Please enjoy another great piece of writing in our series of Heywire competition stories. For those who missed the introduction to this series, these stories have been prepared by students as an English assessment and are being shared with you as they were submitted for assessment. (So, yes, there are some grammatical errors and spelling mistakes).

As many are deeply personal, students have chosen to have them published anonymously. We encourage you to enjoy them as they are meant to be: the amazing personal stories of our teenage students.

Dr Margaret Henderson

Heywire Memoir

The tape screeched as I secured the cardboard box shut. I stood up, wiping a bead of sweat from my forehead and sigh. The mountain of boxes accumulated at the front door. The feeling of overwhelm surged over me.

It all happened while I was still in bed, and by the time I got up, my parents were back, and it had already been signed. That was the day the ground caved in beneath my feet. Soon after I would pack up and leave behind the one place where I had found stability, safety and felt like I belonged. I was moving away from every human relationship I knew, to a place where I knew no one. I still cherish one relationship dearly, and it is more important now that I am 589 kilometres away, than when I was just a school trip away. The person I felt safest around and could tell anything to. The person who made me laugh the hardest. The person that made me feel the happiest I’ve ever been.

A half-filled box, still, in the corner of my bedroom. Filled with childhood memories of this place I called home. A folded piece of paper on top. Opening it, my body sank with grief, shoulders slouched, and my vision blurred. It was a picture he’d drawn during religion. It was the weirdest, but most meaningful thing, I had at the time. He probably didn’t realise how much it would mean to me - that some of the stories and jokes we told were just drawn on a piece of paper. But it reminded me of him. The ups and downs, the good and the bad. It reminded me of the last time I saw him, after assembly, when I hesitantly walked up to his blue locker in the middle of the hallway for the last time. He was packing his stuff into his bag.

“Hey.”

“I thought I’d come see you before I leave.”

“Hope you have a good time,” he said, carefully closing his locker door.

“I dunno, it won’t be the same without you.”

My throat tightened, and my eyes started to sting.

“It’s ok, I promise you’ll make new friends down there. You’ll love it. Remember how excited you were when you got selected to Harvey? Just think of what you’ll do down there.”

“Thanks – for everything.”

“No worries, I’m always a text away.”

And he walked off.

“Tilda!”

My eyes focused and I came back to the present - it was Mum yelling from the bedroom. I folded up the paper and put it in my pocket.

“Yeah” I said, wondering what on earth she was going to ask me to do now.

“Can you hang the washing out? Now please.”

“Yeah…alright” I muttered, as I walked over to the machine.

Five months later, here I am at the WA College of Agriculture Harvey, and loving every minute of it. The opportunities and experiences I’ve been exposed to over this short amount of time are incredible, and I never thought I would see myself doing some of the things I am doing here. Yes, I still do miss our friendship, and seeing each other every day, however, we do call occasionally and catch up on each other’s news. Riley and I will be seeing each other for the first time in a few months – just like the old times.

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