10-year-old George Fernandes has been in touch to tell me about the Royal Mail Young Letter Writers Competition which he won with a letter based on my Larklight books. You can read more about George here, and this is the text of his winning entry:
Dear Daddy,
Since leaving Earth to go to my outerspace pen pal’s party I have been on a perilous adventure which took all my courage and cunning. What was my adventure? Well, on my way to my pen pal’s party my ship crashlanded on a desolate planet. I was the sole survivor. At first I thought I was going to die but these people and aliens rescued me. On board their ship I asked them what they were doing. They told me that their mission was to track down a gigantic Galaxian Bull Worm which was destroying the universe. After explaining their mission they asked me if I wanted to help them. I said yes, but on one condition, that they fix my ship. “Agreed,” they said, and we set off.
On the way we stopped at some planets and asked if the worm had been seen but nobdody had. We finally reached the last planet in the quadrant. Mushroom-like aliens told us that they saw the worm flying around a nearby asteroid. As quick as lightning we set off to fight the worm. As we approached the asteroid a long silhouette passed in front of it. We knew it was the worm. The asteroid was a wasteland, nothing in sight but rocks. Suddenly out of nowhere the giant worm lunged at us, but it just missed. The atmosphere was tense, everybody was waiting for the worm to return. Aggressively the worm tried to snatch us. Its teeth were knives glistening in the pale light. The roar of gun fire filled the air. As the worm passed me I clung on to its silky skin and hauled myself onto its neck where I sliced through its throat.
The worm came crashing down, dead. I jumped to safety and my crewmates gathered around me singing in joy. Within minutes the whole universe knew and celebrated wildly. My ship was repaired and sadly I said goodbye to my new friends. Now I am returning home and am looking forwards to seeing you and Mum. Unfortunately I missed my pen pal’s party, but there’s always next year!
Love from George.
Illustration: David Wyatt
Illustration: David Wyatt
