Children's writing: a story (A World With No Colours) - by Dhilan

What a stunning piece of writing, Dhilan. Your foreshadowing at the start really draws the reader in. I just had to read on! You have used a perfect story structure here and each paragraph starts in an engaging way. You have thought carefully about building an impression of the market, and indeed the emotions of the main characters ('...with a heavy heart... whispering softly). Just beautiful!

Let's read ...

A World with No Colours

Ever since that day, no one could forget it. No-one!

It was an ordinary day-the beating sun shone on the village on Maytha, the fruit stalls aligned in a row of colour, the majestic clothes perched on the silver rails, and markets teeming with people. All was well. Maya and her Grandpa (Giuseppe ) sat at the fruit stalls bored, waiting for customers.  They had been inseparable ever since her parents had died.

‘Maya, you need to be patient, I know you are bored, but you have to wait’, explained Grandpa softly.

‘Grandpa, please, I know how to wait, this is taking forever’, said Maya moodily, bursting with energy.

With a heavy heart, whispering sadly, Grandpa allowed Maya to play with her friends. Shaking, his crackled sunburnt lips turned dusty blue, and his wrinkled cheeks turned crimson red.  Grandpa loved Maya dearly, but he couldn’t protect her forever. He knew the disasters that were coming. He dreamt of this day his whole life.

Clutching his cold fingers together, Grandpa soon regretted letting Maya go.  Suddenly, the surrounding trees fell like dominoes, crashing down on the terrified citizens. Chaos flooded the village like an oil slick, terrorizing everyone. Pandemonium broke out.  Edging closer to the village, now in ruins, a dark shadowy figure appeared.  With a swipe of its rough scaly tail, it knocked down the remaining buildings.  Maya looked in horror- she had never witnessed something so hideous.   Its giant grey body stood tall in the village courtyard, its beady eyes fixed on Maya.

‘Colour, I need colour’, it bellowed in a deep dark voice.

Like a vacuum cleaner, the beast sucked every last drop of colour from Maytha, and disappeared as quickly as it arrived, leaving a trail of dull grey slime. Everything was gone- the golden yellow sun, the lapis blue sea, and the hope of ever getting colour again.

Depressed, devasted, demoralized- heartbroken due to the loss of colour, the residents felt shattered, and rarely went out, staying indoors most of the time. The once happy, and joyful village was now an empty colourless shell. Sick of gum, Maya had decided enough was enough. She was going to get all the colour back.  Grandpa smiled as he heard her creeping out of the house, and into the darkness.

-ends-