Aistí "World Book Day"

 

The Last 24hrs on Planet Earth!

“Everyone!  Pack your bags, find your family and get a rocket to fly to Mars because the WORLD is coming to an end.  It will be the last DAY on planet earth in exactly one week and four days from now”.  said the serious street performer.  The man across the street shouted back to him saying “No it’s not, you’re just going crazy “.  The gospel choir, harmonised back “Preach”.  Louis (the street performer) said, “You guys don’t know anything, for example.  Hey Tooke, (Lead singer in gospel choir) did you know that Butch (The man across the street) sells outdated food in his shop, and Maeve, did you know that your husband calls Honri, Henry”.”  That was harsh bro” said the hippie behind                                                                                             
“Louis it’s time to come in” said his mom as she was approaching him.  As they walked towards the house, she turned around and said “Sorry”.  Butch carried on helping Maeve with her groceries, the gospel choir carried on singing and Maeve carried on screaming to her husband over the phone.
“Now today is a very special DAY, do you know why “said Louis’ mom. “  Huh” Louis replied with a puzzled face. Zack his brother explained to him what was going to happen.
His mom showed him the letter the doctor sent her.”  Louis will be joining a mental health hospital in Chicago.  He will receive much more there in order to be ... less stupid I guess.  His brother Zack will be driving him, only if he is willing to, so that Louis will not be that furious or upset due to a doctor driving him”.( Louis did not agree to this matter but everyone else did).
“I’ll miss you,” sobbed his mom.  ”You’ll be back soon,” laughed dad. As they walked into Louis’ bedroom, they saw a note on the door, which said, “I’m really, really, sorry for acting like I was stupid, I really am not.  This might sound weird to you but here it goes.  It all started when I was turning twenty-three.  My friends and I went out for a couple of drinks in the club (I got drunk).  When I was drunk, I thought myself, all my life I have been a normal kid, playing with my friends on the Xbox, stealing candies from butches shop, but I wasn’t treated nicely .....  Which is another thing I was meant to tell you about ..., and then it hit me.  I said why not try act differently by being a bit stupid, which I did, and my life had changed then. - Sincerely Louis.  
Three years later Louis came knocking at the door.  He had a book in his hand, it turned out to be a BOOK he wrote himself, it was his life and carrier ..., which he did not have...  Louis came back a changed man.

Natasha Ní Chionnaith

 

World War III

Since January, Donald Trump has confessed he was building a wall between the Americans and the Mexicans and there were rumours of putting Hillary Clinton in prison. I was reading a book when I heard breaking news, someone nearly assasinated Trump and unlucky Ireland, the assasin was Irish. I knew this Day would come, the start of World War III.
We didn’t have much time, Trump is coming and he brought armed security with him and are coming to Ireland as soon as possible. We are all in danger. I was trying to sleep when suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. It was Hillary Clinton. I let her in. She told us about Trump’s plans and if Trumps guards found us, we’d be armed because Hillary Clinton had some weaponry for me to protect myself
I read my Book once more until Trump’s guards found us. There weren’t many because most of the other guards were fighting the Army. Suddenly, I saw a helicopter approaching on the horizon and, it was Trump. I had no choice but to aim my weapon. I threatened him to stop this war and take Ireland out of his list of actions or I’d kill him. Trump had no choice but to stop it all and leave Ireland once and for all. He agreed and Trump would never show his face in Ireland ever again.

Marcus

 

African Adventure

Every year my Mom and I travel around the world, to read books to children that are in poor parts of the world. In one day, we read a book out of my Mom's collection of books. We have great fun doing all this nice stuff for these children.

One year, we went to Africa. I met a couple of new friends. The children were caring, nice and respectful. One night, we stayed in one of the houses. The conditions were poor. The floors were dirty. Then I realised how they were very sick the food was rotten and out of date in fact a few weeks out of date. The bed was dirty. It hadn’t cleaned for a few months. My Mom and I decided to clean up their house. We found rat poo, half-eaten biscuits, sandwiches and other stuff similar to that.

We then moved on to an even more rural area. It had giraffes which we got to feed, Lions, Cheetahs, Elephants and a Snake. This town has suffered a lot of deaths by animals. We only spent a day because there was only one school. They asked me “how is life in the City?”. I replied good but not as good as here. Here you see wild animals which you don’t see back at home”. The children really liked the books so we gave them each a book to read. We would come back in two weeks to see how they were getting on.

We gave each town something to remember.

My Mom and I moved onto the capital city of England, London. We went to a school in Essex. The children were nice but some of them were spoiled and disrespectful. When we read the book out to them, they started talking. Their teacher told them to be quiet, but they wouldn’t be quiet. My mom and I decided to stop reading, and left.

This shows you that children in poor countries are told to deal with it if they have no money. In rich countries, they’re told “Ok hun, you can get that even if it costs €500.” Spoiled children don’t care if their mom and dad put a lot of effort into stuff for them.

