Year 3 Writers and Year 4 Illustrators 

                                                  Diary of a Cloud Girl

By Scarlett Beens 

1st Place, Liddell

29/1/2025

Dear Diary,

My dad says this’ll be the hardest time of my life, because I’m starting human school. That’s why I’ve got you. You’re like my own secret little friend, and I’ll be needing one. Usually, it’s easy for people to find friends, but it isn’t for me. You see I was born in a cloud, which makes me a cloud girl. I am a cloud girl with a cloud dad, no mum and no friends… yet! The reason I have no friends is because I have always home schooled until now. A few days ago, it was my birthday. I turned eleven. Finally, I am over the age of ten and I’m allowed to start human school. I wonder what it’ll be like? I feel kind of nervous.

Anyway, you might be thinking, but wait on a second, how do cloud girls turn from cloud to human? And do cloud girls have names? The answer is, when the cloud girl's body touches ice, she can change into a human. When her human body feels steam, she suddenly vaporises and floats into the sky. She can then teleport down to earth. And I do have a name; my name is Amy.

It’s past my bedtime. I guess I really should go up to bed now. I’m sure that the whole time I’ll just be lying there thinking about school tomorrow. How about I tell you one more thing that's swirling around my head. The thing is, what if something happens? What if I try to sneak into the staffroom or the canteen to turn the kettle on and then float up into the sky as a cloud girl? Phew, it feels better now that I’ve told you that. I’ll go to bed now.

Good night diary, Amy.

30/1/2025 (early in the morning)

Dear Diary,

I feel a mixture of apprehension and excitement about school. What if people don’t like me? What if they think I’m weird? How will I remember everybody’s name? Where on earth will the staffroom or canteen be?! What happens if I forget my water bottle? At the same time, I feel excited about making new friends, and learning new things.

Bye Diary, I feel hopeful about school.

30/1/2025 (this afternoon)

Dear Diary,

This afternoon isn’t at all busy, but grade five is. Today was the first day of term and we had: English, Math, History, Geography, and PE. Wouldn’t you think that is enough for the two or three days? We also figured out laptop codes, stuck covers on our books, and read.

Recess was alright. At the start I was sitting at a lonely bench, but one second later, a girl called Indy was chatting away to me. I think I have made my first friend. I’m not entirely sure if she really is a friend because, well I’ve never actually had a friend. Oh! I almost forgot, my teacher’s name is Mr Prodigy. He’s really nice and has a great sense of humour. One day I might be a teacher. If I ever am, I hope I am just as amazingly good as he is. (And he is really good).

Bye Diary, Amy

31/1/2025 (recess)

Dear Diary,

Today I have my favourite snack in the whole world, snow pea crisps. Anyway, I have more important news than that. Guess what! Never mind, don’t guess, I’ll just tell you.... Next Monday our class is having their first excursion! This year we’ll get to see a train museum. There’ll be mini trains, the inside of a train engine, and the employees have even arranged a special steam train ride with extra steam! I’m so excited to ride the real steam train! I am also so nervous about the train ride. I asked Mr Prodigy why it was so early in the year. He said that his class always does it that way. I told him I was completely unprepared; the truth is he didn’t seem to mind very much. Strangely, being unprepared isn’t my biggest worry. My biggest worry is that I might turn into a cloud in front of everybody and start to float into the sky! What if everyone hates me? What if they despise me? What if they think I’m a coward for not owning up? I have no idea at all about what I’m going to do!!!

Bye Diary, a clueless Amy

3/2/2025 (on the bus to the excursion)

Dear Diary,

I STILL have no idea at all about what I’m going to do!!! I have no idea AT ALL, I’m so stressed, and, and-urgh this is mortifying! I feel like nothing can work in a situation like this, nothing at all! I just can’t think of anything at all! NOTHING!!!!!!!!!

- a very stressed Amy

3/2/2025 (after school)

Dear Diary,

Today, me and my class finally arrived at the train museum; everything went smoothly at first. We saw the mini trains and the inside of a train engine. After lunch things started to happen.

