Once there was a spooky house that stood on its own in the middle of a sunflower field. It was easy to spot because you could see a light flashing from the window that was always open. Nobody lived there, but people that passed felt a shiver of fear when they looked at the house. Everybody wondered what had happened in that house and why the window was always open…

The farmer’s children were curious about why the light flashed from the window. Some evenings just before they turned off their light to go to sleep, Rebecca and Bob would stare at the mysterious light and imagine what could possibly be causing it to flash. More and more the two children thought about the house and the light. They DESPERATELY needed to find out about the house. One night, brother and sister crept down the stairs. Never having been out in the dark on their own before, they were feeling both scared and courageous at the same time. As Rebecca quietly opened the door, Bob signalled to Jasper the dog to follow them outside. They scampered along the path through the sunflower field until they reached the house. Rebecca stopped and started to approach the house cautiously. Suddenly Bob pointed.

‘A face!’ he cried. ‘A face, there at the window!’

Then, Bob and Rebecca realised that the face was not a scary monster, it was actually a young girl with long blond hair screaming for help.

“We need to help her,” shouted Rebecca.

“Let’s find a way in,” exclaimed Bob. So Bob and Rebecca rushed up to the large creaky door at the front of the house.

“It’s locked,” said Rebecca frantically. They tried banging on the door but nobody answered. “Let’s find another way in,” exclaimed Rebecca.

“WINDOWS!” said Bob with wide eyes. So the pair tried all the windows but none of them were opened.

“What are we going to do NOW?” cried Rebecca.

Then suddenly they heard Jasper the dog scratching and barking at something on the side of the house. They scurried over to see what Jasper was scratching at.

“It’s a small dusty door,” whispered Bob. So Rebecca and Bob both grabbed the door handle and pulled the dusty door open…

The door lead to a dark, gloomy corridor thick with hanging cobwebs.  A girl’s cries floated down a dusty staircase at the end of the corridor.  Rebecca, Bob and Jasper crept towards the sound.  At the top of the stairs, they saw the young girl, laid flat on the floor with her foot stuck between some flaky, rotten floorboards.  She wore a muddy, purple top and black riding boots and she was clutching a bright yellow torch.  She sobbed with relief when she saw them.

“Are you alright?” they asked.

“No, I think I’ve broken my leg!” she wailed.

“What’s your name and how did you get into this mess?” Rebecca comforted.

The girl explained.  She had been riding past the mysterious house when she noticed the open window and decided to investigate.  As she entered the seemingly deserted house, the door suddenly slammed shut behind her. Just then, from upstairs, she could hear crying and wailing so she tip-toed nervously upstairs into the filthy bedroom. Inside the girl found the torch. As the wailing got louder, the floorboards fell through, trapping her leg.

For two days she had flashed the torch through the window to try and get someone’s attention but no one had come.  At that moment, all three children heard the same crying and wailing sound drifting from the attic room above them…

Rebecca, Bob and Jasper decided to investigate the noise. They slowly tip-toed up the stairs towards the attic whilst the wailing got LOUDER and LOUDER! They opened the door but, again, the door slammed behind them. On the floor, in front of them, was an enormous egg with cracks all over it. Suddenly there was a flicker of light from inside and the children watched as the egg slowly cracked open!

Out crawled a small dinosaur with sharp teeth. It had hair all over its body and a small pair of wings. When it saw the little girl it stopped wailing. The children gasped in fear as it waddled towards them. Putting one wing behind its back, it bowed politely and asked, “Are you my family?”

“No, but you can come and live with us on our farm if you like!” chorused the children.

Suddenly the dinosaur flapped its wings and swooped up the chimney out of sight!

The children shivered and rushed to the open window only to see a tiny little dot high up in the sky.

Was it returning to its real home?

by pupils in Year 2 from Bishop Perrin, East Sheen, Stanley, Lowther and The Russell primary schools