The talents of young writers from across the region were celebrated during the 2024 Mayors’ Short Story Challenge.
An initiative of District Council of Yankalilla, City of Victor Harbor and Alexandrina Council, the Challenge is about encouraging school aged children from reception to year 10 to let their imaginations run wild and share stories through creative writing.
The following story written by Buffy, recently won the Mayor’s Short Story Competition for the whole of the Alexandrina region. Buffy was inspired to write it by the time she spends down by the lake watching the pelicans.
Buffy is homeschooled here in Milang and came top out of 446 entries, needless to say her family are rather proud of her. Congratulations Buffy!!
When the Pelicans Come
I ran. I kept on running. I left the sound of screams behind me. I wanted to turn back. I wanted to run into my bedroom and bury myself in the pillows. But my bedroom and the rest of my home was no more. The sound of the explosion was still ringing in my ears. Mum was dead. Dad was dead. Lucy my puppy was dead. I was the only one left.
Last night when passing over, the enemy had dropped a bomb on my neighbourhood. I had only escaped because my parents had thrown me out of the window into the river next to my house. And so I ran. For a long time. Soon I came to the remains of an old village. I collapsed onto the ground and cried until I could hardly breathe. I was tired and hungry and heartbroken. My family, whom I had known and loved for ten years, were gone. I would never see them again. And my poor little Lucy, she had only been four months old.
I slowly dragged myself up. I was covered in cuts and bruises. My clothes were wet from the river’s water.
I walked deeper into the village. Soon I saw that the village was on the edge of a huge lake. I ran with the strength I had left to the water and splashed it on my face. Then I fell asleep on the sand.
When I woke up I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep. It was night and the moon cast a shadow over the lake. I heard wingbeats of a huge creature. Then I saw her. She was a pelican. But like no pelican humankind has ever set eyes on. She was two metres tall and very beautiful. Her eyes were gentle and sad. And on the sides of her eyes were two silver teardrop-shaped feathers. Her beak was snow white. She bent down, as if bowing, and I found myself climbing onto the beautiful creature’s back. WHOOSH. Up she flew. Over the lake we went. Water sprayed onto me, and despite my sadness I laughed. The moonlight shone on my face as I gazed up to the stars. Soon the pelican had brought me back to the shore. I slipped off her back, and she bowed her head, leaped into the air, and was gone.
I walked up to an old oak tree and leaned against it. My tummy rumbled. I hadn’t eaten in ages. Then as if it had heard my thoughts (or my tummy) a pelican appeared, dropped a fish at my feet, and flew away. The fish flopped about, gave me a mournful glance, and was still. I recoiled. I didn’t think I was going to eat a fish. I didn’t even have anything to cook it with. Maybe I would find something in one of the houses.
I walked through an old cottage, looking for any sign of food. I found the kitchen and started looking. In the cupboard I found a box of bran flakes and some stale bread. That would have to do. The bran flakes were also stale and I nearly chipped a tooth on the bread.
The sun was just coming over the horizon. I thought of Mum and Dad and Lucy. A tear trickled down my cheek, and soon I was shaking and crying and leaning against the wall for support. It was too much for me to bear. I sank to the ground, still crying uncontrollably.
I spent the rest of the day wandering round the village looking for food. I found some gardens full of berries and tomatoes, growing wildly from not being trimmed.
When dusk was falling once again I went to the water’s edge. Hoping to see the pelican again. I told myself it had been a dream. I told myself I wouldn’t see her again. But I did.
Down she flew and once more I had those few minutes where I forgot all my sorrows. When we landed she turned to me. I looked deep into her beautiful eyes. Suddenly my mind was filled with voices. Voices calling to me. Voices telling me I’d be okay. Then she spoke. With a voice softer than silk, harder than stone, warmer than fire, colder than ice, and sad. It was that voice that came from the pelican. “Come here tomorrow night and I’ll show you,” she said, and left.
The next day I rested. In the morning I went to pick berries and tomatoes. In the afternoon I ate the last bran flakes. In the evening I sat down and cried for Mum, Dad and Lucy. When I had wiped away my tears and sat up I heard voices coming towards me. I jumped up and quickly climbed the old oak tree.
I was glad I did. Round an old building came two soldiers dressed in the enemy’s uniform. They were both eating spaghetti from a tin. Even though I was hungry I needed to throw up.
“This food’s jolly good, ain’ tha’ roit, Raymond?” said the first one. he had a strange accent.
“Totally man,” said Raymond. He wiped some sauce off his face with his sleeve.
A spider crawled across my hand. I quietly brushed it off. A swallow came and grabbed it, then brought it back to her nest where there were three hungry chicks waiting for her to feed them. I tried to move up to get a closer look when, SNAP! I had moved my feet onto thin branches and they couldn’t hold my weight. I scrambled back into the tree.
“Wor that Rick?” said Raymond.
“Oi don’ know, let’s go ‘ave ‘er look,” said Rick.
I held my breath. They were about to find me. I felt my way backwards, still looking at the approaching men. SPLASH. I fell backwards into a wide hole in the trunk of the ancient oak tree.
Down I plunged through the water. The cold flooded through my clothes. I shivered. I was starting to lose my breath, I couldn’t hold it forever. And I couldn’t swim up because the water was pressing down on me like a boulder.
It was dark but I could see old crumbling stones surrounding me. I looked closer at part of the wall. There was writing. It said
THE WELL OF THE PELICAN 1273
My chest felt like it was going to burst. I could feel darkness catching up at every second. I was going to die.
Then I heard a voice, softer than silk, harder than stone, warmer than fire, colder than ice, and sad. The voice of the pelican. “Come,” she said. “I am your happiness, your sadness and your hatred. I am your love.”
I held on to that. Then I took a deep breath, spread my wings, shook my tail, turning my piercing blue eyes op to the sky and said, “I’m coming.”