500 Words 2023: read a finalist's story from the 5-7 category

This story was chosen as a top 50 finalist for 500 Words 2023.

Remember, spelling, punctuation and grammar are not taken into account for a 500 Words story, therefore all the top 50 stories have been published how they were submitted.

Baggit the Dream Maker by Isabel W.

Baggit's a special penguin and is Molly's favourite toy. He has a very important job as Chief Dream Maker. Baggit's in charge of making dream potions to send to other toys. Baggit makes them in a secret compartment under Molly's bed so nobody ever finds out. Toys send messages to Baggit through invisible tubes that go into houses. They tell Baggit what their owner likes and hobbies, so he can make different potions. Toys spray potions on their owners pillows. The smells give their owners lovely dreams to enjoy.

One night Freisa, Molly's cat, came into the secret compartment, jumped onto the shelf and knocked the ingredients off. Baggit was so distracted looking for a special ingredient that he didn't notice. He sent it off like normal. After a while, he noticed that Molly was having a nightmare. She thrashed about in her bed like she was upset. He suddenly heard someone coming through a tube. It was Fluffy Rabbit, Dan Bear and Roary Dinosaur. They told him that their owners were having nightmares and they realised that it was the same nightmare. They all panicked because they didn't know what to do, except for Baggit. Baggit said "The only thing we can do is open the emergency bottle!" He picked up an old bottle from the shelf labelled "ONLY USE IN AN EMERGENCY!" He poured it into the cauldron. They all smelt it. It smelt like rusty, old metal, boiled cabbage and smoke. In a burst of light, Baggit and his friends were transported into the bad dream.

They found themselves in a dark forest with burnt trees all around. A little snow-white bird fluttered down to them and coughed, "Baggit and friends, there is a fire-breathing dragon that has captured all the children and locked them up in his castle. You need to go. Save them!" They were shocked and rushed out of the forest. They saw a huge, scary castle with black bricks and a sign saying "Dragons Rule!" Above them in the sky was a huge, red and gold dragon practicing his fire-breathing. They sneaked carefully inside and found a grey, metal cage hanging from the ceiling by two strong ropes. Inside the cage were all the frightened, miserable children. At the side of the room there were lots of wooden boxes. Dan and Roary helped to lift them and make them into a staircase to reach the cage. Fluffy saw a big, shiny axe. She grabbed it, hopped up the staircase and used it to break open the cage to free the children. As the children came out of the cage and went down the staircase, they disappeared. When the last child had vanished, Baggit and friends disappeared too. They appeared back in Molly's room. She was sleeping peacefully.

Freisa came out of the secret compartment, yawned and stretched. Baggit realised that she must have caused the potion to go wrong. He made sure that she couldn't get into the compartment ever again.

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