Writing is easy. Writing well is the hardest thing in the world. Spelling, it seems, is all but impossible.

The point of communication is to get the message across. We all know what these sentences mean, even if they don't quite say it: The whole box was filed to the rim ... She hated Alex, who was all brain and all athlete ... I felt a huge golf ball growing in my throat ... The weather had slowly progressed to a stop snowing ... He was a heroine addict ... Tears welded up in her eyes ... "I guess practice makes practice,'' she said.

The English language contains more than 600,000 words, but that wasn't enough for quite a few of our younger authors who managed to invent words which exactly fit their purpose. "Aw!'' they both said in perfect sequency . ..

Slyly he crept up behind the baldy gentleman ... I was finally unleached from her tight grip.

Sometimes they neither say it, nor mean it. In or out of context, it is impossible to understand quite where these youthful authors were heading: His friendly Scottish accent did nothing to hide his smile of amusement . Or: Jason was still a very happy child with alacrity .

Few adults spell well, so it comes as no surprise that our children don't either. Often, the mistake makes more sense than the real spelling. For example: Once apon a time ... In a very glumy tone ... when he sucseded ... he waisted no time . One 12-year-old boy, stuck for a spelling, went for the unnecessarily complicated: All thoughs cool toys .

Other mistakes can be attributed to a transliteration of Bermudian pronunciation: He went out on the hotel belchony ... She was enticipating Christmas Eve ... I'll just have a glass of water for nor . .. I remember going sleep ... My friend Sergeant Roseanda Jones told me that there are a lot of guns circulating the island and that there is an embassy in progress .

Not counting Santa and Johnny Barnes, Inspector Jones, then of the Police Community and Media Relations department, featured most often in the 1994 children's stories. There was the policeman who was really a policewoman, P.

C. Roseanda Jones . Inspector Jones was particularly visible at this time in 1994, in the wake of the Spinning Wheel nightclub shooting (which showed up in two stories as the Spining Wheel ), there being an amnesty in progress at the time.

With so many reports produced by computer, spellcheckers may have kept mistakes to a minimum, but they can create problems of their own: Santa was delighted as help wanted along Reid Street probably started out: "as he walked along Reid Street.'' But no spellchecker would save Mrs. Clause from being vexed, and upset at the same time .

And there are sentences where it's just best to stand back and enjoy. From a long list, a few favourites: The following week was just fun, fun, fun and more fun ... The two snow flakes fell to the ground. When they landed, they heard a thump. It was them ... And there was Tammy sitting in the chair with a two piece skirt suit and a briefcase on her lap .

To be strictly fair, adults make mistakes, too. One adult entry contained this unlikely statement: The next two days sped quickly and before they knew where they were, they were aboard the El-Al plane and heading for Egypt . El-Al doesn't fly to Egypt; it is the Israeli airline.

SHORT STORY COMPETITION CPN