MyStory

"Arte (factually) Speaking" Story-Writing Competition

Shortlisted Entry (Upper Primary Category)

Contest ID: 70

Name: Sheares Tiong
Gender: Male
Age: 11-year-old
NRIC: SXXXX482F
Nationality: Singaporean
School: Bukit Timah Primary School

Artefact: Iranun Pirate

Museum: National Museum of Singapore

Images Courtesy of National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board

The Sword

Long time ago, so long that probably no one remembers, there was an infamous Iranun pirate who was always dressed in black. He was infamous for killing many people with his sword. His sword had soaked in blood from so many of his victims. The authorities had tried ways and means to capture him but to no avail.

However, one day, he just disappeared. Neither he nor his sword was ever heard or seen again. No one seemed to know what had happened to him.

Time passed, in exactly one hundred years - the sword was coming back to this earth for the unfinished business….

Jason, a writer, who was looking for a secluded place to concentrate on his next book had come to stay in a village far east of Malacca. As he took a walk in the forest, he noticed a glint of sunlight from a deserted well.

He curiously climbed down the wall of the well with the help of a rope. He found an antique shining sword partially buried in the mud under the well. He was so happy with his treasure, without knowing that this was the beginning of misery of his life.

Jason hung up the sword on the wall of his new home. The house seemed to feel different with the sword. There was a strange ambience in the air, cold and bitter. Every time a villager came to visit, Jason would feel an angry vibration from the sword. The strangest thing was that whenever he looked into a mirror, he felt that he was not looking at himself but someone else. He was frightened and felt strongly that there was a secret behind the sword. Despite his fear, he was determined to uncover the truth.

Through much effort going through lots of old archives, there was something shocking that awaited him. He found out that the sword was owned by the infamous Iranun pirate who was a master of black magic and he had sealed spirits of the victims in his sword to increase the power of the sword.

The sword was cast with curses and hatred by the victims of the Iranun pirate, vowing to take revenge on the Iranun pirate and his descendants.

That night, he was possessed by one of the angry spirits in the sword. He woke up and found out he had been on a killing spree and had killed all the villagers. He was taken away and hanged but the sword had disappeared.

After a long time, we finally found the sword and it is now hanging safely in one of our museums.

(438 words)