Literature

VANDALS
John's mother was coming home after seven weeks in hospital, and seeing that he had been looking forward to her home coming so much he decided to buy her a present. After counting up the grand total of 14/7d he set off into town.
The town was strangely quiet for a Saturday afternoon, and he did not have very much trouble dodging in between the towering adults to look in at the shop windows. He had been walking along the streets for nearly two hours without seeing anything he thought his mother would like and was about to turn back home when he noticed a small antique shop tucked away in a side alley. As he neared the shop window the first thing he noticed was a vase standing about a foot tall. The vase was pure white with light blue pictures of lavender and roses spaced evenly on the sides. The neck tapered in slightly and on the rim there hung small rings of clear glass resembling dew-drops. From the start John knew that his mother would adore the vase, so, mustering all his courage he entered the shop. He was greeted by a strangely small man with a kind face. The shop-keeper told him that the vase cost £1 but after John explained what it was for the man said that he would let him have it for 14/-. John was so delighted at this that the first thing he did was to phone his father. He placed the vase on the sill in the phone box and after a little trouble reaching the phone he called his father. His father told him that he was about to leave and collect his mother from hospital and advised John to hurry home. It was not until John was about a hundred yards from his home that he realised that he had forgotten the vase in the phone box.
With panic in heart he raced back towards the town, tearing round corners and in between late shoppers. But eventually reaching the phone box he found that vandals had reached there before him. There on the ground lay the precious vase, still with its wrapping on with a brick smashed straight through it. He stared at it for a few seconds in horror and dismay, and then broke down and cried.
J.W. McMillan, IIIB.

GUY FAWKES' CAPTURE
My name is Charles Doberly. I am a guard in Parliament, in the reign of James I. One night, November 4th, I think it was, I was just about to have my daily ration of ale, when suddenly the captain of the guard burst in and told me that there was a plot to kill the King that very night. They suspected that gunpowder would be used for the fiendish scheme. I leapt up and buckled on my sword as swiftly as I could. I rushed out of the guard-room with my great long pike in one hand and a dark lantern in the other. I crept slowly along the dark gloomy passages. As I pushed open the doors, I heard a loud, eerie, creaking sound. A great number of the rooms were in pitch blackness, but in one I perceived a minute glimmer of light. Immediately I called for the guards, and at the same time drew out my trusty sword. I then walked slowly into the dark, dark room. Huddled in the corner was a cringing figure in a black cloak. On all sides were large barrels of gunpowder. I instantly leapt on him. He put up quite a struggle, but at length the guards arrived and over-powered him. We later discovered that he was a conspirator against the King called Guido Fawkes. He was tortured to make him tell who his accomplices were. He was later executed for treason.
D. C. Morrison, P6A.

WILD HORSES
Wild horses bright and gay.
Some are black, some are gray.
All the horses are free to roam,
None of them have any home.
They're different from the ones in the street.
They have no horse shoes on their feet.
G. E. Morrison, P6A.

There was an old man from Doune, Who wanted to go to the moon. He thought he could follow, The men in Apollo In a paper bag balloon.
I. Lavery, P7B.

The Americans in America, The Russians in Russia Were racing to the moon. When Britain jumped in, With Harold Wilson in a bin And were first to the moon.
I. Lavery, P7B.