A Great Adventure Short Story Contest Winners 2024

My great adventure began when Mommy Cat decided we should all go to the waterpark for the day. We gathered our kitty swimsuits, goggles, sunscreen, and towels. Daddy loaded it all into the car.

“Everyone get in the car,” Mommy cat told me and by brother, John.

“Snow White is in my spot!” John yelled.

“Just pick a seat and get bucked up,” Daddy Cat told us.

The drive to the waterpark felt so long and I was feeling so excited. When we finally arrived and got inside, the slides all looked so fun. First, we swam in the little pools and areas. Then, we tried a few bigger slides.

The biggest slide in the whole park was red. John wanted to go down the big slide. I was feeling a little nervous about it. Daddy Cat said it would be fine and to give it a try. I wasn’t so sure.

When we got to the top, I was feeling scared, but wanted to be brave. Daddy Cat went first. He disappeared into the tunnel. John went next and disappeared too. Then it was my turn.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Mommy told me.

I climbed into the tunnel, took a deep breath, and down I went. I felt happy going down. It was fast and so fun. When I got to the bottom, though, the water felt so deep. I couldn’t keep my head and ears above the water. A big gulp of water got in my mouth, and my whiskers felt soaked. I started to panic and meow my loudest meows for help.

“MEEEEEOOOWWWW!” I yelled, hoping Daddy Cat would hear me.

Suddenly I felt strong paws pull me up from the water, and I saw Daddy’s comforting fur and face. I knew I was okay again.

“I’m never going down that slide again!” I told my Cat family.

I felt like I was about to lose one of my nine lives, fur real! The waterpark was still fun, I just didn’t go on any more slides that day. I played in the little pools and sprinklers where it was safe. Daddy said I was brave for trying the slide even though I was scared, and that someday I would be bigger, and the slide would be less scary. It was a day with my family I would never forget, and a much bigger adventure than I wanted to have that day. I was very happy to be going home when we finally got in the car at the end of the day.

THE END!

My great adventure began when someone was standing by the bus stop. That someone’s name was Marcus, and he was me. I was waiting for the bus. I said to myself, “Come on, bus!”

Then suddenly, the bus came, barely stopping as it rolled right on by. I ran so fast after it that I fell, and then got back up without feeling a thing. I then threw myself on the bus, thinking to myself, “I should not have done that.”

When I got to school, I opened the front doors and suddenly there was a portal in front of me. I saw a glowing purple circle ahead, and the burry shape of a person running towards me; it was then I realized I was being sucked into a portal. My best friend, Zeke, tried his hardest to rescue me, but failed miserably, getting sucked in himself as well.

Inside the portal, we found that we were in a haunted toy factory with a statue of a scary blue monster, but we had no idea what was coming ahead.

We looked away and looked back at each other, then suddenly the scary blue monster was gone. Zeke started dancing right where he was standing out of fear and nervousness.

I yelled, “Run, Zeke!” Zeke didn’t hear me though.

It was at that moment that the scary blue monster fell on top of me and when I got back to my feet, Zeke was gone. I hurried off to the first hiding place I could find.

There was a door right in front of my hiding place and I could have sworn I saw a glimpse of the scary blue monster run through that door, which was oddly the same color.

I bravely trotted through the door following the monster and was suddenly unable to move my body at all. I could sense that the blue scary monster was now standing right behind me. I glanced over to see Zeke in a container with a game menu right next to his hand that said, ‘Pause Game.’ The ‘Exit Game’ option was crossed off and everything he tried to select made a beeping noise not allowing him to click.

“Why can’t we exit this game?! Why is the blue scary monster right behind me?! And why is Zeke in that container?!” I exclaimed.

Zeke, at that moment, managed to run super fast and smash right through the container wall, moving so fast that he glitched himself right out of the roof of the haunted toy factory. He was able to just barely snatch me on his way by, and we both were sucked through the roof and into another portal, sending us into yet another dimension.

We found ourselves in a game that was very blocky looking.

“Ohhhh, this looks kind of like Minecraft,” I said.

We began by building a house with the blocks. Zeke made himself a green bed, and I made mine red. We slept for the night.

The next day, there was a portal in the doorway that we couldn’t avoid if we left the room, so we entered the portal. There was a red floor that looked kind of strange, and weird white shapes in the sky that were shooting fireballs at us!

It was then that the portal behind them broke; disappearing completely. They couldn’t go back now!

Zeke and I looked around finding some diamond stuff. We started fighting back by shooting fireballs up to the sky at the white things.

I realized this was the Nether, and the white creatures where ghasts! I quickly told Zeke.

“Oh, that makes sense!” he replied.

They fought a wither together, which are really strong. I blasted him through the portal!

“If it was lit, they’d be in the overworld,” I said. “That’s it!”

If we could find flint and some steel, we can light the portal and go home, I thought to myself.

We couldn’t find flint anywhere, though.

We start digging everywhere like crazy until we finally found gravel that we could mine and use to make flint! We used the flint and steel to turn the portal back on.

We tapped our arms and saw a bunch of letters to a chat pop up in front of us. We saw a slash right next to it.

“Can only mean one thing,” I said. “There’s cheats on.”

We got a command block and typed ‘slash delete world.’ This deleted the world! We found ourselves immediately teleported back home. It was over. The adventure was over.

The End

My Great Adventure began when I jolted awake. Did Lilac have her baby yet? I quickly wolfed down a piece of bread. I ran to the barn to check up on my sheet. This would be Lilac’s first birth, and my mind was filled with worse case scenarios. Since my parents died, Lilac was the last gift my parents had given to me, and I was perhaps overly concerned about her.

