The Frightening Tale Of Boris Bold

There was a little boy called Boris Bold,
Who was naughty and rude - he never did as he was told,
He called his sister bad names and made her ever so sad,
When he flushed her doll down the toilet - he just loved being bad!

Boris smiled when he put a spider on his teacher’s chair,
And laughed out loud when she screamed, as she jumped up in the air,
He smirked when he put itching powder in his daddy’s pants
And giggled as he yelled, ‘Watch out for the ants!’

It didn’t matter who he tricked, Boris didn’t care,
He even spread jam on the headmaster’s chair!
He didn’t listen to his mam warn he’d go too far one day,
And a wicked witch would come and whisk him away.

One day Boris came across a black cat on a wall,
It would be such fun just to push it, and then watch it fall!
He shoved it hard, but to his amazement, it didn’t even twitch
And to his horror it changed shape - it turned into The Witch!

Boris tried to run, but his feet were stuck fast to the ground!
He tried to shout for help, but his words came out with no sound,
The Witch cackled at Boris, and hissed full of glee:
‘Little boy, you’re so bad, you remind me of me!’

Boris started to cry when The Witch roared:
‘Now speak -
I need a bad child, one I can keep,
Will you come with me now? You don’t need to be sad,
Just think, Boris, you will always be bad!’

But all Boris could think of was his mum at home, making food,
His dad playing games with his sister, of everything good,
He didn’t want to live with The Witch or be bad anymore,
So he got on his knees and began to implore:

‘I’m sorry Mrs Witch, for what I’ve done,
I thought being bad would always be fun,
But I know now I was wrong, and I don’t mean to be rude,
I just want to go home to my family and start being good!’

The Witch snarled at Boris:
‘Bah! You said sorry you fool!
I can’t take you now; I can’t break the rule -
I don’t need somebody good; I need nasty and bad,
But if you’re so naughty again, I’ll get you, my lad!’

Suddenly Boris could run, and he raced back to his house,
Where he sat down to his dinner, as quiet as a mouse
After the meal he even helped to clear the plates away,
Now Boris behaves well and is happy - every day!

Anneliese Paterson


Runner-up
Congratulations, Anneliese.
A copy of this book is on its way to you.