We walked to the steam train with Mr Prodigy in the lead. When we reached our destination, we all bustled to get on. The wheels worked their way up the track. After a while, it picked up the pace and was going 10 kilometres an hour.  When the first puff of steam came, I felt by body vaporise. I wasn’t a cloud just yet. When the fifth puff of steam came my body started floating into the sky. There was this strange feeling though, I felt as if I was locked in a cage, and I was fighting to get out! It wasn’t the usual relaxed feeling I would normally get – no, there was something about it that made me feel wrong! JUST WRONG!!! It didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel safe. I wonder what’s going to happen to me, I wish I knew.

All I know is right now on earth people are looking for me. I wish they knew I was safe, and that I could tell everybody what I am, who I am. Maybe it would be alright if I told them. Maybe they would even like me.

Bye Diary, a thoughtful Amy

3/2/2025 (before school)

Dear Diary,

I’ve decided, I’m going to tell everyone who I am, what I am, and how proud I am to be me.

Bye, Amy

3/2/2025 (after school)

Dear Diary,

I did it! I wish I had just told them at the start. I am so proud to be a cloud. I am glad that my only parent is a cloud. It is so nice for people to know me as unique and so different. And, diary I am so happy and sad to tell you that you’re not needed any more. You were a great friend, and you still are. The thing is, it was nice telling all my secrets, but now I have friends, and I really want to understand that and feel happy about it. I promise I will keep you in my heart, even if you’re not in my hands.

Goodbye, Amy.

A New World

By Evie Redman

2nd Place, Lewis 

There once was a cloud. It was a small cloud, but this cloud carried something special - a tiny world. Incredible how something so small, like a single cloud, could carry something so extraordinary.

I was a little fairy exploring when I saw this world and I was curious to see what was there. I wanted to investigate this little world and see if I could discover something new. “Oh, my goodness,” I thought as I landed. Guess what the “people” of this world were? Clouds! Each and every cloud was a different colour. This made me wonder, how are there that many colours? I began counting the coloured clouds and got up to 222 before I gave up. They were moving around so much that it became too difficult to keep track. As I moved around this world on a cloud, I could see little houses. Each house was the same colour as the cloud that must live there. There were little aqua houses, turquoise houses and pink houses lining a street. Then I turned to my right and saw even more different coloured houses.

As I stopped to look at one of the houses, a little pale pink cloud came to me and said, “We need you! Our world is in danger – a lot of danger.” “How? What sort of danger?” I replied. The little cloud answered, “Our enemies, the wind monsters, are trying to blow down our world! You must help us before it is too late.” Just then, a strong gust of wind blew across the town. “This is what the wind monsters do,” cried the pale pink cloud. “They are trying to blow us out of our world so they can have it for themselves!” She seemed so scared. I quickly responded, “Of course I will help you.”

She took me to their Queen’s castle. The castle was around one hundred metres tall. It was rainbow in colour – made up of tiny specks of each of the colours of the clouds that lived in this world. I was led up a giant staircase which took me to a great hall. Straight ahead sat the most beautiful cloud I had ever seen. She was every shade of colour I knew, with a shimmer of silver sparkles reflecting off her. I knew she was the queen straight away because no other cloud was like her. “Hello,” the Queen said. “What are you doing here?" “Hi, Queen," said the pale pink cloud. “I just met this fairy, and we were talking about this world when suddenly the wind monsters struck again. This time they nearly blew down the flag of your castle and the houses around it!” she exclaimed. The Queen looked angry. “We must go to war!” said the Queen, “Enough is enough!”

The Queen gathered all the clouds into the great hall. “Prepare for battle, my clouds.” she told them. “All clouds must choose their strongest weapons to fight with.” “Yes, Queen,” answered every single cloud. The cloud's weapons were special powers. They could control the weather - some could bring hail down on their enemies, others could change the temperature, and some could make rain fall from the sky. Once every cloud was ready, they went outside to face the wind monsters. Even though I was scared, I was ready to help.

The wind monsters saw that the clouds were ready to fight, so they joined together and grew larger. The battle was about to begin!

