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UNTOLD<br />

& <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

by Year 11 students<br />

from Malone Integrated College, Belfast<br />

Fighting Words NI<br />

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A Fighting Words Northern Ireland publication<br />

<strong>Untold</strong> and <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong> May 2022<br />

© individual contributors, 2022<br />

Fighting Words Northern Ireland<br />

The Skainos Centre<br />

239-241 Newtownards Road<br />

Belfast BT4 1AF<br />

www.fightingwords.co.uk<br />

Edited by: Marnie Kennedy<br />

Interior and cover design: UsFolk Ltd.<br />

Fighting Words Northern Ireland gratefully acknowledges the support of<br />

the Heritage Fund and the funding provided by the Northern Ireland Office.<br />

<strong>Untold</strong> and <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong> © 2022 by Fighting Words NI<br />

is licensed under CC BY 4.0<br />

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A Fighting Words NI anthology<br />

by Year 11 students<br />

from Malone Integrated College, Belfast


FOREWORD<br />

<strong>Untold</strong> and <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong> is the product of fourteen writing workshops between<br />

October 2021 and March 2022, during which Year 11 writers from Malone<br />

Integrated College, Belfast travelled through time, back into the lives of people<br />

living in Northern Ireland in 1921.<br />

The animated conversations during the workshops led to insights about the past,<br />

how we live today and what our future might look like. Supported by Fighting<br />

Words NI mentors, these perceptive, creative young people produced thoughtful<br />

and imaginative writing, both fictional and personal.<br />

This is a selection of their work.<br />

The project’s explorations of the experiences of ordinary people in 1921 were<br />

challenged and constrained by the Covid-19 pandemic, the impact of which we<br />

continue to live with. However, discussion was also stimulated during this time by<br />

the creative ways pupils, staff and mentors found to collaborate. Conversations<br />

also touched on the pandemic’s consequences for society and the isolation and<br />

fears that many experienced. The writing often reflects these concerns.<br />

By responding to research and resources looking at social history, culture,<br />

employment and emigration, these young authors have marked the Centenary of<br />

Northern Ireland in 2021 in a thoughtful, inclusive and engaging way.<br />

We applaud these students for taking part in the project with openness<br />

and enthusiasm and for bringing their own experiences and ideas into the<br />

conversations. They have produced an anthology that everyone involved will be<br />

proud of and will want to share with others.<br />

The Shared History Fund, delivered by the Heritage Fund on behalf of the Northern<br />

Ireland Office, has supported Fighting Words NI in their goal to transform lives<br />

through creativity. <strong>Untold</strong> and <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong> engaged young people from a<br />

variety of traditions, ethnicities, communities and talents, collaborating to explore<br />

individual understanding of the past one hundred years, as well as to imagine the<br />

future they will be part of creating. Creativity, communication, and expression can<br />

unlock relationships and understanding, enabling young people to grow as active<br />

citizens contributing to a stronger society here in NI.<br />

Dr Paul Mullan<br />

NI Director at the Heritage Fund


CONTENTS<br />

Foreword<br />

A Monday morning 09<br />

Scalded: Haiku poetry 15<br />

The Time Machines 21<br />

‘It’s Like a Sculpture’ 27<br />

Football facts & fiction 31<br />

Leaving: the Pinkertons and the Bennetts 37<br />

Fashion, music and a hundred years of home haircuts 41<br />

100 years from now: Belfast, better or worse? 43<br />

Further travels 47<br />

About the class 58<br />

About the authors 63<br />

About the mentors, researchers, and artists 67<br />

Acknowledgements 69<br />

7


8


A<br />

MONDAY<br />

MORNING<br />

9


A Monday Morning<br />

In 1921 only one in every sixty Northern Irish teenagers<br />

would have attended secondary school. Thousands never<br />

went to school at all. The campaign for education to the<br />

age of fourteen wasn’t successful until 1926 in the<br />

Republic of Ireland and 1933 in the UK.<br />

cutting turf<br />

bicycle factory<br />

market stalls<br />

linen mill<br />

carpet weavers<br />

blacksmiths<br />

kitchen work<br />

messenger washing<br />

childcare<br />

farm work<br />

deliveries<br />

begging<br />

cleaning<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

“A person your age, 100 years ago, what<br />

were they doing on a Monday morning?”<br />

So I was Lyah<br />

A Time Traveller (S.A.)<br />

I suddenly found myself in a big house – a house that was big enough for ten<br />

families. I wasn’t sure how I ended up there.<br />

I was wearing a white dress and my hair was up in a ponytail. The dress was a<br />

little dirty, I wasn’t sure why.<br />

Suddenly, I heard a voice calling for “Lyah.” I was just standing there when an<br />

old lady came up to me and said, “Lyah, I’ve been calling for you. Why haven’t<br />

you answered?”<br />

I stood there staring at her. She said, “Lyah, are you okay?”<br />

I just answered “yes” without thinking.<br />

Then, suddenly, she said, “Well can you go and wash the dishes and after that<br />

clean the table and then wash my clothes right after?”<br />

I answered, “Yes, Madam,” but I was still confused. I figured out that I had<br />

suddenly ended up as a maid, working for rich people?!<br />

So I was Lyah, working for rich people in a big house. I didn’t know how to<br />

feel about this, but I was pretty sure that a girl who worked here would have to<br />

work hard to get some money.<br />

I felt bad for her.<br />

11


A Monday Morning<br />

One Hundred Bicycles<br />

Ahmed Abdulla<br />

I suddenly found myself working in a bike store. We had to build the bikes. We<br />

got all the parts for some of the bikes but sometimes we had to make the parts<br />

by ourselves, which was very hard. You could easily get injured. We had to<br />

make at least one hundred bikes a day and that was hard because there were<br />

only four of us working.<br />

Make Them Shinier<br />

Pearse Rainey<br />

I suddenly found myself on the floor cleaning someone’s shoes.<br />

I looked around me and I didn’t see no cars or nothing, it was all horses and the<br />

man whose shoes I was cleaning said, “Make them shinier, young boy.”<br />

Their talk was so weird, I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.<br />

There is not one nice horse, they are all scruffy and disgusting.<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

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14 Illustrations: Sinead Farry


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

SCALDED:<br />

HAIKU<br />

POETRY<br />

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Scalded: Haiku poetry<br />

The class spent time with images from the laundry<br />

of a wealthy household and discussed the working<br />

conditions for the laundry maids. Laundry work<br />

was notoriously hard and dangerous, due to the<br />

hot water, irons and abrasive cleaning chemicals.<br />

Haiku poetry<br />

Mangle<br />

The dirty clothes<br />

But watch out for danger<br />

- Pearse Rainey<br />

I squeezed<br />

My steamy sheets<br />

To get the water out<br />

- Madison Rowan<br />

There will be chatter<br />

Dirty and dangerous<br />

- Mustafa Ahmed<br />

16<br />

Illustration: Rebecca Samuel


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

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Illustration: Sinead Farry<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

THE<br />

TIME<br />

MACHINES<br />

21


The Time Machines<br />

Forgetful Blues<br />

A Gramophone Time Machine Story<br />

Robbie Crawford, Logan Kirk and a Time Traveller (K.M.)<br />

22<br />

Matthew had moved into a new house. He had black hair, brown eyes and wore a<br />

Nike tracksuit and a white t-shirt. His dream was to be rich and have fancy cars.<br />

Robert knocked the door. “Pleased to meet you, I’m your new neighbour.”<br />

Robert was tall and had brown hair, frog-green eyes and wore a blue tracksuit. He<br />

was from Liverpool. He was afraid of big spiders, but he didn’t know why.<br />

“Hello,” said Matthew, “I just moved in here. I’m renovating the place right now.”<br />

