最優秀作品：A Little Wizard

特選：The Sea and The Sun

特選：Maria特選：The Ghost Girl

A Little Wizard
Chinami Miyanagi
Magic runs in the House of Chihara. So, theChiharas fight with devils and dispose of them toprotect the peace of the people. My Dad, Kosuke
Chihara, is an experienced wizard and he can use aspell very well. I, Yukito, am a probationary wizard
since I am still a child. I respect my Dad.
One day, my Dad told me, “Tonight, I’ll go to fight the queen of evil. She is verystrong. Although you are a probationary wizard, you are a son of the Chiharas. Ifanything bad happens, keep it up.” At that time, I didn’t understand his meaning.
The next morning, I called Dad, who was sleeping,because breakfast was ready. “Get up, Dad. It is alreadymorning.” Although I said that as I shook Dad, there wasno sign that he would get up. Suddenly, I realized hisbody was very cold. I put my ear to his heart. I didn’t
hear his heartbeat.
That instant, I remembered the things he told me theday before. “The queen of evil…? If anything badhappens? Such a thing can’t happen! It can’t be!” I was
about to cry, but I began to think about what to do in thefuture.
Because I thought all time, my friends worried aboutme.
At last, I decided I would go tothe place where Dad fought. I leftfor there. I found a hut and I wasgoing to go to bed because it wasalready night.
When I reached for the table lamp to turn it off, I heard voices.
“A human came again!”
2I went downstairs and went outside. There were somefigures. I turned on my flashlight. I could see a woman
and a girl sitting under the tree.
“You should also have pain because my daughter wasinjured by your father!” My rightarm hurt. An arrow pierced my arm. I glared at her. “I lost myfather because of you!” I tried to use my spell but heard voices. I
heard my father’s voice from somewhere at that time. “Youmustn’t fight for your personal feelings. Think about only
protecting the peace of the people.”

I closed my eyes. “I am a wizard,” I thought. I opened
them wide. My eyes must be red. I looked at her.
I raised my hand and shouted, “Begone!” Then, shebegan to disappear from the legs up.

“I don’t want to die…. I want….” She and her daughter floatedto the sky. They disappeared. I was so tired that I fell down.

When I opened my eyes next, it was already morning.
A peaceful scene spread there.

3The Sea and The Sun
Snow Cat
Here is a girl. Her name is Mei. She lives in her house with herfamily. But the most important information about her is that she isa little ghost girl.
One day she and her family went
on a trip. Of course they couldn’t
see her and notice her, but Mei
liked to be with her family.

The hotel was very gorgeous. Her family was excitedwith their trip.
Mei was excited, too
because it was the firsttime for her to see the sea. Actually, she loved the sea
very much.

But her family began to cry. There was nothing theywanted.

They didn’t like theirroom, either. Her mother wanted to see a beautiful view,
but there was only a cemetery. “Oh, my god! Acemetery!” her mother shouted.

“But, we saw a cemetery once. When …..” Then, themother and father remembered. “Mei……” the fatherwhispered.
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At night, the lights went out. “How unlucky we are,”the brother said. The sister said, “Who is Mei? Yourfriend, father?”

The father quietly sat on a sofa and began to talk.
“She was our daughter. If she was alive, she would be
our oldest daughter. She was born, but she was verysick. She couldn’t go outside.
“One day she saw the sun. Then, she went outside. She ran around the house happily
but heavily. But she ran into the road and got hit by a car. Her body was very weak. She
died quickly and quietly. ….Her favorite book was about the sea. So, we buried Mei inthis place.” The son and daughter listened to the father’s story quietly. Their parents
were crying. “We had forgotten Mei. We remembered her because of the cemetery. We
are very sorry for Mei. We are really bad parents. But we loved Mei. …… We lovedher.”After a while, the son said, “We didn’t have anything to do, but we do now. Tomorrow,
let’s visit Mei’s grave with beautiful flowers. Mei will be happy.”“Yes, of course. My brother,” Mei whispered. She knew that her family couldn’t hear
her voice, but she continued whispering. “Dad. Mom. I was afraid because I thought
you didn’t love me or remember me. That is the reason that I couldn’t go to heaven. But
you gave me the words. You loved me. I’m glad to hear that. It was the gladdest
moment of my whole life. As a normal girl, and as a ghost girl. Thank you…..
Then she slowly disappeared. The father suddenly lifted his head. “What’s wrong,dad?” The son asked. “Well …. nothing. I thought I heard Mei’s voice.” “That can’t be.
Maybe you are tired, dad.” “You’re right. That’s impossible, huh?” Then, they laughed
and laughed until the sun rose.

5MariaLily St. Regis
A bad thing happened suddenly. A six-year-old girl named Maria lost her family
suddenly.
One day, the whole family except Maria went shopping
because she was sick that day. Then, they died in a car
accident. The days went quickly after that.

