It was a peaceful day in the Dorset countryside but as the breeze blew softly through the trees and the sun shone as brightly as a light bulb, something strange was happening. A telephone in the Dorset police station was ringing non-stop, another person had disappeared…

That very same day two families were just settling down for breakfast. Charlie and Rachel had come to stay with their Aunt Susan, Uncle Mark and their cousins Beth and Ted. They lived in a pretty, little cottage outside a village near the sea in Dorset. They were looking forward to a day on the beach collecting shells and fossils, splashing in the crystal clear sea and building sand castles. Speedily they cycled down the narrow, dusty lane to the seaside. Charlie and Rachel were arguing as usual, they were twins but did not get on at all! Suddenly their Aunt exclaimed,

“Stop fighting you two and look over there!”

“Wow! What’s that big beam of light?” gasped Uncle Mark.

“Maybe it’s an alien spaceship” laughed Charlie.

“I hope it comes and zaps you up.” teased Rachel.

“Come on lets get to the beach” shouted Ted impatiently, “I want an Ice cream!”

“You go on ahead, I might just go and check what’s making that light over there” replied Uncle Mark. “I’ll meet you at the beach later.”

Uncle Mark cycled quickly towards the mysterious light. The children all waved him off; little did they know they would not see him again for a very long time!

As Uncle Mark cycled carefully towards the blinding light he heard a bizarre sound. It was a sound he had never heard before. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a gigantic crater by the roadside. It was a least three times the size of a football pitch and it was SO deep you couldn’t even see where it ended.

“What’s that?” thought Uncle Mark to himself, as he slowed down to a virtual stop to take a peek.

Now Uncle Mark was an extremely inquisitive man, or as Aunt Susan would say, he was an extremely nosey man, so he got off his bike to take a closer look.

Cautiously, he approached the crater, making sure he didn’t disturb anything that was lurking inside. The strange sound he heard before was now getting louder and louder, and he could also smell an aroma of rotten eggs. “What a revolting stench!” Uncle Mark whispered to himself. “What on Earth could be inside?”.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the crater and slowly bent down. But before he could do anything else, a hand with skin as green as the leaves of a tree and claws as sharp as a pirate’s knife, grabbed his leg.

“AHHH, help me, save me!” hollered Uncle Mark in agony. However, unfortunately for Uncle Mark, there was no one there to hear his screams. As quick as a bolt of lightning, Uncle Mark had disappeared into the abyss.

Meanwhile, down on the beach, Charlie, Rachel, Ted and Beth were busily tucking into their delicious ice-creams and making sand castles, with the twins bickering as usual. “No, that’s not what I said!” argued Rachel. Charlie turned to roll his eyes and noticed that Aunt Susan seemed distracted. She looked worried and was clutching her phone tightly while looking into the distance. “Something’s wrong,” Charlie whispered, “Where’s Uncle Mark?”

“Don’t be so ridiculous!” snapped Rachel, although doubts began to fill her mind. The low sun was illuminating the evening sky, like a paint box of colour and the summer air that had once warmed their faces had now turned into a distinctive chilly breeze. ”Can we go home now?” begged Beth, rubbing her arms.

“Are you ok?” asked Charlie worried. Aunt Susan didn’t answer; she was still staring into the distance.

“Mum, it’s cold” whimpered Ted. Aunt Susan turned around and said “Let’s go home.” Oblivious to their questions, it was as if a light bulb had gone on.

They walked back through the sand, Charlie looked up at the beautiful evening sky. With heavy and hopeful hearts, they trudged through the dusty road and back to the cottage. Not wanting them to know, Aunt Susan gave them a quick supper and roared “Chop chop, up you go to your room!” But, none of them could sleep and instead chatted.

Intrigued, Charlie led them down the stairs followed by Beth, Ted and a reluctant Rachel.

“There’s been a lot of disappearance recently, a beam of light you say!” coughed the policeman.

