Malo Village

• Thomas Phillips, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2017

Joe was woken by the sounds of screams. He reached for his lamp, and pulled himself up. It took him a moment to wake up. Joe jumped up onto his bed and glanced out the window. He was a twelve-year-old boy, with dark wavy hair. His blue eyes were as bright as the sky. People were running for their lives, as the Prynes raided their homes. They had sticks with fire on each end. Prynes were the beast warriors, who despised their village. It started in 1876, when their ancient leader attacked their village. From then on the Prynes loathed them and trained harder for their next attack. They had babies, who got trained to fight. The current year is 1934. Fifty-eight years and their hatred still exists. The Prynes had a horrendous plan, so dreadful, foul and rotten, the village would be ruined. They were going to steal the Malo stone. The primitive stone kept the town from misery. If it was taken, it would make life for the town's people wretched until they got it back. The Prynes had tried many times to destroy the stone, but it was impossible to defeat the power of the stone. But now they had a plan. They built a machine that could destroy any stone. Joe grabbed his sword and his bow. What was he to do? Could he save his village?

Joe heard loud banging on the door. He dived under his bed, just as the door smashed open with a blaring wind gushing through the hole. "Get the man." The leader commanded. They nodded. The hooded figures ran and captured Joe's father. Joe had a dreadful feeling as he saw his dad being dragged out of the house asleep. "Burn it." He ordered. The Prynes did as they were told. They set fire to the house. Joe managed to escape and ran to his secret tunnels. He had built them to play in.

He crawled through the dark tunnels. Fear was flowing through his veins. He came to the end. He saw light, and realised that he could climb to the road. He climbed the ladder, and to his surprise he was on a road in the village. Just then he realised that the Pryne that had the stone, was standing there cackling. The Pryne looked up at Joe. "I see you have come for the stone little boy." He jeered. "I'm going to fight for it." Joe replied confidently. He pulled out his sword as the Pryne drew his dagger. Joe's father had taught him how to defend himself. Joe ran up to him and slashed at him. The Pryne defended with a slash. The Pryne smashed Joe's sword out of his hand. Joe fell onto his knees. The Pryne pointed his dagger at Joe's. "I got you now." He said. Joe grabbed his bow and shot him down. As the stone fell into his hands, he felt hope for his village in the future.