Dónal Ó Cannáin

 

 

The Dare

The day started off great , but it went downhill from then. It felt like went from one world to another.
Lucy, Ella and I were playing a boisterous game of truth or dare. We were walking to the library to do our homework, well supposedly, but I knew Lucy and Ella would just mess about. “It's your go,” they said sounding let down because they knew I am usually a chicken. I said “Dare”. They were so amazed. “Go to McCarthy’s and steal a book” said Ella. Lucy’s jaw dropped. I felt like I was going to burst into tears. I said “steal a book? Sure easy peasy”, I said trying to sound confident, but they knew I was nervous.
I grabbed the book. It was the cheapest book in the shop “Billy’s World Book”. I shoved it up my ugly blue school cardigan. My face was like an apple it was deep red. I looked around casually but people stared in suspicion. I raced to the door and then the burglar alarm went off. I looked outside. I ran as fast as a lightning bolt.
The guards came in a matter of seconds. My heart was pounding like a drum. I never thought of myself as a thief. The guards asked why would I steal what seemed like a useless old baby book. I explained the entire story to them and they completely understood  the whole thing. My parents were called and the look on their faces was one of shame. That look was enough for me to learn never to steal again.

Saoirse Ní Ghairbhith

 

The Keyhole

“Ian Corrigan” I replied.  This was going to be one of a million questions. Not surprised that “what’s the name?” be the first one. The receptionist finished her million questions, then asked if anyone was with me. “Nope, not inviting the in-laws over,” I joked. She clearly wasn’t in a jokey mood because she glared at me as if she was giving me a death wish whilst giving me my room key. “339” she mumbled. Well I wasn’t exactly expecting... Enjoy your stay”

Because it was only a shabby motel, I had to pull in because it’s dangerous to drive at night without lights, plus I have an important interview in the morning. From all the motels in the WORLD, I had to choose this one.

I stumbled down the hallway, leaning on a wall, trying not to fall asleep. I eventually reached my floor, which wasn’t hard since this isn’t a big motel. I was about to put my key in the door when I heard the faint sound of a piano. I seemed to be coming from the room beside me. I put my back against the wall, listening to the soft melody. I soon grew curious about who was playing the beautiful song. I decided to peek through the keyhole. I saw the back and side of the most beautiful girl racing her fingers up and down the piano effortlessly.

The music kept on getting louder and louder until I couldn’t bear it any more. I went up to my bathroom and banged the wall several times very loudly. Suddenly, the music stopped. I went back to the bed and thought to myself for a while about a book I was reading. I was about to nod off when it started again. “Right, that’s it!” I said. I put my jacket on and stormed out of my room towards the mystery woman’s room. I knocked on the door several times, but the music continued. I looked through the keyhole, but the woman wasn’t there. The music still rang through my ears. Suddenly, I felt warm breathing on the back of my neck. “I’ve been waiting, Ian”, a woman’s voice whispered through my ears. It sent shivers down my spine. Too scared to reply, I simply turned around. I saw a ghost-like figure. Half her face was pretty and flawless, but the other half was bloody. “Not having a good day, are you pal? Why the long face?,” she said warmly. But there was something sinister about her voice that made me nervous. Suddenly, I felt a blunt pain at the side of my head. She had hit me with something. Well, this is it, the end. Curiosity killed the cat.

Sophia Ní Shealbhaigh

 

Stalked

Mondays. I hate them. They are the worst day of the week. At least today I had no school because of some sort of teachers meeting. I started walking to my friend’s house. The streets were crowded so I went through an alley. I was nearly out of the alley when something grabbed my foot.
I turned sharply and lashed out a kick. It was a homeless man. I could just tell. “Help me!” he wailed. “Take this book and free me from my burden”. “Please” he wailed again. I grabbed the book and I ran and ran and ran.
I reached my friends house sweaty and tired. I rang the doorbell and my friend Sam opened the door. “What happened to you?” he asked. “I’ll tell you in a sec”. I gasped struggling to catch my breath.
I told Sam everything and the first thing he said was. “Open it”. Inside the book I saw symbols and pictures. I saw some sort of portal in most of the pictures. On the last page written in English were the words. “PROTECT THE PORTAL KEY FROM THE BONE MAN.” “Who is the bone man?”, I asked. I heard Sam scream. He was looking out the window. I turned and gasped to see a thin pale man wearing a shredded suit staring at us. Then he smashed the window.
We ran out of the house and out into the cold air. I glanced back, but the man wasn’t there. I stopped abruptly and looked around. The man was nowhere to be found. “What in the world were you thinking, taking that book?” shouted Sam. I’m going home, he said. Then he stormed off. I started walking home. It was getting dark when the house was in my sight. I passed a bush and went around a corner. A woman smiled at me, and I smiled back. Her purse fell out of her bag. She didn’t notice, and walked around the corner. I picked up the purse and followed her to give it back to her. The lady was on the ground, and there was blood pouring from her chest. Standing above her was the bone man.
I ran on to the road and the bone man followed. He pushed me onto the ground and he pulled out a serrated knife. Before he could do anything, a car ran him over. “You can drive?” I asked. “Umm, no,” he said, frowning. “That won’t kill him,” I warned. “Is that your car?” I asked. “Nope,” he replied. We put the bone man in the car, put a hole in the tank, lit a match and blew up the car. Hopefully, that did the job.
I strolled up to the portal and Sam screamed “Adventure!” and we ran to the portal.

Conchubhair Donaldson

 

 

MY MAGIC BOOK STALL

My name is Theresa and I love books. Books are my life and they are with me everywhere I go. If you looked at me, you would think that I was a normal elderly lady, maybe a librarian, but you'd be wrong. I have travelled the WORLD with my little pop-up book stall, teaching children and adults to read and to enjoy reading.

