FINISHED STORIES

Story 3

Slaves

 “Come on you slugs!  Faster!  The Pharaoh is due to visit any day now.  Keep it moving!”
   We gave an extra heave as the crack of the overseer’s whip sounded loud in our ears.  I was exhausted; my lips cracked and bleeding, and my skin burning under the relentless sun.  My tongue felt swollen in my mouth.  Every muscle in my body ached, but that was not the worst of it.  No.  The killer was the dust: the choking, blinding dust.  It was everywhere.  It coated my body.  It filled my mouth and my nostrils.  It burned with gritty fire in my eyes.  I would have given anything to be free of it.
   The heat had long since leeched all strength from my limbs.  Most of my effort was for show.  I had little left to help move the gigantic block of stone on its rollers.  The new overseer was more sparing with his whip than some, but I had felt its bite before and had no desire to feel it again.

Mark Robson

1. Scorpions scuttled up my limbs...I now can’t feel my body, from the torture of the piercing pincers. The deadly venom made me weak, I couldn’t continue. Right there and then I collapsed. “DON’T YOU DARE TRY AND FREE YOURSELF FROM ME!” The overseer bellowed.
“B-b-but I g-got bitten by t-the S-scorpions” I stammered.
“Get back up you wretched slave.”
So I got up and said,”I’ll rather die, but I’ll never follow you “
And then I ran…
“GET BACK HERE YOU MINION!!” I heard over my red, throbbing, blistered shoulder.
“NEVER IN MY LIFE” I thundered back, even though I don’t think he heard me.

Well, now I think your wondering who the overseer is…Well I’ll tell you.
He is gigantically tall with red bloody eyes. He has two arms and short legs. People think he has been sent up by the devil from the underworld. If you question on irrelevant things…Prepare to lose your head. That’s how my family died. He has destroyed my everything….He shall now prepare to lose his head…

Brianne & Aditi (British Int School, Jakarta)

2. The sun beamed down on my back as I ran, the dusty sand whipped my face, I could hear horses behind me soon I would be caught and probably killed and my head put on a pole to send a message to the other slaves. I needed to hide but there was only sand as far as the eye could see. That was it, the sand. Quickly I went on my knees and started to dig in the burning sand, my hands blistered as I dug. Finally it was big enough for me to cram into. It burned my skin as I clambered in, I coved myself quickly, the little hope I had was gone I was sure I was going to die. The horses were close I could hear the soldiers near. Typical of the slave driver, send someone else to do his dirty work. There voices were muffled but I could still make it out. I new it would be a while until they left, meanwhile I would be trapped here deprived of oxygen.

Daniel (Werneth School, Stockport)

3.            I can’t really breathe because the sand gets into my nose and mouth! Suddenly I fell down into a dark, spooky cave.  “I’ve died already!” I thought but no I was still alive!  I saw a light at the far end of the cave and thought it would be a way out.  In my way there were scary creatures, bigger, poisonous scorpions on the rocks and slithering snakes with scary colours on the floor.   At the entrance there were two guards walking left and right guarding the entrance of the cave, they were skeletons of long dead soldiers who looked scarier than the scorpions or the snakes! There was no other way out so I had to get past them.  The only way was to pretend I was dead too!  I ripped up my clothes, made a few cuts on my body and covered myself in sand mixed with a bit of my own blood.  I told the guards I needed to check outside and marched past them before they could argue.

Outside from the entrance there was a garden, there were flowers, trees, animals, it was like being back in my home village. I knew I had been here before but when??  Everyone was giving me strange looks, maybe due to the blood, ripped clothes and sand all over me!  A small girl asked me
“Who are you?  I’m Daisy.”

“I’m Valentino.  I’m a slave from the pyramids.  Can you take me to the river so I can clean myself up?  Where am I by the way?” I asked

“Of course, well this village is called The Albic land.”
“Ok,” Valentino says strangely. So it took an hour to get to the river. After a while he just looked like a new Valentino. Daisy asked Valentino to visit her small cottage. Daisy introduced her family.
“Thanks you for everything Daisy, now I have go to see my wife in Halorbert Village, that’s in the south of Egypt, can you tell me where Halorbert Village is?” asked Valentino.

