MC Yearbook FINAL FULL HiRes

A REFLECTION OF LIFE CONT...
road and soon it seeped into my
bag, so I put on my hoodie as I
entered the school gates. There
was something about the rain that
was so refreshing. Like baptism.
Like a renewal of self. Like the
water droplets were all tiny little
hands falling from heaven to undo
Dad's wrongdoing. Bliss.
8:46 am
The bell rang but its urgency
wasn't enough to hurry me to
class. Instead - I stood in the
rain, blanketed in its embrace.
It continued pouring. Unusual.
Being summer and all. Students
passed in droves, some trading
weird looks. Arms outstretched.
Face to the sky. They didn't know
true contentment like I did.
People from school often focused
on appearing alluring to the
opposite sex. Those things weren't
going to get you grades, so I
made it imperative to avoid this.
Focusing on those superficial
things felt like a waste of time,
anyway. Such shallow people. Like
Dad.
EVENING
3:34 pm
Thunder clouds formed. My
sense of security dispersed.
Lucid streaks of light flashed
intermittently as droplets soaked
my whole jumper, startling me.
What weather to walk home in.
5:00 pm
A voice reverberated around the
inner hollowness of my head.
"Help."
5:23 pm
Cars gathered in incoherent lines
were filling the driveway as I
approached home. Odd. Parked
in the epicentre of the crowd was
an ambulance. Its lights flashed
red and white in the rain. For a
moment, it felt like everything else
was completely inaudible. Then
the crying ripped its way through
the side seams of silence. The sad
sirens of mourning. Groups of
uniformed men huddled together
in an effort to conceal the body
bag lying on a stretcher. "Tis a
terrible loss to the community,
this one," said one of them.
Then I saw her, back facing me.
Her posture made her standoffish.
"Mum?"
Her shoulders softened.
"Violet."
She looked up at me; we
exchanged eye contact. I stood
dumbfounded. Not at the fact
that she didn't react the typical
way mothers react in mourning
but because, now, she was
finally human. Initially gloomy
in expression, she let out what
appeared to be half a smile trying
to dig its way through prominent
frown marks.
They didn't know true
contentment like I did.
MARIGOLD
By Katherine Searle
It’s been two years,
thought Marigold as she
settled herself down
against a damp cement
wall under an old bridge.
She unpacked her sleeping
bag, which was almost
completely worn out due to
the circumstances of her living
arrangements. Two years since
I left home... even though it
never felt like a home to me. She
nestled inside of her sleeping
bag and watched as people
walked out of restaurants
laughing and chatting amongst
themselves. At that moment,
she’d never felt more alone. She
felt her eyes well up with tears,
she felt scared and alone. She’d
been by herself since she was ten
years old, and it hurt because it
Julienne Niko - 10DA
felt so normal. Normal to wake
up without being told to by her
mother, to starve for days on
end, and to never talk to her
sisters. She felt the guilt eating
her up inside for leaving them
with their dad. But she couldn’t
handle the pain any longer, so
she walked away from all of it.
She somehow managed on her
own though, occasionally stealing
from people but she didn’t
enjoy doing it regardless of the
outcome. Sometime throughout
the night, she’d eventually fallen
asleep to the sound of the rain
dripping on the concrete.
The sound of cars and people
talking made Marigold open her
eyes with a start. She slowly sat
up and winced as a sharp pain
38 Mangere College - 2016