Back in November 2018, Conor from P5 emerged as a budding young author. Here is an extract from his Short Story.
World War 1: Nathan the Rat and Fred the Soldier
Nathan was a rat. He was born in the trenches in World War 1. Although all he ever knew was the loud noise of artillery his sensitive ears had not got used to the loud noises of rifles firing and bombs exploding. Life in the trenches was hard even for a rat. There was little food for soldiers and lesser for rats. So every now and then, Nathan would try to steal cheese from the soldiers when they were asleep. The trenches were cold, muddy and cruel places. Every night Nathan would hear the sound of army planes and the distant sounds filled the night air. Many soldiers were visibly shell-shocked and stared blankly at their rifles.
One day Nathan noticed a new young anxious cadet who was sitting by himself. Nathan was curious to know if he had any food. When Nathan came close to the young man, who was called Fred, offered a tiny piece of cheddar. Nathan was impressed. Fred was an 18 year old cartoonist who had been conscripted by the British Army to fight in the war. During times of rest Fred would be thinking of his home and family. Nathan could see Fred missed his family. One morning when Fred appeared out of his trench hole he overheard talking about the hail of sniper fire the night before. Fred’s helmet, rifle and drawing pad could be seen trampled in the mud. Nathan felt unhappy that Fred was gone. He heard later that he had been hit by a stray bullet and had been shipped home to his family.
The next day happened to be Armistice Day which was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th month of 1918. The guns fell silent. Nathan took Fred’s drawing pad back to his burrow so he could remember him forever.