordwick's sea expeditions , the lovers opted for messages in bottles instead of birds because of the risk of the bird being taken by mother nature or risk of getting lost at sea; but somehow the bottles always found their way to and from their destinations and start lines.
The 2 bonded over the fact that they both came from illustrious and reputation-oriented families that put a lot of pressure on them. The two had to get married before the age of thirty or else they would become the laughing stock of society, no matter their achievements.
Her highness Azulia spent most of her youth trying to fit into the Kingdom's standard that she had no time to experiment with her love life. Once her life calmed down , she was of age to get married . She decided to turn to what she thought would give her experience with love, concubines and paramours,but that just warped her image of love until she met His highness Decaine, Leonard Decaine.
His highness Leonard Decaine was General Lordwick Decaine's late brother. Prince Leonard died of food intoxication from the palace's main chef. This left Leonard's loved ones in pieces that were too hard to be picked back up. General Lordwick ended up giving up his "Prince" title and opting for "General" as his main title rather using it as his second title after the tragedy.
Before being betrothed Princess Azulia met Prince Leonard at a tea party. The two got along very well but there was only one problem at the beginning; Princess Azulia was getting engaged soon. She couldn't just call of the engagement at the last minute for an ill-fated prince. Ill-fated? Princess Azulia had no knowledge of that. Prince Leonard had not told Princess Azulia that he had been poisoned in fear that she might tittle-tattle his secret. He did not want to worry the people of his condition, nor did he want to worry his secret lover.
But all secrets come out at some point, right?
After a painful amount of time, Prince Leonard passed away in the middle of the night. Everyone was in disbelief, but Princess Azulia felt fibbed but worst of all she felt like she needed a replacement for Leonard. How ignominious! It somehow worked out and their boat started to sail happily until the people found out about their affair.
The Lapis kingdom was thrown to shame and ripped to shreds because of the outrageous news. People were losing their marbles over the fact that the most well respected and mannered kingdom was home to such brazen people. Absolutely repugnant!
Princess Azulia was later ordered to be beheaded, while General Lordwick was set to be hung for engaging in adultery.
Grade 10 | Prisha Sahye
"He fell first but she fell harder."
There was once a boy, who fell in love with a girl for quite a long time. They started following each other and they began texting for a long period of time. The girl slowly started to catch feelings for him as well. One day, the boy asked her to be his girlfriend, she excitedly and happily accepted. They became very close and were very happy together. Both gave out their best to make it work. They were always loyal and trusted each other blindly. For months they talked, went out and did pretty much everything together.
Everything was great until the boy told her girlfriend that they can't be together as he had to go abroad to continue his studies. He ended up blocking her from every social media and they both went on their separate ways. The girl was devastated, she lost her appetite, she stopped eating, and ended up falling sick for months. She basically lost herself by loving him. As someone coming from a brown family she couldn't show or tell anyone how she felt and had to go with the flow of life.
Even though she was broken inside, she still put on a smile and carried on with her usual routine. She continued to text him even if she knew that she won't be getting a response. Everyday, she would tell him about her day and basically everything like they always did. To her surprise, after one month, on the first day of college 2024, as usual she texted him - telling him about her day, she was shocked when she got a text. They started talking again but, as friends this time. One day, she asked him why they stop talking. He said that his parents did not agree on the age difference between them. They made him choose between going abroad or going to university in Mauritius, he chose to go to university and stay in Mauritius. He was sorry and regretted leaving her like that, and that he loved her a lot. Since then, they had been very close friends with each other. She still hoped that one day they get back together.
Age does not matter in love.
- based on a true story.