A month later, Maria’s uncle and aunt adopted her. Maria often asked them “Where are
Mom and Dad? Where are Louise and Danny? Did they just go shopping?” They felt
sorry for her whenever she asked that. And they answered “They will never come back,Maria.” But Maria was always sitting by the window andwaiting for family to come back.

Two days later Maria’s uncle and aunt took her to thesea to cheer her up. “Wow!” Maria smiled. Her uncle andaunt smiled to see that. Then Maria began to make a sandcastle.

After a while, she heard her family talking and saw
them making the sand castle with her. Maria ran to her
uncle and aunt and said, “Hey! Come on! Dad, Mom,Louise and Danny are there!” Her uncle and aunt weresurprised and at a loss. They went back to the sand castle,
but nobody was there. They said no words, and Mariaran to the hotel.

6When she opened the door, her family was there. “Oh!
You’re here!” said Maria happily.

Then, Dad came to her and said, “Listen, Maria. You
must know we died in a car accident a month ago, right?
We’re dead. We can’t change the fact. So, you have tolive with your uncle and aunt. I’m sure you’ll spend
happy days with them. We always love you, Maria,remember.” Then they disappeared.

Maria ran to her uncle and aunt and said, “I understoodeverything. I’m all right.” And she smiled. Then Maria and heruncle and aunt started walking holding hands.

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The Ghost Girl
Kichijyo-girlOnce upon a time, there was a strange family driving toa haunted house. They loved ghosts and other scarythings. And one day, they heard about the haunted house.
The people who live around there were scared, but thefamily decided to stay there for the summer vacation.

When they arrived there, they looked around the house.
Many of the rooms were closed, but the sister found abeautiful spacious room. So they decided to stay there.

“How is the view?” asked the father “Let’s see…”
said the mother. She opened the curtain.

And there was… a cemetery! “Wow, a haunted houseand a cemetery garden! How exciting this is!” said thebrother.

At night, they were telling scary stories to each other.
Suddenly, the lights went off and they heard somelaughing voices. The ghost was playing some tricks on
them.

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Some other things happened during the night, but theghost didn’t appear. “I wanted to talk with ghosts.” said
the sister. But they got sleepy, so they went to bed.

In the morning, the brother waked up his family shouting. “There is somebody in theliving room!” The family jumped up from bed and ran into the living room.
In the middle of the room a girl was standing.
“Who….who are you?” asked the father.

“Me? Oh, you are the people
who came here last night. Nice to meet you.” “So who are you?”the father asked again. “Oh! I’m a…. ghost. I died here, in thishouse when I was just a little baby. I don’t have a name.

“I don’t know my name, but I have a wish. It’s to see
the outside of this house. I want to see the world! Um…
so…can I… stay with you? Only a few days is okay.
Can I? You people aren’t scared of ghosts, right?” Thefamily looked at the little girl ghost. She didn’t look verymuch like a ghost.

A few hours later, the family discussed it and agreed
that she could live with them! They were happy everafter!!♪

9Mike 先生からのコメント

A Little Wizard
This is an exciting, imaginative story. I get the feeling that the background to thestory is a complete imaginary world, with generations of wizards in the House of
Chihara and continual battles against devils. I also appreciated that Yukito learns thelesson that he should use his magic to preserve peace rather than for personal reasons.

The Sea and The Sun
This is a ghost story, but it is full of deep feeling. The writer does fantastic work
describing Mei's happiness at being with her family and at finally being able to go tothe sea. I can also feel the parents' love for Mei, and even the brother and sister, who
never met Mei, are able to show that they care for her.

Maria
This story illustrates the important lesson that life has to go on even after a terrible
tragedy. Maria loses her family, but they return to her briefly to tell her that eventhough nobody can undo terrible events that happened in the past, it is still possible tohave happy days in the future.

The Ghost GirlThe strange family in this story is immediately appealing, with their love of ghosts
and cemeteries and their choice of haunted house tourism for their summer vacation.
The ending of the story, when they adopt the little ghost girl and take her to live withthem forever, shows how kindhearted they are.

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宮下先生からのコメント

A Little Wizard
平和という目的のために、悲しみを乗り越え「父の声」を聴きながら、みんなを守る魔法使いの男の子を上手に描いています。会話文を効果的に入れながら、テンポよくお話が展開していきます。バランスのとれた、スケールの大きい読みごたえあるファンタジーです。

The Sea and The Sun
人を想う気持ちの大切さを教えてくれる作品です。だんだんと謎が解けていき、ハラハラドキドキしながら読めます。読みやすい文体で、要所にキーセンテンスがある期待を裏切らないストーリーです。

Maria
ハッとするはじめの文章が生きています。心の動きと会話が進んでいく上で、絵が巧みに使われています。死を受け入れる難しさを、しっとりと上手に伝えてくれるストーリーです。

The Ghost Girl
読み終わると、「ゴーストガール」も普通に過ごしたかったのだと、まるで実話のような気にさせる話術があります。意外な展開に読者もおどろきつつ、ホッとする作品です。

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