Story Cubes

Story Cubes

Here's the deal: you roll five story cubes and you have to write a story based on the phrases which come up. Not as easy as you would think but our Senior Room students made light work of it. See if you can work out what the five words/phrases were.

The Unfortunate Diary by Michael Blake (6th Class) Once there lived an old grandmother. She was very active. One Sunday she was in her attic when she found a very old diary. It looked like it was a thousand years old. She started reading it… “Today, up near the active volcano, there was a fight. My dad was fighting his boss. I don’t know what it was about but I think it was about my dad’s payment. My dad gets bullied by his colleagues so they were all chanting ‘FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT’. My dad fell and he damaged his skull. He is now in a coma. Mam was at work and she had to rush to the hospital. I am currently at home by myself waiting to hear from Mam and I am very worried.” The old grandmother turned the page and continued to read… “Last night Mam got home late. I looked at her and she just shook her head and said ‘Dad just passed away’. We both hugged each other and started crying.” The old grandmother closed the diary and felt very sorry for the family even though it was so long ago.

Grandmother’s Adventure by Ronan Mullally (5th Class) When Harry’s grandmother went missing while on a cruise there was great sorrow. They concluded she had died but Harry was having none of it. He wouldn’t believe that his Granny had died. After the funeral Harry lay down on his bed thinking… “Where is she?” Nobody knew the answer to that question except Granny who was on a tropical island having a great time after being washed up there. At the gift shop on the ship she had bought a diary which she used to keep account of everything that happened. Her diary entry for the 17th of April 1998 read; Whatever date it is ….I think it’s February. Dear future reader, There is an active volcano on this island. There is a fear of it erupting in the next few weeks. I’ve been living every day as if it has been my last. Well for all I know this could be my last. If the volcano does erupt almost one thousand people could die. Ahhhhhh it’s erupting…why did I write that? Why did I write that??? - Granny McCormack She stopped writing and threw the diary into the ocean. Then a person grabbed her by the wrist. She’d been grannynapped! Sometime later Harry was at the beach in Brighton. He found a book on the shore. He started reading it. He could barely make out the faded words but at the end of each page there was some familiar writing - ‘Granny McCormack’. He showed it to his mum and dad and they believed him. But after reading the diary they thought she was dead because of the erupting volcano. Meanwhile, Granny McCormack had gotten away from the grannynapper and was riding dolphins trying to get signal on her phone to use the ‘Where is Home?’ app. Unfortunately it didn’t work. She was surviving on cookies she had in her purse. Eventually she came to Brighton beach where Harry was. She got off the dolphin and went over to Harry and said “Well that was a nice adventure”. They both laughed and then went off to celebrate.

Poor Granny! by Keira Jayne Cleere (5th Class) Once there lived a little girl called Amy. Amy lived with her mam, dad, little brother and her grandmother. Amy’s grandmother went to the shopping centre and got Amy a diary for her seventh birthday. Two weeks later Amy’s grandmother said that for her one thousandth birthday she was taking the whole family to see active volcanoes. Amy stood up and said, ‘That’s too dangerous.’ Amy’s grandmother said, ‘That’s nonsense.’ Four days later they all left to go to Spain. When Amy’s grandmother saw the first active volcano she through 20 packets of mints into it….and it erupted on top of her. Everyone was so sad.

The Diary by Aoife O’Sullivan (5th Class) “Julie”, called Grandma. “Are you ready?” “Almost” replied Julie. “Just have to pack my camera.” Julie and her grandmother were going on a holiday and they were going to see an active volcano. They thought that it was going to be deadly. Just as they were about to leave her grandmother said, “I just need to get my diary.” Julie’s grandmother had a really nice expensive diary. For some reason she always covered the title of it and never showed anyone. They took a taxi to Malibu to catch their plane to Italy. While they were on the plane they talked about their favourite memories. They spoke about funny times especially. Halfway through the flight Julie’s grandmother fell asleep so Julie put in her headphones. When they reached Italy they collected their bags and caught a bus to Naples. This time they both fell asleep. When they reached their hotel they had another little nap. When they woke they put on fancy clothes and went out for dinner. They went to a lovely restaurant. Julie had steak and chips and her grandmother had fish pizza. They both enjoyed it very much. The next day went on a boat to Pompeii. They walked up to the volcano and went on a tour. It was so good. When it was time to go back to the hotel Julie’s grandmother didn’t look well and said that she didn’t feel well. Julie was worried so she ran to look for help. By the time she came back her grandmother was dead. Julie cried and cried. When she went home she was given her grandmother’s diary. It was a lovely, sad memento of their time together. It had a thousand pages. In the end her gran had had cancer and had wanted to spend her time with Julie.

Cats by Emma Geeves (5th Class) This story is about my grandmother who owns one thousand cats. I don’t know why, how or what she does with them but she sure does love those cats. She really wants me to like cats, but I don’t. For my tenth birthday she got me a diary which tells me how to look after cats even though I don’t have a cat. I feel sad for her most of the time because she even talks to them. She once told them all a story about an active volcano. You might consider my grandmother weird but I love her just the way she is. (Fake story)

The Old Book by Rose Smyth (5th Class) One morning I was woken up by the sunlight. I went downstairs. There were boxes everywhere. Breakfast was ready on the table. “What are you doing?” I asked Mam in a puzzled voice. It turned out that we were moving. Soon after was the day we went into our new house. Me and Mam were cleaning out the attic. I found an old book. It was dusty. I brushed away some of the dust and underneath was the title ‘My Diary’. Mam reckoned that it was about a thousand years old. “Come on Jess, we have to go,” Mam said. I put the book in my bag and went with Mam. When we got home, Dad was already making dinner. We had toad in the hole with chips and beans. It tasted great. The next morning I read a bit of the book. It was about a grandmother and her adventures. It began…. 27th of May, 1742 I’m in Japan. I’ve visited many places in Japan. Today I’m in a place with a volcano. 25th of June, 1742 I had stayed there near the volcano for two weeks. Now I’m back in England. I had heard stories about the volcano. It was said to be active and about to erupt. Today I learned that it had…… “Breakfast!” I heard my Mam calling. I told her that I would be two minutes. …erupted and killed many people. There was great sorrow everywhere and the whole area was blocked off. I had to stop reading and go downstairs to eat but I would go back to it for sure.