“Do you need any help? asked Robert.<br />

Matthew replied, “Yes. Let’s start at the attic and we’ll work our way down.”<br />

“That’s a good idea. Let’s go up and start,” said Robert.<br />

“What’s that?” asked Matthew.<br />

“It looks like a box,” said Robert.<br />

Matthew said, “Do you want to open it?”<br />

Robert replied, “It looks like a record player. But there’s no cord.”<br />

Matthew said, “There’s a handle on it.”<br />

The record on the player was from the 1930s. It was by Paramount and was called<br />

Forgetful Blues. Matthew started twisting the handle.<br />

It happened in a blink of an eye: they teleported to the date of the record and the<br />

place where the band recorded it.<br />

Terry wore a black suit with a top hat and tie. He had a curly moustache. He was<br />

wealthy and lived in New York but came from outside the city. He was afraid of<br />

snakes because when he was younger a snake almost bit him on the arm. He<br />

played the violin.<br />

Terry said, “Where did YOU come from?!”<br />

Matthew said, “I don’t know! I just played the record player. What year is it?”<br />

Terry said, “It’s 1930.”<br />

They saw buildings, a barber shop and a big bulky old-style car. The sound of the<br />

car was quieter but clunky.<br />

They had to twist the record backwards to get back to the present day.<br />

Terry ran outside and got some of his friends but by the time he got back Matthew<br />

and Robert were gone. They were exploring New York. They looked completely<br />

different to everyone else. They were wearing tracksuits and everyone else was<br />

wearing suits.<br />

Terry and his friends ran out and tried to find them. They couldn’t find them, so they<br />

gave up.<br />

Standing on a street corner, they got hit by a car driven really fast by a drunk<br />

driver. Matthew and Robert, hiding in a nearby alleyway, saw Terry and his<br />

friends being hit by the car. They ran over and shoved the driver out of the car. The


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

driver raced off, not knowing what he had done. Matthew and Robert looked<br />

in the car and found two suits and money. They found some valuable pocket<br />

watches to sell. They brought them to a pawn shop and got $100 for one of the<br />

watches, to buy food and other things.<br />

Matthew and Robert bought a record from 1910, they went back to the present<br />

then returned to 1910. The record this time was Sunflower Dance by Terry Kirk<br />

and the Banjo Kings. They went to Switzerland and saw green fields and snowy<br />

mountains. It was midday. They heard music. It is Terry and his band playing.<br />

Red Silk<br />

A Sewing/Time Machine Story<br />

Harlie Brown and Pearse Rainey<br />

The sewing machine that time travels into the future.<br />

How does it work?<br />

You spin the wheel, you sew a date or a place into a big red silk sheet and it<br />

takes you there. You can only do it in secret, in an underground cabin…<br />

“Come on! We’ll go and find out!”<br />

Harley and Pearse ran quickly to the cabin. They were petrified but excited to<br />

see where the machine would take them. The cabin was dark so they couldn’t<br />

see around them. They wobbled on a cracked brick that smelled of damp and<br />

dust. Finally they found a light switch and the cabin lit up, flame red. The walls<br />

were covered in red silk. When Harley and Pearse got closer they noticed<br />

different dates sewn into the wall.<br />

They tried it to see where it would take them and they ended up in the 1980s!<br />

23


The Time Machines<br />

Snapshots from a Time<br />

Travelling Camera<br />

The Grandfather Camera<br />

Ahmed Abdulla<br />

One hundred and fifty years ago a boy called Corey was really into cameras and<br />

everything to do with photos.<br />

So one day Corey was walking to his grandfather’s house through a place full of<br />

trees and plants. He saw a brown leather thing laying on a tree. He walked over<br />

and took it and put it in his pocket because it was cold.<br />

When he got in his grandfather’s house he went upstairs to his room. He looked at<br />

the leather thing, then opened it. When he found out it was a camera, he was so<br />

happy. He tried to take a photo - and teleported to a different world!<br />

There was only one person there, a girl. She was two years older than Corey.<br />

Her name was Marta…<br />

1940 Dream<br />

Mustafa Ahmed<br />

Hi, my name is Lennie. I’m a 16 year old. Once I was sleeping and I had a dream that<br />

I was back in 1940. The dream was about this weird object. The colour of it was black<br />

and there were buttons on it. I didn’t know what it was or the name of it.<br />

Every time I pressed the button it made a noise and flashed and everything around me<br />

stopped moving, animals and humans and every object around as well. With the other<br />

button I was controlling all of these things. I found out that I could teleport to any place<br />

of the world by just clicking one button. That was crazy.<br />

The place I chose to go to was France and I met this guy called Ali and he was from the<br />

future. He could only speak French and that was kind of awkward because the only<br />

word I knew how to say was ‘bonjour’ which is ‘hi’ in French. And that’s how I met my<br />

BF, Ali.<br />

We both got stuck inside that camera for a few hours because we teleported at the<br />

same time. That was mad because I found the camera in the attic of my mum’s house<br />

and he found it in an old car that parked up his street.<br />

Back then he was 17 years old. I was 15 or 16. A couple of years went past and people<br />

started making tvs and phones and cameras that I knew what it was called. And this<br />

was one of the most real dreams that I had as a dream and experience it in real life.<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

After all that happened, me and Ali became best friends. We went to France<br />

together and we agreed to stay there and have a family. We never thought of<br />

teleporting back. It’s just us together in France by ourselves, with no one around.<br />

That’s how we had our lives. It was the best life ever.<br />

Where Do You Want To Go?<br />

Chanel Faloon<br />

Once upon a time there was a camera.<br />

I was in my room and there were four brown boxes. I went into them all and in the last<br />

box was a black camera. I went to take a photo to see if it still worked. I pressed the<br />

button and it said, “Where do you want to go?”<br />

So I laughed and just for joke, I said, “Spain!”<br />

And all you seen was a bright light and it sucked me into the camera and I ended up<br />

somewhere. I was scared, didn’t know anyone, looking round for help. Every person I<br />

told had a different language and I didn’t understand them.<br />

I walked alone, sad, wanting to go home, crying, until someone came up to me and<br />

goes, “Hello, you ok?”<br />

I said “No, I don’t know where I am. I used this black camera to take a photo and I<br />

ended up here”.<br />

“It’s ok, it happened to me too, and I’m still stuck here. My great, great granny gave me<br />

the camera to help me. Do you know where the camera is?”<br />

I go, “No…”<br />

“Only you need that to get back home!”<br />

I started to panic, crying tears, dripping down from my face…<br />

No Phones<br />

A Time Traveller (C.W.)<br />

Once there was a girl called Ruby and a boy called Mícheál. They were messing<br />

about with their mum’s camera. They pressed a button on the top of the camera and<br />

were in L.A. in the 1940s. They were weirded out because there were no phones.<br />

Ruby and Mícheál were asking everyone, “Where are your phones?”<br />

They replied they were in 1941!<br />

They were needing to ring their mum, but no one had a phone, so they were there<br />

for a long time…<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

IT’S LIKE A<br />

SCULPTURE!<br />

27


It’s like a sculpture!<br />

This prosthetic arm was designed and built<br />

in the 1920s in Belfast by surgeon Thomas<br />

Kirk and engineer Alexander Pringle to help<br />

people injured in the WWI.<br />

P & K Artificial Limb Company also made<br />

prostheses in the North of England for<br />

agricultural workers.<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

Like Candy, the character from<br />

Of Mice and Men, who is missing a hand.<br />

People still need<br />

prosthetic arms today<br />

Made of rubber,<br />

leather and metal, and<br />

something electrical?<br />

Injured soldiers<br />

Fingers have grips and springs<br />

Like the robotic arm at the<br />

opening of Back to the Future<br />

Like a sculpture<br />

Farm workers<br />

hurt by machinery<br />

Metal hinge at the elbow<br />

Like the<br />

Marvel character,<br />

Iron Man<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

FOOTBALL<br />

FACTS &<br />

FICTION<br />

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Football facts & fiction<br />

