Fighting Words

The Otter, the Fish and the Big Wish

An extract from a story by sixth class, Scoil Bhride Primary School, Edenderry, Co Offaly

David the otter and Kelly the fish – Kelly doesn’t like being in the sea, so he has a hamster type bowl with water in it to roll around in

Tue May 21 2024 - 05:00

David the otter and Kelly the fish were walking and rolling along the seafront. Kelly doesn’t like being in the sea, so he has a hamster type bowl with water in it to roll around in. They were having a chat about their dreams.

“I want to be famous,” said David in an excited tone.

“You say that every day,” said Kelly the fish in a sarcastic tone while rolling his eyes.

They stumbled upon a crab talent show that was happening that day on the beach.

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After David saw a crab singing onstage he exclaimed:

“That’s it, singing is my ticket to fame!” in an excited voice.

Kelly was annoyed because David was wasting his time and Kelly said to David: “You are going to embarrass yourself, you sound like a cat trying to get out of a bag when you sing.”

Kelly added, “But if you really want to get into the singing business, I know a guy.”

“What do you mean?” David said in a confused voice.

Kelly explained that his cousin Gary the goldfish worked in the local underwater theatre and he could try to get you an audition.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet,” said David in a worried voice.

Kelly said: “How about we do a duet, maybe that could help to boost your confidence?”

They return to their cave where Kelly has a collection of bowls to swim in.

They start to write their own lyrics and make up fun beats.

After days of writing the song, they finally came up with a good one. In the coming days, they keep rehearsing to make it perfect.

David asked Kelly to contact his cousin Gary about the audition.

Gary set up the audition with a big music producer who was coming to town to look at acts in the underwater theatre.

Kelly realised that the audition was going to be underwater, but it can’t be on land because David was afraid of people …

Tales to Scale: Scaling Education is an initiative dedicated to promoting creativity in Deis (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) primary and secondary schools across Ireland. Through our engaging workshops and school projects, young people are given the opportunity to explore their own ideas and find their own voices. Stories produced in workshops are often published on our website under Tales to Scale which are free for all to read – and a lot of fun! The Fighting Words team works with teachers to organise workshops in our centres, local libraries or visiting the school. Fighting Words is allocating increased numbers of workshops and activities for Deis schools. Teachers in Deis schools can contact info@fightingwords.ie for information.

There are also after-school programmes for young people who wish to further delve into their creativity: Word Warriors ensures a safe space for children aged 10-12 attending Deis schools to explore their own creativity. For young people between 13 and 18, Fighting Words encourages them to join our free in-person Write Club in Dublin or Online Write Club. There are many ways for young people to share their work in these programmes, including publishing opportunities.

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