Highly Commended Story - The Magic Wishing Well

“The Magic Wishing Well” by Tatsha Kuansongtham, Bangkok Patana School, Thailand, is the Highly Commended story in the sub-junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2019.

Tatsha Kuansongtham is in Year 4 at Bangkok Patana School, Thailand and lives there with her mum, dad and younger brother. Writing, arts and doung anything creative are her hobbies. Tatsha is a grade 3 pianist, plays violin and ukulele. Tatsha is part of her school swimming team and takes part in many events. Her favorite authors are David William and Roald Dahl. At weekends, she either goes to the beach or enjoys time at home cooking and baking with her mum.

The Magic Wishing Well

It was a beautiful spring morning and I was walking across a field that I had walked across many times before but today there was a wishing well siting there all by itself in the middle of the grass. It had not been there before. I felt excited and a little bit curious, so I peered over the side to see what was down there. A ray of light shone through, landing on sparkling, fresh, blue water as clear as could be and a school of unicorn fishes swimming elegantly through the coral reefs. Pulling the bucket up, I climbed inside and slowly lowered myself down.

What I saw next amazed me. Birds sang sweetly, foamy water flowed over the rocks of the waterfall and vibrant, green moss covered the rocks. The air smelled earthy like when you go outside after a rainstorm. I moved the bucket as if it was a boat by using my hands as oars, pulling the cool water until I reached the edge of the lagoon, then climbed out onto the rock. Finding myself at the entrance of a huge, dark cave, I was surprised that I felt a cool, fresh breeze drifting out. Starting to stare through the darkness, my eyes started to adjust, and I could see little rocks piled up on the dusty floor. Overhead, the tunnel arched its way above me and in the distance was nothing but inky darkness.

“Hello!!!!!!” I called out. But the only noise that came back was my echo. Feeling brave, I stepped further in. As I walked, my footsteps went crunch, crunch, which echoed around the tunnel. Anxiously, listening carefully, I held my breath and I’m sure I heard a sound from inside. Curiously, I went further and further inside and I stopped dead in my tracks with my mouth wide open.

Starting to see rays of light coming from further inside the tunnel, I tiptoed even further in and it opened into a humongous cavern. The ceiling was a sparkling rainbow of topaz and was shining magically. I cautiously crept further in. There were wispy, magical unicorns galloping gracefully like their feet weren’t even touching the ground. Flowing through the cave, there was a sparkling, turquoise river with Lilli pads floating gently across it. Suddenly, a mermaid’s tail flipped above the water, causing rhythmic waves. She had pearly white, glistening gold and sparkling silver scales that shone like shiny new coins. Her gorgeous clear skin had magical dust on her plump cheeks. She slithered next to me and said in a sweet voice, “You need to go, it’s not safe here. The evil mermaids can appear at any time,” and with that she slithered back into the water but I didn’t believe something bad could possibly happen.

The beautiful colours started to fade and dark, mysterious colours filled the air in their place. The ceiling turned a fire orange and eyes were looking down at me. There were ghostly howls and the kind mermaids disappeared into the water, but evil, haunted mermaids and wicked, selfish unicorns rose from the water instead. Rising from the water, a giant sea dragon stretched its wings and between its knobby legs, steps appeared. At that moment, ghost mermaids danced across the dark sky, their heads leaning back cackling with laughter. My heart started to beat like a drum. The hairs on my arms stood on end. I started breathing heavily. I wondered how to get back to that bucket that would take me back to the field and back to safety. All of a sudden, a sea snake appeared. It scared me so I decided to go to up the steps to hide even though I didn’t know where those stairs would take me.

Running as fast as I possibly could, I leaped through the sea dragon’s legs and at that very moment, there was a loud crack and the steps underneath me just disappeared. Down and down I went tumbling until I reached the ground with a thud. Then, I opened my eyes and looked around and heard a bell tingling softly and the splashing of the water. Suddenly, joyful laughter filled the air and I instantly knew I was in a happier place. Wondering how to get out of there and back to a normal world, I walked towards the way I came and said goodbye to the mermaids. I was very glad that I found my way to escape the fierce, scary scene that I saw a second ago. Finding myself back in the tunnel, I heard a witchy snigger that sent shivers down my spine and a voice boomed “RUN.” I ran as fast as I could with my heart beating in my chest and my footsteps racing noisily along the tunnel. Her voice seemed to follow me along the path. The end of the tunnel was right in front of me and I finally dived into the cool, clear water and swam as fast as a dolphin to the bucket. I heaved myself in. As if by magic, the bucket slowly started to rise. Underneath the dark mysterious clouds rapidly started to lift but I beat them to the top.

Climbing swiftly out of the bucket, I sprinted across the field until I was huffing and puffing. Looking back round to see what the black shadow was that was following me, the wishing well had magically disappeared…

Just a tree swayed happily in the breeze.

I ran…