Unfortunately, I’d have to leave Lilac because I still needed to go to the market. I’d let my pony Rose’s supply of food get too low while keeping Lilac in good health, and it was now an emergency. I scooped out the remaining handful and let Rose nibble it from my hand. It would be her only breakfast this morning. I took Rose out of her stall and put on my Navajo-Churro sheep saddle gathered from my own sheep’s wool. I cantered my pony to the bustling market. As usual, I offered my wares to Trader Wood.

“I’ll only be givin’ you two bushels for four pounds of wool,” growled the unpleasant man beneath his slimy beard. It looked like he had not washed in years; he had dirt and mud everywhere. His booth was not the finest place to be.

I pulled back my loose brown curls, and thought, ‘Where else can I go to get Rose’s oats? Trader Wood is not giving me a fair price.’ “I’ll sell my merchandise somewhere else,” I bluffed. My heart felt heavy returning to Rose without her oats. Rose, who was harnessed to a post, looked at me with trusting eyes. Just before my foot touched the saddle, Trader Wood dashed over to me.

“Fine, fine. I will give six bushels of oats for four pounds.”

“Alright,” I beamed as I unloaded my basket of wool. I loaded the oats in my saddle bags and started back through the desert toward my tiny home. The wind stirred up sand all around me. I looked behind me with squinted eyes. SANDSTORM! We took off like a shot. We were fast, but not fast enough. The sandstorm quickly overtook us and Rose reared up, not knowing anymore which way to turn. I pulled the scarf up around my mouth and nose while I tried to steer Rose out of it. No use; we were surrounded. We rode blindly, wildly, until I smashed into what felt like jagged rock, knocking me off my horse. I screamed, but the wind whisked it away. Finally, the storm lifted just enough that I spotted the entrance to a cave, and with the strength that I had left in me, I crawled in.

I woke up and opened my eyes into darkness. I sat up. My head throbbed. I must have hit it on a rock. When my eyes adjusted to the dark, I started calling for Rose. I was so worried I felt sick. In the distance I heard a familiar whinny. I thought I could just make out the white horse with the honey-colored mane. I stumbled over to her and put my arms around her neck and breathed in the scent of sweet hay.

My stomach lurched. Lilac! She needs me! What if the lamb is stuck? I rubbed my aching back and walked to the cave’s entrance. I rubbed my eyes on my blue tunic and looked again. Just a short distance away, palm trees swayed, flowers bloomed, and in the middle was a sapphire pool of cool water. I rushed over and gazed at my reflection. Deep hazel eyes, a petite build, rosy cheeks, sandy forehead, and cracked lips. I leaned down and cupped a small amount of water. It almost touched my lips, but then I tossed it out of my hand. The water evaporated before it touched the scorching sand. It smelled foul, so it was undrinkable. I only have a couple gulps left in my canteen, I thought, dreading the next day.

I tried to find firewood, but in the end, I had to use a creosote bush. I scavenged for a sorely needed meal. Alas! All I could find were the oats I had gotten that morning from Trader Wood. I dug out a palmful of oats and held it up for Rose to eat. Until I could get home, I would have to ration what little we had. The fire crackled and Rose neighed softly. I fingered my scarf made from Lilac’s wool. I curled up next to Rose and tried to sleep.

I opened my eyes and blinked in the bright sunlight. In the distance, I could see a caravan’s bright tents. I thought I could get me and Rose ready and ask them to take us with them. I got oats, a new tunic, grooming supplies, and a small swallow of water out of Rose’s saddle bag. “Rosey Posey!” I called. Rose obediently came. I grabbed the curry comb and began to work the sand out of her coat. Rose was not fond of this and loudly neighed her displeasure. Soon she was shining. I whistled and we were off.

When we reached the caravan, I climbed off and peered at the small cooking fires of the traveling camp. A couple people glanced, turned up their noses at me, and went back to their business. A tall, dark haired young man walked up.

“How can I help you?” he asked.

I cried, “Will your caravan be passing Mesilla?”

“We are. We will be stopping there tomorrow to get fresh supplies. If you’d like to go with us, you will have to earn your keep by carrying cloth on your horse.” He eyed Rose warily. “The name’s Phillip. We leave at dawn.” He turned and left.

I chased after him. “Wait! What time will we be there tomorrow?”

“Probably noon if we get a good start,” he said.

I tried to scoot around a llama. “But I must get home to my sheep!”

Phillips shrugged, “You are welcome to head out on your own.”

I shook my head. “I got turned around by the sandstorm. I don’t know how to get home.” I looked at him pitifully.

“It’s tomorrow or nothing,” he shrugged as he walked away. “There is a spare tent next to the llamas. Share it with one of the workers.”

Just as I was about to go, a llama spit at me. I looked at my tunic in dismay. It was my last clean tunic.

I had a restless night tossing and turning while thinking about the mama sheep. I started reliving the night only half a year ago when my parents placed Lilac in my arms. I missed them so much. I wished I had been more thankful to them that day.

Early the next morning, we set off, the sun beating down as we traveled. My face turned beet red, my blue tunic stained with sweat. At last, my city came into view. I waved goodbye to the caravan.

I rushed right home. I burst into the barn, and next to Lilac was a newborn sheep. Lilac looked tired, but proud. I sank into the bed of straw and pulled the cute lamb onto my lap. The baby nibbled my hand. I looked up into Rose’s warm eyes and gave a little cry. “We did it, Rose! We made it back to see our little Buttercup!”

The End