My story began a couple of years ago, when I was walking around the market. I came across a colourful BOOK stall and I was immediately drawn to it. There were rows and rows of wonderful books. The man behind the counter caught me staring in awe and called me closer. He explained to me that his pop-up stall that I was touching with my own hands had been to China, India, Israel and many more places. I wondered how long it must have taken him to get to these places and why he would want to travel there. My question was soon answered. The man handed me a well kept blue book. I opened it and on the first page the word “magic” was underlined. I stared at the man in disbelief. Then he told me to sit down beside him and he explained everything to me.

He had travelled the world to teach people to read and to give them books. He told me that the book stall was magical and that he was getting too old to run it. The old man was looking for someone to take over his book stall for him. To my amazement this old man was asking me. “You are the chosen one” he slowly added. I am still to this DAY travelling with the magic book stall and bringing the joy of books to people in near and far away places.

Aislinn Ní Mhídeach-Muirí

 

 

MY FATHER

I pulled my hand up to my nose. Unsurprisingly, I saw blood trickle down my hand going into my sleeve. I looked up expecting pity: how foolish of me. I took yet another blow to the stomach. Suddenly I was stripped of my belongings. I watched as my school bag was tipped upside down. Everything I owned fell onto the pavement. My books hit the mud. “How’d you like that?” my class mate smirked. I looked away without answering.
As I walked home, I realised how much I hated the world. Not just on this day but ever since I was born. I was born with misfortune. Only have an hour after my mother gave birth she had died of labour complications.
My father wasn’t like other fathers. He had to do everything in the house. Through all the misfortune, he stayed by my side, and supported me in everything I did. Today was worse than ever. Like a lot of days, I was beaten up by some of my classmates. They seem to pick on me because I’m a bit different. I think it’s just because I had no mum. That isn’t fair, but those bullies aren’t very fair anyway.
I reached my doorstep. My father greeted me with open arms and asked “what’s wrong?” I burst into tears and we walked inside. How I prayed he’d never leave my side.

Allanagh Ní Mhaolchróin

 

 

MY BIG DAY

Today is the day I have been waiting for: my birthday! I woke up and began to run down stairs. I saw my mum holding a bag full of presents.
First I had to blow out the candles on my cake. I made a wish to travel around the world. I got a lot of stuff. I got make up, candy and shoes. There was a card as well. I opened it and look inside. After I saw what was inside, I jumped in the air screaming with joy. It was a trip to Hawaii. We were going in a week. I looked at my mum and ran to her to hug her. I said ‘thank you’ about 10 times.
We got to Hawaii. It is the best. It’s sunny all the time, not like Ireland where it is always raining. I met new people. I met a girl. Her name was Holly. We are best friends. Too bad I will have to go in about five days but I will try to have as much fun as I can get.
I got a book from the shop. It is about the island and it teaches words that the people speak here on the island.
When Friday came, I had to go back to Ireland. I was sad going home.  

Sinéad Ní Dhubhlaigh  

 

 

Mary’s Adventure

Hello my name is Mary.

I own a lovely little gift shop in Co. Mayo. This shop has been in my family for generations. It’s my home! Today I got a delivery of stuff for my shop. I opened the door and a gust of air swarmed in. I put the flowers on display. It was a lovely DAY and I had a lot of customers bursting through the door! Just as I sat down my sister Rose charged in. She had a massive order of books! I knew then that it was going to be a long busy DAY!

When it was my break, I closed up the shop for the day and went to the beach. I packed a picnic, a sun hat, sun glasses, a big umbrella, a blanket and my BOOK. I set up the umbrella and the blanket. Then I put the picnic basket on the blanket. I went to get an ice-cream and I met my friend Bríd. We had lunch at 1:30pm. We talked until Bríd had to go. Then I lay down and read my BOOK. At 3:05pm I went home!

That night I couldn’t sleep! I kept thinking about how busy I am and that I should have a break from work. So I decided to go and visit Bríd and ask if I could buy her boat. She agreed if I paid her with two crates of books. I agreed and went home to get my luggage ready. It took me ages to pack everything. I managed to get four or five hours of sleep.

The next morning, I closed up the shop and I put up a sign that said “I am gone on holidays for a few months. Be back soon!” Then I drove down to Bríd who was waiting with the boat and she was wearing a princess outfit!  “What in the WORLD are you wearing?” I asked.” I am reading for the little kids in playschool today” she said “have  you got my lovely books?” “Yes” I said quickly. After that, I waved to Bríd and set off on my adventure around the WORLD! You can never be too old to do something great! Who sits around and does nothing! Not me that’s for sure!  You can have a blast instead! Bye for now!

