WHAT I DID ON MY HOLIDAY By Lewis Morris

COUNTY EDUCATION COMMITTEE

SCHOOL ESSAY COMPETITION

AGE GROUP: ELEVEN AND UNDER.

PRIZE: TEN-POUND BOOK TOKEN

Write an essay, in your own words, entitled

WHAT I DID ON MY HOLIDAY.

The essay can be any length you wish.

WHAT I DID ON MY HOLLIDAY

By Simon Edwards age 9.

On my holliday I went to my uncles farm in Chester. My uncle is called Arthur and my aunt is called Betty. They have two children Kevin who is the same age as me and Sarah who is twelv. I like Kevin but I dont like Sarah much as she is nasty to me. She puls my hare and trips me up when Im not looking. Once I puled her hair back and I got smacced by aunt Betty. They have a lot of cats on the farm I like cats they are soft and cudly. Also they have three dogs but I am not much keen on them they bark a lot and sometimes they bite people. My mum took me to Chester in her car the son was shining and I was verry exited. My mum works in the haredressers just down the road from wher I live and I like going there when shes working to watch. The girls in the haredressers are very nice sometimes they give me sweets or when mum is bysy they take me to the park to see the duks or take me to the Macdonalds for a buger. My dad used to work at the fowndry but he had not been to work sins it closed. Now he goes to the pub a lot and sometimes he comes home drunk and sometimes he shouts at me when he is drunk. I dont have no brothers and sisters but I wood like some. When we arived at the farm which is caled the Seven Trees farm me and my mum went indoors. Uncle Arthur was not at home he was out in the fields somewhere but aunty Betty was there. She smiled a lot and made us a nice tea there was plenty of bread and chees and after we had ice cream and jelley and I also had some lemonad. Kevin was out in the fields with uncle Arthur and we did not see him until they came in at six o clock. Mum left when it got dark and we staid up late until ten o clock waching the telly. I was sleeping with Kevin in the bedroom at the back of the howse there were two beds there and I had the one near the window. We did not sleep for a verry long time and Kevin told me storys about the farm. He said that the farm was verry old and in the old days there was a lot of servants working there and one day one of the mayds dyed. People in the vilage said that the farmer killed her becous she wood not marry him the farmer was not maried. Kevin sayd that her gost hounts the farm but he has not seen her. He sayd that an old man in the vilage who lifes in the old blaksmith who is ninty yeares old has seen the gost a long time ago and he was afraid. He sayd she was verry ugli and was unhappy. I dont know if I beleev in gosts but I was afraid after for the rest of the nite. In the morning Kevin and me went out to play in the fields it was nice and warm the son was out and we had a great time. At twelv o clock we et and it was nice then we went out again. We went to the old barn and Kevin found a spaider it was a big spaider and it was black. It had harey legs. Kevin laffed and held it in his hand and showd it to me. What are you going to do with it? I asked him lets take its legs off he said so we did. It was funy to wach the spaider trying to escap with only one leg and in the end I scwashed it with my foot. We told Sarah and she said how wood you like it if a big spaider came and scwashed you with its feet? Then she puled my hare and run away. After supper Kevin and me went upstares to the atic to play. We had a lot of fun and we got dirty. Befor we went downstairs I fownd a box with old books in it they were verry old and dusty and they had funy names. One of them had funy picturs in it they were old and looked like starrs and people that had got heds like animals. There was a lot of funy pomes in it and they didnt sownd verry good Kevin sayd that we had to reed them out alowd in the dark he sayd that it told you in the book. We didnt hav time to reed them that nite becous uncle Arthur red us some storys from a book he had it was caled the Arabian Nites. It was a good book and I liked them. We had tost and jam for brekfast the next morning and then we went out to play again. It was hot and we layed down under the trees for a long time. Kevin sayd that the mayd which got kiled was buryed under the trees and I was feeling a bit afraid after that. I told him and he laffed and said that I was a baby. I didnt cry but I told him that I wood fite him but he didnt want to fite. I think he was afraid. It was nice and cool under the trees and I didnt want to go out in the son after but Kevin sayd we had too and we went into the old barn. It was dark in the old barn and I didnt like it much but I didnt tell Kevin in case he laffed at me again. We fownd a lot of old tools in the barn but we didnt know what they was. We sayd we wood ask uncle Arthur what they was. We didnt do much for the rest of the day. When we went to bed that nite Kevin took a torch with him so that we cood reed the book in bed. We didnt want uncle Arthur and aunty Betty to see the light on so we put the torch on under the sheets. We didnt understand the book at all and the pomes were verry funy. They didnt make sens. Kevin sayd they were like the pomes in the Bible and people sayd them in Church. We laffed at the words and sayd them lowd then we put the torch out and went to sleep. I wok up in the middle of the nite and there was a storm going on outside it was verry lowd and the litning was verry scarry. I coodnt sleep so I got up and went to the window to look. Every time there was litning I cood see the