FABLE FACTORY

A lovely life broken
Runner-up
Story by Naisha Ali & Marzuka Reefat
South Breeze School
Genre: Fairy tales

Once upon a time a couple called Alisa and Robert lived happily in a little house. Robert earned money by selling roses from their garden. They both worked very hard. One day while Robert was away selling roses Alisa's friend John came to their house. Alisa treated John well because they were very good friends. Later she told Robert about John. Later when John saw Alisa's husband, he became jealous. John used to like her in college, but they got separated in university. They forgot each other, and John became rich. Now he wanted to separate Alisa and Robert.
As John was rich he had a magic mirror and in front of it whatever someone wished would become true; but John always wished for bad things. One day he said to it, 'Oh my magic mirror, please fulfil my wish! I have a plan and I want that plan to be successful. I want to kill Robert and make Alisa my wife.'
Days passed but John's plan was not fulfilled. So he decided to buy magic wings because he thought magic wings also fulfilled wishes. To his disappointment it didn't work. John couldn't use the magic wings properly and that is why they stopped working and broke. John became very angry. He finally killed Robert. Then he forced Alisa to marry him. He threatened her to hide her in a dark forest full of wild animals if she didn't marry him. Alisa did not agree to marry John. So he took her with him and hid her in a dark forest. It was haunted. But Alisa was brave. She did not lose courage. She stayed there happily with animals. The animals brought her food and water and also kept her safe. Many days later a fairy arrived and helped Alisa earn some money. With the money she bought delicious food to eat and lived happily ever after.

Untitled
Winner
Story by Zunaira Islam & Nasif Ahsan Khan
Playpen School
Genre: Stories through pictures

In the future, hard things shall be soft and soft things shall be hard.
One day a boy named Josh went to the house of a girl named Mary. He was afraid to ask her out. Josh was afraid because he was doing weird things; but little did he know that Mary was also a little weird. At last, Josh asked Mary out to dinner, but Marry said she was dieting and wouldn't go to eat. So Josh asked, 'Where should we go then?' Marry said 'I would like to go swimming with you tomorrow morning.' Josh agreed. He was so excited that he started singing and dancing in his house.
The next morning, Josh packed his favorite swimming suit in his bag. The shorts were blue with yellow stripes. Mary also packed her swimming dress in her bag. Then Josh went to pick Mary up. As they were walking, they saw a wishing well. They asked each other, 'Why is there a wishing well here in the year 2014?'
After a while they met an old man who was born in the year 2052. They were shocked - how they could meet someone from 2052 in 2014? Well, as soon as they came near the wishing well, they had stepped into the future! They asked the old man, 'What is this wishing well doing here?' The old man said, 'In the year 2058, when I was young, I was walking through the jungle with my father. Suddenly my father was thirsty and he told me, 'I will be back in a while, till then you stand here and do not move!' My father went to a well and he threw a coin into it and wished, 'Make my son safe'. Then I heard someone shouting. I ran to the place where my father had gone. When I went there I saw my father lying in a pool of his own blood. Since then, I don't let anyone touch or break this well. That is why it is still here''.
'Thank you for telling us about this well,' said Josh and Mary. Mary then said 'We should go swimming now because it's very late.' Josh said okay. They went to a private swimming pool and put on their swimming dresses. Josh wanted to impress Mary and said 'Mary, look I will dive from that high place'. But Josh had forgotten that in the future hard is soft, and soft is hard. He dived and bam! He went right through the soft floor. Mary saved him by pulling him up. Then they lived happily ever after.

Richard to the future
Runner-up
Story by Zarif Khan & Aurko Datta
Greendale International School
Genre: Choose your own adventure

In 63 AD there was a poor old man who lived in a tiny village. His name was Richard.
As we know there will be time machines in the future. A man named Leonardo, who lived in a great city in the year 3012, took such a time machine and went back to 63 AD. He was searching for an ancient and valuable stone. He arrived at Richard's village. Richard was walking when he saw the time machine. He got curious and he went to have a look.
Suddenly he slipped and fell into the time machine. While falling he pressed a button and went forward in time to Leonardo's city. When he got there he saw people teleporting from one place to another. He couldn't even talk to anyone because he didn't know their language. He tried to hammer the time machine's buttons but it had broken because of the pressure put on it. So he stole a hover board and tried to escape from that place.
While escaping he met a man who told him in Richard's own language that he could help him. The man said, 'If you come with me I can send you back.' Richard agreed and went with him. The man introduced himself by saying, 'My name is Michael and I am a scientist. It is because of me that you are here, I was the one who sent the time machine in the first place.' He started to make another time machine and when he finished he told Richard to go back to his home. Richard said, 'No' and told Michael that he wanted to stay with him. Michael said, 'I would love that but this place is not safe for you.' Richard became sad but there was no choice. He had to go home.
While leaving he was given some instant house-making machines. Richard went home and lived happily with his family.

Beauty and her sisters
Winner
Story by Sheersho Mustafa and Monjila Khan Mojlish
Happy Times International School
Genre: Choose your own adventure

In the UK there was a mysterious forest. Nobody knew about it. A few miles away there was a small cottage where three sisters lived. The oldest sister was Grizel, the second one was Beauty, and the youngest one was Lucy.
One day the sisters decided to go near the forest for research. Lucy said, 'Why not have a race?' Then they stood in a line and started running. Beauty wanted to win the race. She was running so fast that she tripped over a rock and rolled into the forest. Grizel and Lucy finished their race and noticed that Beauty was missing. Grizel realised that Beauty must have wandered into the forest.
Beauty was unconscious in the forest for a while. When she got back to her senses she felt very weak. She wanted to go home but couldn't find the cottage or her sisters. Beauty was lost in the forest!
Beauty was very hungry and wanted to eat something sweet. She soon found a castle. Beauty was surprised to see a castle in the forest and thought that she could seek help from someone there. The door was enormous and even had drawings of candies. Beauty knocked on the door and it opened by itself. She entered the castle. It was very dark inside. Suddenly the castle lit up and Beauty saw that the castle was full of candies, sweets and ice cream. She could not believe her eyes.
Grizel and Lucy decided to search for Beauty and in the middle of the forest they found a well. There they threw a coin and wished for their sister back. On the other side, Beauty ate a candy and suddenly she vanished from the castle and appeared before her sisters. Beauty saw her sisters and they hugged each other with joy. The sisters returned to their cottage and lived happily ever after!

