The Mutant

• Keats Mackay, Grade 5, Ryde East Public School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition

“BANG” The door slammed shut. I sat down on the bench in my cell.
“And stay there, you mutant!” Boomed the guard from outside the cell. He walked outside the dungeon. I sat down and sighed. The wind blowing through the bars sent a chill down my spine.
“Newtony Sunken,” called a voice from room above me. I heard a guard coming down to collect me, for whatever reason they want me for. The king hates me because I am different. I made a discovery and turned myself into a monster. I am half-dog, half-man. They call me up and we enter the throne room.
“Newtony,” boomed the king, in his usual accent with the smell of wine pouring out of his mouth.
“Yes king,” I say, sounding like I am honoured which I am not, bowing.
“You will be tested on your crimes, if you fail you will stay forever, but if you succeed you will be released!” He yelled.
That night I was put into his garden/gym. There were three tests. Each seems more difficult than the other. The first test was to race the fastest human in the village.
“Ready! Set! Run!” Yells a guard. We start the race, of cause I am losing but that may be a good thing proving that I have no improvement in running. As we finish the race the king starts clapping slowly.
“Prepare for the next test…” He says mystically.
The next test was jumping. It tested how long I could jump. I have tested this before, so the king will compare my old results with my new ones.
“Jump, NOW!” Yells the same guard. I jump. The air feels good against my fur. I land, but it feels different. We are on the same pit though. Then I realise that I have jumped an extra 5cm. But it has been a while since I last jumped here.
The last test was labelled ‘other’. I walked in. Then I realised that this was the test that you do every year. The questions are always different, but around the same difficulty. Yet again they will compare my test results. The test wasn’t too hard, but some were difficult (especially the ones about the king). Finally I finished the test and I was brought back to my cell.
That night they released the results.
“You pasts Newtony!” Boomed the king. They brought me back to my lab and left me alone just like they never want to see me again.
I hope nobody ever judges me by my looks again.