May &Tawan (St. Andrews School, Bangkok)

4. “Halorbert Village?” said Daisy with a very confused look on her face. “I’m sorry but I don’t know of a Halobert Village.”
“OH!!!” Said Daisy’s Dad. “The Elders in the desert know of every single town in the whole of Egypt, why don’t you ask them?”
“That’s a good idea.” Said Daisy’s mum, “I’m sure they will be happy to answer your question!”
“Ok, let’s go to the temple.”Said Valentino.
So Valentino went to see the elders in the desert but, Valentino forgot to rest enough, so his muscles were still aching and he still had lots of cuts and bruises.

“All you pathetic slaves better start pulling your weight around here or there will be big consequences!” Said the Overseer threateningly.

Then the Overseer walked outside and mumbled to himself while gritting his teeth which were in poor condition already by being yellow, mouldy and starting to rot and fall out. “That little brat is going to get EXECUTED or worse when I get my hands on him!!!”

Valentino was seriously exhausted while he was crossing the dessert he had absolutely no idea which way the Elders temple was, there was a sandstorm big enough to blind anything that was in its path...

Michael & Adam  (Hadleigh High School)

5. I was halfway there when I considered turning back, but no, I was too far to turn back now, and I just needed to find the Temple, to find my wife. The sand was blowing in my eyes, it hurt, I could barely see, but it wasn’t enough to make me go back, I knew the wind wasn’t on my side.

It seemed like hours later when the wind began to slow, and the sand began to settle, and I found it easier to walk on my journey, with nothing to get in my way. Then I saw it, and smelt it, the beautiful scent of that gorgeous wine that I have had to serve to that wretched pharaoh everyday for the last ten years. It had me in a trance, I had never tasted it before, and it seemed that now was my chance. I struggled over to the source of the mouth watering scent, and tried to grasp the handles, but the saucer disappeared before my eyes. I cried out in disbelief and despair, the journey was hard on me, I just wanted to give up, but the thought of seeing my wonderful wife Tiami, and my little princess Cleo with that cheeky little Robere, saved me from failing.

Hours passed, each with one more heart wrenching challenge to conquer, when, I fell, falling till I hit the ground and banged my sensitive nose on a hard gritty service. It was only then when I looked up; I saw I was looking in to the face of the Elders Temple. Victory came upon me, like it never had before, as I slowly strolled in to the Temple, pride filled my heart.

Sophie and Natasha (Warblington)

6.  It was an almighty sight.  Bright and bold with the wall tiles crystal white and the floor a sandy colour.  I wondered which way I should go.  Suddenly I stumbled over a rock and I bumped my head on the tiles.
Why I stood up I felt dizzy and disoriented.  I walked into the nearest tunnel.  I had no idea where I was.  It was damp and I shivered, my head throbbing.  Goosebumps shot up my spine and med the hairs on my neck stand on end. 
I walked further along the passage and suddenly gave a scream of alarm.  A mummy!  I jumped back in fright and crashed down on an upturned urn on the ground hoping it wasn’t precious as it was now smashed to smithereens under my weight.  I looked up and got the fright of my life!

Rebecca and Chloe (Walbottle Campus Technology College)

7. It was a horrible sight, and smell. It was the Overseer! The air was thick because he had his mouth open, and the stench of death filled the air. My brain told me to run but my heart conquered all, and left me standing in front of death. A small voice inside me was saying, “it’s the end, it’s the end.”, but I didn’t believe it. My senses said that there is still a chance... So I tried it, I tried to run. Suddenly the overseer sprung into action like a cheetah pouncing on his prey. He was to fast. I was too tired. The match wasn’t even. As I fell onto the blazing hot tiles, my bones screaming at me telling me to stop running and so I did. And just when I fell on the floor in agony I felt the cold blooded hands of the overseer on my boiling & blistered shoulder. I ran through my life’s highlights for the last time. And it seemed like I could see my precious wife and daughter in the distance waving goodbye.

Reece and Jordan (Oasis Academy Enfield)

8. I was knocked out for a couple of minutes with an excruciating pain rushing through my veins. After I regained my consciousness, I wondered around the stupendous area I was in. As I strolled the supernatural area, I picked up eerie artefacts. I stumbled along a huge bridge with an everlasting pit underneath it. Surprisingly I could see two peculiar figures sauntering towards me.