These stories, both collectively and individually written, were<br />

inspired by the Pathé Film of the Irish Ladies Eleven vs Fleetwood<br />

Ladies Team, ‘Football is a Girls’ Game’. The match was filmed in<br />

north Belfast in June 1921 in front of 1,700 fans at Cliftonville’s<br />

Solitude ground. The Irish Ladies Eleven won 3-1.<br />

www.britishpathe.com/video/girls-play-soccer-1920<br />

The same year the English Football Association (FA) banned<br />

women’s games from taking place on pitches owned by FA clubs.<br />

Though the ban was not replicated in Northern Ireland, there were<br />

fewer games played in the rest of the decade. It was not until 2008<br />

(87 years later), that the FA issued an apology for banning women<br />

from the game of football.<br />

AS SOON AS HE BOOT THE BALL<br />

IT TURNED INTO A BIG PORTAL<br />

TO ANOTHER DIMENSION...<br />

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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

The 2021 Dimension<br />

Chapter 1<br />

Mark’s father was a farmer and he grew potatoes. One Wednesday Mark was out<br />

for a walk in the cornfield. His daddy always told him not to go there. There were<br />

things in the field that his father didn’t want him to go near.<br />

The cornfield was quite a walk away from where Mark lived. As he was walking<br />

through the field he tripped over something. He fell and he looked back and saw<br />

it was a football, so he lifted it to bring it with him. He ran home with it and went to<br />

sleep because it was late.<br />

The next morning he woke up to go out and play with it. As soon as he boot the<br />

ball it turned into a big portal to another dimension...<br />

THE BALL FELL TO PIECES<br />

Chapter 2<br />

Ahmed Abdulla<br />

When Mark kicked the ball, the ball fell to pieces. It was a big ball. There were a<br />

lot of small stuff on it like gold and silver and different stuff that are expensive back<br />

at the time. When that happened, Mark was so scared. He tried to get everything<br />

together, but he couldn’t. He was panicking and he didn’t want to leave the ball, so<br />

he took everything and brought it with him…<br />

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Football facts & fiction<br />

IN A WINK OF AN EYE<br />

Chapter 2<br />

Madison Rowan<br />

Mark jumped back out of fear. He didn’t know what was just done. He was<br />

debating if he should go in or not, but he ended up taking a step into the portal.<br />

He looked around himself but then he just went on inside.<br />

In a wink of an eye, he went to a part of America while it was in war…<br />

NO MASK, NO ENTRY<br />

Chapter 2<br />

Pearse Rainey<br />

Mark was surprised when he saw the portal. He was so confused but happy<br />

because he just found the 2021 dimension everyone was talking about. He walked<br />

into the portal to see that every person he saw was wearing a mask. He said it was<br />

like hell and he wanted to talk to everyone, but no one would talk. Everyone was<br />

separated and not communicating.<br />

Mark walked into a shop to buy something. As he walked in, there were signs<br />

everywhere, “No Mask, No Entry.”<br />

34


COVID-19 HAD TAKEN OVER<br />

THE UNIVERSE<br />

Chapter 2<br />

Pearse Rainey<br />

Mark had no idea what was going on, so he finally got to talk to someone. Mark<br />

said, “What is going on?” and the woman said Covid-19 had taken over the<br />

universe.<br />

Mark was stuck in the portal. It was magic and the magic was so powerful it sucked<br />

him into another dimension. Mark thought that he was in a dream, but he was<br />

actually in a sleep paralysis.<br />

AS SOON AS HE TOLD ME I FELT<br />

LIKE MY HEART DROPPED<br />

Chapter 2<br />

Yassmin Alrashaydah and A Time Traveller (S.A.)<br />

I didn’t know what was happening. I saw a bright light, then somehow ended up<br />

in America. Everything looked different from where I lived; it’s almost like I had<br />

travelled to the future.<br />

I saw a big poster on a building that said, “A big new opening in 2121.” I was a<br />

little confused because 2121 is in, like, one hundred years. I asked someone what<br />

year it was, and as soon as he told me I felt like my heart dropped: I had travelled<br />

over a hundred years in under ten seconds.<br />

35


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<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

LEAVING:<br />

THE BENNETTS<br />

AND THE<br />

PINKERTONS<br />

Images from The Arrival by Shaun Tan © Shaun Tan<br />

37


Leaving: The Bennetts and the Pinkertons<br />

A. R. Hogg, Courtesy of National Museums NI<br />

38


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

“Give a name to one of the family<br />

members and write about waking up on<br />

the morning that the photo was taken.”<br />

Leo<br />

Ahmed Abdulla<br />

Leo is nine years old. He has two younger brothers and one older brother. They are<br />

travelling to America to work to have a better life. But the children are confused<br />

because they haven’t travelled before and they haven’t been on a ferry before.<br />

They are really excited to get on a boat.<br />

The Pinkerton Family<br />

Harlie Brown<br />

In 1930, the Pinkerton family left Belfast for a new job and to feel better.<br />

John was a horse trainer. He had to travel to Belfast from the countryside. He was<br />

offered a job in England.<br />

The Eldest Brother<br />

Mustafa Ahmed<br />

Mark was the third oldest child of the Bennett family, and he was the oldest boy in the<br />

family. He was always helping his parents by taking care of his younger brothers. At<br />

the age of 12 he was happy and confident, not like the rest of the family. They look a<br />

bit sad and worried.<br />

Imagine you are the oldest boy in the family, and you have to take care of your<br />

three younger brothers with different attitudes, especially when there were no jobs in<br />

Ireland and your father got a job in America.<br />

Things are going to be different – like you leaving the rest of your friends and family<br />

and you have to get more comfortable with the clothes you’re wearing. They are very<br />

bad, not comfortable at all. The clothing you are wearing is a bit itchy and all.<br />

At the same time I feel a bit bad and sad for Mark because the whole family of nine<br />

are all together and they are travelling at the same time and he is taking care of them<br />

and looking after them so no one gets lost and worried.<br />

Mark was very excited about hearing his dad got a job, but he feels a bit cheated<br />

about taking care of all three brothers at the same time. He thinks that at least one of<br />

his sisters should help him with the job that his parents gave him.<br />

39


Leaving: The Bennetts and the Pinkertons<br />

America<br />

A Time Traveller (N.L.)<br />

The Pinkerton family lived in the Belfast Docks area and they moved to America<br />

because their life in Belfast was very difficult. The mother’s name was Anna and the<br />

father’s name was Joseph. They had four children called Christian, Georgia, Lily<br />

and Julian.<br />

In America their life was still difficult because it was not their home country and it<br />

was hard for their children to become accustomed to the country and new people.<br />

America was not better for them as foreigners. Though difficult, life in Belfast was<br />

better because it was their own country.<br />

In America the father found a job that paid him little. The children went to school<br />

while the mother stayed at home, cooking and doing housework. At 12 o’clock she<br />

would go to pick up her children from school.<br />

Their life was very difficult because the money their father brought home was not<br />

enough. For this family, I think it would have been better to go back to their old life<br />

in Belfast despite the difficulties, as it was their country.<br />

Michael and Maya<br />

Yassmin Alrashaydah<br />

This family does not have a home, food, money or work so they decide to move<br />

from Belfast to America. The name of the father is Michael. The name of the mother,<br />

