Congratulations to Jane Lewis, who won the 2026 Prescot Festival Short Story Competition with her tale Elara. Jane won £100 and had her story published in the August edition of Prescot Parish Magazine.
We had two junior winners this year, too. Cherry Frodsham, 7, wrote The King’s Choice, and a six-year-old, whose family preferred that they remain anonymous, wrote a story of the same title.
Enjoy reading the winners below!
Elara
By Jane Lewis
By order of the King, Elara forced herself toward the palace. Above her, a sky the colour of ash hung low as the palace spires soared like blades through the mist. Inside the royal archives, she handed over her tax for that month: a single memory. She felt part of herself slip away before the clerk even touched the vial. Her fingers shook as she held it, a small crystal vial glowing faintly with the precious memory of her mother singing her a lullaby. But her mother was no longer on this earth, snatched away far too soon in a tragic accident that had left Elara shattered. She had never understood what truly happened; the unanswered questions lingered in her chest like a persistent bitter ache that never faded.
The clerk inspected the vial, nodded, and placed it onto Elara’s rack, next to countless others from the people of the kingdom. Each vial pulsed like a heartbeat caught in a glass, and their faint glow cast silhouettes that danced like tiny phantoms on the walls. “The King thanks you for your payment,” the clerk announced, his voice as cold as ice.
Outside, the fog curled between narrow streets, enveloping everything in an eerie silence. Elara shivered. She felt hollow as she slumped along the cobblestones, heading home through streets that seemed to have forgotten her existence.
She should have obeyed the King’s order quietly, like everyone did. But that night, the royal archives haunted her dreams. Endless racks of memories glimmered like trapped stars. She saw her own joys and sorrows confined in shimmering vials that she would never possess again, and her heart ached. She woke trembling, gasping, her skin slicked with sweat.
Curiosity gnawed at her. And something deeper, a pull she could not name, which drove her out of bed. Anxiously, she dressed and made her way back to the palace in the dead of night. As she slipped through the back corridors which the guards never patrolled, she felt as though every corner was watching her.
Finally, Elara found the door to the royal archives. She pressed her hand tentatively to the cold metal, and against all sense pushed it open. Stepping inside, the vials surrounding her glowed, buzzing with memories. Light rippled across the walls like liquid glass, shifting with every breath she took. Instantly her eyes were drawn to her own vial from that very morning, as if it were beckoning her. But as she inched toward it, something made her freeze.
In the corner of the archives stood the King, as if he had been waiting for her all along. The King did not look entirely human. Horror rose in Elara’s throat as she realised his eyes were mirrors. And in those mirrors, she saw every memory she had ever surrendered, now bound, and imprisoned within his gaze. Along with countless others he had taken from the people of the kingdom.
“Do you know why I live so long?” the King whispered. “I collect what others forget. I hold their years, their loves, their dreams. It weakens them and makes me strong. By order of the King,” he mocked, “all are mine.” Elara stumbled back, trembling, her voice barely escaping her. “You’re feeding off them!”
He smirked with the cunning of a snake about to strike. The air seemed to vanish, and the stench of rot rolled in, heavy and suffocating. “They never notice. They have obeyed without question for hundreds of years. But you see what they cannot, and that makes you dangerous. You and that wretched mother of yours. I ended her myself.” His words dripped with venom and pride, followed by psychotic laughter, a sound that scraped across Elara’s bones. Her heart thundered, a wild drum of terror and disbelief. Her stomach churned as the truth set in: he had murdered her mother! The stench of rot thickened, thrumming with the weight of stolen memories, and a faint whisper brushed her ears: come closer, give more, surrender.
Elara lunged at the racks and seized her vial. Electric light poured into her hand, and she felt a tug inside her skull, icy and insistent. The archives twisted and shifted around her. Shadows stretched like hands, brushing her skin, whispering her name. With all her might, Elara smashed the vial to the ground, freeing its contents. The memory scattered like fireflies, flowing back into her heart and mind, forcing a fevered strength to surge into her core. The King reeled, a hiss erupting from his serpentine lips.
Elara bolted out of the archives and raced back down the palace corridors. Breathing heavily, she reached the empty streets, the murky fog wrapping itself around her. Silence reigned, broken only by the echo of shattered glass and the murmur of distant memories. But for the first time in years, Elara could feel the warmth of her own past returning, spreading like sunlight over cold stone. The love of her mother surged with it, a love that she realised had never truly left her. Along with it came a flicker of courage she thought she had lost forever.
She knew the truth now, the same truth her mother had uncovered. The memories of the kingdom were not safe, and no one else would see it unless she acted. She was in danger, just as her mother had been. But how could she defeat the King alone? Could one girl restore centuries of stolen memories and avenge her own mother’s death?
