The Suncatchers
I sent this story off today to an agent. Most of my day has been spent chasing publishers, agents and other book-type people. I'm learning to deal with rejection and get over my nerves about making phone calls. By the way, if you steal my story and get it published, expect me to sue you for the profits!
In the summer, Annie and Andrew’s favourite game was shadow jumping. They played for hours until their shadows were long in the afternoon. When the sun went down, they had to come inside for dinner.
One night, Annie and Andrew’s shadows decided to go to a secret shadow party. Trying not to giggle too much, they sneaked quietly out of the house and ran down to the back of the garden while Annie and Andrew were asleep.
The party was very exciting for the little shadows. They ate fairy bread and drank fizzy orange drinks all night. When the time came for playing hide-and-seek, the shadows scampered around the garden to find extra-special hiding places. But their hiding places were a bit too special...
Annie woke up the next morning with a sun-ray on her face. “Wake up Andrew,” she sang, “Let’s play!” They hopped out of bed, but right away Andrew gasped, “Look! We don’t have our shadows.” It was true. No matter how they twisted and turned, no little shadows appeared. They were lost.
The place to go was the library, said Annie. There was sure to be a book about how to find lost shadows. They coughed a little bit from the dust when the librarian brought them the biggest, oldest book they had ever seen. “Will it have the answer?” breathed Andrew, and yes, it did…
Soon Annie and Andrew were running in the dazzling sunshine up Porky’s Hill to the Big Tree. Andrew climbed to the highest point and held up his empty jam jar at just the right angle. “That’s it!” cried Annie, as Andrew caught the sunshine and quickly put the lid on the jar.
Andrew kept the jar carefully covered by his shirt until they reached the dark jungle at the back of their garden. “This must be where our lost shadows are,” said Annie looking a little fearfully at the snaky vines and dark fern tentacles around them.
Suddenly, Andrew thought he recognised their shadows. “There they are!” he yelled. “Quick,” said Annie. Andrew took the lid off the jam jar to let out the sun rays. In a second, the dark jungle was transformed into a shimmering paradise.
The sunlight from the jar only lasted for a few seconds, but Annie and Andrew’s shadows recognised the children immediately. They hopped on their backs and held on tight while Annie and Andrew raced out into the sunlight. They all celebrated with a game of shadow-jumping.