Maya. The names of the boys are George, Lennie and Daniel. The name of the<br />

girl is Abbey. The parents feel afraid but in front of their children they feel that<br />

everything is fine.<br />

Michael found a new job in the restaurant. He works as a waiter. He is happy in his<br />

job. George and Lennie work in the delivery of mail and their mother looks after<br />

her children, Abbey and Daniel.<br />

40


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

FASHION,<br />

MUSIC AND<br />

A HUNDRED<br />

YEARS<br />

OF HOME<br />

HAIRCUTS<br />

41


Fashion, music and a hundred years of home haircuts<br />

Students talked about the change in<br />

women’s fashions from 1910 to the 1920s<br />

and how that related to world events.<br />

World War I had reshaped the world, Ireland became independent and Northern<br />

Ireland was formed. Women had demanded and won the right to vote. The 1920s<br />

saw the birth of the dance hall, giving young people new opportunities to meet<br />

and socialise on a regular basis.<br />

If you wanted to follow the fashions of the famous and wealthy, you might think<br />

about cutting your own hair. In 1921 they didn’t have YouTube videos to help.<br />

Instead ‘Modern Woman’ magazine published a tutorial on how to use ‘shingle<br />

clippers’ to achieve the latest hair style.<br />

Modern Woman, November 1925<br />

www.lse.ac.uk/library/whats-on/exhibitions/making-modern-women/<br />

fashioning-women<br />

What could go wrong?!<br />

Lockdown Hair <strong>Stories</strong><br />

Ahmed Abdulla<br />

One time in lockdown, I gave my brother a haircut and he really liked it. He didn’t<br />

want me to at first. He wanted my mom to cut it, but my mom gave up and I took<br />

over and cut his hair. I used scissors and a trimmer.<br />

Mustafa Ahmed<br />

How did my lockdown go?<br />

It was a bit awful because we didn’t get that many chances. You had to stay<br />

at your own house and you were not allowed to go out of your house and get<br />

a haircut. My dad realised that my hair had got a bit long, so he offered me a<br />

haircut. He said if he messed up my haircut, he would let me stay off school and<br />

give me £50 but it turned out good.<br />

I had a bad day because I lost the money!<br />

42


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

100 YEARS<br />

FROM NOW:<br />

BELFAST<br />

43


100 years from now: Belfast<br />

“What do you think it will be like living in<br />

Belfast in 2122? Will life be better or worse?”<br />

This workshop, like many during the project, had to take place on Zoom.<br />

Here’s a selection of the issues that students and Fighting Words mentors<br />

discussed:<br />

44<br />

• Artificial intelligence.<br />

• We need human connection.<br />

• It will get worse with climate change, Belfast under water.<br />

• Technology will be more intelligent, more cyberpunk.<br />

• Holograms, projections like in Star Wars.<br />

• Use of technology to make future better, e.g. White particles to reflect sun<br />

in Arctic.<br />

• Housing? Will children go to school, or will teaching be online?<br />

• Robots in houses to do cooking and cleaning, so no housework or chores.<br />

• No school but school needed for next generation.<br />

• Population bigger so more houses.<br />

• Make house waterproof. Build houses with metal. Floating houses, floating cars.<br />

• With no petrol or diesel how will we get power?<br />

• Turbines under water to generate electricity.<br />

• Energy from the sun. Heat from Venus.<br />

• How will we share entertainment?<br />

• Will we still have phones?<br />

• Could technology transport us somewhere? What about teleportation?<br />

• Will we have surgery to give us technology? Chips in our arms to pay for things?<br />

• Will artificial intelligence be incorporated into people?<br />

• Government could listen to our conversations, manipulate our thoughts.<br />

• Technology could be dangerous.<br />

• Humans need to choose technology to use.


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

Jack-Sea and the<br />

Portal to the Future<br />

Illustration: Sinead Farry<br />

Max is a 17-year-old young person who likes to play football. His favourite band is<br />

Queen and he also likes Ed Sheeran. He plays both guitar and piano and writes music.<br />

Max finds a guide about time travel and meets somebody100 years from now. Who?<br />

Max came home after school, hungry, and was looking for crisps in the back of the<br />

cupboard. He found a wobbly shelf. Behind it there was hidden an iPad. Max’s sister<br />

came into the kitchen, so he quickly hid it in his school bag.<br />

Max bolted to his bedroom. He noticed that the iPad had a full battery and there was<br />

no password attached. He opened the iPad and it began to vibrate aggressively. The<br />

iPad flashed up a word in capitals:<br />

“JACK-SEA”<br />

Max said the word out loud and that started to activate a portal. The portal sucked<br />

him in.<br />

Max suddenly ended up underwater. He found himself in a bedroom with a humanlike<br />

creature swimming through the door. Max opened his mouth to say, “Where am<br />

I? Who are you?” but he didn’t recognise his own voice because he sounded different<br />

underwater. He felt weird and was surprised.<br />

Jack-Sea was a human who was able to breathe under water and much taller because<br />

in the future, nutrition is better. His clothes could transform from swimsuits to land attire.<br />

Jack-Sea moved his hand across himself and Max mirrored the movement. The<br />

movement created a wave…<br />

45


100 years from now: Belfast<br />

Chapter 2<br />

A Time Traveller (C.W.)<br />

Jack-Sea moved his hand across himself and mirrored the movement to create a<br />

huge, big wave along which swept them away to an unknown place that had trees<br />

and beaches everywhere.<br />

All of a sudden they were back in the portal and they end up in lava and water.<br />

Then, him and Max became good friends and they went home after they spent all<br />

day in a portal. They were really tired but they got each other’s numbers so they<br />

texted every day and became really close and they Face-timed every day too.<br />

They ended up going back to the portal world for one last adventure and they<br />

enjoyed every second of it.<br />

46


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

FURTHER<br />

TRAVELS<br />

47


Further travels<br />

“ARE YOU OK?”<br />

Prague<br />

A Time Traveller (O.P.)<br />

Dear Diary,<br />

I went to the Czech Republic... but Czech Republic, 1966.<br />

I appeared in Prague. I walked around and met someone called Chloe.<br />

She said she was a time traveller too.<br />

I asked, “Where are you from?”<br />

Chloe responded in a joyful voice, “I’m from France. Why, where are you<br />

from?”<br />

She looked happy but sad. “Hello, are you ok?” she asked.<br />

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m from England, the year 2022.”<br />

We walked for a bit. We stopped at a train station. She looked more sad<br />

than before.<br />

I asked, “Are you ok?”<br />

Chloe responded, “No…”<br />

48


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

David’s Time Travel<br />

- an American Prince of 2022<br />

A Time Traveller (N.L.)<br />

David was studying at the most famous university in America. On his birthday<br />

his father gave him a watch that could time travel. David touched the watch and<br />

accidentally passed into a portal and found himself in 1995.<br />

Stuck in that year, David was very confused and asked the people where he<br />

was, and what year it was, because the buildings, the machines, the way people<br />

dressed, were all different.<br />

He was very confused. He slept for two days without eating and then luckily, he<br />

found a nice person who helped him find a place to stay. Her name was Jessica,<br />

and she asked David what the problem was. He told her everything that happened,<br />

and she understood. They went to Jessica’s house together and Jessica told her<br />

family about David’s situation. They thought for a while, then accepted him to stay<br />

for a month with them.<br />

After a few days David got used to the city, the food, the way they lived in 1995.<br />

He made friends with everyone, but he was close mostly with Jessica. One day<br />

