A talented young boy from Hounslow, who penned a tale from his trip to India, has reached the finals of a national short story competition.
Somsuryagni Das, of Heath Road, was among 500 schoolchildren to enter the competition and is one of 10 youngsters to be shortlisted by the judges in the Year 4 category of the KalliKids Story Competition.
The nine-year-old, who goes to Chatsworth Primary School, got the inspiration for his story from a trip to Mumbai, India, last summer.
He said: “As I was riding a luxury car on the way to the hotel I saw poor children, almost my age, sweltering in the heat, trying to sell flowers and other things from car to car.
"I was overwhelmed with sorrow at their plight and could not get it off my mind, even after I returned from holiday. So I decided to pen my thoughts."
The contest, which was given the theme 'shine', involved writing a short story of 500 words.
There were four age categories for children to enter - Year 3, 4, 5 and 6.
The final winners will be chosen by best-selling author Jo Rees, and are due to be announced in September.
Winners will get their story published in a hardcopy and e-book.
Four schools with the most entries will win a creative writing session with Ms Rees.
Jo, who wrote Platinum and Come Together, said: “I loved writing stories as a child.
"Getting encouragement and feedback set me on my path to become a writer.
"Until you set pen to paper, you don’t know where your imagination can take you.
"That is why I am so delighted to be judging the KalliKids Short Story competition.”
Karen Bach, spokeswoman for the KalliKids Short Story Competition, added: “We were so impressed with the quality of stories we received.
"Somsuryagni's story was amazing. The theme of the competition was shine and he certainly did this.”
