In The Morning

Excellence Award in the 'The Write Track 2015' competition

The park was cold, so cold that I could feel the wind violently whipping my long wispy hair around my frozen skin. Hearing the loud screams and adorable laughter, I could see the sun seeping through the trees, into the misty fog.
It used to be me, running around the empty park benches in a pathetic attempt to hide from my friends, when it was foggy and cold, very early in the morning.
My eyes stung as they filled with tears, I latched onto a tree branch to keep me stable, while the painful memories came flooding back.
“Are you all right?”
Wiping my eyes with my jacket sleeve I swivelled my head around, suddenly angry.
“What’s it to you?!”
The way his face changed as I said those words was upsetting, his eyes glistening as if there was a tear starting to brew inside it. The day mum left I felt alone, pushed away, like no matter how hard I try, it was never going to be okay again. Now I do the same to others. I push them away and lock the door to myself, then swallow the key.
I started coming back to the park when Mum left, it became my escape, a place to hide when the things at home became too difficult to handle, so much so that I hid in my room, shaken. Scared that my once abusive father would strike again, the way his eyes sparked with fury. The park was regularly empty, the way I felt inside. When she came back it gave me hope, and there I was, being naïve as ever, wishing my torn apart family could find a way to stick themselves back together. Staying up late most nights, believing that a shooting star could change my life for the better. Unfortunately, that was wrong.
Then mum left again, leaving every piece of me shattered like glass. Whenever I saw the quiet park and lonesome park benches I realised that was me, alone and forgotten. Nights were long and days were sad, crowded with people who I usually tried to avoid.
I awoke after long hours, laying there, remembering. Next to me, gently rubbing my arm was the guy I talked to earlier. The soft touch of his hand, soothing my pain. His surfer boy, shaggy blonde hair sitting still and perfectly on his head. He had baby blue eyes that could make any girl swoon over him.
In that moment I realised I forgot everything. There were no worries or tears, just a guy who waited for me, who sat there patiently as I escaped the darkness that was my mind.
This guy fixed me briefly by showing me love. Love that I only ever received from my mum, when my family was nothing but happy.
All I needed was love.

FOLLOW US


25

Write4Fun.net was established in 1997, and since then we have successfully completed numerous short story and poetry competitions and publications.
We receive an overwhelming positive feedback each year from the teachers, parents and students who have involvement in these competitions and publications, and we will continue to strive to attain this level of excellence with each competition we hold.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Stay informed about the latest competitions, competition winners and latest news!