David thought about sending a letter to his family. He asked Jessica if there was<br />

any way he could send the letter to them. Jessica replied that there was no way,<br />

that you cannot send letters through time travel.<br />

David replied that he missed his family and that he wanted to go back but he didn’t<br />

know how. Jessica advised him to try his watch again, maybe that would work and<br />

he told her he would try.<br />

David told Jessica how much fun it was to live with them and that he would never<br />

forget about them. The following day David told his friends and Jessica’s family<br />

that he wanted to return to his home.<br />

All his friends came when David was trying the travel watch and he said goodbye<br />

to them. He tried the time travel watch many times, but it did not work. He touched<br />

it again and then he disappeared.<br />

David was back in 2022. He told his family everything that happened. They were<br />

shocked by this. It was very hard for them to believe it because they did not think it<br />

was possible to travel in time.<br />

CANNOT SEND LETTERS<br />

THROUGH TIME<br />

49


Further travels<br />

WHAT ARE YOU?<br />

‘Blessed-Cursed’<br />

A Time Traveller (C.R.)<br />

50<br />

Ben was really scared. The trembling arms were hugging his own body tightly and<br />

the fear haunted him as never before. He faced the mirror and... God, what was<br />

happening? There were... thorns growing on his shoulders?!<br />

Was it even possible? It seemed like a dream, but all that pain was so real…<br />

He felt like a monster, a freak. Now, how could he go to school? What would his<br />

family say?<br />

Not knowing what to do, he just jumped out the back window of his room, which<br />

gave him free access to the forest.<br />

The little boy ran and ran like a fugitive prey, until his feet start to hurt. He sat<br />

on a tree trunk and began to cry, grabbing the thorns desperately and trying to<br />

tear them off his shoulders. He screamed with his heart full of pain, seeing blood<br />

running down his back and his hands getting covered with it. Then it did not hurt<br />

anymore. He was not feeling anything but sadness at that moment. However he<br />

did not realise that, through the mysterious darkness of the forest, someone was<br />

hiding, observing him with a big pair of bright, wide eyes.<br />

In the following second, Ben felt a cold touch on his arm. It was very careful but<br />

it still scared him. And he looked up, finding curious eyes that immediately made<br />

him drop the thorns. It was a boy. He seemed to be as young as Ben, his red hair<br />

was a pretty mess because of the strong wind.<br />

“Who are you?” Ben asked in a whisper, drying the tears with the back of his<br />

hands, and then staring at the boy. He finally noticed that those big eyes were a<br />

bit different, completely black, except for the pupils that constantly changed their<br />

colours.<br />

This realisation scared Ben, making him slap the unknown boy’s wrist and back<br />

away. The boy quickly shook his hands, as if he said that everything was fine,<br />

approaching again.<br />

“Who are you?!” Ben asked again. “What are you?”<br />

Ben’s body was shaking. It could only be a dream. It was not possible that all<br />

of this was actually happening in such a short period of time. What else could<br />

happen?<br />

“My name is Terry,” the boy finally said and then paused for a moment. “And I<br />

can help you.”<br />

“What...?” Ben confusedly questioned, not expecting the adventures and<br />

challenges this would take him in the future.


<strong>Untold</strong> & <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong><br />

SHE DIDN’T REALLY WANT<br />

ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME<br />

Ju-da<br />

Yassmin Alrashaydah<br />

Hi everyone. My name is Ju-da and I live in Seoul, South Korea. I was only four<br />

years old when I learned that something was very wrong with my mom. Other kids<br />

always hug and kiss their parents.<br />

“Why can’t we do that, Mommy?”<br />

“Ugh, don’t call me that.”<br />

She turned to walk away, and I had to take my shot. I ran to her and grabbed her<br />

in a tight hug.<br />

“Just go like this, mommy. It’s easy.”<br />

She literally ran away from me.<br />

“Don’t touch me, I’m wearing Chanel.”<br />

She didn’t really want anything to do with me. She used maids, butlers and<br />

money to keep me away from her. At first, I thought something was wrong with me,<br />

but my cousin Heidi totally disagreed.<br />

“Ju-da, you’re my best friend in the whole world because you are so perfect.”<br />

I was so jealous. Heidi’s parents were amazing, even though they were really poor<br />

and lived as far away as America. They tried to visit every other year. They videocalled<br />

me all the time. I loved them.<br />

One day, Heidi called me with some amazing news, “My dad’s company just blew<br />

up overnight. We’re finally going to be rich. Ju-da, say it’s amazing! What’s more<br />

amazing is that I can afford tickets to see you. Ask that witch if I can stay over.”<br />

I went out to talk to Mom, but she was sitting there with some strange men.<br />

Then Mom said, “Ju-da, here you are. Come meet the boy I want you to date.”<br />

I said, “He what?”<br />

Mom said, “He owns diamond mines.”<br />

Diamonds.<br />

“You can date him now and get married after college.”<br />

I said, “No way! Have you gone insane?”<br />

Mom said, “Don’t you dare insult me in front of everyone!”<br />

I replied, “Don’t you dare try to ruin my life. Heidi is right. You’re a witch.”<br />

Cont. ><br />

51


Further travels<br />

Her guests laughed and she turned red. She said, “You ungrateful little… Go<br />

to your room!”<br />

I did go to my room. I also called up Heidi and made my first and best evil<br />

plan.<br />

I told Heidi, “I can’t take it anymore. I’m running away from home. Now that<br />

your parents are rich, can I live with you?”<br />

Heidi answered, “If they say no, I’ll hide you in my room. Get over here!”<br />

Thankfully, aunt and uncle loved the idea and welcomed me there with open<br />

arms. They didn’t even tell my mom and I could escape without any drama. I<br />

finally got away from my crazy mother and, the best part? I was going to live<br />

with my best friend, Heidi. I literally jumped and screamed with excitement the<br />

entire first night.<br />

COULD HEAR THE LEAVES<br />

DROPPING OFF THE TREES.<br />

The Monster<br />

Harlie Brown<br />

I was walking through Musgrave Park and it was dark, scary and creepy. I could<br />

hear the leaves dropping off the trees.<br />

I looked up and there was a big monster at the top of the tree. It was brown with<br />

hair and as big as a bus. It jumped down at me. I ran and it came after me. It was<br />

jumping and breathing heavily.<br />

I went to the park entrance, and it was shut so I had to jump over the park gate…<br />

52


Jordan<br />

Yassmin Alrashaydah<br />

Hello, I’m Yassmin.<br />

I want to talk to you about the past. I was in Jordan and I left Jordan. I was ten years<br />

old. My mother and father were talking about their past. They did not have phones or<br />

anything to communicate with. These people did not have hospitals to go to. If they<br />

got sick, they made their own medicines. Along with herbs for medicines, they also did<br />

not have modern schools. They studied at home, gathering children together in one<br />

house. There was nothing from the modern era in the past.<br />

We are now in a very smart era because there is everything a person needs, such as<br />

phones, schools, hospitals, markets.<br />

HE TRIED TO ESCAPE BUT<br />

WASN’T STRONG ENOUGH.<br />

Time Travelling Footballer<br />

Robbie Crawford<br />

John is a footballer in 2022 and plays for Liverpool.<br />

He gets teleported instantly to the year 1951.<br />

John fell as the portal scared him. He got back up and looked around for a while.<br />

Eventually, he put his arm inside the portal and it started to pull him in. He tried to<br />

escape but wasn’t strong enough. He ended up in the dressing room of Anfield.<br />

He was still playing for Liverpool!<br />

It was ten minutes before a game started against Man United. He started on the bench<br />

and Liverpool went one-nil down. In the 50th minute he was subbed on and did skills<br />

no one had ever seen before. He was able to get past the Man United players easily<br />

because they didn’t know how to defend against the skills. He scored, and the match<br />

ended a draw.<br />

John was the talk of the whole town. He went to training the next day and all his<br />

teammates came up to him and asked how he knew those skills. He had to learn the<br />

skills again because he had these boots on which were a lot lighter than his teammates’<br />

boots and the balls were heavier. John’s teammates asked him to teach them.<br />

