Focusing on the craft of Creative writing

Year 8 English students have been learning about the Science Fiction genre, analysing iconic, well-crafted short stories by Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut. 

Students learnt about science fiction conventions and examined the impactful writing choices within their prescribed texts. They then composed their own imaginative pieces, emulating some of the features they had learnt about. Here are some of their intriguing other-worldly encounters:

Vignette #1

The broken engine’s smoke seeped into the small ship Astran was cramped into. The emergency alarms blared out, the noise amalgamating with the sound of her furious typing, rapidly hunting for the coordinates of someplace safe. Most planets were still ravaged by war or completely destroyed. She could still see the fleets of the Kalerian battleships behind her, the explosions still close enough to hear. This escape ship wouldn’t last long so she had to find something quick. Letters and numbers mangled together into what one could only assume was her attempt at coordinates.
The thrusters clanked and creaked as the ship flew through the inky depths of space, striking her into the surface of an alien planet, seemingly untouched by any Kalerians or their allies. The sky above her reflected a blue colour, most likely from the light given by the closest star. The flora was mostly green in hue and there was no sign of any sentience currently, however she could make out the silhouette of something too geometrical to be a feature of the local terra. She espied down at the coordinates to confirm her suspicions. The screen held a visage of the planet with a name next to it.
Earth.
Astran swallowed the bile in her throat and heaved herself from the flaming debris of her stolen ship, reassuring herself that she would be fine. She absconded the Kalerian army and stole one of their escape ships. She could manage herself against humans, right?

Vignette #2 – Ella

The city hung suspended, mid-air, 3000 ft above the ground. A halo of light surrounded it, a lantern illuminating the eclipsed land above the clouds. It was comprised of many small floating islands connecting to a bigger central island. As we drew closer, we started to see ramshackle dark-wood houses, labyrinthine lanes and bustling lantern-lit markets. The island’s residents looked like ants scuttling around from where we were situated. Drawing closer, we started to see more features. They were tall, muscular and grey-skinned, all with long scars covering their bodies. They clomped around the city, talking, drinking, and hassling sellers to trade for swords and guns. My eyes drifted from them to small buildings at the edge of each island. There were people who were boarding cable cars that rode lines across the gap between islands. My eyes followed one line that went up to the magnificent central island. Looking closer, I realised that it was not a regular island, rather a colossal floating skyship with smaller ships surrounding it. Smoke puffed from chimneys, and light emanated from large arched windows and open doors, people walking in and out. We could see people seated around gold tables through the windows, each with candles and elaborate centrepieces shaped like birds and dragons. They talked, played cards, and put curious and colourful food into their red-lipped mouths. These people seemed to be the elite, dressed completely in gold and red, their arms painted in intricate patterns in gold paint that reflected the light that exuded from lanterns. Just as the sky turned black, we touched down into the bustling city and awaited what we knew would come.

Vignette #3 - Amelie

Sunlight dribbled through the entrance of the Smoo Cave, Its towering structure smothered the rest of the highlands, and water cascaded over the edge of the cave. Cannon secured his rope to a birch tree, its branches limp as it was battered with sun-stricken water. He clipped into the anchor and started his way down, droplets clapping him over the head with every release of the rope. Finally, darkness gripped him as he lowered himself down into the waist-deep river at last feeling a slight sense of relief even as bitter water seeped through his wetsuit. Cannon reached for the cave walls but instead felt scuttling legs crawl over his hands, shocked he yanked his hand away, and shone the headlamp. Thousands of spiders caked the walls, their legs twisting in all directions and beady eyes looked like staring into black holes. A sound, a slight murmur made Cannon flinch as it got louder, it was like a gagging sound or a quiet scream. Clunking footsteps cursed the rotting cave as splashes of water echoed through it. A creature that had been buried underground for years slid around the corner, its eyes flashing yellow, ribs only under a thin layer of skin and an arched neck like that of a giraffe but twisted and wrapped in violent curves. The thing had skin like leather, earless and blind with teeth as stained as a weathered ocean pier, spit fell from its mouth while a forked tongue flayed side to side. Terror shimmered through Cannon as he knew he was the monster’s prey, its feast that it had been waiting so long for.