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Final Finish the Story Winner

Posted by: Rick Riordan

Final Finish the Story Winner

So there we go. Another year, another round of amazing Finish the Story competitions.
/Sigh./

The winner of our final Finish the Story competition, as chosen by Rick Riordan, is……………………………………………

Nathan from Salisbury, aged 11!

Nathan wrote Rick’s favourite ending to his story starter A Quest from Apollo. Read Rick’s story here, and then check out Nathan’s ending below.

“Of course,” the man said. “You’re John and Alyssa, aren’t you? I’m the god Apollo. There’s a monster in these subway tunnels called Scylla. In old times, she ate mortals off the decks of ships. Now, as she has little prey on the sea, she eats mortals from trains at rush hour. The businessmen don’t notice anything-they’re too busy with their laptops and music. I want you to stop Scylla eating innocent mortals.”

“And why should we do this?” Alyssa cautiously asked Apollo. “Because if you don’t, you’ll go poof!” said Apollo nonchalantly, vaporizing the seat next to him. John and Alyssa gulped. “W-w-where does the monster live?” stuttered John. “Halfway between station four and station five, which means you should get off now and travel halfway to station five on foot. Good luck!” Apollo replied, before disappearing in a ray of light. John and Alyssa were a jumble of emotions as they stumbled out of the train and clambered down the tunnel, carefully avoiding the electrics and making sure there was a big enough gap between them and where the train came past. After a short while, they came to see nine scaly protrusions sticking out onto the railway lines. It took them a while to realise that these were the nine heads of the monster Apollo had been talking about. A short while later, a train came. Scylla’s heads whipped out and each grabbed a passenger, before devouring them. Seeing the speed of the monster was terrifying and seven minutes later the same thing happened again. On the third time a train came, Scylla was too slow and lunged at the front of the train, near where John and Alyssa were hiding. John, thinking that the monster’s aim was to attack him, heaved a large manhole cover off a nearby drain, and hid behind it, using it as a shield. But Scylla was not attacking them-she was attacking the train. Distracted by the familiar sound of flowing water, Scylla turned round – the train slammed into her, pushing her off the rails and down the open drain. Seeing this happen, Alyssa hastily snatched the drain cover from John and rammed it back in place before resting and walking to station five. The next hour felt like minutes compared to the terrifying quest of trapping Scylla. When they got home, their mum asked them what had taken them. A weary John and Alyssa mumbled something about delayed trains, before getting on with their homework.

Outside, on the street, a drain cover rattled, and an eye glared out…


Nathan has won £100 worth of books, and his story will go through to the judging for the overall winner – which will be announced during the week starting November 3rd.

Our judges had this to say about Nathan’s story: “We thought your story was brilliant! It had great pace, full of action and adventure, and was a very well thought-out conclusion to Rick Riordan’s beginning. We especially loved the ending of your story, with the mysterious glaring eye. Congratulations again!”

What did you think of the story? Tell us in Chat!

Information for adults

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