Awarded 2nd Distinction in Short Story and Poetry Competition 2010.

The Mysterious Lake


It was a sunny summer day. My brother and I decided to go camping. We went to the Colomtre forest, the biggest and more dangerous forest of all.
When we arrived, we saw a beautiful big forest. A German told us where to stay and where the most dangerous areas were. At lunch time, my brother and I went to explore the area. It started to get dark and I began to walk home. Suddenly, a horrible rainstorm began.
I got lost and in desperation, I ran. That was a terrible mistake. I accidentally broke my leg and fell down under a tree. I tried to get up but I couldn’t. I stayed there for a while and when I could finally get up; I saw a giant animal coming to me. I was really afraid so I walked away as fast as I could. But it followed me and when it got closer, I saw it. It was a giant bear.
I began to scream asking for help but no one was close so nobody heard me. The bear got closer and I saw some big claws, a huge mouth and giant teeth. I panicked and ran away. Later, I looked behind and nothing was around me. Suddenly, I fainted. When I woke up, the rain had stopped and a really shiny sun was up in the sky. My leg was still hurting but I got up anyway. I looked for some water or fruits but I couldn’t find anything. I walked for two hours and sat on a rock to rest. I started walking again and after an hour, I discovered the most beautiful place on Earth. There was a lake, a little beach, a stone road, some mountains behind the lake and lots of beautiful animals in and around the lake. The water was pure and the sand was clean. I looked up in the map but it wasn’t there. I had discovered a lake! I stayed there and, as it was sunny, I decided to get into the water. My leg started to heal and I felt full of energy. The water felt warm and refreshing. I swam for four hours and, then, I rested on the clean, soft sand. When I woke up, it was already night. I had spent two days out of the camp and my brother should be very worried about me. But I didn’t want to leave that beautiful place! I marked that place on the map and remembered the view and the mountains. I also put some water on my empty bottle. I grabbed a lot of rocks to signal my way back and I began to walk back to the camp-site. As I was walking through the dark and scary forest, I missed that beautiful place more and more. But I had to return before night so I stopped thinking about it.
I arrived at the camp-site at eight o’clock and talked to my brother about the lake, the sand, the beautiful stones and the animals. I also showed him the map with the location. We agreed to go the next day.
We got up early in the morning and got on our way. We walked for hours through mountains and forests until we saw a lot of smoke at some distance. We started to run but when we arrived there, we found the place on fire. I felt destroyed, shocked and miserable. My magic land was burned!
My brother and I left the camp the next day, but I will never forget my strange and wonderful adventure. I still have my bottle of magic water and the best anecdote of all!


Pen name: Reginna Falangi
Category A