AMIR & Tochi (Woolwich Polytechnic)

 9.       The first was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.  She was tall and regal with black shining hair and eyes that were bluer than blue.  She was dressed in white flowing silk robes and around her neck was the largest red stone I had ever seen.  It was the size of my fist and it looked beautiful and dangerous at the same time.  Walking with her was the overseer, but wait, it was him but it wasn’t him.  He didn’t look as ugly and horrible as he always had.  He looked almost human.  “I must be dreaming,” I thought, but how much more bizarre could this misadventure be?

“What is wrong?” they asked me as they approached.  “You look puzzled and tired and fearful and afraid.  Whatever has happened to you?  Can we assist you?” 

“I just want to find my way back to Halobert Village to see my beloved family once again.  I must be lost because I don’t know which way to turn next.”

“Halobert Village?” They both said at once.  We know exactly where that is.  We will help guide you there. 

I was hypnotised by the scent of them, magical and hypnotic, as the wine had been before. 

 “OK,” I said. Suddenly, the woman pressed the red stone around her neck and the next moment they had both turned into two ugly demons.  They grabbed me by my neck before I could flee.  Wings sprouted from their backs.  They soared off into the sky, with me hanging from their talons. 

Karina &Mark
PS 161 Harlem, New York (Don Pedro Albizu Campos School, New York)

10. People say seeing is believing but when you see false, what do you believe? Just as that moment began it all ended. As soon as the demons released their grip I arose to the beeping of a heart monitor. What had just occurred didn’t seem like a dream it seemed as if I was really there. Little did I know reality did take place. The cuts and bruises were actually there from the worst car crash of the century.

When I looked up and saw my wife and daughter looking down at me, with tears in their eyes, I realized I was fighting to have a rendezvous with my loved ones. I noticed my wife reaching for her chest. As she went to clutch the red amulet hanging from her neck, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It occurred to me at that very moment the journey I had just experienced wasn’t just a fantasy at all.

Blake, David , Jenna  and Alaric (All aged 13)  (Lee Jr. High in Monroe, Louisiana)

11. When I stood up I was sweating very badly.  I was scared, shaking, and overwhelmed. When I opened my eyes my wife and daughter were standing right there. I was very happy to be alive, and see my family. My cuts were still bleeding, so I ran to the river to clean up.

When I scratched my arm, I realized my skin started to moult.  I realized that I had just turn into an anaconda snake .I started growing fangs, and I started to change colors.  The beautiful women that tricked me and turned into ugly demons came rushing to kill me. I was so furious at them for messing with me that I jumped up out the river and killed them…..           

Jade, Jordan, Anthony, Kei’ Oshia (J.S. Clark Magnet Monroe, Louisiana)

12. I lay there thinking.  I remember her looking at that same necklace on our trip to Egypt.  The legend was that it was supposed to bring good luck to family, but since I’m here it had obviously backfired, but what puzzled me most was that she had said.  She would never buy that necklace because she said that stuff wasn’t true. Also, the legend has it that long ago a demon had captured an innocent man and its soul was now in that amulet. But why does she have that now?

Louis , Alex , Bobby , Emerson
Grade 6—(Lexington Elementary Monroe, Louisiana)

13. I still didn’t know why she had the necklace but right then I had more pressing things to worry about. My whole body was sticky with congealed blood and I was running out of water. Where was I? Was this reality or fantasy? This wasn’t a time for questions, though, my life might be at stake. Taking in my surroundings, my mood was bleak. All around me, piled in mighty dunes was scalding, parched golden sand. No escape.

     I was trudging through the scorched sand, blistering my feet! My heart was heavy, all hope of survival gone. My aching limbs wouldn’t support me any more, I was about to collapse. Suddenly on the horizon, I could see a silhouette of a woman. She was the same woman who tried to kill me, I was very scared.

