At Beyond the Box, we are constantly thinking of ideas to give something unique, refreshing as well as challenging to our community of writers. Two to Tango is one such endeavour to encourage the participants to work along with another writer as a team and bring about a creative synergy. 40+ teams participated in Season 3 of this one-of-its-kind contest and the winners were chosen by prolific author Kanchana Banerjee. Below prompt was given to the writers and they were asked to narrate the same story from two different points of view.
Prompt – Write a fictional story in which a book reveals a secret. Feel free to creatively interpret the prompt in any genre of your choice.
The Winners in the kids’ category were Ethan Gonsalves & Leona Saldanha (Team 16). Enjoy their story!
Title: The Mysterious Shapeshifter
Point of View #1
By Ethan Gonsalves
(Coff, Coff)
It’s always dusty in here. No wonder my throat is irritated. Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Secret Seven. I am a bestselling book from the enchanted land of Bookersville and a shapeshifter. I know being a shapeshifter is weird, but I can’t help being one. But make sure you do not tell that to anyone. I have been here for a while now. I am filled with secrets as my name suggests, and I can predict the future. Shush! Someone’s coming.
“Hello, anybody there!”, called out the intruder who looked like a 10-year-old boy. Phew, for a moment I thought he was onto me. Wait, he is looking at me. The boy looked around for a moment and slowly hid me in his puny pocket and bolted towards the door.
I felt suffocated. But I did not dare to cough. Soon we entered a building which I think must be his home. We came to a bedroom to be precise. The wall had words which read “Jet Paxton”. This must be the boy’s bedroom.
The boy named Jet, as I interpreted from the writings, left me on his desk. I wanted to stretch my legs so I shapeshifted myself into a human. Just then Jet came back and to my horror he saw me.
He gazed at me, thinking I was a burglar. He shut the door behind him and said, “Who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom?” I sheepishly glanced at him. So, I replied, “I am a book named Secret Seven. I am a shapeshifter and can also predict the future. I come from the enchanted land of Bookersville.”
I got to know something about him. “Well, tomorrow you will be the birthday boy so get ready for your grand party,” I continued.
“How do you know that? And I don’t have a birthday party normally,” Jet replied, agitated with me.
“Oh, Sorry, I did not know it was a surprise. Thing is, I know a lot of secrets but I dunno which one is a surprise,” I said.
“Oh okay, I do believe you.” Jet replied. “I will keep you under one condition; you must tell me my every secret, like my upcoming life events, for example”, the boy replied.
I was surprised how calmly the boy took this. You don’t find shapeshifters everywhere, you know. I obviously accepted his terms and conditions and looked forward to a relaxing life in a human’s bedroom.
Point of View #2
By Leona Saldanha
“Jet Paxton! Have you stolen my novel again? If so, don’t you dare do it again,” yelled my elder sister.
“Fine, you caught me,” I replied, as I knew that my sister Jenny was not the right person to mess with when it came to belongings.
Bored, I chose to take a walk around the block where I happened to see the usual old mansion in town, which was almost in ruins. The hinges were rusty and corroded. The house also had an old RotiMatic in it. I sometimes wondered what happened to the people living there a decade ago. My observant eyes noticed that there was an object lying on the rusty table in the doorway. I was really curious, and I couldn’t stop myself from checking it out. I yelled out to ask if anyone was there, but no one replied. I discovered that the ‘object’ was a book named Secret Seven, which I had desired to read. I was tempted, and I was unable to disengage myself from the book, so I just checked outside to see if anyone was spying on me, and I popped the book into a pocket in my sweatshirt and darted towards the door.
I left the book in my bedroom and went to have a drink of water. When I returned, I was astonished to find an intruder resting on my bed! I questioned, “Who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom?” The intruder sheepishly replied, “I am a book, and my name is Secret Seven. I am a shapeshifter and can also predict the future. I come from the enchanted land of Bookersville.” I was utterly speechless at these astounding words. The shapeshifter, to my surprise, said, “Tomorrow you become the birthday boy, so get ready for your grand party!” I crossly responded, “How do you know that? I don’t even have parties usually.” The shapeshifter replied, “Oh, I am sorry, I did not know that it was a surprise. Thing is, I know a lot of secrets but I dunno which one is a surprise.” I thought to myself that it could be a huge advantage to me. It is not every day that you meet a book from an enchanted land. Thus, I said, “I believe you. I will keep you on one condition: you must tell me my every secret, like my upcoming life events, for example.” Secret Seven duly approved, and we led a comfortable life together.
Cover Image Credit: AbeBooks