Creative Writing Competition 2025 Winners: Alexis Rose Josy

burylitfest1
Sep 13
3 min read

Young People Winner: Alexis Rose Josy

Alexis Rose Josy, a student at St Benedict's Catholic School, with her “warm and nostalgic” story, My Second Home. Alexis Rose, is the winner of one of our free school’s events with East Anglian Award winning author Dr Ashley Hickson-Lovence, who will visit St Benedicts and give an inspiring whole school assembly on his brilliant novel WILD EAST and the power of using verse to tell your own story.

My Second Home

Alexis Rose Josy

I curled up on the broken-down, ancient sofa with the moonlit rays seeping in through my window. The soft hum of the radiator filled the room, a familiar sound that melted into the quiet solitude of the night. With a sigh, I set the mug of hot cocoa on the table, steam curling into the air, where unfortunately I lost some marshmallow soldiers along the way, victim to the dusty carpet. Lying back, I tried to decide what to do that evening. I could go to the club with a couple of my mates and have what they would call a night away on party island and meet a tall, dark stranger who would sweep me off my feet, like my overly optimistic friend Ruth dreamed and gushed about. However, my inner introvert reeled at the thought, and I shuddered physically at all the exhausting concepts I would have to mutter about to a random person who wouldn’t understand the word “No.”

Then my body caught the comforting yet faint aroma of my books scattered invitingly on my towering bookshelf which took up more space than my kitchen. I stepped up and slowly floated like a ghost towards the bookshelf. I stepped on the creaky floorboards, and it woke me up from my trance. I looked in front of me and immediately my mouth stretched wide in a teary smile as I saw my favorite friends. Oh, the troubles, though what book should I pick? Should I pick, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? Or Alice in Wonderland? What about Little Women or another of these literary masterpieces that had a special place in my heart?

I settled on my childhood friend though, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I hurried back to my sofa and the sofa let out a wheeze of annoyance as I jumped excitedly on the makeshift fort of blankets and endless supplies of biscuits and hot cocoa. I opened the book, and my body relaxed as if I inhaled Slughorn’s Felix Felicis and my eager eyes read the small print that held the comfort of a little 7-year-old girl who wanted more friends and was too shy to ask. My eyes blurred when the book came to describing Hogwarts, a place where I used to dream that I lived there and went down to Hagrid’s hut with Harry, Ron and Hermione and laughed and teased with them three about all the wicked adventures that we had been on.

Sighing contentedly, I glance around the room where I used to envision my time at Hogwarts and various other worlds. Where my dreams became reality and magic was as real as Earth. My eyes seem to tire out as they are on the last stretch of the book marathon: a contagious yawn rises in my throat threatening to drag me away from the exciting book. I chuckle as I read the last words of my book “I’m going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer...”

I make my fort cozier by cranking up the heating as the cold winter threatened to take this moment of comfort away from me. I feel satisfied, as if I’ve had the medicine to make it all right again in my imagination. I realize that it was a much needed read and a tall, dark stranger can wait as my childlike reading essence had some fixing to do to the present me. So, waiting for tomorrow I welcomed sleep as I visited my literary home.

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Judges remarks:

"A warm, nostalgic, and beautifully descriptive story that really captures the magic of books as a safe haven. Congratulations!"

Alexis Rose’ statement:

“Winning the Bury Literary Festival in the Young People 13 to 17 Category was an incredible honour to receive as someone who always has dreamed to have their work recognised and enjoyed by others! I want to be an author in the future, so this is a big step into achieving this! Thank you so much for reading my story and I hope you had a rush of nostalgic memories like intended, always keep that childhood essence in reading!”