‘The Forever Banned’

• Aika Raikes, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

I was sitting in the office. Teeth were chattering, legs were shaking and I felt like doom was coming straight towards me.

Head Charleston’s office was large, it had many windows, and everything was technological.

Through the glass door, I saw Avery, my best friend, striding past the office, guiltily handing over my secret diary to Head Charleston.

Betrayal… Anger... Frustration…

I saw Head Charleston mouthing the words, ‘Thank you’, as he pivoted and stormed towards the office.

My face burned red and panic attacked every cell of my body. My breath had escaped me. I understand that poems and handwriting were banned but I found it calming.

What was Head Charleston going to do to me? I didn’t trust him.

I’ve always had this weird feeling about Head Charleston, he was elusive and mysterious, never sharing personal details. This was the first time I had been in his office. This was the first time I was going to talk to him. This was the first time I felt an unfamiliar emotion. Was it… Nervousness?

Head Charleston comes in…

He explained to me that he was sure of his suspicions that I was handwriting poems and the final proof was placed in his hands just a couple of minutes ago.

“You will be sent to Properna!” announced Head Charleston unexpectedly.

Properna? Apparently, Properna was some kind of ‘paradise’, where we got to live forever. I had the biggest smile ever and I couldn’t wait to go.

Head Charleston’s assistant called him out of the office for an emergency. He had to take care of another person that was disrespecting him. This was the twelfth time that week and it was only Monday. He walked out of the office with a mischievous smile.

After he left the room, I spied a dusty, thick book that looked like it was from five decades ago. It read, ‘The Forever Banned’. I scanned the book and realised that it was a diary just like my own with poetry back from the past before the community was established. At the back of the book, it had an explanation about what had happened when the community was established and the nature that was there before it, but hidden in a poem.

Head Charleston had done these heinous things to the community. So what was Properna? Was this society all a lie?

I wanted to share this last poem with the whole school, so I walked towards the intercom linked to the speakers.

“This is a poem that reminds me of my dreams at night: ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o’er vale’s and hills’,” I kept on reading, as I heard everyone in the halls muttering continuously.

Suddenly, I felt a cold hand choking me by the throat. Head Charleston must have watched me through one of his devices. As I slowly closed my eyes, I hoped for freedom in the community later on in life…