KCOM’s Young Story Writers Competition takes us back to the future

The third chapter of The Magic Phone Box, where youngsters are asked to use their imaginations to decide where the story goes next, finds our hero Tom with his new cowboy friend Buck in a future Hull.

Once there, the city seems to have taken on a retro-Victorian steampunk vibe as Hull’s inhabitants travel around on trams and penny-farthings and reminisce fondly about the year when Hull was the UK City of Culture.

Oh, and there’s a unicorn too.

The latest chapter is the brainchild of nine-year-old Lydia Alex, a pupil at Hull’s Froebel House School, who says she loves to write and has already published her own novel, called The Two Secrets, on Amazon.

Lydia, who wants to be an author or a scientist when she leaves school, said: “It was my teacher who told me about the competition because they knew how much I like writing stories.

“I’ve already written quite a few and one has been published. The hardest bit was keeping it down to just 100 words. It was tricky to keep it that short and make it exciting.

“I chose to write about Hull as the City of Culture because it’s happening now and is very interesting. I’m not sure where my ideas come from, they just come into my head and then I expand on them.”

For being picked as week three’s winner Lydia takes home a Kindle Fire HD, a £10 Amazon book token, and a collectible KCOM K6 phone box keyring.

There are now four more weeks left to be picked as one of the Young Story Writer winners, with four more chances to win a Kindle Fire HD. And, even if you don’t win, every child who enters will receive a cream K6 phone box key ring.

Visit www.kcomhome.com/storyteller to see where the adventure has been left hanging and how to add your next chapter.

Lydia's chapter 

“Tom opened his shining eyes. Buck wasn’t there anymore. Tom looked around and saw an old city filled with trams and penny-farthings. An old tattered sign read ‘Hull.’ Tom was shocked. “Imagine this being the City of Culture back in 2017,” thought Tom.

“The people wore posh clothes. Tom himself was wearing a white shirt, bowtie and waistcoat. Tom explored the town. He found a Sovereign coin in his pocket and bought some food. While he was eating, a wind blew. Tom found himself in the magical phone box. It flew up, it’s door opened and Tom saw a unicorn."