2001 School Magazine

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Harrowing Harrowrield With slumped shoulders and downcast eyes, Josh was being jostled through the crowd of unsympathetic hearts. No one dared to look him in the face, scared that they might actually see a kind, innocent boy with no intentions of hurting anyone, not the witch child who was going to be burnt at the stake As the match was being struck, the boy of 13 gazed over the town square and stared, trenchxed on the town hall clock face that was staring straight back at him. Twenty minutes to one. These would be the last moments his body would spend on this horrid earth but his soul would soon be free to return to the forest The smell of burning flesh filled the air. No one battered an eyelid as the wicked flames started to engulf his body Why did it all end like this? Josh used to be such a carefree boy living contented Iy with his family in the evergreen forest outside the town of Harrowfield But Josh's carefree Iifo ended at ten years of age when the Harrowfield orphanage seized 10sh after the mysterious and sudden disappearance of his parents' 10sh had struggled until his arms felt like lead marking the first moments of his new regimented lifestyle As Josh forced on the orphanage's long grey pants and white shirt with the choking collar. he stared at his rated on in the mirror and felt depressed as he remembered how he used to gaze at his reflection in the glistening pools of water on the forest floor His first day of school squeezed out any final thoughts of freedom. With his parents still missing, he felt alienated. rejected and at the peak of the town gossip pyramid. The classroom was unfriendly; whenever 10sh entered the room. the children's uproar would die down to only a few mouse-like squeaks Josh remained within himself for the next two years as the cruel treatment continued, until an annoying pest named Colin Fields discovered Josh's deepest, darkest secret On his 12th birthday, Josh discovered he had magical powers. He was wishing his homework was completed and it started to magical Iy appear on his blank piece of paper. Soon his lines were written out and his bed was instantly made. But he vowed that he would never be found out ... but one day he was! Colin Fields. while rushing past Josh's dormitory door, pricked up his ears when he heard a slight whirring noise coming from within Josh's dorm. Colln couldn't resist a mystery and slowly turned the doorknob. He flung it open and there, hovering in mid-air, was 10sh sting on the moth-eaten carpet that had covered the wooden floor Colln was awestruck but turned and fled down the hallway, back the way he had come. Petrified, Josh could not move He was super-glued to that spot in mid-air by a sticky concoction of fear, dread and hate for that meddlesome boy, Colin Fields Within minutes, Colin had triumphantly returned with an army of school staff. The carpet sank to the ground and Josh's short-lived fun was over. 10sh interpreted the horrified faces of the staff and knew what was going to happen John was immediately whisked down to the town's inquisitor who stared at him through beady eyes, watching every movement 10sh made like a vulture looking on a dying animal. Bloodthirsty Branded a wizard, 10sh was dragged out of the Inquisitor's office, in a horrified daze. Two burly guards grabbed Josh's limp arms. It was utterly hopeless;he was headed to the fiery stake! Josh was a wizard!

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Elizobeth Dowes I O liney

Allson Piont 9Eng!ond

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