Olivia's Story

• Taylah Russell, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2017

It was a dull afternoon, and a rare occasion, in that Olivia had no homework and nothing else to do. She took off her school bag and hung it on the hook, then walked a couple of laps around her house, one to make sure no one was home and the next to double check. Then, closing her bedroom door softly, she opened her bottom drawer and got out her laptop, which she kept neatly tucked away under her socks, and brushed off the dust.

Her dad had given her the laptop as a going away present, with a single document saved to the desktop. He had left when she was only 10 years old, yet he seemed to know of her talent even then. At the time, Olivia had failed to realise that the laptop was more than a birthday present. Her dad didn't tell her that it was the last time they would see each other, and now the laptop seemed to symbolise more than just a device to write with.

Opening the lid, Olivia began to type away at the last chapter of her current work-in-progress. Only a few months ago she had finished her fourth manuscript, deleting it immediately afterwards, just like all the others.

The hours seemed to disappear as Olivia tapped away, not once looking up at world around her. That was the beauty of her writing - she seemed to be able to shut herself off and enter her own world. That was, at least, until she heard the click of the front door opening, which summoned her return to reality.

Finishing up her fifth manuscript, she typed the last two words - ‘The End’, and then dragged her document into the trash. She couldn't risk her mother finding her work. Unlike her father, Olivia’s mother didn't take any notice of her daughter’s talent for writing, or if she did, chose to ignore the fact. She was determined that one day Olivia would grow up to go to law school and become a successful lawyer, just as she had done. There was no point in writing stories, her mother said. Apparently, being a writer was not classed as a ‘real job’ and any comment to the contrary often resulted in an argument.

Opening the bottom drawer, Olivia tucked her laptop back in its rightful place, under her socks, and walked out into the kitchen, back into the real world.