A sneak peak into the short story, which won 2nd place in Singapore’s Copyright School Challenge 2024/25 Essay Competition – Bibliophobia to Bibliophilia, one of the many stories in Akshara’s next book, Book Blooms!

Bibliophobia to Bibliophilia

“Creeeak…” The door opened.

“Is everything in place?!” Serene cried out.

“Shush, Serene! Ava’s back. She might hear us.” I whispered. We had followed Daisy’s plan to the T and I felt fairly exhilarated.

It had all started at Ava’s 9th birthday party. We were eagerly waiting for Ava to play with her new presents. But when she came back from school, she did not even spare us a glance. She just dumped her school bag beside her desk and started on her homework.

Months passed by. Every day was the same. We were losing hope of being read. Oh, did I forget to introduce us? We are the stories from Enid Blyton’s Mystery Stories Collection 1.

I am Burnie, the Burnt Cottage, the leader of the pack as I’m the first of the whole series. Then comes Daisy, the Disappearing Cat. Lastly Serene, the Secret Room. Unlike her name, Serene is mischievous and quite the troublemaker. Serene and I were always at odds with each other. But all of us were united in our desperate desire to tell our stories.

Surprisingly, it was shy and reserved Daisy who had come up with this idea. She suggested that we should find the most interesting, mysterious and compelling illustration in the book and place ourselves open to that page on Ava’s desk. Daisy believed that nobody could ignore us if we did so.

The chosen illustration was of the burning cottage and my page was quivering in my excitement.

To be continued…