Collection of Words An Eclectic - Burnaby School District

An Eclectic Collection of WordsSet FreeMarina Ren, Burnaby Central Secondary, Grade 9-10 Prose"Hey," she grinned up at him, "If I could ever be reborn, I think I'd like to be a bird."A lone figure stood stiffly on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Clutching a Polaroid in his hands, he liftedthe camera up to eye/level, tensing to capture a photo-but his finger lingered on the shutter release.With a sigh, the camera dropped from his hands to hang on his neck. He stared straight at the horizon,flinching as a seagull swooped down from the sky to the beach below."Look! It's a bird!" a toddler clapped her hands in delight, "Can I feed it, mommy, can I?"He watched as the beaming girl collected the bread crumbs her mother handed to her. As she made totoss the bread crumbs however, the seagull unfurled its wings and took off to the sky once more. Thecrumbs wafted away with the wind, resembling the scattering of ashes."It's just that, a bird seems so free, you know? Soaring through the bluest of skies- I would like that."He closed his eyes, collapsing backwards into the sand. Silence reigned on top of the cliff, contrastingwith the laughter and chatter down below. He listened."I have to go for some tests. The doctors say it's probably not anything serious though; some of mystats are just a little irregular. They're just being cautious."The sound of waves crashing against the shore was disrupted by a high pitched shriek, "No, my icecream!"A response followed the outburst, "Let me have some!""No way, I'm sick!"The boy's tone turned concerned, "Hey, take care of yourself, okay?"The girl laughed, "Don't be so serious. It's just a summer cold.""Well, it's getting dark anyway. Should we head back then?"She shook her head, pouting, "I don't want to go back yet. Look! The sky's so clear today, and thebreeze feels so nice up on the hospital roof"Obstinately, she stayed, watching him defiantly as he made to leave. The next day, he found herconfined again in her room, bed-ridden with a high fever. She was staring at the closed blinds of thewindow wistfully."The sky," she breathed out with difficulty, "I want to see the sky ... ! I feel so trapped in here, in thisICU facility."And so, he had brought a pile of the photos he'd taken of the sky to her.He takes a photo now, catching a bird in the shot. Features twisting, he watched as the photodeveloped into one of the sky. He looked at it, he scorned it. She had her sky now. No, she was thesky now.And this photo was just a cheap imitation of the sky she loved.He let the photo go, watching as it fluttered away from him, carried by the wind. Then, promptly, heturned on his heel and walked away."Ironic, isn't it?" she smiled bitterly, "I'm like a caged bird with clipped wings; I can't fly in the skyanymore.""You're free now."WORDS Writing Project 2008/09 42