This term we have been writing trowie stories to make a book for the library. Primary 3-7 have been writing them and they are all fantastic! Each pupil has written something unique and have drawn a picture to go with it. Here is one of the stories.

Billy the Opposite Trow

Shetland is a very good place for looking for trows. It’s definitely where you should start. There are all sorts of trows. Trows with 3 eyes, trows with legs so short they have to bounce around on their bottoms, big trows, small trows, nice trows and bad trows and there is one type of trow that only lives for five days. They are the rarest and people call them opposite trows. This is a very suitable name because it is true. They are opposite from other trows. If they are born into bad families they will be good and if they are born into a good family they will be bad and if they are born into a family of sea trows they will be land trows and well you get the point but the one super extraordinary thing about opposite trows is that they cannot go out at night or they will turn to stone but only if they are caught in moonlight of course so they have to go out in the day. The sad thing is that no trows like opposite trows and did I mention that on the fifth day they turn to stone. Yeah sad I know. Anyway this is a story of a very lucky opposite trow who lived a life like no other.

One day a family of bad trows had a baby trow. Everyone had been extremely excited. The family was waiting to see a badly behaved, mischievous, ugly child but when they saw him they all gasped. He was an opposite trow. The mum, Trowalina, blushed bright pink and looked as though she was about to burst into tears. The baby was banished. The family sent him off in a little fish box and never looked back at him again. The trow closed his eyes not knowing what had happened and lay entirely still. The darkness was falling which was a problem because the trow had nothing to cover himself with. Luckily the sky was cloudy and the moon was hidden all night. The trow grew very fast because he was an opposite trow, in fact he grew in one day. He was cold and wet and still he closed his eyes. That was the first and worst day of this little trow’s life.

The next day at around noon a little girl called Alice the around the age of 9 with blonde hair and deep blue eyes found the trow on a beach in Aith. Alice was wearing a pink dress with a white cardigan that had short lace sleeves. Alice was curious. Her mum and dad often got worried about her curiosity because they thought it might get her into trouble. She looked at the trow and would have never guessed he was a trow because he looked very much like an irregularly small human. The trow had curly brown hair, a stubby round nose, middle sized ears and big, bright, emerald green eyes. He wasn’t ugly like other trows. As soon as Alice saw him she loved him. She picked him up and the trow opened his eyes and jumped. He had a twinkle in his eye that Alice loved. He looked at Alice then at the boat then at Alice then at the boat and when he looked at Alice again he started to cry. The memories were flooding back to him just like water flooding a city.

“What is your name?” Alice asked softly.

“I don’t have one,” the trow said between sobs.

“I’ll call you Billy,” said Alice.”And by the way my name is Alice.” They played on the beach for hours chatting asking each other questions then it started getting dark so Alice took Billy to her house and introduced him to her parents. She lived in a house that was quite big. The walls were white and the windows reflected the light. Her parents were pleased to meet him.

“Would you like some bannocks? “asked Alice’s mum, Mary asked

“We have already had our tea but you can still have some .“ Billy took one. It was the first thing he had eaten and he loved it.

Next Alice took Billy up to her room. It was bright blue with yellow stripes on the wall. She had a beautiful white bedside cabinet with six small drawers and a bright white light sitting on it. There were two boxes of toys, one in the corner and one at the end of her bed which had a purple duvet with blue and yellow spots to match the walls with a matching pillow case. The boxes were sorted and everything fitted perfectly. One box had soft toys and the other had board games and dolls. Both boxes were decorated beautifully with swirls and spots. They went to sleep. The next day she asked Billy how he had got to the beach. Billy told her everything from the banishing to the boat but he left out the fact he was an opposite trow. Alice was amazed.

“So you were banished?” Alice asked mesmerized.

“Yep,” said Billy.

“And and you were…”

“Can we go exploring?” Billy said desperately trying to change subject before she found out he was an opposite trow.

“Sure. We could go to Michael’s Wood or Kergord or maybe Sandsound.” said Alice.

“Um…let’s go to…umm Michael’s Wood,” Billy said slowly not knowing what to choose in case Alice did not want to go there.

“Great choice,” Alice said smiling her eyes twinkling like stars. So off they went. Alice did not live far so they walked there. When they got there they played on the pirate ship and they played with the cars and then they went home. They had their dinner then they went to sleep.

The next two days were filled with adventure. They went to Sand Gardens, St Ninian’s Isle, Ronas Hill and Kergord and on the third day they stayed at home. Alice had lots of toys at home. She had lots of dolls teddies and her own cooking set. Alice and Billy helped Mary make mince and tatties for tea. After they ate Alice and Billy went to Alice’s room. Alice and Billy were playing tea parties then Billy decided it was time to tell her.

“I’m an opposite trow,” he said eyes closed. Alice knew all about opposite trows.

“How long have you lived for?” she asked nervously. Her eyes were pricked with tears but she was trying hard not to let them roll down her cheeks.

“Five,” Billy said starting to cry. He moved over to Alice who hugged him. They both cried and Billy turned to stone. Alice ran down the stairs to her mother who hugged her tight.

“Maybe you could keep him in your room or make a little howe for him with some flowers,” she said to her daughter who was still weeping.

”And remember he is not gone he is just not here,” she said smiling. Alice thought about the idea and then decided she would keep him in her room with some flowers and from that day on Billy sat on her bedside table that twinkle still in his eye with a sign next to him that reads Billy the opposite trow.

Story by Elsie p 7

Illustration by Peter p6

Posted by Elsie and Hannah