Creative Writing Session – April 2020
Outsmarted Detectives
by Abhiram, age 13
Cairo, 2018: The museum gave out a ghastly look and brought out the worst fears in anyone who even dared to go close. Inside, blood splattered the walls of the room, blocking the sunlight giving it a gloomy look. Police and security guards lay on the ground, probably unconscious or dead. The windows were shattered, curtains ripped to pieces and the most important, jewel of the pharaoh was stolen. This was one of the biggest diamond heists the world had ever seen.
Paris, 2019: Though the pyramid was made entirely of tinted glass, a person could see the priceless paintings in it a mile away. But not on this day. The pyramid was closed to visitors. The reason because one of the priceless paintings had been stolen. The thief had vanished into the night and had left no trace of himself.
London, 2020: The palace wore a deserted look. The corridors were disturbingly quiet (feels like a better word here). There were no guards to be seen nor, as a matter of fact, any person. The Queen’s crown had been stolen and the entire battalion of guards had been sent to search for it. It was a heavenly crown laden with priceless jewels and pure gold.
Nobody knows who this thief is, where he/she is from, and how he/she manages to escape every single time. But one thing is for sure, all these thefts are connected. They were robbed by a single thief, who people call Mr. X
Now, down here in London, two detectives sat near the warmth of a fire, lost in their own thoughts. Ace, the more experienced one, was constantly clicking his pen and Alex, was fidgeting in his convertible chair. “I am sick and tired of Mr. X. making fools of us whenever we attempt to catch him. This has got to stop. This time, we have got to catch him red-handed.”, Ace said.
The issue of Mr.X had been put across during a UN meeting and they had unanimously decided that they would assign one of the world’s best detectives, Ace Trevor, along with his counterpart Alex Duncan, to this high-level case.
Ace Trevor, commonly known as Ace, was a highly punctual man who had a habit of smoking cigars. He was a stocky built man who was in his mid-30’s, but behaved and looked like he was in his 20’s. He had the strength of a pencil, but his intelligence made up for it. He resided in the suburbs of London.
Alex Duncan, was Ace’s student and partner. He was in his mid-20’s and was well balanced in physical and mental strength. Though he was still a novice detective, he was way ahead in the skill. He gained experience in the field under the guidance of Ace. Alex would never go anywhere without his lucky watch, which his father had given him before he passed away due to an uncurable illness. He is from U.S.A but lives with Ace.
Now, coming back to the case. Ace and Alex were puzzled as to how Mr. X was escaping the crime scene every single time!!!
“This will be interesting”, thought Ace.
“He must have been a really experienced and skilful thief.”
“The only things we have that are connected to this case are the large X’s that Mr. X writes on the walls when he vandalizes the place of theft. I have no idea how he finds the time to do this during the theft!”
“Ace, we aren’t progressing at all by thinking about his character. Let’s try a different approach.”, interrupted Alex.
They started brainstorming different ideas. Little did they know that their lives would change from that moment on.
Let’s leave them to their brainstorming.
That night, as everyone, tired after a day’s work, got comfortable in their soft, cushioned sofas, and turned on their televisions to watch the same boring news that they heard every night (weather forecasts, Sensex, etc.), they were given a dreadful shock as instead of getting the news they expected, they were given a broadcast of the voice of a person, who had probably hacked the servers. He claimed to be the one and only, Mr. X.
“I am getting tired of outsmarting the pathetic police. I would like to be challenged. That is why, I would like to give a head start to all those determined people out there trying to catch me. My next theft will take place where the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’. And, for god’s sake, please do not try tracing this broadcast. I am smart enough to know how to prevent getting tracked. The sole reason I am broadcasting this message is because, without any clues, searching for me would be like searching for a pin in a haystack. Signing off, Mr. X. Oh!!!! And one more thing before I leave, don’t be disappointed if you can’t catch me, because it is practically impossible.”
Ace was stunned, “The thief had some nerve to expose his theft”, he thought. He wanted to discuss this with Alex, but he was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone to freshen up.
Alex was back after about 5 min.
“Pack your bags, we are going to Japan!”, Ace said.
They were in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ by the next morning. The sunrise was beautiful with birds chirping and singing, deer running in the lush green grass, and the sun rising slowly, as if waiting for them to take in the breath-taking view.
