We’re thrilled to celebrate the winners of our Woodpecker Short Story Competition! With over 600 entries pouring in from young writers across the country, our team had an absolute blast reading every imaginative, funny, and heartfelt story. After much excitement (and some tough decisions!), we’re proud to announce our three winners and two Jury Choice recognitions.

Competitions like these matter because they help children build confidence in their voice, take creative risks, and experience the joy of being heard.

In this special feature blog, we shine a spotlight on their stories and the magic they’ve brought to our community. Here’s to creativity, courage, and many more storytelling adventures ahead!

Story title: Lost In The Loop

Name: Ayra Patel

Age: 8-10 years old

Sally, was an ambitious young girl, who loved exploring forests and caves. Her parents were quite strict and they didn’t allow her to do anything she wanted. Sally had enough of the parents’ rules and decided to venture out into the mystical forests. When she reached the forest, she found an abounded campsite and found logs and scraps of metal around the site.

As she was exploring, she spotted an old cabin and decided to spend the night there. It was midnight and Sally was sleeping when she felt a shiver down her spine. She woke up, startled and noticed a deer like animal standing on two legs holding a note that said, ‘Look in the box’. Sally looked around her and found an old, rusty chest.

She tip toed to the chest and opened it gingerly. Inside the chest. There was a teddy bear holding a walkie talkie she picked them both and looked at them curiously. Her curiosity made her switch on the walkie talkie which instantly said, “Don’t let it touch the ground or you will regret it”. She was already scared and puzzled about the note, now she was simply terrified by the voice coming out of the walkie talkie which was gruff and ruff.

Her fear and terror wanted her to escape from the forest. As she tried running out of the forest she realized she was in the middle of a loop.

She lost hope of escaping from the forest that she forgot what the voices warnings about dropping the teddy bear. The teddy bear fell to the ground when she tried to cover her eyes in terror. In a blink, everything went blank. Sally opened her eyes dazed and confused. Her eyes caught the sight of the deer like animal.

The animal picked Sally up gently and murmured the words I told you so. It then carried Sally to a cave nearby guarded by three brown bears and placed her carefully on a bed of sticks.

Terror-struck and puzzled, Sally thought she was dreaming. She could not climb out of the bed of sticks and remained frozen. Unable to break free and miserable, silent tears rolling down the side of her head. She fell into a deep sleep after a long time.

Many moons had passed when she woke up. Her first thought was how much she loved her parents and missed them now. Instantly the animal appeared by her. It looked at her with kind eyes and asked her if she was ready to go home. Sally, speechless, nodded her head with the animal holding her hand gently , the animal led her safely to her doorstep, very grateful to the animal that thought her that wonderful lesson that ‘don’t be rude to the ones you have now because you will be the one that misses them the most when your alone’. She ran inside her home to hug her parents and tell them how much she missed them and loved them.

Story title: The house of horrors, evils, and spirits!

Name: Yoaav Mascarenhas

Age: 8-10 years old

CHAPTER ( 1 )

HI GUYS MY NAME IS YOAAV AND I AM 8 YEARS OLD. THIS IS A STORY ABOUT ME

GOING TO A HORROR HOUSE AND YOUR ABOUT TO FIND OUT HOW I ESCAPED.

SO......I WAS SMART ENOUGH TO GET A SLING SHOT, RUBBER SWORD A FAKE SHEILD

AND MY DAD IS A COP SO I SNEAKED INTO HIS DRAW AND GOT A .... GUN!!!

CHAPTER ( 2 )

SO, THE ONLY WAY I COULD GET TO THE HOUSE WAS BY ELECTRIC SCOOTER. THE

REASON WHY IM GOING HERE IS BECAUSE IM CURIOUS ABOUT EVERY THING.THE

HORROR HOUSE IS ACTUALY IN THE MIDDLE OF SAUDI ARABIA SO IT IS GOING TO BE

A LONG TRIP ON A SCOOTER.

CHAPTER ( 3 )

I FINALY REACHED TO THE HORROR HOUSE. SO, I STOOD IN FRONT OF THE

HOUSE THINKING IF I SHOULD GO OR NOT BUT THEN WHEN I TURNED TO LEAVE

SOMETHING SUCKED ME INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE HOUSE!!!!

