Royston Writers Circle Story on a Postcard competition attracted a lot of top quality entries during the Royston Arts Festival. Author Sarah Harrison was charged with choosing the winners, and selected the following entries as the winners and runners up

Royston Writers' Circle Story on a Postcard competition attracted a lot of top quality entries during the Royston Arts Festival.

Author Sarah Harrison was charged with choosing the winners, and selected the following entries as the winners and runners up in the three age-group categories:

Under-11's

WINNER Jessica Davies

The Best Week Since Mum Left

Lily would sit by the computer and would wait for an email from her mum because she gets one from her every week. But this week is different. She gets home from school and finds a parcel and a card on the table, addressed to her from her mum. She was 5 when her mum left, now she is eleven. So it's been along time since she saw her. She opens the parcel and finds a hamster cage and in the card a �25 gift card for any pet shore. She begged her Dad to take her to get hamsters and supplies and he finally said OK.

She choose one white, one brown, one black and one grey hamster. It cost �20 plus food, a bottle, some toys and a big bed for them to sleep in. As soon as she got home she put them in their cage and started writing down possible names for them. In the end she decided on Fluffy, Nibbles, Cracker and Sniffer. She plays with each one every day for 15 minutes and they grew to love her. She still misses her mum but every time she plays with the hamsters she feels closer to her.

RUNNER UP Sakara Pritchard

The Story of Miss Piggy who wanted to go shopping but ended up in the Laundrette

Miss Piggy had saved up some money to go shopping in town. She put on a nice pretty dress, but as she walked out of her front door she tripped and broke the heel of her shoe! Miss Piggy decided to take a shortcut across the field, but it had been raining the night before which made it hard to walk. Then suddenly she slipped, landing in a deep puddle of mud. She decided shopping was cancelled and went to the laundrette. She got two plastic bags out of her handbag, ripped holes in them and put them on so she could put her clothes in the wash.

12-18's

WINNER Abigail Morris

I enter the lair. The sickly smell of perfume hangs in the air. Shedded skins lay on the floor. Posters of its gods, Cheryl Cole and Take That, hang on the wall. I hear footsteps of this hideous beast and dive under its nest. I lay for hours among the boxes of treasure and forgotten homework. Finally it leaves. The stench is even stronger now and I have to hold my nose as I continue the search for the holy DS. I see it on the high precipice called 'wardrobe'. I clamber over book with a strange language in it called algebra. I have it! Now to get out. Down on its desk, a leap over its treasure of magazines, on out of the door, to the safety of my own room. Mission accomplished!

RUNNER UP Charlotte Goldspring

The Loft

In the loft lurks a mysterious creature, with eyes as big as teacups and teeth as sharp as knives. And although he has claws like a tiger and feet webbed like a duck he is my friend and he is called Stig. I go to see him everyday give him breakfast lunch and tea and he is very grateful his favourite is chocolate sandwiches. His favourite game is hide and seek he will play this game for hours and I would too also. But I have to go to school and he knows it too. He makes me drag him round the loft until I finally win and I say

"I promise I will come back soon" and I do. Sometimes he sneaks down into my room at night and lies in the toy box at the end of my bed waiting for me to wake up. He creeps to the kitchen when everyone is asleep so he can get food for a midnight feast, he wakes me up exactly at midnight so he can share his midnight feast. In the morning he shakes me and whispers

"Come on wake up, Sleepy head! Time to go and play hide and seek" Yet nobody hears the jumping and thumping around in the loft.

Then comes the day when Stig starts to wonder about his family, and asks me "When will I see my family again?" and I say,

"Don't worry, I'll find them again - They will probably be in the loft a few houses along!"

Then the next day I write to '55, Strangeton Streets Loft, Strange City, YTV 6Y7.'

And he moves in with his family into a house by the sea front number '27 Tortton Street on the edge of Strange City DTR Y098.' And I write to them everyday of the week.

Over-18's

WINNER Shirley Clark

Last Post

Dear Mum, Dad and Suzie,

They told us we should write. Leave a message for you. Just I case, well you know. But soon as I was told I had to write I couldn't - story of my GCSE's eh Dad! Then I thought, what if, you know - and I really couldn't talk to you again. That really got me thinking.

We went on our last manoeuvre on Tuesday. I couldn't concentrate. The night crackled, with cordite and coughing. No-one spoke which made a change. Most of the time it felt like daylight -you would have loved the bangs and crashes Suzie. Then it stopped and was blacker than anywhere I'd ever been and every time the shelling stopped I thought about it again. My head swelled to the brim with the booming, then sucked empty by the silence but I kept thinking about you lot. So I decided I'd better do it. So here it is my last message, everything I need to say.

Mum - keep my room tidy, you know you love it

Suzie - look after my Playstation, oh and the olds!

Dad - I had to

There you go, done it. I can forget about all this now and look forward.

See you all soon,

Luv David

PS If you are reading this I probably won't be seeing you all soon

PPS Sorry Mum

RUNNER UP G Shepheard

A Pint of Bitter

Della grinned to herself as she clicked on her seatbelt. It had taken only a bandaged ankle and a false limp to hoodwink yet another gullible woman to offer her a lift.

Suddenly she learnt forward and grabbed the woman's handbag, simultaneously turning the steering wheel. The car hit the kerb and turned over. Della regained consciousness to hear the doctor call out "AO positive - 6 litres".

From the casualty trolley Della watched the doctor replace the donor card in the stolen bag. Preparing the drip he spoke kindly.

"Your companion died instantly but you'll be fine"

Jaw shattered, Della couldn't explain that she'd hijacked the car - and that it wasn't her handbag - that wasn't her RARE BLOOD GROUP......