“That’s it! A beam of light,” gasped Charlie and he remembered Uncle Mark going to see the beam of light. He hushed the gang upstairs. Cautiously, Charlie packed their bags with strong torches while the rest of the gang conjured up ideas. Beth whispered “When she’s washing up.”

“No” said Ted in a hushed voice, “We could pretend we’re going to the playground.” Then Charlie, who had overheard them all commanded “We’ll have to do it when she’s asleep.” With their plan agreed they waited.

When Aunt Susan fell asleep they tiptoed outside, not wanting to make a sound. They unlocked their bikes and set off to where the light had been.

“Follow me!” commanded Charlie, wanting to be head. Quickly, they cycled down the dusty, narrow road where they last saw Uncle Mark. “We are going to get in so much trouble because of you” nagged Rachel, scared.

“Look here!” roared Ted, tired of Rachel and Charlie’s constant bickering.

“What is that hole?” whispered Beth,

They locked their bikes and walked to the crater, there was Uncle Mark’s bike. They were so busy arguing that they did not notice a slim creature lurking behind them. It was green as lush grass and claws as sharp as knives. Just then, they heard a twig snap, their bodies froze. Charlie slowly turned his head to see the creature “Run!” screamed Charlie. They ran as fast as they could, but the creature threw a rope and caught them. “What do you want us for?” shouted Charlie, but the creature was too busy looking at the pitch black night sky.

The creature ignored them, slyly he dragged them to the crater and roughly shoved them to the bottom of the dirty, damp pit. The children felt petrified, lost and lonesome. Suddenly, they all shouted “leave us alone, you ugly, disgusting monster!”. The children wondered, what is this creature?

“How are we going to get out of here?” moaned Charlie.

“And where are we going to find Uncle Mark?” whispered Rachel, hoping the creature would not hear.

Out of nowhere an electric beam of light shone right into the children’s eyes. The creature jumped … the sun was coming up! Whilst this was happening, the children heard a quiet coughing noise coming from the corner of the pit. Ted and Beth recognised the sound … it was their father coughing out the dust of the pit from his echoing throat. Rachel had an idea, “maybe we could cough back, to let Uncle Mark know we are here?” she suggested. Charlie never liked his sister’s ideas, but Ted and Beth agreed with Rachel. Ted let out a little squeak, just loud enough for his dad to hear.

Uncle Mark turned around anxiously to face the children, “is that you Ted?” he croaked. Silently, he tiptoed across the broken bark of the crater, over to the children. The family were reunited, however they still didn’t know how to get out. There was also still the problem of the creature.

Meanwhile the creature was keeping an eye on the sun, for if he stayed in the light too long he would crumble into dust – that was his only weakness. The children noticed the green, slimy hand of the creature was beginning to disappear and break up in the sunlight.

“Wow, look at his hand, he mustn’t like the light, let’s keep him there, it might be our chance to escape …” murmured Ted in a low voice. As the creature started crumbling as the sun began to rise, Rachel was feeling tired and nervous, would they ever get out? And how long would it take for the creature to turn to dust?

At that moment, Beth suddenly remembered, “We have our house keys with us …. Why don’t we cut the ropes?” she suggested. Shaking with fear still, Uncle Mark reached deep into Ted’s pocket and found the sharp, shiny keys. Slowly, he cut and cut all the way through the tough rope so as to free the children.

Just then, the sun shone brighter than ever and the creature let out a cry of agony! The children watched in horror as the creature faded away.

“That was a terrifying experience …. Let’s get out of here as quick as we can!” the twins exclaimed. The children scrambled frantically and, whilst breathing heavily, made their way across the crater in an attempt to crawl out. Just then, the children were startled … “Did you hear that?” asked Charlie …. A clatter of sticks was heard above them … and then a claw appeared at the top of the crater …

by Year 3 pupils from Stanley, Heathfield Junior, Sheen Mount and Holy Trinity primary schools