KMHS LITERACY LEGENDS:
It is my pleasure to introduce the return of the Kings Meadows Literacy Legend for 2020. Each fortnight we will celebrate the magnificent work that our students produce in their English classes by featuring a piece of work from one/or two, of our students and an interview with them. This week we have two narratives. Stella Jones and Katelyn Chilcott, both from Grade 7, have written very successful and entertaining stories for you all to enjoy.
Well done girls and we hope you love ‘Heart of Gold and ‘The Perfect Note’!
Karen Furley
English Learning Area Leader
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Student name: Stella Jones
Student class: 7E
What can you tell us about this piece of work?
I was feeling sad and I reminded myself that my family will always be there for me and I would do anything for them so that’s what prompted me to write about Zero and the journey to save her life.
What is your favourite thing about English?
Being able to make the things you think of real and being able to express your emotions.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on a poem called, ‘The Waters Ways’.
What are you reading at the moment?
At the moment I am reading the ‘Throne of Glass’ series by Sarah J. Maas
What is your favourite book and why?
‘The Eyes of Tamburah’ by Maria V. Snyder because it’s interesting and you never know what’s going to happen next.
What are some books that you would really like to read?
Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan
An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir
The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern
HEART OF GOLD
The blistering sun glared down turning the sand into a burning pit. The thick leather boots I was wearing did nothing to stop the heat that seeped from every grain of sand. The blistering heat from those was enough to make me faint but I had to keep going, I had to. Just when I thought I could go no longer I saw it. A pinprick on the horizon of the tower reaching up towards the sky that was now going dark with dusk. It was what I was here for, it was what everyone that came to the desert was here for, but up until now no one had ever found it, well at least those who had lived to tell the tale. I stumbled forward tripping over a large rock. As I inspected my stubbed toe and cut hand I glimpsed a sight of what I tripped over. It wasn’t a rock as I had first thought it was a skull, a horrible grinning skull. The sight of it made me want to deposit the meagre contents of my stomach all over that sand. It made me want to turn and run. Looking around I saw hundreds of other skulls lining the sand, each had been picked clean by the critters that roamed the sands.
I slowly picked myself back up trying not to expel the little I had eaten as I started toward the tower that loomed menacingly in the distance. Zero was calling out to me, her cry’s pushed me forward as I fought my family’s pleas to stay. I’m doing this for you Zero, I’ll always love you. Startled I looked around trying to find what stopped me from walking. Then I looked up. It was the tower and it was day. I had been so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed the fading night give way to the burden of the suns heat. I circled the black stone searching for a door. After doing a lap I slumped to the ground my tears making tracks on my grime smeared cheeks . There was no door or window not even an opening. I pressed my bleeding palm against the stone and pushed myself to a standing position. As soon as I was on my feet the tower rumbled behind me as the stone warped and twisted to create a door.
I stood gaping at the open space before hurtling up the winding stairs that were inside the tower. Every time I went up a step the feeling of suspense grew. What was at the top of the tower? As I neared the top the feeling of someone watching me grew as my heart pounded.
The top of the tower was a bleak open space and there was nothing there, not even a grain of sand. This is when I got really suspicious, why is there nothing here? In the legend it spoke of a tower of black with a heart of gold. Then I realised the heart of gold wasn’t above the surface it was below. I hurled down the stairs 3 at a time. By the time I reached the bottom my feet were sore and aching. Carefully I inspected the wall sure enough there was a notch. I slid the battered key I had carried on my journey out from underneath my shirt. It fit snuggly in the hole. I held my breath and turned it 1… 2… 3…
A door swung open revealing steps that lead down into the gloomy dark. I carefully went down, the lights on the walls barely illuminating the step in front of me. Finally I reached an open cavern. I thought of what to do then, then I remembered in the legend it said:
Carved on the wall is the words to speak and a heart of gold is the one they seek
This place will show you the person within
But only you can dare to begin
Say what you need
And we will proceed do not step back
Or you will bleed
I slowly walked forward toward the far wall. My steps echoing on the walls before being absorbed by the strange green light that clung to the lichen strewn walls. I could now read the inscription on the wall. It said:
Far I have travelled for this so please
Help me for this is my wish
My greatest desire Is this
Carefully I recited the poem and added on the end
My sister is dying and I want to save her
Saving Zero is my greatest desire so help me please I wish it please
The green light that clung to the walls broke off and surrounded me. An eerie voice echoed around the cavern repeating my wish. The light got brighter and brighter as it swirled around me. I closed my eyes and felt my feet lift of the ground then there was silence. I cautiously opened my eyes and to my surprise I was standing outside my house. I walked Inside and smiled at the sight of Zero waddling around the living room. I walked over and squatted next to her, her little fists grabbed at my long hair as I handed her the doll I had made before leaving. Mum walked in and rejoiced. I was home, Zero was healthy and our life was better than ever.
