500 Words 2025/26: read a finalist's story from the 5-7 category

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.

Pascal LeRascal Triumphs Again by Darragh B.

Lets get things straight; there is nothing easy about what I do. It's a tough job, but one that I have all my heart in. Now my young kittens this is how I triumphed over the King of England, once again.

It began with the postman. We found a suitable box, your uncle Badrick and I, and it was a very tight fit. Unfortunately Badrick smelt far from pleasant, as is often the way with badgers. When we posted ourselves the postman was suspicious at first, from our perfect but rather unusual handwriting;

pLeEz pOst to bUckeNham paLiS

He asked if anyone was inside the box. We obviously replied, "no". He was a rather frazzled old soul so he let it slide, and we were on our way.

It was a rather long, uncomfortable and sweaty journey, which nobody enjoyed. We were finally set down in a storage room in the palace. We were in a right jumble and regrettably, we started to argue.

"Get your sweaty foot out of my mouth!" I said,"Make me you wretched feline!" Badrick replied,

I lunged for his tail and bit it, to show that I meant business. Badrick sank his big digging claws into the cardboard beside me. The box collapsed abruptly. We tumbled out, just as the door was opening, and landed inside a mop bucket, conveniently.

A footman wheeled the mop trolley out of the room and down a corridor.

"Look at the names on the doors, Badrick," I hissed. "It's very important we get the right bedroom.""I've got you", he said, "I think that one over there is the King's."

We snuck out, as silent as the mouse that I'd eaten for breakfast, and crawled to the door to the Kings bedroom. After a bit of tweaking with a paperclip in the door's lock, the mechanism clicked open and we were in.

It was a rather large and glamorous room, with a big four-poster bed, and the king of England himself snoring away in it. The crown was sitting on a bedside table but just as we were two steps away from it, the king jolted awake.

"What are you doing here?" the king exclaimed. "Get out this instant, or I shall call the guards!""Your Majesty," I said, "this is only a dream. I am your primary school teacher and you'll miss playtime if you don't go back to sleep this instant."

The dazed King lay back down and closed his eyes and began to snore again."That was a close one," I whispered to Badrick.

We took the crown without hesitation, and looked around the room. There was an air vent open a crack. We levered it off with a single claw, jumped inside and that, my friends, is how we made our cunning escape.

Once we were free, we gave the crown to a food bank, and said not to ask questions about where it came from. I have no regrets.

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