2002 School Magazine

original works

Trapped Max stumbled clumsily through the lush tropical beauty of the Daintree Rainforest, struggling to overcome a myriad of natural obstacles that were creating an ever-widening gap between him and the rest of his classmates. How he hated school excursions Ejected from his monitored comfort zone of the Special School where he could at least entertain some pretence of normality, and onto the crassly-labelled school bus which would ferry everyone into an arena of curious, pitying stares. A freak show Each stare sent a sharp, piercing pain to the ugly silver braces encasing his legs and made him painful Iy aware of the slurring, infantile sound of his words. Max was trapped; his body, a prison Over the sweet trills of the kingfisher birds and the loud squawking of the Innumerable rainbow lorikeets, Max heard his teacher calling. "You alright, Max?" she asked. a hint of concern in her tone. "'Courshe I am, Mish Williams, " Max replied defensiveIy Miss Williams shrugged and turned back to look after the rest of her charges. High above, a wedge-tailed eagle soared over the canopy of the rainforest, searching for prey. Max bent his head back as far as he could and traced the bird with his eyes Entranced by the sheer power of the great bird, he watched as it effortlessly ducked and wove through the sky, leaving a trail of disorientsted smaller birds fluttering in its wake. just as Max turned his eyes back down towards his feet, a giant tree root seemed to leap from the ground, entwining itself with the brace on Max's left leg and sending him plummeting to the mossy forest floor Landing with a thump. Max lay there. stunned for a while, breathing in the rich, damp aroma of the moss. Gradually, Max lifted his heaw head. his forehead plastered with the moss's green stain, and listened hopefully for a moment, waiting for the sound of running feet rushing to assist him. All of a sudden, the rainforest seemed to be shrouded in a deathly silence. The cheerful chatter of his class had faded long into the distance. Max was alone. Placing his head back onto the pillow of moss. Max writhed with self-pity and helplessness, cursing his wretched leg as he had done so many times before. When would they notice he was gone? Would they notice at all? After a few minutes, Max realised that he really was all alone and that rescue would not be forthcoming in the immediate future. Raising his head once more, Max turned his gaze to his surroundings. If he wasn't in such an awful predicament, the ancient beauty of the forest would be breathtaking. Propping himself up on his elbows to have a better look. the boy came to be eye-to-eye with a tiny black spider. Inches from Max's nose, the delicate spider sat contented Iy on a strand of his own newly- completed web Max was startled and hurriedly laid his head back down, ear to the ground. Shuffling back a little bit further so as not to destroy the shimmering masterpiece, the crippled boy studied the web with fascination. marvelling at its perfection With a frenzied flutter, a brilliant blue Ulysses butterfly flew out of nowhere and straight into what Max now saw as nothing more than a cruelly deceptive, sticky trap. Every movement of the butterfly's fairy-like wings further ensnared her in the spider's web. She was trapped. Max watched in horror as the butterfly's struggles were slowly quelled into submission. The victorious spider scuttled mercilessly towards the butterfly, moving in for the kill. Supervising himself, Max impulsively grabbed the nearest twig and struck aggressiveIy through the supporting strands of the web. using the only stilted, jerky movements that his hands would allow. The once fierce spider scurried away in panic as his meticulously-created home shrivelled into an unrecognisable clot of white goo. Still mummified in rings of binding web strands. the butterfly fell roughly to the ground At first Max thought she was dead and he was wrecked with guilt and disappointment. However. on closer inspection, he noticed a faint twitch in the butterfly's drooping antennae. His eyes brightening with hope, Max scooped up the butterfly in his hands as gently as he could. Cupping her protectiveIy in his hands, he carefully made a small thrusting movement with his wrists, encouraging the butterfly to take flight. instead, she wafted slowly back down to the ground. Once again, Max lifted her off the forest floor. It was then that he noticed that one of her magnificent blue wings had been irrepairably crushed during his own quest for the butterfly's rescue from the clutches of the spider. He had achieved nothing. In freeing the beautiful creature from one prison, he had encased her in another - the inescapable prison of her own broken body. Max knew the feeling of entrapment. Coldly, he crushed the last fragment of life from the butterfly's wretched form. Max threw the pieces into the air The butterfly was free once more. Collapsing into the soil, Max gave a long mournful cry

Amy 50/10 12 Be oniond Visions of Self foetoi"

Kofie Gou!t 12 England Visions of Self petriil}

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