The missing Kohinoor diamond
Winner
Story by Mohammed Rakin Anam and Mahnaz Chowdhury
Scholastica
Genre: Choose your own adventure

Mr. Jones, the queen's butler, came running madly down the street. He was coming towards the fifth house in Chester Street which belonged to Mr. Wayne Richard. Mr. Richard was a sensible detective. He had an eye for detail.
Simon Simpson was the assistant detective; he opened the door and carefully took Mr. Jones inside the house and told him to relax. Simon asked him what was wrong. Mr. Jones explained that the great Kohinoor Diamond had gone missing!
Mr. Richard and Simon were astonished. Simon panicked and told Mr. Richard that something must be done quickly before there is a public scandal. Mr. Richard asked Mr.  Jones, if anything strange had happened that day. The butler said that he was suspicious because in the evening, when the sun was going down, the diamond didn't glow and reflect the sunlight as before.
So they went to Buckingham Palace and opened the glass case where the diamond was kept. They were surprised. There were three mirrors, two on each side and the other lying on the surface. There were LED lights beside each mirror. It was an amazing optical illusion! When Simon lifted up the third mirror, he noticed a hole through which the diamond must have been stolen. After seeing a small gold coin beneath the mirror he joyfully exclaimed that the case was solved!
Simon took the coin and went to the nearest jewellery shop to see who the buyer was. He was dumbfounded to learn it was a fake coin. It was a red herring.
On their way back to Chester Street, Mr. Richard determined an eye specialist had made the optical illusion and a plumber stole the diamond by digging a tunnel leading to the palace.
Mr. Richard asked Simon to come to St. James Park near Buckingham Palace the next morning.
While investigating the park, they noticed some cycle tracks that led them to a big bush. Behind the bush was the dead body of the plumber, beside a hole and the cycle.
While checking the plumber's pockets, Simon found similar fake gold coins, an expensive compass, precious jewels and the card of the plumber, Derek Brown, with his address on it.
Mr. Richard and Simon went to the plumber's address and entered the shabby old house through the window. They hid beside a sofa and saw the criminal eye specialist, who had plotted the entire theft.
Simon and Mr. Richard jumped on the man. The eye specialist kicked Simon off and his head hit the wall and started to bleed. Mr. Richard pointed his revolver at the man and handcuffed him and got back the priceless diamond. The Kohinoor diamond was flawless and exquisite.
The eye specialist was an Indian, Dr. Rajesh Roy. He came to England to take revenge because the Kohinoor diamond was stolen from India by the British during the Mughal Period.
After that Mr. Richard became a renowned detective all over the UK.

Blood bath
Runner-up
Story by Quazi Zulfiquer Ahmad & Tahmidul Haque
Happy Times International School
Genre: The ideas factory

On a road trip went seven friends: Peter, Charlie, Stella, O'Brien, Sam, Alana and Jessica.
As they drove along the highway their car suddenly stopped. Peter was driving and everybody asked him why the car had stopped. He said that there was something wrong with it. Night time came and there was a mansion on the side of the road, so they decided to go and see if they could stay the there. They asked the aged caretaker of the mansion if they could spend the night there and he agreed.
When they entered the mansion they saw that it was very dark and in bad condition. They went to their rooms and refreshed themselves. Charlie took a shower and then lay down. He could hear noises of footsteps but he thought it was his imagination and fell asleep for a while. When he opened his eyes he saw a pale, black-haired boy wearing ragged clothes sitting in front of him. Charlie was terrified and he quickly turned to switch on the lights but when he looked back the boy had disappeared. Then he heard a scream from Stella's room. They rushed out and opened the door of the room. They saw a pale, wounded girl with black hair crawling quickly towards Stella. They moved swiftly towards her and the girl turned and disappeared into the darkness. Then screams came from Sam and Jessica's room. They were frightened and called out to the caretaker but he was not coming.
The five friends split into two groups, in one group there was Peter, Alana and O'Brien and in another group there was Charlie and Stella. After searching the mansion the group of two found a pink diary. The diary kept saying the same thing: 'My husband is abusive, my life is very painful and sometimes I feel I should give up.' And the last entry was: 'I am not alone anymore, I am pregnant'. Meanwhile the group of three found a blue diary which said, 'I do not trust my wife anymore. She is unfaithful.' The entry was, 'I hate them and I cannot bear them anymore.'
The two groups met each other in the centre of the mansion. After walking a while they saw two blood tracks leading to a big hole in the wall. Inside the hole they saw a passage leading to a secret room.
When they opened the door, they were attacked by some creatures like red bats. Stella fell but everyone helped her back up. After the room was cleared, the five friends saw the boy and girl who had scared them. Between them there was an aged woman with long nails. These monsters were feasting on their two friends. The group poured kerosene upon the monsters and lit them on fire. The monsters burned down to ashes.
They called 911 and the police came and got them out of the house safely. Afterwards the friends found the caretaker hiding in a cabin. The caretaker looked at them as if he was very guilty; he said that he knew about the two friends and that he had intentionally locked them up with the monsters. After this confession, the mansion was burned down.