WELLINGTON COUNTY – The County of Wellington Library has announced the winners of the fourth annual Olive and Fred Robins Junior Short Story Contest.
It is open to Wellington County students attending Grades 4 to 6, who can submit original short stories between 500 and 750 words.
Grade 5 students Mia Swart and Logan Corrigan are the two 2021 top prize winners. Swart’s story follows.
MIA SWART
A Tale of Four Elements
By Mia Swart
I ran through the forest, my lungs aching. I was there because of my Grandma June. She’d been fine a few days ago, and then she wasn’t. I was only eleven, far too young for this kind of thing.
I felt like screaming, and crying, but I knew this was the time to act. So I called 911. When we reached the hospital she fell into a coma. The grave-faced doctors and nurses came. One nurse hurried to the back of the room and dialed a number on the phone. She talked for a while. Then the police came, and they talked to the doctors.
A policewoman walked over to me, and asked, ”What is your name?”
“Lily. Lily Heffleworth”
“And where are your parents?” she continued.
“I don’t have any.” A sob built up in my throat.
“Oh.” Her tone grew softer. “Lily, your grandmother is very sick. Did she eat anything strange?”
“No. Why?”
“This may be a bit of a shock,” she began, in an unwavering voice. “We suspect she may have been poisoned. Stay with me while we figure this out.”
I looked at my grandma and remembered something she said to me when I was little. “When you need guidance and no one can help, call on the help of the four elements.”
But what did that mean? I needed to find a place with the four elements. The forest! I didn’t think it was right, but it was worth a shot.
“Excuse me?” I said to the policewoman.
“Not now. Just wait a bit.”
I couldn’t wait! I turned and ran as fast as I could all the way to the edge of the forest. The sun peeked through the trees. It was later than I thought. It was already sunset and panic fell around me like a net. I was caught in its trap. Was my grandma dying? I broke into a run again, unaware of the eyes watching me. As I ran, I glanced back. A bear was watching me and I panicked. I saw its cubs playing but I ran past. The bear came even closer and I ran even faster. One of the cubs tried to imitate me, succeeding only in tripping over its feet.
I left the bears behind me and stopped running. I gasped for breath and when I looked around I realized that this place had the four elements. But it felt wrong, somehow. I sat down. What should I do now?
I could see the city through the trees but I was far away now. I heard the whirring blades of a helicopter. Searchlights! People were looking for me! I frantically searched for a place to hide. I was so close to saving my grandma. I hid in a tree with thick foliage. I really hoped it would hide me. I knew I shouldn’t have worn neon orange!
I tried to calm down and think about what to do next. What if I shouldn’t find places with the four elements, but people? What if I was meant to find them inside me? Earth for my body, Air for my breath, Water for my blood and Fire for my spirit. That felt right.
“Help me!” I murmured. Nothing happened. I was so emotional about the day’s events that I began to cry. “Help me!” I screamed.
The ground shook and a figure appeared. I thought she might be Earth. She said, “I will give you a test: fail and your grandma dies but succeed and she lives. That is the way of the world.”
She faded away and two flowers spiralled out of the ground. They looked identical. I touched them and realized one was cold, and the other warm. Cold for death and warmth for life. I grabbed the warm one and ran back, carefully veering away from the cubs.
At the hospital, my grandma was alone in the room, still asleep. I made tea from the plant. I brought the cup to her lips and a drop fell on her. She opened her eyes. It was already working! She drank the tea and became healthy again.
“You were right about the four elements,” I told her. Darn it, I was crying again.
The policewoman ran into the room and grabbed me. “Where were you? We were so worried!”
“She found the cure,” my grandma said, smiling.
“That ought to be quite a story!” the policewoman said, glancing at me.
I wonder if she’ll believe me.