Elara clenched her fists and looked up at the ashen sky, feeling a small part of her awaken. She could run and hide, but she could also fight and reclaim what had been stolen. One memory at a time. Either way, her world would never be the same.
And somewhere deep in the darkened streets, the distant voice of her mother called her name, reminding her that the smallest spark could ignite the greatest rebellion.
The King’s Choice
By Cherry Frodsham, 7
Once there was a King by the name of Pavlova who lived in Snitzle castle, with his wife Queen Peach and two young princesses. He was a brilliant Dad to his twins Poppy and Penelope. They loved to play badminton and hide and seek. No matter how busy the King was he always found time to play with them. All the twins had to do was call ‘daddy’ or hunt him down in the castle grounds and he would come to play games with them, help them or read to them. It was never a difficult decision to make as he loved them dearly.
This was all about to change when the butler Henry Halfmoon interrupted the King and Queen at dinner with a loud knock on the dining room door. He appeared at the table holding a silver tray with a letter on it, ‘we have received some news your majesty’ Henry gasped all red in the face. ‘Princesses Poppy and Penelopes badminton competition at Greengrass Academy is on the same day as the royal banquet (it only happens every 10 years), whatever will we do?
The King looked surprised, ‘really’ he said. King Pavlova thought for a moment scratching his head ‘HHHmmmmmm, this is the most difficult decision of my life’. After a 10 minute pause, King Pavlova stood up and said ‘I have made my choice’. He was going to watch his daughters play in the final of the badminton competition. He believed that they were so talented and were going to win. He didn’t want to miss the proud moment.
Henry Halfmoon wanted the banquet to go ahead so much, because he’d spent a lot of time working on it at the King and Queens request. He had sent out all the invitations, ordered sparkly party poppers, glitter ballons and so much more. Henry walked away with his head hanging down and his arms tightly folded.
‘Stop there’ roared the King ‘Where are you going? I didn’t say it wasn’t going ahead I just said that my choice was to watch my darling princesses’. Henry Halfmoon stopped suddenly realising that he shouldn’t have walked away from the King. Oh dear he thought to himself.
King Pavlova glared at Henry before whispering ‘I will help, I will choose the food and the guests will have the best dinner and puddings in the world’. The Buttler scuttled off feeling very embarrassed.
It was the day of the banquet, and everything was going to plan apart from the food which was late arriving. Poor Henry had had to make snacks for the guest who had arrived early. Henry Halfmoon went to fetch the King from his bedroom to introduce him to the three special guests from the 3 different Kingdoms.
The King went to meet them as the food arrived. He set it all up then went to sit on his throne for a rest and fell asleep.
The castle guards had been walking around the grounds and hadn’t noticed that some of the food had gone missing. The meringue, crème Brule and jam and cheese sandwiches had all disappeared. The guards thought that their eyes were playing tricks on them when they arrived back into the banqueting hall. The King woke up with all the commotion, stood tall and ordered the guards to find the food before he left for the badminton competition, which he was now running late for.
The food was found just in time and luckily the competition was running late. The King settled down in his seat with a glass of wine, just as he took his last sip the game began. It was a very exiting match and then the winners were announced. Poppy and Penelope were given their medals and the crowd gave an enormous roar. The King was so delighted that he invited everyone from Greengrass Academy back to the castle to enjoy the remaining feast and the thieves who stole the food were never to be seen again.
The end.
The King’s Choice
Anonymous, 6
The King couldn’t decide who would be the next king.
The king usually chose the oldest son but this time he couldn’t do that as he had triplets.
Jonneth is the one in blue, Mack in pink and Ben in orange.
So he set three challenges.
The first challenge was the best at climbing.
Jonneth thought he was the best as he climbed to the top and pressed the red button.
Mack said well done. I’m sure you’re going to win this one and I’ll win the next.
But Ben just tried his best. He nearly got to the top. He’s been climbing ten times before and got to the top eight times.
The next challenge was swimming. Who could swim the furthest?
Mack got to the other side of the swimming pool. It was 38 metres. Then he swam back.
Jonneth nearly managed the whole swim but with 2 metres still to go he had to be saved by the lifeguard as it was very deep.
Ben tried his best. He got halfway and then he swam back.
The last challenge was two challenges in one.
They had to do a quiz and a dot-to-dot activity book.
The dot-to-dot was super duper tricky which was 1000 dots-to-dots in one.
And who did that first and the quiz first won the challenge.
Mack thought Jonneth was going to win.
They didn’t know the name of the kitchen boy so they put a random name down.
But Ben, he thought very hard and then he thought of the name. It was Jacob.
Then King Charles II announced the winner.
It was Ben!
Ben won because he tried his best in all the challenges and didn’t give up so he became King.
Add Your Comment