Niamh's story

What resilience and determination Niamh showed in doing this piece of writing. She wasn't happy until it was just right and she had responded to my ideas for improvements. 

Well done Niamh, you are a superstar!

The Queen of Scallops

 In a small old-fashioned fishing town of Filey lived the Cook family. They lived in a very little rundown cottage overlooking Filey Brigg.  Within the cottage lived mum, dad, there son Alfie and his very poorly grandpa.

Alfie was 13 years old and a terrible teen. He was always getting into trouble with his parents. Alfie could walk into shop and pinch anything he fancied. But this certain day he wasn’t as lucky and got caught by a fierce looking shop keeper who grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. The shop keeper knew the family and drove Alfie home. His mum answered the door not looking happy and sent Alfie to his room, as she spoke to the shop keeper. He told her that he caught Alfie stealing food from his shop and that he was no longer aloud in and if he was ever seen in there again, he would ring the police.

Mum stormed into Alfie’s room shouting, “Why do you always bring trouble to our door? That’s it, you are now grounded until I say so, you can stay in your room.” Mum left the room slamming the door behind her.

Alfie laid on his make shift bed from foam thinking, “What am I going to do? I can’t stay in this dull room forever.” He walked over to the dirty, broken window and was wondering if he could jump out. He carefully opened the window and looked down saying, “I can do this.” He then jumped.

Alfie grabbed his little fishing net and bucket and ran as fast as he could to the Brigg in a bad mood.

Once at the Brigg he stormed through rock pools with no care in the world what he was standing on. Alfie stopped, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, he saw something glistening, golden in colour at the bottom of a rock pool. He walked over and carefully kneeled down on the wet, slippery rocks. Pulling up his sleeve, he reached down and grabbed what he thought was a crown. To his amazement attached to the crown was the most beautiful pearl coloured scallop. Alfie stood up, and delicately put the scallop into the bucket and slowly started to walk home thinking to himself, “This scallop will make a fortune; we will never be poor again.”

 As Alfie got back onto the beach, he heard I little voice saying “Hello Alfie, down here in this terrible bucket.” Alfie looked down and with a surprise look on his face, could not believe his eyes to see the scallop talking to him. “This is really going to make me a fortune, a talking scallop.”

“I’m the Queen of Scallops.” She said, “You need to put me back in my beautiful rock pool, where you found me. I will give you one chance to change your ways or you will be turned into a Goony for the rest of your life.” Alfie thought long and hard about what she had said and decided that he would prefer to be poor but happy and not be turned into a grouchy, grumpy Goony.

 Alfie carefully walked back to the rock pool which the Queen of Scallops was found in. As he bent down to carefully put her back in, she said to him, “You have really surprised me, you have past your test and changed your ways. You will not be turned into a Goony and your family will be happy and healthy for the rest of your living days.”

 Alfie thanked the Queen of Scallops as he slowly placed her back into the rock pool.  

 Alfie returned home, he walked into the living room to see that this grandpa was up and about, no longer looking poorly. He apologised for all the trouble that he had been in over the years and promised to be good from now on.