      Then, as the figure got closer, a pair of brightest blue eyes. A halo of jet black hair against snow-pale skin. Finally … the most perfect face I’d ever seen

Juliette and Hannah Y7 (Harrow International School Beijing)

14. But could this be another dream? Or it’s just another trick of the demons?
            While I was wondering, the beautiful lady came up to me and asked in a soft and kind voice, “Are you lost, my young one?”
            It seems to me that her snow-pale skin had turned into a beautiful glistered skin. Her blue eyes turned into a pair of bright green eyes in the rising sun.
            “I am not,” I said in a deep voice and breathlessly. I don’t want to make my sentences long because I’m almost out of breath.
            “Well, I know that you are lying young one. But if you ever need help, I’ll always be there.”
            I don’t know how she knew but I’m not going to fall for another trick. But I just laid there and stared at her. Then I started to talk, “Who are you? And why do you want to help me?”
“Well, I am your angel and I’m just a part of your imagination, young one.”
“I didn’t know that I have ever imagined of an angel…”
“Now you know you do, right young one?”
“Ok… angel! And you can call me Valentino instead of ‘Young One’. I hate that name you know!”
“Valentino… what a nice name you have!”
“Thank you beautiful angel,” I said softly. I can barely open my mouth now.
“I see you need water, and some food of course. Here you go!” as soon as the angel finish her sentence, food and water suddenly appeared out of the thick and humid air.
I wonder if these foods are real. The angel said that she’s in my imagination. But it didn’t matter because I started eating it right away. Each bite makes the reality feel much clearer. I can barely see the angel and the food now. Instead, I was home.
I could see the blurry image of my wife standing there looking down at me. She was as beautiful as the rising sun. When the image of her got clearer, I could see that she looks exactly like the angel in my imagination. Then she woke me up and asked, “Are you having a bad dream honey?”
I couldn’t answer. All I could do was stare at her with a smile, but the other half of me was as still as a rock. I’m a little confused now. Why can’t I move my body? It took awhile for me to get up. But when I look at my bruises, it was still there. And so were the cuts… I was confused of that was this a dream or reality? What happened to me?

Rose and Sabrina, American International School Beijing

15. I woke up face first on the scorching yellow sand, a sharp burst of agony shot through me like a bullet as the leather tip of the whip cracked across my back. It was the pharaoh. He lunged for my neck and brought me high above the ground. Resistance was futile. He was far too strong. He turned his head to his advisers, whispering. As they nodded their heads, I was thrown against the foundations of the nearest building, bringing it down to the ground. Ordinarily a blow of this force would have killed me, however somehow I remained standing. Without thinking I grabbed the nearest chunk of crumbling plaster and slung it at the pharaoh. He staggered back a little but quickly regained his balance and lashed out with a lethal whip strike of astonishing power. What the pharaoh hadn’t noticed was a scorpion scuttling up his hairy leg. Then it happened. The scorpion embedded its tail into his flaking flesh. Wings began sprouting from his back and he leapt into the sky, growing seven feet taller in the process. His head was metamorphosing into a twisted and malformed half scorpion, half human monstrosity. Its four claws came together and between them formed a gigantic fireball which spiralled towards me. I lunged out the way but it was too late, I was scorched, my skin evaporating at the pure blazing heat and my organs melted into pulp. Was this the end...?
           
            An eerie blue glow pierced the sky and my body pulp rose into the air and assembled into a ring around the pharaoh. The ring exploded and we both disappeared. Was THIS the end...?

            We were on a space station, something I had only ever dreamed about, or seen in science fiction movies. We were roaring through time and space in a massive spacecraft, but then I noticed something: the pharaoh was carrying a pistol, and it was raised towards my forehead.
            “Surrender, or face the horrific consequences!” Screeched the pharaoh turned terrorist. “I will slaughter you, and then bury you in a shallow grave, and then I will dig you back out, digest you then excrete you in a most painful manner, and then slaughter you again!!!”
            The pharaoh wasn’t joking: he had a whip, a sword, a shovel, his pistol, and an army of terrorists all carrying AK-47s...

Alexander and Aaron (Lord Lawson of Beamish School)

Beep, Beep!