Niamh Ní Philbín

 

 

Murder Of The Eclipse

A few days ago it was world book day. World Book Day is a charity event held annually in the UK and Ireland on the first Thursday in March. At school you would usually get a little coupon to get a specific amount of money off a book.
When I got to the book store, Eason’s, I couldn’t find a book so I went into the older children section. I eventually found the perfect book. It was called ‘ Murder Of The Eclipse’. It was a non-fiction book. I also found the book interesting because it was based in the town I lived in, Chester field. The book was about a town called Chester field, as I mentioned earlier, anyways there is a murder every eclipse. the thing is though the murder happens at the exact same time every year  12:33am. It’s now been happening for seven years now. The Gardaí have tried to capture the murderer many, many years but have failed.
They have checked to see was there anything with the murderer’s finger prints, but nothing. They can’t check cameras because the murderer does it at the suspect’s house, in the middle of nowhere.
The next eclipse was coming up, and I knew there’d be an attempt at murder. I was thinking about who I knew that lived out in the middle of nowhere. My cousin Emer, my auntie and uncle Caoimhe and Gary, my granny and granddad Emily and Richard and my mum and dads friends Sinead  and Alex. It could be any of them…or none of them.
The eclipse was tomorrow! I was wishing it wouldn’t be any of them. I’d be so sad if it turns out to be one of them.  However,  they aren’t the only people that live out in the middle of nowhere.
The eclipse was last night. The person who was murdered was Sean Danes. I felt really lucky because he lives beside my granny and my granddad. I heard that the murderer might even do it twice this year.
After three weeks, one night I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. It wasn’t my mum or my dad. They were asleep. It was 12.33am. I saw a big figure opening my door…

Leah Ní Raghallaigh

 

 

Silent Torture

I closed my book and turned off my purple bedside table lamp. Even a good read couldn’t cheer me up after what had happened today at school. I wish I could live in some other world far, far away with nothing to worry about except weather it would be sunny, or very sunny on that particular day. Nothing to worry about except the amount of sweets the champion of the sweet-eating contest would eat this time. Nothing like tests, school plays or bullies....
The lump on my forehead was still throbbing after the encounter with Jessica Parsons in the school playground. I didn’t have her homework done for her and she was already in a bad mood after Miss Loftus gave out to her about, “The importance of listening in class....” I was supposed to write an essay for “The Queen.” (As people call Jessica). I felt terrible that I had forgotten about it. I was so selfish to only do my own essay and not hers too. She was relying on me to have it done for her and I betrayed her. “Losers”, like me, would always die for a chance like this. To get to be involved with popular kids like Jessica Parsons...
I don’t blame Jessica. If I were her, I would be pretty angry. Then again, I probably wouldn’t get someone to write an essay for me....  I don’t really remember what happened. Come to think of it, I don’t really want to remember what happened. She just came at me. I could see a fist hurtling towards my face. The next minute I was sitting on a chair in the principal’s office, holding an ice pack to my head. Jessica forced me to say that I had hit my head off a wall. And yes, it is just as stupid as it sounds. Nobody had seen that side of Jessica before. It must have had a bad impact on her “reputation” because when school was over, she blackmailed me into doing all of her homework for the next week!
I’m scared and I don’t know what to do. Bullying was always something I was afraid of. I think I’m going to tell my parents. Jessica wouldn’t like that but I guess it’s the best thing to do right now.  I you ever see someone being bullied, don’t IGNORE IT.

Éabha Nic Giolla Bhríde.

 

 

A Day in the Trenches

During WORLD War II, you didn’t have much of a chance of survival. I was twenty when I was recruited, and I wasn’t the youngest in the trenches. There were men as young as sixteen there too. Even though we were so young there were no exceptions. We had the same jobs as the other soldiers, we were still put in the line of fire and, worst of all, we took part in the execution of our own soldiers. Every DAY I wished I could leave the mess that we had made.
One morning I was tasked to help dig the tunnel to the Nazi trench, which would then be loaded with explosives to give them a nasty shock. I knew that we weren’t doing the right thing, even though many believed so. Once the tunnel was finished we heaved the explosives down the narrow, uneven tunnel. We then had to connect a fuse to the explosives bring it back down the tunnel and light it.
I watched the explosion happen in the distance. I continued down the trenches to the letter sorters. Their station was a hole with a spindly-legged desk. I stated my name to the man at the desk and waited. After a while, the man came back with a small package. He handed it to me without a word. I immediately tore through the paper. Inside there was a small BOOK and a picture of my family.
Suddenly I heard the gas sirens wailing. I could see the gas coming from either side of the trench. I put the gas mask on, but I had inhaled a tiny amount! I saw fog in front of my eyes and my senses dulling. I woke up three weeks later in a hospital, glad to know that someone was watching over me.

Elliot Ó Nualláin

 

 

Chelsea vs Leeds!

Wow I couldn’t believe it. We’re actually here. My Dad and I got out of the taxi and stared at the massive stadium in front of us. Dad paid the taxi driver and off we went.
Today, Chelsea were playing Leeds in the F.A. Cup semi-final. I support Chelsea and my Dad supports Leeds so there was a bit of rivalry between us. I couldn’t  wait to go inside the stadium and get seated. We had an hour to spare so we went into the stadium and got something to eat.
After we had eaten we had to rush to our seats because the match was about to start. We were seated down at the very bottom, in the corner. That meant we didn’t have the best of views but we were very close to the players.
After a couple of minutes, Chelsea went one-nil up with a lovely free kick from David Luiz. I have a BOOK at home about Chelsea. It tells you all about the Chelsea players and there is an article about David Luiz. It says that even though he is a defender, taking free-kicks is one of the best things about him.
But then, on the stroke of halftime, Leeds equalised. I was mad because it was one of the luckiest I’ll ever see. Chris Wood headed the ball towards goal, but it hit the post and bounced off the keepers back and into the goal. All I can tell you is I was not happy at halftime.
The atmosphere was great when the second half began but there was no point because the game lagged until the very last minute.
Penalty! Chelsea won a penalty and who else but Eden Hazard would take it. I was so nervous but, to make a long story short, he scored it. He ran over to where I was sitting, he took off his jersey and threw it into the crowd. Fortunately for me, I was the one who caught it and I kept it tight so no one could grab it. Stamford Bridge went berserk shouting and celebrating.
In the end, Chelsea won. I had a great DAY. Chelsea won and I got the shirt from one of the best players in the WORLD. On the other hand, my Dad wasn’t too happy but who cares, Chelsea won!

