Secret Places
Hidden Treasures / 1

Local students show off their literary stuff in the 2017 McEntyre Writing Competition

Introduction by Wayne Larsen

In what has become an annual tradition in Westmount schools, the McEntyre Writing Competition always attracts a wide variety of thoughtful and creative entries, and the 2017 edition was no exception.

Endowed by the late Peter McEntyre, mayor of Westmount from 1969 to 1971, the competition encourages young writers to express themselves on a designated topic, each designed to get the creative juices flowing. It is coordinated each year by the Westmount Public Library.

In 2017, “Secret Places, Hidden Treasures” was the topic assigned to students in grades 1 through 11.

Westmount Magazine presents the full texts of the first-place entries in each grade category, as supplied by the Westmount Public Library.

Here we present Grade 1 and 2.

FIRST GRADE | FIRST PRIZE | SELWYN HOUSE

Xhengxuan Chen

The Mouse and the Treasure

Once upon a time there was a mouse called Jerry. He found a key. On the key it said, “A secret treasure in a creaking ship.”

Jerry walked and walked and walked until he saw a ship with pirates. He walked onto the ship and he went to the pirate’s captain. Jerry showed him the key, and the captain told him that the creaking ship had sunk.

They put on their swimming suits and they went swimming in the sea. They found a creaking ship. They went into the ship. Jerry looked at the ship. He found a tunnel. Jerry told the pirates and they went swimming into the tunnel. They found a treasure box.

They went back to the ship and they gave it to the captain. They used the treasure box of gold to buy so many things and lived happily ever after.

The end.

SECOND GRADE | FIRST PRIZE | THE STUDY

Priya Kennedy

The Missing Gifts

Once upon a time there lived four detective children whose names were Jack, Annie, Ryan and Mia. Jack was eight years old, Annie was nine years old, Ryan was ten and Mia was eleven. They lived in a house close to a forest with secret doors. On Christmas Eve, the children were waiting for Santa Claus to come. Then on Christmas morning under the tree they saw wishing presents! One was for Mia, one was for Ryan, one was for Jack, but there was nothing for Annie. Annie was sad but then she remembered that everyone had three presents to give to each other.

They had gotten the presents from the secret lands behind hidden doors in the forest. So she gave her presents: a toy airplane for Jack, a robot for Ryan and makeup for Mia. Next Jack gave his presents: a candy machine for Mia, and a soccer ball stuffy for Ryan. But he could not find the doll house for Annie. Next Mia gave her presents: a hockey stick for Ryan and a hundred dollars for Jack. But she could not find the cat for Annie. Finally Ryan gave his presents: a box of Lego for Jack and some necklaces for Mia. But he could not find the gumball machine for Annie.

The children looked for Annie’s presents, but instead they found a letter from Santa. It said that a naughty elf had played a trick on Annie and had sent her presents back to the three lands they had come from. He had hidden them there because Santa had put him on the naughty list. The letter also said that in those lands they would find all of the pieces of a key to find a secret word that was in the fourth land. The children would never know which land they would go to because only the door to the land they need to get to would open and would not let them out until they found what they were looking for. In candy land they found Annie’s gumball machine and the first piece of the key. “Just two more to go” said Annie.

In the land of toys they found Annie’s doll house and the second piece of the key. “Just one more to go,” said Mia. In the land of pets they found Annie’s cat and the last piece of the key.
“That’s all of them,” said Jack. But Annie did not know what to call her cat.

Finally they went to the land of snow and ice. They looked for five days and nights and the only thing they could eat were snow cones. Then one day Mia found a wishing well. She called for Ryan, Jack, and Annie. She told them that she would make a wish for the secret word. But before she could wish a treasure chest popped out of the ground.

Annie got the key and opened the treasure chest. Inside the treasure chest there was Annie’s wishing present and a paper. It said: “You were going to use your wish for your family and not yourself and that is why the treasure chest popped up. You have used the secret key to open it so the secret word is community.” Then Annie knew what to call her cat: Community the cat.

Image: Brenda Clarke via StockPholio.net