“It is a pity, we are here on work, because this would have been a great place for a vacation.” Alex said.
“Ok, first things first. What are the items that Mr.X could possibly steal?”
“The only valuable item in this area is the sword of the first emperor of Japan, ‘The Sword of Vengeance’, which is on showcase in the royal museum.”, Alex said.
“Ok! Our next stop will be the museum then!” Ace said.
When, they arrived at the museum, Alex had to freshen up, so Ace, roamed around the museum admiring the priceless artifacts all around him. In the centre was the sword, surrounded by glass walls, which were probably difficult to penetrate.
Suddenly, a big blast echoed in room and dust scattered the room, blinding everyone. As the dust cleared, Ace could see the outline of a figure, with the sword strapped to his back. The dust finally cleared, and Ace finally came face to face with his nemesis, Mr.X. He got a good look of him and was about to charge, when Mr.X ran out the hole in the wall he came from. Ace knew he didn’t have the physical capabilities to go after him, so he didn’t even try. Well, he had failed another time. Now, he had to go back to London, with empty hands. At that moment, Alex came back and asked, “I heard a noise, did I miss anything?” “Nothing much, just Mr.X escaping again!”, Ace replied.
The next day, they both were summoned before the UN. They were bombarded with questions of the case. One of them was if they had found anything useful. Alex, immediately replied by saying that Mr.X had slipped out of their hands. Ace, remained silent for about a minute, and then replied, ”At least we know who Mr.X is! He is standing before you. Would you like to explain your second character to us Alex?”
Alex looked aghast. “How dare you accuse me? And what made you think that I am the thief, Ace?”, Alex said with a nervous voice.
“You were really good at it Alex. You outsmarted us every time! You knew our every move, before we even went on with it!. But you made a big blunder the other day in Japan. You wore your precious watch while stealing the sword of vengeance and that was what gave you away. It is a pity, you could have been one of the world’s greatest detectives, but you went to the dark side. Alex was frozen with shock. He darted towards the door, when two burly, policemen. blocked his way and handcuffed him. He was brought before a court and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mr.X was finally caught. Ace was relieved of his frustrations.
‘All’s well that ends well.’
Unnati’s Comments
Well written !!! Super twist in the end ! well done.
THE PICTURE ON THE WALL
by Aarti, age 9
As the rays of the sun crept into the room, Alice jumped out of bed with the urge to create her new painting. Alice was eleven years old. She was tall and had long blonde hair, like silk. She lived with her mom, her dad, her grandmother and her naughty seven-year old brother. Alice loved to paint and was good at it. She had won many competitions for her lovely paintings. She loved to paint only nature. While painting, she always wore the apron which her mother had given her when she was little.
Alice was all ready to start painting. She brought her pallet, paintbrushes, paint, some water and of course the canvas. Normally, as soon as she would touch the brush to the canvas, she would get an amazing idea! But today nothing came to her mind. So, she went to her brother wondering if he had an idea. She told him her problem, and he said, “why don’t you paint me?”, jumping up and down. “No, I don’t think so”, said Alice, inspecting him carefully. She went to her mother and asked her what she should paint. “How about a mountain range?’, asked her mom with a kind smile. “I have already painted a lot of those “, said Alice. She then crossed her fingers hoping to get a good idea from her dad. She knocked on his door. “Come in! “, said her dad. “Are you busy?”, asked Alice innocently. “I am not too busy. What is the matter? “, replied dad, as his phone started to ring monotonously. When he answered the phone, Alice realized that it was probably not the right time to disturb and she decided to leave the room. It did not seem like she would get inspired here.
The sofa groaned as she sank into it hopelessly, lost in her thoughts. All this while her grandma was keenly observing Alice and could sense the restlessness in her mind. She quietly walked up to Alice, placed her palm on her drooping shoulder, and whispered, “You’ve forgotten to ask me!” Alice nearly jumped out of her skin to see her. Grandma gave her a piece of paper. It was rolled up and tied with a red ribbon. Alice asked her what that was, but Grandma simply said,” You will find out!”, and went back to her room.
