Pre-elected story. Short Story and Poetry Competition 2010

The Silver Fox’s Tale

Once upon a time, a boy called Patrick lived with his grandfather Tom in a small house near the woods. Patrick was a handsome boy, with big brown eyes and short blonde hair. He used to ask his grandfather to tell him interesting stories, and Tom always did.
One day, his grandfather told him a tale about an incredible animal, a strange silver fox which was magic. It could fly and run very fast and it could also be invisible. Nobody ever saw it but Tom was sure it existed. Patrick believed him and since that day, he dreamt with the fox. He wished he could see it one day.
The years passed and Tom died. But Patrick was living in the same house with his son James. He was a good father: he played football with James and every evening they went to the woods for a walk or to collect fruits and vegetables. The little boy was very curious and loved it when his father told him stories. Every night Patrick told different stories to his son, once he told him the story of the fox. And James really liked it.
One day at twilight, Patrick’s son went alone to the woods. There he collected a lot of fruits. When he was getting back, he saw a very strange thing. He couldn’t distinguish it and went home feeling scared. He didn’t tell anything to his father.
The next day, he went again to the forest. He didn’t find any fruits this time but the odd thing appeared again and he could see it clearly. It was a fox; it was the silver magical fox. He couldn’t believe it! It was the animal from the story. James ran very quickly to his house to tell his dad what had happened. When he got there, he told everything to his father, who didn’t believe what he said.
The following day, James went again to the woods, this time only to look for the fox. Unexpectedly, a big bear appeared. It wanted to eat him. The boy ran but the bear caught him.
At the same time, Patrick went into the woods to look for his son. All of a sudden, he found him but, the bear was ready to eat him! Just at that moment, the fox appeared and killed the wild animal. Patrick was astonished: like his grandpa had said, the silver fox existed.


Pen name: Patrick P
Category A