53


Further travels<br />

INTO THE<br />

UNDISCOVERED FOREST<br />

Illustration: Attila Szabó<br />

54


Michael is a famous horror author. The whole family is leaving Belfast to go to<br />

the US for more opportunities for his writing. Their German Shepherd, Leahcim, is<br />

travelling to America with them.<br />

Michael worries about leaving his older relatives because he’s their only family.<br />

He plans to go to a forest to research a setting for his next horror novel.<br />

‘Dad, I don’t want to go,’ said Michael’s oldest son, Jared, sadly. They were at the<br />

airport about to get on the plane. Michael felt confused, because he thought his<br />

son wanted to go to America.<br />

‘I know you’re feeling scared, but it’s going to be okay,’ Michael said. ‘Remember<br />

we are planning to go hiking in the forest, and Leahcim will enjoy hunting small<br />

animals. We’ll be staying in a really cool cabin in the middle of nowhere while I<br />

do research. It’ll take a week to get there on foot.’<br />

‘Great. I’ve been practising building my tent and my first aid skills,’ Jared said…<br />

55


Further travels<br />

Into the Undiscovered Forest,<br />

chapter 2<br />

A Time Traveller (N.L.)<br />

Jared asked his father if he could go to the forest with him, but he said that he<br />

couldn’t go because it was dangerous. Jared did everything to convince his father<br />

to go with him and in the end, he accepted it.<br />

The next day Jared and his father set off, early in the morning. They took<br />

everything they needed, and they brought food for lunch because they would stay<br />

there all day. Jared was thinking about how to help his father, to give him some<br />

ideas, even if he didn’t know much.<br />

They walked all day and didn’t realise that it had become dark. The dog was<br />

barking, scared because it was dark. Jared and his father tried to calm him down.<br />

Jared was scared. They opened the light of their phones and they started to put<br />

up the tent, to sleep. Michael tried to call his family to tell them that they would<br />

sleep in the forest but the internet was not working. Jared and his father remained<br />

trapped in the forest. They didn’t sleep.<br />

It became morning. Jared, his father, Michael, and their dog were survivors. They<br />

were tired because they didn’t sleep. Then early in the morning they went home.<br />

Into the Undiscovered Forest,<br />

an alternative<br />

A Time Traveller (R.N.)<br />

56<br />

On a cold winter breeze there was a man and his dog.<br />

The man was holding a briefcase and he wore a leather jacket with brown pants,<br />

with a white suit shirt. The man was a horror book writer, and he was walking down<br />

a long dirt path.<br />

The man looked up to see an old wooden cabin in the distance. He turned to the<br />

dog and kneeled down to scratch his ear and said, “We’re nearly there now,<br />

Roxy.” He got back up and started to walk towards the cabin.<br />

The man looked up to see that the trees had blocked most of the light shining<br />

through. About five minutes later the man walked up to the front door, looking for<br />

the keys in his pocket. He got the keys and opened the door and he let Roxy inside<br />

the cabin. The man put his case down, locked the door and tried to find the fire. He<br />

got logs, coal, and firelighters. He started the fire and sat down at a nearby desk<br />

with a typewriter on it. He put paper in and started to write a new story.<br />

All you could hear was the wind, the branches of the trees that were hitting one of<br />

the windows, and the typing of the man.<br />

The man finished one of the chapters and sat down by the fire.


Into the Undiscovered Forest,<br />

chapter 2<br />

Chanel Faloon, Logan Kirk and a Time Traveller (C.R.)<br />

Michael, his son Jared, and the dog were in the middle of the forest. It was summer<br />

and the trees were growing drastically, over-growing each other so that it got<br />

dark early.<br />

They heard a noise, a big “boom,” and the trees started to shake and fall over. The<br />

ground shook viciously as a plane hit the ground close to them. It broke apart and<br />

left a hole in the ground. Dirt went all over the place and it was really mucky.<br />

Michael, Jared and the dog ran over to the plane to see if there was anyone<br />

injured. Jared saw that there was a girl injured, around 18 years old.<br />

“Are you OK?” Jay shouted, scared.<br />

“Help!” the girl shouted, holding her hand up out of a broken window.<br />

Jared asked her name. “It’s Caty,” she replied. Michael ran to help her to get out<br />

of the plane.<br />

“Where did you come from?” Michael said, “And where are your family?”<br />

Caty had come over to America in the plane her family’s friend owned. But then<br />

she had stolen it and lost control. Caty tried to think of some white lies.<br />

“I was just on a flight lesson and got lost.”<br />

Michael picked Caty up and carried her into the cabin where they were staying.<br />

The cabin had two windows, and a driveway for off-road vehicles. The cabin was<br />

made of logs. They brought her into the cabin to help her. Jared remembered about<br />

the first aid kit and they got her to take a rest.<br />

While she was asleep, they took her phone to try to make contact with her family.<br />

Jared scrolled down the contacts until he found ‘Mum’. Then he rang and she<br />

answered.<br />

“Hello? What’s wrong, Caty?!”<br />

57


58


ABOUT<br />

THE CLASS<br />

59


About us<br />

Harry Potter<br />

xmas movies like Jack Frost<br />

revising<br />

Titanic Walkway<br />

playing football<br />

The Mournes<br />

Dubai<br />

Maldives<br />

Pretty Little Liars<br />

reading poetry and<br />

Osamu Dazai<br />

police videos on YouTube<br />

on my phone<br />

games<br />

60<br />

Reddit Belfast Giants


theatre<br />

dance<br />

Helen’s Bay<br />

Rangers<br />

Of Mice and Men<br />

ice hockey<br />

Bangor Pier<br />

music<br />

acting<br />

art<br />

Nando’s<br />

make-up<br />

Netflix<br />

cinema hairdressing<br />

eyelashes<br />

Bora Bora<br />

Queen<br />

Pot Noodle<br />

Instagram<br />

nails<br />

Home Alone<br />

travel<br />

doctor<br />

Snapchat<br />

SoundCloud<br />

Cavetown<br />

Celtic<br />

pink<br />

yellow<br />

family<br />

61


What do you hope to get out of this workshop?<br />

(Oct 2021)<br />

I want to learn about NI history.<br />

Create stories I can share.<br />

Have fun. Learn new skills.<br />

How are you feeling?<br />

(Oct 2021)<br />

Happy.<br />

I understand.<br />

Excited.<br />

Bored.<br />

Don’t know yet.<br />

Good.<br />

It’s easy.<br />

How are you feeling about the project?<br />

(March 2022)<br />

Happy, excited.<br />

Happy, nervous, tired.<br />

Nervous.<br />

Tired, relaxed, happy.<br />

Happy, excited, curious.<br />

Not really interested.<br />

Confident, excited.<br />

The same.<br />

Really interesting, fun, really good.<br />

It was alright. Fun. Exciting. Happy.<br />

Very interested, happy, learned alot of things. Love it.<br />

I feel excited, quite curious and happy about our story.<br />

Very interested, learned a lot of things. Love it.<br />

Just thank you all.<br />

Thank you for helping me write stories.<br />

62


About the authors -<br />

Ahmed Abdulla loves watching Marvel films, shows and similar stuff. His favourite<br />

superhero is Spiderman because he loves the story and films. Their favourite<br />

holiday place would be Dubai to spend time with family and because it’s really<br />

luxurious and they love all the modern buildings. He’d love to be a pilot and wants<br />

to travel to different places.<br />

He’d like to improve his football skills and have more time to spend with his team,<br />

