Enjoy some of the students’ responses to the "55 Fiction” writing challenge … to complete a short story in exactly 55 words to include a setting, one or more characters, a conflict and a resolution.

I place my hands softly on the ivory keys. Beginning, my racing heartbeat echoes inside my head. A joyous melody resonates through the theatre, my playing bringing a smile to the audience’s faces. Muscles tense, I take a relieved breath as my piece comes to a finish. My nerves dissipate, leaving me beaming with exhilaration.

Steph T

Deceitful. She burns bright, drawing all the vulnerable into her web. Luring them in with her mystique. She befriends everyone, But the mask hides her real persona. A persona full of darkness. Insecure, she uses her powers to manipulate others for her own protection. Yet as I watch I see what she's really destroying. Herself.

Sophie C

Mounds of menacing rocks sleep beneath my feet, their jagged edges pierce towards the horizon, a swarm of daggers. Death whispers just ahead of me as I stalk it further. A chasm gapes open like a frozen scream, yet adrenalin pushes me to the brim, rippling fear overrides the reluctance inside my brain. I jump.

Zoe A

Chase Manhire’s rapid typing was the only thing heard inside of his parents’ basement. He hadn’t an identity anymore - nothing but coffee and research defined him. Chase was a conspiracy theorist - one who intended to destroy McDonald’s fast-food empire. His hands shook. Two clicks and his dreams would become reality. The computer died. Chase screamed.

Pia S

I sit here, trapped in my own head. What can I write about? How do I fit it in 55 words? Dead to the outside world. An image flashes into view, an image of the many children lost, home-worked to death. Will I soon join them? Alas, there is no hope. And then an idea.

Stirling H

It’s time to go… We were chosen, out of 100; all eager for the job. Now, only three remain. Months of preparation, and now it’s time…. We leap into hyperspace, pressed back into our seats by unimaginable force… then, silence. We are here, and I can finally look out over our new discovery: Planet Earth.

Izzi A

Steam started to rise from the bland mush. Overcooked meat lay on the side of the plate. Sam dug his fork in, gulping nervously before taking his first and hopefully last mouthful of the meat. No one knew what was in the meat. He asked the lunch lady, she mouthed just two words. Horse meat.

Angus M

Timothy slowly crawled into his parent’s bedroom, feet dragging. He opened the drawer with difficulty, rifling through the objects. His pudgy hands pulled out the prized gun. He slowly stood up, and rounded the corner. His mother stood over him. She yelped and cowered in fear. He shot, and the plastic sucker hit the wall.

Max C