Alice’s hands were trembling with excitement to see the contents of this paper. She was indeed surprised to find a map. She decided to follow the map, predicting it would take her to an inspiring place. Without wasting a moment, she put on her shoes and ran out of the door like a hurricane. She looked at the map which took her on the streets, around the school building, through the park, into the library, past the museum and brought her back home! Alice was fuming red, but she was also curious to find out why grandma gave her that map. She found grandma knitting in her room. “Grandma, why did you give me this map which took me around town and then brought me home again?”, asked Alice, trying to hide her anger. “Did you get inspired?”, asked grandma, beaming. “No, not really!”, answered Alice plainly. “Oh! “, said grandma, wondering what to say next. She then explained to Alice she should paint whatever she saw on her little tour. Alice then realised why grandma had given her the map. Without further ado, she went to her room and painted a great picture of the whole town. She covered all the quaint little streets, with beautiful houses on either side. It had a scenic view of the trees in full bloom. Anyone looking at the picture could smell the fragrant flowers and hear the chirping of the birds. It was a masterpiece! The picture still hangs in grandma’s room with the map on one corner. Grandma and Alice giggle every time they look at it!
Emma’s Adventure
by Srayana, age 11
“I will never forget what happened with me today”, murmured Emma to herself as she was about to sleep.That day was Emma’s birthday and her three most favourite cousins Ella,Robin and Anne were coming over to her house. She woke up early in the morning and could not wait for her cousins’ arrival. She put on a pink jumpsuit with blue stars, yellow stockings and blue boots. She heard a car beep while having breakfast, so she gulped down her lemonade, stuffed the sandwich into her mouth and dashed outside with her black curls flying behind her and with lovely dimples on her rosy cheeks.All of them played games for an hour and then they heard a knock on their room’s door and Emma’s dad came in and told them that they were going to the amusement park.All of them liked the surprise and were thrilled. Everyone put on their caps and were set to go.Emma’s pet dog Flinto was also going with them as Emma took it with her wherever she went and liked him a lot.He was an English cocker spaniel.
Emma’s dad was behind the wheel and drove really fast so they were at their destination in less than ten minutes. All of them hopped off the car and headed straight to the ferris wheel. They tied Flinto to a nearby pole and the five of them including Emma’s dad enjoyed it. After the ride they came running to the pole and couldn’t find Flinto. Emma stood there puzzled and it took her a while to come back to her senses. All of them started looking frantically everywhere and saw a swish of a tail round the corner. They ran as fast as they could but couldn’t catch up.
Everybody went into a small door which looked like it had just been opened and started looking for him. The room smelled damp and was pitch dark but with the bright light from their torches they moved forward easily.It was a huge room and led into many small tunnels.They went into a tunnel which had fresh muddy footprints and everybody had to bend their heads and move one after another. Emma was claustrophobic but she would do this just for her dog. They could not find him anywhere and did not know how to get out of these tunnels. Suddenly they heard a low whimper and all of them followed the sound as fast as they could.
Then they saw Flinto right in front of them being dragged by two men. They did not dare to breathe or make sounds in case the men found out that they were behind them then something horrible might happen. So they followed as quietly as they could.
Emma’s face became as red as a tomato and didn’t like Flinto being dragged like that so she bolted towards them and grabbed Flinto from the men. They were very angry and pulled out knives from their pockets. Emma was breathing heavily and stepped back with Flinto tight in her arms. Suddenly Flinto jumped out of her hands and charged towards the thieves, he didn’t like Emma being hurt by those horrid men. The thieves dropped their knives and the next moment the spaniel’s sharp teeth had made marks on their skin. Emma was proud of him, hugged him and he licked her face. Meanwhile Emma’s dad called the police and they heard rushing footsteps coming towards them. The thieves knew there was no way of escaping and were captured by the cops.
All of them went back into the sunlight and Emma’s eyes were filled with tears of joy.Then all of them realised that Flinto had been kidnapped by the thieves because he was a very expensive breed. Everybody climbed back into the car and was sad that they did not go on many rides but were really happy that they saved Flinto and had an adventure in the secret tunnels.
When they went home Emma cut a freshly baked chocolate cake with white frosting. Then it was time to say bye to her cousins and after they left ,Emma told her mom about their adventure. That’s how Emma had the best birthday ever…….