Albion Star.<br />

There is a person called Mustafa Ahmed. If he had a superpower he would choose<br />

flying so he could travel around the world and visit different places without having<br />

to pay for it. The place that he would love to go to most is Paris because it’s a nice<br />

place with lovely people. Mustafa has many playlists but his favourite music is rap.<br />

American rapper NBA Young Boy is his favourite. The thing that Mustafa gets most<br />

annoyed by is fake people. The only thing he really cares about is his friends and<br />

family members.<br />

Yassmin Alrashaydah is from Jordan. She speaks four languages (Arabic, English,<br />

French, and Greek!). Her favourite colours are black, blue, and green, and her<br />

favourite animal is a panda. If Yassmin had a superpower, she would like to be<br />

able to fly, and if she could go anywhere in the world she would go to Switzerland.<br />

In the future, Yassmin would like to be a dentist. Her favourite holiday is Ramadan.<br />

She likes Turkish movies and would like her hair short. In her free time she likes<br />

drawing and watching films. She likes to draw people. Her favourite sport is<br />

basketball. She likes to be friendly with other people.<br />

Harlie Brown would love to travel the world. When she gets older she wants to do<br />

eyelashes and would love to go to Dubai and to the Maldives. She loves Nando’s.<br />

Her dream is to have loads of money to get a big house in Spain.<br />

Robbie Crawford has lived in N. Ireland his whole life. When he was three he<br />

choked on a chicken bone. It went into his lung and he had to go to theatre to get it<br />

removed.<br />

Robbie has a Chinese Shar Pei called Foxy. He has a pit bike and one of his<br />

ambitions is to find a good spot where he can ride it. Robbie does boxing three<br />

times a week at a gym. He likes the music genre, rock, and his favourite song is<br />

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.<br />

63


Chanel Faloon’s superpower would be to fly because she could fly to her best<br />

friend’s house, holiday, or to Spain, to sit in the water to cool down.<br />

One of her childhood memories was going to England and the priest threw holy<br />

water around her because she laughed when he repeated a prayer.<br />

She loves Christmas because she loves snow and the winter weather.<br />

Her favourite song is Hello My Love by West Life.<br />

She’s annoyed when people get on differently in front of people. It makes others<br />

feel sad, angry and left out. She wishes she could travel in time so she could see<br />

her uncle. His name was Wayne. She would like to see if he was happy and if he<br />

was proud of her mummy.<br />

Chanel would love to go to New York.<br />

Iqra Idow is a quiet girl who likes school, especially her favourite subject,<br />

Hospitality and she enjoys cooking. She really loves her family, who are from<br />

Somalia and live in Belfast.<br />

Iqra can speak Somali and English. When she has free time she likes to watch<br />

movies, especially comedy and horror movies. Iqra likes to help her mother and<br />

takes her little brother to the park. Iqra’s favourite celebration is Eid because she<br />

fasts for one month during Ramadan.<br />

Iqra has always been excited about the beauty industry especially make-up,<br />

Henna and nails. She would like to travel to Turkey and Dubai.<br />

Logan Kirk’s favourite childhood memory is meeting the Northern Irish football<br />

team when he was 3 or 4 years old. He was given a player’s t-shirt signed by the<br />

team and was in the Star newspaper.<br />

Logan’s disability is called Spina bifida hydrocephalus, and he has to have shunts<br />

to drain fluid from his head because he has a disc missing from his spine. He<br />

already has the superpowers he would want: he’s super-strong (with lots of upper<br />

body strength) and super-fast!<br />

He watches YouTube videos every day about Bugattis, Lamborghinis and Ferraris.<br />

He has a funny sense of humour.<br />

Nyakuma is from South Sudan. She speaks four languages, (Amharic, English,<br />

Italian and Nuer). Her favourite colours are pink and purple and her favourite<br />

animal is a lion. If she had a superpower she would like to be able to fly and<br />

travel the world. She would go to Korea, America, Brazil, Dubai and Turkey.<br />

Her favourite holiday is Christmas. Nyakuma likes to watch Turkish, English and<br />

Amharic movies when she has free time.<br />

Her favourite sport is basketball.<br />

In the future Nyakuma would like to be a doctor. When she is bored she likes to go<br />

shopping.<br />

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Kyle is a big Eminem fan and his favourite song is Cleaning Out My Closet. Kyle<br />

would love to own his own yacht and travel the world. For the time being, he lives<br />

in Belfast with his family. He just cares about his family and friends.<br />

Superpowers that he wishes he had are flying, teleporting and freezing time.<br />

Oisín has always wanted to go to France, Czech, Japan, Spain, Italy, Poland,<br />

Germany, USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and the Philippines and New Zealand.<br />

His favourite songs are Twilight by Boa, The Perfect Girl by Marau and he likes<br />

Nirvana. His favourite movies are The Batman and he likes the MCU (Marvel<br />

Cinematic Universe).<br />

Pearse Rainey wishes he could fly because he hates walking.<br />

His favourite food is Chicken Korma with naan bread and rice because it has so<br />

much flavour.<br />

His playlist includes Adele, Amy Winehouse, Cardi B, Carrie Underwood, Gerry<br />

Cinnamon, Maroon 5, MJ, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, and Shakira.<br />

Pearse cares about family and friends. His dream is to go to Bora Bora because it’s<br />

really peaceful and no one goes there.<br />

Rhys’s favourite subject is engineering, especially designing and modelling. He<br />

likes the solid works part best.<br />

When Rhys is not in school, he likes to play Rainbow Six Siege and Rust. He likes to<br />

eat risotto with cheese, chorizo, mushrooms and onions.<br />

Rhys is interested in the history of the Vikings, Ancient Egypt and Greek mythology.<br />

He likes the stories of Greek gods like Zeus and Poseidon. He became interested in<br />

history through games like God of War.<br />

Clara is from Brazil. She likes Capoeira, a Brazilian dance, as well as hip-hop and<br />

belly dance. She loves Disney animations and is a fan of DC comics.<br />

Clara would like to go back to Brazil and be a great language teacher since she<br />

likes different languages and cultures. She can speak Portuguese, Spanish, English<br />

and is learning Danish. Her favourite celebration is Carnaval because of the<br />

colours and costumes. Her playlists are diverse, but sometimes she just listens to<br />

5 Seconds of Summer and Tomorrow x Together.<br />

She is shy and quiet, yet can be very loud when she is with close friends. Most of<br />

the time she likes to appreciate the silence.<br />

If Madison Rowan had a superpower it would be teleportation so she could get to<br />

places any time, any day. She would go on holiday to Spain and chill in the pool.<br />

As she misses her nanny and granda she wishes she could go back into<br />

19-something. She could meet her Nanny and auntie and be able to see her<br />

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granda as she misses him so much. If she could ask them something she would ask<br />

if her mum’s doing them proud, even though she knows she is.<br />

Her favourite celebration is the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th of July cause it’s friends<br />

and family time and the bonfire is so fun and the bands are on for four nights.<br />

Her fave songs are Take Care by Drake and Safe Inside by James Arthur cause<br />

they’re catchy.<br />

Her dream is to be a counsellor because she done it and she wants to give back<br />

and help people.<br />

Amina is from Somalia. She would like to go back one day. Her big hope is to go<br />

to Mecca. She would like to visit France, Canada and America.<br />

Amina speaks three languages – Somali, Arabic and English and she likes to read<br />

the Quran.<br />

Her big dream is to become a businesswoman, maybe to do makeup for weddings<br />

and special occasions.<br />

Eid is a very happy day for all Muslims. Amina remembers going to her relatives<br />

for Eid. All young Muslims receive money from their relatives on this day, and<br />

