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Young Writers Award competition

By 18 November 2020June 2nd, 2021No Comments

Some of our Year 9 pupils recently took part in a Young Writers Award competition which asked them to produce a 500 word story focusing on the theme of ‘Hidden Talents’ with guest judge, Greg James. It was centred around any talents that arose during lockdown. Although none were shortlisted, all pupils wrote fantastic stories! Attached is one of the brilliantly written stories submitted into the competition. Well done to all the pupils who took part! 

 

Below is Raeesa Mank’s submission.

 

If Only They Knew by Raeesa Mank

 

 

Eyeballs are clever organs. Who needs a mouth to speak with when we have eyes? They say everything and never lie (well according to Scarface). Meandering down the hallway of Greenfield High School, I tried my hardest to ignore the stares following me like a security camera and fixed my gaze to the linoleum floor. As I approached the birch door to my new classroom, a light breeze made the hairs at the back of my neck rise. I knocked reluctantly and was met by a short, hearty and red-cheeked woman with an explosion of brown curls upon her head.

“You must be Zach! Welcome to class 9R, I’m Mrs Roundbottom,” she exclaimed, and it took all the power of my fourteen-year-old brain to stop me smirking. Roundbottom. She furrowed her unibrow whilst scrutinising the class; most of them were preoccupied with their conversations. Suddenly, she silenced the class with a spit-spraying ‘SHHH’ and asked me to tell them about myself. I internally combusted in response and began fidgeting with my sweat-slicked hands. After a few seconds of dreadful silence and my throat becoming as dry as sandpaper, Mrs Roundbottom’s eyes widened in recollection.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Zach here has selective mutism, which makes it difficult for him to communicate. DOES SHOUTING HELP?” she yelled, and I had a sudden urge to question her qualifications. The class tried to stifle their laughter as Mrs Roundbottom huffily pointed me to my seat next to a boy called Jake, who was discreetly playing ‘Beyond Them’ underneath the graffitied desk. After he lost the level for the hundredth time, Jake looked up at me exasperated and shoved his phone into my hands, gesturing for me to try. Almost instantly, I won the level and Jake stared in awe.   

“How did you do that? You almost beat MutantX’s record!” he gasped, making me roll my eyes. 

The loud shriek of the bell signalled the end of class and I made my way to my next lesson where the teacher split us into small groups for a project. 

“Look guys, it’s mute boy,” the imbecile next to me snorted.

“Actually, he’s deaf. HELLO!” a purple-haired girl proclaimed, making her friends erupt into laughter. 

“No way!” Jake interrupted, gesturing to his phone hidden under the textbook, “MutantX topped the leaderboard again yesterday.” 

“He’s such a good gamer,” the purple-haired girl commented and began to gawk at Jake’s phone. Relaxing at their change in topic, I silently sulked through the remainder of the lesson that was a complete boondoggle.

When the day finally ended, I hurried home to my bedroom and relaxed into my ‘spinny’ chair, sighing in relief. My abandoned headset lay beside me and I slipped it on before loading ‘Beyond Them’ on my computer and taking a deep breath. Clearing my throat, a smug smile creeped onto my face as I clicked the scarlet record button: “Hi guys, I’m MutantX and welcome back to my channel.” If only they knew…