WORDSMITHS as young as nine have proved they could be Warrington’s authors of tomorrow after coming out on top at the town’s LitFest.

Judges have said they were impressed with the quality of entries in the Way With Words competition which was open to nine to 17-year-olds in three age categories.

Olivia Wood, from Statham Primary School, won the gold award for writers aged nine and under for her story, The Secret Door.

Abigail Finney scooped silver for penning Cromwell’s Coin while Alisha Armitage and Joe Inman were joint bronze winners for their tales Zero Goes Missing and Alien Invasion.

Olivia, Abigail, Alisha and Joe are all aged nine.

Jessica Petherbridge’s Silence was handed the top award in the 10 to 13 age category.

The Appleton resident is 10 and attends Broomfield’s Junior School.

Jacob Stokes’ Last Christmas won silver and Gabrielle Styles’ Willow and The Wire Wolf was awarded bronze.

In the 14 to 17 age category, judges were most impressed by Gabrielle Gibbons’ story, Alone.

The 14-year-old is from Burtonwood and attends St Gregory's RC High School.

Meanwhile, St Gregory’s High School pupil Laura Williams, aged 16, scooped silver for writing No Hero.

In the concluding part of our LitFest feature celebrating the success of the authors, Weekend has teamed up with Culture Warrington to publish excerpts from the Way With Words gold winners’ stories.

The Secret Door
By Olivia Wood

A decade ago, there lived a 10-year-old girl named Lizz. She was very inquisitive, with short strawberry blond hair.

One morning, she went with her mum to see The Hobbit at the Westbrook Cinema in Warrington.

Lizz REALLY didn’t want to go but her mum was potty about anything to do with Lord of the Rings.

When they got there, her mum said “Go and find a seat”.

Lizz nodded and went to go but then saw a tiny door in the very corner of the room.

“Huh?” she muttered.

Glancing back to see if her mum was looking she opened the door and stepping through, she found herself in a warm, isolated valley.

“Ha-ha-ha!” laughed a creepy voice, making Lizz jump.

Lizz saw a faint light in the distance and decided to investigate. Brambles scratched her face as she trotted through the spooky trees, which looked like creepy hands in the darkness. Finally she came upon a dingy, little cottage.

“I wonder who lives here,” she murmured to herself as she knocked on the door...

* Olivia won the gold award for writers aged nine and under.

Alone
By Gabrielle Gibbons
Snow falls for the first time in years. I never really remembered what it was like – of course I would never admit that to Charlie.

Being the big brother I had to have some things he didn’t. Sending sharp pains deep under my skin, the flakes feel weird on my already too cold hands.

I want to cheer and run about but on my own? Who cares? Nobody. Nobody is here to care because of this stupid war.

Every step I take is another memory lost. Warrington just isn’t the same.

There is still the Golden Square, though the fountains are little more than rubble and the shops destroyed beyond repair.

In the distance I see the stadium of the Wolves… * St Gregory’s RC High School pupil Gabrielle impressed judges in the 14 to 17 age category.

Silence
By Jessica Petherbridge

Blackness, the lights went out, nobody was awake except me. Like a mouse I crept to the window, letting the amazing silence, which only a few people experience, drown me.

As my eyes lay on the cold forbidding town of Warrington, a devil of a thought came over me… It’s midnight now and I am out in my old tattered pyjamas. Creeping through the streets whilst watching the illuminated moon, slowly moving through the cloudless sky.

Towering above me the clock, which must have been there for a thousand years, kept ticking away waiting for the hour to be finally up.

Every house looked different, even the sweet shop, which I go to every Friday.

It looks like an alien has taken over the once colourful shop, and turned it into their dark, dingy home...

*Jessica most impressed judges in the 10 to 13 age category.