Odhrán Ó Domhnaill                                               

 

 

My Best Birthday

I woke up not only to see my family singing happy birthday to me with a huge present right at the end of the bed. I was very excited. I ripped off the wrapping paper and threw it on the ground. I turned over the box and saw a picture of a metal detector. I asked my mum if we could go to the beach today. My mum said “yes”. We all got in the car and I brought my metal detector.                                                                                                                                      
When we got there, I ran out of the car and onto the beach. At half two, I discovered my first find. It looked like a gold ring. I was very happy with my find so i put it in my bag and kept searching. I was listening for beeping but heard something different. My mum was calling me. I ran back to her and we had a picnic, a nice roll. It was getting late and my mum said that we had been here for nearly the whole day. We decided to go home but, just as we were walking to our car, I heard it beep again. We dug up the sand and saw a metal plated book. It was a large book, and very old. We brought it home with us.
Inside the book, I found a map with a red dot on it. The red dot was only a ten-minute walk from our house, so my mum said we would go there tomorrow. I got up in the morning and got ready to solve that mystery. All I had to do now was take one right turn and then we’d be there. What I saw was incredible. It was a spaceship. We all got in and buckled up. My dad flew us to a new world.

Charlie Rawson

 

Bookworm

‘Vanessa! Vanessa! VANESSA!’ Mom called from the hall. ‘What !!?  I’m trying to snapchat !’ I screamed. ‘Get downstairs and do your homework, young lady’! ‘Ughh’ I groaned on my way downstairs. All I had left was history. Reading. I hated reading. It was the most boring thing in the whole WORLD! I would never pick up a BOOK and read as a luxury. I’d rather post a picture on Instragram and snapchat or vlog on YouTube. After my homework I texted my friends and went on social media for a while.
You will never believe what Miss Finley did this morning! She confiscated our phones and all forms of technology! She said ‘Oh you spend too much time on your phones. Express yourselves and try something new for a change.’ ‘‘Nooo’’ we all groaned. First my friend and I went and played Gaelic. I wasn’t the best but it was fun. Next I went to art. I knew I was good. But I didn’t  notice I was really good as I  always stuck my head in my phone the minute I finished. I admired my work. Beautiful.  Next we all went to the library.               
The library. Reading! I was going to be so bored. Everybody had their head in a BOOK but me. This was going to be a boring DAY. After a while I got fed up sitting and picked up a BOOK. I started reading. I actually enjoyed it a bit. I loved how the author made pictures in your head. For the past week, I’ve been going to the library. I even signed up for Book Club. Miss Finley told me I had taken quite an interest in books. I replied “ It’s good to take a break from the internet, and maybe you’ll discover something new one DAY!”

Gráinne Ikele

 

 

The Last Book

It was, quite frankly, terrifying, to have the last book in the world in my hands.  Its cover was tattered and torn, yet I knew that most people would now pay millions for it.  I remembered the old man who had given it to me, his eyes frantic and wild. He had kept glancing anxiously over his shoulder, his arms twitching and jerking, like a broken-down machine.  He had thrust it into my arms while muttering quietly to himself. I caught snatches of his conversation, something about “must help” and “before the day is done”.  He had then hobbled off, still muttering and twitching.  I was left with the book in my hands and no idea what to do.

Naturally, I went home and started texting my friends.  None of them cared that much, or they thought I was joking.  They had probably never even seen a real book before in their lives.  I suddenly heard my mum coming up the stairs.  Shoving the book under my pillow, I sat up straight on my bed. She passed by my room and entered my brother’s instead.  I sighed softly with relief and brought the book out from under my pillow.  I opened it up and was strongly reminded of the stale, musty smell of the museum my mother had made me go to when I was younger.  The books from the museum had been taken away a long time ago, yet I still remembered the smell.

I shook the thoughts out of my head and started to concentrate on the words that were printed on the first page.  I quickly became engrossed in the story, which was about a young girl called Katy

When my brother suddenly burst into my room, I was unprepared.  I snapped the book shut and said coldly;
“Can you please leave?”
“Is that a book?” he asked, ignoring my request and sitting down beside me.
“It is, yeah.” I replied. “What should we do?”
He thought for a second.
“We’ll hide it somewhere.” he announced
I laughed.
“This is probably one of the last books on earth and you just want to throw it in the attic?”
He sighed
“We’ll hide it for now. We’ll figure stuff out about it later. Agreed?”
“Agreed”
Little did I know that this was only the start of our adventures…

Caitríona Seoighe

 

The Triangle

I looked down at my watch, there wasn’t long left, an hour or so. I took out my BOOK slowly and began reading. Five minutes later the speaker crackled to life. “We are now entering the Bermuda triangle, we hope to be landing within one hour” the pilot said, his voice echoing off the aluminum walls. I began reading once more.

