This year, 12 Cannons Creek High School pupils entered the SACEE 100-Word Short Story Competition, and all 11 Grade 7s who entered were rewarded for their efforts. This is an impressive result as only a third of the more than 400 entries received recognition and only 16% of the entries earned Gold certificates.
Our results are as follows:
GOLD awards: Grace Clarke, Busisa Khuzwayo and Solana Möhr
SILVER awards: Lené Middleton, Mia Mossick, Antonios Stamatiadis
BRONZE awards: Timo Gieser, Kelsey Ingram, David Jacobs, Maria Stamatiadis, Ava Stoffels, Vincent Swanepoel
This competition is run by SACEE (South African Council for English Education), who say: “Crafting a complete narrative essay in just 100 words is not an easy feat. It demands precision, economy of language and language discipline.”
Moon by Grace Clarke
I step outside at twilight. My eyes search for the light that watches over you when you sleep. I run around looking for the light. I am scared that I will never find it. Without the light I will not sleep peacefully.
“Please come out,” I cry into the twilight, “do not hide your shine!” Out of anxiety, I trip over nothing – trying to find the light. I reluctantly give up and walk inside.
My brother greets me and asks, “Why the long face?”
“The light at twilight disappeared.”
He looks outside and says, “It is a new moon tonight.”
Goodbye Summer by Busisa Khuzwayo
The sun dipped low on the last day of the holiday, painting the sky with orange and purple. My bicycle lay in the grass, its wheels still after a season of adventures. I sat on the steps, popsicle in hand. The next day, I would be in Grade 8 – High School. No more lazy mornings or endless afternoons chasing flies. I felt a cool wind shift – like summer whispering goodbye.
Mom called me inside for dinner. I took one last look at the fading light. I smiled. Summer was over, but new adventures were waiting, just beyond the school doors.
Skybound by Solana Mohr
When Leo found a glowing compass in his grandfather’s attic, it did not point north—it pointed up.
That night, Leo climbed the large, old oak tree behind his house. Higher and higher, through the stars, until he reached a floating island in the sky and stepped aboard. Creatures made of stardust greeted him like an old friend, “You are Skybound,” they said.
Leo spent the weekend learning to glide, race comets and speak Moonlight. On Sunday evening, the compass pointed down. Leo returned home, just in time for dinner, his pockets full of starberries and his heart full of wonder.
The words they say by Mia Mossick
I walk through the school gates with my head held high, square glasses, long skirt, braces to fix my protruding teeth and acne. I know what they see. The boys mutter and the girls laugh. I pretend it does not matter. I hide behind perfect grades and perfect smiles.
But today, in the bathroom mirror, something happened. Their words echoed louder. My throat tightened. I wanted to scream and disappear. Instead, I took a breath, wiped my eyes and walked out. They will never know they got to me. I made it through and tomorrow, I will make it again.
My Mind by Kelsey Ingram
I look around the maze of my mind. I am lost wherever I am.
I walk around, looking back in the past: I discover all my regret and sorrow. I reach the end of all the good and bad memories. I feel a mixture of depression and shame. What awaits me in the future? It is more than I can imagine? My anxiety overpowers me and desperation grows within. It watches me, it blocks the exit in front of me. But, everyone holds a light within. I do too.
Hope is the light that leads me out of the maze.
UNDERGROUND by David Jacobs
Deep underground there is a sound that never disappeared: the sound of a screaming girl. No-one knew who was screaming and no-one cared enough to look into it. No-one except Olivia Cartman.
Olivia was a 15 year old girl with autism and very sensitive hearing. The sound underground drove her insane – every day – so she decided to investigate.
It was cold and moist in the sewers and the sound was killing her. She wanted to scream out in pain, but she kept going. Olivia eventually arrived at the sound, nothing was there except for her, screaming on the ground – forever.
The Old Lighthouse by Antonios Stamatiadis
Every now and then the old lighthouse blinked once, then darkness. People said it was broken, but Nandi knew better. Her grandfather, the last keeper, had sworn the light chose when to shine.
On her twelfth birthday, Nandi climbed the winding stairs. Wind howled, sea crashing below. The air smelled of salt and stories. She whispered, “I believe in you.”
The bulb sparked, then glowed. A beam cut through the fog like a blade.
Down below, a ship’s horn blared back, echoing across the rough waves.
Nandi realised that the lighthouse only shone when a ship near shore needed help.
A Minute in the Morning by Ava Stoffels
It is nearly midnight on a Tuesday. Kate strides along the empty platform to catch her train.
23:59: The moonlight glistens along the benches and the lamp posts glare at the arriving engine.
23:60? The train stops, puffing smoke out of the chimney – a final exhale.
23:61: The clock chimes thirteen times. Kate’s confused heart races at the unfamiliar sound. The train doors grate open.
She steps onto the train, engulfed by a mysterious atmosphere. Doors shut behind her – taken into a space in time nobody else is in, swallowed by the minute that should not exist.
