English
City of Kingston
Ink About it Competition
The 2019 Ink About It Writing Competition invited students of Kingston to submit a 500-word short story or poem on any theme.
Liana Kalpakoff of Year 8 received the wonderful news that her entry ‘Sing a Song in Silence’, won the competition in the teenage bracket! We congratulate Liana on this tremendous achievement. Here’s what the judges had to say about Liana’s winning entry:
“Liana really captures the torment of her characters loss. Very visual and emotive. Fantastic job!”
“Sophisticated imagery. Conveys passionate love of music and torment of loss.”
“Emotive short story that plays with the reader’s heart strings. The story is succinctly told in four little vignettes and ends up with an emotional climax. Good structure and writing.”
“Clever use of different perspectives. Outstanding use of vocabulary and imagery. Clever breakup of ideas – the way it is segmented, short sharp bursts of different events and thoughts.”
Kim Elliott
Learning Leader: English
Sing a Song of Silence
My heart was pounding but I could not hear a sound, my mouth was desiccated, and my tongue was bound. The doctor’s crinkled mouth arose from its serene position, he spoke slowly but no echo emerged, but I read his lips and those words slipped out.
“You will never sing again.”
Chapter 1: Julia
Julia Dabrowski scanned the dim music room, frantic to gather her belongings and flee. Soon her eyes rested on her designated corner, there she packed her sheet music, golden guitar and book of songs. As she got up to leave a tear cascaded down her pale cheek.
My name is Julia. All my life I have been a go-getter, whether it was with school or music. My best friend Darla and I have been singing since we met. Singing and music is my greatest passion, without it, my world would stop. I’ve carried this mentality right till year eight but after that my world quite literally stopped.
I was diagnosed with a rare hearing disorder; no hearing aid could mend the rapid deterioration of my hearing. Soon everything fell silent. My hopes and dreams laid fragmented on the music room floor.
Chapter 2: Darla’s idea
Darla and I nimbly ran through the school corridor. Darla has the sweetest soul; she took sign language classes as soon as she heard of my diagnoses. Her hands quickly motioned, “You know Julia, I have a fantastic idea for what we could do on the weekend.”
I responded using my voice, despite being deaf I still used it.
“And what’s that Darla?”
Darla’s face cracked into a sunny beam.
“Glad you’re interested; this weekend I’m preparing you for the school singing showcase on Monday.” My face went stiff.
“What!” I screeched.
“Come on Julia, do it for me”, Darla pleaded.
“Alright Darla, I’ll do it”, I grinned.
Darla embraced me in a hug.
“I knew you had it in you.”
Chapter 3: The final performance
The weekend of practice had flown by; the school talent show had approached promptly.
I arrived at school, my golden guitar in one hand and my song lyrics in the other. I found the music director who guided me backstage, he then motioned for me to go on stage. I strode on stage, around four hundred faces gawked back at me. I trusted my pitch and my muscle memory. I kicked off my shoes so I could feel the tempo beneath me. I centred myself near the microphone, exhaled and then I began.
Streams of sensation, exhilaration and rapture engulfed my body to the brim. Each lyric I expressed was accompanied by inflated emotions and actions from the audience.
As I sang the last verse the crowd stood up and roared with excitement, I was getting a standing ovation!
Right in the middle, I saw Darla. She was cheering and whooping wildly.
She then signed,
“See Julia, you can sing a song in silence!”
Liana Kalpakoff
Year 8
