Lesley Morris Short Story Competition

Congratulations to the winners of the Lesley Morris Year 8 Short Story Competition 2020:

Best story - "His Daughter's Fantasy" by Adora Kho

Most original - “Secrets” by Anglea Zheng

His daughter’s Fantasy - Adora Kho

Her fantasies never made sense to me. No matter how many times I told her that they weren’t real, she wouldn’t believe me. She would keep fantasizing an unrealistic life as she watched the sun set behind the never ending sea.

"Daddy?"

"What is it honey?"

"Do you ever wonder what’s in the sea?"

"Of course I do. There could be species down there that are yet to be discovered."

"Really? I think there’s mermaids. Have you ever seen a mermaid daddy?"

"Mermaids? Heh. Sorry honey, but mermaids don’t exist."

She believed in mermaids with all her heart. I remember those days were we would relax on the soft warm sand, entertained by the bubbly waves as they crashed onto the shore. We would gaze upon the setting sun, giving the sky a ripe tangerine colour over our heads. I would throw her up into the air and watch her priceless smile as she came down; a smile that shone as bright as pearls from the darkening ocean. I would give my life just to hear that precious laugh again. The silhouettes of the past haunt me as I stroll across the empty shore. She was all I had. She was only 5 so why did she have to go? My poor little Hazel.

It was a year after being alone in this once lively beach house. It was like I was glued to my bed and the loneliness followed me around like a shadow. I used to be fascinated with what creatures the sea holds, but after what happened to Hazel, I couldn’t even bring myself to stare upon the vast ocean. If I could, I would’ve moved far away from this beckoning sea, but all I had left of my daughter was in this house. I couldn’t just leave, so sometimes all I could do was fall into a slumber and dream that she’s was still here. But one night, I woke due to a raging thunderstorm. That night changed me forever.

I was tired. I could barely even open my eyes, yet, I got out of bed without thinking twice. It felt like something was pulling me towards the shore… A song coming from outside. I was stumbled across the wet sand like a zombie as the air howled and the song filling the air. A song of heavenly voices. The shining stars covered by the thick grey clouds that loomed above. A great storm was raging upon the usually peaceful beach, bringing down heavy rain that hit me like bullets all over my body, slowly bringing me back into full consciousness, until finally, I was fully awake.I thought to myself, “H-how did I get here? I must be going insane.”

Just as I was about to head back to the beach house, I spotted something strange washed up on shore. At first glance, I thought it was a fish. I marched through the angry storm to inspect the figure. I could see I was deeply mistaken, for what was in front of me was an unconscious little girl in a white dress and white hair. She looked pale; I thought she was dead. I felt for a pulse, and thankfully, she was still alive. I instantly knew, she needed my help.

I carried her back to the beach house and placed the sick child in my daughters bed. It pained me to even open the door to her room. It was like there was a hole in my heart that would never close. All I could see was the memory of my daughter. However, when I saw the frail girl lying in the once empty bed, I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore. The next morning, I knew I couldn’t just lie down and sulk. There was a child who needed my help. However, there was one question haunting me

“how did a small frail child end up on the shore last night?” I thought to myself, “I should probably ask her when she wakes up”

A few minutes later, the floor boards creaked as a weak little girl stumbled out of the room. Her face reeked in fear. As I was about to comfort the child, I saw something that hit me hard. She resembled my daughter in many ways. Their height and age was exactly the same. It was as if my daughter was right next to her. My heart ached with pain, but I tried to hide it.

I confronted the girl, “Its ok, don’t be scared. I’ll help you recover and then we can find your parents.”

She still looked overwhelmed, so I let the girl wonder around the house a bit. She seemed so curious: trying to climb on top of tables, wearing my shoes on her hands and other strange yet funny things. She seemed like she was having the most fun she’s ever had.

It made me think, “It’s like she’s never had fun before. How?”