Beep, Beep!
            “Are you getting up in there?” A soft and homely voice called from afar.
Huh?, I lurched forward and rubbed my eyes, as my arms returned to my sides the familiar surroundings of my bedroom came into focus.
            “I said are you getting up in there?” The voice was more urgent this time although its tone was still soothing to me.
Before I could arrange my scattered thoughts the bedroom door opened and my slumber was destroyed as in ran my young daughter Cleo. Cleo leaped onto the bed and proceeded to shove her beloved stuffed rabbit Robere into my face.
            “Daddy, Daddy, Robere and I have been sent in by Mummy to make sure you are ready to go”.
Go, I thought?
            “Daddy, Daddy before we leave, please can we have another of your stories. Can we, can we? Robere was soooo scared by the last one, about the princess and the kidnapping.
            “Daddy’s feeling a little tired sweetie, perhaps we can have a story later.” Before I could question my little Cleo any further my beautiful wife Tiami, walked in and joined father and daughter on the bed.
            “Did you forget again, darling?” Tiami enquired, her eyes fixed on me imploringly. She handed me a red circular pill and a glass of water. “Last one, baby, the very last one.”
“Forget me, no way. I was just going to tell Cleo a story but looks like we’ll have to pick this up again later.” I swallowed the tablet and washed it down with the water. I kissed Cleo and got up out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Looking at my reflection in the mirror two baffled eyes gazed out of a worn face. No scratches, cuts or bruises I thought to myself. I quickly showered and dressed, taking the opportunity to examine my physical state further. Aside from the odd ache and pain I looked and felt normal.

This sense of confusion continued as I sat in the passenger seat, I stared at my wife Tiami in the driving seat next to me, then back at Cleo and Robere riding in the back. I looked out upon the rows of houses as the car made its journey to an unknown destination. My thoughts were of peace yet I still felt troubled by the dream that I had had earlier. The overseer, the quest to return home, the suffering and the struggle in a far distant land, could that really have been a dream?

These disconcerting thoughts continued to plague my mind as the car pulled up outside a pristine white building.
            “This is the last time you have to come here, darling”. Tami whispered in my ear as we stood in reception.
“Yes, yes of course.” I replied gingerly.
            “Cleo and I will wait here for you.” She said as she squeezed my hand. “everything is going to be fine.”
            “What about Robere! What about Robere!” Cried an alarmed Cleo.
            “He can keep me company” I said as I took the little stuffed rabbit, material worn away from its body through the years of love and cuddles it had enjoyed.
            “Yes, you go with Daddy,” Cleo continued, “there’s every chance you’ll get to here that story after all.”

I waved Tami and Cleo off as I, Robere in hand, followed the doctor along the gleaming blank white corridor. We entered an office and I settled on a comfortable chair. The doctor sat opposite, behind a large desk. A name badge held some papers down, the letters D-R. –O-W-E-N –S-E-E-R were embossed in bold type across the badge.
            “How are we feeling then, Valentino?” Asked Dr. Owen Seer, “still having the nightmares?”
I hesitated, I recalled the look Tiami gave me in the car and the warm safe embrace we shared with Cleo on the bed this morning. I understood now that it was important I be well.
            “Getting there Doc, no more aches and pains.” I said jovially.
            “That’s right, the body is an amazing machine Valentino, it can repair and restore itself in a manner altogether more effective than the mind. And it is the mind to which our attention must now turn.” Dr. Seer continued, “have you had a repeat of the bouts of vertigo and the fits of delirium, have you dreamed Valentino?”
I fidgeted in my chair and then looked Dr. Seer in the eyes.
            “I have had a dream, Dr. Seer. Yes, I am still a little confused but I’m getting better.”
            “Yes, yes of course you are Valentino.” Dr. Seer leaned forward over his desk and took hold of my hands in his. “However, you must recognise that with new treatments there are new symptoms or side effects”.
I could feel the grip of Dr. Seer’s hands tightening.
“Side effects?” I asked.
“Of course, of course when the body suffers such an injury as yours, the mind itself will experience a similar trauma. The remedies we administer are cutting edge, the results fantastic but the lasting effects unknown. We need to be clear that you have fully recovered. Mind and body, mind and body.” Dr. Seer chuckled and released my hands …

On the way home, I kept repeating the doctor’s name over in my mind. Owen Seer, Owen Seer? I thought back to my dream about the dessert, the sense of desolate loneliness and the crack of the Overseer’s whip haunting my soul. I had convinced the Doctor I was fine and whatever I felt regarding this whole bizarre experience, I was certain about one thing. I had been on a long and challenging journey, my endurance sorely tested with body and soul turned upside down and inside out. However, with Taimi next to me and my little angel Cleo back in my arms I had survived, I had won. I was where I belonged be it fantasy or reality.

THE END

Mr. Howard (Woolwich Polytechnic).