SSSCCCRRREEEAAAMMM!!!

I LANDED IN A LONG HALL AND I COULD HEAR WHISPERS AND THEN I SAW

ANNABELLE! I CRIED A LOT, BUT THEN I REMEMBERED I HAD A SLNGSHOT!!! I PICKED

UP ANYTHING SMALL I COULD FIND AND SHOT ONE AT HER.

CHAPTER ( 4 )

NEXT I WAS BRAVE ENOUGH TO WALK INTO ANOTHER ROOM IN THE HALLWAY, BUT

FEW SECONDS LATER I FELT SOME THING OR SOMEONE TOUCH MY BACK. I LOOKED

BACK NO ONE IS THERE. SOMETHING TOUCHED ME AGAIN; I LOOKED BACK AND SAW

A SWARM OF DEAD SPIRITS!!!

CHAPTER ( 5 )

SO....MY GUN HAD LIMITED 30 SHOTS LEFT IN IT FROM WHEN MY DAD LAST USED IT

BUT WHILE I WAS RUNNING, I REMEMBERED THAT I CAN’T SHOOT THROUGH

SPIRITS!!!!! I STOOD THERE FOR SOME TIME I HAD BEFORE THE SPIRITS ATTACK ME

SO I TOOK A SECOND TO THINK. I DUCKED AND THEN THE SPIRITS FLEW OVER ME.

CHAPTER ( 6 )

ONCE I CAME TO A TURN, I HEARD SOME PEOPLE LAUGHING. I SAW THEIR SHADOWS.

THERE WERE 3 OF THEM. THEY WERE DEVILS!!! ONE OF THEM WERE RED.THE TWO

OTHERS WERE BROWN & PURPLE. THEN THEY SAW ME. IT TOOK 10 SHOTS TO KILL

ALL OF THEM!!!

CHAPTER ( 7 )

REMEMBER WHEN I HAD 30 GUN SHOTS? NOW I HAVE ONLY 20 OF THEM. NOW I SAW A

LOT OF GREEN PEOPLE AKA ZOMBIES! BUT I DID NOT KILL THE ZOMBIES WITH MY

GUN. I KNEW I COULD NOT WASTE MY SHOTS. I USED MY METAL BUT FAKE SHIELD!!

THE REASON THIS WORKS IS BECAUSE THE ZOMBIES WILL WALK PAST YOU AND NOT

TOWARDS YOU.

CHAPTER ( 8 )

WHEN I WAS WALKING IN THE LONG HALL, TIRED, I SUDDENLY SAW A BLOODY HAND

COME OUT OF NOWHERE!!!!! AND THEN MORE & MORE & MORE. I TRIED TO USE THE

GUN BUT THEY WERE GUN PROOF. NOW I HAD ONLY 5 SHOTS LEFT IN MY GUN. I

KILLED THE HANDS BY SLAPPING THEM WITH THE SIDES OF MY RUBBER SWORD.

( CHAPTER 9 )

OK, SO THIS TIME, I HAD TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF STRESS BECAUSE ALL OF THE

HORRORS, EVILS AND SPIRITS ATTACKED ME AT THE SAME TIME

!...... SO, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT TO DO! SO, I JUST USED MY LAST 5 SHOTS I HAD LEFT

IN MY GUN AND IT KILLED ONLY 2 DEVILS! THEN I DUCKED TO GET PAST THE SWARM

OF SPIRITS. NEXT, I PUT MY SHIELD IN FRONT OF ME & LET THE ZOMBIES WALK PAST

ME. WHEN I SAW ANNABELLE, I LOOKED AT MY GUN AND REALIZED THAT I HAD ONE

MORE SHOT REMAINING IN MY GUN. SO, I SHOT ANNABELLE WITH THE LAST SHOT I

HAD. BUT BEFORE SHE DIED, SHE TOOK MY SWORD & ATE IT!

NOW, THE LAST BUT NOT LEAST, IT WAS TIME TO KILL THE.... BLOODY HANDS!!!!!!