I noticed it before most. A slight shudder getting worse and worse. Within five minutes almost everyone was whispering with their family, or the people next to them. The pilot’s voice rang down through the plane, “Can everyone please stay seated, we are suffering from some strong turbu- the plane shook suddenly as the left wing erupted in flames. Instantly, air masks fell down from compartments in the roof. I grabbed mine without being told and fixed it securely to my face. A young child behind me began crying, adding to the already horrendous noise. 

I looked out my window and noticed that the plane was turning in a slow spiral. The nose then began dipping towards the WORLD beneath us. The man next to me gripped his chair tightly, a look of pure fear on his face. Behind me, two children tried desperately to revive their unconscious Mother. Was today the DAY  I was to meet my maker?

Pádraig Ó Muirí

 

The Triangle (full version)

I looked down at my watch, there wasn’t long left, an hour or so. I took out my BOOK slowly and began reading. Five minutes later the speaker crackled to life. “We are now entering the Bermuda triangle, we hope to be landing within one hour” the pilot said, his voice echoing off the aluminum walls. I began reading once more.

I noticed it before most. A slight shudder getting worse and worse. Within five minutes almost everyone was whispering with their family, or the people next to them. The pilot’s voice rang down through the plane, “Can everyone please stay seated, we are suffering from some strong turbu- the plane shook suddenly as the left wing erupted in flames. Instantly, air masks fell down from compartments in the roof. I grabbed mine without being told and fixed it securely to my face. A young child behind me began crying, adding to the already horrendous noise. 

I looked out my window and noticed that the plane was turning in a slow spiral. The nose then began dipping towards the WORLDbeneath us. The man next to me gripped his chair tightly, a look of pure fear on his face. Behind me, two children tried desperately to revive their unconscious Mother.

We plummeted for no more than half a minute before landing in the sea. Water flooded in and began filling up at the back of the plane. I unbuckled my belt and began moving towards the nearest door which was no more than fifty feet away. I began moving but quickly realised it was pointless, the floor was already slippy from the water pouring in and it was too steep. I only had one chance. I hung onto the chair, lying flat on my stomach and released.

I slid quickly along the slippy floor. A splattering of water trailing me. I looked over my shoulder only to be greeted by a mouthful of salty water, I saw the door coming and reached out my arm. My fingers clipped the passing chairs as I prepared to grab onto the final one in the column. I was travelling very fast by this time and I wondered would I be able to hold the steel chair leg with my wet fingers, but there was no time to think about that as the door was about to pass by. I grabbed the chair and held on, but my fingers slid and the chair was released from my grip.

I was turned onto my side and I resumed my slide, but not for long. My ribs slammed into the next row and I cried out in pain. I looked down and noticed the water was getting dangerously close. I pulled myself to my feet and opened the door, the evacuation slide opened out. I began helping people out of their seats and pulling them to me using a scarf I found in the overhead luggage compartment. There were many more people left in the plane, but the water was getting too high and I escaped down the slide.

I landed in the water and noticed only the elderly people were left. “They swam to the island” an old man told me, gesturing to an island not far from where we were. There were three people in total still with me. “Can anyone here swim?” I asked, their silence answering my question. I sighed and grabbed a piece of debris from the plane. I got a firm grip on it and told them to hold on to it. I swam as hard and as fast as I could, but it was no use. We were making no progress and the debris was weighing me down. I only had one option, but I had to be fast.

I selected the fittest looking of the three and told him to hang onto the metal until I return. I then took the other two in both of my arms and started swimming. I swam and I swam until I reached the island.  I turned and began my trek back, but the metal was gone.

I looked around myself frantically, but there was no sign of the man or the debris anywhere. I looked down into the water.  Light filtered down in all directions but yet I could only see fifteen feet below me before everything disapeared into the dark murky sea below. I surfaced again gasping for breath. Many thoughts passed through my mind. Did I  just lead a man to his death?  Should I have brought him with me? Suddenly a noise came from behind me like a “plop”. I turned and waited for it to come again, “Plop, plop, plop” I knew exactly what it was, an air bubble breaking on the surface of the water.

I sucked in a mouthful of air and dove down. I kept swimming deeper and deeper, following the trail of bubbles. There was now a sharp pain running from my ears to my nose. I squinted my eyes and kept swimming. When I reached him he was unconscious, his head floating freely in the water. I pulled him over my shoulder and began swimming towards the weak light coming from the sun. My lungs were screaming at this point and I wasn’t sure whether or not I was going to reach the surface before passing out.

I burst out of the water and began gasping for air, I was very light-headed and I was worried I might pass out at any moment but luckily I didn’t. I stayed where I was for almost two minutes before resuming my swim to the island. When we reached the beach I began trying to revive the old man. It took more then five minutes, but he finally began coughing up the water and regained consciousness. I searched the island for the others and eventually found them in a makeshift tent in the trees made of bamboo and tied together with vines. Two men and a woman along with the other two I had rescued. We searched for supplies until nightfall before retiring to our beds of leaves and grass.

I woke up late that morning. The sun had risen and was shining harshly down on the island. I sat up and a sharp pain ran through my chest, it’s epicentre being where the chair struck my ribs. A wave of guilt washed over me the moment I thought of the plane. I knew I couldn’t have saved any more but I could still hear the crying children and their faces, soaked in fear looking at me, pleading with me to save them. Their eyes deep with worry as they watched their only chance at survival leaving them. I cleared the thought from my mind,  but it was soon to be replaced with a new one, one that made the harsh sun and constant mosquito bites seem like nothing. Running from one of the beds was a trail of blood, its dark colour glinting in the light.
 