trees and I cood even see the grass. I was verry afraid but I was alon as Kevin just carryed on sleeping and I neerly cryed. I cood see the book on the little table by the window in the litning and I cood reed the name. It was caled Anshent Rites and Seremonys and the name was in red. I wached for a little longer until I was feeling sleepy and I was just going to go to bed when I saw someone standing in the trees. He was standing under the biggest tree and I was sure it was a man. When the litning came again I cood see that he was dresed in funy old cloths like they hav in the films on the telly the ones about long ago and like the people in the old fotografs my mum has in our howse. The ones of her great grandad and grandma with her grandad a little boy. He waved at me and I waved back and I new he wanted me to go out to the trees to be with him. I opend the bedroom door and went downstares. There was no noise at all in the howse exept for the storm and the wind and the rain pored in to the kichen when I opend the back door. I got wet verry soon as the rain was hevy but I carryed on to the trees. I cood still see him standing there but he was verry silent and only looked at me. When I went closer I cood see that he looked just like my great grandad the one in the picture at home but he was difrent. He was a lot older and his face looked funy. He lifted up his hand and tuched my face. His hand felt funy all soft and scwelchy like he had been in the rain for a long time and was verry wet. I hoped grandma wood not row him when he got home like my mum rows me if I get wet. There was a funy smell on him like dirt and I cood see that his cloths was all dirty like he had fell to the grownd. His hand was cold when he tuched my face and I told him he shood go home and get warm by the fire or he wood cach a cold. Or even newmonia. He didnt anser me but I new he was listening as he was looking into my eyes. He had a funy look on his face like he didnt like me and I was a little bit afraid. I looked at his hand in the litning and I saw a big worm beetween his fingers like the worms we used when my dad took me fishing when I was little. His hand tuched my sholder and then he took hold of my hand. His skin was verry cold and slimy and I cood feel it tering a little as he scweesed my hand and I cood feel his blood on my skin. Only when I looked down I cood see that his blood was not red but yello and green like the stuf that comes out of cuts when they go bad. There was also a terible smell. I tryed to take my hand away from his but he was holding on too tite. I nearly cryed. I cood hear him breething  and it didnt sownd too good at all like he coodnt get his breth and was sufocating. His wastecoat was open and a buton had come off his shirt and I cood see big brown worms inside his stomac. It made me feel sick. My great grandad used to live with uncle Arthur and aunt Betty but he went away a long time ago I dont remembr seeng him but I hav seen a foto when he was an old man. I remembr my mum saying that he had gone to hospital and he was verry ill as he was so old. She sayd that he was ninty three. After a week everyone went to the farm and they was all dresed up and they were all crying. They sayd he was dead. I dont know what dead is but I dont think he has gone away as he was standing in the trees with me. I herd a noise behind me and I turned round to see Sarah standing there. She was wet and her eyes were verry big. She was looking at great grandad and she was beginning to cry. He let go of my hand and turned to Sarah and opened his arms wide. I cood see tears runing down Sarahs face as she looked at him. She new him as he had been living with them and she looked like she cood not beeleev he was there. I looked at him and I cood see tears runing down his face to and I new that he new who she was. He took a step forward and Sarah fell into his arms. He huged her and lifted her off the ground. She was crying out lowd and he was presing his face into hers. He then put her down and took hold of her hand and walked away throo the trees. I thout they wanted to talk about old times and went back to the howse and went to bed. The next morning I didnt get up until it was late and when I got downstares I saw a policman in the parlor. Aunt Betty was crying and uncle Arthur was standing behind the chair with his hand on her sholder. He looked like he had been crying to. I went to find Kevin and he was in the kichen he said that Sarah had gone out in the nite and had not come back. The policman was looking for her. I didnt tell him that Sarah had gone for a walk with great grandad in case I got a row for being out late at nite. Mum came later to take me back home in the car I asked her where Sarah had gone. She sayd that she maybee gone to sleep. I asked her where great grandad was and she sayd he had also gone to sleep. I asked her if he was dead and she sayd yes. I asked her what dead was and she told me it was like going to sleep but for ever and not coming back. I dont now where great grandad and Sarah went for a walk but I now that she is dead. I think he was lonly.

BIO:

Lewis Morris, born and bred in North Wales, worked in retailing for 28 years before falling victim to the recession and being made redundant. Grabbing the opportunity to turn his interests into a career he now makes his living as a professional genealogist and historian. He is an avid reader of horror and crime fiction, and well-researched historical non-fiction. His fiction has previously appeared on Flashes in the Dark. His hobbies are music and digging large holes in the ground.