Leah's Story

Last year Leah's class studied the Spiderwick Chronicles and after reading the book and seeing the movie (as a class excursion - some kids get all the luck!) she had to write a creative writing piece. She is very proud of this story and worked with the Principal for several sessions getting the illustrations just right too... I have yet to see the illustrated version but here, for your personal perusal is the unpublished manuscript.... ENJOY!


One day Abby, a 13 year old girl, found a strange book called a field guide, while looking for her cat in the old wooden attic of her home. Abby was a kind child and she had long golden hair that reached to the middle of her back. Although she was very nice not very many people at school liked her. She was often blamed for tings that she didn't do.

Abby held the book in a slightly awkward way. She looked down at it carefully. The field guide had, on the cover, a smooth ebony stone with a hole through the middle. Abby flicked through the pages until she came to a page about goblins which got her really scared. So scared that she grabbed the guide, took the stone right off the front of it, looked out the clear window with the cold stone to her eye and was completely shocked at what she saw. Nothing!

She ran downstairs and told her mother about the field guide. Her mother yelled at her, saying what a nonsense like girl she was. Because of her mother's outburst Abby was angry. So, she decided to hurriedly pack some food and run away into the creepy woods which were surrounding her house. That night she crept downstairs from her bedroom and left the house feeling like she had gotten away with something. She was walking slowly along the dark, dirty path when suddenly.... Aahhhhhhh!

Abby struggled as hard as she could to free herself, but clearly it didn't work. She was very shocked when she saw what had grabbed her. It was a cluster of freaky goblins. She was roughly dragged to a little bamboo cage and locked inside While she was in her cage Abby sadly watched her cat being eaten by goblins. So that's where her cat had got to!

Moments later an old white haired man walked over to her. The man looked as kind a man as Abby had ever seen before. He was wearing a black cloak and carried a twisted brown stick. His eyes were scrunched and his mouth wrinkled. After she had glanced at him the wrinkles turned to a slim smile. The man slowly undid the lock on the bamboo door of the cage with his crinkled hands. Before opening the door he reassured her not to be frightened. He kindly asked Abby to return home and bring him the field guide. He told her that if she did, he would free her for as long as she may live. Abby eagerly agreed but she didn't mean it.

She ran home as fast as her legs could carry her but the goblins captured her once again. She lonely remembered a song that her aunt used to sing to her every night and as she remembered it she sang it softly. The goblins blocked her mouth with a handful of twigs so that she couldn't sing. But she spat them out and started singing again. This time they slowly fell asleep while she sang.

Whilst singing she saw dainty fairy sprites undoing the bamboo bars of the little cage she was in. While she was being set free she saw another group of sprites putting the goblins into little cages. Individually a fairy sprite was weak but together with others they had the strength to turn the leader of the goblins into a speck of dust. Finally Abby was free.

Joyfully she followed the sprites as the dusty magic path gave way and when Abby passed through the path closed once more. From that day on Abby lived in the secret glade with her little friends the fairy sprites. As long as she was with the sprites she remained magical and never returned home.

THE END!