It was a dark, stormy night and the orphanage was silent. Nobody dared to talk. Except for little Bella. She would get into trouble every single night for talking to herself, but tonight was different, very different. She was going to escape!

As she packed her bag, she thought about where she was going to go. To the beach? To the zoo? Wherever she was heading to, she knew she would be happier there than in the orphanage. As she slid open the old window and grasped onto the rusty drainpipe outside, she waved her last goodbye to the orphanage and slid down.

THUD! As she hit the ground she sighed a huge sigh of relief. Ahhh! Just then she heard the sound of a bell, and then shouts coming from the orphanage. “Where is Bella?!” Dawn was breaking and if Bella wanted to escape for good, she was going to have to run, Now!

Bella ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. Through the park, across the roads, and into someone’s pool! Splash! She scrambled out of it, and waddled to the mountains, where she saw something long, shunting beneath her. It was a train!

Bella dashed down the mountain, and ran alongside it. She realised it was slowing down. Once it had stopped, she walked to the front of the great steam engine where the doors were wide open. 

It took a lot of courage, but Bella knew it would take her somewhere far better than the orphanage. As she stepped inside, she glanced at the driver. But, there was no driver at all. All she could see was was a black glove attached to the wheel. This creeped her out. SLAM! The doors behind her slammed shut so hard, the whole train shook.

As she peered down the side of the train, she saw only brown briefcases. No humans. In the corners of the ceiling were cobwebs and all the lights were turned off. A few windows were shattered, and there was glass all over the floor. Bella sat anxiously on one of the seats next to a briefcase and the train rolled forward.

It had been a long time and Bella was trying so hard not to fall asleep. Suddenly, she heard a big, loud growl. GGGRRRRR! It was coming from the briefcase next to her. AAARRRGGGHHH!!! She screamed as the briefcase opened and closed its mouth. Snap! Snap!

Keeping her eyes on it, she hopped out of her seat. GGRRRR! Then, it started doing this funny dance. It jumped up and down, side to side and it even did a backflip! Bella watched it curiously, slowly edging back into her seat. She reached out her hand and rested it on the briefcase’s nose. “Come with me.” She said, as the train stopped outside a station.

As she hopped out with the briefcase, the doors of the train slammed shut once again, and the black glove waved. She didn’t like the look of this. As she turned around, she realised the train had dropped her off outside a ghost town. “WAIT!” She screamed, but it was too late… the train had gone.

Bella knew that she was stuck there, so she made the most of it. As she wondered nervously around the town, she noticed her briefcase had disappeared. This made her panic. She ran up and down looking for it. Eventually, she came across a narrow street with one lamppost turned on. She nervously crept down it, and held onto the lamppost

As she turned around, she saw that the lamppost’s light was illuminating a big, filthy sign. It read:

As she peered into the 

classroom, she noticed 

Her briefcase was sitting 

on one of the desks.

School

She shoved open the door (which fell off it’s hinges) and ran to the front of the classroom. “What are you doing here?” she asked. The briefcase glanced at the bag of chalk on the teacher’s desk and then the chalkboard. “Okay,” she said,”I trust you.”

She reached into the old bag and pulled out a small piece of chalk. Bella held it in front of the chalkboard. She had never written anything before, so instead she drew something. She drew a big scoop, a long arm and a short body. Bella had drawn a digger.

She looked back at her briefcase and then at the board. POOF! A thundering, magical cloud of smoke appeared, which blew Bella onto the ground. Coughing and spluttering, she hopped up. Blowing the smoke away, she could just make out the outline of something. It had a long arm, a big scoop, and a short body. Standing in front of her was a massive, yellow digger!

In awe, Bella walked up to it, and sat in the cockpit. She pressed the button ‘start engine’ and then pulled a lever. The digger blasted off, leaving a trail of magical smoke behind it! AAARRRGGGHHH! Bella had never driven a digger before, let alone a magical one! WWOOAAHH!