After a while, I asked her, “What’s your name?” She tilted her head in confusion. “It’s like she doesn’t know anything!” I thought to myself as I tried to explain what a name was, “Ok, so a name is what people call you. For example, my name is Casey.”

The girl remained silent.

“Surely you have a name… Do you?”

The girl shook her head. I stood there confused. If this girl didn’t have a name, then where was she before she came here? I looked down upon the frail child in confusion. But when she glanced back at me, all I could remember was my daughter.

“Daddy! Daddy! Can I have a little sister?” She used to ask. I would stand there awkwardly, rubbing my hand behind my head.

“Heh, I don’t think that’s going to happen sweetie.” I would reply. That upset look that she gave me would always shatter me. So I bought her a doll to treat as her own sister.

“Here.” I said as I placed the doll in Hazel’s hands. “Why don’t you treat this doll like a sister?” I watched as her face lit up in joy.

“YAY! THANK YOU DADDY!” She exclaimed. “I’m going to name her Marina because if I had a sister, that’s what I’d name her.”

I started to tear up at the memory, only to realize that the small girl was still looking up at me.

“You know what” I whispered as I handed her Hazel’s doll. “If you’re okay with it, I’m going to name you Marina.”

Marina became part of my family. I loved her like she was my own. I would read her bed time stories and I tuck her into bed. I would throw her up into the air, and catch her as she came down. Marina’s smile was just like Hazel’s. The similarity killed me inside, yet it made me feel complete. Being with Marina was like being with Hazel again. Marina’s laugh would always make my day. Whenever she would look out to the wide sea, I would see and innocent little girl with white hair as wavy as the sea, and eyes as blue as the ocean and gazing upon the shimmering water like there was something missing. I could see that she loved being around me but, sometimes it felt like she wanted to go home. If I could, I would’ve taken her back to her family, but over the 3 months I had been with her, she had never spoke a single word. Never. I would ask her time and time again, where she came from, where she lived, who she is, and every time I would watch as she opened her mouth to speak, only for another wordless answer. Marina was mute. She’s been left with the forced secret of her origin. Even though I loved her like she was my own, I still felt like there was more to her. Something strange. Although my interest in the sea had died, Marina’s fascination was unlike no other. It was like she wanted to see it. All of it. She didn’t need word to tell me she wanted to explore the wide sea, so I did what I promised I’d never do again.

The sun was setting in the horizon as I pushed my dusty old fishing boat onto the water. Behind me was Marina jumping up and down with excitement, joy flickering in her deep blue eyes. Her actions mirrored Hazels.

“Do you think I’ll catch a fish daddy?”“Sure you can! I bet you can catch the largest fish in the sea!”“Maybe I can find a mermaid!”She would always jump with excitement whenever we went fishing. To her, it was the closest thing to being a mermaid. Curse those mermaid fictions. They’re the reason why Hazel isn’t here. I carried Marina onto the small boat as sickening memories flooded my head. The last memory of Hazel. I could barely pull myself into the boat. My head started spinning. I couldn’t do it anymore. Marina saw me panicking and held my hand. I looked into her ocean coloured eyes. They told me everything was going to be fine. Taking a deep breath, I started rowing the boat.

My hands were trembling. I barely had the strength to row through the still blue water. My fear of the water started taking over me, like the shadows of the past were pulling me under. I went into a silent break down. Hazel’s screams echoing in my ear. But I was pulled out of my dark haze by Marina’s beautiful laugh. When I looked at her, she was playing with the water and leaning over the boat just to touch it. My anxiety spiked up; My heart pounding out of my chest. The boat rocking vicariously as I attempted to stop her from falling in.

“NO STOP DON’T LEAN OVER-“

She bent over too much and flung into the once still water.

She started sinking into the depths of the ocean. My mind started spinning and fear coursed through my veins. Time was repeating, as I feared it would. Last time I was time I was too late to act but this time, I’ll save Marina before I lose another child to the water. I dove into the water without wasting any time, but by the time I had hit the water, Marina was nowhere to be seen.

