Young authors shine in competition

Love, pain and death, is what Brendon Corner saw when he looked at a picture of a house being destroyed by a flood.

The Palmerston North Intermediate Normal student came third in the National Western Districts Essay Competition after using the photo as a prompt for his story.

The 13-year-old, who normally loves thrillers, wrote a story titled Bald, about an elderly man who cuts his wife's life support to ease her pain from cancer.

"I wanted to write about how people react to tragedy," Brendon said.

"I wanted people to make up their own mind about whether euthanasia was good or bad."

Brendon heads to Palmerston North Boys' High School next year, but isn't sure he wants to continue with writing.

Classmate Stephanie Huang came in the top 12 in the competition, for her story, The Angel.

"It was about a dog who had a special gift and died to save another family member."

The competition is divided into adult, secondary, and intermediate sections. Stories had to be fewer than 2000 words, on any topic.

To read Brendon's story, click here.

- © Fairfax NZ News