Amina did too.<br />

Her superpowers are art and football. She is annoyed when she is not eating<br />

chocolate.<br />

Maryama is from Somalia. She can speak three languages: Somali, English and<br />

Arabic which she learned by translating the holy Quran, watching Arabic TV and<br />

at school. She has never travelled to an Arabic country but would like to so that she<br />

can improve her Arabic. She’d also like to visit North Korea.<br />

Maryama likes to drink coffee and her favourite subject is Math. In her spare time,<br />

she reads books (in Somali), watches movies and listens to music. She cares about<br />

fashion - her dream job is to become a fashion model - and likes to play football.<br />

Her favourite game is PUBG Mobile and she spends her time playing that game<br />

with friends.<br />

Imogen wishes she could go to Bora Bora, do hair and beauty and meet Joey<br />

Essex.<br />

She loves Nando’s and she hopes she doesn’t get ‘rona’ before going to New<br />

York!<br />

Caitlin lives with her mummy and is an only child. She has a dog called Lady. Her<br />

superpower would be time travel, to go to 2007 when she was born or 2018, to<br />

see her great granda Joe, to hear what his voice sounds like and to see if he is<br />

proud of her. They were really close.<br />

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Caitlin is always on her phone or Tik Tok no matter what time it is or what<br />

she’s doing.<br />

Fey Hill and Sidra also contributed to this anthology.<br />

About the mentors, researchers, and artists<br />

Jonathan Beck is a thirty-something writer from the north coast of Ireland. He likes<br />

spaghetti and cats—but not on the same plate. If he had a superpower, he would<br />

choose the ability to understand and speak any language, and not just the Earth<br />

ones, either.<br />

Stephanie Boven-Dunlop grew up in Michigan and Kentucky. She loves Dolly<br />

Parton and Nina Simone. She’s very happy that there are no wild snakes in Ireland.<br />

In America, they would sometimes slither across her jogging trail and give her a<br />

terrific fright. If she could pick a superpower, it would be teleporting so she could<br />

pop over to have a cup of tea with her mum whenever she wanted.<br />

Caroline Bowers is a Tech Marketing Manager from Belfast. She enjoys creative<br />

writing, reading books, and walking her Golden Retriever puppy. Caroline is<br />

a travel fanatic and if she had a superpower, it would be the ability to teleport<br />

anywhere in the world whenever she wanted (the first stop would be Paris). Her<br />

guilty pleasure is her favourite song, Sweet Caroline, by Neil Diamond.<br />

Máire Callaghan studied at Queen’s then moved to London where she worked in<br />

publishing. Life’s adventures took her to Munich, to Dublin and then full circle back<br />

to Belfast. She enjoys collecting stones and shells during wintery walks beside wild<br />

seas on empty beaches. She has Saint Sister’s Where I Should End on loop at the<br />

moment and can be found most days in a comfy chair with her nose in a book.<br />

Clare Cavanagh is a retired professional. (She might be over the hill, but the climb<br />

was terrific!)<br />

Clare’s superpower would be mind reading. Her favourite time of the year is midsummer’s<br />

night. She listens to jazz music and cares about social justice.<br />

Sinead Farry is an illustrator living in Belfast. Her favourite place is her garden.<br />

Her superpower would be to turn into a big oak tree to help stressed people relax.<br />

Swings and a treehouse on the tree would be places to play and the sweet singing<br />

of birds resting on the branches would soothe minds.<br />

Marnie Kennedy moved from Sydney to Belfast at the turn of the century. She’s a<br />

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fan of short stories, poetry, film soundtracks and reading in the sunshine. One day<br />

she will make time to develop her love of linocut printing. If she could choose a<br />

superpower, it would be to have a vivid memory.<br />

Kelly McCaughrain is the author of Flying Tips for Flightless Birds (Walker Books)<br />

and was the QUB Children’s Writing Fellow for Northern Ireland 2019-2021. The<br />

superpower she’d like to have is time travel. The superpower she actually has is<br />

growing lemon trees from pips!<br />

Daniel Paton is a lost millennial in a complicated world. He physically resides in<br />

Belfast, though mentally spends most of his time running around with hobbits in<br />

Middle-Earth. He hopes to become a ‘proper’ writer one day - whatever that is.<br />

Rebecca Samuel is an illustrator from Donegal. Her favourite things to draw<br />

are from the natural world and if she were to go anywhere in the world right now<br />

it would be the places she would love to paint, like the expansive landscapes and<br />

grandiose trees of the Americas, fjords of Norway and flora/fauna of<br />

New Zealand.<br />

Rebecca has loved contributing to this anthology and hopes that readers get as<br />

much out of it as the writers and illustrators have put into it!<br />

Niamh Scullion is often found deep in a story, whether reading one or writing one.<br />

Once as a young child, she was behind the couch lost so deep in a story, that her<br />

family forgot her and went away for five hours to a football match. She didn’t even<br />

realise they were gone until they returned, worried sick. The original Home<br />

Alone story.<br />

She still thinks books are better than football.<br />

Attila Szabó is a visual artist who studied Fine Art at Ulster University and lives in<br />

Hungary.<br />

Fighting Words NI mentors Sam Farrell, Natasha Geary, Valerie Goodchild and<br />

Cathaoir McKay also supported <strong>Untold</strong> and <strong>Imagined</strong> <strong>Stories</strong> workshops.<br />

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Acknowledgements<br />

Year 11 students from Malone Integrated College<br />

We thank them for sharing their Mondays and for all the portals that they opened.<br />

Staff of Malone Integrated College, particularly Selina Dutton and Niamh Cuffe,<br />

also Ryan McDonald and Naomi Cassidy<br />

Fighting Words NI staff:<br />

Hannah Armstrong, Jonathan Beck, Lucy Beevor, Hilary Copeland, Emily DeDakis, Sean<br />

Óg Gibson, Donna Hunter, Marnie Kennedy, Romy McKeever, Antonio Mulholland,<br />

Niamh Scullion, Julie Sherlock, Talitha Taylor<br />

Fighting Words NI volunteers:<br />

Stephanie Boven-Dunlop, Caroline Bowers, Máire Callaghan, Clare Cavanagh, Sam<br />

Farrell, Sinead Farry, Natasha Geary, Valerie Goodchild, Kelly McCaughrain, Cathaoir<br />

McKay, Daniel Paton, Rebecca Samuel, Attila Szabó<br />

The 174 Trust<br />

Joe Laverty Photography<br />

UsFolk<br />

Joe & Geraldine<br />

Mukesh Sharma and Frances McNally from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for<br />

understanding the challenges and for their keen interest.<br />

Fighting Words Northern Ireland gratefully acknowledges the support of the Heritage<br />

Fund and the funding provided by the Northern Ireland Office.<br />

Thanks to this grant, it has been possible to share some untold stories about Northern<br />

Ireland’s history and bring the community together to mark the Centenary of<br />

Northern Ireland.<br />

Photographs by A. R. Hogg<br />

Courtesy of National Museums NI<br />

This work is licensed under a<br />

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.<br />

‘P & K’ artificial left arm, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1920-1925.<br />

Science Museum Group Collection<br />

© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum<br />

This work is licensed under a<br />

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.<br />

Images from The Arrival by Shaun Tan<br />

© Shaun Tan<br />

Reproduced from www.shauntan.net<br />

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Fighting Words NI is a charity registered with The Charity<br />

Commission for Northern Ireland.<br />

Registered office: The Skainos Centre, 239 - 241 Newtownards<br />

Road, Belfast, BT4 1AF.<br />

Charity No: NIC105751 Company No: NI638582


www.fightingwords.co.uk<br />

Design by UsFolk<br />

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