The wind monsters began blowing clouds away. Clouds leapt on top of the wind monsters to drop the temperature and throw hail stones at them, hoping this would be enough to stop them. Homes were being destroyed and the fighting continued.

After what felt like a long time, I noticed that there was a single wind monster that was surrounded by clouds. I went up to it, ready to give it my hardest whack. Just when I was about to do it, the wind monster blew a strong gust. This time, instead of a windy noise, I heard a yelp. It sounded like the wind monster was screaming “Help!” In my loudest voice I told the clouds to stop, which silenced the fight.

The wind monster yelped again, but this time quieter. There was no windy noise. This time I heard “Please, we just want to be friends. We mean no harm.” I could understand what the wind monster was saying. I realised I was sent to this world to understand the wind monsters and end the fighting. “Did you know you were ruining their homes and world?” I asked the wind monster. It shook its head.” What is it saying?” the pale pink cloud asked. “OK ALL CLOUDS,” I began in my loudest voice, “The wind monsters just want to be friends with you. Blowing wind is their only way to communicate.” 

The Queen looked thoughtful. "I know,” she began, “We have spare fields that we never use. Please tell the wind friends that they can have that land. It is far enough away from our city so they can blow their winds whenever they want to.”

After that day, a new world was created, where the clouds and wind friends lived together in peace.

Daydreamer

By Maison Gov

Highly Commended, Carmichael

An adventurous boy named Henry, with brown messy hair and blue eyes, swaggered into his mysterious garden and picked a strange, light blueberry-coloured apple from a very old, stumpy golden apple tree.

Henry took the biggest bite he could into the apple, with a great big CRUNCH! “Yum! This is so good and so fresh,” said Henry.

Suddenly, Henry started to feel sick. It felt like a humongous rhinoceros was thumping his hooves inside his belly and using his big sharp horns to stab him! He didn’t know what was happening to him at all, but he knew something was up.

In an instant, Henry started to feel a tingling sensation on his back that soon turned into a heat energy, creating a bubbling effect. There was a blazing hot volcano erupting from his back, splashing red hot lava everywhere!

As the lava burst and sprayed into the air, a thick ash cloud exploded out of Henry’s back like a dragon’s flame, swirling above him in a smoky, grey cyclone that covered the sky.

Suddenly, everything went quiet, and the ash cloud slowly drifted away. Henry was standing strong and powerful, as magnificent phoenix wings burst out of his shoulders.

“Wow, this is awesome!” He was so excited to go on an adventure.

Henry started to float in the air, rising into the sky. He used his wings to fly in circles, twirling and twisting in loops through the clouds and up into the atmosphere. He was having a great time.

He saw lots of shape shifting clouds that changed into cars, aeroplanes and even dinosaurs. Henry was having lots of fun flying around. He liked the clouds because he loved playing with them. He got to see lots of new things he had never seen before.

The sky started to turn into dark, stormy grey clouds, and Henry started to feel sad and lonely. He realised he had no one to play with, and now that the clouds were all grey and stormy, they were not fun to play with anymore.

Henry wanted to come down, but he didn’t know how to. He called out for help.

His dad heard him. “Okay, I’ll try my best!” Dad shouted, and shot an arrow from a bow high into the sky… But he missed.

His teacher heard him. “Okay, I’ll try my best!” She said, and climbed the tallest skyscraper… But the wind blew her away.

His coach heard him. “Okay, I’ll try my best!” He yelled. He jumped into a plane, flew high into the sky and skydived out to catch Henry. He almost had him, but Henry’s shirt was too slippery, and his hands slipped off.

Then Mum called out to Henry, calling louder and louder.

“Henry…” she called.

The sky starts to turn grey, and rain begins to fall. Henry dropped lower towards the ground. He heard his mum’s voice, calling to him.

“Henry, it’s bath time!” said Mum.

The rain fell heavier, and Henry dropped even lower to the ground. “Henry, what are you doing?” she asked.

Henry landed on the ground and suddenly woke from his daydream adventure.

He was back in his garden. Mum stood there, holding a towel.

“Henry, bath time!” she called.

Henry blinked his eyes and spat out a bite of a strange blueberry coloured apple. It was still in his mouth.