The Year 7 student from Great Lakes College, Forster crafted a magical little tale about a raggedy old umbrella that was rescued from the dump by an old woman who took it and a handful of other discarded objects and turned them into something beautiful.

Showing a flair for detail beyond his years, he said he created the story by bringing a number of different ideas together on the page.

Not his first story, Jai was fortunate enough to take part in a writing enrichment course at Forster Public School under teacher Stephen Nicholas, where he picked up some valuable techniques.

One of these was writing from the perspective of someone or something else, which came in handy for 'The Old Lady and Me', where he wrote through the eyes of an umbrella.

You may also like:

An avid reader, Jai said he enjoyed fantasy books, particularly the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling.

He also enjoyed the experience of writing his own stories, which he liked to do in his free time.

"When you finish a story you feel a sense of accomplishment," he said.

"It's the joy of expressing your ideas on paper."

With plenty of other things also bringing him joy, including touch footy and bike-riding, and with the talented student excelling at all his subjects, he's not sure yet if he wants to follow in the footsteps of Rowling and become a worldwide publishing sensation.

But he's looking forward to entering the Tell Me A Story competition again next year.

And no doubt it'll be a joy to read his story.

Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Great Lakes Advocate newsletter here.