I walked out to the deck and smiled at the crisp dawn air and the mumbled groans from the awakening city. The tower was burned into my mind and the promise that came with it. Be happy. The morning fog rose to cover the city like a mysterious blanket of smoke. Anything is possible and I’ve realised that, anything is possible If you try. I slid back Into the sleepy household to make breakfast before the afternoon started. The story was yet to begin, yet the story had already ended.
By Stella Jones
Student name: Katelyn Chilcott
Student class: 7C
What can you tell us about this piece of work?
I really enjoyed writing this story. In many parts, it includes things that have happened in my own life, such as when Melody is saying that, ‘everyone thinks she looks like her dad,’ that happens to me all the time.
What is your favourite thing about English?
I really enjoy English because I like to make up my own stories. I like to think up ideas of my own little worlds, and I enjoy writing because I can make those ideas come to life.
What are you working on at the moment?
In English, my grade 7 class is working on persuasive arguments by discussing topics and our viewpoints on them.
What are you reading at the moment?
I recently finished reading the Divergent series by Veronica Roth.
What is your favourite book and why?
As I mentioned before I recently finished reading the Divergent series and the first book out of the series is my favourite book I have read so far.
What are some books that you would really like to read?
I read the first book of the series and it finished on a great cliffhanger that made me want to read the next one.
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THE PERFECT NOTE
“Once upon a time, not so far from where we are, there was a place called Everlin, a magical city of music. It was said that long ago, the people lived in harmony with every living thing. They thrived off the beautiful sound of singing and music. But for some unknown reason they stopped singing and the land shrivelled up, died and became how it is today.”
“Come on!? You don’t seriously believe all this! That’s just some stupid fairytale!” says Max, half yelling, half whispering. Max doesn’t usually just believe anything and everything. Though he looks like a naïve little boy he is actually quite smart and thinks things through.
“You may not believe it Max, but I sure do. Look around you! You can tell this place is supposed to look beautiful but it isn’t. There is so much nature. It just needs to look, you know, not dead…” Nora replied hastily. She is quite opposite to Max, not only by looks, but also by character. She is a dark skinned girl, naturally beautiful. While Max is quite pale, having red hair with streaks of blonde.
“What do plants have to do with magical singing?”
“Well, you see that patch over there?” Nora signals to a small forest area that used to house lumberjacks. “Surely you can tell that this whole place used to be like that. It would still be like that, if people lived here and started to nurture this place and be happy. The land relied on the peacefulness of its inhabitants.”
“What do you think Melody?” asks Max.
Great he’s signalling to me, I’m Melody. If I agree with Nora, then Max will be angry with me. But if I disagree with her, then she’ll say that I have no imagination.
“Don’t pull me into this, it’s your argument!”
But really, what I’m thinking is muddled. I don’t know. Does it sound so ridiculous, I mean, what she says has a valid point. You can tell this place used to look beautiful when it was an inhabited village. Thankfully before Max or Nora can reply my mother calls us into dinner.
To me I look most like my mother, but to others I look most like my dad. I have a nice rounded head with short blond hair. That’s like my mother, but to everyone else all they can see is my dad’s side. My short stubby nose that matches perfectly my big blue eyes and my boyish sense of style. But really I don’t care what people think.
Nora, Max and my family have all been staying at my grandparents. We have stayed here for about two weeks already, and are really enjoying it. We have found a good place to hang out during the days that we are not either studying for school or helping out on the farm. One paddock stretches out to the horizon and smack bang in the middle of it is a huge evergreen tree. Other than that tree, all the others look like they have been burnt.
After tea has finished, we pack up the table and ask to head out to the evergreen tree. Fittingly, we call it ‘Everlin’.
“Mum, since we have been helping out a lot more lately and haven’t had much time to hang out, can we….”
“Yes of course you can go out to your little tree, I’m fine with that” my mother says before I can really finish my sentence.
Before I can run off to follow Max and Nora, my mother grabs me by my arm and says, “Just make sure you come home before dark out. Have fun, and maybe, if you can, do some school work?”
I nod, grab my stuff and run off.