THE WORST PART WAS THAT I HAD TO FIGHT THE BLOODY HANDS WITHOUT MY

SWORD BECAUSE ANNABELLE ATE IT! SINCE THE HANDS CAN’T SEE, I HID IN A

CORNER, THINKING ABOUT HOW TO KILL THE BLOODY HANDS. I WENT OUT, TOOK MY

SHIELD & KILLED THE BLOODY HANDS!

( CHAPTER 10 )

I FINALLY MADE IT OUT OF THE HORROR HOUSE AND MY SCOOTER WAS WAITING

FOR ME. I WAS SOOOOOOOOO HAPPY. THEN I RODE 3 HOURS BACK HOME. MY DAD

WAS SSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY TO SEE ME, HE SQUEEZED ME. BUT

THEN IT STARTED GETTING AWKWARD, SO HE ASKED ME IF I TOOK HIS GUN BECAUSE

HE COULD NOT FIND IT!!! DUN, DUN DUUUN!!!!!! I WAS BLANK. AT DINNER TIME I

QUICKLY HID THE GUN, SLING SHOT AND SHIELD BUT I COULD NOT HIDE THE SWORD

BECAUSE ANNABELLE ATE IT!!!!

( LAST CHAPTER, CHAPTER 11 )

(2 YEARS LATER) I STIL HAD THAT GUILT IN ME BECAUSE I MADE MY DAD CHANGE HIS

JOB BECAUSE OF THE GUN THING SO... I TOLD HIM THAT I WAS HIDING HIS GUN. SO,

HE WHOOPED ME WITH THE BELT. BUT AFTER A FEW DAYS, HE WAS HAPPY WITH ME

BECAUSE I TOLD THE TRUTH AND SO WAS I!!!!! THE END !!!

Story title: Stranded

Name: Aadya Singh

Age: 11-13 years old

At dawn, our car hummed down the highway toward Goa, the rising sun painting the sky in molten gold. After hours of driving, exhaustion tugged at us, but the call of the sea was stronger. I kicked off my sandals and stepped into the Arabian waves, laughing as the water lapped over my knees. Then, without warning, a towering wave struck-a wall of salt and sound. The world vanished beneath it.

When I opened my eyes, I was coughing up seawater on the sand of an unfamiliar island. The horizon was empty, except for a single banyan tree encased in a massive glass dome. Behind it smouldered a volcano, its peak glowing like an open wound. A small wooden door beckoned from the dome’s base. I stepped through.

Inside, under the banyan’s tangled roots, stood a mansion of dark mahogany. As I hesitated, the door creaked. An old woman emerged-thin, sharp-eyed, her hair the colour of ash.

“Clean the house”. she rasped, thrusting a broom into my hands. “When you’re done, I’ll feed you”. I wanted to protest, but something in her gaze froze the words on my tongue.

Hours later, my muscles ached, but the floors gleamed. She placed a bowl before me. Kheer, or so I thought until I saw worms squirming in the milky water. I pushed it away as she and her hulking son devoured real food.

Days blurred. I scrubbed, painted walls, even brushed leaves with rainbow paint. Every time I tried to rest or use my soaked phone, she appeared, her voice slicing through the air. Once, she hurled a black cat at me. I washed the poor creature, and to my astonishment, her fur turned white. I named her Amaltas. She followed me everywhere, purring like a heartbeat. `In the garden, I mixed a potion Kala the old woman had given me. The plants it touched grew impossibly tall, bearing fruit that glowed faintly in the dark. Those fruits sustained me when her meals didn’t.

One night, I saw Kala prick her finger and unlock a hidden door. Behind it, faint blue light pulsed like trapped lightning. I longed to look inside, but fear held me back. Instead, I pitched a tent between two mango trees and survived on their fruit, waiting for a miracle.

Then, one evening, I saw a shooting star streak across the sand and made a wish to go home. The “star” grew larger, roaring toward me. A helicopter crashed through the dome, shattering it to dust. Police poured out; weapons drawn. Kala screamed as they dragged her away. They told me she was a fugitive scientist, hiding after stealing a growth formula.

My phone had led them to me.

When I finally saw my family again, I held them close. The world was right again-or almost.