I gasped, waking everyone in doing so. They looked at me quizzically, I didn’t turn towards them or even cast them a glance. I stayed staring blankly towards the blood. That’s when people started looking. At first there was gasps, then screams. An older man ran over and started crying by the bed. “No” he muttered “No”, he slammed his fist on the bed. “We need to find her” he announced, “She’s gone” the man next to me said. The old man glared at him, his eyes full of sadness, “We need to find her” he repeated before turning and following the blood trail out of the room.

We stood in silence, our breathing the only noise we made. “He’s right, whatever got her knows it has an easy meal with us. We need to kill it.” I said. No answer came. I turned and walked towards the exit. I had almost left when a voice came from behind me. “You’ll need weapons to kill it” the voice said. A smile spread across my face. I turned around. It was a small man who had spoken. “I’m a carpenter by trade, I can make any amount of weapons if you can get me the wood” he said again, a tinge of pride in his voice.

Three hours later, we were climbing through the thick forest. We followed the trail for a kilometre or so before it ran out. We continued on until we heard crying from behind a thick layer of trees. We peered through cautiously. Sitting amongst the branches, was the old man. Cradled in his arms was a rock, soaked in the same blood from the trail. “We always joked about this day” he whispered to the rock still cradling it in his arms “We just didn’t think it would happen like this”. A lone tear rolled down his cheek and along his jaw. It fell and landed on the blood covered rock, running down it and taking some of the wet blood with it.

From the trees I noticed some movement, a human-like shape gliding gracefully through the trees. I drew my bow. It stopped when it noticed the man, allowing me to see him clearly. He was in fact a human, with scars running all over his face. He wore a sinister smile his teeth sharpened like those of a tiger. He ran his tongue over his knife-like teeth once before pouncing. He leaped from the trees, his teeth ready to bite, but I was faster. I released the bow, a single arrow cut through the air and entered the man through the side of his head, killing him instantly. He fell from the sky and landed hard on the ground. The old man jumped from where he was sitting, dropping the stone to the ground. When he realised what had happened he turned to us and said two words, “Thank you”.

We heard the helicopter three days later, we all sprinted to the beach and tried to get its attention. It saw us and landed. We climbed on board and took off again. I gazed out the window towards the ocean, the silhouette of our plane just visible through the dark water.

Pádraig Ó Muirí

 

Syria

I woke up in shock. Bang Bang is all I could hear. I sat up in fear, even though I've been here all my life. I looked to see if my whole family was here as I do every morning. “One, Two, Three, Four…..F-“. My youngest brother was missing. I looked outside the tent in fear and worry. Scared families were everywhere…

Then I saw him. I sighed with relief. He was out gathering food for the family. I went out after telling my parents, found him, and helped gather more. In the end we had more than we've got in a year. Then we couldn't find our tent. We got scared. An army troop picked us up and brought us back to a huge tent.

They were teaching small, skinny kids to read and write. They were writing books. There was even a map of the world on the wall.  One kid stood up and read out “The world thinks that Syria is the worst place to live in the world…but it isn’t. Everyone is so welcoming and nice. The troops bring us food and teach us new things. They help to make it a better place…” Once she had finished, everyone, the troops and the kids, stood up and clapped.

The kids were here for many different reasons. Some were poor and wanted shelter. Some wanted education. Some just wanted friends because their friends had died. Some were simply lost. The troops came over to my brother and me to give us bread and said they were going to bring us back to our family. Our rough day wasn't so bad after all.

Finally, we arrived back at the tent. My parents were delighted and thanked the troops. We were safe and sound.

Aoife Ní Dhonnchú

 

 

World Book Day

I love World Book Day! Lots of books are on display in school and we can read them all. It’s very good as it gets a lot of kids into reading again.

The teacher handed out pieces of paper to everyone in the class. On the flyer it said ‘World Book Day‘. We could buy any book we wanted with the flyer for free as long as the book said World Book Day on it. The teacher said that a lot of books would be much cheaper so we could buy a lot.

When I went into the shop I picked three books. They were only one euro each. I got a book for free. It was all about the world. There were two others that looked really good too. When I went to the school the next day, my teacher said that there was going to be a stall with loads of different books. I looked in my bag knowing I’d find money somewhere. In the end, I found two euro which was amazing! I felt like I had one the lottery. I went in and picked two books that looked really good.

My bag was extra heavy when I went home. My Mum picked up my bag to take my lunch out and asked why it was so heavy. I told her all about World Book Day. I showed her all my books. I went upstairs and jumped into my bed and read my books. I love World Book Day.

Saoirse Ní Chathmhaoil

 

 

World Book Day

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a family called the Likins. The Likins didn’t have a lot of money, but the money they did have was wasted on poker and alcohol. The father was a bit out of his head but they loved him anyway.  Mind you he did win some but lost it again from the poker games he played.  But one day,  he came home with three truck loads of money, a BMWM6 and three tickets for New York. “When are we going?” said Billy. “Tomorrow, so get packing right now”. Billy was ecstatic. New York was the only place he wanted to go. Billy went to bed early that night.

