Unbelievable

• Esther Wong, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

Clara, a girl with fair skin and blonde curls, gazed dreamily into her miniature snow globe, mesmerised in amazement at the little make-believe world inside. With her slender hand, Clara grabbed it, and shook it forcefully. Faux snow swirled around, and fell onto the small cottages and stalls. All of a sudden, Clara was hit with dizziness. Her eyelids became heavy, forcing her to have to lie down before fainting into a labouring sleep.

Clara’s eyelids flickered, and suddenly, she awoke in a fright. She heard a distinct, loud, wicked cackle and immediately recognised it was the voice of her arch nemesis, Sally Splice.
“Ha, ha, ha!!!” cackled Sally malevolently, “Now I’ve trapped you! You can’t get me now that you’re stuck in that snow globe! You may as well make yourself comfortable living in your new home!” she shrieked diabolically.
“Yeah right, Sally! I’ll find a way out, just you wait!” Clara retaliated in annoyance.
Deep in the back of Clara’s mind though, there was a sense of doubtful fear as she’d never been in a sticky situation like this before.

Clara looked around, her mind racing to figure out how to escape her predicament. The once finger-sized houses and stalls now loomed over Clara. She put her hands out. Real snow drifted onto her finger- tips.
“What magic is this?” she wondered.
A wave of panic swept over Clara. Shivers were sent down her spine, and it wasn’t just from the cold. Clara paced up and down, her socks digging into the snow.
“How am I going to get out?” wondered Clara frantically.

That night, all the hotels were full. Clara, cold, hungry and dismayed, could hear her teeth chattering with the bitter cold of the night, biting into her bones.
“I guess Sally was right. I’m stuck here forever, so I’d better get used to this place!” thought Clara miserably.

Just then, as Clara was wandering up the streets, she passed by “Tom’s Tools”
Some hammers were on sale. A sign read: “These can break through any surfaces”.
A ray of hope fired up within Clara.
“I’ll trade my necklace for this hammer!” said Clara, undoing her golden necklace and showing it to the shopkeeper. With careful examination, he nodded in satisfied agreement.

Clara walked over to the glass encasing the village. She raised the hammer above her head. With all her might, she struck the glass. From a fine crack, the lines in the glass expanded in all directions until the glass could not hold its mass any further and shattered into pieces in a bright flash.
“I’m free!” thought Clara happily as she felt herself becoming bigger and bigger.
“It’s unbelievable! The magic spell is broken and I’m free from Sally and her spell!” she shouted in excitement. “Now Sally, I’m coming for you to make sure you don’t outsmart me again!” a determined Clara thought to herself.