Because sometimes, late at night, I still dream of that glowing door.

And the whisper behind it, calling my name.

Story title: No More Beauty

Name: Akshaya Keerthi Yelisetty

Age: 14-16 years old

Everyone knew Elijah Hayes had a way with words. His poems filled the college’s literary magazine, his readings left audiences silent, and his professors often said he was born to write. For him, language wasn’t just a skill—it was a heartbeat.

But that was before Clara. Or rather, before Clara died.

They met in a writing workshop two years ago. She had a quiet smile and a mind that could unravel a poem like a secret code. While Elijah wrote about beauty and wonder, Clara wrote about truth—the kind that stung a little. Together, they balanced each other: his idealism, her honesty.

They used to sit by the lake near campus, scribbling in their notebooks, trading lines like confessions. He remembered the way she’d laugh whenever he read something too dramatic. “You don’t have to make everything sound perfect,” she’d tease. “Life isn’t a poem, Eli.”

Then, one rainy night, she was gone. A car accident. A single phone call that tore his world apart.

After the funeral, Elijah stopped writing. The notebooks piled up on his desk remained blank, the ink in his pen dried out. He couldn’t bring himself to write about sunsets or love or laughter—it all felt like a lie. How could he create something beautiful when the most beautiful part of his life no longer existed?

Weeks turned into months. People stopped asking when he’d write again. The world kept moving, but Elijah stayed stuck in that moment—rain pounding on the window, her name echoing in his mind.

One evening, he found himself at the lake again. The air was sharp with autumn, and the trees reflected like shattered glass on the water. He sat on the same bench they used to share, hands buried in his pockets. Something about the stillness hurt and comforted him all at once.

Out of habit, he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket. It was one of Clara’s old drafts—half a poem, half a thought. Her handwriting slanted slightly to the right, the ink smudged by time. The last line read: “Maybe beauty isn’t found—it’s remembered.”

Elijah stared at it for a long time. He thought of her laughter, her fierce honesty, the way she could make the ordinary feel sacred. And for the first time since she’d gone, he felt something stir—not joy, but ache. Real, human ache.

He took out his pen. His hand trembled as he began to write—not about perfection, not about beauty, but about grief, memory, and the hollow ache of missing someone. The words came slowly, unevenly, but they came.

When he finished, the page was stained with both ink and tears. It wasn’t beautiful in the way his old poems had been. But maybe that was the point.

Elijah looked out at the lake and whispered into the fading light, “You were right, Clara. Life isn’t a poem.”

He paused, voice barely a breath. “But I think I’m ready to write again.”

Story title: To the Light House!

Name: Anannya Suraj

Age: 14-16 years old

“Ah!” cried out Gwen, as she expertly dived, dodging a blow from a giant elf. She swung her club as hard as she could, taking down the elf, and one more approaching her as well. She was in the Edian Lighthouse, where the Sapphire of Doom was. It was hidden in plain sight, yet nobody bothered to see why the Lighthouse had an eerie blue glow. It was the Sapphire all along. 

The elves were all blind followers of the Dark Beast, a mighty Dragon, whose only wish was to get hold of the power that the Sapphire of Doom held for him. He was a greedy old creature, who gave false promises and hopes to his slaves. 

And Gwen was the only elf of the Dark Beast’s rule to have defied his law. She yanked open the door to the bulb, and tried to grab the Sapphire. Just as she was about to leave, an elf snuck up from behind and jumped onto her, trying to snatch the Sapphire. 

“…and then, Gwen pushed him off her back, and threw him out of the Lighthouse into the sea!” exclaimed six-year-old Gwen in excitement. “She took the Sapphire and destroyed it, so that the Dark Beast would not be powerful anymore. And she lived with her brother happily ever after.” 

Her older brother chuckled at the story, and said, “The heat must really be getting to you, Gwen. Nobody could have possibly made up such a baffling story such as yours on the spot!” She squealed as he picked her up and swung her onto his shoulders. “Why don’t we go to the pool later?” 

Gwen laughed at his question. “Mother will never allow us, silly.” “Then we’ll have to keep it a secret,” he whispered. 

Gwen giggled. She had the best big brother in the entire world.