The next day, Billy got up at two o’clock in the morning on the way to Knock Airport.  Billy was happy but nervous at the same time.  Two flights and an ice cream later, they arrived in JFK. In JFK, Thomas, Billy’s dad, called a taxi to take them to their hotel. Billy did lots of amazing stuff in New York but there came a time to go home. Here is some of the fun stuff that Billy did - go on a water slide with a shark tank in it, go to a water park, visit the Statue of Liberty and swim in the hotel pool. When Billy got home he bragged about his trip to all his friends.

Micí Ó Máille

 

 

First Night Homeless

There are first times for everything: the first time I spoke, the first time I drove a car, first time I was fired…
The same goes for your first night spent on the streets or in a homeless shelter. The first few nights are very tough. I spent twelve nights on the streets before getting into a homeless shelter. One DAY an old man came up to me and asked me if I would help him out in his convenience store. I could not believe my luck. I jumped up from under my ragged blanket and hugged him tightly. I was the happiest man in the WORLD right at that moment. He asked me if I could start tomorrow morning and I said “of course I can, it’s not like I’m busy here.”

I worked there for the best part of a year. After I left my job at the store I started working in a homeless shelter just around the corner from Temple Bar in Dublin. One night, a girl in her 30’s showed, and it was clear that it was her first nights homeless. She looked so alone and scared. She told me that she had lost her job a few months back and had been living with friends ever since until all welcomes had run out.

If you’ve never been homeless before it’s tough to describe the first night sleeping on the streets. Thousands of people around Ireland experience it every year. Together, we need to fix this crisis and help these people turn their lives around. If you were homeless, what would you do?

Seán Mac Suibhne

 

 

Running

My heart thumped as I raced down the narrow alleyway. I risked a glance over my shoulder. The flashing blue and red lights were still approaching, reflecting off the building on either side of the alley. I couldn’t see the police yet, but I could certainly hear them…

It was a Friday night and all the druggies and the rough people were out and the police were fairly busy. I thought they wouldn’t spot me but I didn’t know that they were right behind me in the shop that I stole from. When I turned around there they were, standing behind me. I dropped the things and ran. So far I had managed to keep ahead of them but I didn’t know how long the luck was going to last, as I was probably in the top ten unluckiest people in the WORLD. I was quite clumsy and bad luck seemed to follow me wherever I went.

I made a sharp turn and tried the doors of an abandoned building at the left side. It was open. I saw the patrol car race past as I entered it. From the outside it looked like an old house, but this place was a proper criminal hideout, and it looked like a drug-dealers place too. There were syringes on a table and boxes full of little bags containing white powder beneath it. It was small but useful and handy if you needed a place to get away from the guards. A door was at the other side of the room and it opened up into a room with some weird lights around loads of cannabis plants. Another door entered a large room with four single beds in it. I decided to stay here for a couple of nights. I went over to the shelf and got a BOOK with the title ‘How to grow your own drugs’, and started reading it. It didn’t really interest me but it was something to do at least. Growing drugs wasn’t really my thing, but buying them was. That’s why I stole. To get money for the things I took so I could buy more drugs. I didn’t lead a great life, but I couldn’t help myself.

I grew up in an awful, rough estate right in Dublin City Centre. My mother didn’t really care about us that much and most of us had different dads. I had four brothers and three sisters. On the first DAY of school I was sent home. I had been kicked out of three schools before I was even nine and I never bothered going anymore after that. I wasn’t even able to do my times tables. I am sixteen years old now and I am ashamed of myself, and I want to be a better person, but it’s so hard. I really want to get help but I never seem to bring myself together to call the helpline. I heard the wailing of police sirens suddenly and they seemed to be getting louder and louder. I sat on the chair and waited. I decided that if I wanted to be a better person, I should take my punishment. Someone had told the police about this place and I knew it. They were here now. The door burst open and five officers ran in. I’d say that they were expecting a ton of criminals to be here but they only got one, sitting on a chair looking at the wall. They slapped handcuffs on my wrists and took me away. I confessed to everything and I was charged with use if drugs, theft and other offences. I was sentenced to two years in prison but I got one year suspended .

When I came out, I felt like a different person. I felt like a man.

Meabh Dunlop

 

A Trip To China

It was my lucky day. I had won a colouring competition which was sponsored by Aer Lingus. The prize was that I could go anywhere in the world. I bought a book to look at places I would like to go to. Finally, I chose China. I picked China because my Godmother, Maria, is working there in a girls' school in Nanjing near Shanghai. I am going to bring my mum on this holiday as she would love to walk some of the Great Wall of China!!!

The places I would like to go to in Beijing are the Great Wall of China and the Beijing Zoo as there are lots of cute and cuddly panda there. I have seen lots of lovely photos that my Godmother has sent and I would also like to go to a place north west of Nanjing called Ziang. There is an archaeological site there and they have dug up a Terra-Cotta Army that are protecting the first Emperor of China 'Qin Shi Huang Di'. I looked on the internet to see this site and it looks so fascinating! These statues are nearly perfect and have all different faces.
The third thing I want to see is the Precipitous Pillars in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park they look like giant pillars sticking out of the earth covered in vegetation. They are also the inspiration for the Hallelujah Mountains in the film Avatar.

When I started this essay, it was because it had to have the words world, book and day in it. This set me on a journey to look up places I would like to go to and especially China. I contacted my Godmother in China about what would be good to see there and now I really really want to travel around China!!!

Sinéad Ní Eosaigh