While the other two are arguing and goofing about, I sit down under Everlin and start on my endless amount of tests and assignments. People say time flies by when you’re having fun, but for me, whether I’m having fun or doing boring tests, the time goes by like a rushing river. So when I look up to have a breather, it’s already getting late.
“We were going to come over to tell you to be quiet!” says Max almost, scolding me.
“Why?” I reply looking confused.
“You were humming the whole time!”
Now I can tell he’s really annoyed. Max hates it when people mindlessly sing or hum. “Sorry,”I say, trying to calm him down. “I didn’t realise that I was humming.” “You don’t have to apologise Melody, he was over reacting,” adds Nora.
As we start to walk back to the farm, I notice that I had completely forgotten to get my school books. “Hey guys, keep walking, but I’m just going back to get my books, ok?” I say.
I jog back to Everlin to get my books, but when I go to turn around, something stops me and a shiver goes down my spine. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a blob of green and yellow. In another setting this wouldn’t be as ‘scary’ or ‘shocking’ as it is now. When I turn back and look at it closer, it turns out to be a little daffodil. But what makes me shiver is that it wasn’t there when I left. This whole paddock is just a big patch of dead.
But then it hits me, Nora was right. This has to be Everlin, and I’m not talking about the tree. That thought keeps me up all night. We have a mystical garden, only meters from the house. While when you think of things that keep you up at night as scary, scared wasn’t what I felt. It’s more like the feeling you get when someone tells you that they have a surprise for you. And in those minutes that you have to wait for the surprise, you build up this emotion, which is almost like a yearning for it.
That is exactly the feeling I have now, that yearning to explore and find out more. Can you really blame me for what I’m doing. As I tiptoe down the hallway, I pray that the groans the floorboards make don’t wake the others up.
“What are you doing Melody?”
Damn it, quick think up a lie, people don’t need to think you’re crazy.
“I… ah, was just, um, going to go get some milk for me to, um, drink ya know… he, he.” I doubt that it’s a convincing lie. “But I could ask you the same thing?”
“You and your elephant feet woke me up. You are a terrible liar, you know that right?” Max is standing there still half asleep, wiping the sleep from his bright green eyes. “So what are you really doing?”
I can’t lie to him now.
“You aren’t going to believe me. So, you know how you and Nora were arguing about whether Everlin is real or not.” I don’t wait for a reply. “Anyway, when I went back to get my books, I saw a daffodil! There is no way that it was there when we first went out, and an even lesser chance that anything would actually grow out there. And then it clicked. All that time I was humming. Isn’t that exactly like what happens in Everlin!”
“I believe you.”I turn around to see Nora standing there, with a backpack, torch and camera. “Hurry up, let’s go then!” Max says with a smirk on his face. I knew I could count on them.
We all rush out the door, our little bodies overflowing with adrenaline. I guess we were expecting to see something other worldly and magical. And boy were we… right! Words do not describe how beautiful it actually was. It was like the kind of thing you would read about in books. Beautiful cherry blossoms framed a wide cobblestone pathway, giving it an other worldly pink glow. And instead of the stale, cold air that we would normally breathe, tonight the air was cool, giving off the slight smell of roses.
As we continued down the pathway, it just got better. Not only were there many trees, they were all different. Some pink, others various shades of green. The only trees that we had seen this whole trip were dead sticks, laying on the dry soil. Now there were trees, flowers, bushes, even animals. If you peered close enough into the trees, you could see the faint silhouette of deers. Even though we bought torches with us there was no need to use them. We were all speechless, not being able to take in what had happened after we left.
“We should go tell your grandparents, Melody! They would love to see this!” Said Nora, finally breaking the silence.
“Maybe you’re right, lets go get them.”
We ran back to the house, bursting with excitement to share the wonderful thing we had found. By now it was about sunrise, the time had just slipped by. My mum and dad were already up making a surprise breakfast.
“Mum! Dad! Quick come outside and look at this!” I yell, grabbing my mother’s arm and yanking her out the house.
“Sweetie, I don’t see anything.” That response to me at first is shocking. How can you not see it?! Are you blind!? But then it becomes clear. Just as quickly as it appeared, the magical world that we just came out of disappeared. “What was I going to see?”
But then I realise, this could be our secret, our own little world. A paradise that we could play in. Keep it to ourselves. Plus why would she believe us anyway, it sounds crazy, but it’s true.
“Oh, I just thought I saw a deer run by, my mistake.” Everlin, my own little world, how nice.
By Katelyn Chilcott