“NO NO NO! NOT AGAIN!” I screamed on the verge of tears.

I swam deeper into the sea, the salt water burning my eyes as I tried to find her. I started becoming desperate and time started speeding up. I was running out of breath, but I refused to let Marina suffer the same fate as Hazel. My chest was screaming for air and everything started to become fuzzy until finally, I had lost consciousness.

I had a dream, like something you would see before death. It was Hazel, slowly sinking to the ocean floor. She laid still on the sand, surrounded by dancing seaweed. All was calm, and all you could hear was the sound of the ocean. Suddenly, a song started playing. The song from the night of the storm. Heavenly voices circled around Hazel. She started to float higher above the ocean floor as magical, colourful, glowing lights covered her. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was beautiful and I felt like that whole in my heart had finally closed. Hazel’s brown hair turned white, and her legs morphed into a tale. It was as if it came straight out of… A fantasy.

As the lights faded, Hazel had been reborn. She had become what she had always wanted to be… A mermaid. As she opened her eyes, I could see that they had completely changed, changed into unmistakable blue eyes. Although I was in a stage of near death, I could feel my heart pounding. Hazel and Marina, were one in the same…

The next thing I know, I woke up to the sound of waves, and the sky was clear and bright. I sprung up to an upright position in my bed. I was filled with confusion and questions started to flood my head.

“Was it all just a bad dream? Was Marina real? For crying out loud, was any of this real?”

I could feel myself burning up with frustration and disappointment. I started to go into a mental breakdown, but suddenly, I noticed Hazel’s doll on the side of my bed.

“That wasn’t there before. I never touched it, unless… MARINA!”

At that instant, I knew everything was real. The flashbacks, the new memories, the dream. I leaped out of bed and sprinted out the door. Outside I saw the old fishing boat placed on the shore, and small foot prints in the sand, leaving a trail that came out from the house and headed into the water.

“Marina was here a few moments ago!”

I tripped and stumbled as I ran across the soft sand, following the foot prints. I dragged my legs through the water until the water was up to my knees. The sunlight reflected on the shimmering water, causing me to squint my eyes, but in the distance, I saw what I thought I would never see. A mermaid’s tail, swimming further away into the endless sea. It was if time had stopped as I watched it slowly disappear. In the first time in ages, I felt alive again.

Somewhere out there, my child was free; Living the life she had only dreamt about, even if she didn’t remember her life as Hazel. Sometimes I hear the song in my dreams, but no matter how many times I hear it, Marina never came back.

I am still thankful for those last moments I got to spend with her, the moments when she was known to me as Marina. At last, all my questions were answered and I felt like I could live life freely again. However, there will always be a part of me that will remember that my daughter, finally got to live her fantasy.

Data Decisions Workshop

The data decisions workshop was organised by the Prince’s trust and eventful learning co. The Prince’s trust was founded by Prince Charles in 1976 with the intention of fighting social and community based issues.

The workshop took place on December 2nd and involved myself and 5 other students (Jorja Daniele, Malcolm Young, Rebecca Xu and William Brewster).

The day started off with an introductory Zoom call. We discussed bullying in depth by looking at some of the root causes of bullying as well as the consequences.

We worked together with 3 schools, some of whom were from different states.

After analysing the data collected from 2,000 Australian students, it was astounding to find that the vast majority had either seen bullying, bullied or been a victim to bullying. Next, we were given a hypothetical scenario to try and find solutions and preventative methods for.

We were told to harness our critical and creative thinking and give both qualitative and quantitative responses. Overall I found the experience to be very useful as it developed skills we don’t usually use in day to day classes. It prepared me for the kinds of activities and exercises we will be doing in the Launch program and I liked the idea of student empowerment that was promoted at the workshop.

Livi Herrick 8E

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