2018 back-to-school contest: 'A fresh start' by Diya Purohit
We asked our readers to write a poem or a piece of creative writing about "a fresh start" for their chance to win an amazing back-to-school haul. Here is one of the entries, which has not been edited
As the night approached, the residents of Kate’s school bag breathed a sigh of relief. “Another torturous day comes to an end”, Pinkie the pink highlighter stated. Yellowie, Blueie and Greenie, her siblings, leaned in close for a group hug. “I’m so glad we’re all together, in our best conditions,” Greenie said while patting Blueie’s highlighter cap.
“Ahhh…”
The attention turned to Rulie the ruler, who lay in the corner of the bag. “There’s a crack right across your torso!” The pens, pencils and erasers rushed to be by Rulie’s side. “Oh Rulie… I’m so sorry for the way Kate treated you.”
Three hours earlier…
“I just can’t get this math question right! Aghhhhh!” Kate proceeded to grab the ruler to draw a triangle, when her mother entered the room. “Kate! It’s way past your bedtime, and you haven’t completed your homework?! This is just unacceptable!” Her mother slammed the door shut, after exclaiming that Kate is grounded. “Grounded?!” Kate roared in frustration, while hurling Rulie across the room. This wasn’t the first time - it had been three months since Kate had her stationery shopping spree, and the stationery never felt worse. Kate’s favorite way to vent anger was hurling objects around her room, which were, more often than not, stationery. In the last month, there were two funerals - one for the pencil that snapped into two when Kate was drawing and the other for the pair of scissors that had to face the consequences of Kate’s fight with her boyfriend.
After a series of consolations, massages and get well soon messages, the stationery gathered in for their morning huddle. Staplie started, “I know we’re going to have to face another tough day today. But at least we’ll all do it together!” The loud creaking of the door interrupted the huddle, and for the next 45 minutes, the stationery remained stationary.
“I’d like to donate these…”
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the bag - that of Kate’s mother. The stationery found a new home - a fresh start, just like the one the goodies in the backpack will experience with me!