Competition

Third Prize

The Mistake
by Jacinda Moss

I lay in bed crying as I hear another smash.
The voices down below me screaming in a hateful tune.
I don't know how long this has been brewing, but to me it seems like forever.
I hear the front door slam and the car engine start.
I cry a little louder and let out a big sob.

A person down below me is shuffling around, their footsteps echo in the bitter silence.

Is it over? Has the pain left me now with only numbness? Which one left?

The footsteps grow a little louder.
I hear them come up the stairs.
I huddle into my blankets and await the hated words.
They come but they're worse than I expected.
The door opens.
Silence.
Then a whimper.

Something sails over the top of me and smashes on my wall.

Then the words come,
IT'S YOUR FAULT!
LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!
YOU'RE THE MISTAKE THAT CAUSED THIS MESS!
WE NEVER WANTED YOU!
GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!

The person grabs my sleeve and drags me down the stairs.
It's my daddy and I've never seen him so wild.
He pulled something out of his pocket, and then I heard a bang.
Darkness falls upon me.
The last thing I remember is my mummy's goodnight kiss, and the word

MISTAKE

Highly Commended

Phantoms
by Caitlyn Payne

In robes ablaze with midnight flames
Wild flashing eyes alight,
Old man Darkness creeps and prowls
In midnight’s eerie light.

He fears a fair-haired angel
All draped in golden rays,
Who dances through morn’s misty veil
Lady Sunrise salutes the new day.

With glowing skin and lips of flame
Miss Morning beckons sweet,
And with graceful spins and dainty steps
She stirs children from their sleep.

With clear voice loud and small feet bare
Child Midday sings and plays,
With twinkling eyes and silky hair
She frolics away the days.

Queen Sunset in her dress of flame
Of crimson, amber and gold,
Leaps gracefully across the sky
For the day is growing old.

In robes ablaze with midnight flames
Wild flashing eyes alight,
Old man Darkness creeps and prowls
Through midnight’s eerie light.